Review: We're not sure what happened to York artist Alfa Flite's infamous bass twang (perhaps the strings snapped?), but it's nowhere to be found on "Spinnin". Instead what we get is the warm and reassuring Detroit Spinners classic "I'll Be Around", gently tweaked and beefed up for some good old party action.
Review: York-based Alfa Flite is slowly building a reputation as a purveyor of fine, soul-flecked edits that tiptoe the fine line between deep house and disco. Here, the mystery combo drops a new edit - a sensual, head-nodding and toe-tapping reinterpretation of what appears to be a classic Sade cut. With rubbery bass, unfussy beats, gentle guitars and emotion-rich vocals, there's plenty to enjoy. With a decent amount of compression on the beats and bassline, as well as a surprisingly distant feel about the vocal, it feels primed and ready for dancefloors that like their grooves toe tapping, head nodding and groovy.
Review: Hailing from York, house-funk act, Alfa Flite, have seen their popularity rise in direct correlation to the increase in slap bass on each new release. On this basis "West Coast Sun" should propel them into the stratosphere, as it's a tight-as-a-gnats-chuff boogie-funker with their trademark rubbery bass twanging left, right and centre! Essential party ammunition.
Review: Poor old Mark "Thunderthumbs" King of Level 42. Despite being a funk jammer extraordinaire, he has struggled to gain respect beyond his own, deeply loyal fanbase. Well, perhaps Alfa Flite's re-edit of Level 42's shimmering jazz-funk classic "Love Games" will go someway to changing people's perception. Retaining that killer bassline, but swapping most of the vox for a pumping house exoskeleton, this is now a cooler beast (without any whiff of Cassandra) indeed.
Review: UK nu-disco boys Alfa Flite jump back onto their own catalogue with a new one-tracker for the club piste, a slice of new age boogie delight served with a side of pop, as per usual. "Slave" is a dance tune in shape, its 4/4 groove bouncing from side to side with patience, but its vocal samples make it instantly seductive and easy to remember; moreover, they're placed sublimely into a tight beat with a deep arrangement. Another solid piece of love from these guys.
Review: Minnie Ripperton's 70s hit Two People is the gift that keeps on giving to aspiring producers. Here Alfa Flite joins the long, long list of folk who have sampled the iconic tune and he doesn't do a bad job either. Opting for a laid-back funk groove and elasticated bassline, he suspends the originals shimmering chords whilst cleverly drip feeding us the famous chorus.
Review: Known for their short, sharp one-trackers, nu-disco act Alfa Flite have done it again. This time they've served up a sizzler in the form of "Framed", an elasticated housey thump of a top disco bug-out. Coming across like a seriously compressed 80s James Brown joint, this one will have you dancing on tables before it's through.
Review: Most people remember Level 42 for their radio-friendly pop-funk 80s megahits, but they were originally a super-cred jazz-funk workout ensemble. An early hit of theirs was the fan favourite, Starchild and Alfa Flite have resurrected it, turning it here into a mid-paced filtered funk house extravaganza. The funk lives on!
Review: The York label Alpaca Edits has swiftly earned themselves a spot in the hearts of digital selectors everywhere thanks to their canny edits that span the crawlspace between deep house and disco. Founders Alfa Flite have played an integral role in this rise with their own work and get another chance to shine on the latest Alpaca Edits release In/Out Boogie. We're not sure if the title is a sly homage to West coast burger joint In & Out Burger but the cut itself is a prime slice of disco with a bassline that really hugs your hips.
Review: York based label specialising in soul, funk and nu/old disco edits. They make what they like in headphones come out the big speakers - and hopefully some vinyl releases are coming soon. Next up for the label is Andy Buchan, who is back in his home of the United KIngdom after a long stint in Dubai. Here the Leeds based artist delivers "Caught In The Middle" and it hurts not knowing the name of the early '80s disco diva he sampled on this wicked edit. Next up "Kos Mick" does exactly what it says on the tin with this cosmic synth journey that reaches near intergalactic moments. There's also some super soulful galaxian vibes on "Dancing Tight" and "Space Chant" gets some Afro vibes in the house. In addition to deejaying and production, Buchan is a copywriter, editor and journalist who worked at DJ Mag Middle East. He is also a self-confessed expert muffin maker.
Review: Alpaca Edits are back with one of the scene's most favoured editors at present: Andy Buchan. The Leeds based disco DJ first cut his teeth playing in Dubai a while back, where he was editor of DJ Mag Middle East. Nowadays, you can find him playing across the UK and presenting his highly sought after resplices on top labels like Hot Digits, Masterworks, Spa In Disco and Audaz. His new Deja Vu EP features the disco inferno of "Imagine This" (Crescendolls edit), the lo-slung boogie down vibe of "U Did It" (Fatboy Ann edit) and the flamboyant What The "Jezahel" (Birley Shassey edit) - which was our favourite of the bunch.
Review: Former DJ Mag Middle East editor Andy Buchan is undoubtedly one of the rising stars of the nu-disco and re-edits scene. His reworks are always of a solid standard - and often even higher - making each successive release a "must-check". Predictably he's in fine form on this Alpaca Edits outing, brilliantly kicking things off with the jaunty, peak-time-ready disco-soul stomp of "Clean Up Your Own Yard (J Moore edit)". Arguably even better is "Fortunate Son (Ccr Edit)", a percussion-rich rework of a flash-friend funk-rock classic, while closing cut "Say Wot (A Sensible Captain Edit)" is baggy, bouncy, giddy and blessed with the kind of bassline that will be stuck in your head for days. And yes, it is a revision of an overlooked Captain Sensible classic.
Review: York based Alpaca Edits is run by Pete Le Freq and makes make what you like in the headphones come out the big speakers with their top edits, reworks and remixes. Now he has hot C Da Afro - see what he did there - from Greece who has appeared previously for Midnight Riot, SpringBok, Editorial and Spa In Disco. Filtered late-night Miami vibes abound on "Touching You Feeling You", sexy deep disco for lovers awaits you on "Weekend Madness" and "With Cristine In The Disco" features some sultry saxophone action that would make a grown man cry.
Review: Casual Connection shouldn't be a new name to those who pay close attention to the international re-edit scene; his debut EP Sugar - released in October on DiscoDat - delivered a range of sacharrine-sweet reworks of '70s and '80s gems with a solid dancefloor focus. Here, the Perth-based producer appears on York's Alpaca Edits with "Your Wish", a sprawling tribute to an '80s soul classic that makes much of the original's chiming melodies, popping drum machine percussion and yearning vocal. The addition of some decidedly cosmic electronics and a stretched-out groove works wonderfully, making "Your Wish" something of a surprise gem. If you enjoy the sugary-sweet taste of '80s soul and R&B, this should be an essential purchase.
Review: Having previously showcased the wares of their own crewmembers, York-based scalpel jockeys Alpaca Edits has decided to look further afield for material. Thus, this latest single-track salvo (not bothering to release full EPs being another recurring theme) comes from Perth-based Aussie filter-worrier Casual Connection. In his usual head-nodding, toe-tapping way (think extended builds, heavy filters, loops and just a touch of house style production) "CC" delivers a largely instrumental reworking of Zapp's stone cold P-funk classic "More Bounce To The Ounce". Given that the original seemingly goes on for about three weeks, a cut-job is justified, and Casual Connection's rework gets just the right balance between talk box love, bumpin' grooves and contemporary production trickery.
Review: Charlie Brown Superstar is no stranger to a bit of space boogie, and the Alpaca Edits crew seems like the perfect place for him to socialise in. In fact, "Givin' It Up" is a lovely, laid-back chat-starter, the sort of banger you put on to impress that special person on a night out - what a bassline! Now that tune is difficult to beat, but "Goin' South" does a good job at delivering a highly sensual, dubbed-out house rush, "Never Gonna Stop" flaps its funky disco wings at a steady pace, and the excellent "Oh Yeah" ties this absolutely stellar EP off with a west-coast, blue-eyed soul kind of swagger - for fans of Ned Doheny. TIP!!
Review: Back in July 2016, we commented that Chuggin' Edits debut release - a fine E.P of largely slo-mo toe-tappers - did "exactly what its' title promises". The same could easily be said of this first outing on Alpaca Edits. "What Choo Gonna Do" sees the mystery editor make merry with one of disco's most sensual end-of-night head-nodders, Stephanie Mills' peerless "Wha Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin'". He or she expertly extends key instrumental passages whilst retaining Mills' brilliant vocal, the result being an extended period of pleasure. On the virtual flip, the chief chugger takes his or her scalpel to Lowrell's brilliant "Mellow, Mellow Right On", making it rise and fall in all the right places.
Review: Fresh from showcasing his trademark brand of hypnotic dancefloor reworks on Seamus Haji's Re-Loved imprint, sometime Midnight Riot and Hot Digits artist Chuggin Edits makes his first appearance on Alpaca Edits for almost a year. There's much to admire across the five-track EP, from the Saccharine sweetness of drowsy Balearic rework "We Are Devotion" (the kind of softly spun AOR pop edit that screams "end of night jam"), to the triple-time blue-eyed soul cut-up of "Bit By Bit", via the 1980s Barry White haziness of "The Peach" and sun-kissed, trumpet-sporting warmth of the EP's superb closing cut, "Pleasure". In other words, it's another fine collection of unlikely, Balearic-minded reworks for steamy sunsets and tactile sunrises.
Review: Chuggz is back! Once again flexing between neat digs and familiar finds, he kicks off 2018 the way he climaxed 2017 - with serious funk and flare. "Don't Let It Go 2 Ur Hed" makes you pull up your jeans and pay attention with its lush waving vocals and rolling groove, the string-laden "Keep On Doing Wot Ur Doin" will make you shout 'bo' in the most sensual hip-slinked way imaginable, "Maskerade" is a work of cosmic downbeat dreamy wonder while "Bye!" is a straight up walrus of a dreamboat. Let's hope he's not saying goodbye for too long....
Review: Fresh from a recent outing on Rare Wiri, sometime Midnight Riot and Hot Digits duo Cuz Electric (AKA Rich Hall and Megan Jones) bring their brand of disco revisionism to Alpaca Edits for the second time. They begin by putting their spin on an elastic, P-funk influenced electrofunk jam (the body-popping brilliance of "Elevate"), before cannily re-arranging and re-EQ'ing a mid '80s new wave disco jam on the big studio grandiosity of "Help Myself". They skip their way through a Hugh Masekela style mid-'80s South African bubblegum track on "Too High", while "To Moira" is a deliciously muscular, string-laden chunk of camp disco celebration just crying out for peak-time plays.
Review: Having previously released on many of the edit scene's most prolific labels - think Hot Digits, Editorial, Masterworks Music and Disco Fruit - Deelicious attempts to complete a full house by adding Alpaca Edits to his CV. Perhaps the most notable feature of the EP is the subtle variety of the producer's reworks. Contrast, for example, the heavy but swirling disco-house bounce of "Sexy Cream", whose undulating orchestration works in perfect harmony with the producer's chunky new house beats, and the '80s boogie-meets-disco-funk brilliance of synthesizer-heavy opener "Tilt". Those searching for deeper and dreamier vibes should also check the hazy country-disco sweetness of "Dreamer".
Review: Ireland's Dexter Jones serves up three reworked dancefloor nuggets from days gone by. 'Don't Stop' opens with an extended, Italo-esque synth intro, then bursts suddenly into life around the two-minute mark with a great big horns riff and a vocodered male "don't stop" vocal that alternates with a female vocal chorus singing "don't stop the music", though where these elements have come from we can't tell you (and no, it's not Yarburgh & Peoples!). The male-vocalled soul/boogie grooves of 'Get On Down', on the other hand, have been lifted from Raydio's 'It's Time To Party Now' from 1980, while there's more "boogie bassline + soulful harmonies" action on the closing 'Split Personality'.
Review: This Aussie disco doctor always packs a punch and here he administers it straight into the veins via a big old hypodermic jam called "Shane's Got The Power". It's a fierce electro-boogie monster featuring early '80s Minneapolis bass and snares, all married to tight clean guitar licks, vocodered vocals and some spacey swishes just for the hell of it. We're not sure if this is an original production or not, but either way it's the bomb.
Review: October 2015 has been a big month for fans of Dr Packer, Western Australia's premier provider of smooth, house-friendly disco re-edits. Not only did he drop a cracking EP of re-worked disco and electrofunk anthems on Masterworks Music, but he's also delivered this chunk of party-starting goodness on Alpaca Edits, a label that strangely favours single-track salvos. We're not sure of the original source material for "Dreamin", but it's a breezy, soul-flecked disco delight full of clipped guitars, positive vocal snippets and liquid synthesizer lines - topped off, of course, but the good doctor's usual shuffling house drums and expansive filter work.
Review: Here we have a meeting of minds - a one-off collaboration between nu-disco dons, Dr Packer and Mr Rhodes. "Coming Off" is nearly seven minutes of meandering Balearic shuffles, jazzy keys and rolling funk bassline. In other words, a real journey, and one that's highly recommended you undertake.
Review: Another one-tracker from disco-edit Londoner Fabiolous Barker. "The City" is a celebratory trek through the mind of someone like Rick James - all twangy, skintight lurex basslines, snappy snares and golden choruses. Totally dope.
Review: Given that he named himself after a popular brand of tinned pastry products, it would be fair to say that Fray Bentos likes pie. Disappointingly there's a distinctive lack of pie puns within the track titles of his latest EP, though the edits themselves are top notch. "Sum Ting About Ya" is an expertly rearranged and lightly bulked up slab of disco-soul, while "What It Takes" is a thrillingly delay-laden, tooled-up revision of a sing-along disco classic that makes the most of the original's synth bass-propelled instrumentation. For the EP's final two tracks he joins forces with Dusty Sanchez, first for the bustling disco-house stomp of "Hit It Off" and then the filter-smothered warmth of "Strengthen It Out", a deliciously dreamy affair blessed with superb piano solos.
Review: A Tokyo-based, Melbourne-born producer with over ten years industry experience, JSquared has of late been enjoying success as a disco re-edit meister (the likes of Kraak & Smaak having been including his work in their sets). Here he drops a new reworked version of Sharon Redd's "Never Gonna Give You Up". As you can expect it's a total '80s synth-funk explosion of leather tracksuits, perms, big sharp snares and bigger vocals. So in other words: party dynamite!
Review: An Aussie in Japan with a worryingly intense obsession with early 80s boogie, Jsquared is not your average nu-disco producer. This of course is a good thing, because, well, he knows those grooves like no other. His latest missive is "Don't Stop", which takes a killer slap bass and glitter vintage disco-boogie jam and adds some bang up to date thump. Result? A seriously slammin' retro floorfiller.
Review: Combine influences of Daft Punk, Ed Banger's Breakbot and Justice, with some chunked up disco beats, guitar licks, cosmic synths and vocoded vocals - like JSquared's done for Alpaca Edits - and you have a bona fide dancefloor bomb. Justice (get it) and homage is done to The Ol'Jays 1983 original, "Put Our Heads Together" which is rip-roaring enough, but if you're after that contemporary touch of modernism, this the edit.
Review: Austrian producer Mannix returns to Alpaca Edits with two more retro-happy, disco-flavoured jams. Centred around a singalong "why must a girl like me love a man like you?" chorus, 'A Girl Like Me' is a high-camp affair with something of a 70s Eurovision air about it, and hence is probably best served to dancefloors that don't mind a hint of fromage (or formaggio or K?se, if you prefer). Rollicking along at a fairly pacey 127bpm, the accompanying 'You Got Me' operates in similar territory, but has more of an authentic US feel.
Review: Disco-minded dance soldier Mannix lands on the insufferably seductive Alpaca Edits with two new fiery bits of glitter-ball funk - the Muscle Car Funk edits! "Looking Ahead" is a disco sensation, mashing up heavyweight bass drums with sensual strings and funky guitar bass, while "The World Is A Ghetto" travels at a much calmer pace, churning the vibes through a mid-tempo swagger that makes for the funkiest of funk bombs. Yes!
Review: Austrian DJ and remixer Mannix Kling stands for high quality house music productions with influences from disco, soul, funk and boogie. Over the years, he's had releases on labels such as Purple Music, Favouritizm Records, Sunclock and Lapsus Music. On Muscle Car Funk Pt 2, Mannix lends his deft hand to a bunch of re-takes that sure as hell needed an edit! "So U Wanna Be A Star" is a right disco inferno that sounds quite familiar and while we cannot name it off the top of our heads - it sounds like a fresh revision for modern dancefloors. Secondly we have a respectful edit from a creative source (ahem!) we know that much - "Good Lovin' Is Good Livin'' takes things down a deeper and more sultry route.
Review: Mike Woods has previously delivered the goods on a number of popular re-edit imprints, including Masterworks Music, Cherry Cola and Disco Fruit. Here he stars on Alpaca Edits for the first time. Woods begins with the chunky, synth-laden, sun-kissed goodness of "Mind Funk", before dipping into his bag of throbbing, EBM-influenced Italo-disco tricks with "Hey Hey", a stomping rework of a Fairlight CMI-powered Trevor Horn production from 1984. It doesn't take a degree in crate digging to work out the track being rearranged on "Rapping Wordyhood"; for the record, Woods's revision is faithful to the original while giving it his own subtle tweak. Arguably best of all, though, is "Get Down", a loopy, floor-friendly revision of a lesser-known cover of an early hip-hop classic.
Review: Here's a quick stopgap August anthem from Spanish re-edit hero Mr Absolutt. Clocking in at just shy of ten minutes long, "Party People" is a delicious blend of 80s-style electro-boogie and Sugarhill-era rap. Perfect beach party music.
Review: Relative newcomers on the scene, Patawawa, are not your average nu-disco act. For a start they're a trio (Sam Wilmot, Rory Lovatt, and Beth Garrett), they don't re-edit, they play live and they don't even hail from anywhere trendy (they're from Derbyshire, a fact that, they believe, lends their music a certain cheekiness). Here we find their recent Chic-esque single, Red & White, reworked by the one and only Dr Packer. He's done a sterling job of retaining almost all the elements of the original song but added some looser disco-house groove and swing. Imagine if they made an album!
Review: Pete La Freq is a Cambridgeshire DJ that heads up Alpaca Edits and its parent label Llama Farm. On "Freq Show" be prepared for a Cameo sounding, neon-lit boogie funk edit that could well have been on the soundtrack to classic '80s films like Beverly Hills Cop or Action Jackson. And that P-funk bassline, manalive! Next up he serves up some lo-slung, deep disco business on "Stuff" that goes for that late '70s NYC kind of vibe. Finally "Changing Transport" is the kind of feel good and sunny 'respectful edit' that will appeal to fans of other equally lauded disco Stus of the moment - such as Perth's Dr. Packer or The Noodleman from Toronto. This follows up some awesome releases on the label in recent times, from the likes of Andy Buchan, RockNRolla Soundsystem and the charmingly titled C Da Afro.
Review: We'd like to think that Pete Le Freq completed these glassy-eyed '70s and '80s yacht-rock edits while dressed in suitable attire, specifically a pastel coloured, loose fit jump suit and boat shoes. Sadly, he probably didn't, but happily his "rewinds" will suit all those yearning for a bit of warm, sun-kissed positivity. Our pick of the bunch is "Say", where a string-laden classic from blue-eyed soul maestro Boz Scaggs is gently tooled up, dubbed-out and rearranged for maximum dancefloor impact. Elsewhere, "Yah Mo" is a tasty version of an eyes-closed, synth-laden '80s soul/yacht rock classic, while "Puddin' & Pie" is a groovy, occasionally echoing version of soft focus Toto classic "Georgy Porgy" that's just crying out to be rocked on an Adriatic boat party.
Review: Alpaca Edits founder Pete Le Freq is on a roll at the moment, with a string of high-grade EPs still to drop in coming weeks. "Burnin" is the first of these and is every bit as essential as the producer's previous edit EPs. He starts in confident mood offering up a groovy, subtly beefed-up revision of a Gwen McRae classic that wisely gives dcue prominence to the original track's killer bassline. "Turn Your Love" sees the friendly Freq get busy with filter tricks on a breezy version of a 1980s George Benson favourite, while "Dreamin' The Dream" is a driving, low-slung revision of a powerful disco-funk workout. Arguably best of all, though, is "What About Nile", a gently breezy, filter-sporting slab revision of a sleek, chic and lovelorn disco classic.
Review: Alpaca Edits heavyweight Pete Le Freq continues to make merry with the multi-track tapes of dusty disco, soul and electrofunk classics. This second selection of "freak-outs" is every bit as on-point as its predecessor, with the self-proclaimed "Freq" sprinting through the soaring disco-soul brilliance of "The Playa" before slinking into '80s soul/AOR pop mode on the dreamy and quietly groovy "Any Further" (a period 12" Dub style revision of a well-known radio favourite). Elsewhere he tampers with Janet Jackson's Jam and Lewis produced classic "What Have You Done For Me Lately" with typically impressive results before successfully "talkin' about bad girls" on punchy rework "Naughty Girls". Best of all, though, is "Let No Man", a loose and life-affirming edit of one of the greatest disco records of all time.
Review: Multi-track maestro Pete Le Freq is back with a third selection of hot-to-trot reworks created using original vocals and instrumentation from a range of disco and boogie-era cuts. He successfully teases and filters out the Jackson Sisters on "Refreq'ed Miracle", before putting his stamp on Phreek's Patrick Adams-produced Paradise Garage anthem, "Weekend". He then delivers two storming cuts based on Dan Hartman's "Relight My Fire": an extended instrumental ("Pete's Got Vertigo") and a sing-along version with added Loleatta Holloway ("Relight Dan's Fire"). Elsewhere, he successfully tampers with a Salsoul classic ("Twenty Percent") and sticks a bouncy house beat beneath a string-laden disco classic ("Luv Town").
Review: Right now it seems like a week doesn't pass without the release of a new re-edit EP from Pete Le Freq. While it's not that surprising - the disco edit scene is full of prolific rework merchants - what is eyebrow-raising is the way that the Alpaca Edits regular is able to keep the quality threshold impressively high. For proof, check the glassy-eyed yacht rock/AOR disco-soul brilliance of "Before", the all-action, slap-bass and string-laden disco heaviness of "Stompy McStompface" (this week's most humorously titled re-edit), and the filter sporting, dub disco style "Boo Ghee Nights", where one of disco's most famous cuts gets a tidy 21st century makeover.
Review: Pete Le Freq is Alpaca Edits and Llama Farm head honcho, serial re-editor and reworker of soul funk and disco. Here he presents three respectful edits such as "L.O.V.E." where he delivers a lo-slung and funky affair: Greek style, no guesses who he resplices on "Shake It Up Cheryl" - it's an oldie but indeed a goodie. There's also a 1979 British soul classic thats given a nice modern revision here on "One More Step" - timeless stuff! Pete's been djing for the last 20 years, has played all over the UK and Europe, spinning with the likes of Inland Knights, The Littlemen, Soydan, Cagedbaby, DIY, Matt Shrewd and loads more. His productions have taken elements of disco, soul, funk and jazz with a large dose of wobbly bass and blended them all together in a deep house smoothie.
This Ain't Yo Mama's Soul Train (original mix) - (6:11) 120 BPM
This Ain't Yo Mama's Soul Train (Micfreak remix) - (4:54) 124 BPM
Review: Alpaca Edits regular Pete Le Freq takes time out from offering up "multi-track edits" to deliver a swirling, string-drenched chunk of disco house sweetness in collaboration with Coco Street. In its original form, "This Ain't Yo Mama's Soul Train" makes extensive use of elements from a Philadelphia International classic, layering up glassy-eyed Tony Montana style orchestration and vocal snippets over a bustling house beat. The accompanying Micfreak Remix takes the track further into disco-house territory, pitching the cut up to 124 BPM and beefing up the beats to gargantuan proportions. It's a suitably heavy alternative version that sounds like a peak-time staple in waiting.
Review: Hailing from Wolverhampton, up and coming producer Lee Perry might well have been confused for the legendary dub producer were it not for a wise adoption of a pseudonym. He last surfaced on Magic Feet serving up a split release with Rich Lane, but this time he's going it alone with a cheeky remix that will appeal to anyone who was actively digging into the golden years of Britpop. Mansun's "Wide Open Space" was arguably their biggest hit, and Perry takes a careful approach that lays a warm, throbbing disco bedrock underneath Paul Draper's haunting vocals which should slide smoothly into any warm-up situation.
