PATCHWORKS 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Detroit/Houston joint venture Kolour are back with another instalment in the Tale Of Two Cities series - and this is one serious all star cast if we've ever seen it! The creme de la creme of nu-disco appears here, starting with crazy Canadian Eddie C kicking off the A side with the sunny slo-mo antics of "All Time Freak", followed by the one and only Napoleon! Simon Mills throws down some more of his usual sexy and lo-slung grooves on "Over & Done". On the flip, current scene favourite - the Whiskey Disco boss Sleazy McQueen teams up with Vinyl Addicted on a seriously hot edit of an underground classic (to those that know) on "Hot To Trot" while Lyon's Patchworks hands in another similarly 'respectful edit' on the sultry late night blues of "Batracien". Finally they head down under (to Adelaide, Australia that is!) for Le Blanc's funked up disco house jam "We Can Fly".

Review: Charity-driven imprint House Is The Cure have been doing an excellent job of drafting in big hitters to donate tracks and nominate recipients of funds, and this package looks like it could be one of the biggest yet. The Nathaniel X Project is on fire on "Bring The Organs", crafting the most dextrous kind of garage house swing without sounding like any sort of imitation as the live snare hits bounce all over the shop with grace and the organ licks get equally frisky. Joey Negro gets crafty with a full-blooded re-edit of Krystol on "Beyond The Dance", and Patchworks are on fine form with their stripped back groover. DJ Leandre is on searing form with the deep burner "I Won't Meet Your Love", full of delicious disco stomp but completely played down for maximum effect.

Review: French musician Bruno Hovart has an esteemed production career stretching over a decade back covering numerous styles under a multiplicity of aliases such as Cinnamone, Porks Watch and Patchworks. Hovart seems to have settled on this latter name of late and brings his love of classic deep house tropes to the table on Give My Love, a 12" released in conjunction with EDR Records. The title is a wonderfully uplifting number with overt Philly disco influences and a vocal from Sabba MG turn reminiscent of the great Sylvester, and Hovart's highly regarded musicality shines through on the arrangement. "House Music" and "Enjoy Yourself" occupy the flip and showcase Hovart's skills for proper house music.

Review: The latest transmission from Kolour Ltd is that bit more special, collating some choice out-of-print cuts that French producer Patchworks released on Parisian hub Q Tapes for this black splattered clear plate. Just one of numerous aliases adopted by Bruno Hovart, the inherent musicality of these Patchwork productions date almost a decade and really do show up a lot of what passes for contemporary "deep house". A long version of "Million Toes" - originally released in 2005 - opens proceedings, finely balancing Hovart's undoubted skill for jazz arrangements with a sumptuous deep house groove that seems perfectly suited to set opening needs (the piano flourishes are particularly luxurious). "Cornbread" from the aforementioned EP is also included here, while Kolour look to Hovart's undervalued work as Porks Watch, with the thickly hypnotic disco-flecked title track from his 2005 Minotaur EP the highlight of the B Side.