Review: Hamburg's Stefan Kozalla aka DJ Koze returns in 2018 with his new opus entitled Knock Knock on his Pampa imprint - which exists outside of trend and influence. An unholy mixture of techno with disco, soul, hip hop and psychedelia - there are even wafts of easy listening and indie rock. Special guests include Bon Iver, Speech from Arrested Development, Kurt Wagner of Lambchop, Pampa's very own Sophia Kennedy and the fine vocal talents of Jose Gonzalez. The first single taken from the album is "Illumination" which features the inimitable Roisin Murphy from Moloko. A lo-slung, deep and soulful journey featuring subtle filtered disco house elements and it's very stylish indeed.
Review: Roisin Murphy's Mi Senti EP, released earlier this year on Vinyl Factory, was something of a surprise. It saw the former Moloko chanteuse cover a range of classic Italian songs. It's already been remixed once by Psychemagik, The All Seeing I and Severino, and here gets a second rework treatment coyrtesy of JD Twitch and Daniele Baldelli & Marco Dionigi. The latter duo do a particularly good job in turning "Ancora Tu" into a crunchy, guitar-laden chunk of out-there space disco brimming with Cosmic Club attitude. Twitch tries a different approach, recasting "In Sintesi" as an atmospheric, string-laden torch song, albeit one blessed with analogue-sounding electronics and soft focus acid house beats.
Review: Thirteen years on and this partnership between Boris and Roisin keeps on giving. Delivered as five startling reversions, each rub surges and struts with contemporary disco delight: Bini & Martini lay down two twists (one jacking, one pumping) Chocolate Puma's original 2001 remix still slams with turn-of-the-century cheekiness, Fusion Groove Orchestra opt for a slinkier soulful affair while Sir Piers & Ed Funk slap up a chugging mix complete with wah wah guitars and lavish strings. Quintessential house music: You can never get enough of this!
Never Enough (Ian Pooley Main Change) - (8:03) 123 BPM
Never Enough (Ian Pooley vocal dub) - (6:55) 123 BPM
Never Enough (Mousse T & Boris Dlugosch Odd Couple mix) - (7:42) 121 BPM
Never Enough (Manuel Tur remix) - (6:58) 125 BPM
Never Enough (Manuel Tur dub) - (7:15) 125 BPM
Never Enough (Paskal & Urban Absolutes mix) - (6:27)
Never Enough (Drop Out Orchestra remix) - (6:50) 122 BPM
Review: 12 years down the line and Dlugosch and Murphy's "Never Enough" keeps on giving. To celebrate its current relevance in house music Dlugosch and his cronies at Peppermint have commissioned a wealth of sparkling remixes... Jesse Rose applies his trademark robust strut, Pooley goes deeper for a warped, techy groove that makes great use of the strings on the breakdown, Dlugosch and Mousse T get all 80s electro boogie on our asses, Tur strips the situation right back to a sexy techno roller, Paskal & Urban Absolutes get seriously cosmic while Drop Out Orchestra rewind to the 70s with an authentic, organic, un-quantised disco stomp. A great collection of remixes for all situations.
