Review: Edinburgh-based B-Jam has previously released some seriously hot, party-friendly edits on Superbreak. Here, he shifts focus slightly, delivering a quarter of driving, sample-heavy disco-house cuts that sit somewhere between Soundstream, Tiger and Woods and the kind of hands-in-the-air fodder that was once the preserve of Joey Negro's Z Records. There's a baggy sweetness to opener "Make It", its loopy nature well disguised by some brilliantly wide-eyed horns and classic soul vocals. "The Need of Women", based around similar source material, increases the energy levels two-fold, while "Such A Glue" gains much of its power from a combination of a killer disco-funk groove and judicious use of filters. Closer "The Situation", meanwhile, sounds like an end-of-night anthem in waiting.
Review: Dynamicron's Madrid-based label Los Grandes is chiefly known for its nu-disco sounds. However this release by Campion sees them venture into deeper, housier territory. There's three original tracks here, and despite not being instant hitters, are deceptively seductive. At less than 100bpm, "For Real', kicks things off with a less than urgent approach, preferring to ease the listener in with a soulful lushness instead. "DOME" is pulsating and bleepy slo-mo house and lastly "Anything" harks back to the classic soul of Bobby Womack but is married to a dreamy filtered groove. A brave and interesting release.
Review: After fiddling around with re-edits for the last few years, Dynamicron appears to finally be settling on an original production style of his own. While firmly disco-centric - see the delightfully over the top strings, pianos and horns of "Wasted Love" - it also includes nods to house and P-funk. There's something almost grungy and aggressive about the balls-out disco-rock-meets-P-funk of "Highlighted", while "Just Wanna Love Ya Babe" flips the script to offer some slo-mo, flute-laden AOR chugginess. A wildly varied EP that should enhance the Spanish producer's growing reputation.
Review: In the last 12 months, Mexico has emerged as an unlikely hotbed of nu-disco talent. The latest act to emerge from the apparently disco-minded Central American state is Future Feelings. Here, they offer up a two-track taster EP on Madrid-based Los Grandes, an imprint whose discography seemingly gets better with every release. Both "Skylife" and "Africa" are built around delightfully rubbery bass guitar grooves, with the former taking top billing thanks to some choice vocal samples and a loose electrofunk/disco fusion vibe. "Africa", though, is still pretty tasty, and should cause considerable dancefloor damage thanks to some fearlessly wigged-out synth squiggles.
Review: It's been some 18 months since Seattle-based nu-disco producer Futurewife made his debut on Mexican imprint Mix La Fun. Here he delivers the belated follow-up, an expansive six-track set featuring three original productions and a trio of tasty remixes. His style - cut-up, eccentric and funky, with curious instrumentation and an unfussy joviality - is arguably best showcased by the wonky funk of "As Luck Would Have It", though the filter-heavy disco-house blast of "Come To Love" runs it close. Remix-wise, there are particularly good versions of "As Luck Would Have It" by Heion (baggy Balearic nu-disco) and Dynamicron, whose slowed-down interpretation sounds both strangely druggy and intensely sober. Either way, it's delightfully exotic and pleasingly humid.
Review: Los Grandes has enjoyed an impressive 2012, releasing a mix of lovingly crafted edits, seductive slo-mo disco originals and starlight disco/house fusion. Here, they round off the year with a selection of slinky reworks from previously unknown scalpel jockey Groovedown. The EP begins with "Nixon", a sweet, summery combination of cut glass strings, loose grooves and soft focus jazz guitar solos. "Walk To Mississippi" injects a touch of Cajun-spiced delta blues into proceedings, before "Baby (I Love Touching You)" slowly builds into a hustling disco-funk beast. Best of all, though, is closer "Midnight", a moonlit stroll through filter disco territory with only a large bag of MDMA powder for company.
Review: Lazy Kiss is a new project from Brazil-based DJs Marco Kothe, Pedro Floriani and Caco Velloso. First Kiss, their debut release, features what we'd classify as edits-not-edits - tracks that began as re-edits but were later turned into something else. It's a neat method of working, and one that has delivered solid results. Musically, there's much to admire, from the lazy Latin AOR disco of "Mala's Son" and the jazz-funk hustle of "George's Barrio", to the Nu Shooz re-imagining "I Can't Wait Forever" and camp Italo pulse of "Amadeo". Best of all, though, is "Balla", a mad-for-it trip into skewed disco territory that should prove a surefire hit on dancefloors.
Review: Macedonian duo Mosaik hit it hard by releasing "We Found" on the mighty Los Grandes and roping in some heavyweights on remix duties. The original recalls that deep 80s silky smooth sound - all shiny chrome guitar licks, glowing neon Don't Look Any Further synths and added dreamy vocals. Italo disco hero Alexander Robotnik keeps the deep vibe but adds some light 303 attitude to the mix, label boss Dynamicron adds some electro-disco beats and Vladislav Moustache slows things right down for a great mong-out version. "Hey Boogie" slips vintage Janet Jackson some ketamine for some slo-mo funk results. Hot!
Review: Dynamicron (aka Roberto Marrero)'s Madrid-based nu-disco/edit label Los Grandes present here this new pairing of Greek DJ Nicko Marineli and producer pal, Disco B. There's four floor-melting tunes here: "Heartless" is an early 80s slap-bass slap-up, "Bar K" is freaky filtered funk, "French Bomb" is a laser-filled cocktail-spiller and "Serena Must Dance" is an authoritative electro-boogie stomper!
Review: Mr Saucedo is a Mexican guy with a big thing for summery retro dance music. Here on his latest EP we get four tracks of warm and fuzzy re-edits of vintage club hits. Lifted from Kathi Baker's original, the title track "Feel The Love" reduces the speed and adds shimmering atmospherics for a Balearic sunset feel. "Music & Light" is, as you might imagine, a beefed-up re-work of the anthem by Brit-soul heroes Imagination. "Spring Affair" is a slo-mo take on Donna Summer's mid 70s classic, adding some Jan Hammer-style electronic toms for an 80s Miami rooftop party vibe. Finally on "Sexual Love", Saucedo plays with some saucy vintage movie dialogue and heavy use of disco filters to wrap things up in a light-hearted manner.
Review: Everything in this US producer's world is in slow motion. Very slow motion. However nobody said he'd be a whizz at fixing your drain or mending your fridge, it's his music that we want him for and, in that regard he's very good indeed. This EP collects five beautifully produced, otherworldly cuts that often take synthy '80s soul and balearica to its very stoned logical conclusion ("Ask The Lonely", "Gather Melodies") and sometimes even deliver sublime snails pace chill wave ("Just A Thought", "Long Goodbye"). An awesome release.
Review: There's something deliciously laidback and sultry about "The Lament", the first collaborative single from Madrid-based producers Tripmann and Sandrobianchi. The track is built around a head-nodding, midtempo deep house groove, but it's the variety of sweet, sensual samples - think eyes-closed jazz guitar solos, bluesy vocals and hazy trumpets - that stand out. Fingerman's impressive remix injects a little extra energy via a sub-heavy bassline, sample cut-ups and heavy, bongo-laden disco percussion. The EP's undisputed highlight, though, is Dynamicron's remix of "Girl", which turns the woozy, sun-kissed original into a stylish, slightly intense chunk of Balearic disco crossed with exotic, new wave-era middle Eastern synth-pop.
Review: It's Joropo dances all round as acclaimed Venezuelan producer Trujillo finally follows up 2012's hugely popular Acapulco Gold with 'Believe In Luv". With a sleeve like this he's already made believers of most of us, but he doesn't stop there; the title track is a seductive electro-houser with gentle chords, ascending guitar licks and soulful male & female vocals - in other words, the music of love. The smoochy vibes continue on his blissed-out, reggae-lite swirly version of Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing". Hot!
Review: It's hard to establish who here (label or artist) is luckier to be associated with the other. Los Grandes is one of the hottest nu-disco labels of the moment, but new signings The Two Mamarrachos have some serious weight behind them too. Based in San Sebastian, T2MM consist of veteran Balearic DJ Dr Beat - a former resident at Ku Ibiza and Amnesia, who counts the likes of DJ Harvey and Eskimo Recordings as fans, and Borja Campion: owner of 10,000 records and self-proclaimed "stage animal". They're known for their exquisite edits and here they deliver four more quality disco-rock beauties.
Review: Dynamicron's Los Grandes label is fast becoming one of the more reliable sources of contemporary disco. Their Black Lace compilations, which feature tracks that sit somewhere between straight-up edits and disco-tinged house productions, have proved particularly popular. There's predictably plenty to enjoy on this sixth instalment in the serious, from the righteous rubbery bass and space synths of Sunner Soul's "One Game" and heavyweight Italo pulse of Nicko's "Electronic Disguise", to the bouncy cut-up disco house antics of Mr Moustache Love's "El Coca", and Plastic Fantastic's dreamy downtempo gem "Beyond The Horizon". While the latter stands out like a sore thumb next to such boisterous dancefloor fare, it arguably provides the album's most startling moment.
Review: Nope, this ain't the return of mulleted 80s duo Black Lace, it's the latest comp from Dynamicron's Latino-centric nu-disco label Los Grandes. Once again they've searched high and low to gather the hottest re-edits. Highlights this time include Brevil's sultry sweaty "Sexy", Vinyladdicted's shocking percussion-led rework of 'cough', Jimmy Nail's "Ain't No Doubt", PCJ's baddass 70s disco rock freakout "I Like The Sound", DJ Butcher's faithful take on Mister Flaggio's Italo disco masterpiece "Take A Chance", and Craxi Disco's seductive and proggy synth-disco epic "Jerusalem".
Review: Dynamicron's Latino-centric nu-disco label Los Grandes, deliver their fourth long-playing comp, gathering the best re-edits they can find. The label boss himself delivers the first of 20 tracks, "She", which sounds like a very subtle edit of an undetermined, but luscious and silky sheeted, Bee Gees track. Elsewhere Brendon P's "Before You Go Away" evokes The Avalanches, Panorama's "Straight From The Heart" is pure cut mid 80s digital soul and on the same tip, Dennis Edwards is edited further by Teniente Castillo on "Don't Dub Any Further". William Devaughn's "Be Thankful" is beautifully teased out by Kompleks before things end with "Shameless Hotel", a crazy take on The Eagles by the Irregular Disco Workers.
Review: Dynamicron's Los Grandes label returns with another bumper, album-length trawl through the world of contemporary "edits-not-edits" - groovy, hypnotic dancefloor fusions that touch on disco, soul, Balearica, deep house and AOR. Across the 11 tracks, there's plenty to excite, from the dubby slo-mo shuffle of Brandon P ("Mo Lovin") and organic groovery of Heion ("Keep On Hiding"), to the classics-reinvented style of DJ Butcher (the "Wordyrappinghood" biting of "You Don't Stop") and Irregular Disco Workers' booming Balearic dub disco. Best of all, though, is "Bakerman", a cracking Laid Back rework from the talented Get Down Edits.
