Review: Rayko teams up once more with Elena Hikari to deliver the pair's second joint long-player, following on the heels of 2023's 'Tu Alma Y La Mia'. But while that first album was good, this one's exceptional! Cinematic, cosmic opener 'Too Much' sets the tone but it's the second track, 'Nunca James', that really hits you in the face: it's a slow-burning monster, with Hikari's haunting vocal earning it a place in the box marked "truly sublime". 'Looking To Edge' is another BIG track that probably needs to be heard on a 4am dancefloor to be truly appreciated; after that you get four more cuts that blur the lines between cosmic/Italo disco, Balearica, coldwave, house and pop (including a new version of 'Extraordinarylove' from the first album) before the title track, another deep, slo-mo chugger, plays us out in very fine style. Excellent work!
Review: Given the prolific output of his Rare Wiri label, it's a wonder Rayko finds time to get in the studio at all. But he does, regularly - and when he's not producing synthy, 80s-flavoured nu-disco jams of his own, he somehow also manages to fit in the odd cheeky re-edit or 20! Here, then, a score of such reworks are served up for your listening and dancing pleasure, with the emphasis firmly on lesser-known gems - sources include Ann Peebles, Diana Ross, Quincy Jones, Break Machine, Michael Sembello and Earl Flint, as well as US folk-rocker Barbara Keith's version of 'All Along The Watchtower', but there are plenty more that will have to go unidentified. Suffice to say, though, that if funk, disco, boogie, electro and pop from the 70s and 80s float your boat, this collection will leave you positively buoyant!
Review: Two solid slices of contemporary disco here from Luxembourg's Andrea Frittella, better known as Irregular Disco Workers, brought to you by Rayko's Rare Wiri label. Musically, 'This Is How We Do' sits somewhere between boogie and disco-house, but the vocodered vocal (intoning the title) will help it slip neatly into more Italo/cosmic-oriented sets as well, while the accompanying 'Back To The Roots' is more overtly synth-y and 80s-leaning, with the vocoder getting another workout while a pleasingly chunky bassline chugs along underneath and sparkly, stabby synths inject a little drama. Both cuts pack plenty of energy and so should keep 'em moving for sure.
Review: We can't tell you much about Dani Diaz, except that we're guessing he/she/they are neither the American actress nor the Spanish footballer of the same name... then again it's on a Spanish label so who knows!? Either way, what you get here are two electronic disco ventures from the more experimental side of the street, with 'Far From Virgo' packing hints of both Yello-style electronica and Morricone soundtracks, while 'Old West Bolero' is similar in MO but, as the title suggests, leans a little more heavily in the latter direction. Both are probably better suited to those longer sets (or the warm-up) than peaktime dancefloor mayhem, but both are plenty playable all the same.
Review: Clocking it at just under 2.5 hours long, you certainly can't fault this Rare Wiri year-end label comp on the value for money front! With 23 tracks on offer there's no room here to go into them all individually, and you probably have a pretty good idea of the label's particular electronic, 80s-leaning flavour of nu-disco anyway. Suffice to say, then, that Rare Wiri's many existing fans will be more than satisfied while newbies - if there are any left! - should start with AINZ's chunky, sleazy 'Hangover', the Italo strut of From Beyond's 'Non Analogue', MR Gee's throbbing 'Gravity', Rune Lindbaek's sci-fi refix of Ilya Santana's 'Cosmos Rising' or, a personal fave, Kelton Prime's 'Disco Arpeggio', wherein nu-disco meets garage vox...
Review: A solid nu-disco four-tracker here from German scene stalwart Andy Bach, brought to you by Rayko's Rare Wiri. The EP opens with the low-tempo, deep house meets boogie groove of 'Come On Now', which is the kind of track the word "slinky" was invented to describe, before 'Dimensions' takes us into slightly trippier, Balearic-ish territory. Only then do we come to 'If You Leave' itself, a more archetypally 'nu disco' affair with its shimmering synths and treated male vocal, which comes with an accompanying Dub. It's all good but 'Come On Now' is the clear winner to these ears.
Review: Tunesmith's breakout 'Disco Classic' featured on his 'Slow Disco' album earlier this year, but evidently he liked the title so much he's recycled it for this, his second Rare Wiri full-length in just six months. While 'Slow Disco' was a 'does what it says on the tin' job, the title this time is perhaps more in keeping with Throbbing Gristle's industrial/noise classic '20 Jazz Funk Greats', in that you won't find much in the way of straight-up, 70s-inspired disco here. Instead, Tunesmith carves out a new musical niche all of his own that sits somewhere between shimmering nu-disco, indie and out-and-out pop, with a heavy 80s influence - not least because 'Bands From The 80s' namechecks the likes of Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, Tears For Fears and FGTH!
Review: Four tracks of heavily electronic disco make up this latest V/A collection from Rakyo's Rare Wiri stable. Ilya Santana gets the ball rolling with the ominous, cinematic 'After Dark', before Kay-chi & Keymon drag us onto the early 80s dancefloor with 'Patches Of Light' feat Kally Voo. The label boss himself then steps up with 'Relax Your Body', which looks to styles like cosmic disco, EBM and Belgian new beat for inspiration, before the EP's completed by MR Gee's 'Under The Moonlight', which opens with a mood-setting manic cackle then breaks out into something of a moody, midtempo synth epic.
Review: Four tracks from as many artists make up this latest V/A offering from Rayko's Rare Wiri, with a couple of heavy-hitters sharing the stage with a brace of newcomers. Up first is new boy Billy Woods, who channels early 80s cod reggae vibes on not-unlikable opener 'Reggae Music' before Spanish veteran Ilya Santana shows us how the big boys do it with the surging, euphoric and lightly rock-tinged nu-disco of 'X Factor'. Label chief Rayko then steps up with the decidedly 80s-sounding 'Jabdah' before Leo Zero plays us out with the rawk geetars of 'All Is Fair'.
Review: South London lad Tony Johns returns to Rare Wiri with two tracks of uncertain genesis: he's probably best known for his re-edits but he does make original tracks as well, and which category these two fall into we couldn't tell you. Either way, though, 'Hidden Sadness' is a hazy, pulsating, Balearic-ish instrumental jam, with the synths mostly to the fore but also sporting a nice little piano interlude in the mid-section, while 'Synthsational' is more uptempo and packs a heftier bottom end, making it the pick to these ears. If electronic disco is your bag, this is one to check for sure.
Review: If you like your disco on the epic, electronic and slightly more experimental side, this new EP from Mexico's La Guardia de la Luz is worth investigating. 'Danza Planetaria' is a chunky, midtempo affair whose fat, squelchy bassline underpins all manner of FX and synth squiggles, while 'Wingmaker' is a more contemplative cut that shifts through several moods as it progresses. The ambient-leaning 'Starseed' then throws us something of curveball before 'Pista Da Baile' takes us down a slightly darker, moodier path that leads to the 11-minute 'Le Lieu De Banheur' - one to reach for during those 4am excursions into wonkier territory.
Review: Cal Gibson, a Nottingham-raised veteran producer best-known for his role in early noughties outfit Neon Heights, has had a new lease of life since re-emerging as Secret Soul Society. He has a decidedly Balearic album on the way for Hell Yeah! Recordings, but first there's the matter of this four-tracker for Rayko's Rare Wiri imprint. Gibson begins in predictably loved-up mood via the wide-eyed, sample-heavy tactility of 'Its Magic', an acid-splashed cut of the sort that fellow Notts boy Naill used to offer up, before successfully cutting up and dubbing out some heady Philly Soul on the druggy flex of 'Mighty Fine'. 'Minding The Seasons' is an attractive Balearic nu-disco throb-job, while 'Who Is The Don' is a spaced-out slow jam that makes great use of samples from a swamp funk treat.
Review: Back in April we singled out 'Crime' as the standout from Nonsense's 'November Lovers' EP thanks to Bocxod's distinctive "red wine is not a crime" vocal, so forgive us for feeling somewhat vindicated as Rare Wiri select that very track for the remix EP treatment. There are three new rubs to choose from: Andy Buchan's is probably closest to the languid 80s groove of the original while label boss Rayko's take sports some plangent six-string work and has a wobbly, wonky, almost hallucinatory quality. The pick for these ears, though, is the chopped and strutty Irregular Disco Workers Remix - a proper call to the dancefloor.
Review: We don't know much about Manner of Speaking, the artist behind this EP, though Rare Wiri founder Rayko has described the producer as an "ambient warrior". The two original tracks on show certainly tend towards the downtempo end of the spectrum, with Manner of Speaking delivering woozy, layered, synth-laden electronic soundscapes that sit somewhere between electronica, IDM and the more psychedelic end of Weatherall-esque "dark disco". There's 'Zandloper', where moody chords and dusk-friendly melodies rise above a shuffling electronica beat, and the Giallo-meets-Vangelis soundtrack throb of 'Unseen Events'. Rayko remixes the latter, giving it a chugging, drum machine-driven spin (all crunchy electronic snares, TR-707 style kick-drums and Italo-disco riffs), while Ilya Santana turns 'Zandloper' into a hazy and clandestine nu-disco workout.
Review: Born back in 2008, Rayko's Rare Wiri mark their 200th release with an album-length compilation featuring 12 brand new cuts from what the man himself describes simply as "some of my favourite artists out there". The album starts out in laidback, Balearic mode with Secret Soul Society's 'Draw Of The Cards' and ends up back there with Manolo's 'By The Moon', but in-between you'll find the looping, funked-up deep house of Fran Deeper's 'Lost Baby', the shape-throwing 80s Faltermeyer-isms of Kelton Prima's 'The Beggining', Ilya Santana's floor-friendly cover of Vangelis's 'Dervish D', the electro nouveau of From Beyond's 'Star Slip' and more besides. Here's to 200 more!
Review: No need to start invoking the Trades Descriptions Act here: 'Slow Disco' is what it says on the box, and slow disco is exactly what you'll find inside. Guitarist and producer Klaus Wienerroither has several long-players as Tunesmith under his belt already, dating back to 2006 and ranging in style from indie-rock to squelchy broken beat and electronic pop, but this album adopts a far more mirrorball-oriented aesthetic, and as such will appeal to fans of artists such as The Phenomenal Handclap Band or Escort. For this writer, it's the tracks that feature Mara Miletic's vocals that stand out - particularly recent single 'Disco Classic' and the irrestistibly catchy 'Feels Good'.
Review: Something of a departure here for former Neon Heights man Cal Gibson's Secret Soul Society, as out go the dusty lo-fi beats and hazy Balearic loveliness, and in steps some electronic disco struttery to take their place. That's not to say the EP as a whole isn't still a fairly mellow affair - it's not all angles, dry ice and cheekbones - but the synth collection definitely gets a bit more of a bashing this time out! The title track in particular gets quite eardrum-piercing in places, though 'Wonder' is a bit closer in spirit to earlier releases, a languorous headnodder for those times when being vertical just doesn't seem worth the effort.
Review: Spanish disco don and Rare Wiri boss Rayko has worked with vocalist Elena Hikari on several previous releases in the past, two of which - 'Unite' and 'Testify' - are among the eight tracks that make up their first collaborative full-length. As such you'll have a good idea what to expect already, with synth-y, 80s-inspired disco/pop the general order of the day, from chuggy, hazy opener 'Extraordinary Love' to slightly more abstract and beats-y closer 'Imagina'. But thankfully the sheer quality of Ms Hikari's voice is strong enough to carry it off, with 'Testify' in particular sounding as good as it ever did and the vaguely dark wave-ish 'Unite' and 'A Different Day' adding a little variety.
Review: Oslo-based London lad From Beyond has been doing his thing mostly for the likes of Paper Disco, Golden Soul and Nein Records since 2018. Earlier in the year he released the 'Non Analogue' EP on Rare Wiri, and now here come the remixes, with the 80s synth-oriented 'Far Far' now given an added dose of squelch courtesy of Parisian veteran Kelton Prima, while 'Non Analogue' itself, which originally sounded like electro getting caught in the act of turning into early Chi-town house, gets beefed up a notch or three by Spa In Disco boss Saint-Loup-En-Bray, and as result plonks itself down more firmly in the latter arena.
Review: Following releases on Kultura and Spa In Disco, the mysterious Nonsense come to Rare Wiri with three slices of heavily electronic, 80s-leaning nu-disco here. Opener 'Crime' is the one that's most likely to stick in your head, thanks to an insistent, lolloping bass groove and a vaguely Hot Chip-ish "red wine is not a crime" vocal loop - courtesy, presumably, of featured artist BOCXOD - while elsewhere, title track 'November Lovers' is a pleasant Balearic instrumental with keyboards firmly to the fore while 'Slow' does what it says on the tin and is a bass-y chug topped with plinky-plonk, Casio-like keys. But for dancefloor play, our money's on 'Crime'.
Review: Two complimentary but contrasting cuts make up this latest offering from Denver disco don Funk Hunk, which is brought to you by Rayko's Rare Wiri label. In the red corner we have the pure boogie vibes of 'Piece Of Candy' itself, which sounds so authentically early 80s that it would HAS to be a re-edit, though we can find no evidence of an original existing anywhere! Meanwhile in the blue corner we have 'Proposition', an altogether funkier affair that calls to mind Zapp or Cameo but turns out to be a (considerably slowed-down) rework of a Bar Kays cut from 1982.
Review: Spanish don Ilya Santana returns to Rare Wiri and ropes in Scandinavian counterpart Rune Lindbaek on remix duties. In its Original form, 'Cosmos Rising' - as you can probably guess from the title alone - comes from that part of the musical spectrum where Italo/cosmic disco and progressive house/melodic techno collide, and as such should work on any floor where they like it big, bold and trippy. But it's the Rune Lindbaek Remix that nudges it for yours truly, being an even bigger, bolder and trippier pass with warehouse-friendly kicks and some added spoken vocal samples paying homage to the special magic of the mushroom.
Review: Three slices of retro-tastic disco action on this latest from Rare Wiri regular Bodie Lee. It's a brave producer who takes on 'Le Freak' but the Boise, Idaho native pulls it off on 'C'Mon Down To 54': the jury's out as to whether it's a re-edit or just a very faithful homage but either way, it'll get 'em shimmying for sure! Elsewhere, 'Ring A Bell' draws on an unidentified boogie-era cut with a fine funk bassline, while the more uptempo 'Sunset' reworks Michael Jackson's 'Sunset Driver', a cut demo'd for 'Off The Wall' and reworked during the 'Thriller' sessions but only released in 2004.
Review: mR gee serves up a neat two-tracker for Spain's Rare Wiri, with 'Gravity' blending House, Prog and Italo Disco influences into a chunky, throbbing mid-paced concoction that's topped with a spoken male "my rhythm" vocal and should work on a range of floors, while there's a distinct mid-80s pop sheen to the drum machine beats and sparking synths of 'Midnight Lovers'
Review: Rayko teams up once more with semi-regular collaborator Fran Deeper for this two-track outing on his own Rare Wiri label. 'On The Beat' itself is up first, building from a gently rolling, Balearic-ish intro into a full-blown boogie jam complete with sugar-sweet soul vox, analogue stabs, brass fanfares and sparse, reverb-heavy production. The accompanying 'Bioluminescence' maintains the general 80s vibe but is a touch heavier and more wonked-out, its central New Beat-like synth-bass throb topped with light n' breezy keys and all manner of FX sounds: think Italo-disco heard though a progressive house filter and you're somewhere in the ballpark.
Review: Utkin Mikhail AKA Ootkeen returns to Rare Wiri with a three-tracker that blurs the lines between nu-disco, Balearica and deep house to supremely chilled effect. The EP opens with the dreamy, hazy 'Engineer Of The Soul', a cut for those late night/early morning moments when you find yourself melting into the sofa, before 'On The Road With Clouds' ups the tempo a notch or two - you could even imagine this one finding its way into deeper prog sets, early doors. But it's a case of "saving the best till last" here, with the title cut bringing you seven minutes of pure driftaway sonic bliss.
Review: No, Tunesmith - true identity unknown - isn't being a massive egotist in calling his new release for Rayko's Rare Wiri label 'Disco Classic'; instead, the title merely references the plainitive one-line female "play me a disco classic now" vocal. The Original version is a mellow, midtempo affair, with dense layers of reverberating sound underpinned by a rock-solid bassline, and probably one for the warm-up or those post-club sessions. Sauco's remix, meanwhile, adds 4/4 kicks, handclaps and swap out the b-line for a more electronic one, and as such is undoubtedly the better bet for dancefloor play - though both rubs have their charms for sure.
Review: With an EP title like 'Boogie Grooves' there are no prizes for guessing what style/era from the dancefloor history books is being paid homage to here. Kelton Prima's opener 'The Lights' is a masterclass in shimmering early 80s synths and chorus'd, slightly chipmunky fem vox, Tony Johns' 'Watching You' revisits the 1980 jam of the same name by Ohio funkateers Slave, 'Slow-N-Funky' drops down into decadent, string-drenched 70s disco mode as it loops up the backing vox from a 1975 cut by Furman & Johnson, but the pick of a fine crop is Pete Le Freq's more house-ified 'Stars Out', a rework of Stargard's 'Wear It Out' from 1979.
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