Review:
We were full of praise for Aman "AIMES" Ellis's first batch of Wonder Edits, a formidable four-tracker that landed last month. Predictably, there's more floor-friendly goodness to be found on this swift follow-up. This time, Ellis eases us in gently with the stepping, post-freestyle Brazilian goodness of "Batonga", before beefing up the beats for a disco-house take on a string-laden Bollywood Disco staple ("Jimmy"). He's back in synthesizer-wielding mode on the bright-and-breezy Euro-disco chug of "Take Me Up", while "Dancing" is a swirling, pumping, delay-laden and decidedly full-throttle fix-up of a well-known Bee Gees anthem that sounds like it's capable of causing a commotion on most danceflors.
Review:
Fresh from turning in a killer remix of the Soup Dragons "I'm Free" alongside Midnight Riot boss Yam Who, Alan Dixon returns to the label with a feisty four-track missive. He fires from the word go, with bounding, energy-packed opener "All We Need Is Dance" delivering a brilliantly bouncy revision of a shirts-off, turn-of-the-'80s San Francisco disco smasher. The thrills don't stop there, either. "Let Ya Feet Rock" is a thrilling combination of elastic slap bass, synth-fired disco-boogie instrumentation and sturdy beats, "Dance Across The Floor" is a seductive 129 BPM deep disco workout, and "Forever" is a riotous re-edit of a stone cold classic that sounds like an end-of-night anthem in the making.
Review:
Scene stalwart Alkalino continues to serve up new material at a furious rate. A matter of days has passed since the release of his muscular, house and Italo-disco flavoured "From Minga To The World" EP, and he's already back with another trio of original productions. There's plenty of variety, too. So while "My Disco Passion (Beats Tool)" offers a chunky, bass-heavy, percussive and filter-rich take on "French Touch" style disco-house, "People Have Stopped" is a fine chunk of deep house/nu-disco fusion rich in jammed-out electric piano riffs, breathy female vocal samples and squidgy, acid style electronic motifs. Then there's relaxed and groovy EP opener "Simple Tune", a Balearic nu-disco bubbler fit for eyes-closed moments and seaside afternoon DJ sets.
Review:
Swiss trio Alma Negra have been on an unstoppable march in recent years, bringing their extensive knowledge of African and Latin music to contemporary productions in a circular fashion that exists beautifully out of time. That all the music on Sedowa is hand-played is testament to the natural flow of this infectious, instinctive dance music, leading in with the sprightly funk of "Sedowa" before easing into the transcendental stomp of "Sueno Latino." "Oya" is no slouch either, bringing a heavier disco-funk groove to the record that will suit more house-inclined DJs without compromising on the organic rattle and clatter that makes Alma Negra such a stand out crew.
Review:
Antton is the latest addition to the Ibiza club scene, as resident DJ at several hotspots such as Ushuaia Tower, Cafe Del Mar, Es Vive Hotels Experience Bar and The Beach Star Hotel - where he is also the music director. He comes to Hot Digits armed with a plethora of sultry poolside reworks and classic vibes, which the label themselves perfectly described as' perfect for warming up or firing off!' From the lo-slung soul power of "Alejarse", classic slo-mo disco on the rather sultry "El Dolor Mas Dulce" (with Dimitry Soul) or "Ve Mas Despacio" respectively. Lastly, label head honcho Fingerman gets on board with an extended re-edit of "Milagro".
Review:
First released in 1981, this classic album gets remastered and reissued by Mr Bongo. Recorded by a group of musicians led by guitarist Andy Sojka and based out of his All Ears record shop in Harlesden, En Trance put the band well ahead of the Brit-funk pack with its forward-thinking fusion of jazz-funk, disco and dub influences. The reissued version of the album includes selected cuts from the single releases "Motivation", the "Invasion" EP and of course "Dancing In Outer Space", the 1979 hit which you probably know already. Rest assured there's plenty more good steppin' where that came from...
Review:
It would be fair to say that this is a highly confident debut from Cola Boyy, a 28 year-old Californian multi-instrumentalist, singer and producer who delights in joining the dots between sun-kissed West Coast rock, '80s electrofunk, dream pop, soul and funk. Head first for opener "Penny Girl", a cheery chunk of radio-friendly goodness that sits somewhere between Prince, AOR soul and classic turn-of-the-'80s disco, before turning your attention to the reggae-influenced sunshine funk goodness of "Have You Seen Her". Elsewhere, "Come Mid July" is a spacey and bluesy chunk of Nillson-ish dream pop dragged kicking and screaming into the synthesizer era, while "Beige 70" is a wonderfully loved-up chunk of hazy sunrise soul.
Review:
Magic Feet boss Craig Bratley is not the most prolific producer in the world, but his sporadic EPs are usually excellent. Certainly, this outing on Futureboogie Recordings contains some superb music. Pulsating opener "99.9" - a body-jacking, Italo-influenced throb-job high on horror-influenced synthesizer melodies and foreboding riffs - is particularly potent, though wholehearted Italo-disco tribute "Italo Love" and the slo-mo chug-fest "Take Me To Bedford or Lose Me Forever" are almost as good. The EP also includes a sublime interpretation of "99.9%" by Andrew Weatherall, whose stretched-out take places exotic, snaking synth lines and yelping vocal samples over a Love From Outer Space-ready pitched-down groove.
Review:
Mondo Groove has gathered together a crack team of remixers to rework cuts from Daniele Baldelli's five-part Cosmic Temple series of EPs. Predictably, the resultant revisions are rather good, with something to suit almost all cosmic tastes. DJ Tennis kicks things off with a fine version of "Ganhava" that brilliantly joins the dots between deep, melancholic synth pop and gently pulsing Italo-disco, while DJ Ralf brilliantly re-casts "Kosmaro" as a low-slung late night dub disco roller heavy on punk-funk bass and clattering percussion hits. The highlights keep coming throughout, from the sun-bright, synth-heavy nu-disco throb of Tiger and Woods rework of "Vhanessa", to the pots-and-pans percussion assault of Eric Duncan's super-deep remake of "Diffrazione" and old pal Marco Dionigi's sax-wielding dub disco-goes-electrofunk revision of "Taxon".
Review:
Having recently tickled our fancy with a fine chunk of synth-heavy dancefloor soul on ISM (the Andre Esput-sporting "Gimme Dat"), Don Dayglow brings his kaleidoscopic take on electronic music back to Particle Zoo after a five-month absence. By his standards, "Sassenach Music" is a pretty grandiose affair, with intertwining synthesizer lines, doom-ridden bass and sweaty vocal samples combining on a whole-hearted tribute to early '90s house and rave. There are four accompanying remixes to choose from. There's a sparkling, piano-laden revision with a spine-tingling breakdown courtesy of Sweetooth, a dreamy, mid-tempo nu-disco revision by Cuz Electric, a slightly trancey electro-disco tweak by Fabiolous Barker and a fine, pumped-up house take by Dayglow's old Bristol pal [Sic].
