Review: Buyers of a certain age may experience an odd kind of deja vu on hearing this new compilation from DJ Kaos's Jolly Jams label - a kind of "this is where we came in" sensation, because with its fusion of angular, electronic disco and raw, jackin' house, the album ends up sounding like nothing so much as a bulletin from the more forward-looking dancefloors of Chicago and Detroit some time around the mid 1980s. That's not a criticism, though: there is wisdom in not fixing things that ain't broken, and acid squelchers "Hopper's Rant" and "This Is My House" are pretty much worth the price of admission on their own.
Review: Since launching at the dawn of the decade, Paul 'Mudd' Murphy and Simon Purnell's Leng label has risen to become one of the most consistent nu-disco labels around, with a trademark style that cannily combines chugging grooves, dub disco rhythms, and clear West Coast psychedelic rock and contemporary Balearica influences. It's for this reason that this celebratory 10th birthday compilation is such a treat. The multitude of highlights includes, but is no way limited to, the kaleidoscopic nu-disco rush of Pete Herbert's vintage remix of Apiento's 'She Walks', the kraut-folk-goes dub insanity of the Idjut Boys remix of Mountaineer's 'Golden Chalk', the intense drug-chug of Mudd's 'Slow Rave' mix of Tiago's 'The Source', and the late-night exotica of 'Luna' by Turkish producer Ali Kuru.
Review: Very much like the work of label founder Tiago, you're never quite sure what to expect from Interzona 13. This latest label EP - featuring work from Tiago himself - is as eccentric, left-of-centre - and enjoyable as you'd expect. Sitting somewhere between cut-and-paste, sample-heavy reworks, original production and re-edits, all four tracks bristle with psychedelic ideas. Opener "Para Quem" is a humid, chopped-up Balearic soul affair, while "Andar E Esquecer (2)" layers picturesque - if slightly unsettling - music box melodies, rubbery bass and backwards guitars over a bumpin' deep house groove. "Roy Brooks" is a trippy, dubbed-out jazz house affair, while closer "Reach Out & Touch Somebody" expertly combines psychedelic disco and rock samples with a heavy, relentless techno groove.
Review: In the space of two years Wurst Music has emerged as a label with a blossoming reputation - one that should be considered as much a part of New York's musical landscape as DFA, Environ or Slow To Speak. To showcase the label's credentials, Roy Dank has put together The Wurst Music Ever, a cheekily titled collection of previously unreleased cuts from label stalwarts, new signings and like-minded friends. With 10 tracks covering every aspect of the label's musical approach - vaguely Balearic nu-disco, underground NYC house, disco revivalism and heavy electronic grooves all feature - it's a thrilling snapshot of where the label is at right now Highlights are naturally plentiful. Newcomers Pink Stallone impress with "Help Yourself", a low-end heavy chunk of slo-mo contemporary P-funk that's dirtier than a night in with Prince and a bevy of bikini-clad beauties. Hometown heroes Midnight Magic provide a stunning cover of Native Underground's "Push 4 Love" that recasts the freestyle-tinged original as a loose, dubwise disco gem. Tiago channels the ghost of Patrick Cowley on the Munich Machine-aping "Peanuts", whilst Soho 808 (another promising newcomer) and Great Weekend throw down future house anthems. If The Wurst Music Ever is an indication of what we can expect in the future from Dank's label, it seems the Best of the Wurst is yet to come.
Review: Claremont 56 offshoot Leng becomes the latest illustrious label to be graced by the considered production excellence of Portugal's finest, Tiago. And gosh darn it if the producer hasn't delivered his finest solo work to date in the sprawling gothic disco of "The Source". A guttural acid gurgle and steady percussive throb are the constants on a track that soars through a multiplicity of heavily delayed and truly spellbinding effects. It's the gloriously fuzzy organ refrain that takes over as the track approaches the run out groove that marks the ascension of "The Source" into must-have material. Adding a further gloss of greatness is the accompanying Slow Rave Mix from Claremont/Leng overseer Mudd which brilliantly swamps the acid undertones in a thick viscous bottom end, adding some weight to the bass and introducing a superbly wigged out electro synth line which gets increasingly jagged as the remix progresses.
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