Review: There was a time when Tonbe was sticking out a fresh EP almost every week. While the Serb is still prolific, he's calmed down a bit in recent times, wisely prioritising quality over quantity. Rules, the nu-disco scene stalwart's latest release, is highly enjoyable and naturally packed with peak-time ready treats. Check first opener 'Rules of the Dance', a chunky, filter-sporting slab of disco-funk/French touch fusion that's as weighty and excitable as they come, before getting your ears around the loved-up deliciousness of glassy-eyed '80s soul re-edit 'Better Than This' (and its accompanying instrumental mix). Elsewhere, 'Dusty Floor' sees him add echo-laden guitar links and jammed out electric piano motifs to a bubbly, post-electro beat, while 'Perfect Plan' is a sun-splashed slab of Balearic boogie with added deep house weight.
Review: Tonbe's music has spanned a range of styles from Balearica to boogie, but when he calls his latest long-playing offering 'Postive Funk' you kinda know what to expect, don't you? Thankfully the titular promise is one on which he more than delivers, with the album striking a nice balance between raw, 70s-sounding funkers like 'Funkstar' and 'Dig It', and more 80s- or pop-flavoured nuggets such as 'Ain't Nothing Wrong' or 'Live My Life'. Highlights for yours truly include '15th Street' (home to some extremely cool Hammond licks) as well as 'Another Bite', which takes some downright liberties with a Queen classic.
Review: The ever-prolific Tonbe steps up with his latest EP, which features four tracks in a total of six mixes. "My Family" kicks us off in pulsing, surging disco-house/nu-disco territory, and is followed by "To The Limit", which finds the Serbian stalwart veering towards 00s soulful house territory. There are more straight-up house vibes on closer "Thank You", a spritely piano romp graced by the unmistakeable tonsils of certain Mr Owens, but only after we've had "Funk Me", an irresistible combination of a big, dirty funker of a bassline and a markedly Crystal Waters-ish vocal loop. It's rare for a Tonbe set not to come packing at least one stone cold killer, and this time out, "Funk Me" fits the bill admirably.
Review: Serbian disco stalwart Milo? Đorđević AKA Tonbe AKA Loshmi brings us what is simultaneously one of his housiest EPs to date and one of his most varied. 'Shy Town' opens with crisp 4/4s before settling down into a smoother funk/soul ride. 'If You Want Me', with its archetypal Tonbe combo of a fragile female vocal and some absolute killer stabs, is arguably the lead track as it comes in Vocal and Dub flavas, while completing the EP are the Om/Naked-esque soulful house groover that is 'Over You' and 'Angel', a floaty, drifty affair with a wistful female vocal. Good stuff as ever from a producer that doesn't get half the attention he deserves.
Review: Four tracks in a total of six mixes make up this latest EP from ever-prolific Serbian discomeister Tonbe. 'Never Let Me Go' is up first, blending late 70s/early 80s jazz-funk and contemporary pop influences and coming in vocal and dub flavas. There's a distinct pop feel, too, to the 80s-influenced 'New Vision' and 'Robbery In Progress' - both all bright analogue synths and lashings of cowbell - which just leaves us with the two rubs of 'So Real', which continues in the same 80s pop-leaning groove established by the two previous cuts and is available, again, with or without the female vocal.
Review: Last month saw two East European disco favourites, Serbia's Tonbe AKA Loshmi and Montenegro's Mitiko, joining forces for a split EP on the former's Disco Fruit label. Now the same imprint brings us this joint collection that gathers together the best of the two producers' 2021 output, in all three of their guises. The tracks involved are a mixture of re-edits, covers and original material; more importantly, both producers are ludicrously prolific, which means they had a huge catalogue to draw from. And that in turn means there's nary a track that puts a foot wrong here - making this an essential purchase for anyone who hasn't picked these cuts up on various EPs along the way.
Review: What we have here is arguably the first ever two-man disco threeway, as Serbian disco don Tonbe (Milo? Đorđević) teams up with his Montenegran oppo Mitiko (Sasha Mitich) and himself in his Loshmi guise. As for the album that's emerged from their joint efforts, well, the clue's in the title, as the two nu-disco stalwarts dive into a big cupboard full of flamenco guitars, marimbas and mariachi trumpets, and come out clutching 10 Latin-infused dancefloor shakers built for effortless grooving in the summer sunshine. Highlights, you ask? Check the low-slung funk of 'Con Sabrosura' or the jazzy shuffle of 'Portoriko'.
Review: Tonbe's super-prolific output never ceases to amaze - he seems to churn out album-length releases on an almost monthly basis, and this writer is yet to encounter one that didn't include at least one or two stone-cold killers. In this case, I'd refer you to the sultry, grown-up, Stonebridge-esque house-pop of 'All I Need', and specifically the drop that occurs around the 3:20 mark - pure class. Also worthy of note are 'Trabajar' with its attention-getting bass-y intro, complex percussion and Afro vox, and closer 'For This Joy' with its rave-tastic bassline and cheeky Fedde Le Grand-nodding "put your hands up for this joy" vocal. And if you like those, there are seven more where they came from - and doubtless 10 more in just another few weeks!
Review: By our reckoning Serbia's Milos Djordjevic, better known as Tonbe, has AT LEAST a dozen album-length releases to his name, but he shows no signs of slowing down just yet! Here comes another one, wherein fairly 'authentic-sounding' disco and boogie grooves like 'Closer' and 'Golden Days' are interspersed with more lounge-y and Latin-flavoured cuts such as 'Varadero' and 'Ven Pa Ca'. Elsewhere, Tonbe flirts with the sound of West African reggae on 'Senegalese' while 'El Mariachi' brings the Western movie theme vibes, before the album comes to a close with a slab of heavy, geetar-squawlin' Blaxploitation funk in the form of 'Beat Me Like A Funk'.
Review: He's by far better known for his disco output but as this full-length offering shows, the Serbian don known variously as Tonbe and Loshmi is no slouch in the house department either! Recent single 'Rotate', featuring the golden tonsils of Robert Owens, sets out the album's stall nicely, with the remaining nine tracks ranging from the lounge-y 'Journey To Downtown' with its vibes and sax, via the reggae-tinged 'Dub Thing', to the organ-led NJ garage vibes of 'Right Here Right Now', the uplifting piano stomp of 'Take Me Higher' and the positively sublime closer 'Beside Me'. A triumph.
Review: There are producers out there who'll spend months agonising over a snare sound or a clap, and who'll turn out maybe two or three tracks a year. At the other end of the spectrum are artists like Tonbe, who are seemingly capable of knocking together an album's worth of material by lunchtime, and frequently do! Both approaches can, of course, turn up gold - in this case, see the wonky Hammond shuffle that is 'Funker', or the summery good-time funk of 'Pontiac GTO'. This latest offering also finds Tonbe exploring poppier territory on cuts like 'Sugar' and 'Don't Let Me Go'.
