Disco Recommendations July 2015

Review: South Africa's Letta Mbulu has put out a vast amount of quality material in her lifetime, and although the singer was based far away from Europe, her music was picked up by the London massive during the mid '80s at clubs like Dingwalls and featured heavily in the rare groove digs. The opener "Sweet Julu" is now a London two-step classic, while other tracks like "Nomalizo" or "The Village" are more on the disco side, all of them filtered with a distinctly tropical edge! A top reissue!

Review: The Faze Action brothers released their fifth studio album entitled "Body Of One" last year and to continue the celebration they have recruited some heavy weight talents to give their spin on three tracks from that album. First, the brothers take on the remix duties of "Magic Touch", giving it a dub house reboot that could be the sound track to countless sunsets this summer. Next up is a deft dub mix of the same track by Maxidiscs cohort and globe trotting DJ, Dicky Trisco. On the flip side we have the Balearic powerhouse that is Phil Mison, remixing "Echoes Of Your Mind" into an electronic, down tempo feast with additional Bass, Guitar and Keyboard played by the man himself. The final mix on this 12" is provided by "Emotional Response" curator and head honcho Stuart Leath under his Chuggy guise, delivering an organic dub mix of Faze Action's "Floating World"

Review: The disco loving yet secretive Sciuridaens return with an eighth volume of finely teased productions primed for deployment on the discotheque. We are still none the wiser on who is behind the Secret Squirrel project despite some scurrilous rumours but it's clear by now they have quite the knowledge of funk, boogie, Italo, acid, disco and vintage house. Up top it's a funk-flecked disco number that feels like the tempo has been nudged down slightly, adding a subtle druggy feel to those Philly strings. It's good but Secret Squirrel really hit the spot with the think break-infused '90s era filtered house burner that sits on the flip. Some vocal hook on this one.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: After the series of Caribbean related releases, Emotional Rescue returns to the early 80's Downtown NYC post punk / new wave scene with Plus Instruments - collecting their best and rarest songs on one groove laden EP. 4 tracks of pure Downtown punk-dub-funk, all with the nonchalant Euro-style delivery of Truus de Groot. It doesn't get better than this. Coming with extended unreleased versions, the originals were collected from sought after EPs, an obscure compilation LP and fiishes with a never before released song - this is history. Licensed and remastered for aural pleasure.

Review: Disco Patrick delivers once again... Four previously unreleased gems from the source, only ever pressed to limited acetate during the early to mid-70s. Expect a bombardment of grooves; Eric & The Vikings 'Get Off The Streets" is a honkytonk funk strutter where there pianos galvanise a premium groove the refuses to quit. Robert Drake's mix of "Hustle & Bustle" is a really cool example of how tape edits would daringly switch the dynamic without warning while Al Johnson has the honour of closing the ceremony with a deliciously languishing, never-before-release 12" adventure. Keep on hustling!

Review: Amsterdam based music duo, Ana Prentice, releases their debut 12" on Street Edits. The EP delivers two electronicly inspired disco edits, keeping the true soul of disco alive.

Review: France's Favorite label dabbles in all things funky and disco-flavoured, and this time they've decided to go with a Brazilian edge on their latest 12". Painel De Controle begins with a Waxist mix of "Relax", a chilled-out boogie monster with sultry vocals, while "Ripa Na Xulipa" by Rabo De Saia is more uplifting and heavy on the disco strings. Finally, Nick The Record rewires "Labirinto" by Famks into a subtly electro-fied boogie nugget. Nice!

Review: For the debut offering on his new Super Weird Substance label, DJ Greg Wilson returns to his 2014 seasonal smash "Summer Came My Way" for two new beautiful takes. Luxxury does his trademark widescreen disco thing making great use of the backing vocals, weaving them amid big waves of synths and roboticised vocals. Walter Ego flips for a much leaner, minimal take where the vocals remain full focus but the synths and instrumentation are much restrained. While coming from two very different perspectives, both cuts tremble with timeless soul and act as a kindly reminder of how awesome Greg's original is too.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: So Bahnsteig is arrived! Paenz?r style from the flanken. Next is Eastern bruder, Romania youth, Khidja. Vibrations with wunderbar music on [Emotional] Especial and Forgotten Corners, they give us Balearic, Neu Wave and Kraut explosionens. 4 edits is a taste of their opening. Infinita will make you bop in aisles. Stehen nur noch. Twist, schrie. Then geist, is Droll's House. Britisch indie for dunkel fun. Schleife de schleife. Utsici is the jam. Go. Woop. Verschossen for finale. The heimkehr. Can you tanz? Was Auch Immer.

Review: Having previously plied their wares on Is It Balearic and Los Grandes, Spanish nu-Balearic sorts Two Mamarrachos pop up on another suitably horizontal imprint, dependable Leeds label Joe's Bakery. There style is sun-kissed by druggy, with opener "Al Andalus" offering an exotic, chugging blend of foreboding, low-slung grooves and Arabic synthesizer melodies. "Super Disco Dancer" delves deep into the box marked "experimental analogue electronic disco", with heady, spaced-out synthesizers sprawling all over a typically atmospheric, cosmic groove. "Let Feel Higher" is, arguably, the most Balearic of the three, with warm acoustic guitars and delay-laden gospel vocal samples creating a suitably toasty, glassy-eyed mood.

Review: Gerry Rooney & Joel Martin's Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold project lands on Dan Snaith's Resista label with two superb dancefloor tweaks. Echoing the spirit of David Mancuso, Rooney and Martin have been spreading their message of Universal peace & Love to the World through the medium of magical music as Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold since 2012. If you picked up on their rather racy Lucky Hole 12"s, you will be all over this record which features two long 'Special Version' disco monsters in the form of "Long Black" and "Love Generation" with the latter moog-heavy cut our favourite.

Review: The Audika label picks up its stellar efforts to dig through the vast archives of unreleased music left behind by Arthur Russell after his passing in 1992, presenting the nine track Corn. Russell's canon falls roughly between producing seminal disco ("All Over My Face") and solo works where his skill for the cello features prominently. Corn will be received with rapture by fans of the latter, gathering together compositions Russell made in the early '80s with the assistance of Peter Zummo and Rik Albani. Alternate versions of Russell classics like "Lucky Cloud" and "See My Brother, He's Jumping Out (Let's Go Swimming)" are included in this most wonderful archival release.

Review: 500 12" 180g, hand stamped, individually numbered records, single press only.

Review: With sounds as smooth as butter and grooves as juicy as jam fillings, Joe The Baker Gill has cooked up two fondant slabs of disco funk right here. There's a sweaty post-punk sheen to "Can't Explain" thanks its slap-happy bassline, fuzzy guitars and sultry vocals. "Mamba Gascoine", meanwhile, is a foggier, swampy slice of cosmic, dub-minded funk designed for the darker, heads-down moments. Remix-wise the ever-reliable Emperor Machine step forward with two epic, 10-minute workouts that explore every possible corner of Joe's jiggling, party-friendly groove.

Review: Songwriter Francios Feldman and Yellowhand only released a handful of cuts, but the music they made was so sweet we can still taste it on the dancefloor 35 years later. "You Want Every Night" is a silky strutter with such clipped instrumentation and syrupy falsetto harmonies you could be fooled Nile Rodgers played a role in the creation. "Can You Feel It" gathers more momentum as the instrumentation is allowed to sprawl wildly with piano sprinkles and juicy slap bass. With big strings on the choruses, it's a kindly reminder of Feldman's skillish songwriting abilities and France's consummate contributions to disco.

Review: Marvin Dan III and Lee "The Black Belt" Guy debut on the excellent Hivern Discs with the Egoista 12" and bring with them a wealth of knowledge and understanding of what makes a dancefloor tick. Most recently spotted on US label Young Adults, Marvin & Guy are known best for the series of cosmic disco mind benders issued for Let's Get Lost, On The Prowl, and their own eponymous label. That sense of cosmic sprawl is very much in evidence on this three track 12" with the seven minute title cut setting the tone, sounding akin to one of Joakim's more epic productions. The star gazing "Cancion (Para Ti)" has Lena Willikens set-opener written all over it whilst "The Man Who Lost The Hat" adopts a somewhat darker tone, despite the silly title. Another great 12" from the Hivern crew.

Review: Gala Drop's Nelson Gomes dons his Black suit again for Outerzona13 and gets busy on the edit flex. "Good Time" sees him dig deep into Tamla-Motown-era Jacko for an up-tempo, feel-good stomper that makes you strut in a way only Michael can. "Keep It Fit", meanwhile, sees him move deeper into the '70s with an awesome take on Brenda Harris's timeless and relatively wholesome "Making Love Keeps You Fit". Finally we hit the cosmic sex button as the jazz-minded "Macho Macho" oozes raunchy, breathy sensuality over a sprawling, head-bendy instrumental groove.

Review: Kon reworks 2 quintessential Rene & Angela tracks in a pure analogue production: SSL board, warm tube compression, then hit to tape. A sure-shot for the dancefloor with all of the elements of a future classic and a nod from past.

Review: Poland's Father And Son Records And Tapes present first proper outing from label boss Maciek Sienkiewicz - three heavily edited tunes from different periods of popular music history. "The White Sheik" turns an obscure 80s Eastern Bloc groove into a full-on modern disco stormer, while "No Shit Sherlock" is 70s Brazilian fusion redux. Finally, the title track turns first few notes of one massive pop hit from '02 into hypnotic, entrancing journey in the vein of Terry Riley or Philip Glass. Fantastic cover art designed especially for this release by renowned contemporary artist Paulina Olowska.

Review: Sample hungry disco fiends Psychemagik return with two tales for contrasting chapters of the night for the Hot Midnight label. "Your Body" marks the start of the carnival frenzy as Bollywood funk provides a spicy sonic assault with Psychemagik's trademark juicy loopiness. "Rated X" is the final chapter of the party when some of us - like the lady behind the spoken word sample - have enjoyed a little too much of the spices. With a spiralling psychedelic funk groove that mirrors the wooziness of the spoken word, it's yet another foggy odyssey from the men who can do no wrong.

Review: 500 12" 180g, hand stamped, individually numbered records, single press only.