Review: Divager's 'The Love That You Promised Me' opens with a fat bassline that's vaguely reminiscent of Funky Green Dogs classic 'Reach For Me' - a fine way to kick off this latest compilation from Internasjonal, the outward-looking sister to Prins Thomas and Kai Fraeger's all-Norwegian Full Pupp label. With 17 tracks from a total of 13 artists there's obviously a fair degree of stylistic variety on offer, but generally speaking if heavily electronic, largely instrumental grooves that fuse house, disco, techno, Italo/kosmische and prog influences are what floats your boat, this is a collection you're not gonna want to miss.
Review: We don't, for the past month or two, seem to be experiencing quite the deluge of cosmic/Italo-inspired material that's defined the contemporary disco scene for the past few years. If you think that's a bad thing, though, then fear not because here come REES and Millions Of Dead Sequencer to sort you right out, matey. There are two very faithful-sounding originals to choose from - the pacey, driving 'Steel In Space' and lower-tempo squelcher 'Awake Us' - and with both packing rerubs from the mighty Prins Thomas, this is one that lovers of the style won't want to miss.
Review: Synthwave disco newcomer Rees finds himself debuting on Shall Not Fade following a great early turn on the Zone Focus label last year. With a strong affinity to the sounds of disco clearly apparent in the music of Rees, he delivers the label a chunk of heavy cosmic and synthwave influences - conjuring epic scenes of what Rimini might have been like back in the day. With that you'll find pumping '80s snare drums to make Roger Linn proud alongside some adorable rainbow road motifs in the title track - next to some New York loft party vibes in "Velvet Dreams". Nu Romancer!
Review: Something of an intrigue within the electronic body music realm of contemporary disco styles, Rees' previous works if you dig hard enough can be found on labels like Nein and Love Attack Records (not to mention the producer's own Paradiso label). Arriving on Aeon with three tracks and a banging Curses remix, the artist's strong analogue sound comes through vividly on "Project Phoenix" with its swift industrial grooves and ear-worming synths that give support to this EPs main theme: "Enter The Realm". Calling upon pumping drum machines, deep, trance-like '90s synths and metal disco energy, "Dutch Willow" sends the EP down a neon-lit gothic route straight into the bowls of power station dance club. And deep in that club you'll find the Curses remix to this EP, that slams with rave-inspired, new beat energy and the mayhem of grungey, industrial extravagance.
Review: Some 15 years after Benjamin Frolich and Tom Bioly launched their Permanent Vacation label with a fine compilation of the same name, the Munich-based pair return with a seventh showcase of treats from the imprint's now sizable roster of artists. As you'd expect, it's an eclectic and uniformly high-quality affair, with the 22 included cuts touching on everything from cheeky electro covers of Chris Rea (DMX Krew's rather good take on 'On The Beach'), deep nu-disco (the star-fall synths and Italo-disco bass of Kendal's Basorexia') and sun-soaked, 80s synth-pop-meets-dream house bliss ('Digital Joy' by Rees), to sleazy slow acid ('Lose Your Soul' by Zilas on Acid), late-night proto-house revivalism (Felice's 'Just Passing By') and rushing, breakbeat-driven dancefloor dreaminess (Dharma's 'The Epiphany'). In a word: excellent.
Review: We may not be able to gather to dance outdoors under a blazing sun or a blanket of stars, but there's no harm in a little musical daydreaming. That's what the latest multi-artist Ravenelli Disco Club release is all about: summery escapism that comes with a big dollop of rush-inducing disco release. Ethyene sets the tone with the colourful boogie-house fusion of "Let Love" - all twinkling synth motifs, echoing percussion hits, thickset grooves and hazy vocal samples - before Carlo raises the temperature via some jazzy deep house heaviness in the vein of Derrick Carter's "boompty" era. Over on side B, Hotmood's "Magical Flight" is a surging, string-drenched disco-house roller, while Rees' "The Way You Mood" is a tooled-up take on what sounds like a classic Philadelphia International cut.
Review: Next up from the Me Me Me team we have been given an absolute treat as Rees steps up for a fabulous new EP drop, showcasing his unique take on breakbeat themes. The title track for this one is as epic as it sounds as 'Bamboo Of Kyoto' combines silky, exciting pad textures with acidic warblings and well processed drum layers for a magnificent exploration into so many areas of dance music in one. The Colourful synth flaps and bouncy rhythms of 'An Evening In Yoshino' before Matrixxman provides us with a grizzly neuro rethink of 'Bamboo Of Kyoto'. This is then chased up with a remix from Sagittariun who gives the whole track an apocalyptic industrial overhaul.
Review: Midnight Riot's compilations are not only uniformly action-packed, but also offer great value for money. The latest edition in the imprint's ongoing "Disco Made Me Do It" series offers up no less than 25 tried-and-tested cuts to pep up your DJ sets. In keeping with the label's party-starting ethos, there's a good mix of disco-fired house cuts (see Michael Gray's "24/7 People"), revivalist disco-boogie (Qwestlife's remix of Nick Reach Up's "Dreaming"), filter-sporting boogie-house (Ladies On Mars), top-notch disco re-edits (Twism's "What I Know"), Tiger & Woods style loop jams (Motte's "Darkroom Boogie") and party-staring 21st century disco-funk ("Chance" by Rees).
Review: An EP here that's the proverbial game of two halves, Brian. 'Chances' itself is a fat-bottomed disco-funk groover with a soulful male vocal, parping brass and some fine west coast-ish guitar work, yet the extensive use of filters and the high production values generally mark it out as unmistakably a 21st Century thang. The female-vocalled 'Mystery Funk', on the other hand, is straight-up disco/boogie revivalism, and could have beamed straight in from 1982 or so. Either track will move disco-friendly floors without a doubt, but the authentic stylings of 'Mystery Funk' win the day.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.