Review: Rayko teams up once more with Elena Hikari to deliver the pair's second joint long-player, following on the heels of 2023's 'Tu Alma Y La Mia'. But while that first album was good, this one's exceptional! Cinematic, cosmic opener 'Too Much' sets the tone but it's the second track, 'Nunca James', that really hits you in the face: it's a slow-burning monster, with Hikari's haunting vocal earning it a place in the box marked "truly sublime". 'Looking To Edge' is another BIG track that probably needs to be heard on a 4am dancefloor to be truly appreciated; after that you get four more cuts that blur the lines between cosmic/Italo disco, Balearica, coldwave, house and pop (including a new version of 'Extraordinarylove' from the first album) before the title track, another deep, slo-mo chugger, plays us out in very fine style. Excellent work!
Review: Given the prolific output of his Rare Wiri label, it's a wonder Rayko finds time to get in the studio at all. But he does, regularly - and when he's not producing synthy, 80s-flavoured nu-disco jams of his own, he somehow also manages to fit in the odd cheeky re-edit or 20! Here, then, a score of such reworks are served up for your listening and dancing pleasure, with the emphasis firmly on lesser-known gems - sources include Ann Peebles, Diana Ross, Quincy Jones, Break Machine, Michael Sembello and Earl Flint, as well as US folk-rocker Barbara Keith's version of 'All Along The Watchtower', but there are plenty more that will have to go unidentified. Suffice to say, though, that if funk, disco, boogie, electro and pop from the 70s and 80s float your boat, this collection will leave you positively buoyant!
Review: Clocking it at just under 2.5 hours long, you certainly can't fault this Rare Wiri year-end label comp on the value for money front! With 23 tracks on offer there's no room here to go into them all individually, and you probably have a pretty good idea of the label's particular electronic, 80s-leaning flavour of nu-disco anyway. Suffice to say, then, that Rare Wiri's many existing fans will be more than satisfied while newbies - if there are any left! - should start with AINZ's chunky, sleazy 'Hangover', the Italo strut of From Beyond's 'Non Analogue', MR Gee's throbbing 'Gravity', Rune Lindbaek's sci-fi refix of Ilya Santana's 'Cosmos Rising' or, a personal fave, Kelton Prime's 'Disco Arpeggio', wherein nu-disco meets garage vox...
Review: Four tracks from as many artists make up this latest V/A offering from Rayko's Rare Wiri, with a couple of heavy-hitters sharing the stage with a brace of newcomers. Up first is new boy Billy Woods, who channels early 80s cod reggae vibes on not-unlikable opener 'Reggae Music' before Spanish veteran Ilya Santana shows us how the big boys do it with the surging, euphoric and lightly rock-tinged nu-disco of 'X Factor'. Label chief Rayko then steps up with the decidedly 80s-sounding 'Jabdah' before Leo Zero plays us out with the rawk geetars of 'All Is Fair'.
Review: Born back in 2008, Rayko's Rare Wiri mark their 200th release with an album-length compilation featuring 12 brand new cuts from what the man himself describes simply as "some of my favourite artists out there". The album starts out in laidback, Balearic mode with Secret Soul Society's 'Draw Of The Cards' and ends up back there with Manolo's 'By The Moon', but in-between you'll find the looping, funked-up deep house of Fran Deeper's 'Lost Baby', the shape-throwing 80s Faltermeyer-isms of Kelton Prima's 'The Beggining', Ilya Santana's floor-friendly cover of Vangelis's 'Dervish D', the electro nouveau of From Beyond's 'Star Slip' and more besides. Here's to 200 more!
Review: Spanish disco don and Rare Wiri boss Rayko has worked with vocalist Elena Hikari on several previous releases in the past, two of which - 'Unite' and 'Testify' - are among the eight tracks that make up their first collaborative full-length. As such you'll have a good idea what to expect already, with synth-y, 80s-inspired disco/pop the general order of the day, from chuggy, hazy opener 'Extraordinary Love' to slightly more abstract and beats-y closer 'Imagina'. But thankfully the sheer quality of Ms Hikari's voice is strong enough to carry it off, with 'Testify' in particular sounding as good as it ever did and the vaguely dark wave-ish 'Unite' and 'A Different Day' adding a little variety.
Review: Boite Music is the baby brother of Fran Deeper's Spa In Disco stable, specialising in "synth, chugging Balearic and power disco". If you've yet to dip into the label's catalogue - or simply just can't get enough of it - then this nine-track compilation is well worth a listen. It begins with a throbbing and pulsating slab of exotic, Italo-tinged nu-disco (Cobertizo's 'Inana') and ends with the mind-mangling dark-Italo chug of Manuel Costela's synth-heavy 'Girls of the Night'; in between, you'll find a variety of trippy, heavily electronic treats including such highlights as the Bobby Orlando-on-sleeping pills shuffle of 'Glide' by Saturno 5, the occidental disco exoticism of Jason Core's 'Istanbul', and the atmospheric, delay-laden vocal nu-disco pulse of Rayko's 'Solstice'.
Review: 14 years into his production career, Rayko is in better form than ever. That much is proved by 'Extraordinarylove', a fine slab of pitched-down, Italo-powered late-night pop featuring the fine vocals of Elena Hikari. Her lead vocal chimes out above a chugging, sequenced synthesiser bassline, bubbly lead lines and vintage-sounding drums (think Gaz Nevada, and you're close) on the Spanish producer's own 'Slow Version'. Manuel Costela provides the obligatory remix, upping the tempo and successfully re-framing the track as an atmospheric, squelchy and star-lit chunk of 21st century nu-disco excellence.
Review: With a title like 'Cosmic Memories' your middle name doesn't need to be Sherlock to work out what's going on here, as Rare Wiri bring us a nine-track collection that pays homage to the trippy, synth-fuelled disco of early 80s Italy. Who better to kick things off, then, than cosmic disco originator Daniel Baldelli, with his and DJ Rocca's remix of Manolo's 'Amalfi Drive'? That sets the tone nicely for an album that's long on glacial synths, 80s-sounding electronic drum beats, Euro-style vox and dramatic magenta blusher... okay, you can only actually HEAR the first three of those, but you get the idea! Phoreski's 'Slow Down' stands out for yours truly, packing as it does a little more of Da Funk.
Review: Rayko's homage to the 1980s continues as he serves up three more cuts that draw heavily on classics of the decade for inspiration. The pulsating, midtempo 'Rain' gets the ball rolling, with a nice fat bassline that's topped by plinky-plonky synths and snatches of Ann Peebles' classic 'I Can't Stand The Rain' vocal. We then move on to 'Love Beats', which reworks 'Beats Of Love', a minor mid-80s Euro hit for Belgian new wave outfit Nacht Und Nebel, before the magnificent Madge herself gets the treatment on 'Revogue'. 'Rain' gets my vote, just for taking the most radical and daring approach.
Review: Spanish disco don Raico Pena brings us what by our count is at least his sixth long-player - it's hard to keep up! Latterly the Rare Wiri boss has been tending to explore slightly more electronic pastures, and so it is here: after 'Barry's Intro', a Walrus Of Love monologue underpinned by shimmering synths, the rest of the album by and large falls under the Italo/cosmic umbrella, with hints of 80s pop/rock creeping in on 'Healer', 'Loved By You' providing the most obvious dancefloor moment and 'Silver' distinguishing itself through its use of a Middle Eastern-style male vocal.
Review: Rayko is one of the leading lights of the contemporary disco scene, he isn't afraid to do the cheeky booty thing now and then, and this EP's called 'Last Train To 80's' - do you really need me to tell you what it sounds like? Oh, you do? Okay then, it sounds a bit like Foreigner's 'Urgent', at first. Then it sounds a bit like Madonna's 'Get Into The Groove', before moving on to sound a bit like 'Mama' by Genesis, and then ending up sounding a bit like 'Lullaby' by The Cure. And if you haven't got the idea by now, I don't really know what else to tell you!
Review: Rare Wiri's 'Retro Future Disco' series, launched in 2016, reaches its third installment - and with 10 tracks on offer, many of them coming from scene big-hitters like Alkalino, Ilya Santana, C Da Afro, Andy Buchan and of course label boss Rayko, nu-disco lovers will be salivating already! Generally speaking it's synth-tastic grooves inspired by Italo and cosmic disco that lead the charge here - though, given the talent roster, you'd expect a certain degree of stylistic variety, and you'll find such in Buchan's rawer, more funk-leaning 'Family Kings' and the soulful vibes of The Beatbroker's 'Belong 2 Me'.
Review: Rare Wiri boss Rayko puts on his re-editor's hat and revisits three dancefloor nuggets from days gone by. Opener 'Superman' reworks the 1983 album track of the same name by Michael Sembello (who's best known for his worldwide hit 'Maniac', which featured on the 'Flashdance' soundtrack). The source for electro-disco throbber 'Street Ranger' remains sadly unidentified (though there are bites from 'Planet Rock' in there), but 'Romance' is a nice easy one, being based on Eddy Grant's 'Romancing The Stone' from the eponymous motion picture. If party-hearty 80s vibes are what you seek, this is well worth checking.
Review: Rayko joins forces with vocalist Elena Hikari for a full-length on his own Rare Wiri label. Recently the prolific Spanish producer has been spending much of his time in cosmic/Italo territory, but while such sounds are indeed in evidence here, they're not the whole story: you can hear influences too from Balearica, trip-hop and straight-up disco, not to mention the kind of grown-up dance pop that the likes of Moloko and Goldfrapp used to specialise in. The presence of Ms Hikari's voice throughout ties it all together nicely, and while the 20s pop sheen may be a little too much for some, the best bits - see for instance 'Suddenly' - are truly sublime.
Review: Rayko returns to his own Rare Wiri imprint with a four-track EP that finds him spreading his musical wings a little wider than usual. The title track here is a dark n' moody electronic chugger that marries space disco stabs to ominous guitar chords, and that'd work well for warm-up or very late play. The EP's other three cuts look to the 80s for inspiration, with echoes of Germanic coldwave and EBM ('Electro Impact'), US no-wave/disco-not-disco ('Beach Culture') and out-and-out Italo-disco ('Needing Love'). Roll up the sleeves of your linen sport coat, dab some wet-look gel on your feathercut mullet and dive on in...
Review: Ever-prolific Spanish nu-disco fave Rayko recruits vocalist Elena Hikari, who also featured on last year's Tito collab 'You Are Not Alone', for a four-track EP on his own Rare Wiri imprint. 'Suddenly' itself comes in two fairly similar-sounding mixes - Cosmic Diamond's Guitar Mix is a little hazier and druggier, while Sauco's is a bit more straight-ahead. Elsewhere, 'Flying Where You Are' is all squelch, throb and Hikari's plainitive tonsils, while the midtempo 'Death From Above' is a hypnotic, pulsating groove that leans towards the Balearic, with Hikari's vox applied here in chopped 'n' looped form.
Review: After 12 years in the game, Spanish nu-disco stable have reached the 100-release milestone, and they're celebrating with an imaginatively titled compilation packing eight brand new tracks that have been handpicked by label boss Rayko. Obviously, with eight tracks from as many artists there's a fair degree of stylistic variety on offer, but the emphasis generally is on heavily electronic grooves - sometimes veering into Balearic/coffee table pastures, sometimes served with a darker, more leftfield twist. It's really more of a home listening album than a collection of club cuts, but for dancefloor purposes start with the contributions from Ilya Santana and Sauco...
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: A few years ago, Tito Velcro, Elena Hikari and Rare Wiri founder Rayko joined forces in the studio and produced a handful of decidedly Balearic tracks. Now, having sat on Rayko's hard drive for "a few years", they're finally getting a deserved release courtesy of Citizens of Vice. "You're Not Alone" is suitably special, with swirling and evocative vocals from Hikari rising above lazy, laidback guitar riffs, dreamy chords, bubbly beats and soft-touch synth sounds, while 'Unforgettable' is a chugging, slow-motion treat that wraps sparkling synth lines and echoing guitars around echoing beats and low-slung bass. Rayko provides a slightly more club-friendly nu-disco take on 'You're Not Alone', while Ilya Santana re-imagines the same track as a sparse, sunrise-ready chunk of Balearic electrofunk.
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: As the title suggests, Spa In Disco's latest multi-artist extravaganza is aimed aquarely at dancefloors, though in these times is more likely to inspire bedroom DJs to dance around their kitchens or living rooms. There's plenty to get the juices flowing amongst the eight tracks on show. Check first the rubbery bass, sparkling pianos and summery nu-disco vibes of Future Feelings' rushing "Bold Drink", before turning your attention to the revivalist Italo-disco chug of Sauco's "Orion" and the hard-wired, acid-flecked analogue chug of Ilya Santana's superb "Obscure". Highlights elsewhere on the EP include the revivalist electrofunk chunkiness of Juan Soto's "Oh Ziggy, Will You Ever Win", the dreamy Balearic breakdowns of Rayko's "Jungle" and the up-beat nu-disco cheeriness of Aimes' "Caf? Disco".
Review: You're only five years old once, so why not celebrate in style? And here Warrington lad Danny Worrall's disco and re-edits label Masterworks Music do just that, with an anniversary collection packing a whopping 50 back catalogue nuggets. You'll excuse us the full track-by-track, then, but suffice to say that this is the label that helped launch the careers of Dr Packer and Natasha Kitty Katt, both of whom feature here, and with names like Ziggy Phunk, Rayko, Alkalino, Chuggin' Edits and Fabiolous Barker also on bill, you should already have a pretty good idea what to expect. Classy stuff all round, and a great VFM package - here's to five more years!
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: Going by the volume of tracks on show, it would be fair to say that Masterworks Music's "Bag of Tricks" is not a little handbag, but more like a Mary Poppins style bottomless carpetbag. The label's latest rummage through its seemingly endless contents has been a successful one, with the 20 showcased cuts including a wealth of fine fusions of disco, house, boogie, electro and 80s soul. It's uniformly dancefloor-focused, with highlights including the Afro-house/disco-tech fusion of JB Dizzy, the driving, spaced-out disco-house grooves of Mike Woods, the loose-limbed, off-the-wall edits of Chewy Rubs, the sweet disco-soul bounce of RocknRolla Soundsystem, the delay-laden synth sing-along styles of Rayko and the hot-to-trot brilliance of Downunder Disco.
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: 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: An 11-track compilation of modern day funk and disco here from Norway's Walking Disco stable. While Rayko and C Da Afro are both represented, the emphasis generally is on lesser-known names, but there's still plenty of quality on offer. Fingerman conjures the classier, jazzier end of 80s boogie nicely on 'Mind Fonk', while equally convincing are the mid-70s velvet-suited disco vibes of Disco Funk Spinner's 'Fascinating Strike'. Funk Hunk apes classic Moroder on 'After Dark', while label owner Saskin S bookends the collection with two slow-moving funk jams, 'Yes, You Know I'm Right' and 'My Pnoop'. Classy stuff.
Review: For their latest tidy trip into re-edit territory, Rare Wiri has turned to the undisputed talents of synthesizer-loving nu-disco don Ilya Santana and label founder Rayko. The latter offers up some chunky, delay-laden P-funk thrills in the shape of "Revenge of the Rare Wiri", before returning later in the EP with the eyes-closed rock style guitar solos, thickset synth bass and swirling female backing vocals of poodle perm-sporting mid-80s MTV wig-out "Demons". Santana charges off on an Italo-disco flex on the arpeggio-driven, synth-sporting sleaziness of "Angie", while closing cut "Dreams" is a pitched-down shuffler laden with robotic vocoder vocals, bold synthesizer riffs and more pulsating, arpeggio style bass.
Review: Rayko and James Rod's "Classics of Arrikitaun" re-edit series consistently hits the mark, something we attribute to their often left-of-centre choice of source material. This seventh volume in the series is naturally both on-point and action packed. Rayko kicks things off with the brilliantly pitched-down P-funk chug of "Dude" - all baggy electric piano riffs, squelchy electronics and hazy talkbox vocals - before returning to action later in the EP via the ricocheting drum machine hits, eyes-closed guitars and swirling chords of 1980s alternative synth-pop cut "Night of Dragons". James Rod explores similar sonic territory on chugging Balearic synth-pop revision "Hi Ho Te", while "Love It" is a bounding, sun-kissed version of a mid-80s, post-boogie pop hit.
Review: Every 12 months, Fingerman's prolific Hot Digits imprint serves up an epic compilation entirely made up of exclusive, previously unheard re-edits, reworks and original productions. They're invariably excellent and this year's edition - the fifth in total - is even more epic than usual. There's naturally plenty to set the pulse racing amongst the dancefloor focused 32-track selection, from the throbbing Italo-disco style electronic sleaziness of Peza's "I Gotta Little Love" and the bouncy, acid-flecked cheeriness of Limpdisco's "Rush Hour", to the angular nu-disco heaviness of Andy Kidd's "The Dope Cube", the sparkling 80s boogie goodness of LUP INO's "Don't Stop Fooling" and and disco-funk-goes-house pump of Fingerman's "Family Ties". Keep an eye out too for rock solid rubs by Dr Packer, Chuggin Edits, Rayko and Andy Buchan.
Review: Spain's Rare Wiri label bring us their second retrospective label comp, which follows on the heels of last year's Vol 1, and just a quick glance at the artists involved - who include Ilya Santana, Rayko, The Beat Broker, Yam Who? and Ziggy Phunk - will give the initiated a pretty good idea of the quality on offer! Gazeebo's 'Soul Dance' is rooted in the deep funk of the early 70s, Phunk's 'Let It Move You' is a brass-spangled disco-house groover, Rayko's 'B-Nano' has an 80s Italo vibe, 'Whishbone' by Parissior channels late 70s Euro-disco, and so it goes on for six more very playable nu-disco bullets.
Review: Following a fine retrospective of "original productions and reworks" earlier in the month, the Rare Wiri label has prepped another killer compilation to help mark the imprint's 10th birthday. This time round, boss man Rayko has gathered together some of the label's most potent re-edits. The quality threshold remains impressively high throughout, with highlights including James Rod's chugging and cheery disco-boogie shuffler "So Easy", the dreamy deep house throb of In Flagranti's loopy version of "Walking In The Rain", the sparkling saccharine soul/jazz-funk flex of Yam Who's revision of "In Your Eyes" and the pulsating Italo-disco/disco-funk fusion of Ziggy Phunk's take on "One Evening". Throw in a clutch of top-notch Rayko re-edits and the result is an essential collection of floor-focused reworks.
Review: Hearty congratulations to Rayko, whose Rare Wiri label has just turned ten. To celebrate the label's decade in dance, the Spanish producer has put together this fittingly fine collection of archive cuts. It features no re-edits, just original tracks and associated remixes. There's plenty to set the pulse racing throughout, from the Clavinet-sporting crunchiness of Limpdisco's compilation-opening "Moving To '70s" and Spiritcatcher's D-Train style NYC boogie revision of Julian Sanza's "Can't Stop The Feeling", to the jazz funk-flecked deep house/disco fusion of Nowsense's "Smile" and Situation's wonderfully atmospheric electro-acid revision of James Rod's "Disco Rocket". Naturally, there are plenty of Rayko tracks and remixes dotted throughout, including a wonderfully spacey and bass-heavy take on Ilya Santana's "Electrik Mind".
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: 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: Golden soul boys James Rod and Rayko go twos up on another supreme disco volume on RWS's "Arrikitaun" series. Upbeat, slippery and 80s to its sexy core, Rayko takes the lead with a cosmic loopy chugger "Body Language" and closes the four tracker with the dubbed out warehouse shaking electro boogie thumper "Run From Danger". In between we have two juicy floor fillers from Rod; "Still Contrast" taps into a slick and sexy Alexander O'Neil vibe while "His Running" plays the banger of the set with a jittering slap bass frenzy. Bring on volume seven....
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