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Paper Recordings
Various
The Secret Soul Society X Hardway Bros - "Yo, We've Landed" (Hardway Bros remix redux) - (7:51) 100 BPM
Played by: Flash Atkins
Review: Draw a line from boogie to Balearica, via Italo disco and deep house, and somewhere along that arc you'll find this latest V/A collection from Manchester's long-running Paper Recordings. Crazy P have been in the Paper camp since the early days so are a fitting choice to open proceedings with the gloriously hazy 'Last Knockers', after which other standouts for yours truly include the slow-building, prog-leaning acid of Anisto Tropics' 'Topaz', Natasha Kitty Katt's typically infectious remix of Diskobeistet's 'Gammal Morro' and the sunny, summery disco-house of Benny Pitcher's 'Transatlantic Motion', until finally MADe's 'You're The One' plays us out on a mellower, more downtempo note.
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Review: Paper Recordings' rag-tag bunch of "renegades, outliers and mercenaries" assembles once more for the fifth edition of the label's ongoing Wild Army series of EPs. Kennedy and Matt Prehn lead the line with 'Le Freak', a hazy-but-crunchy chunk of woozy disco-house hypnotism, before J Kara melds together vintage Larry Heard bass, spacey synths, sustained organ chords and crispy broken house beats on 'El Salvador'. Pictotropico successfully dips the tempo on the squelchy and chugging 'Front Tears' (look out for the subtle nods towards a turn-of-the-80s Peter Gabriel classic), R-04 and Mike Wyatt pay tribute to piano-heavy Italian house on the ultra-dreamy 'Konban Wa (Real Version)' and Hardway Brothers propel us into deep space on a sublime, headline-grabbing rework of their collaboration with Secret Soul Society, 'We've Landed'.
Various
Review: If proof was needed that the term 'deep house' now encompasses a much wider range of sounds and styles than it once did, just compare this latest 'Paper Cuts' installment to any volume in Paper's seminal late 90s 'Splinter' series... we have, indeed, come a long way baby, and the more traditionally minded might argue that much of what's here would sit better under the umbrellas marked Balearica or leftfield electronica. But 'Paper Cuts #5' certainly makes for a varied and engaging listen, with standouts including Mordisco's strutty, punk-funkish 'Musica De Baile', the warped funk of Minus The Majors' 'Peanut Dust' and Neon Transmission's rave-basslined, pop-vocalled 'Driving Me Crazy'.
Played by: Juno Recommends Disco
Review: Oddio Factory, a Parisian duo with members by the unlikely names of Mysextape and Black, come to Manchester stable Paper with a leftfield-leaning EP packing three tracks in a total of five mixes. The three originals - 'The Prophet', 'U Slip' and 'Got Bolts' - generally operate in the musical zone delineated by Giorgio Moroder, Italo-disco and John Carpenter soundtracks, and it's not unreasonable to assume the legendary synth of the same name may have played its part in the genesis of the first track, which comes in full-length and Video Edit passes. That just leaves Keita to flip the script, remix-wise, with his deep/tribal/prog rework of 'Got Bolts'.
Played by: FINGERMAN, Flash Atkins, Juno Recommends Disco, Stephen Richards (DiscoDaze), Paper Recordings, Aleito
Review: The mighty Paper Recordings bring us a split EP from two producers who (as the EP title kinda hints!) both hail from Troms? in Norway: Keecen and Torje Spilde AKA Third Attempt. The deep disco-house of Third Attempt's 'Push' and wonked-out squelch of Keecen's 'Gone' are just the hors d'oeuvres: it's the entr?es that make this EP essential. Third Attempt's 'Discotek' is a bass-y, brassy stomper - complete with Loleatta vocal bites - that could get the dead up and dancin', while Keecen's 'Define Jazz' rocks more of that phat, squelchy bottom-end and wouldn't have disgraced Basement Jaxx in their 'Remedy'-era prime.
Review: Wow is the word, as Paper bring us a 'best of' collection honouring Tongan producer Soane Filitonga, who died in 2014. It opens with a serviceable but unexceptional cover of Cherelle & O'Neal's 'Saturday Love', setting the tone for a set that is packed with contemporary funk/disco grooves, with nods to Latin and bruk beat on cuts like 'Tropical Snowstorm' and 'Boavida'. But there is a lot more going on here than simple pastiche/homage - there's the energetic, rolling jazz-house of the excellent 'Guana Bara', there's Raw Silk covered inna slo-mo, lo-fi hi-hop style ('Secret Weapon'), there's Hassanah Iroegbu-sung ballad 'Runaway' (think 'Des'ree does folk-tinged Balearica'), and so it goes on...
Played by: PBR Streetgang, Flash Atkins, Juno Recommends Disco, JAMES ROD, Andy Buchan, Paper Recordings, Aleito
Review: For those that don't know, 'The In Crowd' was a 1965 soul cut by Dobie Gray that became a defining Mod scene anthem, before being covered in lounge lizard fashion by Roxy Music in 1974. It's the latter version that's sampled on this epic, surging slab of synthy nu-disco from Paper main main Ben Davis AKA Flash Atkins, albeit only the acid-enhanced Massey Remix actually uses the vocal. The other two rubs come from From Beyond and Soundersons: the former has a weirded-out, Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve kinda feel while the latter slows things down and gives the track a slightly rockier edge.
Review: Tom Lonsborough and Col Hamilton, better known to most as 2 Billion Beats, return to their regular home of Paper Recordings with three tracks of synth-y contemporary disco. 'Down The Docks' has echoes of 80s synth-pop and centres around a fat squelchy bassline that's married to a jaunty, nagging keys riff. 'Empty Boulevard' (the pick for this writer) is a smoother ride that would slide nicely into deep or progressive house sets, while finally 'Beats Of No Nation' is a quirkier cut with multiple competing vocal samples and synths that get more and more acidic as the track progresses.
Played by: Flash Atkins
Review: Burlington's Ryan Kick (Hustle & Flow/Northwest Connection) is up next on Mancunian deep house institution Paper Recordings. They claim 'Looking Back' harks back to the old school sound of the label, when deep house was actually deep house - and we concur! There are nods to Chicago, Detroit and NYC throughout this one: from the sensual deepness of "All That We Do", to the low slung and hypnotising energy of "NYC" or the looped-up old school vibe of "Remember" (Jack mix) - the label was spot on when they claimed that this release was keeping it real!
Review: Paper Recordings has recruited another four rising stars to its "Wild Army", a kind of musical vigilante group whose weapons are synthesizers and drum machines. The first to bear arms is Martin Wold, who offers up a sparkling, sax-laden slab of bubbly nu-disco cheeriness entitled "Elixir". The Secret Soul Society replace Wold on guard duty, cloaking the killer groove from Five Sinners' rubbery Italo-disco classic "Magic" in melancholic strings and dreamy chords. Jahn Solo calls his comrades to arms via the glassy-eyed AOR disco re-edit magic of "Til The Night Closes In", while Boblebad keeps those back at the barracks in good spirts with a cheery chunk of deep, disco-fired electro goodness ("Frustrasjon").
Played by: Dj XS (FVUK), FINGERMAN, Flash Atkins, Juno Recommends Disco, Andy Buchan, Paper Recordings, Problematic Disko
Review: Fresh from delivering a killer EP of hallucinatory nu-disco sounds on Golden Soul Records, sometime Nein artist From Beyond resurfaces on Paper Recordings with some suitably intergalactic grooves. He first fires up the starship engines and reaches for the sparkling, early-80s synths on acid-flecked space disco workout "Protostar", before blasting further into deep space on "Planetary Groove", where tropical guitar riffs and mind-mangling acid lines wrap around dusty beats and a throbbing, headline-grabbing bassline. From Beyond switches fous a little on "Time Hop", offering up something sparse, spacey and synthesizer-powered that reminded us of the classic noughties work of Stafford stars Chicken Lips.
Review: Having debuted last year on Hardkiss Music with the rather good "Bohemian Berlin Disco", Thrillhammer transfers to Paper Recordings with "Heart Throbbing Lover", a foreboding chunk of dark nu-disco rich in bubbly synthesizer flashes, tumbling melodies, moody chords and wild male vocal snippets. It comes accompanied by a suite of remixes, all of which are worth checking. Smash Disco first offers up an organic sounding "Funkskool Disco" mix that re-casts the track as a solid slab of Dinosaur L style leftfield disco, before doffing a cap to New York style 1980s house on the "Classic House" mix. The other two reworks come from the SmytheTigers, who deliver vocal and instrumental versions that revolve around punk-funk grooves and jaunty synthesizer motifs.
Review: Veteran Manchester stable Paper Recordings bring us the in sound from way out on this hard-to-pigeonhole three-tracker from the brilliantly named Mr Tea, AKA San Francisco-based producer Michael Devin. 'Open Up' starts with ponderous timpani and plinky-plonk 80s synths before busting out a wonky, lolloping bassline and a very Grace Jones-esque vocal from featured artist Wonder. 'A Million Years Later' also nods to Italo and coldwave from the 80s, before we don shiny suits and loafers for the authentic-sounding boogie pastiche of closer 'Love Letter From Zetta'. If you like your disco a little more leftfield, you'd be well advised to check for this one!
Various
Played by: Chris Massey, Flash Atkins, Juno Recommends Disco, LEGO EDIT, JAMES ROD, Andy Buchan, Kongisto
Review: Label co-owner Flash Atkins is at the controls for this second celebration of Paper Music's first 25 years. While there's a smattering of material from the label's first 15 years, the majority of Atkins' selections come from releases put out over the last decade. Like its' predecessor, it's an action-packed affair full of high quality cuts. Standouts include the swirling nu-disco bliss of Rave-Enka's "Honningen", the hazy lounge-jazz-meets-house sleaziness of Diskobeistet's "Birklunden", the piano-powered chunkiness of Leon Sweet's "Beat Slave Auto", the analogue deep house bubbliness of Doc L Junior's "Twilight" and the early morning deep house hypnotism of Ryan Kick's remix of Space Coast's "Just Past Midnight". Best of all, though, is the TB-303-powered hypno-house insanity of Ralph Myerz and The Kosmik Diamondz 14-minute "Acid 4 Eddie".
Review: Following a string of EP and single releases on labels such as Paper, Black Riot and Trunkfunk over the past five years or so, the Oslo duo of Ravi Brunsvik and Marius Sommerfeldt return to the former with their debut long-player, which for lovers of left-of-centre deep house grooves is something of a must-check. Opener 'Skumring' starts us off in a Balearic/midtempo mood, 'Sunshine' takes us into soulful house territory, 'Dragsug' is a chuggy nu-disco groover, 'Monokrom' comes on like Chromeo or Amp Fiddler playing with acid sounds, 'Gimme Sum Dim Sum' is a lounge-y deep houser with wigged-out Hammonds, and so it goes on...
Review: Paper Recordings regulars and occasional Midnight Riot contributors Soundersons would like us to "Respect The Funk". We're naturally more than happy to do that, especially as their latest EP for Ben Davis's label is amongst their strongest work to date. Chugging, electric piano-heavy Afro-funk workout "Cabasa" sets the tone before title track "Respect The Funk" serves up an extra-percussive blend of heavy drums, woozy low register melodies, rich Rhodes riffs and razor-sharp strings. "Congo Club" is a deeper and woozier trip into turn-of-the-80s Afro grooves blessed with seriously spacey Moog lines, while "Summer of Sam" is a warm and woozy chunk of deep disco headiness. Belabouche remixes that track, cannily giving it a heady house twist while retaining the warmth of Soundersons' original instrumentation.
Played by: Flash Atkins
Review: Manchester's Paper Recordings do some envelope-pushing with a three-track EP from Minus The Majors that certainly couldn't be accused of being 'generic deep house fodder'. Instead, 'Peanut Dust' is a wonky, jazz-tinged workout that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Classic in their heyday, 'Baker Lights' opens with a hip-hop drum loops then breaks out into a glitch-tastic concoction of bleeps, squeaks, beats and what sound like trombone parps, while the Afro-tinged 'Ivasha Flew' rocks carnival percussion, vocal whoops, saxophone tristesse and muted, mutating brass sounds. Definitely one for the broader-minded deep house floors.
Review: Granada-based twosome Mordisco make their first appearance on historic Manchester label Paperdisco following previous outings on My Favourite Robot, Midnight Riot, NDYD Records and Spa in Disco. The Spanish duo kicks things off with "Musica De Baille", a bouncy, percussion and delay-rich slab of tropical nu-disco/chunky house fusion that rises and falls in all the right places. The duo's ability to craft slowly building, life-affirming goodness is further confirmed by second track "Nahual", where jangling piano riffs, swirling chords and sampled choral vocals triumphantly rise above a foreboding, shuffling house groove.
Played by: Flash Atkins
Played by: Chris Massey, Tal M. Klein, Juno Recommends Deep House, Juno Recommends Downtempo, Paper Recordings
Review: The always reliable Paper Recordings are back with West Yorkshire's Flash Atkins and the captivating vocals of one Charlie Sinclair from Canterbury - singer from Sylvette who are one of Manchester's hottest new bands. They join forces for a collaboration that promises to be the start of something special. The track has already been gathering heat, with the one and only Bill Brewster singing its praise. From the deep, hazy and sunkissed feel of the original (which you could imagine being played on a Los Angeles rooftop), to the remixes - The Hardway Bros moody rendition injecting it with a right dose of dancefloor drama, and the slo-mo and absolutely low slung makeover by San Francisco's Tal M. Klein - it's certainly all good!
Various
Played by: Chris Massey, FINGERMAN, Flash Atkins, BRENDON P, Andy Buchan, Chuggin Edits, Paper Street Soul
Review: In case you haven't noticed, Paper Recordings has been on fire in the 18 months that have passed since Paper Cuts volume three landed. Further proof is provided by volume four of the label's "best of" series, which adds a couple of unheard exclusives - the sparkling, ever-building nu-disco headiness of Bachgenaur's "Steady Drummer" and Vinny Villbass's Metro Area-ish instrumental re-make of Diskobeistet's "Birkelunden" - to a tight list of 2016 and 2017 highlights. These include (but aren't limited to) Chris Massey's rubbery, funk-fuelled tweak of 2 Billion Beats' "Sold My Soul", the glassy-eyed, sunset-friendly warmth of Crazy P's "Last Knockers", the organic haziness of Steve Cobby's "Boule De Suif" and the soulful house/nu-disco fusion of DJ Spinna's ace rework of Soundersons' "Can't Get Enough".
Review: Over the course of their short career, Soundersons has consistently delivered material shot through with musical references to New York's oceans-deep dance music history. Last time out, on Midnight Riot, they doffed a cap to vintage NYC disco, boogie and Metro Area. On this second Paper Recordings outing, they've switched focus to embrace the Big Apple's early house history. "Headhunters", for example, is a delicious fusion of Burrell Brothers style analogue warmth, glassy-eyed early New Jersey deep house and gentle but restless acid lines. There's a little more Daniel Wang/Metro Area swing to the cheery nu-disco/deep house fusion of "Make The Music", while closer "Brazilian Summer" is a veritable carnival of jazz-funk electric pianos, foreboding chords and lolloping drum machine rhythms.
Review: Last time we heard from Venezuelan producer Vainc (real name Vince, apparently), he was serving up some tech-house treats on Capital Heaven. Here he flips the script completely, reaching for the drunken trumpet solos, skewed tropical instrumentation and hazy Indonesian house percussion on humid title track "20003000". The sticky, feverish fun continues on "It Smells Like Jungle", a pleasingly tropical concoction that wraps trippy electronics, late night bleeps and woozy synthesizer flourishes around a groove rich in locked-in electronic bass, weird jungle noises and hypnotic, layered percussion. It's closer in feel to some of his previous work, but still an impressive and ear-pleasing departure.
Review: Over the last few years, Paper Recordings' Ben Davis has been a little too busy directing acclaimed music documentaries to tend to the needs of his production alter ego, Flash Atkins. Here, the caped crusader finally returns to action following a two-year absence. Our hero begins with "Dark Night of the Soul", a quirky, clap-heavy affair that wraps vintage electrofunk synths and meandering acid lines around an eccentric but percussive groove that doffs a subtle wink or two to the early work of Norwegian legend Bjorn Torske. The Scandolearic disco influence is also evident on the piano-heavy, hazy house warmth of "Undertow", which comes accompanied with a bouncy and wonderfully eccentric dub that could easily have been produced by somebody like Todd Terje.
Played by: BRENDON P
Review: One for the dancers here! Paper Recordings are bringing us a fantastic debut EP from Italian duo Soundersons, who have come up through the underground house scene in Bologna. "Can't Get Enough" is a deep slice of nu disco on the electro-funk tip, with the wonderful Diana G on vocals. It's got '80s style synths and vocal hooks a-plenty plus clonking percussion, Rhodes and that Metro Area / Tom Tom Club vibe. Parts I and II are split into vocal and instrumental over one side on continuous play. The legendary DJ Spinna brings his deep NYC take on things that is underground house at it's best. He uses the synths, arps and the vocal to slowly build this remix that hits its peak at the end. Finally, Education finishes things off with a raw disco cut up that will surely burn up the dancefloor.
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Review: Following an extended hiatus, Daco returns to Paper Recordings with an EP stuffed full of high-grade dancefloor moments. Opener "The Uprise" is particularly potent, featuring as it does a killer combination of "I Feel Love" style arpeggio bass, Kraftwerkian computer vocals, driving beats, spacey chords and some superbly manipulated spoken word samples ("the money, the drugs, the oil, the guns, the war, the uprising!"). It's followed by a proto-house and Italo-disco influenced alternative version that is arguably even closer in tone to vintage Giorgio Moroder, while bonus cut "Faith" is a deep, woozy and dreamy chunk of Balearic house laden with melancholic strings and a superb vocal by Mikey Raphael.
Review: Seven months on from the release of their fine debut album, Be Nice To Each Other (a title that seems more apt with every passing day), Paper Recordings stalwarts 2 Billion Beats are given the remix treatment. Richard Seaborne ropes in pal GizMo to lend a hand on his rework of "Papa", a thrillingly driving, low-slung affair built around live disco bass, glistening organ stabs and rolling percussion, while Brighton's Leon Sweet casually joins the dots between rolling nu-disco and melodious deep house on his interpretation of "Slow Down". Arguably best of all, though, is Magnus International's rework of 2011 single "To Andromeda", which sees the Oslo producer pepper a loose limbed jazz breakbeat with typically woozy, Scandolearic chords and tasty analogue synthesizer melodies.
Played by: Flash Atkins
Review: Paper Recordings present rising Oslo house star Vinny Villbass who co-runs and plays at the seminal Sunkissed, has had releases on Beatservice and Eskimo. On the Skauern EP he shows off a penchant for crisp sound and nicely swung beats with this summery selection. The release takes its name from the island of Skauern in the Oslofjord, a place where he has been known to spend many a happy summer on his boat named The Fighting Egg: which coincidentally also features on the release artwork. This is a lush and musical EP, full of fantastically accomplished house music that works as well during the day as it does at night.
De Fantastiske To feat Della
Review: Paper Recordings has long been renowned for unearthing quirky deep house from Norway. Oslo-based twosome De Fantastiske To are the latest in a long line of Norwegian Paper merchants, and here return to the imprint for their first outing of 2017. "When I Want To", featuring the stylish vocals of Della, sits somewhere between eccentric deep house, Afro-driven tropical Balearica, and shuffling, sun-kissed nu-disco. Arguably even more ear catching is slo-mo B-side "Skumring", a leisurely audio stroll through enveloping chords, gently fluctuating electronics, subtle melodies and shuffling percussion. It sounds like the sort of thing that would work well as after hours listening, in those moments when getting horizontal is your highest priority.
Various
Played by: Chris Massey, FINGERMAN, Flash Atkins, Anthony Mansfield, Future Bones, DJ ROCCA, Somerville & Wilson
