Review: A very fine quartet of deep disco re-edits here courtesy of Bulgarian producer V's Edits and his/her/their Vehicle label. First to get the treatment is Marvin Gaye's 'The World Is Rated X', which comes from 'You're The Man', an album that was recorded in 1972 but shelved in favour of 'Let's Get It On'. Convertion's 'Let's Do It', a Leroy Burgess production released on SAM Records in 1980, comes next, followed by an acid-flecked reinterpretation of Bob Marley's 'Could You Be Loved'. V's take on what is seemingly every re-editor's second favourite track after 'Josephine' - Banbarra's 1975 funk classic 'Shack Up' - completes the package.
Review: Valique's V's Edits reworks have long been some of the most popular re-edits on this platform, with DJs responding not only to their floor-friendly nature but also the wide range of sounds and styles he turns his hand to. So, what's on offer this time around? Well, for starters Yellow Blues is raising money for victims of the war in Ukraine, a country to which Valique has family ties. As usual, it's a mixed bag of goodness, with highlights including a squelchy, TB0-303 speckled take on a Johnny Cash classic, the chugging nu-disco/swamp blues fusion of 'Was It Worth It?', a fine revision of Rodrigues classic 'You Can't Get Away', a housed-up tweak of an old Doors gem ('Learn To Forget') and a toe-tapping, club-ready revision of Kenny Rogers' sing-along 'Just Dropped In (to See What Condition My Conidtion is In)'.
Review: An album's worth of re-edits here, but there are re-edits and there are re-edits, aren't there? At one of the spectrum you've got the five-minute, 'will this do?' variety that loop up a chunk of some 70s/80s/90s pop hit and stick a four-four kick underneath it; at the other end, you'll find producers who'll take their source material and mangle and reshape it so much that the end result is arguably more an original (albeit sample-based) production than a re-edit. And we're definitely in the latter camp here, as tracks from artists as diverse as Archie Bell & The Drells, Creative Source, 60s soul diva Maxine Brown, Rose Royce and Yes get treated to a hefty dose of that good 303 medicine - with generally very playable results.
Review: This impressively expansive collection from experienced remixer Valique showcases some of the best downtempo and Balearic edits from his popular V's Edits series. There's certainly plenty to get the blood pumping and the juices flowing throughout, from a chugging, ten-minute take on Pink Floyd ('Brickwall') and a pleasingly squelchy take on Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams' 'Lose Yourself To Dance' (here renamed 'Lose Your Elf'), to a chunky dub-house re-imagining of Jimmy Cliff classic 'The Harder They Come' and a loopy, hypnotic, mid-tempo disco-rock revision of T-Rex ('Jewelry'). Throw in party-hearty takes on cuts from Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and the Beach Boys (an odd but impactful reimagining of 'Good Vibrations') and you have a great value compilation.
Review: Russian re-edits don Valentin Golovachev, also known as Valique or simply V, returns with three more painstakingly reworked cuts from days of yore. First to get the treatment is Amanda Lear's gloriously camp Eurodisco workout 'Blood & Honey' from 1976, reinvented here as 'Queen Of Acid Town'. Then it's the turn of Gary's Gang's 'Do It At The Disco' - originally the far superior B-side to 1978's excruciating 'Keep On Dancing' - before we take a distinct left turn for EP closer 'Historia', the source of which is unknown but which is an understated, low-tempo affair with a Spanish-language female vocal.
Review: With V Records keeping their Repercussion series alive with three fresh cuts, Dr.Adolf throws down an afro-inspired vibe of slamming house to get things started (that should turn the heads of Todd Terje fans). Something more downtempo and Balearic comes from FMAC's Fleetwood Mac interpretation - "Listen To The Wind Blow" - next to the rocky, plucked out and vamped funk of RS' "Fingerprint Tile" Chka-chka-ahh!
Review: Scalpel-wielding rework maestro V (the artist formerly known as funk-breaks sort Valique) has been more prolific than usual this year, with the numerous pandemic lockdowns and rules allowing him more time at home working on his popular cut-jobs. As a result, his latest annual 'best of' collection is packed to the rafters with tasty treats. There's plenty of variety too, with the long-serving editor leaping between guitar-heavy workouts ('B-Ware', Deep Purple tweak 'Hush'), weighty '80s synth-pop (Billy Idol re-rub 'White Wed'), beefed-up krautrock (the cowbell-laden heaviness of 'Vitamin D', a tweak of one of Can's most popular tunes), glassy-eyed disco (the Clavinet-heavy 'Little Love') and sleazy, pitched-down glam-rock ('Jewelry').
Review: Neo Blues 3 announces its arrival via our most trusted Vehicle label that's been a port of call for disco edits for the world over. Turning in another four-tracks here it's spearheaded by the uber-warm kick, woofing bass and melodic percussion sequences of "Sea-Line". Harking back to the days when artists like Eddie C and Tornado Wallace were dominating the slo-mo, chugging disco sound, "Condition" adds yet another beefy boost to a Ken Roger's classic, while funkier soul and blues jams from Kings of Survival make the cut alongside that all time cinematic classic by Rodriguez's ("Sugarman").
Review: For his latest trick, spoonerism-loving rework maestro V (AKA sometime funk-breaks producer Valique) has decided to offer up a second selection of "Neo Blues" scalpel works. He begins by delivering a chunky, rolling revision of Ann Feebles' rock-tinged gospel-funk classic "Beware", before chugging his way through a pitched-down revision of a weighty T-Rex glam-rock classic ("Jewelry"). This is followed by EP highlight "Holis", an inspired - and suitably epic - "Afro-blues" revision of one of Nina Simone's greatest moments, and the low-slung voodoo-house hypnotism of "Mississippi Lullalby (V's Rendition)". To finish with a. flourish, the Vehicle main man then adds some elastic new drums to Otis Redding's version of "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay".
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: When operating under the V's Edits alias, re-edit maestro Valique can always be relied upon to bring the goods. It's little surprise, then, to find out that his latest collection of fresh cut-jobs - an epic affair featuring no less than 24 tracks - is packed to the rafters with high-grade fare. We don't have enough space to list all of the highlights, but we'd suggest checking out his rolling revision of Lee Dorsey's "Night People", the low-slung disco-funk heaviness of the Brass Construction rework ("Gotta Do It"), the intergalactic disco deepness of the Marvin Gaye revision ("Funky Space"), the lightly tooled-up, slowly unfurling take on Tom Browne's "Funkin For Jamaica" and the sweeping, string-laden disco brilliance of "Miracle (V's Edit)".
Review: In which the prolific Russian disco dinner ladies known as V's Edits serve up four more helpings of re-edit goodness. KC & The Sunshine's sax-tastic 'Black Water Gold' gets a little added Afro flava on 'Black Waters Hold' (without detracting from the original's superb jazzual musicality), Bob Marley's 'Is This Love' is reinvented as the party-starting 'Love And Treat You Right', Marvin Gaye gets the treatment on 'Funky Space' while 'Little Enough' (credited to Keith, source unknown) is an ultra-laidback jazz-funk groove built for warm-up or summer afternoon play.
Review: In which no fewer than 24 rock and indie classics get reworked for the dancefloor. Admirably, the mysterious V avoids the temptation to simply whack a 4/4 kickdrum under everything - in fact, many of the cuts could better be described as remixes or reworkings rather than simple re-edits. Inevitably, some of the resulting concoctions work better than others - and which you think that applies to may depend on your views on the original source material - but if you're looking for a way to drag non-house/disco lovers onto the floor, this collection should serve you well.
Review: Vehicle's Edits out of sunny Moscow Russia coming at you with their Winter Ride series. Spend the night in from the snow and warm up on the dancefloor in sexy and slo-mo fashion with this bunch of brilliant edits for musical accompaniment. There's a handy edit of a certain famous rock 'n' roll classic on RS' "Give Me Shelter" (V's Uncovered mix), more of a deep disco house flavour on Brass Destruction's "Gotta Do It" (V's edit) and some spacey Italo disco grooves on Creative Force's "Who Is He To You" (V's Dadgummit edit). Elsewhere, there's some proper cosmic vibes that would warrant bringing out 'the herbs' for advanced effect while listening to the stellar Jahmad Amal "Acid Ride" (V's Get On The Boat version) and what would a set of classics be without the mandatory Don Sherry track, huh? They've got you covered on the splendid "Walker" (V's edit).
