Review: According to London label New State, Paul Harris and Steve Smith of Dirty Vegas have really enjoyed the process of putting together Days Go By (The Retrospective). They have gone back over their work and picked out some of their favourites over the years - a whopping 18 tracks, 19 remixes and a continuous mix by Harris. Speaking of the remixes: the Dumont & Wagener remix of "Human Love" gets onto an emotive and Balearic tinged trip, the remix of "Electric Love" by NYC house hero Eli Escobar remix gets well funky, and the always impressive Parisian Fred Falke delivers a typically neon-lit rendition of "Emma" from several years back. Along the way, while searching through music, video and photographic archives it has brought back lots of memories for the duo - and given them new energy and inspiration for their future music plans.
Review: Amazingly, it's been some 14 years since Kent-based house/pop fusionists Dirty Vegas made their debut on Credence, and 13 since they released their eponymous debut album. Here, they deliver their fourth full-length, once again effortlessly fusing jangly indie-pop influences with radio-friendly house grooves and festival-friendly EDM sounds. There are occasional nods towards tougher styles of dance music - see the thrusting pulse of "Photograph", Madness and X-Press 2 style "Save A Prayer" - but for most part it's a breezy affair, with hooky vocals taking centre stage. This digital edition also features a trio of acoustic versions, which only goes to emphasize the trio's pop credentials.
Review: When operating under the V's Edits alias, re-edit maestro Valique can always be relied upon to bring the goods. It's little surprise, then, to find out that his latest collection of fresh cut-jobs - an epic affair featuring no less than 24 tracks - is packed to the rafters with high-grade fare. We don't have enough space to list all of the highlights, but we'd suggest checking out his rolling revision of Lee Dorsey's "Night People", the low-slung disco-funk heaviness of the Brass Construction rework ("Gotta Do It"), the intergalactic disco deepness of the Marvin Gaye revision ("Funky Space"), the lightly tooled-up, slowly unfurling take on Tom Browne's "Funkin For Jamaica" and the sweeping, string-laden disco brilliance of "Miracle (V's Edit)".
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: It may have taken eight years, but Joey Negro has finally got round to putting together a follow-up to his superb Backstreet Brit Funk compilation. Like its predecessor, this sequel shines a light on Britain's under-appreciated musical response to the U.S soul, jazz-funk, disco and electro scenes of the late 70s and early 80s. On the whole, the showcased tracks are altogether deeper selections than those found on volume one, meaning obscure highlights come thick and fast. These include - but definitely aren't limited to - the low-slung disco-funk of Rick Clarke's "Potion", the glassy-eyed breeziness of Paradise's "Stop and Think", the footworker-friendly jazz-funk riot of Touchdown's "Ease Your Mind" and the samba-soaked carnival flavours of "Brazeila" by Brazeila. Oh, and a killer dub of Janet Kay's overlooked Brit-boogie classic "Eternally Grateful" that has never before been released.
Review: Valique celebrates six years of consistent edit gold on his 12-year old Vehicle imprint. Digging deep across the collection he whisks us through the feels with a supreme range of instant party-pieces. From the blonde ambition of the slinky "Appelle Moi" to the freaky upbeat ground control of "Oddity" via the insane stretch and slap of "What The Hell?" and his versions of "Human Nation" and "Give Me Shelter", this is an immense set that brings us all up to speed and gets us excited for the next six years of edits. V stands for Very good music.
Review: Half the fun of each new Ibiza season is the accompanying DJ mix albums that ensue. Here it's the turn of Z Records' legend, Joey Negro, who compiles and selects Z Records Presents Ibiza 2017. With Joey Negro you know you will always get an expert blend of house and disco, new and old. Here we see exclusives rub shoulders with first time digital virgins. Highlights include Dr Packer's thumping edit of "Change Position (88)" by Brooklyn Express, the hazy bass twangs of "Phantom" by A Band Called Flash and the warm electro of "It's More Fun To Compute" by Negro himself.
Review: 48 tracks, six exclusives, two mixes: Viper have already developed a strong-armed reputation for compilations over the years but this is taking things to a whole new ridiculous level. Investigating bass music's widest corners, the heady concoction of tracks ranges from premier league bangers (Wilko's remix of The Prodigy, Noisia & The Upbeats "Dead Limit", Andy C's "New Era VIP") to fresh-baked underground rollers (Dossa, Locuzzed and NC-17's drone-jump buzz-cut "Ninja", Dub Elements' deep space neuro-edged shredder "Metaverse") to lower tempo tear-ups from the likes of Pex L, Au5, Flux Pavilion and Doctor P and Specimen A. With heaps more in between, this accurately reflects just how exciting and closely linked all bass-laced genres are right now. Venomously immense.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.