New releases last two weeks: Disco/Nu-Disco

Review: It All Comes Down to This is the album latest release from Manchester icons A Certain Ratio, and it's a record that is helmed by producer Dan Carey from Speedy Wunderground. Somewhat returning to their origins, the record presents ten concise tracks with a hint of the group's signature electronic flair. Notably, it's the first recording featuring the core trio of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop, and Donald Johnson, without any additional collaborators. From their celebrated 1982 album and right up to their dynamic last EP in 2023, this album shows the band's still evolving and still committed to new musical advancements. A testament to their enduring legacy, It All Comes Down to This solidifies A Certain Ratio's place among Manchester's finest.

Review: A Certain Ratio, Manchester icons, are back and in fine style with the new album It All Comes Down to This, which arrives here on eco vinyl. This record, while nodding to their roots, delivers 10 succinct tracks infused with the group's distinctive electronic touch and marks the first recording featuring the core trio of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop, and Donald Johnson without additional collaborators. The album exemplifies the band's ongoing evolution with short and sweet cuts like 'All Comes Down To This' next to the compelling likes of 'Bitten By A Lizard' and plenty in between.

Review: The summer is almost here which means this is exactly the sort of record we want to be reaching for. It's a lush and tropical work of idealised disco grooves, deepest house, Balearic, smooth jazz and Mediterranean cool that cries out to be played loud while you sip on cocktails and dream of being somewhere utterly blissful and classy. Dreamy textures define each cut with nice fresh rhythms, glistening chords and lush melodies all sprinkled with delightful percussive detail. Big up to A Vision Of Panorama for serving up a beautiful album that is sure to soundtrack the warmest months of the year for many.

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: Le Couleur consistently sidesteps complacency with each new album presenting a fresh musical experiment without ever losing its familiar foundation. With Comme dans un penthouse, the band takes its biggest leap into musical exploration yet as they revisit elements of 'Voyage Love' while delving deeper into disco infused with new wave nuances. The result is a cooler, more distant vibe compared to their previous work. The album crafts a narrative universe around Barbara, introduced in 'POP,' as she seeks excess, pleasure, and happiness amidst frenetic rhythms. From the Krautrock-inspired 'Autobahn' to futuristic tracks reminiscent of Das Mortal, Le Couleur deftly balances innovation with familiarity here on another sublime-sounding album.

Review: Italy's finest sound-purveyors Slow Motion proffer a fantastic new release from CEO Fabrizio Mammarella in collaboration with Rodion, collaboratively recorded at the Marche Synth Museum (Museo Del Synth Marchigiano). A fully functional recording space, the museum houses several private collections of Italian electronic musical instruments, gathered over the many years since their creation; whether the artists actually got to use any of these classic machines remains to be uttered, but we can't deny that they were inspired. Both artists do thorough justice to their Marche region roots here, laying down eight slices of industrial dungeon-electro, mind-melting acid rollouts and spoken-n'-spelled ritual dances.

Review: Four new originals from French Berlin-based singer and JD Stella Zekri, whose low-range, buzzing vocals are lent happily to a selection of cloudy electronic Latin beats. Produced and co-written by Ed Longo, it draws heavily on the post-zouk and disco styles endemic to the 80s French underground; our choice bit is the offbeat boogizm heard on the sonic ponderance: 'Pourquoi (Why)'.

Review: Demon Music's 'Disco Discharge' series was originally issued in a series of 2xCD collections between 2009 and 2012. The themed compilations of full-length, extended disco originals, lovingly curated by the mysterious Mr Pinks and with detailed sleeve notes by author and disco aficionado Alan Jones, have long remained in demand among collectors and the club Cognoscenti. Now recompiled and reissued on a striking orange double 140g LP, we're once more transported back to the golden era of the likes of Change, Manhattan Transfer and Cheryl Lynn.

Review: Demon's Disco Discharge compilations first appeared on CD around the turn of the last decade, offering on-point, themed selections from the mysterious 'MrPinky' and authoritative liner notes by disco historian Alan Jones. Now some of the sets are appearing on vinyl for the first time. As the name suggests, this edition celebrates the contribution of the USA - the original home of disco culture - to the sound's evolution. What's on offer is a mix of well-known hits (Teddy Pendergrass' Philly Soul special 'Life Is A Song Worth Singing'), Earth, Wind & Fire's 'Boogie Wonderland', featuring in the lesser-known instrumental mix form), crossover classics (Slick's 'Space Bass', Karen Young's 'Hot Shot', Fern Kinney's slow motion reggae-disco gem 'Baby, Let Me Kiss You') and cult favourites (Dennis Parker's 'Like An Eagle', Paradise Express's 'Dance').