DJS: MOST CHARTED - DISCO - MOST CHARTED JUNE 2014

Review: Who said filtered, chugging house was dead? Certainly not Delusions Of Grandeur, long-time proponents of delivering sweaty dancefloor heat. Following the Burnin' Up 12" for Shadeleaf last year, ThatmanMonkz's second release provides dubstep heaviness made to fit a deep house, jazz and disco influenced mould. With its tribal drums and deep vocals "Girl I Know It" is an attention grabbing A-side, while the B1, "Blowin' My Mind", has some of the best Rhodes you could hope for in a house production (never mind those thick claps and damp beats). "Be With Me" then hits up the jazz tip with gorgeous Lauryn Hill sounding vocals. Big tip on this one.

Review: Many of us have been waiting (and searching) for this record for a long time and it's finally landed again in 2014 in all its one-sided and unofficial glory. First pressed up in 2011, ILO's glorious edit is born from the title track of New Musik's Warp album from 1982. It's the song the '70s-'80s UK synth pop group are best known for and ILO takes the playful, whistling synth hook, cartoon vocals - choral and twisted - and rearranges them over a heavy house beat and thick claps without losing the fun and pizzazz of the original. We can only hope an ILO edit of Grauzone's "Eisbaer" is next!

Review: Arguably one of the first ever dubplate labels, Sunshine Sound was home to limited runs of DJ-friendly versions throughout the 70s and early 80s. Most are long gone, but the "Unreleased Version" series continues to unearth the existing gems. Having previously dusted off a very special version of Candido, they return with three more exclusive rubs; a super-slinky boogie take of Taana Gardner's 1979 "Paradise Express", a thriving, drum-heavy take on the lolloping bass jam "Loosen Up" and the piano-slapping strutting "Hot Fun" where Dee Dee Sharp's vocals provide the ultimate sensuous showdown. As limited as the original acetate presses, this needs urgent attention.

Review: Yet another coup for Mudd's Claremont 56 imprint, Paqua first made their rocky, psychedelic Balearica known to world with the sleazy, guitar-twanging chugger "Late Train" in the summer of 2013. Following it with beautiful "Dinosaur Zappa" shortly after, the UK/US band suddenly went quiet on us, leaving us thirsty for more of their heady cosmic brew. Mercifully they've returned... And have done so with an entire album of material. Ranging from the string and strum bliss of "The Visitor" to the "Horse With No Name" style pace and folky delicacy of "We Are What We Are" via the Motown-style funk missile "Ruby Running Faker", Akaliko is stamped with indelible cosmic authority thanks to its dynamic compositions and tight instrumentation. As spellbinding as it is essential.

Review: Kon and Reflex combine for a cheeky 12" dedication to Michael Jackson for the fourth release on the Boston selector's increasingly on point Star Time label. Edit heaven or what? Reflex calls shotgun and reworks "PYT", amping up the vibe with much crisper drums and a whole lot more space present on that classic chorus drop. Meanwhile on the flip King Of Nothing takes "Get On The Floor" and gives it a modern day party refix complete with full-bodied dynamics, juicy slap bass and very cheeky disco bubbles in the background. Two more essential Michael Jackson edits to add to your collection.

Review: An exclusively northern creation... Iain Mann makes his Shadeleaf debut with a trio of deep, loopy house cuts. "If You Don't Do It" smoulders with Moodymann style subtlety. Rich chords, crowd whoops and a kick drum that teases and pleases as it weaves itself around the dynamic, it's an instant attention grabber. "Flexing" bumps with more of a disco sentimentality as the off-beat guitar and synth squiggles play Q&A off a rock-solid bass lick. "Rough Times", meanwhile, has an air of Amp Fiddler to it as the organs develop with all-out jazz majesty while Kali's honey-coated vocals are buried deep under the instrumentation. For added measure Thatmanmonks gives "Rough Times" a dubby jack that's primed for the finest of dancefloors. Rough, ready and waiting for your selection attention.

Review: Since it was founded back in 2012, Macadam Mambo and its various offshoots have developed nicely under the tutelage of Sacha Mambo and Guillaume Des Bois with input from some high profile diggers and producers. Edition 909 of the edit focused sub label invites Nation main man Traxx and close ally NPNX to open up their personal armoury of dancefloor weapons for a series of recuts that will appeal to fans of primitive electronics, industrial, EBM and early wave. Having consulted the elder synth experts at Juno, we are still none the wiser as to what the source material is for this quartet of edits, though we highly recommend "Helden" and "Win 2 Play". If you like the recent Rat Life Records releases you should definitely check this 12".

Review: The first Island Disco 12", released earlier in the Spring, was something of a must-have for those who like their funk, soul and disco served with a healthy dollop of tropical flavour. Predictably, this second installment in the bootleg series is similarly essential. There's some Clavinet-heavy disco-soul swing in the shape of Duke's superb "Is It Groovy Now", a thrillingly percussive, Hammond-heavy boogaloo workout from Tremille & The Jamals, a frankly bizarre - but brilliant - fusion of Cajan violins and disco rhythms from Shadow, and a certified disco banger from Gerald PJ Browne (the hustlin' brilliance of "Sexy Lady"). All Killer, no filler.

Review: Even for a man that's been as prolific as Ed Upton has for two decades, it's clear the mainstay of UK electro is in the midst of a Midas touch-style production patch with this album for Shipwrec following swiftly on from similar length projects for Mystic & Quantum and Rush Hour No Label. We could throw in all the 12" and track contributions too just to slam home how busy Upton has been. Unlike the albums for the aforementioned labels, Shape Shifting Shaman finds DMX Krew working without the constraints of concept and is no less impressive for it. Indeed there's a breezy confidence to the nine tracks here that nudges the album towards a place amongst Upton's best work of a long and richly rewarding career.

Review: The destination here is late '70s Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and the Bahamas. Like every other corner of the world at the time, the Caribbean quarters were busy writing their own chapter in the endless annals of the Disco bible. Tropical Disco Hustle documents the movement in great detail across two slabs of vinyl. Loaded with rarities and sun-kissed specials, highlights include the straight-up-sing-along "Instant Funk", Waxist Selecta's on-point edit of the awesome "Rappers Delight" reggae cover and Wild Fire's rootsy, stripped back sermon "Living On A String". Juicy and groove-quenching, Tropical Disco Hustle hits the spot in the most refreshing of ways.

Review: The enigmatic edit crew returns! And they're firing on the most tricked out disco cylinder you ever did see... Two sides, two killer cuts, two reasons to get involved. Side one is all about Empress "Dyin' To Be Dancin". Emphasising the Rogers-style guitar shimmers and thundering bass, it's loopy, it's hypnotic, it will have your dancefloor strutting harder than Travolta. Flip for an awesome twist on Diana Ross's "Love Hangover". Taking the best bit of the record and completely subverting it, full focus is applied to the lolloping bass, jazz key sprinkles and insistent organ hums in the background. Trust us: this is one hangover you'll want to maintain for as long as possible. As with all Secret Squirrel 12"s, this one is limited... Go nuts.

Review: It was evidently getting crowded in Hell, as the ever dependable Lumberjacks have now decamped to the land of boogie with the launch of the Lumberjacks Boogie label. Much like the long running LumberJacks in Hell series, there is an all star cast of dusty fingered funkateers involved in this inaugural Lumberjacks Boogie drop with Rayko, Mannmademusic, Mr Mendel and Em Vee all contributing. Rayko sets the tone with the low-slung "Magic Voodoo", which blends nicely with the smoother '90s RnB vibes of "Lady" from Mannmademusic. On the flip Mr Mendel opts for a '80s soul vibe with "Far Away" whilst label boss Em Vee clearly knows "What A Woman Needs" on the basis of the closing track - hip hugging boogie.

Review: Grimy keeps the heat on with a limited seven-inch from Windy City legend Boogie Nite. "Words" sounds like a forgotten classic from the legendary early 80s NYC downtown scene. The smooth disco arrangement and punk-funk vocals could have emanated from a dream session between Walter Gibbons and Lizzy Mercier Descloux. Feel-good Rhodes piano lays the melodic foundation as a gang of female voices ruminate on the rhythmic meaning of words. All the while, a shit-hot disco rhythm section keeps things in the pocket. This is a track that will light dancefloors up and have fellow djs flooding the booth for an ID. Expert Funk dub version on the B-Side. white/black swirl vinyl with custom Grimy graffiti logo.

Review: The wonderfully named Albion Venables makes his debut on Macadam Mambo after serving notice of his edit-based skills with releases for Ambassador's Reception, Forest Jams and Frisbee Records, the label the Swede founded along with Dea and Spacelex. The three tracks on Disco Mambo suggest this is a union that should be explored several more times over, with our man Albion on riotous form from the off! As the title may suggest "Disco Mambo" is a track tweaked and buffed in honour of the label, with mambo the flavour of disco, and its complemented well by the slab of obscure sultry Italo disco that is "Hear The Night". Special mention however goes to B Side cut "The Mirror Forest" which runs through six minutes of beautifully arranged library music that's been chugged up which will have you hooked after one listen.

Review: Recent New York transplant Mans Swanberg is clearly a man that enjoys an alias; best known for his Italo tinged edits on the Rollerboys label under the name Bogdan Irkuk and Bulgari, the selector adopts a new guise on this superb debut for Phil South's Golf Channel label. Waldemar Schwartz may well be a new name, but many of the elements that made Swanberg's work as Bulgari so memorable are very much in evidence on Taza De Oro. Chief among them is Swanberg's mastery of the live bass line which really transcends both the title track and B Side "Krav Maga Girls" towards disco heaven. After a fallow period of the last few months (An excellent LP from The Central Executives aside) Golf Channel seem to be gearing up for a ton of great releases, and this one from Waldemar Schwartz is a fine entree.

Review: Moon B takes it back to the old school that is PPU! Atlanta-based analogue funkateer Wes Gray made his debut proper as Moon B back in 2012 on People's Potential Unlimited, and has since found further acclaim with a killer EP for London label Going Good and releases as Vaib-R and Sean Sanders for Nous and Hot Mix. Andrew Morgan's PPU has always been something of a home base for Moon B material however, with several other cross format releases in recent times. The suitably titled II is the second Moon B long player and pulls eight tracks from the home studio recordings of Wes Gray made over the past few years with that signature "slank rhythms and cutting basslines you've grown accustomed to" present and correct!

Review: ** REPRESS ** Tom Noble on Beats In Space Records? It had to happen sooner or later given how often the Superior Elevation boss has blessed Tim Sweeney's radio show with his collection of rare and dusty disco and boogie gems. Taking the name House of Spirits, Noble's unparalleled mastery and knowledge of the disco arrangement is on full display with "Holding On" which takes it's cue from the Salsoul label in it's pomp and is dominated by a sublime gospel vocal delivery. The accompanying Peaking Lights Dub has been explained by Beats In Space as a "free-flowing disembodiment of the performers, melting into one amorphous, hustling and bustling entity held together at the whim of Coyes at the controls." Which seems a pretty apt description from the soundclips.

Review: Now firmly part of the Glenview family, the brother Lipsky return with their first offering of 2014 in the shape of the wonderfully titled Apes In The Orange Groove 12". In original form, the title track finds Sergey and Sasha offering up a quintessential slice of timeless euphorica, as heady waves of analogue synths and textures are complemented by Amazon flute attitude and tropical bird call. This timeless fusion of classic house and spell-binding Balearica is well complemented by the acid tickled revue from West Coast sonic mystic Secret Circuit that brings some dancefloor weight to proceedings. Go ape!

Review: ** PPU REPRESS ** Following the killer Moon B album II, the peerless Peoples Potential Unlimited wind back the clock to bring us some unreleased late '80s material from Evans Pyramid. The alias of Boston musician Andre Evans, the disco and boogie project was the subject of an extensive retrospective a few years ago, but PPU have managed to uncover these two further gems regardless. "Where Love Lives" is the killer cut here, an "accelerated funk anthem" whose vintage synth bass sounds particularly relevant in today's retro-obsessed musical climate. On the B-side is "I Want Your Body", from Evans' side project Royale, a more classic disco number that still hits all the right notes.

Review: Yet another coup for Mudd's Claremont 56 imprint, Paqua first made their rocky, psychedelic Balearica known to world with the sleazy, guitar-twanging chugger "Late Train" in the summer of 2013. Following it with beautiful "Dinosaur Zappa" shortly after, the UK/US band suddenly went quiet on us, leaving us thirsty for more of their heady cosmic brew. Mercifully they've returned... And have done so with an entire album of material. Ranging from the string and strum bliss of "The Visitor" to the "Horse With No Name" style pace and folky delicacy of "We Are What We Are" via the Motown-style funk missile "Ruby Running Faker", Akaliko is stamped with indelible cosmic authority thanks to its dynamic compositions and tight instrumentation. As spellbinding as it is essential.

Review: Earlier in the year, American crate diggers Cultures of Soul impressed with Bombay Disco, a brilliant collection of largely unknown disco tracks from Hindi films. Here, they turn their attention to the Caribbean, collating some of the finest disco from Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and the Bahamas. Predictably, there's plenty of celebratory obscurities to tickle the fancy of disco diggers, from the synth-laden madness of Joanne Wilson's "Got To Have You" and disco-soul rush of Ronnie Butler & The Ramblers' "Peace Without Love", to the low-down dub disco groovery of Mavis John's "Use My Love" and Waxist Selecta's superb edit of Prince Blackman's party-minded disco-reggae cover of "Rapper's Delight" (aka "Rockers Delight").

Review: Two of Glasgow's finest operatives collide once again for four fine excursions into the deepest realms of groove-heavy dancefloor science. We ignite with the cosmos-shattering synth textures of "Theme From Easy Aces" before adventuring into the loop heavy psychedelia of "Bellshill Rendezvous" and the beat-driven contemporary acid house cut "Clown Prosecution Service". "Grouse House", meanwhile, completes with set with snub-nosed, sub-laced jacking naughtiness. Ultimately distinctive, this impeccable collection manages to hurtle you into deep space before bringing you back to reality with a rambunctious bump... Let's hope they don't leave it another four years before the next EP.