Review: Katakana Edits first compilation, 2017's "Crate Diggin", was an epic collection of high-grade re-edits, mash-ups and reworks packed to the rafters with tried-and-tested dancefloor treats. This belated follow-up is even more epic, with the popular label squeezing in no less than 50 tracks that variously touch on riotous disco-funk, dub disco, new wave, disco-rock, deep funk, Afro-boogie, swamp funk, Latin beats, boogie, pitched-down chuggers, boogaloo, hip-hop and everything in between. You'd expect that standard to be high - it is a "best of" collection after all - and it is. If you need an instant armoury of scintillating club cuts, look no further.
Review: When Andy Bull AKA Bully Boy launched the Act of Sedition label a couple of years back his aim was to release "the finest 45 edits" on seven-inch double-packs. It's something of a surprise, then, to see the label land on digital download with a sprawling collection of previously vinyl-only reworks and bonus edits. Expect a gloriously vibrant and floor-friendly mixture of gospel-tinged psychedelic soul (Jimi Hendrix's "Freedom"), Clav-happy disco-funk squelch (Disco-Tech's "Assassination"), sweet disco sing-alongs (SanFrankDisko's "Get It Right"), sweaty punk-funk/dub disco heaviness ("Cavern Dance" by V's Edits), high octane disco-camp (Mighty Mouse's cheerfully silly "Got To Have Nothing") and much more besides.
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: 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: Serious scalpel fiends Rockandrolla Soundsystem first came to our attention via a 2017 debut release on Springbok Records. In the same year they contributed to a killer compilation on Katakana, so it's little surprise to see the Dutch collective return to the label with a suitably strong two-track offering. Opener "Culture" is a mighty chunk of swamp funk/disco fusion where bluesy guitar parts, gruff soul vocals, alien synthesizer chords and bubbly synth-bass rise above rolling drums. "Caminho" continues on a similar vein, subtly scrubbing up and dubbing out a bluesy disco-rock number that sounds a little like JJ Cale after a night on disco biscuits in the company of Boz Scraggs, Eric Clapton and David Mancuso.
Review: Three cheers for Valique's Vehicle label, which this month celebrates 13 years releasing hot-to-trot re-edits, reworks and floor-friendly fusions. To mark the occasion, the producer sometimes known as "V" has put together this expansive, 24-track collection of killer cuts old and new. It's a varied but universally club ready selection, with highlights including - but no way limited to - the silky deep house/disco fusion of KC&SUB's "Black Waters Hold (V's As It Used To Be Edit)", the soaring, shirts-off disco-house brilliance of V's take on Milly Jackson's "Baby", the dubbed-out Marvin Gaye revision that is Rocknrolla Soundsystem's "Troubleman" and a delightful slab of rubbery nu-disco brilliance from Feel Good Alliance (the mash-up style aceness of "Show Me Love", which joins the dots between Escort and Robin S in startling fashion).
Review: Dutch foursome Rocknrolla Soundsystem has already built a solid reputation for its re-edit work, thanks in no small part to admired releases on Alpaca Edits, Springbokz and Katakana Edits. This outing on Vehicle will only enhance their growing reputation. They begin in confident mood via a smoky, jazz-flecked and dreamy late night revision of an old Marvin Gaye favourite ("Trouble Man") that achieves a near perfect balance between shuffling dancefloor goodness and touchy-feely late night bliss. "Lonely Town, Lonely Street" sees the quartet cleverly combine elements from a Clavinet-driven conscious soul masterpiece with chunkier mid-tempo beats and woozy deep house chords. They repeat the trick on the piano solo-heavy head-nod of closing cut "Nobody's Fault But Mine", which may well be the best of the lot.
Review: This decidedly epic collection marks Katakana Edits's first foray into the compilation market and is designed as a "best-of" style outing. It boasts 30 reworks, mash-ups, remixes and re-edits gleamed from the prolific imprint's first 50 singles. Naturally, club-ready material comes thick and fast, with a multitude of genres - think swamp funk, disco, dub disco, electrofunk, Italo-disco, hip-hop, reggae and dancehall - and wide variety of tempos represented. Naturally, some of the reworks tend towards the well known, though there are also plenty of rubs of lesser-known gems for those who want to dig deeper than familiar peak-time anthems. Most importantly, the standard remains impressively high throughout.
Review: The 49th instalment of the Katakana Edits series is safely in the competent hands of Rocknrolla Soundsytem, and boy, it's joy to hear. The first of three bangers, "Crumbs Of The Table" is a choppy, organ-fuelled jam that actually explodes into a tight funk stomp with both fists flyin', next is "Give The People What They Want" and what they clearly want here, is souped-up socially conscience boogie and hurray for that! Lastly "Morganton North Carolina" wraps things up with a 90s style percussive shuffle under and vintage slice of swaggering soul.
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