Review: Happy eighth birthday to Hot Digits, who are celebrating their anniversary with this superb collection of contemporary disco, funk and boogie slammers. With a whopping 30 tracks to choose from there's obviously no room here to go into them all one-by-one, but with cuts ranging from the smooth jazz-funk of 'George's Groove' to the unabashed filter disco euphoria of 'Cuz I'm Naked', and from the fat-ass slap bass of 'We're Gettin' In' to cheeky Loleatta-referencing disco-houser 'Dub Sensation', there's evidence a-plenty here, should any be required, that Hot Digits do this kind of tackle better than most.
Review: With 25 tracks to choose from, this second volume of Mango Sounds' anniversary collection certainly offers plenty of dancefloor bang for your hard-earned buck. No room here to go into every track, obviously, but overall the emphasis is on fairly faithful homages to the original US disco sounds of the late 70s/early 80s, with the odd excursion into more boogie- or funk-inspired territory. With cuts from the likes of Igor Gonya, Ken@Work, Hotmood and C. Da Afro plus a host of more up-and-coming names, this is one more trad-minded disco lovers (as opposed to Italo-fiendin' hipsters) will want to check for sure.
Review: A four-tracker here from Hungarian duo The Magic Track, AKA DRJ & Gio, AKA Peter Makkai & Andras Szerepi. 'Lifebuoys & Straws' is a rolling, summery groover with chorus'd disco vox and some gloriously cheesy sax work. The bendy metal clarinet is also much in evidence (alongside a harmonica) on lightly blues-tinged funk/disco jam 'Dr Magenheim', while 'Lonely Teddy' sits right at the point where deep house, disco and Balearica collide. 'Applegate Scandal' then closes out the EP on a livelier, more rumbustious note. Like the lady says: raise your hands, get on up, let's party!
Review: The Magic Track bring us four tropical disco productions that pack in a welter of influences from disco, jazz, world music and more. 'Bonsai Care' places sitars, African-style flutes and vocal chants and a jazz saxophone line over a dense, tribalistic backbeat; 'Pambolero' looks mostly to Latin jazz and flamenco for inspiration, but has hints too of hi-life and Afrobeat, sounds which also inform 'Disco Croco' and closer 'Yerba Mate', the latter throwing all sense of restraint to the winds as the Hungarian duo chuck in various animal/zoo sounds for good measure.
Review: A pleasingly varied EP here from The Magic Track, AKA the Hungarian duo of Peter Makkai and Andras Szerepi. There's a Phenomenal Handclap-esque rocky edge to 'Be Free', with the vocal nodding to (but not sampled from) The Who's 'I'm Free', while 'Keep On Flowing' takes us into early 80s boogie territory. We're then treated to a slab of early 70s-style psychedelic funk in the form of 'Resist The Temptation' while finally 'Trust Yourself', with its brass flourishes and gutsy female soul vocal, has more of a 60s deep funk flava. Something for everyone, then!
Review: Unlike many of its rivals, Fingerman's Hot Digits label doesn't fill its' obligatory annual compilation with back catalogue cuts. Instead, we're offered a vast number of previously unheard re-edits, remixes and original productions. It's a successful blueprint and one religiously adhered to on Hot Digits: Year Seven, the popular imprint's latest must-check collection. There's not enough room to single out every sonic highlight, but our current favourites include the breezy boogie squelch of Ross Fitz's 'I Miss Your Love ('85 Mix)', the driving deep house haziness of Fingerman and Henri Le Blanc's 'Leave Your Cares Tonight', the neo-trance cheeriness of Picklejam's 'Endorphin Situation' and the stab-happy, peak-time house retro-futurism of 'The Feeling' by Downunder Disco.
Review: After impressing late last year with The Four Seasons EP, Hungarian duo The Magic Track returns to Furious Mandrill with more high-grade re-edits for those who like chunky beats, heavy horns and hedonistic disco flavours. The pick of a very strong bunch is arguably celebratory disco romp 'Panama Life' - all impassioned male vocals, fiery horns, filter sweeps and rubbery bass - though tooled-up Afro-disco opener 'Equality Pushes it Close'. Elsewhere, 'My Gentle Love' is a Clavinet-sporting chunk of rolling disco-house excellence, and 'Sweetest Goodbye' is a bass-heavy version of a sensationally summery number that should get plenty of plays at outdoor events in the months and years ahead.
