Review: Since first pitching up on Favorite Recordings a few years back, Russian saxophonist Andre Solomko has delivered a string of impressive albums and singles that gleefully join the dots between smooth jazz, '80s jazz-funk and Afro-fired disco-funk. Le Deltaplane, his latest full-length excursion, explores similar sonic territory, moving from languid, jazz-funk-influenced soul ("Le Deltaplane") and deliciously smooth and glassy-eyed disco-jazz ("Moonbeach Disco"), to heavy Afro-disco brilliance ("Le Premier Disco Sans Toi") via a range of sumptuous, solo-heavy workouts that sound like that could have been featured on a sought-after, turn-of-the-'80s jazz-funk obscurity. Throughout, Solomko and company's instrumentation is little less than sublime.
Open Up Your Eyes (Patchworks Disco remix) - (5:59) 116 BPM
Open Up Your Eyes (album version) - (2:49) 113 BPM
Open Up Your Eyes (Jex Opolis remix) - (7:32) 120 BPM
Review: If you've not yet checked Al Sunny's 2017 debut album, Time to Decide, then we'd heartily recommend giving it a listen. It's packed with summery, sun-kissed fare influenced by jazz-funk, Brazilian fusion and West Coast blue-eyed soul. Here, one of the album's undoubted highlights, "Open Your Eyes", is given a dancefloor makeover by Patchworks and Jex Opolis. To our ears, it's the latter who steals the show with a delightfully Balearic house take that wraps the original bassline, Clavinet riffs, electric guitars and vocals around one of the New York producer's typically tactile, synth-heavy grooves. That said, Patchworks' Disco version is as authentic and warming as you'd expect, with the veteran French producer making the most of Sunny's superb instrumentation.
Review: Russian saxophonist Andre Solomko has been featured on Favorite Recordings before, delivering a couple of albums that cheerily riffed on smooth jazz and '80s jazz-funk. He's flipped the script on this return to the noted French label, laying down a righteous slab of club-ready disco-funk with noted Afro-disco influences. Naturally, Solomko's killer saxophone solos take pride of place on "Le Premier Disco Sans Toi", rising above a groovy backing track rich in jaunty Clavinet riffs and William Onyeabor style Moog flourishes. It's backed by an alternately wavy and beefed-up Dub Mix and a solo heavy Dub of "Moonbeach Disco", a Balearic disco excursion rich in jazz-funk influences.
Review: Macedonia has never been known as a hotbed of disco. It's perhaps this that makes Arian's eponymous 1981 album such a remarkable set. Here re-mastered and reissued by Favorite for the first time since it was initially released in ultra-limited quantities, the set is bristling with dewy-eyed, boogie era disco treats. It was recorded in New York with local musicians, and you can tell. There's a genuine authenticity to the likes of AOR disco anthem "Your Love Makes Me A Winner", the punchy, horn-heavy disco-boogie brilliance of "Can't Say Goodbye", K.I.D style dancefloor heaviness of "Sure It's Funky" and blue-eyed soul shuffler "Still Together". As with the original album, the reissue also contains Croatian language versions of the same superb tracks.
Review: Despite his classical training, composer-turned-producer Al Sunny is more interested in classic soul, West Coast rock and the sun-kissed fusion work of 1970s Brazilian artists. Time To Decide is his debut album, and it's really rather good. Sunny is a talented songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist capable of creating perfectly produced songs that bristle with warm, sun-kissed nostalgia. Highlights include the Steely Dan-esque vibes of "Beautiful Lady", the dancefloor-friendly jazz-funk headiness of "Don't Let Nobody Know" and "Open Up Your Eyes", and the brilliant "Since I've Been Loving You", which sounds like a tooled-up take on Beatles circa "Got To Get You Into My Life". Sunny's cover of Ned Doheny's "Give it Up For Love" is also something of a treat.
Review: For the third volume in his consistently superb AOR Global Sounds compilation series, Charles Maurice has largely opted to showcase tracks that combine West Coast rock flavours with disco and soul influences. It's a heady and intoxicating collection, where the blue-eyed soul/jazz-funk fusion of "Girl" by Stratus rubs shoulders with the horn-heavy, electrofunk era AOR cheeriness of Willy Santana's "Mais Uma Chance" and the '80s soul smoothness of Omega Sunrise's "Heartbreaker". Other highlights include the rubbery boogie bass and Steely Dan guitar passages of Billy Always' "More Than A Minute" and the drowsy warmth of Jon Konteau's synth-laden "The Heckler", which comes on like the Steve Miller Band jamming with Moon B.
Review: Despite Bruno 'Patchworks' Hovart boasting a discography packed to the rafters with successful forays into all sorts of vintage dancefloor styles, many were still surprised at the brilliance of the first Voilaaa album, On Te L'avait Dit. This follow-up is equally as impressive, and features 13 more trips into classic Afro-disco and tropical disco territory. With Clavinets, punchy horns, live percussion and Afrobeat bass to the fore, Hovart and his many collaborators - including a number of French vocalists with African heritage - variously pay tribute to all sorts of late '70s and early '80s dancefloor fusion sounds. The album includes tons of club-ready excursions, including the righteous "Problems", disco-tastic "Kemtane" and sweaty, high octane "Mbele".
Review: Bruno 'Patchworks' Hovart's first full-length under the Voilaa guise, the Afro-disco revivalism of 2015's On Tet L'avait Dit, was rather good, so hopes are naturally high for his forthcoming follow-up. This fine teaser EP gives a taste of things to come. It begins with the authentically groovy, floor-friendly tropical disco hustle of "African Music", where punchy horns, fuzzy synths and sing-along vocals ride a killer, bass-heavy groove. Those wanting a sweatier, more high tempo outing should check the steppy beats, Afro-Cuban guitars and rich bass of "Decalement" (which, handily, is available in both vocal and instrumental variations), while "Problems" is a slightly more spaced out, reggae-tinged Afro-disco shuffler.
Review: Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart is a veteran producer who began in the 90s releasing cult deep house records. Since then he has explored all things groovy and now he's back under a new presidential moniker. He's recruited his old pal Sabba MG for these new jams too, with his sweet and soulful falsettos being the icing on the skippy garage cake of "Going To A Go Go". Meanwhile "Night Time" is a classy homage to the warm grooves of 80s funk. The former also appears as a sparse and heady "Deep Mix" and the latter gets a dubbed out treated too.
Review: Favorite Recordings has pulled out all the stops on this tasty E.P, which features big name remixes of tracks from Patchworks man Bruno Hovart's Afro-disco side project, Violaa. The headline attractions are undoubtedly Dimitri From Paris's two reworks of "On Te L'Avait Dit". The Parisian disco maestro delivers a fiendishly percussive, horn-heavy Super Disco Blend - complete with original vocal - before working the drums and delays further on a fine accompanying Super Disco Dub. Golf Channel regulars Africaine 808 provide the other remix, laying down a delightfully loose, organic and percussive interpretation of former single "Spies Are Watching Me". Smartly, they push some of the previously unheard instrumentation to the fore early on, before unleashing Violaa's original horns and vocals.
Review: It would be fair to say that Karriem's super-sweet "I Love You" has been on many disco diggers' wants lists for some time. Happily, Favorite Recordings has licensed it, offering up not only a timely vinyl repress, but also this first ever digital-download edition. As it was back in 1979, "I Love You" remains a whisker away from disco perfection, with Karriem's fine vocals and killer electric piano solos riding a loose groove full of clipped guitars and high-grade percussion. Like the original 12", too, this release boasts both 'Long' and 'Short' versions; naturally, it's the brilliant extended mix that packs the most punch.
Review: During its late '70s and early '80s heyday, France's disco-boogie scene tended towards the eccentric. Yet despite the camp, tongue-in-cheek feel adopted by many French bands and producers, much of the music was of an impressively high standard. That much is clear from Charles Maurice's second French Disco Boogie Sounds compilation. Packed full of slick, synthesizer-driven material and punchy, horn-heavy disco-funk thrillers (see the Teena Marie style "Movin" by Jackie Esam), it's a fine collection of Gallic dancefloor treats. You're unlikely to find a better example of jazz-funk positivity than Black Bells Group's "Talk Me Mam's", while Messan's "Keep Cool" is a lesson in thrusting, up-tempo disco sweatiness.
I'll Try A Little Every Day For You - (3:20) 66 BPM
Crack The Whip - (3:20) 84 BPM
Standby Lover - (4:09) 92 BPM
Keep On Running - (3:17) 87 BPM
Making Love For The First Time - (2:57) 106 BPM
Be My Baby - (2:55) 91 BPM
An Eye For An Eye - (3:55) 119 BPM
Right Through The Heart - (4:01) 78 BPM
Review: 1981's An Eye For An Eye is, to this day, the only LP produced by Byrne & Barnes together, and it's as playful and fresh as the first day it came out. While it's a little more on the synth side of things, it reminds us of other blue-eyed soul artists such as Ned Doheny, and throughout its eleven tunes, there's plenty of romance, mystique and soul-ridden funk. Think of it as the prototypical bridge between a 70's jazz-funk LP and the beginning of pop music as we know it today. Blue-eyed soul at its finest!
Review: The man behind the Magic Source project, German producer Bjorn Wagner, is best known for creating revivalist funk and soul under a dizzying variety of aliases. Magic Source, though, takes a different approach, with Wagner applying his magic touch to the world of cosmic disco. Earthrising is the project's first full-length, and is built around straight-to-tape recordings of Wagner and his numerous musical collaborators. Undeniably dusty in feel, the album's seven tracks variously touch on Afro-funk, Space style French cosmic disco, hustling disco-funk, Caribbean disco-funk, and tricky-to-pigeonhole workouts. As you'd expect, it's wonderfully played and produced, with Wagner capturing the spirit of the original era, whilst putting his own distinctive spin on proceedings.
Review: Led by zouk music hero, Franck Donatien, Crystal was an eight-piece combo from the French West-Indies. They originally released two albums back in the mid-'80s, and now Favorite Recordings have proudly acquired the rights to reissue the first one, 1984's Music Life. Boasting bass, guitars, synthersizers, two drummers and a whole brass section, to name but a few, this ain't no minimalist jam. Instead there are six examples of high-end musicianship, songs and grooves. Highlights include the strutting clavinet-heavy boogie of "Music Life", the proggy Cuban jazz freak out "Santo Domingo" and the Latin cocktail lounge seducer "Lan Mise".
Review: Favorite Recordings deals only in the best disco-minded club music, and you can always count on them to deliver a new artist with a bag full of surprises and delight. "Lovestruck" is a heavy, sticky 70s-style nugget tailor-made for the sunny weather and that sweet smell of freshly cut grass. There's a string of sexy remixes that follow: Patchworks adds to the percussion roll and the bumpiness of the groove, while Golf Channel's Africaine 808 dubs the shit out of the original by adding girth and menace to the low-ends, only to be stripped-down further by Voilaaa's own masterful reinterpretation.
Review: A blue eyed soul singer from Hawaii, Greg Yoder first this LP, Dreamer Of Life, back in 1976. Now French label Favourite have acquired the rights to this long forgotten musical anomaly. Appearing on the cover like a kind of American soft rock radio hero, the record serves up a deeper, more interesting artist at work. "If There's A Chance Tomorrow" is like a particularly dreamy Bee Gees ballad, "Parchment Farm" is a bizarre, xylophone-drenched jazz-scat jive and "Golden Lady" is pure beach-waves-at-night romanticism. Further on we get Latin trumpet lounge on "She's My Lady" and even campfire balladry on the mournful "You Must Have". A rare find.
Review: French label Favourite Recordings tend to recruit the finest crate diggers for their revered compilations, none more so than Charles Maurice (French Disco Boogie Sounds). Here he returns to the label to present his second instalment of his AOR Global Sounds series. Adult Orientated Rock dominated the charts in the 1980s, especially in America, but originally it was a less brash, mellower genre akin to Yacht Rock. Here he selects more deep cuts from those early days, ones that touched on jazz, soul and disco. Being an adult has never been so much fun!
Review: When Favorite Recordings decide to do a crate-digging compilation, they rarely get it wrong. Following recent Disco Boogie Sounds selections focusing on Brazilian and French fare, they've recruited dusty-fingered DJ Waxist to put together a Caribbean-themed edition. Predictably, he's picked some suitably obscure disco, boogie and disco-funk killers. Highlights come thick and fast, from the winding synthesizer lines, swinging disco-funk grooves and intergalactic sound effects of Musicism's "Bermuda Triangle", to the Clavinet-laden shuffle of Eddie & The Movement's "Macho Man", and the hard-wired reggae-boogie business of Barry Bryson's "Going To The Party".
Shake It Up (feat Alicia Blue Eyez Smith - extended 12 version) - (7:32) 88 BPM
Cosmic Jam (extended 12 version) - (7:02) 111 BPM
Review: Throughout the latter half of the noughties, musical fusionists 7 Samurai made regular appearances on G.A.M.M and Poets Club Recordings, delivering reworks and original tracks that somehow joined the dots between jazz-dance, dub, deep house, soul, hip-hop and Latin beats. Here the duo returns on France's Favorite Recordings with their first new material for well over four years. Flipside "Cosmic Jam", dedicated to Patrick Forge, is arguably the pick of the two tracks, with rich Rhodes riffs and Herbie Hancock style space synths riding a dubby, rolling deep house groove. That said, Alicia Blue Eyez Smith hook-up "Shake It Up" - a loose, twinkling chunk of cosmic disco inspired dub-soul fusion - is pretty darn tasty, too.
Review: When Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart sets his sights on creating an authentic tribute to a vintage style, the results are invariably excellent. That's certainly the case with this debut album from his Violaa project, which utilizes a swathe of live players - and vocalists of African and Caribbean origin - to successfuly replicate the hot and sticky sounds of Afro-disco and tropical disco. Most will already know the brilliant single "Spies Are Watching Me", but there are plenty of other standout cuts throughout On Te L'avait Dit. Check, for starters, the Trinidadian disco hustle of "Vampire", the William Onyeabor-goes-disco flex of "Tomowa", and the lilting Afro-funk brilliance of "Jungle Fire".
Review: Wherever it's made, disco is exotic, sumptuous and sexy. However when it's made somewhere that actually is exotic, sumptuous and sexy, well, then the sparks really fly! Brazil and disco have always been fiery lovers, and here we are presented with three tantric gems from that part of the world. "Relax" provides smooth, loungey vibes complete with strong vocal harmonies and cocktail effect atmospheres, while "Ripa Na Xulips" follows with a perkier, almost Italo-disco, synth-funk vibe. Finally "Labirinto" is slightly schmaltzy Casio-led crooner (think early '80s Latin soap theme).
Review: Having previously celebrated Brazil's disco-boogie scene, Favourite Recordings has decided to apply the same formula to French music from a similar period. With noted crate digger Charles Maurice at the helm, the selections are naturally impressive, and feature a mix of suitable obscure fare and quirky, major label released oddities, with vocals in French and heavily accented English. Maurice provides a number of excellent re-edits, too, breathing new life into Kelly's hands-in -the-air sing-along "DrAle Dahistoire D'Amour", a wonderfully sweet and breezy jam from Bernard Guyvan, and the sun-kissed, horn-heavy brilliance of Beckie Bell's "Music Madness".
Review: Fans of French producer Hugo LX's work with The Funk League, Large Professor and Diamond D will be pleasantly surprised by his new venture under the Kenjanai guise. Forthcoming debut album Faceless Heroes sees him explore more experimental and retro-futuristic sounds - often bordering on ambient or chill out. Here, this teaser reveals the funkier side of the record, with acclaimed nu-funk singer Amalia (Opolopo) delivering some seductive vocals over a punk funk groove. Meanwhile "Vapors/Huge" is a more downtempo, glitchy jazz funk instrumental.
Review: Andre Solomko is a virtuoso saxophonist who originally hit it big in his native USSR, but circumstance led him to Finland where things went a bit quiet for a while. However, he persevered and started a label/studio/group called Vinyl Jam, which gave birth to two studio albums. The success of these has helped see his style come back in vogue and now he presents "Le Polaroid" a fine collection heavily inspired by his beloved '80s jazz and featuring guests such as Alain Mion (Cortex), Mr. Day, and Finnish singer Stiina.
Review: Ooh la la! Those saucy Frenchies can't help injecting their disco with a bit of funky fornication. Think back to the '70s and Emmanuelle and all that Moog-drenched soft Euro porn, it's the kind of thing Sebastian Tellier has been digging for years. Here's some more Gallic explorations of this vintage world where handlebar moustaches and lipglossed lips (amongst other things) collide. Highlights include the dizzy analogue grind "Porn", the distorted almost -neo soul jam "Sexy Soul", the Timotei advert vibes of "Goodbye Lullaby" and the George-McRae-on-ludes-isms of "Don't Outstay Outside 2 Night". Foxy!
Review: Although it's easy to assume that the eponymous Mr Day is a breathing, shimmying, real life soul-pop star, he is in fact, a band. Led by retro fixated frontman Eric Duperray, the band who also comprise Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart, and jazzers Raphael Chambouvet and Remy Kaprielan, have released two cult albums: Small Fry and Dry Up In The Sun. "Caveman" is taken from the latter and is an exhilarating slice of Stax-like Northern Soul, injected with the raw ferocity of their notoriously sizzling live shows.
Review: Here we have the debut album from self-confessed 'sunshine pop' musician Lucas Arruda. Now 30, Lucas spent his formative years playing in hard rock bands but was converted to soul and jazz by a deadly seductress (a vintage Fender Rhodes actually) in his early 20s. This impressive long-planned long player features a cornucopia of styles and moods, including the lazy 70s soul of opener "Physis", the gentle Rio-funk of "Tamba (Pt1), the smooth vocals of "Who's That Lady?" and the lilting bossa nova of "Alma Nova".
Review: Pretty self-explanatory title here, veteran French producer Patchworks presents two shining examples of his famously exemplary productions. First up is the 2003 Motorcity mix of Metropolitan Jazz Affair's "Yunowhatthislifeez" which is light and breezy with hazy trumpets and laconic, slappy bass. Mr President's "The Best Is Yet To Come" is a thrilling dead ringer for the urgent 70s soul of Curtis Mayfield. Also included is bonus cover of Gershwin's standard "Summertime", turned into a loungey Latino workout by Patchworks himself.
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