Review: Four excellent new funk/soul/disco bombs from the Whiskey Disco label, with some surprising covers and peerless edits for your aural delectation. Anthony Mansfield sets about deconstructing a fresh cover of "Hercules" by Aaron Neville, while fans of Philly/Al Green-esque slow '70s funk will love Cosmic Boogie's soft-touch edit of "How Can You Say Goodbye". Rayko ups the tempo a little with his mix of the boogie wonder "S&M (Sexy Music), while WD label-head Sleazy McQueen has a lot of fun with Stevie Wonder's "Do I Do", looping up instrumental sections just right for a new perspective on this classic Stevie joint.
Review: Spain's Rare Wiri serve up four disco/nu-disco cuts that aren't actually as Latin-leaning as the title may lead you to believe. Label boss Rayko and Fran Deeper join forces on a cover of The Steve Miller Band's classic 'Abracadabra' that has a few flamenco guitar flourishes at the start, sure, and the panpipes that grace Hotmood's 'Rapture' (NB: not the Blondie track) hint at South/Central American influences, but elsewhere Cuz Electric's 'Got The Feeling' is a sleazy electric disco-funker with an early 80s feel while Monsieur Von Pratt's 'Tonight' is sheer late 70s NYC exuberance. So check for this whether you're a Latin lover or not!
Review: Editorial are back with more throwback disco sounds for our decadent dancefloor (guilty) pleasure! Starting out with the sublime deep soul of Slow Steps "We Won't Have To Cry No More (re-work)" they then launch into Los Angeles' Dino (yes, not Gino!) Soccio's "West Athena Funk" which stays on the soul train for a while until the epic boogie drama of Rayko's "Magic Number" ups the tempo, good and proper. Danny Deluxe serves up some summery Balearic vibes on "The Best Years" but they leave the best for last with Sunner Souls' "Show Me Your Love", a funky disco house groove for late night fashion crowds, which is ironically by a Siberian producer! We can dig it!
Review: It had to happen eventually! Two leading lights of the Spanish nu-disco scene, Rare Wiri main man Rayko and Spa In Disco boss Fran Deeper, come together on one EP with predictably high-quality results. In its Original form, 'Desestabilidad' is a hypnotic, pulsating cut in which a big fat squelchy bassline throbs away at the bottom end while arpeggiated synths shimmer and sparkle on top. Alex Arcocha provides a dreamy, Balearic-leaning house remix, while if you need a more stripped-back n' dubby pass for small-hours play, then see the second remix, which comes from the currently on-fire Manuel Costela.
Review: Ireland's Get Down Edit's have developed a real reputation for quality, with many established DJs counting themselves as fans. Even a quick listen to this EP and you'll know why: there's no cheese to found, only well crafted reworks of classy tunes allowed. Label bosses Daz and Martin are first up with the string-laden slow motion "Strategy". The Legendary 1979 Orchestra's "Treating Me" is a steamy stomp with a big chorus, while Stephanie Mill's "Put Your Body In It" is beefed up in fine style by Rayko; Last but not least, Late Night Tuff Guy turns Rose Royce's "Wishing On A Star" into an incredible, and almost unrecognisable, trippy electronic odyssey!
Review: All of a sudden, Rayko is getting a little nostalgic. Here, he goes Back To The Roots of his Rare Wiri imprint, offering up brand new remixes of the cuts that appeared on the label's first release way back in 2008. First up, Phunktastike and Julian Sanza remix Ilya Santana's "Instrumental Odyssey". Sanza steals the show with a sparkling Balearic disco re-rub built around his own rubbery electric bass, chugging beats and flowery synth solos. There's a similarly terrace-friendly feel about Sportito's breezy and atmospheric take on Rayko's "White Russian", while Lone Soldier turns the same track into a low-slung, Italo-influenced chugger.
Review: Madrid's Rayko and James Rod go way back, with a long hearty history of collaborations. One of their key projects is the Classics Of Arrikitaun series and now we have here a fourth instalment. James is up first this time, delivery two new tunes: the light and breezy boogie of "So Easy" and the moody electro arpeggios (and Italo disco melodies) of "Hit!". Rayko starts tough we a raw and chunky vintage funk banger called "What's Your Doin" before going all synthy on the smooth 80s RnB of "Get Your Loving".
Review: Under the DJ Butcher alias, George Kelly has turned the Chop Shop imprint into one of the world's most reliable sources of party-starting re-edits, remixes, mash-ups and sample-heavy productions. Hello My Name Is... Chop Shop celebrates the label's successes so far, with a hot-to-trot DJ mix from the man himself being joined by 18 hand picked highlights from the vaults. Tiptoeing the fine line between original scalpel-work (see the high-tempo, summery celebration of Le Visiteur's "Let The Sunshine" and Corsican Brothers' ace "Big Apple Rock"), house-friendly rubs (Sam Palmer's filter-drenched "Hurt Me", an excellent Latin disco-house cut from The Silver Rider), and balls-out, party starting cut-ups (the block party flex of DJ Agent 86), Kelly has curated an excellent selection of peak-time gems.
Review: What is there left to say about Rayko and his well-known ability to blur the boundaries between re-edits, remixes and original productions? The Rare Wiri founder is at it again here, delivering a retro-futurist three-tracker featuring some sizzling, mid 1980s style workouts. He begins in mind-bending drug-chug mode via 'Towers', where cosmic synth sounds, sprightly electronic melodies and glassy-eyed female vocals ride a seriously filthy bassline and delay-laden machine drums. 'Foto' is a slightly more up-tempo workout rich in tactile chords and undulating, arpeggiated bass that sounds like a cooler, club-ready instrumental riff on the Pet Shop Boys circa 1986's Please album, while 'Only Music Survives' is a sneaky re-edit of a Bobby Orlando style number smothered in rushing piano solos and cheery synthesizer lead lines.
Review: Rare Wiri founder Rayko serves up what is, if we're counting correctly, his fourth studio album. As such, you should have a pretty good idea what to expect by now; if not, perhaps the fact that two of those previous albums came out on Nang might give you a clue! Glossy, shimmering, synth-led nu-disco with a distinctly 80s feel is the order of the day, generally, with 'Fais Pas Amour' bringing the soulful vibes and 'Telegraph' having perhaps the most instant pop appeal, while closer 'Nightloving' stands out from the pack thanks to its slightly more down n' dirty funk edge.
Review: Ever-prolific Spanish nu-disco don Rayko serves up a five-tracker on his own Rare Wiri imprint which looks largely to the early 80s for inspiration. There are echoes of New York punk-funk on 'Need A Freak', for instance, while elsewhere 'Lifetime Groove' has a boogie-ish feel, 'For Your Love' has hints of both Talking Heads and Roxy Music, and the clue as to what 'Electro Material' sounds like is in the title! Perhaps the EP's most interesting cut, though, is 'Legs' - an altogether moodier, more angular affair, it could prove a surprise crossover hit on industrial/goth/EBM floors.
Review: Such is the boundary-blurring nature of many of Rayko's releases, it can sometimes be trickt to ascertain whether what you're listening to is a re-edit, remix or original production. We're pretty sure that the four tracks on Super Natural are all re-edits, though they sound like Rayko's added a few new musical ingredients and reworked the drums. He begins via the early Heaven 17-with-added-electrofunk-flavour flex of 'Dinner' (very 'This Ain't No Fascist Groove Thang'), before strutting his way through a blue-eyed soul take on the early '80s Prince sound on 'Freaks Bearing Gifts'. 'Automan' adds sprightly, spacey synths sound to a formidably heavy acid bassline and relaxed electro drums, while 'Waste Your Time' is a gently tooled up take on a glassy-eyed electrofunk/80s soul workout.
Review: All aboard! Rayko takes us to the end of the line with Last Train To 80's, a three-track package destined for rainbow road. With Rayko's exotic French touch applied to "Affair" we see a slo-mo disco vibe regimented by a snapping snare drum reach the astral plane through some Van Halen-styled guitars in "Space Funk". Going deeper still is "Above", a sweet and dubby number skittled by some classic drum machine percussion, Italo disco grooves and a slight post punk, Uk synth pop edge. Tip!
Review: On his latest re-edit missive, Rayko invites us to hop aboard the "Last Train To 80's", an express service calling at three memorable stops on route. The first of those is the title track, a synth-heavy slab of wide-eyed '80s soul/synth-pop fusion rich in squelchy bass, delay-laden machine drums, clipped guitar riffs and the dreamiest of chords and melodies. The express hits top speed before the second scheduled stop, which is marked by the surging Bobby Orlando-meets-colourful-Italo-disco strut of "Machinery". A memorable journey draws to a close via "Change Your Mind", a tidy, dub mix style re-edit of an especially percussive '80s synth-pop jam that looks set to cause serious damages to dancefloors when clubs finally re-open.
Review: We like to imagine Rayko rocking down the street in his sun-drenched Spanish town, blasting out tactile '80s boogie, soul and disco from an over-sized ghetto blaster slung over his shoulder. If this scene were real, then he may well be playing "Disco Thunder", the tidy re-edit that opens his latest three-track salvo. It's a fine slice of 80s disco-boogie goodness rich unclipped guitars, P-funk bass, sparkling synths, electro beats and bold female vocal snippets. If he were feeling particularly bold, he may also press play on "Touch Down", a driving disco-funk revision full of weighty punk-funk bass, crunchy Clavinet lines, spacey synths and dewy-eyed vocal snippets. Should be want to stop and do a bit of break-dancing, dreamy and delay-laden closing cut "Hypnotic" would do the trick.
Review: Spain's Raico Pe?a drops his fourth long-player, but only the second on his own Rare Wiri imprint (albums two and three having come out on Nang Records). Opening with a near-instrumental re-edit of The Passions' classic 'I'm In Love With A German Film Star' sets the tone nicely for a long-player that wears its 80s influences proudly on its sleeve, with Syndrum beats and analogue synths much in evidence throughout. And just to drive the point home, there's an 'Axel F' reversion called 'Super Suelto En Hollywood' thrown in for good measure! If you dig that spangly, 80s-influenced nu-disco sound, you'll dig this set for sure.
Review: Fresh from collaborating with pal James Rod on the latest edition of their joint "Classics of Arrikitaun" series, Rare Wiri boss Rayko offers up another trio of eccentric but essential tracks that blur the boundary between re-edits and original productions. First up is "Moda", a throbbing fusion of pulsating TB-303 acid bass, hazy Spanish vocals, twinkling pianos and languid Balearic electric guitars. It comes accompanied by "Tear Down", a bombastic revision of a poodle perm-sporting 80s rock slammer rich in wild guitar solos, and the glassy-eyed soft rock/Italo disco fusion of "Independence", a fine revision of a Donner Summer end-of-night classic laden with gospel style backing vocals.
Review: Rayko returns on his own Rare Wiri label with two new rubs of the lead track from last month's EP of the same name. The Paper Street Soul Remix is quite similar in feel and structure to the original but a little less bombastic, and hence better suited to those mellower sets. Ilya Santana's reworking of the track is a little more radical, as he adds lashings of the analogue 80s synth sounds that he's known for, resulting in a mix that's built for peaktime play. This is far from new ground for Rayko, admittedly, but fans will lap it up.
Review: Nu-disco comes in many forms these days, and here scene stalwart Rayko brings us three tracks that are built more for home listening than dancefloor fun and frolics. Opener 'Hell O' gets the ball rolling with its glacial, Italo-esque chug, vocodered "if you were mine" vox and plangent electric guitar wails. 'Force Majeure' is a dreamy, laidback affair with a nagging bass riff augmented by atmospheric synth sweeps and insistent hi-hats, while closer 'CS-80' operates in not dissimilar territory but has a happier, more blissed-out air, dystopic sci-fi synth chords notwithstanding! An ideal soundtrack for lazy days and late-night herbal excursions.
Review: Nu-disco don Rayko digs deeper than most for re-edit ammunition, and the original sources for this quartet have us stumped. 'Kick It Out', though, is a languid, looping funk/disco groove that'll be ideal for daytime or warm-up sets, and sports 80s-sounding synth stabs to match the party-style rap vocal. 'Loredana' places a sultry, half-whispered female vocal (possibly from the Swiss rapper of that name?) atop a full-phat funky backdrop, while 'Give It On' and 'Out Of Control' pay homage to the boogie era of the early-mid 1980s, and may inspire a sudden urge to equip yourself with a shiny suit (shoulder pads a must) and a high-top fade.
Review: Spanish nu-disco don Rayko (Raico Pe?a) revisits four 60s/70s faves with impressive results. Marvin Gaye's 'Mercy, Mercy Me' becomes lazy, lounge-y groover 'Mercy', with fat live bass and looped snatches of Gaye's vocal floating over the top; Steve Miller Band's 'Fly Like An Eagle' becomes blissy, druggy throbber 'Fly' and Ray Carlos's 'Amigo' is, er, Roberto Carlos's 'Amigo' but a bit more Balearic! The jewel in the crown, though, is 'Dust Woman', a frankly superb reworking of Fleetwood Mac's 'Gold Dust Woman', with added eerie howls, that will cause some real 'WTF?' moments on dancefloors...
Review: Prolific Spanish producer Rayko brings you four slices of synth-tastic nu-disco with a prog twist here. The title track is a lazy, hazy affair in which untold layers of analogue sound oscillate their way in and out of the picture. 'Autopower' is a tad funkier in feel and, with its sense of repressed energy, would make a great building track, while slightly more standard-issue Balearic/nu-disco vibes can be found on 'New Horizon'. But for some truly out-there thrills, head for 'Oopart', a guitar-led affair that comes on like Ripperton jamming with space rock diehards Ozric Tentacles.
Review: Four varied tracks make up this new EP from Spanish nu-disco producer Rayco Pena. 'Spelling Love' has a distinctly 80s feel, thanks not least to a very new wave-y vocal. 'Lucky Lately' also harks back to the 80s, but this time we're talking glitzy US boogie rather than angsty European synth-pop. 'Beat' has something of a Prince-y vibe about it, and then we're back in boogie territory again for EP closer 'Changes'. Pastiches these tracks may be, but paying homage to great music of yore isn't a crime - especially not it's when done as convincingly as the four tracks here.
Review: Recently, long-serving scalpel fiend Rayko has been sharing top billing with pal James Rod on the decidedly eccentric Classics of Arrikitaun series. This outing on Thunder Jam - the Spaniard's first for the label, according to our resident nu-disco nerd - sees him hog the limelight via a quartet of synth-heavy '80s soul, boogie and electrofunk reworks. He begins in confident fashion via the smooth, dewy-eyed vocals, heavy synth bass and jaunty keyboard solos of "Complication", before heading further towards Jam and Lewis territory on the electric guitar solo-laden bounce of "Build Me a Bridge". Elsewhere, "Fascination" provides Jheri curls, fretless bass and delay-laden vocals by the skip-load, while fine closer "Wanna" is a dreamy, saucer-eyed rearrangement of a familiar favourite from 1982.
Review: This year Spanish label Rare Wiri Records celebrates their 10th Anniversary with some really special tunes coming out on vinyl and digital formats via Raico Pena's beloved Madrid based imprint. Here we have the lo-slung boogie down groove of "Heart Heart", the respectful edit of a familiar underground goodie on "Out Of Funk" and the sexy neon-lit mood lighting of "Normal". Some great releases from the label in 2017 from the likes of Andy Buchan, Jay Airiness and James Rod so it is good to see a return to from from the label.
Review: Along with Sheffield combo Hiem, Rayko is fast becoming Nang Records' most reliable artist. It would be fair to say that his latest album, No Stopping - his fourth in total and first since 2014 - is undoubtedly his strongest yet. Blessed with some fine guest vocals from Tania Haroshka and, perhaps more impressively, Crazy P's Danielle Moore, the set features much more "live instrumentation" - most notably bass and electric guitars - than the Spaniard's previous full-lengths. This adds an extra level of musical richness to the Madrid man's synthesizer-heavy tracks, which once again flit between hard-edged nu-disco, sun-kissed Balearica, revivalist electrofunk sweetness and the kind of cosmic disco that we would once have expected to hear from Daniele Baldelli and Marco Dionigi.
Review: They say that if you play every re-edit released by Rayko back-to-back, it would take you the same amount of time to listen as it would to get to the moon. The Spaniard seems keen to extend that imaginary journey further (to Mars, perhaps) as he's back with another rock-solid six-track salvo of tried-and-tested re-arrangements. We're particularly enjoying the squeezable, thickset electrofunk re-rubs "Waiting Too Much" and "Rescue" (notably, the latter also boasts a thrillingly heavy and prominent new synth bassline), though cheery electro-era synth-pop cut-job "Crush" is pretty darn tasty, too. Arguably the most sizeable peak-time revision of the lot is opener "Straight From The Heart", in which the Spanish tinkerer delivers a heavy, dubbed-out and celebratory take on a well-known disco anthem.
Review: It's become something of a cliche to point out Rayko's restless productivity, but it's nevertheless true that the Spanish producer does release rather a lot of material. To be fair to the Madrid man, this four-tracker for Midnight Riot is one of his stronger efforts. He begins with the life-affirming pianos and gospel vocals of "Hallelujah", before providing a sun-kissed re-dub of Fleetwood Mac's Balearic classic "Big Love" (here re-titled "Alone"). "That Sound" delivers an attractive blend of wiggly boogie synths, sharp riffs and fuzzy rock guitars, while "Get Loose" is a mostly instrumental re-recording of the Aleems' breakdance era electrofunk classic of the same name.
Review: James Rod works with disco don Rayko a lot, often appearing on his Rare Wiri label. Now the favour is returned as Rayko brings the disco heat to Rod's Golden Soul imprint. On "Surrender" Rayko is found in full 80s mode, re-editing some prime FM-friendly synth-soul with added AOR guitar licks. Like stretching the instrumental break from a Lionel Richie b-side and turning into a cool Daft Punk jam. There are plenty of cool remixes too, highlights of which include Dim Zack's sleek Paradise Garage-style rework and Tulioxi's deep space disco version.
Review: There can be few harder working producers in the contemporary disco scene than Rayko, who seems to drop a new album or collection of re-edits every other week. That the vast majority of these hit the spot is great credit to his finely honed production skills and instinctive grasp of what works on dancefloors. There's plenty to admire on this latest collection of synth-laden '80s re-edits and makeovers, from the undulating guitars, synth-house grooves and spacey sound effects of "Queen", to the camp Euro-throb, fizzing electronics and wide-eyed stare of "Cosmic Rider". Elsewhere, there's some hard-wired P-funk in the shape of "Get Up", and a subtly tooled-up re-fix of Wuf Ticket's cheeky electro jam "Ya Mama".
Review: Rayko either never sleeps, or just works ridiculously quickly. Either way, his productivity is hugely impressive. Here he pitches up on Midnight Riot with another quartet of colourful re-edits in his distinctive style. The sax-laden '80s soul bounce of "Witness" - seemingly toughened-up with extra synth arpeggios - leads the way, before "The Rhythm" provides a dubby nu-disco-meets-Italo, instrumental work-out. The Spaniard is particularly good at crafting new dubs of classic boogie cuts, and "Get Away" - a smooth, head-nodding re-dub of Carol Williams' "Can't Get Away (From Your Love)" - is one of his finest to date. Finally, "60 Yard" goes further towards eyes-closed territory, as he extends and tweaks a guitar solo-laden chunk of '80s soul/synth-pop fusion.
Review: There are plenty of similarities between Iberian scalpel friends Rayko and Alkalino, from their prolific nature, to the tightened up-but-still groovy nature of their ubiquitous re-edit releases. Here, Spaniard Rayko brings his brand of goodtime grooves to Portuguese Alkalino's Audaz imprint, with fittingly solid results. As usual, there's much to admire, from the string-laden, sun-soaked disco-funk bagginess of "You Like To Dance", to the deliciously dubbed-out electrofunk bounce of standout "B-Boyz". There's much to admire elsewhere, of course, with both the sinewy "Rolling" (think classic dancefloor soul business given a nu-disco makeover) and the almost overwhelmingly Balearic Italo rearrangement "Tornado" impressing.
Review: Given his hectic DJ schedule, it's amazing that Rayko somehow finds time to knock out a new EP every few months. Like many of his releases, Rock Me straddles the blurred line between boogie re-edits and original production. This is particularly evident on "Feelings For You", which mixes elements of Gwen McRae's brilliant "All This Love I'm Giving" with bold, occasionally ragged synthesizer lines and a rolling, bottom-heavy groove. He explores rubbery, bouncing Italo-disco territory on the rather good title track, while stand-out "Saturday Knight" - all '80s soul vocal samples and oh-so familiar, Metro Area style bass - is the kind of surprisingly addictive groover that could ignite any nu-disco or deep house set.
Review: Having spent the last few months unleashing original productions, Spanish producer Rayko returns to his roots with another EP of delay-laden, synthesizer-heavy re-edits. In truth, few rework boogie and electrofunk gems quite as well as the Madrid-based man, so Sweet Somebody is undoubtedly welcome. Naturally, highlights come thick and fast. "Time To Move" expertly dubs out a chiming, loose and oh-so familiar mid-80s boogie classic, while "Sweet Somebody" offers a grandiose, immersive take on a big, Italo-influenced dancefloor-pop anthem. The chugging, intoxicating "Time" is, if anything, even better, with cut-up vocals and sharp guitars riding a dubby, chugging electrofunk groove. Finally, a big chunk of '80s soul gets the extended treatment on "This Is Your Time".
Review: Every now and then Spanish disco maverick Rayko gets the time to release some of his in-demand edits on his own label, Rare Wiri Feelings. Maybe it was the Christmas lull, but he's found the time again, and here we have On The Beat. The title track cruelly, but beautifully, teases out B. B. & Q. Band's "On The Beat" to heavenly effect, "Satisfaction" is a moody glam stomp and "Sneak Preview" is slick soul pop, but it's the funk meets Italo-disco of the euphoric "Time Bandits" that's the standout here.
Review: Madrid's disco don Rayko, is back on his own label for some pastel coloured edits on Rare Wiri Feelings Vol 1. Unbelievably he's tackled Frankie's '80s disco-sex-punk anthem "Relax" - possibly the most re-edited/bootleged '80s tune ever. However he turns it into a smoother electro-house workout, which largely works. "Dare" sees Linndrum fills compete with elastic slap bass resulting in a mid-80s Miami freestyle showdown and finally Hall & Oates' classic "Family Man" gets dubbed out in fine style.
Review: There's life in them there '80s yet, at least according to Spanish producer Rayko who returns here with an EP of tunes that could come straight from an episode of Miami Vice circa 1985. Brooding digital synth washes rule the roost with "Peyote Warrior" being all angsty electro-disco basslines, tropical pads and guitar wails, "Lucky Strike" features live-sounding bass and drums with layers melancholic electronics on top, "Juno Lover" is the sound of a stakeout under palm trees at night and "Play" the urgent and percussive soundtrack to a fictional car chase. You can almost smell the sunblock!
Review: Two new fresh edits here from Spanish nu-disco hero Rayko. Although his debut album, Rebirth, came out recently, he's already left it behind in favour of new electro-boogie to plunder and rejig. "In Love" features the kind of laser-sharp basslines that could cut through a car, tight-as-a-gnat's-chuff guitar and seductive female sirens on vocals. However, it's the synth-drenched electronic rare groove of "Piano" that really nails it for us.
