Review: A quick web search for "North Coast Limited" doesn't yield many musical results, but rather information on a discontinued train service from Chicago to Seattle. Unhelpfully, Rare Wiri has yet to post any details of who's behind the musical project that shares the same name, though the track titles on this debut EP suggest he, she or they drew inspiration from the previously mentioned historic train route. 'Westbound' is a fine slab of lightly tooled-up, floor-friendly swamp funk, with the mysterious outfit adding gentle electronic motifs to a vintage bluesy, horn-sporting rock number. 'Eastbound' is a chunky, thickset blues-rock edit awash with low-slung bass, jazzy drum hits and winding organ solos, while 'Crack Train of the Northwest' is a deliciously dubby, locked-in slab of mind-mangling late-night blues-house brilliance.
Review: Greek producer J.B Boogie is scarily productive, with new releases appearing thick and fast over the last few years. It's perhaps fitting then that his latest E.P has been released by Rare Wiri, a label helmed by the equally prolific Rayko. What's on offer are edits-plus - I.E tracks that are effectively re-edits but also include additional instrumentation and fresh beats. He begins with a sweaty slab of Harmonica-and-sax-sporting swamp funk ('Boogie Rhythm') before reaching for the filters on glassy-eyed disco-soul workout 'My Body'. 'Promise You' isa more low-slung, funk-fuelled slab of disco hedonism, while title track 'Travelling' is a soaring, string-laden disco-house treat.
Review: Two quite laidback joints here courtesy of UK disco stalwart Dexter Jones, brought to you by Rayko's Rare Wiri imprint. 'Mello Dino' is up first and has perhaps most in common with the spangly nu-disco of artists like Ilja Rudman or Sare Havlicek, but would slot equally well into afternoon 'beach house'-type sets. The title track itself is in a similarly mellow vein, but in this case augmented with the kind of squalling, FX-laden jazz-funk/rock geetar that, to these ears, always conjures memories of US sitcom themes from the late 70s. In the best possible way, you understand!
Review: Four fine servings of classy contemporary disco here from Australian producer Pecoe, brought to you by ever-reliable Spanish label Rare Wiri. 'Feel The Vibe' itself kicks us off, a lo-slung funker with decided hints of jazz and an energising female vocal snip, before the vaguely Madhouse-y 'Disco Groove' brings fluttering geetars, a walking b-line and sampled disco-era vox pops. 'Old School' then adds hints of 80s boogie, and there are more 80s flavas to be found on 'Hit The Floor', though the vocal here might be a bit pop for some. A very solid EP all told, with the title track taking the gold for yours truly.
Review: 80s-inspired, disco-not-disco grooves are the order of the day on this latest salvo from Spanish don Rayko, coming as ever on his own Rare Wiri imprint. 'Battlefield' is a midpaced re-edit of Pat Benatar's 'Love Is A Battlefield' from 1983; that would suggest the other three cuts are also re-edits, but if so we couldn't tell you what of. No matter: 'Don't Stop' is a lively, boogie-styled cut that rocks a familiar "don't stop the music" male vocal snip, 'Busting' is a deceptively pacey blend of pulsating 80s synths and squalling rock guitars, while finally 'Express' adds a little tropical disco flava.
Review: If it's straight-up, trad-sounding deep house vibes you're after then Rare Wiri might not always be the first place you'd look, but they've come up trumps with this fine EP from comedically-monikered London lad Sesh Juan. The mellow but still surprisingly pacey 'Flutes For Shoots' leads the charge - and there are no prizes for guessing which woodwind instrument plays a starring role here - while 'Chateau Neuf' itself is a slightly more meandering and lower-tempo outing that's in danger of getting all a bit "drifty and polite" until, around the 2:30 mark, in comes a treated female vocal snip to die for. Don't die for it, though - just buy it!
Review: Montenegro's Sasha Mitich takes a slightly unusual approach on this latest re-edits EP, in that all four tracks coming under the scalpel appeared originally on the same album, namely Quincy Jones's 1974 long-player 'Body Heat'. 'The Grinder' was originally 'Boogie Joe The Grinder', 'Buffalo Soldier' revisits 'Soul Saga (Song Of The Buffalo Soldier)' and 'One Track' reworks 'One Track Mind', while the Minnie Ripperton- and Leon Ware-vocalled 'If I Ever Lose This Heaven' becomes 'If You're Foolin'. With musical backing from the likes of Herbie Hancock, Richard Tee, Bob James and Larry Dunn, do you really need us to tell you how good this is?
Review: Mexico's La Guardia De La Luz has racked up releases on labels including Hell Yeah and Paper, and now he comes to Rare Wiri with a veritable smorgasbord of musical delights. 'Better Daze' kicks us off in moody, midtempo electronica territory with its ponderous bass and 'SAW'-like vocal, before label boss Rayko gives it a far more floor-friendly makeover. 'Forest Television' itself centres around a b-line that if not actually sampled from Talking Heads' 'Once In A Lifetime' certainly owes it a debt of inspiration, and comes in drifty, understated Original and far struttier Ainz Remix forms, while the Balearically-inclined 'Alma' completes the EP.
Review: 80s soul and boogie meet extended chunks of sampled movie dialogue on this three-tracker from Denver's Rob Halgren, AKA Funk Hunk, which is brought to you by Rayko's Rare Wiri imprint. The title track loops up a midpaced boogie groove ("don't stop ever loving me") with a bite from 'Dirty Dancing', while the Kimberly Phat-vocalled 'When You Love Me' drops the pace yet further and leads us to the boudoir before more 'Dirty Dancing' bites make their presence felt on male-vocalled soul jam 'Two Passing Strangers'. Boogie lovers will lap it all up, but 'When You Love Me' stands out for yours truly.
Review: Tony Johns has a long string of re-edit EPs under his belt, most of them self-released. This latest batch of reworks, though, have been snapped up by Rayko's Rare Wiri label - unsurprisingly, perhaps, as they draw on much the same school of 80s boogie and electro-disco that's inspired so much of the label's recent output. 'Zulu' reworks the 1981 cut of the same name by UK duo The Quick, while 'Little Love' revisits 'Gotta Little Love' by German new wave/disco chanteuse Angela (Werner) from 1984. 'Sweet Loving', meanwhile - source unidentified - is all fat 80s bass and squealing synths.
Review: Picklejam is a UK producer whose career began 10 years ago while still a student in Leeds. He started out making tech-house but latterly, inspired by the likes of Fingerman and Yam Who?, he's made the leap over into disco territory, albeit on this latest offering for Rare Wiri we're talking disco as heard through a hazy Balearic filter. Three mixes to choose from: all feature the same squelchy synths and vocoder vox but they vary in tempo/energy levels, with Swedish veteran Martin Brodin's surging, euphoric rub winning out to these ears and coming on like an E rush in digital form.
Review: Spain's Rare Wiri bring us what we believe to be the first-ever EP from Madrid-based producer Herman Moor, which packs two tracks in a total of five mixes. 'Music Has The Power' in its original form has something of an early 90s Italo-house feel before the Or Remix takes us into bleepier, synthier territory, while the Or Remix Alternate Version is a deeper pass that tones down the synths and brings the bass to the fore. The accompanying 'Disco Nostalgia' channels early 80s Euro vibes, and again comes with a deeper alternative in the form of the T Sounds 4am Remix.
Review: Mexican producer Franco Alvarez AKA Disco Feelings has a long string of releases on Spa In Disco to his name; his work has also cropped up on Hot Digits Music and now he comes to Rayko's Rare Wiri with this very solid little two-tracker. 'French Nights', it won't surprise anyone to learn, essentially pays homage to the French touch/filter disco sound of the late 90s/early 00s (albeit with an atypical sampled, spoken vocal) and is plenty playable for sure, but the standout by far here is 'Long Time', which features some mighty fine jaunty, jazzy piano licks. It's groovy, baby...
Review: Spanish disco don Raico Pena brings us what by our count is at least his sixth long-player - it's hard to keep up! Latterly the Rare Wiri boss has been tending to explore slightly more electronic pastures, and so it is here: after 'Barry's Intro', a Walrus Of Love monologue underpinned by shimmering synths, the rest of the album by and large falls under the Italo/cosmic umbrella, with hints of 80s pop/rock creeping in on 'Healer', 'Loved By You' providing the most obvious dancefloor moment and 'Silver' distinguishing itself through its use of a Middle Eastern-style male vocal.
Review: A truly international affair, this, as Mexico's Tomas Malo teams up with French counterparts Djeko & K'You for an EP on Spanish label Rare Wiri. The title track here is a sumptuous, late 70s-flavoured disco workout, with chords that are reminiscent (whether intentionally or otherwise) of The Whispers' 'And The Beat Goes On' and a full-phat bassline. 'Shiba Bam', meanwhile, takes us right back to the earliest days of house but distinguishes itself from the herd via the use of an attention-getting, almost hypnotic, sing-song male vocal in an unidentified language.
Review: Greek disco stalwart Christos Antoniou AKA C. Da Afro comes with three very fine disco jams, brought to you by the ever-reliable Rare Wiri. 'Boogie In Control' reworks (and speeds up) Don Downing's 'Doctor Boogie' from 1978; that suggests the other two cuts may also be re-edits but if so, we couldn't tell you what they're re-edits of. Either way, 'The Reason' comes on like Byron Stingily fronting Moloko circa 'Sing It Back' but it's the authentically late 70s/early 80s-sounding 'Disco Hoping' [sic] that stands out, for its distinctive breathy, spoken female vocal sample as well as some fine strings.
Review: You'll never get to meet Svoboda Zvuka, because Svoboda Zvuka isn't a person: instead it's the name of an unusual project that sees different musicians all over the world collaborating on tracks remotely. On average, we're told, each track takes around 48 hours to make and is the result of five or six different producers' labours. So who's behind the lazy Balearic throb of the original version of 'Eeya' is anybody's guess, but we can tell you that Belida's remix drops the tempo and turns up the bass squelch, giving the track an almost New Beat-ish feel, while Santai ploughs a more spangly nu-disco furrow.
Review: Next up on Rayko's Rare Wiri label out of the Spanish capital Madrid is Bodie Lee, a DJ/producer out of Boise, Idaho who is a stalwart of the local scene since the '80s after getting his start in Seattle. He's had some great releases on Chopshop, Masterworks and Funk Factory and he certainly brings his A game on I Need You; the neon-lit title track provides the mandatory late night boogie-down vibes, while the slo-mo heater "Keep On Dancing" goes for an old school vibe complete with vocoder and killer horns section. Finally, the good times keep rolling on the low slung "On & On".
Review: Argentinian producer Ivan Alexis Podwiazny comes to Rare Wiri with a three-tracker whose title provides a subtle indication as to the sci-fi infused grooves lurking within. "Quaranthesizer" opens proceedings, an unsurprisingly synth-tastic affair that we'll hazard a guess was probably made during lockdown! "Obi Wan Call" itself has a similar MO but is just slightly mellower, and sports some fine stabs as well as snatches of Alec Guinness dialogue, before closer "Worm Hole" takes us on the most authentically late 70s-sounding space disco excursion of the lot: think Carpenter and Moroder having some ecstatic fun in the studio and you'll get the gis
Review: Italian producer Belabouche, whose work has appeared on such labels as Paper Disco, Midnight Riot and Rebel Hearts, comes to Rayko's Rare Wiri imprint with two contrasting cuts here. 'A Humble Girl' places a high-pitched, quite poppy female vocal atop a rolling, bass-y disco backdrop, with lots of intricate top-end percussion and vaguely tropical undertones. It's the more radio-friendly of the two tracks, and not without its charms for sure, but if you're looking for something a lil' rawer, dirtier and funkier then don't worry - 'Funky Fox' has you covered with its phat-ass b-line and early 80s-style chant vocal.
Review: Did you ever hear any of those early Hard-Fi demos, recorded before any label pushed them to chase the stadium indie dollar, when their roots in house and dub were much more in evidence? That's very much what the two Electro Funk rubs (and indeed the Radio Edit) of 'Sommertime High' sound like, with an indie/rock-style vocal sounding surprisingly at home atop a dubbed-out electronic backbeat... it's an absolute killer, and has been on heavy rotation round these parts all week! The ever-reliable Manuel Costela supplies a housed-up pass for maximum reach: s'good, but this is a rare instance of a Costela remix NOT actually trumping the original for once!
Review: This latest release from Rayko's Rare Wiri stable should have you covered whatever end of the disco spectrum you're most comfortable at, as 'Monody' and 'Much Better' - two cuts that first appeared on the 'Capriccio' EP back in December - get given the remix treatment. If you're a fan of cosmic and Italo vibes, 80s sci-fi soundtracks and synthier styles generally, then you'll want to head for Sauco's rub of the former, a bleepy throbber with Daft Punk-ish overtones around the edges. If you're more traditionally minded, on the other hand, then check out the label boss's refix of 'Much Better' for some killer sax action.
Review: Three complementary but contrasting cuts make up this latest salvo from Greek disco regular JB Boogie. Up first is 'Motel', a jazz-tinged 70s-style funker with gloriously sleazy sax work and a nagging lil' guitar-and-bass figure at its heart. Next, to drag us onto the disco floor, comes 'Music Play', a more sumptuous, sophisticated and string-drenched affair - the kind of thing you imagine you might have heard through a quaalude haze at Plato's Retreat. And then completing the package is 'About Love', a slower, more contemplative cut that sits somewhere between soul and jazz-funk and sports some fine chorus'd male/female vox.
Review: As the late Meat Loaf informed us, two out of three ain't bad... but two out of four is the best we can do when it comes to identifying the source material for this batch of Uptown Funk re-edits. Opener 'A Brighter Shade Of Blue' draws on 1978's 'Perfect Love Affair' by Prelude regulars Constellation Orchestra (AKA The Saturday Night Band), while The Michael Zager Band's 'Music Fever' from the same year informs 'Got The Fever'. So much for the vocal disco stompers: 'Hondo' and 'The Ride', meanwhile, draw on rawer funk sources, 'The Ride' having a Blaxploitation-y feel while 'Hondo' adds a dash of tropical/Latin spirit.
Review: Peter Shalvoy is no newcomer to the scene: a DJ around NYC for over 20 years, he's perhaps best known for his long-running residency at the infamous Nell's. These days, though, he's relocated to Las Vegas and is concentrating his efforts on his productions. Like this one, for instance: a gloriously lounge-y and, yes, slightly cheesy disco number that harks back to the style's earliest days in the mid-70s with its male and female soul vocals. There's no great reinvention of the wheel going on, but those female 'aaah-aaaahs' in the chorus are worth the price of admission on their own!
Review: Rayko is one of the leading lights of the contemporary disco scene, he isn't afraid to do the cheeky booty thing now and then, and this EP's called 'Last Train To 80's' - do you really need me to tell you what it sounds like? Oh, you do? Okay then, it sounds a bit like Foreigner's 'Urgent', at first. Then it sounds a bit like Madonna's 'Get Into The Groove', before moving on to sound a bit like 'Mama' by Genesis, and then ending up sounding a bit like 'Lullaby' by The Cure. And if you haven't got the idea by now, I don't really know what else to tell you!
Review: Three tracks in a total of six mixes make up this EP from Nice, France-based Vigi, which comes on Rayko's Rare Wiri label. 'Thinking About You' itself starts life sounding like an early 80s AOR/yacht rock excursion - think Toto or Foreigner - while the Extended DJ Mix chucks a 4/4 kick underneath it, but it's the ever-reliable Manuel Costela who comes with the most obviously floor-friendly of the three rubs. Elsewhere on the EP, 'You Got Me' mines 80s boogie sounds and comes complete with an elevated-tempo Boogietraxx Remix (my pick), while the mellower 'Somethin' I Want' comes on like a Balearica-boogie meltdown.
Review: T Sounds is Tom Helowicz, a young Liverpool-based producer whose work has appeared on Rare Wiri, Mango Sounds, theBasementDiscos and more. Now he returns to the former stable with two tracks that operate in the currently rather busy hinterland between cosmic/Italo disco and progressive house. 'Arcadia' is all about the bright, dreamy pads which sit atop a solid, chunky backbeat and give the track a euphoric, hands-in-the-air, Ibeefa-friendly kinda feel, while 'Flying High' is a slightly more laidback, contemplative affair - one for lounging by the pool rather than strutting your stuff on the podium.
Review: Russian producer Ootkeen returns to Rayko's Rare Wiri label with a three-track EP that'll suit those who like their disco on the deep and dreamy side. All three cuts have a pretty similar MO, but of the three, 'Groovity Waves' is the one that's closest in feel to vintage cosmic disco. Elsewhere, 'Cosmic Funk' has a hazy, proggy feel - if ever a track was built to soundtrack an Ibiza dawn, it's this one - while the fat, squelchy bass and stop-start rhythm of 'Sunset On The Titan' give it an almost jazz-funk/broken beat kinda vibe. Pleasantly chilled listening all round.
Review: Irregular Disco Workers, AKA Italy's Andrea Frittella, comes to Spain's Rare Wiri with two fine disco cuts here. 'Neustart' could have beamed straight in from the early 80s, sitting as it does right on the cusp between funkier 70s grooves and the more electronic styles that would come to predominate as the new decade rolled on, and as such should quite comfortably make itself at home in a range of disco, funk or Italo sets. 'Sunset Boulevard', on the other hand, sits more identifiably in the 'faithully 70s-sounding' camp - pyow! pyow! stabs and all - with a little disco-house sheen on top for good measure.
Review: Introducing the cool, warm and breezy sounds of OR - a fresh faced artist delivering a slightly R&B infused, disco & Balearica tip once again to Rare Wire. This Down The Sideway single turns in a touch of effervescent '90s pop & house next to some slamming '70s rhodes and pumping '80s synth music. Music for tasty fruit cups and sunsets for sure. Dub and vocal versions! Enjoy.
Review: Introducing the sunset, balearic and western vibes of Fresh Ro, the latest addition to the Rare Wiri label outta Spain. Delivering a two track single charged with a deep '90s sound that invokes the best of memories from chill out and Ibiza CD compilations, Fresh Ro hones in on a sound that takes in California-esque disco and deep Krautock with a touch of electro-space western, slow chugging, disco exotica! With swathes of trances weaving their way through "Dreams Of Yelapa" alongside the heaving vamps of "El Colibri'S Voyage" - it's all about those licks of guitar. That extra Buddha Bar vibe comes through in Sauco's remix, with bossman Rayko working the strings in his remake alongside classic strains of cosmic pop. Yelepa! Dream on!
Review: Here's one that's gonna be a definite attention-getter out on the dancefloor! We can't actually tell you a lot about the two artists involved - neither of them seems to have any online presence whatsoever - but what they've come up with between 'em is a cover of Beatles classic 'A Hard Day's Night', delivered in such a way that you'd swear this record had come out of early 80s New York. Just to drive the point home, the New York Dangerous Mix ramps up the camp 80s-isms to the max while swapping out the bassline for a 303-rendered version, but it's the Monyaka-esque Original that takes the gold.
Review: There was a time when Balearic meant "play what you want, as long as it makes people dance"; then, somewhere along the way, we fell into a bit of a rut and it came to mean "lots of achingly lovely soundscapes replete with fey, wispy female vocals, wave sounds and fluttering flamenco guitar". This collection from Rare Wiri, then - ranging as it does from Jerome La Souris' disco-fied take on MAW classic 'To Be In Love' to the proggy throb of Cuz Electric's 'Polly', and from the nu-boogie strut of Sauco's 'Get Off' to Rayko's 'Drive', which comes on like coldwave meets yacht rock - is a good chance to remind ourselves of what 'Balearic' was originally meant to be about!
Review: Two figureheads of the contemporary disco scene join forces, a move that will already have plenty of disco buyers salivating. What they've come up with between them is a chuggy, midpaced disco groover with breathy, barely-there vox that sit back in the mix and let some very competent six-string histrionics take centre-stage instead. No obvious peaktime scream-along, this: instead it's the kind of track you drop to keep 'em moving in-between one big anthem and the next. But with Rayko and Costela involved, you can at least rest assured the production's gonna be faultless. Classy stuff, Spanish fellas!
Review: Rare Wiri's 'Retro Future Disco' series, launched in 2016, reaches its third installment - and with 10 tracks on offer, many of them coming from scene big-hitters like Alkalino, Ilya Santana, C Da Afro, Andy Buchan and of course label boss Rayko, nu-disco lovers will be salivating already! Generally speaking it's synth-tastic grooves inspired by Italo and cosmic disco that lead the charge here - though, given the talent roster, you'd expect a certain degree of stylistic variety, and you'll find such in Buchan's rawer, more funk-leaning 'Family Kings' and the soulful vibes of The Beatbroker's 'Belong 2 Me'.
Review: Rare Wiri boss Rayko puts on his re-editor's hat and revisits three dancefloor nuggets from days gone by. Opener 'Superman' reworks the 1983 album track of the same name by Michael Sembello (who's best known for his worldwide hit 'Maniac', which featured on the 'Flashdance' soundtrack). The source for electro-disco throbber 'Street Ranger' remains sadly unidentified (though there are bites from 'Planet Rock' in there), but 'Romance' is a nice easy one, being based on Eddy Grant's 'Romancing The Stone' from the eponymous motion picture. If party-hearty 80s vibes are what you seek, this is well worth checking.
Review: Italian disco DJ/producer and Atop Records boss Vanoni comes to Rayko's Rare Wire imprint with a very solid three-tracker here. 'Apache' is a midtempo chugger with a looped rising, wordless vocal wail serving as a main hook, underpinned by wukka-wukking funk guitar and an understated, shuffling backbeat, and will serve nicely for building up energy slowly. 'Funky Stuff', with its cheeky country/blues-style guitars and harmonica and female "funky stuff... push me" vocal, perhaps has the most immediate dancefloor appeal of the three, while completing the EP is 'Disco Azzurro', a more sparse, twitchy and experimental-sounding number with a simple, Casio-like synth hook.
Review: AINZ is a new alias for Palma, Mallorca native Manolo Ca?averal, a veteran of the bands Local Time and Gomango who's now stepping out on his own. For his first outing on Rare Wiri he brings us two contemporary disco originals: the moody, midtempo chugger that is 'Genova Nights' itself (the pick, to these ears) and 'Sweet Bites', which has a more 80s, electronic feel. Remixes come from Dennis Kane, whose rub of 'Genova Nights' is a little lighter on its feet and adds some delicate guitar work, and label boss Rayko, who ramps up the drama on 'Sweet Bites'.
Review: Dab Hand boss Magnetic Soul - not to be confused with the Hong Kong D&B crew of the same name - comes to Rare Wiri with four fresh jams here. The languid 'Champ Time' starts us off in sumptuous, lounge-y late 70s disco mode, before the much rawer-sounding 'Get What Want' busts out the funk vibes. 'Party Lights' is another disco strutter, this time with an echoing, dubbed-out feel and a very 80s-sounding "money money money money/say boom, let's party tonight" chanted vocal, and the 80s mood carries over into electrofunk-inspired closer 'Reality' - check out that gloriously squelchy synth bassline.
Review: Rare Wiri bring us remixes of four tracks culled from two previous Manolo EPs, March's 'Amalfi Drive' and May's 'Paseo Maritimo'. Ilya Santana gets the ball rolling with a typically spangly, 80s-inspired take on 'Phobos', before another Mediterranean disco legend - label boss Rayko, of course - steps up with a dark, broody and chuggin' take on 'Paseo Maritimo'. Sauco's remix of 'Amalfi Drive' stands out for the decidedly Yellow Magic Orchestra-esque otherworldly synth that shimmers along at the top throughout, before finally Super Fu's remix of 'Away' drops the tempo considerably to play us out on a hazy, Balearic note.
Review: Rayko joins forces with vocalist Elena Hikari for a full-length on his own Rare Wiri label. Recently the prolific Spanish producer has been spending much of his time in cosmic/Italo territory, but while such sounds are indeed in evidence here, they're not the whole story: you can hear influences too from Balearica, trip-hop and straight-up disco, not to mention the kind of grown-up dance pop that the likes of Moloko and Goldfrapp used to specialise in. The presence of Ms Hikari's voice throughout ties it all together nicely, and while the 20s pop sheen may be a little too much for some, the best bits - see for instance 'Suddenly' - are truly sublime.
Review: Rare Wiri bring us the debut release from Aenian, a mysterious artist with seemingly no online presence whatsoever. His/her/their two originals operate in Balearic chill-out territory, with 'Somnia' sporting mournful electric guitar and a vocal chant from the Clannad school of thought, while 'Winter Recess' leans a little more to the melodic/progressive side and takes its name from its long, playground noise intro. Dark Punk Hippies and label boss Rayko then bring the dancefloor mixes: both are in a synth-y, cosmic-inspired vein but the Hippies add rolling tribal drums while Rayko's rub is more of a blissed-out, end-of-night kinda thing.
Review: Spanish nu-disco don Rayko seldom disappoints, and doesn't on this latest missive wherein, as the EP title suggests, the Rare Wiri boss explores disco's cosmic fringes. 'Find My Way' gets the ball rolling with its pulsating bassline and plangent guitars, before we drop down into the languid, sinuous groove of 'Crazy Dance', which gives way in the midsection to ominously shimmering synths and a female vocal chant. There's then time for a little tropically tinged quirkiness in the form of 'Jungle Out There' before the title track, a midtempo chugger with a suitably sci-fi feel and more wailing geetar, plays us out.
Review: There's no shortage of cosmically inspired disco/nu-disco around right now, and here Spanish stalwarts Rare Wiri bring us three more prime examples thereof. With the tempo never moving above walking (or perhaps more accurately "gently sashaying") pace, you won't find any sure-fire peaktime floor-fillers here - what you get instead are a trio of deep n' dreamy jams that'll suit warm-up sets, post-club sofa surfers and blissed-out herbalists in equal measure. Stylistically there's not a lot between them, but the squelchy-basslined 'Meteor Shower' is probably the most floor-friendly of the three while 'The Horizons' nudges it for the horizontally inclined.
Review: Rayko returns to his own Rare Wiri imprint with a four-track EP that finds him spreading his musical wings a little wider than usual. The title track here is a dark n' moody electronic chugger that marries space disco stabs to ominous guitar chords, and that'd work well for warm-up or very late play. The EP's other three cuts look to the 80s for inspiration, with echoes of Germanic coldwave and EBM ('Electro Impact'), US no-wave/disco-not-disco ('Beach Culture') and out-and-out Italo-disco ('Needing Love'). Roll up the sleeves of your linen sport coat, dab some wet-look gel on your feathercut mullet and dive on in...
Review: Perhaps best known for his contributions to the long-running 'Katakana Edits' series, DJ Laurel comes to Spain's Rare Wiri with three very classy disco/boogie re-edits here. First to get the treatment is 'Am I Gonna Be The One', a 1983 cut by Colors, the original of which was a Shep Pettibone production. That's followed by another 1983 gem, 'Sweepin' Off' by High Resolution, AKA Italian producer Stefano Gelante. The source material for closer 'Weak For You' remains unidentified, but you get the general idea! If you like your dancefloor grooves on the smooth 'n' sultry side, you'll dig this EP for sure.
