Manchester-based Masterworks Music is the brainchild of DJ and producer Danny Worrall aka 80’s Child. Emerging in 2014 and picking up more than 30 No.1’s on Juno Download, the label has ‘quickly established itself as one of the leading disco and edit labels in the world’. The label has around 100 digital EPs tucked under its disco belt and has released music from artists including: Dr. Packer, Ian Ossia, Deelicious, Lux Experience, That Needs An Edit and more. Masterworks Music is the parent label to Masterworks Deep Cutz.
Review: Nice, France-based Vigi, whose music has previously appeared on labels such as Spa In Disco, Rare Wiri and Slightly Transformed, comes to Masterworks Music, the Manchester-based imprint headed up by Danny Worrall AKA 80s Child, with a three-track EP. 'Back To Love' itself kicks things off in pleasingly summery, rolling fashion and has a late 70s/early 80s disco feel. 'Sunday', which follows, pushes closer to Dave Lee-esque disco-house territory with its tuff 4/4s and looped soulful vocal sample, while completing the EP is 'Lost And Found', a lower-tempo funk/soul jam that for this reviewer is the pick of the crop.
Review: Almost a year after making his debut on Mandrill Cuts, Kristoff MX pops up on Masterworks Music with another rock-solid selection of weighty, house style re-edits. The rising star first takes his scalpel to Fern Kinney's throbbing, arpeggio-heavy, reggae-influenced disco slow jam 'Baby Let Me Kiss You' ('Groovy Sensation'), successfully toughening it up while speeding up slightly, before going all disco-house on a chunky, sweat-soaked version of a classic, synth-sporting disco number ('Let It Go'). Arguably best of all though is 'Dizzy But Funky', a French Touch/Soundstream-influenced disco-house loop jam (based, we think, on an old pop hit by M) that sounds primed for peak-time plays.
Review: A four-tracker here from Hungarian duo The Magic Track, AKA DRJ & Gio, AKA Peter Makkai & Andras Szerepi. 'Lifebuoys & Straws' is a rolling, summery groover with chorus'd disco vox and some gloriously cheesy sax work. The bendy metal clarinet is also much in evidence (alongside a harmonica) on lightly blues-tinged funk/disco jam 'Dr Magenheim', while 'Lonely Teddy' sits right at the point where deep house, disco and Balearica collide. 'Applegate Scandal' then closes out the EP on a livelier, more rumbustious note. Like the lady says: raise your hands, get on up, let's party!
Review: Over the course of his action-packed career to date, Jet Boot Jack has flitted between funk-fuelled, disco-tinged house and excitable, party-starting re-edits. On this EP for Masterworks Music, he combines the two things, delivering re-edits with added beats and sounds that will surely never fail to get dancefloors moving. First up is 'Call of the Wild', a bouncy, housed-up affair that seemingly draws on elements from Afrobeat, Italo-disco and disco-funk cuts. He follows this with the beefed-up, peak-time disco strut of 'I Ain't Asking', before putting his stamp on a deeper, Brazilian-sounding disco-funk number full of slap bass, jaunty piano riffs and jazzy guitars. Like much of the rest of his work, the groove underpinning the track is thickset, bass-heavy and undeniably weighty.
Review: A three-tracker here from Boise, Idaho-based nu-disco producer Bodie Lee. The title track is up first and, being essentially a re-edit/cover of 'Bad Boys' by Wham!, sets the tone for what is a very 80s-inspired EP all round. 'Boyz Like You' is followed by the boogie-flavoured 'Bout You', which rocks a fat funk bassline and a sweet female vocal, before the EP's completed by the more uptempo 'Freedom Flash', which nudges towards hi-NRG territory. Given the provenance of the 'Boyz Like You' these latter two are probably also re-edits, but we couldn't tell you what of...
Review: Wolverhampton man Ian Stanford, better known as Slync and also one-third of Paper Street Soul, comes with the boogie nouveau vibes on this five-tracker for Masterworks Music. From the synth sounds to the vocal phrasing, 'Fantasy' is a musical wormhole that'll whisk you straight back to the early 80s, and comes accompanied by a Dub from the Levan/Cowley school of thought. Elsewhere on the EP, there are more boogie vibes on 'Stranger Feeling', 'Scuba Du' is a dreamier affair that leans towards jazz-funk and the slightly squelchier 'Piece Of Pi' has hints of Daft Punk around the edges.
Review: Swiss producer Adam Nova has racked up releases on labels including Glasgow Underground, Mood Funk, Spa In Disco and many more. Now he comes to Masterworks Music, who are based in the glittering disco metropolis of Warrington, with this two-tracker. 'Give It On Up' itself is an authentically late 70s/early 80s-sounding affair, and perfectly serviceable, but it's the more house-ified 'You're Number 1' that's the killer to these ears - with an opening minute that's the closest thing you'll hear to an Ecstasy rush in sonic form, it's a proper sure-fire party-starter and no mistake, guv'nor!
Review: Two years have passed since the last Masterworks Music label compilation, so this fourth volume is long overdue. It's another expansive affair, with boss man Danny "80s Child" Worrall offering up no less than 20 exclusives from a mixture of label regulars and new recruits. As you'd expect, there's much to enjoy, with highlights including the rubbery and celebratory disco goodness of Surgery Edits' 'Get Up and Boogie', the hazy house pleasure of Dirtytwo's 'Desire', the string-laden peak-time rush of Chris Grubinza's 'Feel The Rush', the revivalist 80s boogie brilliance of Slync and Evie Adams' 'Fantasy', and the wonderfully loved-up 80s soul-meets-nu-disco warmth of Paper Street Soul's 'Fwok!'.
Review: If you're in the hunt for some sizzling hot re-works of relatively obscure, lesser-known tunes, we'd recommend checking out the latest edition of Chris Grubizna's Rare Edits series. Our picks of a very strong bunch are 'Daydream', a bouncy, loopy and seductive re-work of an old Stephanie Mills disco-soul classic, and the urgent, extra-percussive disco-funk sweatiness of 'Love Express'. Of course, there's much to admire across the rest of the EP, from the sweet bogie-soul slickness of opener 'Right on Time', to the slowly-building, mid-tempo disco-rock heaviness of closing cut 'Superfly'. Rock solid!
Review: While he's been DJing and producing music for a long time, it's a while since we were treated to a new EP from Bodie Lee. In fact, this collection of on-point, hot-to-trot re-edits appears to be his first release (bar a few contributions to compilations) for almost a decade. Here's much to enjoy throughout, from the throbbing, arpeggio-driven late night disco-camp of "C'mon Get Up Bad Boy" (a brilliantly rearranged, largely instrumental revision of a 1979 Theo Vaness classic), and the similarly muscular, peak-time chug of "I Love The Night" (all metronomic bass guitar, hypnotic drums and trippy noises), to the funked-up disco-house heaviness of opener "Dance Da Bomber". High-grade edits for those who like their disco energetic, sleazy and breathless - don't sleep!
Review: Paul Older (aka Paolo Vecchiato) is a northern Italian DJ with almost 20 years of experience behind the decks. Older is constantly looking for new music and ideas as he assembles and orchestrates a mixture of sounds to shake up the dancefloor. After releases on Daje Funk and Ocean Trax, he now gets groomed for the big time on his latest for the mighty Masterworks Music. The Boogie Explosion EP features the groovy dancefloor shakedown of the title track, the familiar '70s New York City disco feels of "Dream" and the low slung late night action of "Sit & Dance" closing out this piping-hot offering from a name you're going to be hearing more of in 2020.
Review: Two months after making his Masterworks Music comeback with an EP of tidy re-edits of rare and obscure jams, Chris Grubizna returns to Danny Worrall's popular label with a similarly minded sequel. There are six tracks to choose from, all of which have been given a slightly more metronomic swing and a bit more bottom-end weight to suit contemporary dancefloors. Highlights include rush-inducing opener "All You Need" (a rubbery revision of Barbara Roy and Ecstasy, Passion & Pain's 1981 gem 'If You Want Me"), the clavinet-heavy disco-funk chug of "Gettin' Down", the low-slung Miami Funk/disco fusion of "Miami Vice", and the jazzy disco sunshine that is closing cut "Summer Joy".
Review: Here's something a little different from Downunder Disco (real name Steve Cooper) and Masterworks Music: an EP whose lead track, "Drivin' Me", sidesteps disco altogether in favour of a throbbing, riff-heavy late night house sound rich in hands-aloft stabs, reverb-laden vocal samples and a booming bassline so thick it might be made out of treacle. The Aussie producer explores similar sonic territory on the similarly stab-tastic - if a little more musically expansive and percussive - "Disco-Tech", while "That's It" sees him craft a rubbery chunk of hybrid house/nu-disco fusion out of elastic bass, bumpin' beats and the kind of jazzy, swing-style riffs that were once a favourite feature of James Curd's Greenskeepers productions for Classic.
Review: 15 months after he made his Masterworks Music debut, Chris Grubizna returns with a selection of "Rare Edits". We assume this means that the tracks he's edited are rare and obscure rather than the edits themselves, but either way there's much to enjoy across the four tracks. First up is the bass guitar-driven disco-funk bounce of, "Dance With U", where filtered snippets of his source material come underpinned by metronomic house drums, before Grubinza applies the same tooling-up techniques to the disco shuffle of "Say What". Even better is the deep, soulful house smoothness of "Talkin About", which bobs along at a beatdown-friendly 106 BPM, while closing cut "Gonna Shake It" sees our hero get busy with a slab of disco-funk rich in rubbery bass and flash-fried guitar licks.
Review: Denver-based Funk Hunk has never been the most prolific of re-editors, though his sporadic releases tend to be decent. There's plenty to set the pulse racing on "Hunk's Got The Answer", his first outing for Danny Worrall's Masterworks Music label. Check first the gnarled disco-rock camp of "Get Up", before admiring the elastic slap-bass motifs at the heart of loopy disco-house workout "Gotcha". "Hunk's Got The Answer" is a languid, tastefully tweaked rearrangement of an obscure, jazz guitar-laden deep disco treat, while "Take A Little More" is a cut-up, house style edit of a bona fide disco anthem. As if that lot wasn't enough to get your pulse racing, "Wot" sees our hunky hero successfully rework a Tom Tom Club style slice of low-slung NYC headiness.
Review: The idea behind Masterworks Music's new "Remix Series" is simple: get two different artists to remix each other's work. This time round the artists in question are Mannix and Patzdasch & Dix. The latter deliver two versions of the former's cheerful and groovy disco-funk-goes-house number "All Because Of You": a "High Remix" that boasts some taught Clavinet riffs, bongos aplenty and woozy new synthesizer solos, and the ultra-deep jazz-funk/downtempo breaks fusion of the "Calm Down Mix". Mannix repays the compliment by re-wiring Patzdusch & Dix's drowsy deep house shuffler "Statement" as a stomping slab of rubbery house smothered in tasty disco-funk instrumentation.
Review: You're only five years old once, so why not celebrate in style? And here Warrington lad Danny Worrall's disco and re-edits label Masterworks Music do just that, with an anniversary collection packing a whopping 50 back catalogue nuggets. You'll excuse us the full track-by-track, then, but suffice to say that this is the label that helped launch the careers of Dr Packer and Natasha Kitty Katt, both of whom feature here, and with names like Ziggy Phunk, Rayko, Alkalino, Chuggin' Edits and Fabiolous Barker also on bill, you should already have a pretty good idea what to expect. Classy stuff all round, and a great VFM package - here's to five more years!
Review: If you were looking to nominate a producer for the (entirely imaginary) "nu-disco don of 2019" award, Andy Buchan would be a strong contender. Here he rounds off a hugely successful year via a four-track missive on Masterworks Music. He begins with a driving slab of tooled-up funk fuzziness (the straightened-out righteousness of "Brand New Girl (Billy Garner Edit)", before flexing his disco muscles on the string-laden, percussion-heavy mid-tempo sweetness of "Bless My Soul (Bettye Swan Edit)". 'Disco Overtime (G'Night Edit)" is a filter-sporting take on a mid-80s dancefloor gem rich in soulful vocals, glistening guitars and colourful synths, while "Let's Dance (JB's Bo Horne Edit)" re-imagines a sing-along 1980s classic as a bump-along exercise in filter disco.
Review: After impressing earlier in his career via fine EPs on El Diablo's Social Club and Silhouette, Lup Ino (real name Fiore Lupino) popped up on Masterworks Music earlier in the year with his first solo missive on Danny Worrall's prolific imprint. It was good, but this two-tracker for the same label is even better. Opener "Come On You" is a warm and celebratory disco-house style re-edit perfectly structured to tease maximum impact from the producer's lesser-known source material. If anything, the accurately titled "Just Funk" is even better, with Lupino successfully beefing up a horn-heavy, electric piano solo-sporting slab of disco-funk heaviness.
Review: Going by the volume of tracks on show, it would be fair to say that Masterworks Music's "Bag of Tricks" is not a little handbag, but more like a Mary Poppins style bottomless carpetbag. The label's latest rummage through its seemingly endless contents has been a successful one, with the 20 showcased cuts including a wealth of fine fusions of disco, house, boogie, electro and 80s soul. It's uniformly dancefloor-focused, with highlights including the Afro-house/disco-tech fusion of JB Dizzy, the driving, spaced-out disco-house grooves of Mike Woods, the loose-limbed, off-the-wall edits of Chewy Rubs, the sweet disco-soul bounce of RocknRolla Soundsystem, the delay-laden synth sing-along styles of Rayko and the hot-to-trot brilliance of Downunder Disco.
Review: Masterworks Music's latest thoroughly enjoyable EP is a collaborative affair. It sees sometime Midnight Riot artist Ladies On Mars join forces with fellow Beunos Aries resident Gus Fastuca for the very first time. The pair first offers up two versions of "Moody Boody": a rubbery, P-funk flavoured original version built around elastic synth parts, sweet female backing vocals and bustling bass guitar, and a chunkier "Club Mix" that features a tougher, Italo-influenced groove. Elsewhere, "My Baby" is a rugged romp through guitar-sporting disco-funk re-edit territory and "Party People" cleverly combines samples from an early '80s disco-funk cut and a thunderous new, Girorgio Moroder style groove.
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: More from the wonderfully named Monsieur Von Pratt, a popular re-editor who recently impressed via rework EPs on Tropical Disco and Mandrill Cuts. He begins his first Masterworks Music outing with the P-funk influenced power-pop/heavy electrofunk vibes of "The Real Thing", before giddily dancing towards smoother boogie territory on EP highlight "The One". Those looking for tougher, more raw-sounding flavours should check the 80s soul/electrofunk fusion of glassy-eyed peak-time workout "Come On Feel Your Love", while tasty closing cut "Mi Amor" sees our scalpel-sporting hero successfully turn his attention to an early 80s tropical disco workout rich in Chic guitars, heavy percussion, rubbery bass and sleazy synths.
Review: Sometime Midnight Riot, Rose and Nomada contributor Gledd is the latest artist to join Danny "80s Child" Worrall's Masterworks Music imprint. His debut EP for the imprint offers a quartet of "Soul Shapes". He begins with the lolloping bounce of '60s soul-sampling house shuffler "Light of Florence" before charging into raw disco-funk territory via the rolling house beats, impassioned vocal samples and crunchy grooves of "I Just Want You". Gledd reaches for the filters once more on the horn-heavy disco-house sweetness of "Of Rainbows", while killer closing cut "Your Mind" borrows heavily from another low-down slab of Clavinet-sporting funk-soul goodness. There's nothing particularly clever going on here, but all four tracks work wonders on the dancefloor.
Review: Some re-editors like to dig deep, others concentrate on reworking much-loved classics, and we're firmly in the latter camp here. 'What About My Love' draws heavily on the 1982 Jonnnie Taylor cut of the same name - better known to most in its 'Lola's Theme' guise - while 'I Know U' revisits Chaka's 'I Know You, I Live You', 'Turn Me On' loops up Robert Palmer's 'I Didn't Mean To Turn You On', and 'Never Can Say' transforms Thelma Houston's mega-hit into a louche, lounge-y groover. The exception to the rule is 'Something More Than Special', a midtempo soulful jam whose inspiration eludes us.
Review: Fresh from offering up a string of fine EPs on Better Listen and Moonrise Hill Material, Saint Paul pitches up on Masterworks Music with a quartet of warm and summery re-edits. First up is the sweet afternoon breeze of "Don't Give Up On Love", a gently tooled-up take on an '80s soul gem rich in twinkling synthesizer melodies and hazy vocal snippets. "Fancy Rhythm" is even more sun-baked in feel, with languid trumpet lines weaving in and out of a smooth jazz-funk/wide-eyed disco groove, while "Relieve Your Mind" sees Saint Paul gently beef up a soulful disco shuffler. To round things off, he serves up the dusty, jazz-fired deep house of "Lundi Sous La Pluie" whose woozy horn samples and twinkling electric piano lines set a suitably blazed mood.
Review: Should you have missed his previous EPs on Better Listen, Kolour and Editorial - amongst others - you may still be blissfully unaware of Chevals, a self-styled "French house producer, disco cutter and horse". Should that be the case, we suggest that you check out this fine four-tracker - his first for Masterworks Music - as soon as possible. It begins with a fantastic slab of gospel-powered disco house (the peak-time stomp of "My Feet Keep Changing") and ends with a throbbing club cut rich in fizzing P-funk synths, bumpin' beats and purple-tinted electronics ("Love Somebody"). In between, you'll find a deliciously jaunty, horn-rich mid-tempo jam ("This Time Is Dedicated To Love") and a hybrid remix/re-edit of a smooth '80s soul cut ("Never Will I Leave You Baby"). Insatiable stuff.
Review: If you're looking for some good old-fashioned soulful house vibes, then stop right here, as Francis Overcast makes his debut on Warrington's Masterworks Music. 'Tired' sports a (sadly uncredited) sultry, jazzy female vocal that's straight outta the very top drawer, and that has enough singalong appeal to ensure anthem status in the relevant spots is almost guaranteed. Glitterbox stalwart Dr Packer supplies vocal and dub remixes that, unsurprisingly, give the original a little extra disco polish, while for the real soul purists, Ruff Diamond's remix is the one to head for. Coming from a relative newbie like Overcast, this is classy stuff!
Review: Dirtyelements and Drunkdrivers first joined forces in the studio last year, with the quietly impressive results featuring on Pusic Records' tenth release. Here they get a chance to showcase their brand of warm and groovy, sample-heavy disco revivalism via a debut EP for Masterworks Music. Check first opener "You Must Try", a loose and groovy chunk of loved-up disco-house rich in snaking saxophone riffs, glassy-eyed female vocal samples and swirling chords, before turning your attention to the thickset, filter-heavy loop disco of "Equinoxious". Arguably best of all, though, is closing cut "One Night", a humid and chunky revision of a Rhodes-driven, jazz-funk-era boogie gem.
Review: Hot on the heels of a fine debut on Midnight Riot, mystery artist More Lotion serves up a second selection of floor-friendly re-edits, this time for Donny Worrall's Masterwork Music imprint. There's naturally much to admire throughout, from the driving, off-kilter P-funk/nu-disco fusion of throbbing opener "Haven't Been Funked Enough", to the slick '80s electrofunk wiggle of "Touche" (a fine revision of a familiar, synth-heavy staple of many boogie sets). In between you'll find the spiraling synths, flash-fried grooves and razor-sharp funk guitars of "P.M Affair" and the soaring, string-laden disco pump of "Them Changes".
Review: Since they last featured on Masterworks Music, Mexico City's Sould Out crew has delivered rather good releases on Furious Mandrill, Kultus Musiek, Alpaca Edits and Hotbox Music. There's plenty to admire on their return to Danny Worrall's prolific imprint, not least killer opener "Across The Sky", a prize chunk of reworked P-funk/disco-funk fusion that boasts some seriously good slap bass. Slow-motion, filter-heavy boogie-house goodness is provided via the hot-stepping "I Got You Baby", while "Bittersweet Memories" is a gently dubbed-out chunk of 80s soul bounciness. Elsewhere, "Look Out" sees Sould Out up the tempo on a South American disco-boogie workout, while "Then She Was Gone" wraps Balearic jazz guitar solos around a chugging, head-in-the-clouds groove.
Review: Unlike some certified veterans, rework specialist Oldchap prefers not to shake his first at passing clouds while complaining that things were better in the old days. Instead, he merrily skips between re-edit labels sprinkling all and sundry with his own unique brand of dancefloor-focused disco dust. He's at it again here via a debut outing on 80s Child's Masterworks Music label. Our pick of the bunch is probably the impassioned, string-laden disco-house grunt of title track "Midnight Dancer", though low-slung disco-funk revision "Overdose" - all punchy horns, flash-fried funk guitars and elastic bass - is almost as essential. Elsewhere, "But My Brother Say" is an acid-flecked chunk of nu-disco/deep house fusion, while "It's Music" is a filter-fired disco-house head-nodder.
Review: 13 months on from his last outing on NYLO, former El Diablo's Social Club and Silhouette sort Lup Ino makes his debut on Masterworks Music. The Italian producer hits the ground running with "You Can't Lose", a subtly tooled-up and house-friendly revision of a bold and breezy '80s soul jam, before reaching for the filters on a chunky, filter-heavy disco-house revision of a glassy-eyed old gem on "I Never Felt". Those with a hankering for a rolling house version of a crunchy disco-funk ham should check "Positive Love", while "Macumba Rocker" is a nod-along, mid-tempo shuffler that peppers a familiar disco groove with choice vocal samples and plenty of dub delays.
Review: The first "Masterworks Legends" compilation saw label boss Danny Worrall giving digital debuts to a whole host of previously vinyl-only cuts. We're not sure whether he's taken the same approach this time round, but the quality of the material remains pleasingly high. Beginning with Dr Packer's hot-to-trot revision of Kiu D's Blaxploitation disco workout "Dynamite", Worrall offers up a swathe of hypnotic, disco-tinged house head-nodders (Ooft's "I Am Love" being a glassy-eyed standout), tasty '80s electrofunk revisions (Woodhead, The Silver Rider, Coutel, his own '80s Child project), thumping disco club cuts (Natasha Kitty Kat, Kiu D, James Rod, Ponchartrain) and sparkling nu-disco box jams (Gradient Logic). If you're looking for more tried-and-tested treats to pep up your sets, you should add this to your cart right now.
Review: Like a Wild West gunslinger impatiently waiting for High Noon, Chris Grubizna has invited us to a "Showdown". With the assistance of Masterworks Music, he's hoping to slay us with a quintet of weapons-grade reworks. He first proves his credentials via the jaunty sax loops, flanged funk guitars, booming bass and swinging house drums of "Rollin' On Da Groove", before dressing entirely in purple and reaching for the P-funk synths on insatiable '80s electrofunk revision "Right-On-U". Elsewhere, he successfully beefs up a punchy disco-funk cut using heavy beats and drowsy deep house chords ("Cuban Affair"), dips the tempo and gets seriously sensual ("Shamanic Affair") and nods his head in time with some bumpin', sax-happy hip-hop beats ("Dope Jam (Bonus Beat)").
Review: Contemporary disco/boogie fusionists Sweetooth continue to serve up scintillating sounds. "Midnight Kiss", their latest missive for Danny Worrall's Masterworks Music label, is a bounding, P-funk-inspired romp rich in fuzzy synth bass, swirling new wave electronics, spacey riffs and the kind of smooth, ear-catching female vocals that were once the preserve of Crazy P's Danielle Moore. The headline remix comes from Glitterbox regular Dr Packer, whose sprightly, loved-up take sits somewhere between chunky Italo-disco, piano-laden classic house and tactile nu-disco. Elsewhere, Cuz Electric re-casts the cut as a classic chunk of rubbery disco-boogie, before Dubai-based producer Don Dayglow wraps squelchy electronics, colourful synths and elastic slap bass around a snappy nu-disco groove.
Review: Masterworks Music's final outing of 2018 offers an introduction to a brand new artist: Italian twosome Ankle release. The duo has plenty of experience as DJs, though this is the first time they've shared any of their studio endeavours with the public. They start in impressive fashion via the pandemonium-creating Fender Rhodes riffs and swirling disco grooves of "What's The Plan", before slamming down a similarly delay-laden but far more bass-heavy disco-house workout (the fine "Fire In Me"). The fast-rising duo switches focus to the 1980s on the cheery electrofunk fun of "Panache", while closing cut "Room For Everyone" sees them wrap colourful synths and jaunty TB-303 style acid lines around a stop-start disco groove.
Review: After impressing via a tasty two-tracker on Monoside earlier in the year, Cohen makes his bow on Danny Worrall's Masterworks Music imprint. In terms of the headline attraction, it's a close run thing between the slamming, full-throttle disco-house celebration of "Sit Up" - all bumping, bass-heavy beats, rising horns and looped vocal samples - and the filter-heavy, slightly tooled-up '80s electrofunk revision "See". You'll also find a slightly slower chunk of '80s soul bliss at the end of the EP ("Baby Boy"), while "Love On The Beach" is an endearingly hazy fusion of woozy deep house and turn-of-the-'80s disco-boogie.
Review: Rich Hall and Megan Jones have already taken their Cuz Electric project to Midnight Riot, Particle Zoo, Thunder Jam and Katakana Edits, amongst others, and here make their bow on another popular disco-leaning stable: 80s Child's Masterworks Music. What we get is arguably their strongest EP of original music to date: a four-track fusion of synthesizer-powered nu-disco, Balearic boogie, revivalist electrofunk and, in the case of driving, solo-rich closing cut "Good Laard", low-slung disco-funk. Highlights are naturally plentiful, with Jones' sweet and well-judged vocals on "Deamons" [sic] and "You're A Mover" - both attractive nu-disco dancefloor workouts with plenty of musical detail - giving Crazy P's Danielle Moore a run for her money.
Review: Mexican maestro Polygon doesn't have much to say online, preferring instead to let his warm, woozy and floor-friendly music do the talking. Luckily for him, his music is pretty darn hot - as August's expansive debut EP on Saiko proved. This three-tracker for Masterworks Music is packed with hazy deep house treats, too, from the thickset bass, drowsy Rhodes chords and eyes-closed Marvin Gaye vocal samples of "M3", to the late '80s style hip-house swing of chunky, breakbeat-driven closer "W2". Sandwiched in between the two tracks you'll find "T7", a lusciously warm and woozy groover whose bold cymbals rise above a backing track rich in wobbly acid bass, elongated chords and pulsing electronics.
Review: The clue's in the name here, as Masterworks Music serve up another set of 21st Century makeovers of dancefoor delights from days gone by. Diana Ross's 'My Old Piano' gets reinvented as a rather classy disco-houser on opener 'Tinkling The Ivories', while getting similar treatment elsewhere are Maze's 'Running Away', Invisible Man's Band's 'All Night Thing', Donna Summer's 'Spring Affair' and more. Long throughout on sweeping strings, handclaps, fat funk basslines and soulful vocals, the whole EP is a must for contemporary disco floors, especially as the source/track selection isn't over-obvious.
Review: Norwegian producer Saskin S pitches up on Masterworks Music for the very first time. As with his previous outings for the likes of Hot Digits and Thunder Jam, the "Night Grooves" EP is packed with colourful, high quality material. Check, for example, the Blaxploitation funk guitars, low-slung grooves and densely layered percussion of loop-driven opener "Another Technique", the acid-driven (nu) disco-funk madness of "What Is Breakbeat?" and the formidably bluesy, jazzy and wonderfully atmospheric deep house shuffle of "What Do You Need?". Arguably best of all, though, is title track "Night Grooves", a sparkling chunk of '80s soul-meets-nu-disco cheeriness rich in colourful synthesizer lines, atmospheric chords, twinkling melodies and low-slung dub disco grooves.
Review: Neapolitan disco editor Frank Virgilio is back on the scene after great releases on Hot Digits, Midnight Riot and Good Stuff. He's really hitting the big time now if this appearance on Masterworks says anything! Featuring four scorchers guaranteed to cause a disco inferno pretty much anywhere, The Black Hole EP features the sexy and lo-slung title track, the late night boogie-down antics of "Electronite", as well as "C.B.E Way" which is on the funked-up acid jazz tip, and finally "Extraordinary Night" which will loop you into submission with its sublime brass section reminiscent of classic Salsoul kinda vibes.
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