Review: Serbia's Disco Fruit bring us a split EP from two label regulars: Montenegro's Sasha Mitich, better known as Mitiko, and Milos Djordjsevic, better known as prolific re-editor (his 'Serious Edits' compilation series is now up to Vol 11) Loshmi. Mitiko brings us two retro funkers - 'My Shoes', with its infectious wukka-wukking guitar riff, and 'Too Hot To Handle', which marries a sung/rapped male vocal to an 80s sounding synth-woodwind hook. Loshmi, meanwhile, takes us into more Latin-leaning funk territory with 'Portoriko' and 'Pretty Chiquita'. All four are built with the simple aim of moving booties on dancefloors, and all four will do that for sure.
Review: Two years on from his last appearance - a co-production credit on Bra Zil's "Gaeira" on Smilax - Mitiko pops up on Disco Fruit with an eight-track edits E.P. He's clearly been spending plenty of time hanging out in the summer sunshine, because "Soul Baby" is packed to the rafters with groovy, laidback gems that sound tailor-made for hazy afternoons and sultry sunsets. Highlights come thick and fast, from the chopped-up, hip-hop style production and slick guitars of "Let U Know", to the sumptuous, string-drenched disco shuffle of "As U Grow Up", via the effortless jazz-funk bliss of the title track. Check, also, the energetic builds of "Cure For This", a tasty rework of Diana Ross's much re-edited disco classic "Love Hangover".
Review: Accomplished nu-disco don Mitiko is back with another extended play/mini-album, Jazzy Nights, on Tonbe's acclaimed Juicy fruit label. Now everyone needs their nights, er, jazzed up a little and this guy is the man to do it. He presents six new cuts here, all of which will have you throwing major shapes on dancefloors everywhere. Highlights include the seven-minute title track - all rolling bass, gentle wah-wah pedals and cocktail house rhythms, "Make It Shine On" is bouncy Balearic house, the kind of thing you might find on a late 80s dance album and "Tonight" infuses more lazy house beats with some jazz boogie.
Review: You can tell that nu-disco don Mitiko was never a really a fan of singles just from examining his own output. This chap likes his releases to be jam packed with tunes, usually releasing long extended plays/mini-albums on Tonbe's esteemed imprint, Disco Fruit. Particular Groove is no different: boasting a whopping seven tracks, there's plenty to get your teeth into here. Highlights include the triumphant soul chant "Its Not Over", the filtered elastic funk-house rhythms of "Particular Groove" and the swishey and deep poolside vibes of "Waiting To Meet".
Review: More seriously sensual material from Montenegro's Mitiko. "Blue Cab Adventure" hits with a west coast feel, all warm synths and neo soul feels. "Every Street Brother" takes us straight to the heart of Chicago with a steely sense of funk while "Money Money Money" hits the money spot with a deep driving slo-mo 4/4 stamp that really gets under your skin and makes your body thrust in ways you didn't think were possible. Shake your money makers!
Review: Sasha Mitich is a native of Kotor in Montenegro, and for the past decade he's been delivering a stream of re-edits and original material drawing on his love of classic disco, soul, funk and boogie. Seven such cuts are gathered together on this EP/mini-album, no fewer than three of which - 'What Have You Done For Me', 'Think Of You' and 'Doesn't Know That' are very playable Janet Jackson re-edits. Elsewhere, 'Rising Sun' features some fine cheesy sax work, 'You're My Kind Of Woman' borrows from Sho Nuff's 1980 boogie gem 'It's Alright', the title track has an 80s Miami feel and 'Superstar' reworks Amadeo's 'Moving Like A Superstar' from 1977.
Review: Like many of the most recognizable names on the re-edit and nu-disco scenes, Sasha Mitich AKA Mitiko has served up a steady stream of rock solid EPs over the last few years. His latest is typically groovy, atmospheric and floor-friendly with a quartet of killer cuts to get the juices flowing. Opener "Back To Dance" is a lolloping mid-tempo revision of gnarled swamp-funk groover rich in crunchy guitars and hazy horns, while "I Love Your Body" is a deliciously synth-heavy romp through delay-laden drum machine hits, chiming mid-80s melodies, bubbly bass and echoing vocal snippets. Mitich successfully switches mood and tempo on the thrusting Sylvester revision "I Who Have No One" before finishing on a high via the Jam & Lewis style '80s power-pop-soul of closing cut "The Power of Woman".
Review: Montenegro-based groove lord Mitiki is in a celebratory mood on his latest Disco Fruit re-edit outing. He gleefully skips between the beefed-up Spanish language disco cheeriness of "Celebremas" - a rework of a cover of Kool & The Gang's "Celebrate" - and the Clavinet-happy disco-funk muscularity of K.I.D tweak "Do It Again", before charging towards disco-house dancefloors via the beefed-up sweetness of "Love Somebody Today". The pie-eyed, smiling fun continues via the delicious disco-funk party vibes of "Ohio" and closing cut "To The Top", a chunky, horn-toting revision of another sing-along disco workout.
Review: Get ready to boogie till you drop as Montenegro-based scalpel fiend Mitiko offers up a seven-track selection of lightly beefed-up re-edits. There's plenty of tried-and-tested fun to enjoy, from the chugging, synth-sporting disco-rock antics of "Boogie Till We Drop" and the surging K.I.D rework business of "I'll See It Again", to the low-slung swamp funk sleaziness of "Music Is Her Lover" and the rubbery boogie-soul goodness of slap-bass sporting workout "Won't You Blame Me". Wisely he's included a smattering of superb slow jams, too, with the '80s soul shuffle of "Out Of The Night Time" and slow disco groover "It's Over, It's Over" standing out.
Review: For this 49th serving of Disco Fruit, label boss Tonbe has turned to regular contributor Mitiko. Turn Off The Light is a weighty package, with seven sneaky reworks, cut-ups and sample-heavy club tracks to choose from. We're particularly enjoying the groovy, Sade-style dancefloor smoothness of "Let The Spirit Move Me", the jazzy disco bliss of "Turn Off The Light", and the drowsy, mid-tempo deep house shuffle of "I Need You", though there are plenty more highlights elsewhere. Check, for example, the glistening guitar solos of soft-focus disco closer "Lovin You" and the 105 BPM disco-funk party that is "No Attitude".
Review: Mitiko's last outing on Disco Fruit, September 2018's "Easy To See", was a particularly expansive and action-packed set. The prolific, Montenegro-based producer seems to have simmered down a little, because this return to Tonbe's popular imprint contains just three tracks. Crucially, though, they all hit the spot. First up is the groovy, electric piano-laden dancefloor sweetness of "You Make Me", whose elastic bassline and fizzing nu-disco synths catch the ear. "Staring Into Blackness" is a slow disco-house chugger built around heavy bass guitar and Meters-style Hammond organ licks, while "Should I Go Now" sees our hero wrap snaking sax lines around another sumptuous, slow-motion groove and suitably Balearic acoustic guitar flourishes.
Review: Montonegro's Mitiko is one of the nu disco's scene's more prolific producers, releasing regular missives - most notably expansive EPs - on Tonbe's Disco Fruit label. Here he returns to action with another bumper crop of tried and tested reworks. This time round, his inspiration is guttural funk and heavy-duty dancefloor soul, with each slo-mo and mid-tempo revision coming with lashings of raw-throated vocals, bustling Blaxploitation guitars and weighty grooves. Highlights include the horn-heavy disco-funk/funk-rock fusion of "My Shoes", the sweeping, dewy-eyed disco sentimentality of "Easy To See", the Southern fried thrust of opener "Get Me Some Lovin" and the fiery funk-rock grit of "It Ain't Funny", which boasts some seriously intense guitar solos.
Review: Montenegro's Mitiko is taking a journey "From Paris to NY" and the good news is that we're all invited along for the ride. In typical fashion, the prolific producer's soundtrack is packed to the rafters with club-ready disco workouts guaranteed to get a party going on any Transatlantic flight. Our picks include the Clavinet-heavy disco-funk bounce of "Give It Up", the mid-80s, Fairlight stab-sporting electrofunk madness of "Let It All", the chiming synths and Jam & Lewis style beats of '80s soul revision "The One Who Loves You" and the rolling disco-house bounce of superior title track "From Paris to NY". In other words, it's a veritable smorgasbord of tasty re-edit treats.
Review: Montenegro's own disco don Mitiko clearly isn't a subscriber to the "less is more" theory: since 2016 he's put out no fewer than nine albums, all on Disco Fruit, and now here comes number 10. Don't expect any huge, groundbreaking innovation here: faithful homages, not sonic experiments, are Mitiko's stock-in-trade. But from the chuggy, laidback 'Nights Near The Fire' to the 80s boogie of 'Having Any Doubts' and 'Standing On The Line', and from the jazz-funk groove of 'On The Rock' to the unabashed cheesy/novelty vibe of 'Bad Man Of The West', it's all well executed and authentic-sounding, making this an enjoyable listen all the same.
Review: For his last outing on Disco Fruit, Montenegro-based Mitiko served up some "Naughty Things". On his return to the label, he's decided to share his "Beach View". It's a fine vista which naturally comes accompanied by the kind of warm, sun-kissed re-edits that will sound suitably saucy blasting out of the windows of locked-down houses this summer. Highlights are plentiful, from the low-slung, delay-laden Stevie Wonder revision that kicks things off ("Come Back Once More"), to drowsy, synth-laden jazz-funk-meets-electrofunk goodness of "To The Boogie Found", via the grandiose disco stomp of "How Sweet It Used To Be" and the pitched-down, R&B-goes-house warmth of closing cut "How I Feel".
Review: Something of a departure for Mitiko here: a regular on Disco Fruit, the Montenegran producer is best known for disco and boogie vibes that pay very faithful homage to the sounds of the 70s and 80s, but on this five-tracker he takes a left turn into Latin music territory. Disco jocks who favour rhythmic workouts over serotonin-rush diva vocals will find this an EP that's worth exploring, and while its appeal to the disco beards in cities such as Manchester or Berlin may be somewhat limited, that's certainly not gonna be the case in party destinations like Miami, Ibiza or Mexico.
Review: Montenegran producer Sasha Mitich returns to Serbia's Disco Fruit with his second album proper, which follows 2018's 'Disko Adriatiko'. We're in nu-disco/disco-house territory as opposed to straight-up 70s pastiche - in fact it's 80s boogie/electrofunk, rather than 70s disco per se, that's the most obvious influence, particularly on cuts like 'Pray For Another Day'. But the album's perhaps at its most interesting when it crosses over into other musical pastures: there's some fine jazz-funk playing to be heard on Ronnie Laws/Incognito cover 'Always There', for instance, while the standout for this reviewer is jazz-fuelled deep houser 'Sound Of The Rain' - think St Germain jamming with the Average White Band!
Review: "Street Groove" sees Disco Fruit's most prolific producers - Serbian boss man Tonbe and Montenegro-based hero Mitiki - join forces on a seven-track collection of brand new tunes that cannily combine elements of deep house, nu-disco and '90s style U.S house. Our highlights include the aptly named house retro-futurism of "Something Jazzy", the bounding, bass-heavy haziness of title track "Street Groove", the colourful nu-disco/deep house fusion of "Feels So Good" and the slap-bass propelled wonder that is "I Think You Like", where bongo-heavy hand percussion and bumpin' house drums combine to create an energy packed peak-time mood.
Review: With 15 tracks from nine different artists, this is the first compilation from Disco Fruit, making it the ideal opportunity to get acquainted with the Serbian label - or just great value for money if you're in search of some fine contemporary disco, funk and boogie grooves. Ranging from the sprightly jazz-house of Munky Five's 'Peace Of Jazz' to the Fatback funk of Mike Woods 'Get What You Need Y'All', via the Parliament/Zapp-esque squelch of JB Boogie's 'Party Underground', the attitude-y disco-house strut of Jack Roy & Peitzke's 'On The House' with its Scissor Sisters-ish vocal and Hiva's cheeky 'Superfreak'-biting 'Yea Yeah', there's no shortage of mirror ball goodness here.
Review: Serbian edit king Tonbe digs deep into the vaults of his prolific Disco Fruit stable, returning with a 10-track selection of club-ready highlights. There's naturally plenty to set the pulse racing, from the swirling strings and sumptuous, Barry White style grooves of Mitiko's "As You Grow Up" and the acid-laden wiggle of Evil Smarty's fantastic revision of The Osmonds "I,I.I" (here titled "Feel The Fire"), to the pumping drums, low-slung bass and flash-fried, Hendrix-style guitars of Loshmi's "Drugstore". Tonbe himself drops a bouncy chunk of disco-house pressure in the shape of "Don't Mess With Us" (complete with hip-house style sampled vocals), while C Da Afro impresses with the cheeky synths and quirky boogie backing of "One Step".
Review: Serbia's Disco Fruit Records present a 15-track collection packed with disco, nu-disco and disco-house goodness. It's very much an in-house affair - label boss Tonbe contributes two tracksm while Disco Fruit regular Mitiko is behind a further six - which makes the general standard of what's on offer even more impressive. Highlights include Mitiko's boogie-ish 'Do You Really Want My Love?', Loshmi's gloriously camp, Euro-inspired 'Easy Night Drive', Hotmood's lazy, low-slung 'Let's Ride' and Tonbe's phat-assed jazz-funker 'That Sample', while special mention should be made of Kellini's 'No Balance' which, to older ears, is Animotion's 'Obsession' in disguise.
Review: Fresh from the market, Disco Fruit offers up a suitably large pallet of juicy re-edits, tasty revisions and sun-ripened reworks. As you'd expect, there's plenty to get your teeth into from start to finish. Our highlights include the fuzzy 21st century disco-funk of Brian SNR's "Down For Some Loving", the bouncy, synth-bass-propelled funkiness of C Da Afro's "Music Is Love", the sleazy sweatiness of Frank Virgilio's flash-fried "Thick As A Brick (The ReThink)", the throbbing goodness of Loshmi's Italo-disco/80s rock revision "Palm Springs", the mid-tempo disco bliss of Mitiko's "It's Over, It's Over" and the disco-house bump of Tonbe's "Make It Last Forever".
