Bestsellers This Week

Review: It seems that the nu-disco trend of re-edits is one that just keeps growing. Everyone from Siberia to Greece is doing it, and now the fever has spread to Ireland too in the form of the Get Down Edits label. Thankfully these guys don't (usually) pick the obvious stuff - Fingerman samples Luther Vandross' "Never Too Much" on "Too Much" so they lose points for that, but generally it's all good jazzy, funky retro jams.

Review: Arriving at a fourth Midnight Riot label compilation in little over a year is no mean feat for Yam Who?'s ISM operation, and the key to their success lies in the diversity of sounds you can include within the overarching theme of nocturnal grooves. And of course the high standard of artists that contribute, with this bumper 23 track selection no different as Yam Who? call on some respected names to contribute; seeing the likes of Joey Negro, Ilya Santana, Rakyo and LTJ Experience puts you at ease as you know you are in good hands - the Negro edit of Yambee's Ballistic Brothers classic "Blacker" is a notable highlight. Yet the fact these established names don't overshadow the contributions of lesser known Midnight Riot newcomers such as Dan Butler and Caserta - indeed the latter Boston based producer provides perhaps the best example of a 'nocturnal groove' with his slow burning, beat down house cut "Get Down".

Review: Brontosaurus is a lovingly curated compilation from Permanent Vacation profiling the defunct Frankfurt label of the same name. Founded in 2006, Thomas Sabrowsky, Lauer and Arto Mwambe's Christian BeiBwenger, Brontosaurus enjoyed a four year period of releases focused on "proto dance music long after its [emergence]" and can feasibly be viewed as the precursor to the triumphant Live At Robert Johnson club and label. This conclusive digital release paints an impressive picture of a label whose part in Frankfurt's rich electronic music heritage cannot be discounted. Move D's remix of Arto Mwanbe's "Hum Along" and Lauer's "Renard (With No Regard 2006)" are standout inclusions.

Review: It's not all that long since Local Talk's first Talking House compilation dropped. Given the sheer volume of 12" singles from the label - there seems to be one every week these days - it's little surprise to see this follow-up dropping in double-quick time. The label's best material has always been superb, and there are some real gems here. Check, for example, Dirtytwo's clever (and exceptionally well executed) fusion of HNNY's "For The Very First Time" and Midnight Star's "Midas Touch", John Mood's "Basement Romance" (clearly inspired by classic Mood II Swing), and Cle's colossal piano house bomb "The Jam". Oh, and the thrill-packed blast of Balearic magic that is Fred Everything's "Brothers & Sisters (AM Pacific)".

Review: Given his encyclopedic knowledge of music, you'd expect any compilation put together by Bill Brewster to be full of unlikely gems and lesser-known anthems. That's certainly the case with After Dark, the first in a new DJ-focused series from the Late Night Tales camp. From start to finish, Brewster's selections are spot on, from the lowdown, slo-mo disco oddness of Sheffield chanteuse Marti Caine's "Love The Way You Love Me" and wide-eyed, acid-laden kosmiche of Coober Peder University Band's "Moon Plain", to the dirty electrofunk of Zed Bias's "Koolade" (featuring Toddla T, of all people) and mid'80s percussion fest of Martin Kershaw's "Keep On Pokin". If that wasn't enough, Brewster has also unearthed a decent Jamiroquai record. The wonders never cease.

Review: Quick! Look up! Is there a glitterball twirling around majestically above your head? No? Then you're doing this summer wrong. This collection will definitely get you on the right track; curated by Germany's longest standing disco house imprint, each of these cuts will give you that all important hip-swaying, unashamed funky disco fix that you desperately require. From Roger Williams' pumping updated of Gusto's "Disco's Revenge" to Funky Star's super-polished string-slammed cover of Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way", Disco Galaxy have put together a superb collection that will befit almost any hour on the White Isle.

Review: The Legendary Sound Orchestra continues his attempt to provide disco edit lovers with something extraordinary, with a third collection of hand picked reworks. Predictably, there's plenty to enjoy, from his own sparse, piano-heavy version of Silvetti's Salsoul classic "Spring Rain", to the rolling, bongo-laden goodness of 78 Edits' sprightly but loopy "Don't You Know". Highlights-wise, it's a toss-up between Alkalino's baggy disco-soul shuffler, "Have A Ball", and Jimmy The Twin's superb, TR-707-enhanced "Party Down". The latter, a horn-heavy chunk of upbeat disco-funk, is arguably the Bristol-based scalpel fiend's best work to date.

Review: Russian producer Valique is back with the latest installment of his successful disco edit series. He specialises in toughened, quanitised beats, lending old stuff a modern electro-house groove. Highlights here include his highly danceable take on The Smiths' "Barbarism Begins At Home", the skippy, cut up house shuffle of "Angry Brides" and the infectious electro-funk anthem "Like Dancing".

Review: We've been waiting a LONG time for this one! Miguel Mantovani, Archerio Mantovani and Kengo San have been teasing and pleasing with their tongue-in-cheek funk on wax and on stage for years... We always knew when an album drops it would be big. And just look at the line-up - Kurtis Blow, Abdominal, Mica Paris, Tenor Fly, Omar, KT Tunstall are all collaborating across this 15 track funk explosion. With licks from James Brown endorsed CBs band and the perfect balance of tight riddims and humour, "Yo Bonita" rocks in every sense. Essential.

Review: Anyone who decides to dedicate a fair chunk of his debut edits release to scalpel cuts of tracks from Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane and Stevie Wonder must have gonads the size of watermelons. Sitting down could be an uncomfortable proposition, then, for the mysterious V, whose seven-track debut EP also includes chunky, floor-friendly re-tweaks of The Kinks and Sly & The Family Stone (as well as a couple of stonking disco bangers). While some would argue that much of the material here didn't need messing with, he's done an excellent job. The Dub of "Whole Lotta Love", for example, is pitched just right, offering much more bang and exactly the right amount of disco dubbiness.

Review: Following the success of the first three volumes of his AOR-tinged V's Edits series, Russian producer Valique (best known under his usual pseudonym for disco-flecked funk breaks) unleashes another EP of scalpel jobs. This time, the sources are a little more obscure (the silly artist names offer clues), but the party-starting remit remains. So, we get some chunky low-slung, Fleetwood Mac-ish rock ("Because"), a dash of hustling disco-funk ("Up"), a sprinkling of synth-bass laden funk-rock ("Soul Francisco"), a thickset house version of a soul classic ("Good Or Bad") and a big chunk of '90s US garage silliness ("Love You Too") - all tweaked and teased with an eye on dancefloor devastation.

Review: The mysterious V has got some balls. You see, it's common practice in re-edit circles to steer clear of certain big tunes and artists. V clearly didn't get the memo, because this second volume of party-hearty, floor-filling reworks contains sneaky dubs of tracks by Steve Miller (a smile-inducing version of "Fly Like An Eagle"), the Sex Pistols (a filter-heavy tweak of "Anarchy In The UK"), The Lovin' Spoonful ("Summer In The City") and The Beach Boys ("Good Vibrations", which gets a weirdly breaksy Balearic rework). Better, though, are the versions of the more disco and funk-inclined material. His Betty Wright rework ("Slip & Do It") is particularly magical.

Review: Timewarp have been putting out bangers since 2005 on their own Timewarp Music, a Greek label dedicated to only the most alluring electronic sounds. This is their new LP and it's choc-a-bloc with surprises for you; starting from the opener "Bullshit", an irresistibly hip-swanking trip-hop number, it goes all the way through "Disco Frisco" featuring the one like Leon for a smooth but rough-ready house roller, and ends up in places never expected like "Latin Cookies", a track so joyful and packed with good vibes that it can't be properly catalogued into one genre...it has one hell of a bass line though - much like everything else on this sweet full-length from the boys at Timewarp.

Review: Having found success blending chopped-up disco and soul cuts with head-nodding house rhythms, Luca Trevisi is in no rush the flip the script. Then again, why should he be? As this second collection of shuffling disco/soul/house blends proves, nobody else does head-nodding slo-mo and midtempo groovery quite as well. Ain't Nothing But A Groove offers few surprises, but a whole heap of excellent, floor-friendly productions (some, such as the brilliant "Get Down", which have previously been released as singles). While the balance between disco, funk, soul and house changes throughout - the jazzy "Vuonto Beat", for example, is almost a straight-up murky deep house cut - Trevisi's wonderful way with grooves constantly impresses.

Review: Joey Negro's Z Records have a remarkable knack for knocking out vintage compilation after vintage compilation. Here though, they've really discovered a rare niche of unmined gold courtesy of Nuphonic's David Hill who acts as selector. As Hill explains "gospel music has often followed trends in secular music" and this album captures 24 attempts of gospel getting on the disco and boogie trains. Highlights include the hiNRG longing of "I Need You", the electro-soul of "Love Is The Message" and the piano & strings frenzy of "Awake O Zion".

Review: Nope, this ain't the return of mulleted 80s duo Black Lace, it's the latest comp from Dynamicron's Latino-centric nu-disco label Los Grandes. Once again they've searched high and low to gather the hottest re-edits. Highlights this time include Brevil's sultry sweaty "Sexy", Vinyladdicted's shocking percussion-led rework of 'cough', Jimmy Nail's "Ain't No Doubt", PCJ's baddass 70s disco rock freakout "I Like The Sound", DJ Butcher's faithful take on Mister Flaggio's Italo disco masterpiece "Take A Chance", and Craxi Disco's seductive and proggy synth-disco epic "Jerusalem".

Review: With his Midnight Riot compilations, Yam Who has proved to be a shrewd mover. By focusing largely on the edits-not-edits sound - where disco and electrofunk meets deep house - he's managed to catch the zeitgeist of a scene that remains hugely popular. This third volume reads like a veritable who's who of contemporary talent, featuring both well-known names (Ilya Santana, Rayko, Sleazy McQueen, Get Down Edits) and rising stars (Shit Hot Soundsystem, Jimmy The Twin, B-Jam, the excellent Stupid Human). Musically, it largely delivers what you'd expect, expertly moving between delay-laden disco dubbiness, Tiger & Woods-ish disco-house and starlight nu-boogie.

Review: Having impressed with the first collection of re-edits earlier in 2012, the Legendary 1979 Orchestra gather together more floor-friendly reworks from friends and associates on their own Legendary Sound Research imprint. With different tempos, sounds and styles at play, it's a well-rounded collection. Contrast, for example, the tough 80s-electro-goes house vibes of Legendary 1979 Orchestra's "Burning" and the slow, soulful bump of 78 Edits' "Can't Have My Love". Or, for that matter, the breezy party vibes of Andrei's "Let's Go Raw" and the heavy funk of Richmed's "Do Your Thang". There's also some more 80s disco tweakery from Spanish edit workhorse Rayko.

Review: Wow! Fans of either Escort or modern nu-disco (or both!) can now rejoice as the retro New Jersey band's eponymous LP has now been remixed by a string of key producers. It's a veritable feast, a smorgasbord even, of pulsating electronics, female vocals and the kind of music that makes you imagine you're Richard Gere in American Gigolo. Highlights include the voodoo weirdness of Sub Swara's take on "All Through The Night", the high octane Proper Heat mix of "Chameleon Chameleon" and Ewan Pearson's Tom Tom Club-esque version of "Cocaine Blues".