Back catalogue: Disco/Re-Edits

Review: If Electricity is anything to go by, Eno Williams and his Ibibio Sound Machine band were particularly productive during the various pandemic lockdowns of 2020 and '21. The resultant album, the rightly acclaimed group's fourth studio set to date, is predictably inspired, with hired-in producers Hot Chip wisely choosing to subtly tweak rather than totally overhaul the band's distinctive trademark fusion of kaleidoscopic synth-funk, West African disco and boogie, '80s electro and the more electronic end of the post-punk spectrum. Highlights include the throbbing, polyrhythmic Afro-electro of 'Electricity' and the acid-sporting nu-disco brilliance of 'All That I Want', but it's the set's overall feel - described by Williams as "Moroder meets Afro-futurism" - that really delights.

Review: Alphonsus Idigo's Search album was originally recorded in 1987 and now gets a licensed reissue on the Italian label Dig This Way. The superb album blends li-fi aesthetics with drum computer rhythms and has plenty of sugary sweet and catchy synths bringing it to life in retro-future fashion. As far as cosmic boogie sounds go, they don't get much more infectious than this from Mr. Idigo, who worked on the project with producer Austine Onwurah and together made something distinctly Nigerian. It is much sought after so don't sleep on this reissue, which will sell out.

Review: The IgG Band was a student medical group from the 80s. They served up superb prescriptions of funk, soul and disco put out a highly sought after record Ultra/Sound that has become a real holy grail for lovers of this sound. It has more than stood the test of time since it was put out privately on band member Clifford Becker's Infusion Records imprint. Their original MO was only to play music to please themselves but by now it has pleased thousands of us. Standouts include the sombre lament of 'Another Love Gone' and upbeat dance floor sounds of 'Funky Music.'

Review: Il Bosco released his first EP back in 2011 on this label and the sounds epitomised the early roots of the Manchester-based label Red Laser. Now he is back with Mega Misses From The Manctalo Diskoteque, a new collection of vintage-sounding Italo-inspired disco games made, it sounds, with an arrangement one authentic vintage gear. Each of these cuts has a compelling rhythm and is embellished with gorgeous melodies and arps that range from dreamy to stiff to seductive. Deadpan vocals make 'Track 2' a real throwback, 'Track 3' has a funky, smooth cruising sound and the rest of the double album plays out with equal elan.

Review: The arrival of Il Quadro di Troisi could not have been more ironic. Anything but new faces on the music scene, the Italian electronic partnership of Eva Geist and Donato Dozzy debuted as the reality of living in a pandemic really began to hit home - November 2020. A month that usually calls for their brand of dark, Ital-disco-cold-synth stuff was void of the situations you'd want to hear it in. No parties, no clubs, no concerts - not even an opportunity to stick it on when getting ready to do something. Nevertheless, we've more than made up for it now, and having grown incredibly close betwixt that waking nightmare and today's chaos, the arrival of a new LP is an enticing prospect. As the notes explain, "everything changes, all things evolve, nothing stays the same... La Commedia marks the band's embrace of a more traditional song form, shaped by a very personal and distinctive musical style. The distinguishing elements of Il Quadro di Troisi's music meld into a unique mix that is both seductive and eerie, elegant and earthy, contemporary and timeless."

Review: Following up on their highly acclaimed debut release from 2020, raster presents Il Quadro di Troisi's Remixes album, an eclectic collection of reinterpretations of eight of the group's tracks. By inviting fellow label artists as well as friends and long-term collaborators to contribute, Remixes flaunts a broad spectrum, from colorful, loop-based renditions by Toulouse Low Trax and Tropicantesimo, to (Italo)-disco-inspired versions by Daniele Baldelli & Marco Dionigi and Chloe, to more rhythmical and functional tracks by AtomTM, Dasha Rush and Front de Cadeaux. The album also includes a dub-infused reinterpretation of the original album 'Il giudizio' by the artists themselves; all tracks amount to womping, texturologic electro-dub-outs, and dazzle with their no-wavey, muted sophistication.

Review: Imagination was both an obscure German jazz-rock band from Dusseldorf who recorded a series of rather good records in the late 1970s as well as being a fine UK electrofunk act. They amassed a fine catalogue of great hits that made an impact across 28 countries and earned them four platinum discs and nine gold discs amongst other accolades. No Music No Life has now remastered The Very Best Of Imagination which offers up their most well-known hits such as the irresistible 'Body Talk' and slow motion workout that is 'Flashback' amongst many more.

Review: Indeep's 'Last Night A D.J. Saved My Life' is one of the most recognisable disco tunes of its generation, but also the title of the group's 1983 album. The New York outfit never had a tune as big as that one again but when something is such a fine mix of boogie, funk and soul as that and loved by everyone universally, does that even matter? The rest of the album which is now being reissued is packed with plenty of other more than useful dancefloor cuts with big hooks, buoyant drums and colourful synth work.

Review: Unlike most disco re-edit EPs, Salsoul's latest instalment of 'Reflex Revisions' are "proper" remixes, making full use of original master stems and session tapes sourced from the parent artists themselves. With all four tracks handled by French producer and remixer The Reflex, we know we're in good hands here - he's been at it since 2012. Reflex Revisions don't just add a janky kick beneath a beatgridded 16-bar loop, but rather, they move and sway with the tracks' original feels. Our case in point: 'A Little Love' completely reimagines the drum section found on Aurra's 1983 original, making the whole sonic experience much clearer and brighter. As much can be said for Metropolis' downtempo 'I Love New York', on which Reflex here makes the song grander, wider. Compared to most re-editors, this is an impressive feat occurring in a different ballpark.

Review: Instant Funk was a Philadelphia based funk and disco band active from 1976 - 1983. The outfit was formed in the early '70s by Raymond Earl, Scotty Miller and guitarist Kim Miller as The Music Machine, but was later renamed by their manager Jackie Ellis due to their ability to "find a groove and lock into it instantly." Their self-titled release here was originally issued back in '79 on the seminal Salsoul Records, and features such timeless hits as 'I Got My Mind Made Up' (You Can Get It Girl), 'Crying', 'Wide Worlds Of Sports' and 'Dark Vader'.

Review: After a potential demo deal with Island Records went south, Belgian electro-samba outfit Antena parted ways in the mid-'80s. Singer Isabelle Antena quickly moved onto new projects, forgoing her cold wave aesthetic for an excitingly new sophisticated pop sound. On 1986's En Cavale, there's the undeniable influence of Madonna and city pop sounds with the inevitable bleeding through of late-'80s Euro dance and even a bit of bossa nova would you believe - and it works well!. The elegant second chapter of a French pop treasure. In the '90s, Antena led another group, the Powaga Sisters, and was with them for three albums between 1993-2004.

Review: 'Electro-samba' didn't used to be a genre name one came across every day, but that all changed with French pop icon Isabelle Antena, whose daring solo ventures in the 1980s saw to many a creative explosion. First coming to prominence as part of the self-styled French-Belgian trio Antena, who were more coldwave than city pop, Isabella's solo defection proved a thorough change in tack, as her debut En Cavale dealt in all the sexiest styles from bossa nova, to electro, to synth-pop, to cafe-ready easy listening. From 'Magic Words' to 'Sea Side Week End', this is dreamy, electrified musical sophistry for the Sylvester era.