Review: For this latest missive from Wall Of Fame HQ, we see label stalwart Buggin' Out sharing the love with P Sol on a rare split release. The former is up first, reworking the Isley Brothers' legendary synth soul classic "Between The Sheets" on "All I Know", before delivering "Party Girl", another killer slice of '80s electro-boogie muscle. P-Sol on the other tackles Larry Levan's mighty "Hopscotch' on "Do It Again", before wrapping things up with the slow soul grind of "Sunshine".
Review: Wall Of Fame label boss Patrick O'Sullivan teams up with Buggin' Out to bring you the label's debut release. Lead track "Omar" reworks a fairly obscure early 80's R&B track into a dancefloor burner. "Pay Attention" captures a great piano driven soul loop, just the right amount of additional drum elements and some rap vocal snippets on this super dope hip-hop joint on the NYC style tip. P-SOL reworks a particular Roy And Ecstasy disco classic while still keeping the integrity of the original track. "Passion" finishes off the EP as P-SOL has a take on a classy ride into the sunset!
Review: New York City's Wall Of Fame was established in August of 2014 by P-SOL. They really live up to their name on their new various artists release, which features an all star cast if we've ever seen it! Starting off with Aussie legend Dr. Packer who serves up some instant funk (see what we did right there?) on his truly burning "Instant Groove" while Guildford's Evil Smarty serves up a new rendition of a certain Ms. Vega classic on "4 Love". Elsewhere, Brighton's Fingerman gets down with a deep disco joint for lovers in the form of "Boogie Change Up" and finally the label boss himself - the always reliable Patrick Sullivan aka P SOL gets down with some hazy '70s rock swagger on "Let It Go". This follows up some great releases by UK's Andy Buchan and Napoleon, Munich's Alkalino and Javi Frias. For those of you that are chasing some 'respectful edits' look no further!
Review: For as long as any of us can remember, the Editorial label has led the way in multi-artist re-edit EPs. Their latest missive is, unsurprisingly, a bit of a Christmas cracker. Tomas Malo kicks things off with "Welcome Distraction", a filter disco-house revision of Escort's 2006 revivalist disco gem "Starlight", before label regulars Ed Wizard & Disco Double Dee drop the ultra-positive, disco-with-bells-on fun of "Your House Tonite". Pontchatrain gets "Nasty" with a chunk of righteous, floor-friendly disco-rock/house fusion, Sunner Soul delivers some horn-totin' disco-funk brilliance, and P-Sol confirms a "Luv 2 Dance" by cutting up a familiar old disco staple. As for Mars, he heads for the end-of-night close dance via sensual R&B vocals, nods to P-funk and some superbly sumptuous synths.
Review: Editorial are back with another mini compilation: hallelujah! It's more on the deeper tip than the disco one this time around, but it's all the same quality you expect from this camp as always! Jus Tadi's dreamy and lush deep house vibes come courtesy of "Peaches", Matt Hughes serves up some deep down and dirty funk on "Do Your Thing", plus there's some chilled-out balearic business covered also by P SOL on "Come On". A Salsoul sounding re-edit by Serge Gamesbourg (!) on "Burning" is a worthy addition and some sexy deep house to close out proceedings courtesy of Long Island Sound and The Owl respectively. All killer no filler!
Review: Danny "80s Child" Worrall's Masterworks Music label seems to specialize in delivering tasty reworks of long forgotten '80s soul, boogie and P-funk gems. This latest EP from Brooklyn-based P-Sol is packed to the rafters with this kind of gear. He does an admirable job balancing the needs of the dancefloor with giving the original material due reverence, as you'd expect from someone of his vast experience. There's some slow, chugging, synth-laden disco sweetness ("Every Night"), a dash of breezy '80s dancefloor soul (the filters and bumpin' beats of "Real Love"), and a lesson in the power of dubbed-out horns and eyes-closed synth solos (the admirable "Do Ya"). In other words, plenty of tried-and-tested material for those who dig synth-heavy disco grooves.
Review: Re-edit Yankee P-Sol seems to getting deeper with each new release. House certainly seems to be winning out over disco in his newer productions as is evidenced here. "Sure Thing" is seven minutes of woozy pads delayed claps and a general 3am otherworldliness, "Hooked" is a funkier jam that's still very hazy with early-'90s New York vibes (right down to the jazzy sax and Fender Rhodes chords), and things wrap up on a high note with the tough, tribal beats and dreamy synths of "Treats".
Review: After putting out three Mixed Bags on Wall Of Fame and other material for Hot Digits, FKR and Editorial, P Sol lands on DiscoDat! His entrance is a laid back one with the lazy Sunday vibes of "You Left Me", while "Six Machine" is amplified funk with trumpeting horns, walking basslines and sassy vocals. "Not Easy" ventures down a soul route leaving the flutey "Harlem River Drive" to seal the deal of a great four-track release.
Review: New York's P-Sol is becoming a trusted source of chunky, floor-friendly reworks. Here he delivers another quartet of gems, on the third volume of his ongoing Mixed Bag series. He kicks things off with "Physical", a tooled-up, floor-friendly re-cut of the Olivia Newton-John pop classic of the same name, before showing Marvin Gaye some love on the sumptuous, filter-heavy loop jam "If You Let Me". Arguably the EP's two strongest moments come last, though; the delay-heavy proto-house dub business of "Tonight", and "Can't Judge", a chunky, bass-heavy re-edit of Cookie's 1982 roller-boogie classic "Can't Judge a Book By Its' Cover". All killer, no filler, as the saying goes.
Review: Having now appeared on labels such as Editorial, Diggin Deeper and Vehicle, P Sol is now becoming a bit of a disco edit label lothario. His latest conquest, sorry, home, is Groove Democracy and he's cooked them up four funk bangers for breakfast (at least he stays the night). You know the drill by now: vintage, hard-to-argue-with funk lovingly tweaked and extended into protracted bliss. Highlights include Gwen McRae/Larry Levan's masterpiece "Getting Hot" as well as the loopy '80s funk of "No Lies" and the raucous stomp of Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothing". Sizzlin'!
Review: If you're going to have a garden it might as well be a disco one, even if it's just so you could answer the question 'how does your garden grow?' with 'pretty disco actually' (should anyone ever actually ask such a thing). The grass in P Sol's garden is certainly disco and the low slung, punk-funky grooves of the title track prove it. Elsewhere we get more sleek, linear and looped edits including the throbbing disco house of "Fool's Paradise" and a mellow take on George Benson's "Turn Your Love Around".
Review: Of late the Vehicle label has almost totally focused on output from Russian producer Valique. Here though, the spotlight switches to P Sol who seizes the disco baton with both hands. "Groove On" kicks things with a filtered funky riff and hands-in-the-air soul samples, "Love How You Feel" is deep, raw body music, "Love Me Right" is a tight electronic grind, and "Reboter" wraps things up the boogie with some clap-a-long silliness.
Review: Brighton's Hot Digits have managed to generate a roster boasting some pretty established names on the re-edit scene. Here, on Hot Jints Vol 2, they've rustled up some newer names to mix with the old. P-Sol delivers some swishy sun bleached laid back grooves on "The Closed Door", "Keep On Ducking", by Raw Artes & Jack Whitey, is a jauntier affair - all clavinet-fuelled funk, Causal Connection's "Sun Glider" opts for a fine duel between elastic slap bass and linear guitar licks, and finally Fingerman closes the show with the uplifting orchestrated harmonies of "Summertime Stringz".
Review: Given the EP's title, you'd expect this latest split EP from the Royal Soul camp to be full of the kind of fun-time fare that makes you want to shake your ample assets. Happily, that's exactly what's on offer. P-Sol gets things rolling via the bouncy disco-funk-goes-house shenanigans of "Shape Up's", before fellow experienced producer Trotter expertly throws together samples from all manner of familiar tunes on the party-starting funk breaks explosion of "Trotter vs Sahntisan & Foo". Zel's tasty midtempo shuffler "Disco Speech" - all undulating disco bass, punchy ska horns and lolloping drums - offers a pleasingly groovy alternative to the full-throttle fare elsewhere on the EP, while Cupcake Project steals the show via the rubbery P-funk re-edit action of "Hey Baby". In summary: rock solid party jams.
Review: Having recently notched up a sixth year in business, Fingerman's Hot Digits imprint is in a celebratory mood - hence this all-action round-up of recent delights and unheard treats from the disco-loving label. Encompassing no less than 30 tunes, the collection giddily skips between warming beatdown disco (P-Sol's "Walter"), Mark E style slo-mo loop jams (Vigi's "I'll Be There") and glassy-eyed Balearic nu-disco (Picklejam's "Untitled Love"), before raising its hands skywards as the peak-time party-starters begin to appear thick and fast. Highights in this category include the vibrant jazz-house flex of Dexter Jones' "Swing Thing", the bustling boogie re-edit business of Monsieur Von Pratt's "Let's Dance" and the hearty disco-funk heaviness of Chewy Rubs' "Funky Bee Bop".
Review: Nu-disco hero 80s Child has come a long way since Masterworks Vol 1, the inaugural release on his Masterworks label a year and a half ago. Now we have the follow-up and it reveals how the label's sound has grown. There are 26 sizzling bangers on board this time, boasting a million delirious dance floor moments. Highlights of which include the fizzy thump-funk of 80s Child's "Computerized", Peza's doomy analogue electro mash up "Filmed Message" and the smooth, synthetic boogie of "Much Too Much" by Deelicious.
Review: Fingerman's Hot Digits imprint has packed in a lot of releases over the past 12 months, as this expansive roundup of the label's second year in business proves. Featuring 27 tracks and a bonus mix by the South Coast dwelling label boss, there's naturally plenty to admire. Highlights include, but are not limited to, the rolling, head-nodding grooves of Eyeco M's "Keeping It To Myself", the killer proto-house throb of "Tonight" by Bad Barbie vs Evil Smarty, the sexy, string-drenched disco loveliness of P-Sol's "Can't You See", LTJ's trumpet-boasting funk bumper "Fat Thing", and the hard-wired, bass-heavy rework of Julia & Company's "Breakin' Down (Sugar Samba)" by Melon Bomb. It is, though, all pretty darn hot.
Review: Fingerman's Hot Digits imprint has always reflected his production style, delivering releases that gleefully blur the boundaries between re-edits, remixes and original material, and blend elements of disco, funk, soul, boogie and deep house. This groovy, warm and floor-friendly formula is much in evidence on this first anniversary compilation. Featuring a blend of previously released gear, exclusives and a bonus DJ mix from Fingerman, Hot Digits: Year One is an effortlessly entertaining collection. There's naturally much to admire, from the subtle house beats and P-funk synths of Fingerman's own "Shine Yo Litez" (a rework of an old Grangers tune), and the disco-funk chunkiness of Groove Motion's "Party Now", to the compressed, dubbed-out disco house madness of Chewy Rubs' "Let It Go".
Review: Editorial is one of the leading re-edit labels currently doing the business, so it's only fitting that they should enlist some leading re-editors for Love Dubs. Australia's Dr Packer leads the charge with a sublime spaced out version of Teena Maries' slap bass classic Behind The Groove. Further highlights include the slo-mo, hands in the air vibes of "Bionic Love" by Robjamweb and the orchestrated '70s glamour beat of "Smile" by Black Rebel.
Review: Editorial's policy of giving their split EPs of edits and reworks a distinctive theme has always been a bit of a winner. Here, they return to the world of slo-mo, soul-flecked edits, with a quintet of sumptuous scalpel works for our delectation. 78 Edits impresses with the winding sax, horizontal bump and head-nodding grooves of "Meet Patti", while DJ Moar offers up a slinky, electric bass-driven ride into slow disco-house territory in the shape of the Rhodes-laden "King Bob". Hot Box and P-Sol both deliver heavily compressed, filter-sporting toe-tappers for those warm-up moments where you just want to get locked into the groove, while Jona Saucedo brilliantly combines dubbed-out modern soul vocals with an attractive loop from Fonda Rae's boogie classic "Touch Me".
Review: KS French spreads the love for his latest French Kiss release - gathering an all-star cast of re-edit dons to share the load over these six tracks. Never just content with straightforward editing, French Kiss releases always add extra production techniques to the loops, creating something fresh in the process. Highlights here include KS French's own "Money We Make It" which cleverly incorporates a Marvin Gaye vocal into a deep funk shuffle, the loopy, phased guitar heaven of P Sol's "Feel Me Baby" and the tough, stomping warped disco house of "Another Wish" by DJ Moar. C'est bon!
Review: Dynamicron's Los Grandes label is fast becoming one of the more reliable sources of contemporary disco. Their Black Lace compilations, which feature tracks that sit somewhere between straight-up edits and disco-tinged house productions, have proved particularly popular. There's predictably plenty to enjoy on this sixth instalment in the serious, from the righteous rubbery bass and space synths of Sunner Soul's "One Game" and heavyweight Italo pulse of Nicko's "Electronic Disguise", to the bouncy cut-up disco house antics of Mr Moustache Love's "El Coca", and Plastic Fantastic's dreamy downtempo gem "Beyond The Horizon". While the latter stands out like a sore thumb next to such boisterous dancefloor fare, it arguably provides the album's most startling moment.
Review: Over the last few years, the Editorial imprint - an outlet for disco, electrofunk and house-centric re-edits and reworks - has established a winning formula: expansive, compilation style EPs featuring tracks from a wide range of scalpel-wielding talents. This 33rd excursion sticks to the script, offering another quintet of floor-friendly rubs. There's a dash of heavyweight P-funk (Ed Wizard and Disco Double Dee's forthright "Saturday Night"), some cut-and-paste, sampleadelic beats (Future Feelings' Steinski-ish "Basement Jam"), a sprinkling of deep disco-house (Matt Hughes, P-Sol) and a fluid, Aim-ish trip into downtempo instrumental hip-hop territory (Riccio's electric piano-heavy "Reflections").
