Disco Recommendations June 2013

Review: The Australian edit machine known across the globe as Late Night Tuff Guy offers up two sublime dancefloor weapons from his armoury for the second in his series of limited, hand stamped Tuff Cuts 12"s. "Ain't Nobody" from Rufus and Chaka Khan is a classic, and has been subjected to numerous edits and reworks over the years; this version from Late Night Tuff Guy belongs amongst the better ones, looping and extending the original and laying it over his trademark crunchy slo mo beats. Face down, the "Back To Life" accapella is joyously diced and laid down over a glistening disco production from the Nile Rogers and Bernie Edwards discography.

Review: Initially released as part of last week's Record Store Day antics, Juno are happy to get our mitts on some of this limited "split grooves" 12" from the always reliable Kolour Ltd. Mr Frank Booker of Hit It Or Quit It fame leads the way with two A Side productions that sit happily between disco and house; loose, funk laden disco is very much the shape of lead track "Movin On" which features some great drum chopping. Complementing this, "It's Time" takes discoid elements and applies them to a crunchy mid tempo house template. Flip over and rising talent Ugly Drums pairs with Chesney for two soul laden productions, with the dusty Raw Cuts style antics of "Soul To Keep" complemented by the sugary beatdown of "Girls Girls Girls".

Review: * Lumberjacks repress ** Italian producer Moplen teams up with The Reflex to share a track each on a transparent 10". Both acts re-jig classic disco and rock gems, with Moplen taking to '70s Philadelphian disco quad First Choice and their track "Let No Man Put Us Under", while The Reflex tinkers with The Clash's "Rock The Casbah". Where First Choice's original may be more about people-power and self determination, Moplen gears his remix directly for the dancefloor with re-swung drums, guitars, bass and First Choice's infamous everyday of my life vocal (used to great effect in Sepalcure's 2010 Love Pressure EP). The Reflex boldly revises a Clash classic, with a specifically engineered four-four drum beats dominating his casbah riddum, which is totally rebuilt from the groups original 1982 hit.

Review: Emotional Rescue certainly laid a claim for the most esoteric of reissue endeavours last year, and they are maintaining this approach in 2013. This release sees the label dig further into the cassette archives of Kevin Harrison, focusing specifically on the Neo project the Coventry musician did in cahoots with fellow electronic explorer Peter Every from Neophyte Records. As you can tell from the primitive drum heavy tone of the music, Neo surfaced in 1985 with the 8 track cassette release Global Network. This twelve presents five of those tracks, all of which echo the pulsing electronic rhythms of the Fly EP, Emotional Rescue's previous Harrison reissue, and will find as much favour with those who sleep on the left side of disco as fans of cold wave.

Review: Porn Wax operates at a more glacial pace than the affiliated Tusk label which suits the slow, grinding brand of Balearica music the label brandishes. This fourth release sees Mexico City pair Daniel Quiroz and Gabriel Eugenio dish out a double helping of horizontally inclined cosmic funkers as Avanti near perfect for the balmy summer evenings. Lead track "Cabezaurio" has a lilting zero gravity groove underpinning some flanged guitar work and space age synths which would make Lindstrom green with envy. Complementing this, Avanti showcase their talent for chugging, muscular, druggy disco funk on the all too appropriately titled "Dark Funk".

Review: For those unwilling to participate in Golf Channel's "catch me if you can" white label release antics, you can now indulge in the latest example of Eric Duncan's prospering production relationship with Dean Meredith in this fully finished edition. As The Rhythm Odyssey and Dr Dunks, the pair have already served up two plates of incendiary discotheque burners for Golf Channel and this two track Fox 12" is every bit as good. The A Side 'Version' of "Fox" plummets down the disco rabbit hole with dubby abandon, acting as a precursor to the technicolour delights of the original on the flip, which is blessed with a rawness akin to early Chicago house.

Review: Massive edit alert! Kon continues to flex his crate digging muscles with this huge reversion of the previously unknown "Joyous." Adding emphasis to the warm bass and tight guitars, the riff is Meters-tight while the vocal sits happily in the background, smothered in the cosy groove. For a more extended, strutting rendition jump on the instrumental. Like we said: Massive.

Review: Smoky psychedelic blues are the order of the day as Murphy, Searle and Quinn's Paqua project returns to Mudd's Claremont 56 imprint. As with "Dinosaur Zappa", expect nothing but the most delectably deep cosmic fun. If you didn't know any better you'd think it was straight out of a 70s stoner's deepest, dustiest crate. "We Are What We Are" is a more pastoral, hippy affair. Think The Art Of Lovin' but much more dubbed out and textured. Organic, jammy and superbly Balearic, Paqua mean serious business.

Review: The Hot Creations supergroup release the hugely anticipated "Reverse Skydiving", a track that's been eagerly anticipated since Miami 2013. The perfect combination of a raw, bass-pong riff and hooky-but-dreamy vocals from Anabel Englund, it's got the right ingredients to soundtrack the summer. Remix-wise there's not a stop in sight; Deetron's on a wobbly bass tech tip, Robert James Terrace goes for a loose, swinging jack while Shadow Child injects the bass and dubs out the vocal work. Each one of them complimenting an already solid release.

Review: 3 off cuts from the personal archives of Mr Frank Booker make for another worthy 12" transmission from the KAT label. First up Booker reworks the 1983 gem "Synchro System" from King Sunny Ade, adding a mid tempo groove to the original's lilting array of guitars, horn riffs and vocal hooks that locks you right in. This is matched on the flip with the wonderful edit of Fela Kuti's classic "Egbe Mi O" that has a similarly crunchy feel to it and funks wholeheartedly. The final track "People Must Jam" showcases Booker's cut and paste skills, sitting snugly between, p-funk, boogie and house music and is dominated by that wondrous filtered groove.

Review: Jeremy Duffy has been making music in one shape or form for a few years now, but is perhaps best known for the edit based material released under the Duff Disco name. A new year sees Duffy resurface under this moniker with a new label of the same name, launched as an outlet for his original, house based material. Both cuts here align neatly with the current trend for streamlined deepness, dipping and rising with precision execution; if you close your eyes when "You Should Know" is gliding across the speakers it's almost like you've been transported to The Nest on a Saturday night at 2am. More of this Duffy.

Review: Emotional Relish sees Emotional Response team up with the Relish label overseeen by Headman to launch the limited Emotional Relish label with the first release helmed by Headman in cahoots with Scott Fraser and Douglas McCarthy of Nitzer Ebb fame. The title track has McCarthy suppling gurgly and anthemic vocals while Headman and Fraser drop cold basement beats, warbling synths and driving arpeggios. Of the three alternate mixes, the first comes from the Hardway Bros and their "Axis Forces dub", which powers home '90s new beat and EBM stylings, while Mexican producer Daniel Maloso puts emphasis on the the original arpeggio and breathy McCarthy vocals. The additional dub mix reduces the synth action and like Maloso, reworks the the Nizter Ebb's vocalist's yelps, making a great alternative club mix.

Review: ** repress for the disco dons ** The lesser spotted Mystery Meat emporium returns, naturally with amusingly placed cover art intact - and for the fourth instalment they have rising Irish duo Bicep at the helm. Providing further evidence that the duo's studious knowledge of dance music past is matched by a production approach, the four cuts here are supposedly the product of Bicep downtime whilst jollydaying in Miami. Those with the disco brains to match the Bicep boys will recognise the source material that's been butchered; those without can find solace in the expert poise each arrangement flexes. The rolled up sleeves, soul glo and stunna shades at night vibes on "Knockout" wins the A Side tussle for our boogie affections, whilst there's enough sleazy boogie pump on both the B Side revisions to keep the floor satisfied.

Review: Let's Get Lost is an edits label started by Japanese imprint Mule Musiq and Endless Flight authority KZA - famous for his Dig And Edit Compilation of 2009. It's Marvin and Guy's third appearance on the label after debuting in 2011 between Jacques Renault and Eddie C releases. "Disco Panorama" is a pumping and cosmic disco bender, harbouring a touch of something a little sinister - like having Tornado Wallace soundtrack Carrie. On the Flipside is "Jungle Woman", an edit played like Stevie Wonder thrashing out his ARP 2600 with elements of the Arthur Russell produced "Tiger Stripes" by Felix thrown in.

Review: Across the raft of edits, reworks, remixes and compilations that have been released brandishing the Psychemagik banner, the duo from the Cosmic Forest (or Dalston if their regular appearances at The Nest are any true indicator) have pioneered a relentless mission to prove their record collections are better than yours. This fourth release on their own Discotheque Wreckers label offers a neat snapshot of Psychemagik's editing skills with two prime slabs of Cosmic Italo gold with bulging basslines, spacy synths and super sweet vox. The B Side is the real charmer here, with "It's On" unfurling brilliantly from it's tough Skatt Brothers style opening groove into what sounds like Bjork leading a crew of backing singers through some vintage Italo pop.

Review: After a three year hiatus of sorts, The Editions Disco label has remerged with two EPs this year. The second of those EPs, Stay Up, sees Prince Language and TBD's Lee Douglas spruce up some of their chosen favourites. Prince Language adds psychedelic phase action to an acoustic-disco jam of jangly guitars and beefy bass that sounds like a combination of Devo, David Bowie and Talking Heads produced by Brian Eno. On the flip is Lee Douglas' edit to what seems a like rendition of a Stevie Wonder-like "Broadway", only lightly draped in resplendent reverb with polite, yet jovial crowd applause.

Review: The ever-interesting Eddie Ruscha returns with a new Secret Circuit full-length, the first on Tim Sweeney's excellent Beats In Space imprint. Given the usually vivid style of his psychedelic electronica, it's no surprise to find that Tactile Galactics is a mesmerizing trip from start to finish. Ruscha darts between kaleidoscopic space disco, wide-eyed shoegaze house, analogue psychedelia, touchy-feely ambience and intense, druggy Italo, somehow shoehorning 25 years of musical misadventure into 70 spellbinding minutes. It's bold, melodic, hypnotic, beautiful, blissful, intense, inspiring and exciting. Put simply, Tactile Galactics is a great album.