Review: Mancunian DJ/producer Danny Ward aka Moodymanc collaborates with the legendary Diane Charlemagne, whose work you may know from albums by Goldie, Moby, High Contrast and London Elektricity to name but a few. The result is "Take Me Back" on Berlin-based label Exploited, a retro futurist track that's at once deep and soulful. You can bet Ward returns under his trusted Dubble D alias as well, providing some very nice vocal and dub remixes.
Review: For the past two decades, Frankie Knuckles has specialized in creating the sort of warm, touchy-feely soulful house remixes that recall a more innocent age. Here he's at it again (alongside pal Eric Kupper), re-shaping the Sunburst Band's reveivalist disco-boogie jam "The Secret Life of Us" as a grandiose, string-laden homage to early days of E-fuelled soulful house excess. The Signature Mix makes great use of Diane Charlemagne's excellent vocal, layering it over a classic Knuckles groove and all manner of pads, chords and melodic touches. The Signature Dub, complete with epic intro and singalong chorus repeats, is if anything even better. A pleasing blast from the past, all told.
Review: When it comes to blending classic disco and bumpin' peak-time house, few can match Joey Negro - a man who has been offering up disco-fied house jams since the early '90s. There are naturally plenty of his own tracks and remixes on "Put Some Disco In The House", an expansive collection of quality disco-house moments, with highlights including the rolling disco-boogie heat of "Put The Music On It (Original Disco Mix)", the chunky, walking bass-propelled "Dancing Into The Stars" (with Horse Meat Disco and Angela Johnson) and a slamming rework of Sessomato's jazz-funk flavoured "Moody". There's plenty of heat to be found elsewhere, too, with standouts including JKriv and Adeline's "Vertigo", Opolopo's boogie-tinged revision of Sylvester classic "I Need You" and the spiraling disco pump of Yam Who and Jaegerossa's "Grateful".
Review: Influential and prolific, Dave Lee has been one of house music's major proponents of soulful, disco-tinged, vocal tracks. Without question, he was instrumental in its development. Produced With Love is only the second ever Joey Negro album to be released and the first for more than 20 years. It proves that dance music with character still exists and rather than rely on sampling older records, the overwhelming majority of music is newly recorded. Rest assured that there's quite the supporting cast here, on the vocal front: the late great Diane Charlemagne on "Overnight Sensation", Canadian songstress and frequent Nick Holder collaborator Sacha Williamson on "I Recognize" and the legendary Linda Clifford on "Won't Let Go". Fellow London disco dons Horsemeat Disco collaborate on "Dancing Into The Stars" too. The second half of the collection focuses on Lee's impeccable remixes and yes: there is a version of "Must Be The Music" and a track by the inimitable Peven Everett entitled "Love Is Thicker Than Water" alongside several other gems.
Review: Remarkably, three decades have now passed since Dave Lee AKA Joey Nergo inaugurated his label, Z Records. To mark the occasion, Lee has compiled this suitably epic, 44-track retrospective. There are plenty of big tunes and underground anthems present- see Jakatta's "American Dream", Raven Maize's "The Real Life", The Sunburst Band's "Everyday" and Doug Willis's "Spread Love" - as well as some of the veteran DJ/producer's favourite catalogue cuts and some slept-on gems. Throw in a string of memorable remixes - think Ame's remix of Akabu's "Phuture Bound", Grant Nelson's vintage rub of Z Factor's "Gotta Keep Pushin" and Joey Negro's revision of Patrice Rushen disco classic "Haven't You Heard" - and you've got a brilliant retrospective of one of house and disco's most consistent labels. Don't sleep!
Review: You probably couldn't find a more fitting remixer for Joey Negro's live disco/boogie combo, The Sunburst Band, than serial re-editor and self-proclaimed "revisionist" The Reflex. Here, he naturally does a stellar job with the parts to a pair of Sunburst Band classics, emphasizing the more traditional elements of the original tracks in his usual trademark style. So, he goes heavy on the cut-glass strings on his superb 'Revision' of the breezy disco-boogie anthem "The Secret Life Of Us", before delivering a slightly chunkier, groove-based "Vocodub" of the same track. Best of all, though, is the London-based Frenchman's version of "Caught In The Moment", which majestically stretches out the intro before turning the original into a sun-kissed, soft focus, soulful house classic.
Review: We can think of few DJs more suited to compile a retrospective of killer 1990s house and garage than Z Records boss Joey Negro and Fanatix member Neil Pierce. It's perhaps unsurprising then that this follow-up to Negro's admired 2015 compilation is packed to the rafters with must-have treats. There are naturally some suitably big cuts present - see Kerri Chandler's fine mix of N-Joi's "Anthem" and Todd Terry's rub of Martha Walsh's "Runaround" - but for the most part the selections will be new to all but a small collection of veteran US garage enthusiasts. Our highlights include the riff-powered goodness of Slam Mode's "100% Power", Marshall Jefferson's deep dub of Screamin' Rachael's "Rock Me" and the soulful rush of Donald O's "Everything's Gonna Be Alright".
Review: Glitterbox resident Dr Packer is a leading light of the contemporary disco scene, while Dave Lee was arguably THE key architect of the whole post-house disco phenomenon in the first place. So when the former helms a compilation on the latter's label, you'd expect great things, and suffice to say you're very unlikely to be disappointed. Hell, for this writer the deep n' sultry JN Revival Mix of early 90s classic 'Do What You Feel' is worth the price of admission on its own, but with Packer's own remixes of label favourites making up over a third of the tracklist, the collection as a whole is pretty much unmissable.
Review: 11 years deep and still sounding crisp, soulful and unique: The second of what's now an album count of 10 (12 if you count his folky Dominick Martin albums) Second Sun is largely recognised as Calibre's strongest statement of intent (pre-Even If). While Musique Concrete showcased his skills, it's here where he really brought them together in a way that pleased both DJs and music lovers. From the car chase wah wahs of "Is It U" to the slower mood switcher "Don't Watch This" via the bold brass licks of the title track, this captures a golden moment in both the career of Calibre and drum & bass at large. If, for some bizarre reason, this isn't already in your collection now is most certainly the time rectify this matter.
Review: Seminal seminal sounds from the man like Goldie... If you don't know "Inner City Life" please close the door on your way out. As first revealed on Record Store Day, here we have a new rebuild from the Headz man himself but, more importantly, we have a rare remix by Burial. Loopy, otherworldly, disarming; this is the sound of Burial paying homage to the foundation hardcore era in his own unique musical way.
Review: Here's a downloadable version of Z Records' limited edition Record Store Day vinyl remix package of four tracks by label boss Joey Negro and his Sunburst Band. Sizzling electro-funk lead track "Taste The Groove" is given a low-slung, chugging 'Walk The Night'-style disco makeover by Hot Toddy. "Why Wait For Tomorrow" is teased out into up to 11 minutes of vintage disco ecstasy (in over three different mixes!) by Al Kent. "Definition Of Luv" also gets some super camp New York housey lovin' from Sean McCabe.
Review: End of year reflections... For some labels it's just a re-hash of familiarity. For others it's a chance to really celebrate the breadth of releases. Negro's Z Records definitely falls in the latter category as we're dazzled with disco and funk sciences through the ages: From cheeky edits of disco classics (Lady Aya's "Shake Your Body") to rare funk jams like Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers "Back It On Up" (taken from Paul Phillips ace Under The Influence album) via more straight up funky house work-outs Jakatta's "Scattering Stars" and Supernova's superb futurisation of "American Dream".
Review: Dave Lee's Z Records imprint has always been a reliable source of the sort of grandstanding house, soulful garage and disco-flecked grooves that require strong vocals. Lee, of course, is a past master at this kind of thing, and his 20-plus year career has seen him forge links with many legendary vocalists. This compilation celebrates those 'divas' - there are notable appearances from Taana Gardner, Gwen Guthrie, Thelma Houston, Michele Weeks and Taka Boom - by showcasing some of their best work for Z. There's some great material peppered throughout, from the classic disco-soul of the Sunburst Band's "In The Thick of It" and "Everyday", to the block party electrofunk of Kola Kube's cover of Carly Simon's "Why".
Review: Joey hinted at the quality of this album three weeks ago with the joyous single "In The Thick Of It"; but we don't think anyone could've predicted just how good the rest of it would be. Brushing on a broader canvas than previous albums, the wide collection of sounds and grooves here are some The Sunnie's best to date. From massive boogie curveballs like the slap-bass, cosmic disco instrumental "Jazz The DMX" to the timeless shimmering funk "My Way" (featuring fellow legend Diane Charlemagne) via straight up string-soaked house "Why Wait For Tomorrow" and myriad instances of criminally sexy P-funk, this album won't be a secret for too long.
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