Review: Four months after the release of his fine debut album "What It Is", Toy Tonics founder Matthias Modias AKA Kapote offers up fresh versions of two of the set's most potent tracks. Of most interest to many will be the included "big name" remixes of "Jaas Func Haus". Art of Tones does a bang-up job recasting the cut as a dusty chunk of rubbery jazz-house/deep house fusion, while the Sworn Virgins remix is a delay-laden late night analogue-house wiggler from the Ron Hardy school of Chicago sleaze. Best of all, though, is Rahaan's rework, which is a wonky mid-tempo fusion of acid-style electronics and spiraling disco bliss. Elsewhere, there's another chance to enjoy Modias' funk-fuelled disco workout "Delirio Italiano", as well as a stripped back, extra-percussive "Dub" mix.
Review: Get ready to boogie till you drop as Montenegro-based scalpel fiend Mitiko offers up a seven-track selection of lightly beefed-up re-edits. There's plenty of tried-and-tested fun to enjoy, from the chugging, synth-sporting disco-rock antics of "Boogie Till We Drop" and the surging K.I.D rework business of "I'll See It Again", to the low-slung swamp funk sleaziness of "Music Is Her Lover" and the rubbery boogie-soul goodness of slap-bass sporting workout "Won't You Blame Me". Wisely he's included a smattering of superb slow jams, too, with the '80s soul shuffle of "Out Of The Night Time" and slow disco groover "It's Over, It's Over" standing out.
Review: An 11-track compilation of modern day funk and disco here from Norway's Walking Disco stable. While Rayko and C Da Afro are both represented, the emphasis generally is on lesser-known names, but there's still plenty of quality on offer. Fingerman conjures the classier, jazzier end of 80s boogie nicely on 'Mind Fonk', while equally convincing are the mid-70s velvet-suited disco vibes of Disco Funk Spinner's 'Fascinating Strike'. Funk Hunk apes classic Moroder on 'After Dark', while label owner Saskin S bookends the collection with two slow-moving funk jams, 'Yes, You Know I'm Right' and 'My Pnoop'. Classy stuff.
Review: Exactly one month on from an acclaimed outing on Katakana Edits, RockNRolla Soundsystem pitches up on Danny Worrall's Masterworks Music imprint with a hot-to-trot trio of celebratory peak-time reworks. Our pick of the bunch is the surging disco-funk business that is "Got The Funk", where impassioned vocal snippets and disco orchestration take control after a gnarled, funk-fuelled build-up. That said, plenty will enjoy opener "Everybody Wants To Be", a house style tweak of one of the most commercially successful and well-known disco records of all time, while synth-powered disco-boogie workout "The Lovely Ones" is a cheery and thickset take on a Michael Jackson hit.
Review: St Petersburg's Sunner Soul invites us into his "Discotheque", a place where sweet disco strings, groovy basslines, swirling filter effects, bumping house beats and hazy electric piano chords join hands on the dancefloor. As usual, there's plenty to enjoy, from the breezy disco-house elasticity of "The Mystery of Loops" and hazy, rush-inducing positivity of "Way Back Time", to the jazzy deep house shuffle of "Broers Vergadering" and extra-percussive, dubbed-out disco brilliance of "Pleased With Oneself". The pick for peak-time plays is undoubtedly opener "Back To Loving", a spiraling disco-house romp that rises and falls in all the right places.
Review: It would be fair to say that Toy Tonics releases a lot of "Top Tracks", making this seventh digital-only label sampler a must-have for those who enjoy the twin delights of heartwarming deep house and celebratory contemporary disco. Some of the label's biggest dancefloor hits of recent times naturally make an appearance - see Ray Mang's fabulous remix of Phenomenal Handclap Band's "Judge Not", Pontchartrain's cheery and chiming remix of Felipe Gordon's "Tell Me Something True", Los Amigos Invisibles and Dimitri From Paris's cover of Chaz Jankel classic "Glad To Know You" and COEO's brilliant "Japanese Woman" - alongside some gems that may have passed you by. These include the impeccable deep house of FYI Chris's "Encounters", two brilliant contributions from Kapote and Mangabey's drowsy disco-house number "Just Luv Machine".
Review: Four lavish cuts drawing on classic funk, soul and disco make up this EP from Derby's Ant Plate, better known variously as Yse, Yse Saint Laur'ant or Rhythm Plate. 'Just As Bad As You' is a midpaced cut that tops a pulsating funk groove with soaring brass and a full-lunged female soul vocal. 'The Prison' is a mellower, more cinematic affair with a spoken vocal, 'I Know I've Been Changed' is an upbeat stomper on the house/disco cusp and finally 'New York Paris' sees us back in soundtrack-y territory, conjuring images of a late-night cab ride through late 70s mean streets.
Review: Surrounded by piles of plastic bricks and merrily whistling "Everything Is Awesome", Lego Edit opens up his "Sample Bag" and offers up more hush-hush reworks from his seemingly endless collection. As usual, there are plenty of tried-and-tested treats to savour, from the tooled-up house take on Steely Dan classic "Do It Again" that is "Dee-Ly Stan" (see what he did there etc) and the filter-heavy disco-house thrust of "Jungle Track", to the hard-wired loop arrangements and booming bottom end of standout "Jazzy Track" and the sun-kissed afternoon pleasure of "Simply Jazz", a solos-laden romp through soul-jazz pastures tantalizingly tweaked to guarantee dancefloor pleasure.
Review: Squeeze into your wetsuit and grab a surfboard: Doctor Packer has created "Waves of Funk" and we can ride them all the way to the beach. The title track is particularly potent, with the Australian producer wrapping fizzing synthesizer melodies and thrusting vocal samples around typical mid-80s drum machine percussion and the month's most addictive electronic bassline. He flips to hustling disco-funk/P-funk fusion on the synth-laden strut of "Funk To The Future" before reaching for crunchy disco-funk guitar riffs, twinkling electric piano motifs and talkbox flavours on P-funk jam "Skin The Funk". If that's not enough to tickle your fancy, closing cut "Cozmic Funk" does exactly what it says on the tin and should excite all those with a passion for spacey synths, goodtime grooves and swirling disco orchestration.
Review: Jalapeno Records present a 17-track V/A collection of contemporary funk grooves, all of which have been given a makeover by Smoove, of Smoove & Turrell fame. There are some big names from the 'new old' funk scene represented (Haggis Horns, Nicole Willis, Smoove & Turrell themselves) but as you might expect from the label it's on, the emphasis is more on party-hearty funk breaks/funk-hop than out-and-out 60s/70s revivalism. Renegades Of Jazz's 'Fire' with its wukka-wukking geetar and guest rap vocal from The Allergies is one standout, King Bee's O'Jays-biting 'Money Gone' another, but dive on in and find your own faves...
Review: Mexico's Deep Sense serve up a six-track EP that shows there's more than one way to go about repurposing a classic. Rather than simply looping up chunks of the original, the edits here get a little more creative - Sauco & Manuel Costela's 'Are We Ready?', for instance, takes the vocal from Fatback's 'Bus Stop' vocal and places it over a fresh (and utterly irresistible) funk backing, while on 'Last Nite' Tony Disco uses a similar trick to reinvent an InDeep classic in altogether sultrier, jazzier form. An equally well-known chanted vocal tops the brass-tastic 'Flamingo' from Hot Mood, and there are three more very playable nuggets where those came from!
Review: The brilliantly named Record Playerz, whose true identity is shrouded in secret, come(s) to the achingly hip Midnight Riot. In its original form, 'Hi NRG' pays tribute to the short-lived early 80s sub-genre of the same name: the BPMs might have dropped but the stuttering drum machine beats, analogue synths and vocodered vox are all present and correct. The In Flagranti Remix tones down some of the 80s excess and adds some lively percussion, but the standout here by far is the remix from Yam Who?, which could take the track to more straight-up house/disco floors.
Review: Sometime Escort members JKriv and Adeline have already notched up one of the disco records of 2019 - the fantastic "Vertigo" on Z Records - and we'd not bet against "Yo Love" being similarly as successful. In its original and extended "Club Mix" forms, "Yo Love" sounds like a heartfelt tribute to Chic, with Adeline's headline-grabbing vocal rising above an insatiable backing track rich in unfussy disco drums, Bernard Edwards style bass, Nile Rodgers-esque guitars, subtle electric piano stabs and, on the longer version, Roy Ayers style vibraphone solos. In other words, it's a revivalist NYC disco treat. The accompanying instrumental Dub naturally is far more groove based and delay-laden, with extra percussion hits and plenty of selected vocal snippets echoing across the sound space.
Review: Earlier in the year, Italian-Australian producer Dave Mathmos sent many hearts fluttering via a killer EP of mid-tempo reworks on DJ Supermarket's Too Slow To Disco edits series. This time round he's in a more up-tempo mood, with opener "Why Don't You" offering a peak-time ready, house-friendly rework of disco classic "Spread Love" that allows the original vocals, horns and orchestration plenty of room to breathe. "Colinandro" is similarly weighty and upbeat, with Mathmos sprinkling a little contemporary dancefloor magic over a downlow disco-funk workout. Elsewhere, "The Dude" is an excellent pitched-down revision of another heady slab of disco-funk, while "Sexy Tortellino" is a mid-tempo bubbler that layers dubbed-out snippets from a familiar disco-funk favourite over a chunky, locked-in groove.
Review: Second time around for JKriv and Adeline's "Vertigo", a revivalist disco treat that first appeared last autumn. The still-hot "Original Club Mix" (track three) sounds like a long lost cut from Brooklyn disco modernists Escort, a band that both JKriv and Adeline were members of. It's absolutely brilliant all told - think strong choruses, Nile Rodgers guitars, jangly pianos and walking bass - as is the dusty disco-house revision from Yuksek. Best of all though is the storming interpretation from Z Records chief Joey Negro, who wraps Adeline's vocal and JKriv's bassline in colourful new boogie synths and some classic disco-funk horns. There's no doubt about it, this will (rightly) be one of the biggest disco records of 2019.
Review: Over the last few years, disco and boogie loving funkateer Shaka Loves You has proved to be one of the most reliable artists on Bomb Strikes. Further proof arrives in the shape of "Tonight", a two-track single that's as summery as rain-soaked festivals, abandoned backyard barbeques and post-work beer garden drinking sessions. Vocalist Amunda stars on "Tonight", a unique blend of R&B, synth-driven reggae and Balearic boogie that has all the makings of a smile-inducing radio hit. If it's heavy dancefloor thrills you're after, virtual B-side "Disco Weapon" will do the trick; its' low-slung bassline, razor sharp horns, fizzing synth lines and rousing horns are tailor-made to guarantee dancefloor devastation.
Review: Permanent Vacation bring us the debut long-player from LA duo Woolfy vs Projections. Nu-disco from the poppier end of the spectrum is the general theme, with a strong 80s twist - as evidenced by a slo-mo cover of Bananarama's 'Cruel Summer' which actually works surprisingly well, in a TOTP 1986 kinda way. Standouts include last week's trailer single 'Last Dance', the hazy, lazy instrumental 'Being Endless' and the hefty, bassy chug of 'Fall Into You', while the 80s Euro-style vocals and pop sensibilities mean its an album that could find favour among fans of acts like Hot Chip or Little Dragon.
Review: It's been three years since the last installment in the "Giant Cuts Presents" series, so this fiery and funky four-tracker from Mexican hero Hotmood is long overdue. He's naturally in fine form, brilliantly joining the dots between loopy disco edits, James Brown and groovy deep house on tasty opener "The Rhythm Is There", before serving up a slightly deeper flavour of disco-house on the dewy-eyed bounce of "My Darling (Dina)". Doc Jam does his best Tiger & Woods impression on his loopy and life-affirming house revision of "The Rhythm Is There", while closing cut "Tropical Space" is an inspired fusion of jazz-funk, disco-house and evocative tropical jazz samples that's as summery as test match cricket, family barbecues and disappointing package holidays to half-built Spanish seaside resorts.
Review: For those inspired by Diynamic Music's trademark brand of European tech-house/deep house fusion, the label's semi-regular "Four To The Floor" EPs are essential listening. Predictably, the latest volume - the 15th in total - is packed to the rafters with high-grade fare. Veteran producer Dino Lenny kicks things off with the arpeggio-driven dark room thrills of "I Lost Appetite" - all electronic bleeps, doom-laden chords and rolling drums - before Doctor Dru offers up the similarly pulsating, trance-inducing heaviness of "Kloeppel". The Organism's "Roast" is a fuzzy and forthright chunk of vaguely panicked electro-house, while Budakid's "1991" wraps moody chords and rushing lead lines around a snappy but tactile rhythm track.
Review: The latest must-have compilation from crate-digging label Spacetalk comes courtesy of little-known record collector and DJ Ilan Pdahtzur, a man who enjoys nothing more than strolling around the City of London at night listening to obscure Italo-disco, synth-heavy Balearic beats and dusty, hard-to-find synth-pop cuts. The tracks on "Night City Life" are some of his night-stroll favourites and, as you'd expect, are uniformly superb. Our highlights - and you may have others - include the rubbery instrumental boogie business of 1 Plus 1's "Coming Up For Air", the late night NYC freestyle brilliance of Jarmaz's "Night City Life (Dub)", the low-slung boogie-funk/synth-pop fusion of Mac & Monica's "You're So Good To Me" and the insanely intergalactic, synth-laden thrills of Brian Tatcher's "Hot Love (Instrumental Dub Mix)".
Review: Should you require an introduction to the camp, sleazy and synth-heavy world of 1980s Italo-Disco, this superb set should be an essential purchase. It naturally includes some highly influential and classic cuts - see Mr Flagio's throbbing "Take A Chance", Charlie's intergalactic "Spacer Woman", and a track that helped inspire the Chicago house movement, "Feel The Drive" by Doctor's Cat - alongside a clutch of rarities and lesser-celebrated workouts such as Mr Mine's "Hypnotic Tango", Clio's "Faces" (which sounds like much of the Pet Shop Boys' debut album, "Please"), Wet's "That's The Game" and the Latin-influenced, horn-heavy strut of Vivian Vee's "Remember".
Review: When it comes to blending classic disco and bumpin' peak-time house, few can match Joey Negro - a man who has been offering up disco-fied house jams since the early '90s. There are naturally plenty of his own tracks and remixes on "Put Some Disco In The House", an expansive collection of quality disco-house moments, with highlights including the rolling disco-boogie heat of "Put The Music On It (Original Disco Mix)", the chunky, walking bass-propelled "Dancing Into The Stars" (with Horse Meat Disco and Angela Johnson) and a slamming rework of Sessomato's jazz-funk flavoured "Moody". There's plenty of heat to be found elsewhere, too, with standouts including JKriv and Adeline's "Vertigo", Opolopo's boogie-tinged revision of Sylvester classic "I Need You" and the spiraling disco pump of Yam Who and Jaegerossa's "Grateful".
Review: It may have taken a few months, but Whiskey Disco's latest split EP - a fine affair featuring two reworks apiece from Ponchartrain and Sheffield-based East Midlander Thatmanmonkz - has finally made it to digital download. Pontchartrain steps up first, first offering up the breezy, tropical-sounding disco stomp of "La Magie" - all punchy horns, classic disco bass, fizzing synth lines and glassy-eyed female vocals - before brilliantly reworking an obscure disco/jazz-funk instrumental (the suitably spacey "Hey Mariposa"). Arguably even better is "Luh Me On Mi Celly", the low-slung, stretched-out dub disco revision that counts as thatmanmonkz's first contribution to the EP. His second, "Radiation Steppa", is a fizzing, synth-heavy disco-boogie number blessed with passionate male group vocals.
Review: A few years ago, International Feel Recordings treated us to a handful of inspired 12" singles by Black Spuma, a collaborative project helmed by Fabrizio Mammarella and Phillip Lauer. Here the duo returns - this time on Bristol's Futureboogie Recordings - with a first new single in two years. Title track "Crunch Level" is nowhere near as "retro-Balearic" as their previous work, instead offering a mind-altering blend of ghostly vintage synthesizer chords, robotic machine guns and foreboding, arpeggio style sequenced bass. It's the kind of thing we'd expect to hear if Alexander Robotnik and John Carpenter got together in the studio. Elsewhere on the EP, "Agguato" is a funk-fuelled chunk of early '80s new wave/Italo-disco fusion, while "Adamantine" is like a "Behaviour"-era instrumental Pet Shop Boys B-side.
Review: Label co-owner Flash Atkins is at the controls for this second celebration of Paper Music's first 25 years. While there's a smattering of material from the label's first 15 years, the majority of Atkins' selections come from releases put out over the last decade. Like its' predecessor, it's an action-packed affair full of high quality cuts. Standouts include the swirling nu-disco bliss of Rave-Enka's "Honningen", the hazy lounge-jazz-meets-house sleaziness of Diskobeistet's "Birklunden", the piano-powered chunkiness of Leon Sweet's "Beat Slave Auto", the analogue deep house bubbliness of Doc L Junior's "Twilight" and the early morning deep house hypnotism of Ryan Kick's remix of Space Coast's "Just Past Midnight". Best of all, though, is the TB-303-powered hypno-house insanity of Ralph Myerz and The Kosmik Diamondz 14-minute "Acid 4 Eddie".
Review: Thunder Jam's latest release offers us a chance to casually wander around the "Edit Mind" of debutant producer Paul Older. It's an attractive place where loopy, filtered and delay-heavy disco-house revisions of obscure turn-of-the-80s cuts ("I Need Your Love") rub shoulders with Clavinet-sporting slabs of disco-funk/AOR disco fusion in an echo chamber filled with bell-bottom flares, hoary haircuts and flash-fried DJ effects ("Jump"). The corridors of Older's cranium also boast doors to P-funk-fired dancefloor shufflers ("The Magic") and bouncy, house style cut-ups of glassy-eyed Philly Soul numbers (EP highlight "You Are Perfect").
Review: Alan Dixon has been in tremendous form of late, delivering must-have EPs for Midnight Riot and, most recently, Lumberjacks In Hell. There's no doubt that this outing for Running Back - produced in cahoots with regular Ashley Beedle collaborator Darren Morris - is his most high-profile release to date. It's also rather good, particularly the glassy-eyed Italo-disco muscularity of "La Danza" - all driving arpeggio-style bass and mind-altering electronic motifs - and the solo-laden, mid-tempo Balearic house brilliance of closing cut "Star Dance", which sounds like something Phillip Lauer might conjur up. There are two real standouts for us, though: the driving, 1989 style piano house rush of "Moments" and the colourful, beat-free bliss of sunrise-ready bonus cut "Ambient Braindisk".
Review: Midnight Riot serve up 18 tracks that encapsulate the house sound of Ibiza in 2019, with elements of tech-house and (nu) disco and a sprinkling of good old-fashioned vocal podium belters. Arther Baker's opening 'Reachin' (as remixed by Hi-Fi Sean and Yam Who?) is one example of the latter, while techier, struttier pleasures can be found on Benjamin Ferreira's ludicrously funky bass workout 'Aerosol'. Manc veterans DJ Paulette and Chris Massey join forces on another funk-fuelled rumbler, 'Sheroes', while deeper, more soulful vibes await on Jack Tyson Charles's 'Glory'. And if you like the sound of those there are 14 more very playable nuggets from the likes of Birdee, Lenny Fontana and Natasha Kitty Kat to choose from!
Memory FM (Panthera Krause remix) - (6:33) 122 BPM
Secret Alphabet (Cornelius Doctor remix) - (5:58) 108 BPM
Review: As you'd expect from the co-founder of the on-point Permanent Vacation label, Benjamin Froehlich has assembled a stellar cast of producers to remix tracks from his recent debut album "Amiata". Massimiliano Pagliara's "Telephone Call" mix of "The Big Sun" is a wonderfully cheery chunk of thrusting Italo-disco/nu-disco fusion, while Rhode & Brown's take on "Tivoli" pushes the track further towards hypnotic tech-house/nu-disco-fusion. Pantera Krause channels the spirit of the Pet Shop Boys circa 1987 album "Actually" on a triumphant version of "Memory FM" and Cornelius Doctor fuses Italo, acid and freestyle on a killer revision of "Secret Alphabet". Best of the bunch though is Jex Opolis's remix of the same track, which cannily joins the dots between acid-funk, proto-house and mid 80s New York disco dubs.
Review: Nu-disco scene stalwart DJ EQ returned to action a couple of months back with one of his most robust and quietly impressive EPs to date. There's plenty to enjoy on this swift follow-up, which delivers a perfect balance between celebratory peak-time fare and warm-up ready slo-mo workouts. In the latter category you'll find the languid, sun-kissed synth-boogie goodness of "Oasis", the blissful, instrumental '80s soul seduction of "Chillin" and the "Nights Over Egypt" revisionism of "Siesta". For those looking for sweatier thrills, we'd suggest checking out the dizzying piano solos and thrusting boogie-house thrills of "Endless Summer" and the soothingly slick fusion of blue-eyed soul and disco-house that is "F.Y.L".
Review: Without fail, Futureboogie Recordings' annual "Summer Riot" EPs are always amongst the Bristol-based imprint's finest releases of the year. This year's edition - the eight in total - is no different. It's five floor-friendly cuts include a locked-in chunk of late night techno hypnotism by A Sagittarian (undulating opener "Machine Elf"), a raw and wonky, mind-altering analogue house jam full of Yellow Magic Orchestra style computer bleeps (Red Flower Union's "Natural Self") and a piano-sporting chunk of old school house revivalism from Statue ("Ivory"). Manchester producer Neil Diablo hits the spot with the starburst Italo-disco chug of "Colorado", while Kincaid gleefully dances through New York freestyle and Bobby Orlando style hi-NRG on EP standout "Bulfas".
Review: More succulent than a bucket of fried chicken and twice as heavy, Vehicle's latest "Boogie Box" - the eighth in total - is full to bursting with floor-friendly, finger-licking fun. Editor-in-chief Valique is the man at the controls, gleefully charging between chunky, bass-heavy Afrobeat goodness (the chant-along heaviness of "Like It Is"), party-hearty deep house/disco-funk fusion (the heavy house beats and toasty electric piano stabs of "Mercy", shirts-off celebratory disco ("Disco Dancer"), swinging, Hammond-rich Philly Soul (Timmy Thomas rework "Got To See You Tonight") and strobe-lit peak-time insanity (the Clavinet-sporting disco rush of "Midnight"). In other words, it's another top-notch selection of club-ready revisions from one of the hardest working editors in the scene.
Review: As the powerhouse pair behind many of Editorial and Chopshop's greatest hits, Ed Wizard and Disco Double Dee needs little introduction. They begin their latest must-check re-edit release with "Arctic Boogie", a cheery chunk of mid-tempo electrofunk blessed with rubbery synth bass and filtered horn lines, before joining the dots between baggy deep house dreaminess and low-slung disco goodness on "Orbit"and the even slicker "About The Music". EP highlight "Heatwave" is a snappy rearrangement of a solo-sporting chunk of sun-kissed boogie positivity, while closing cut "Neptune Rising" expertly joins the dots between oven-hot jazz-funk, head-nodding hip-hop beats and groovy pitched down disco.
Review: Via his Vintage Music imprint, Sunner Soul man Alexandr Chebankov keeps serving up the hits. Here he gathers together another bumper selection of seductive sunshine slow jams and dancefloor-ready goodtime grooves to soundtrack your summer. Naturally, there are plenty of his warm, sample-heavy productions and re-edits present (our favourites include the jazzy disco rush of "Summertime", his gentle and groovy rework of much-loved Letta Mbulu Balearic fave "Normalizo" and the bumpin', bass-heavy disco house bustle of "Disco Orchestra"), alongside similarly impressive outings from Kid Goodman (the sublime '80s house revision "Nice and Slow"), Lolita Knox (a tooled-up flip of a Cheryl Lynn anthem) and the Sunshine Disco Club (the Balearic dancefloor breeze of "Morning Exercise").
Review: Now relocated to Mallorca from Mexico, Spa In Disco bring us two cuts that'd work in deep house or disco sets alike, albeit we're definitely at the more experimental, synth-y end of either spectrum. 'Gatta' itself opens with a muted kick and hand percussion before introducing the throbbing, Italo-ish synth line that plays throughout, augmented by big bass vamps, trippy synth-strings and more frantic percussion work. 'Forests Wind' is a more stripped-back affair made up a laaaa-rge synth bassline, shakers galore, other assorted hand percussion and several competing keyboard parts. Quirky stuff that defies easy categorisation.
Splendido Splendente (Rettore Super House re-edit) - (5:46) 117 BPM
Ok Ok (Italo House re-edit) - (6:52) 117 BPM
Review: For his latest outing on Golden Soul, James Rod has decided to pay tribute to Italian dance music in his own special way. First up is "Cootutto (Italian Boogie Madness Edit)", a loopy, head-nodding and toe-tapping tweak of what sounds like an early '80s Italian tribute to George Clinton/Bootsy Collins style P-funk. "Splendido Splendente (Rettore Super-House Re-Edit)" offers a more forthright and funky excursion into loopy, filtered disco-house territory, while closing cut "Ok OK (Italo-House Re-Edit)" re-invents a chiming chunk of synth-powered boogie as a kaleidoscopic romp through nu-disco/peak-time house fusion.
Review: For the second volume in the "Compost Disco Selection" series, label founder Michael Reinboth has rounded up some of the German imprint's most magical disco-house moments (though, we should add, it's not all disco-house in the traditional sense of the term). There's naturally plenty to set the pulse racing throughout, from the angular electronic disco-funk of Indoor Life's "Voodoo (Chocolate Garage Production Mix)" and the throbbing loop-house cheeriness of Tiger and Woods' classic remix of Pitchben's "Stand Up", to the spiraling peak-time disco-with-house-drums of John Gazoo's "Midnight Runner (Vintage Mix)" and the kaleidoscopic boogie-house fun of Purple Disco Machine's remix of Lorenz Rhode's boogie-flavoured "Back". As you'd expect, Reinboth's accompanying DJ mix is tons of fun, too.
Review: For their latest tidy trip into re-edit territory, Rare Wiri has turned to the undisputed talents of synthesizer-loving nu-disco don Ilya Santana and label founder Rayko. The latter offers up some chunky, delay-laden P-funk thrills in the shape of "Revenge of the Rare Wiri", before returning later in the EP with the eyes-closed rock style guitar solos, thickset synth bass and swirling female backing vocals of poodle perm-sporting mid-80s MTV wig-out "Demons". Santana charges off on an Italo-disco flex on the arpeggio-driven, synth-sporting sleaziness of "Angie", while closing cut "Dreams" is a pitched-down shuffler laden with robotic vocoder vocals, bold synthesizer riffs and more pulsating, arpeggio style bass.
Review: With the sun finally making its presence felt in the UK, it seems a fitting time for Slightly Transformed to unleash this epic compilation of "Summer Numbers" - cheery, disco-fired chunks of positivity tailor made for al-fresco sets and celebratory shindigs. Featuring a mixture of tried-and-tested re-edits and sample-heavy original compositions, the 19-track set boasts a pleasingly high number of highlights. These include - but are no way limited to - the talkbox-sporting '80s disco/jazz-funk fusion of Shit Hot Soundsystem's "Be With You", the warm and woozy, synth-laden bliss of Chuggin Edits' "Floating", the slow and steady head-nod of Old Chaps wonderfully soulful "Flight With Love" and the fizzing disco rush of Limpdisco's "Gimme Mo". Get To Know's "Music" - a chunky revision of a jazz-funk era dancefloor destroyer by Dayton - is also excellent.
Review: On this cheery and DJ-friendly two-tracker, heavyweight nu-disco producer Mighty Mouse delivers a pair of party-starting revisions that sit somewhere between straight-up, scalpel style re-edits and sneaky remixes. The most startling of the two tracks is "Midnight Mouse (Revised)", a new version of a 2011 re-edit that makes merry with a 1970s Swedish disco-pop anthem. While the famous vocals and sing-along chorus finally make an appearance in the final two minutes, this rush is built up to via an acid-flecked fusion of Italo-disco and head-nodding nu-disco chug. "Time Out Of Mind", on the other hand, is a more traditional re-edit of what sounds like a West Coast jazz-rocker's take on New York disco.
Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from each new album in Joey Negro's "Remixed With Love" series, namely fantastic new revisions of classic disco, boogie, soul, electro and jazz-funk classics created using the original multi-track tapes. This third volume naturally contains a few inspired revisions of well-known cuts - a riotous take on The Fatback Band's "Do The Bus Stop", an astonishing, dubbed-out version of the Temptations' "Law of the Land" and a soaring, life-affirming rearrangement of Patrice Rushen's "Never Give You Up" included - but also some suitably smart tweaks of lesser-known gems. These include a sublime revision of the APX's '80s gem "Loose Yourself To The Groove" and an insatiable take on Mass Production's "Shante" full of jammed-out electric piano solos and rubbery electric bass.
