New releases last two weeks: Disco/Re-Edits

Review: The UK's Robin Lee is one of the members of much-loved disco gang Faze Action but also he's behind Andromeda Orchestra who return here with an album that offers a cosmic fusion of jazz-funk and disco. It's been put together with Moogs, clarinets, Rhodes and rich analogue textures that make for a mix of nostalgia and sonic richness that sinks you in deep. Blending nostalgia with innovation, Lee creates deep, immersive soundscapes. There are widescreen odysseys like 'Mythical', loved-up bunkers such as 'Thinking About Your Love' and a rare Nick The Record remix of 'Get Up & Dance' that overflows with cosmic melodies and lush, life-affirming strings.

Review: Under the Cicciolina alias, Ilona-Elana Anna Staller enjoyed an eclectic career that included spells modelling, making pornographic films, and representing her native country Hungary in Italy's national parliament. Crucially, during the mid-to-late 1980s she also made a string of albums with the assistance of producer Jayhorus. Avec-Toi was one of those sets, with the showcased music being recorded at some point around 1986-87. It's a joyously camp and at times verbally risque affair, with Staller singing and speaking over synth-heavy backing tracks that variously mine Italo-disco, formative Euro-dance, hi-NRG, European synth-pop and contemporaneous adult movie soundtracks for inspiration.

Review: Cola Boyy tragically passed away in March 2024 so Quit to Play Chess is his final album. He was well known and loved for his unique blend of neo-disco, funk and innovative musical styles and gained fans worldwide from Coachella to Paris. Following his EP Black Boogie Neon in 2018 and debut album Prosthetic Boombox back in 2021, this album is his grooviest yet as it blends hip-hop, r&b and drum & bass while featuring collaborations with Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT, Jared Solomon and Nate Fox, who has worked with Chance the Rapper. These 12 inventive, passionate tracks are a fitting, boundary-pushing farewell to Cola Boyy's musical legacy.

Review: DjeuhDjoah & Lieutenant Nicholson pivot decisively toward movement - physical, emotional, and spiritual - on their fourth record. The French duo channel their lyrical and tonal warmth into a ten-track celebration of rhythm in all its forms, gliding nimbly over funk, ndombolo, electro, hip-hop, zouk, and more: an underfoot patchwork and bipedal soul food for thought. Beneath breezy deliveries and playful turns of phrase lie reflections on transidentity, consent, and social precarity, as such subjects are approached with wit, compassion, and an instinctive sense of space. Collaborators like Anthony Hilaire, Sarah Solo, Patrick Bebey, and Gregoire Mahe deepen the texture, threading Creole poetry, pygmy flute, and electro-soukous flair, and electronic charge: the result brims with an 80s tinge, inciting a a joyful, conscious invitation to dance, think, and feel all at once.

Review: Following the success of the first volume, The History of Italo Disco returns with a new edition dedicated to one year, 1983, which is thought amongst those who know to be one of the genre's most defining 12-month periods. Curated once again with legendary Italo tastemaker Flemming Dalum, the compilation highlights the era when Italo disco began making serious waves across European charts. It comes with early hits from future stars like Martinelli, Doctor's Cat, Savage, Fun Fun and Den Harrow and they all capture the sound of a genre on the rise. As a bonus, this limited edition includes an exclusive Flemming Dalum mega-mix and liner notes that provide deeper context for the selections.

Review: For many Italo disco fans, Dyva is a legendary, in fact almost mythical, name. Famed primarily for their iconic track 'Oh Mama Tonight,' which was actually released only as a rare promo single, the duo's best work became a holy grail for collectors and true enthusiasts. After just three official releases, they seemingly disappeared until the early 2000s, when Finnish Italo fan Kimmo Salo found them in Italy. This reunion led to a new chapter for Dyva's founders, Roberto Calzolari and Massimo Traversoni, who revived their 80s demos and created fresh material. Spanning 1986 to 2024, this album has it all so is a welcome time capsule.

Review: Gerardo Frisina's unmistakable fusion of Latin jazz, funk and soul with contemporary electronics entered a new phase with the announcement of his 'In Sight' series, a two-part project for 2025 set to rescan the multi-genre terrain and project it, rocket-like, into new stratospheres. The Schema Records founder now delivers the second promised instalment in the series, complementing a delicious first volume added to a brilliant swathe of 7"s and LPs, centring on not just his own talents but those of others, mainly those artists of his local Milanese Afro-Cuban jazz, soul and dub ken. Yet seven more finger-pinchers come tethered to adjacent movements in bossa nova, soft-adult cinematics and downtempo here.

Review: Italy's Fun Fun helped define the sugar-rush sound of mid-80s Euro disco, pairing fizzy synth hooks with mannequin-fronted lip-sync routines and high-energy vocal cuts from singers like Antonella Pepe and Ivana Spagna. This archival collection charts their rise through continental clubland, anchored by the Ben Liebrand remix of 'Happy Station'-a fizzy, sample-chopped classic that became a fixture in European discos. Other standouts include the stomping neon throb of 'Give Me Your Love', the melodramatic flair of 'Baila Bolero', and the sleeker, Japanophile synth pop of 'Living in Japan'. Also featured is the 'Mega Hit Mix', a Dutch-style megamix by Martin Boer that stitches their biggest tracks into a hands-up medley of stabs, snares and ecstatic breakdowns. For all its plastic glamour, there's real craft here-this is pure Italo escapism with a polished studio touch.

Review: Gelli Haha's debut album is a wild collision of Studio 54 glam and sci-fi whimsy where playful chaos meets dark electroclash energy. It is the superb work of LA artist Angel Abaya whose effervescing persona bends retro-futurist synths with sharp, cheeky lyrics. Tracks like 'Funny Music' mix melancholy with surreal humour, while 'Johnny' and 'Spit' showcase some inter-genre theatrics. 'Piss Artist' delivers raunchy, valley-girl charm layered over chunky beats and 'Pluto is Not a Planet It's a Restaurant' closes with cosmic fun and dreamy vocals. Switcheroo is the sort of proudly bold, leftfield and infectious record that only someone with great imagination and confidence can pull off this week.

Review: Renowned producer Inkswel and r&b and soul vocalist Lyma combine their creative skills on a buttery smooth new album that is for warm and lazy nights. The bass rolls deep throughout with opener 'Good Vibes Only (feat Leonard Charles)' powered by funky but gentle bass riffs and sensuous vocals. 'The Mud' brings a deep hip-hop edge and 'Myself' hits a little harder with radiant 80s synths and falsetto vocal hooks bringing the heat. 'Medicine' is another mix of r&b, soul and hip-hop magic, 'Thank You' has a shuffling 90s feel and then gets a more heavy and drum-driven remix from Coflo.

Review: Madrid's Oli Stewart, better known as Casbah 73, swaps out the solo edits for something far more expansive: The Jade, a live ensemble built around raw musicianship and emotional honesty. Across 12 tracks, the group channel a hybrid of Iberian funk, Afro-Latin soul and sun-dappled jazz, delivered with sweat, subtlety and swing. 'Let The Light In' opens in full voice, driven by Josh Hoyer's gutsy performance and gospel lifts from Nia Martin and Deborah Ayo. From there, the set shifts between styles with ease: the punchy Brit-funk snap of 'Change!', the lush, floating soul-jazz of 'On That Strange', and the winding disco-dub psychedelia of 'Space Lines'. 'When Love Left' stands out for its stripped-down intensity, while the Brazilian shuffle of 'Si No Me Quieres Esperar', featuring Ale Gutierrez, adds a flash of saudade. Instrumentals like 'At The Queensboro' and 'Nos Vamos A Encontrar' let the players stretch out with elegance. It's an album of grooves, but also of feeling-a rare balance of tight ensemble playing and expressive fire.

Review: Cosmic disco and spaced out Brit funk and pop fusion outfit Jamiroquai celebrates 20 years of their landmark Dynamite with a new limited edition reissue of what was their sixth studio album. Originally released in 2005, the album fused their signature funk, disco and electronic flair into smash radio hits like 'Feels Just Like It Should,' 'Seven Days in Sunny June' and '(Don't) Give Hate a Chance.' This anniversary edition comes pressed on exclusive coloured vinyl and also included is a replica promo CD sampler featuring pre-release single versions, an extended mix of the title track, and 'Black Devil Car.'

Review: Scandi curveballer Leoparden first shook up Oslo's experimental scene with a funky twist of disco, electronic pop and irresistible grooves. After his 2019 debut single Boliglan and a solid album on Lyskestrekk Records in 2019, plus a couple of singles, he vanished for a bit. Now, he's back and cranked up the dial, diving deeper into shimmering synths, punchy drum machines and dancefloor-ready beats. His lyrics casually capture everyday Oslo life with a breezy vibe, while the music keeps you moving with its playful vibes. Though rooted in Norway's capital, Leoparden's sound is a global invite to dance that transcends time, space and place.

Review: Colombian DJ and Berlin-based curator Edna Martinez pays vibrant homage to the Caribbean Pico tradition with this raw and electrifying collection. Drawing on decades of sonic exchange between Cartagena, West Africa and the wider Caribbean, the selections move from the Ghanaian coastal bounce of Wulomei's 'Takoradi' to the joyous Angolan sway of Conjunto Ana N'Gola's 'Puxa Odoette'. Edits by Martinez breathe new energy into Zaiko Langa Langa's 'La Tout Neige' and Erick Cosaque's 'Ajaccio', extending the dancefloor potential without diluting their essence. The highlife pulse of Peacocks International's 'Igbala Oso' sits alongside Colombian staples like Los Corraleros De Majagual's 'Remanga' and Claudio Y Su Combo's 'Como Sea'. Each track carries a unique local identity-like Pico Sin Fronteras' 'Abel Llinas'-but together they hum with transatlantic movement. A deeply researched, brilliantly sequenced journey through a scene where the speaker box becomes a passport.

Review: Mixed by Japanese producer and DJ Muro, who has a background in hip-hop, this connoisseur is never short on deep cuts and takes us on a journey through soulful, vintage AOR sonics from his home country. Whilst no two tracks are by the same artist, there's a cohesion to the tracklist thanks to Muro's ear in pulling out things that sit so well together. Asakawa Mak's 1988 cut 'American Night' is a smooth nod to sophisti pop greats Prefab Sprout; whilst Seri Ishikawa's elegant and lush number, 'Eternal 1/2', highlights how innovative she was in forging new sounds back in 1985. These two cuts are just the tip of the iceberg, yet this compilation is an ideal entry point to some of the finest Japanese music of the late 20th century. You can bank on Muro delivering the goods.

Review: ONEGRAM, the cult Japanese reggae band formed in 2011, is back with a new album that takes in everything from their genre-defying journey so far. Though known for blending reggae with lovers rock, they also fold in conscious vibes and disco grooves to their sodden and here the Tokyo-based outfit delivers ten tracks that reflect their unfiltered present. It's their first original album in five years following 2021's cover-focused Random Access Music and highlights include the soulful hit 'After the May Rain,' the groovy 'Crazy For You' (which even got praised by Incognito members) and a dreamy take on Bread & Butter's 1974 classic 'Pink Shadow.'. It's an honest, heartfelt and unmistakably ONEGRAM sound.

Review: It's a remarkable statistic that Payfone - the long-serving production partnership of Phil Passera and Jimmy Day - have not released an album before, despite building up a killer catalogue of singles over the last 12 years. The vinyl-only Lunch, then, is a genuinely significant release .- and, happily, a rather brilliant one too. Featuring an impressive roll-call of guest vocalists and musicians, it sees them deliver six excellent riffs on their analogue-rich, hybrid house/Balearic/nu-disco sound. The plentiful highlights include the dubbed-out, low-slung and atmospheric opener 'Movin' On', the infectious, spaced-out boogie of 'Joan of Arc' (whose chorus will be stuck in your head for days), sensual jazz-funk jam 'Spend The Night' and the warming, sun-soaked delight that is 'Pony Bar'.

Review: British disco/house veteran Riva Starr's 'Keep Me On The Dancefloor' first appeared in single form, foreshadowing Starr's new album of the same name and which you now hear before you. A full, groove-cut expression of the act of living the night, this ascendant orchestra-disco corpus features heavy apparitions from fellow discoursers Harry Stone, Biishop, Chromeo and Nic Hanson, shoulder-to-shoulder genii in the field. With sparkling, danceable rhythms and beautifully clear vocals at its core, the record twines themes of emotional connection and the irresistible pull of the floor, and its many mixes ('Mo' House', 'Mo' Tech', you name em) add extra chilli spice to an already zesty total mix.

Review: Longtime collaborators Eli Escobar and Nomi Ruiz of Hercules & Love Affair and Jessica 6 reunite for their first full-length album, Love Louder, which is a powerful tribute to New York City, love and loss with an eye on the dancefloor. Balancing emotional weight with club-ready energy, the album blends catchy house, freestyle nostalgia and raw lyrical vulnerability. Highlights like 'Heathens' and 'Full Fantasy' shine alongside introspective moments like 'Go Be Gone. This record was born from grief and inspired by resilience after dealing with the loss of close friends and also honours their cultural legacy through Escobar's new Brooklyn club, Gabriela. Love Louder is a moving, beat-driven love letter.

Review: California producer Space Ghost teams up with South Carolina-based singer Teddy Bryant for a sun-soaked ode to late 80s and early 90s soul. The record opens with the silky swing of 'Some Things Last Forever', giving way to lush, G-Funk-laced grooves like 'Majestic Fantasies' and club-focused cuts such as 'Unconditional (Club Mix)'. Bryant's vocals glide over Space Ghost's plush instrumentation, with tracks like 'Cheer Me Up' and 'Ultimate Love' channelling UK street soul and the balladry of classic r&b. 'Shine' and 'Ultimate Love', both featuring Morgan, add extra emotional weight. The pair clearly draw from a shared love of Teddy Riley, Jam & Lewis and DeVante Swing, but there's a lightness here that feels rooted in the present too-music that remembers the past without ever getting stuck in it.

Review: Reggie Lucas assembled Sunfire in the early 80s, drawing from a deep well of experience as a guitarist, producer and songwriter behind era-defining hits for Stephanie Mills and Madonna. With Raymond Calhoun and Rowland Smith circum-pleting the trio, Sunfire's self-titled LP distilled their collective pedigree into a lean set of slick, synth-laced funk, whose rubber sound is as taut as liquid elastane. 'Young, Free & Single', their best known track, leads the charge with infectious bounce, flanked by 'Feet', 'Step In The Light' and 'Keep Rocking My Love', breaststroking between boogie, electro and disco-soul, all neatly fastened by the drum machine. Produced just before Lucas' work on Madonna's debut, the record glows with rawhide studio sheen and radio-ready confidence. This limited edition repress comes to just 750 copies on yellow "flamed" vinyl.

Review: Synth storyteller and Warsaw-based sonic archivist Tamten's intriguing new album Wschodnia Fala: The Reimagined Vision of Eastern-European Wave Music is a kaleidoscopic work that invites the curious into an alternate timeline. It's where echoes of Aya RL, Republika and Duran Duran collide with Kraftwerk-style disco and idealised future synth magic from Giorgio Moroder. Through meticulous collage and modern production techniques, the artist resurrects an imaginary 80s mixtape from behind the Iron Curtain and the result is both comforting and familiar but unsettling. It's a surreal road movie and secret disco rolled into one electronic seance.

Review: Freestyle deliver a curate collection of overlooked UK street soul and boogie from the 80s and early 90s, with standout tracks from the label's recent 12" reissue programme. The collection houses a special mid-90s gem from Manchester's Gold In The Shade, with accompanying photos by Andrew Holligan and liners from Kevin Le Gendre. The sleeve was shot in Hackney, East London, where a vibrant street culture flourished despite the strictures of the Thatcher era. British music evolved at the same time, as larger ensembles shrank in favour of smaller groups with synths, letting boogie's smooth, bass-led sound find life. This transition, alongside the rise of street soul, budded and blossomed a uniquer blend of indie and studio projects, imprinting lastingly on the culture, now repackaged and again represented in The Way U Make Me Feel.