Review: 'Welt Am Draht' (or 'World On A Wire') was a cult German sci-fi TV show from the early 70s and while it's not explicitly stated, we're guessing that's informed the sound of this Shir Kham-compiled seven-track, seven-artist EP, which is replete with atmospheric, retro-futurist grooves, some of which - 'Balin Bali' in particular - would sound right at home on a sci-fi soundtrack. But it's not all John Carpenter synths and cinematic moodiness: cuts like 'And You' and 'High Energy' are aimed fair and square at the dancefloor. If tuff, proggy, Italo-esque vibes are what you're after this week, this is one to check for sure.
Review: Miura certainly haven't skimped on the remix budget for this latest bullet from Mexican producer Oscar Avendano AKA Levantine. 'Messages From A Star' in its Original form is a light and shuffly lil' nu-disco groover, but the package includes re-rubs to suit a wide range of tastes, with a sumptuous deep house pass courtesy of Steve End, a future garage-y mix from Lemtom, an M1-driven peaktime house/bassline mix from HARBISON, a wonkier nu-disco rub from Robbast, a bassy, understated mix from Ezra Collins and finally a spangly, hi-NRG-ish take courtesy of Kellit... you pays your money and you makes your choice!
Review: George Kelly's Athens-based Chopshop celebrate 15 years in the game with this best-of compilation that takes in cuts from the likes of Groove Armada (via Greg Wilson), Situation, Andy Bach, Bodie Lee, HP Vince and more, many of which - as is entirely in keeping with the label's name, of course - draw heavily on source material from the past. Dave Leatherman & Bruce Nolan kick us off with 'Sunny Side Up', which reworks Osibisa's 'Sunshine Day', and from there on out it's basically a non-stop disco/disco-house riot, with Bodie Lee paying tribute to Inner City on 'Let Me Take You Dancer', Wild Cherry chopped and looped to glorious effect by Delly on 'Movin' To The Groovin' and Alejandro Maria stealing the day with 'A Lot To Live For', which should really be called 'Stabs To Die For'.
Review: As the title makes clear, Shir Khan's 'Exploited Club Trax' series - which here reaches its' eighth instalment - is not bound by a complicated concept: it's merely about making people dance... and ideally in the most energetic, enthusiastic way possible. The long-serving DJ has once again selected plenty of no-nonsense, peak-time ready treats, all of which are guaranteed to get dancers in a spin. There's plenty to set the pulse racing across the 15 tracks on show, with our picks including the fiendishly sub-heavy, mid-90s piano house rush of 'Hurts' by Black Hawks of Panama (featuring vocals from Bisi), the Italo-meets-robo-disco bounce of Packim's 'Tanzen', a brilliant booty bounce revision of Aiwaska's 'Imagination' courtesy of DJ Assault, and the 8-bit electro-disco of Levantine's 'Disco Relaxation'.
Review: A bit of a change of pace for Mexican disco producer Levantine here: where August's 'Pt 1' focused on rock-tinged, cosmic/Italo-inspired vibes, 'Further Excerpts From Disco, Pt 2' finds him in slightly more straight-up disco territory. 'Vilkan' gets the ball rolling, a midpaced instrumental roller that (very) vaguely recalls Salsoul Orchestra's 'You're Just The Right Size' - no samples involved, it just has a similar kinda feel. The killer to these ears though is 'Bosporus', which sits right on the deep house/disco cusp, sports some very fine jazz trumpet-work in the mid-section, and has pent-up dancefloor energy to spare.
Review: Three contemporary disco jams here coming courtesy of Levantine, a Mexican producer who cites his influences as "New Order, a blonde ex-girlfriend and Schopenhauer" and who prior to taking up the DJ-producer mantle played in both rock bands and synth outfits. It's perhaps unsurprising, then, that he's operating here at the cosmic/Italo end of the disco spectrum, a sound that 'Magnifique' emulates quite faithfully. 'Kind Of Magic' is similar in style but a little more Germanic and coldwave-y, but the standout for this reviewer is sitar-sprinkled opener 'Casual Encounters', with its decided overtones of psychedelia.
Review: There's a pretty obvious clue in the name as to what kind of music you're going to find here! What makes this compilation from Greek label Chopshop stand out, though, is that the usual suspects are, for once, notable by their absence: there are contributions from Tonbe and HP Vince, as well as label boss George Kelly, but many if not most of the artists involved here will be new names to many if not most listeners. As such, it's a collection that's well worth investigating, packing 15 uptempo tracks - largely original, if heavily sample-based productions, rather than re-edits - that are long on funk basslines, handclaps and cowbells. What's not to like?
Review: With 17 tracks from nearly as many artists to choose from, you certainly can't fault this nu-disco collection from Rafaell Cancian's Brazilian label About Disco on the VFM front! It's hard to pick holes, too, when it comes to musical variety, with tracks ranging from the rock-tinged funk/soul vibes of Imanol's 'Improv' to the fierce acid meltdown that is Panko Samuele de Santis's 'Caldo Caldo', and calling at pretty much all stations in-between - albeit it's straight-up nu-disco jams from the likes of Jehan and The Secret Soul Society, and raw funkers like JB Boogie's 'Night Drive', that actually work best to these ears. Worth investigating for sure.
Review: Sporting a history with labels like Chopshop, Editorial and About Disco, Mexican producer Levantine brings his sound to the HQ of Ilya Santana with this four-track Cosmic Sessions EP! Honing in on a neon-lit '80s sound the tracks here find themselves caught up between proto-electro, Italo disco and a touch of synth wave. At its most ghouly is the Goblin-esque arpeggios of "Forever Leather" next to the industrial wave and fetish disco of "La Disco Delle Tenebre". Get your break in the clouds through the spiralling and Rocky Horror show theamtics of "Passato Prossimo" with "Punk Love" getting a shade more hardcore with its spiraling synth and bassline to make Giorgio Moroder smile.
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