Nang 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: For those with an interest in the lefttield side of European disco, the recent renaissance of legendary Italian DJ Daniele Baldelli has been an exciting development. For those outside of Northern Italy, Baldelli remained a marginal figure for many years. Although he - and, it could be argued, compatriot Beppe Loda - invented the "cosmic disco" sound in the late 1970s and early 80s, it's only in the last decade that the sound has been celebrated across the globe. This collaborative EP with fellow Italian spinner DJ Rocca is his first release since 2009. It sees the duo give contemporary nudisco a fresh new twist, adding obvious Italo, cosmic and old skool electro influences. Nowhere is this more evident than on lead track "RoBa Che Scotta", where the veteran duo add simplistic, stargazing melodies to a rough, appregiated groove. There's beauty within the heavy analogue beats and bassline, but they never lose sight of the dancefloor. Ichisan provides a slightly grubbier, disco-centric rework for those who dig straight-up nudisco. The EP finishes with the title track. Similarly melodic and intergalactic in its construction, 'Space Scribble' has an endearing, child-like quality thanks to a sprightly mix of original electro beats, swirling chords and analogue synth riffery. It's a great end to Baldelli's best EP yet.

Review: The good ship Nang navigates back towards the prosperous musical archives snappily known as Tinpong for a second round of musical excellence from Venetian Bottin and Swiss vocalist Joy Frempong. Last seen giving a Duran Duran classic a high BPM makeover, the Jabberwock release is the first original material culled from the duo's studio antics recorded over a three year period from 2003 onwards. The title track itself is a low slung 80s leaning vocal disco slinkathon very much in the vein of Tom Tom Club, and comes accompanied by a near unrecognisable remix from Rudy's Midnight Machine (aka Robin Faze Action) which discards with the niceties for a full on jackin' dancefloor excursion. Elsewhere tracks such as "Cut Up" and "Diggin' Side" hint at a real versatility to be found in the remainder of the Tinpong archives.

Review: 2010 has been good to Venetian producer Bottin with releases on Eskimo, Bear Funk, Gomma and Perseo to complement remixes for the likes of Sally Shapiro, Telonius and Ali Love as well as a mix CD for Nang Records. It's the latter who dig into the Bottin archives (nee hard drives) and release this, the first fruits of an old collaborative project with Swiss vocalist Joy Frempong under the name Tinpong. "New Religion" is a skippy 140 BPM cover of the early 80s Duran Duran standard which improves on the original by the simple virtue of Frempong's breathy vocal delivery which is preferable to Simon Le Bon's. Brixtonite Marcus Marr rips apart the original and reassembles the parts as a truly impressive late night disco number, replete with a wonderfully broad sounding bassline. Not to be outdone, L.S.B. don and general UK disco standard Pete Herbert steps up with a delightful dub version that sets a dancefloor pace and leaves the most lasting effect.

Review: Having released little more than a trio of well-received 12" singles, Italian producer Claudio Brioski delivers a debut album for London-based nu-disco heavyweights Nang. Sitting somewhere between the pulsating dancefloor tackle of fellow countryman Bottin and the vintage synthesizer doodles of Emperor Machine, Hype Nothing is a pleasing trawl through off-centre nu-disco pastures. Musically, it also touches on glistening synth-pop - see the jaunty vocal cuts "Last Day Here" and "Panic"- and moody Italo revivalism ("Scandal Echo", the Robotnik-ish "Radio Anatomy"), while retaining an effortless air of nerdy synthesizer fetishism. That's some feat.

Review: Under the now familiar DJ Rocca alias, Luca Roccatagliati has been serving up Italo-disco, Balearica and boogie-influenced nu-disco cuts for the best part of 15 years. It's something of a surprise, then, to find that "Isole" is his debut solo album (his previous full-length excursions were made in cahoots with Dimitri From Paris and Stefano Ghittoni). It's a colourful and hugely enduring affair, with Rocca flitting between percussive, synth-bass-propelled nu-disco goodness (Rodion hook-up "Nassau"), Balearic-minded soundscapes ("Tokyo", the acid-flecked "Favignana"), delay-laden, proto-house style New York electrofunk dubs (standout "Stone Town", produced alongside Dimitri From Paris), tropical-tinged late night jams ("Taquile") and electro-fired early '80s Brit-funk ("London").

Review: Perma horizontally inclined duo Pete Gooding and Chris Coco return to Nang for a second round of Balearic leaning bliss. "Believe" sees the duo enlist the hushed vocal talents of Peter Coyle - front man of long running Liverpudlian troupe Lotus Eaters - and he seems perfectly suited to the blissed out digital skank which might just borrow a little something from Timmy Thomas. Complementing the original are some fine remixes from Volta Cab and Ajello, with the Russian adding to his growing reputation, laying some icily chilled ethereal soundscapes over ever changing percussive rhythms and a truly warm bassline. Ajello add some much needed energy as their Plumb Center Mix showcases what they do best - twisting the vocal flex through the spaces between the pumping percussion, gurgling analogue flourishes and Italocentric basslines.

Review: It's been well over a decade since Pete Herbert last released an album. On that occasion, he was collaborating with Phil Mison, as Frontera. This tine round, Herbert has been joined in the studio by keyboard wizard Martin Denev. Made in the Shade naturally encapsulates all that's good about both producers' work - think colourful synthesizers, loved-up pianos, dreamy chords, rich analogue synth-bass, Italo-disco style arpeggio lines, disco cowbells and an saucer-eyed Balearic mindset - while delivering a string of superb, sun-fired tracks. Highlights come thick and fast, from the classic Italo-house surge of "Washed Up" and T-Coy-does-nu-disco cheeriness of "Night Boat", to the soul-flecked tingle of Robert Owens hook-up "Pass Me By" and groovy, acid-flecked deepness of proto-house shuffler "Time".

Review: This is big: a collaboration between Balearic nu-disco heavyweight Pete Herbert and "the voice of house" himself, Robert Owens. In its original form, "Pass Me By" is bubbly and attractive, with Owens' adding deep, soulful and emotion-rich vocals to a sparkling, synth-heavy backing track that effortlessly joins the dots between freestyle, proto-house and Italo-disco. The equally impressive remix package is headed up by a fine rework from Daniele Baldelli and DJ Rocca: a chugging, undulating cosmic disco revision that's surprisingly more organic in feel. Elsewhere, Aussie adventurer Dr Packer gives it an electrofunk flavoured house makeover and Pete Herbert turns in a fluid, Balearic-inspired rework full of heady synth lines and tumbling pianos.

Review: Slovenian duo, Ichisan & Nakova drop their debut full length on Greg Wilson's Nang imprint. On Yugo Tempo, the duo infuse the sounds of modern electronic disco with the melodies and rhythms they found in the more traditional music genres that surrounded them in their youth. Merging the disciplines of wonky, ethnic and Balearic disco into one record, we hear indigenous melodies, Tarantino-esque guitar lines and aluminium suitcases full of atmosphere. A curious yet wholly entertaining work from the duo, this debut album is well worth checking out whatever your musical preference.

Review: The ten millionth release from Nang Records this year proves to be just as essential as their previous output. (There may be a certain degree of exaggeration in that sentence). The Tirk offshoot once again flexes their digging muscles, throwing the spotlight on Italian producers Beppe Loda and MC1. "Counter" originally surfaced on a Nang compilation earlier this year but it was deemed worthy of extra attention by the label's decision makers, and rightly so. Beppe Loda imbues the glistening analogue burn of the original with some added synth drama on his appropriately named "Electro Monster Remix". Some mystery and intrigue is injected into proceedings via the slow burning acid bubble of Randome's remix with his/her/their true identity a scurrilous secret. To round things off, Italy's most contemporary proponent of analogue bliss, Bottin, assists Mexican apprentice Avanti in delivering a remix that glistens and shines in all the right places.

Review: Hitting your 100th release is a cause for celebration for any label. But how do you acknowledge such a milestone? Take a leaf out of Nang's book: not only have they revisited one of the most classic of classic Simple Minds tracks, but they've done it with two erstwhile members of the band PLUS a philharmonic orchestra! The end result is a vibrant, string-heavy soiree into shiny Chic-level funkery. Remix-wise Wan strips things back a tad and fiddles with his acid machine while James Bright adds a little analogue juice to the insatiable bassline. Happy 100th release to Nang... Here's to another century!

Review: Spanish producer Raico Pena has a reputation as something of a prodigious re-editor, but in recent times he's (perhaps wisely) decided to focus more on original production. The result is Rebirth, his debut album of original productions. As you'd perhaps expect, his musical outlook is warm and sunny, with much of the album offering atmospheric, tactile takes on synth-heavy nu-disco and Almunia style Balearica. It's enjoyable stuff, all told, with enough odd turns - see the jangling nu-disco pop of "Rusos Theme", guitar-laden Iberican disco-rock of "Dreamer" and Baldelli-ish chug of "Time & Space (Cosmic Club Version)" - to keep things fresh.

Review: Along with Sheffield combo Hiem, Rayko is fast becoming Nang Records' most reliable artist. It would be fair to say that his latest album, No Stopping - his fourth in total and first since 2014 - is undoubtedly his strongest yet. Blessed with some fine guest vocals from Tania Haroshka and, perhaps more impressively, Crazy P's Danielle Moore, the set features much more "live instrumentation" - most notably bass and electric guitars - than the Spaniard's previous full-lengths. This adds an extra level of musical richness to the Madrid man's synthesizer-heavy tracks, which once again flit between hard-edged nu-disco, sun-kissed Balearica, revivalist electrofunk sweetness and the kind of cosmic disco that we would once have expected to hear from Daniele Baldelli and Marco Dionigi.

Review: Given that he dropped his first single on Balihu Records in 2004 - the glistening "Walking on a Crystal Sea", for the record - it's taken Spanish nu-disco pioneer Ilya Santana a fair old while to get round to releasing his debut album. That it's appearing on Nang is less of a surprise; Santana's melodic, synth-heavy take on disco, Italo and cosmic is perfectly suited to the London imprint. As debut albums go, A Western Tale is solid rather than spectacular, but still boasts more highlights than your average nu-disco set. The Spaniard's love of twinkling melodies and analogue grooves makes for some gorgeous concoctions, not least the spacious, stargazing "Love Scene".

Review: Nang Records continue to document the history of French synth discoid duo Space, here focusing on "Deliverance", the title track from their second album from 1978. The dramatic overtones of the original will amuse and astound in equal measures when you realise that's not a male choir on backing but two sessions singers multi-tracked to oblivion by producer JP Illescuo! "Deliverance" has been sampled and covered but never remixed, and Nang make up for that with four reworks. Kompakt deity Justus Kohncke is on hand to provide two contrasting remixes - the "Wild Pitch" effort has bubbling synths and a hard house groove that latches onto the smooth vocals of Madeline Bell and doesn't let go. Kohncke's other 'Take Me Places' mix is proper mutant disco, frenetic synth stabs and rolling bass lines included. The new school of Italian disco take care of the other remixes, with A Love Supreme (Tirk) indulging his inner Patrick Cowley on the ‘Hard Disko' remix and helping Fabrizio Mammarella in crafting an expert acid crazed remix under the Heels Of Love moniker.

Review: Having just dropped their 100th release, the time is probably right for the good folk at Nang to drop the latest volume in their ongoing label retrospective series, The Array. Musically, it's arguably one of their strongest collections to date, showcasing a drowsy and occasionally impressively bright take on synth-laden nu-disco and woozy nu-Balearica. Vintage reworks (see Max Essa's still ace remix of Escort's "Starlight") and overlooked originals (Tiger Cubes' breezy "2012 Thinking About You") rub shoulders with fresh material (Loudery and company's excellent "Wan (Dub)", James Bright's sludgy electrofunk tweak of Hiem and Roots Manuva's "DJ Culture") and previously unheard remixes (two floor-friendly Venice Beach tweaks of Situation and Space).

Review: This third instalment of the popular Beach Disco Sessions offers an opportunity for nu-disco heavyweight Ilya Santana to pick out some of his favourite summery disco jams. While most of it falls into the "vaguely Balearic nu-disco" category (see Saint Etienne's luscious remix of The Time & Space Machine, or any of the contributions from Sare Havlicek or Santana himself), there are a few tougher, more disco-centric moments that impress. Check, for example, the previously vinyl-only Greg Wilson edit of Escort's ace "Cocaine Blues", Pyschemagik's "nu-disco goes big room" rework of Situation's "Barcelona", or Toomy Disco and Fernando's delightful Heaven 17-ish version of Hiem and Phil Oakey's "2AM".

Review: Those unable to reach out to the Croatian coastline for the many festivals propping up on the Petrcane beach this summer can find solace in the shape of this mix CD from the ever dependable Nang imprint. Beach Sessions 2 provides a suitably slinky accompaniment to last summer's debut mix, with Nang's resident Slovenian disco merchant Sare Havlicek running through a fifteen track selection impeccably mixed and recorded live in one take. Mixing up the familiar with the unreleased, Havlicek digs through the recent output of Nang and like minded horizontal disco deviants Bear Funks with many a highlight along the way! Look out for the analogue efunk of Social Disco Club's collab with compatriot Rui Maia and overwhelmingly glistening textures of sound that filter through the excellent "Fluffy Amadeus" from Fillipson & Ulysses.

Review: Tirk offshoot Nang has put out a formidable amount of material over the last few years, almost single-handedly breathing new life into the twitching corpse of European nu-disco. This third collection in their in-house The Array series rounds up some of their best-loved releases of recent times, throwing in a few exclusives to boot. As with much of the label's output, it's a decent mixture of punk-funk influenced disco hipness (see Heels Of Love's contributions and the Fernando/Toomy Disco rework of Hiem & Phil Oakey's "2AM"), bubbling Balearic disco (Rayko, Science Frontiers) and skewed synthesizer fetishism (Andrew Meecham's excellent opener).

Review: Nang have really nailed it in the past year with some essential releases that vary from John Carpenter tributes to artist retrospectives to straight down discoid delights from the likes of Ichisan and Sare Havlicek. The Hackney imprint step up their game with this compilation of lesser known disco delights judged perfectly to soundtrack the summer months on a beach (or down London Fields) The laidback floatage of Max Essa is interspersed with one of Tensnake's most glorious moments in "Holding Back (My Love)" and the timeless ivory tinkle of Terje's Chaz Jankel edit. Elsewhere the arpeggiated groove of Ilya Santana's Sugar Daddy remix and the glistening chug of Diaphanoids "Weightlessmotionless" demonstrate Nang's penchant for choosing underrated gems. The sun kissed soft rock downbeatisms of "Lie Awake" from A Mountain of One closes this set perfectly.

Review: For the latest volume in their "New Masters" series, Nang Records has handed over the reins to Situation, a Bristol-based combo whose soulful take on disco/house/nu-disco fusion has made them in-demand remixers over the last decade. Here the West Country crew showcases some of their finest reworks, flitting between hip-hop tempo grooves (a tidy remix of A Flock Of Seagulls), classic-sounding U.S garage (a sax-laden tweak of JazzyFunk), heavy Afro-disco (Pasteur Lappe), seductive slow jams (SugarDaddy), warm boogie/jazz-funk fusion (there are a number of examples, but we like the George Kelly tweak most) and sweeping, cinematic Balearic soul (a sublime re-make of Love & Money's "Strange Kind Of Love").

Review: In-house DJs Loudery and Ingot are at the controls on this ninth annual installment in Nang's self-explanatory Beach Disco Sessions series. As usual, their selections are spot on, with the experienced duo moving from the cheery, retro-futurist cosmic flavours of Daniele Baldelli and DJ Rocca's "Encebra", to the muscular, arpeggio-driven space disco stomp of The Naked Citizens' "Space Touring", via the chunky dub disco of Sare Havlicek, the deep synth-pop of Juan Soto, and the sun-kissed Balearic disco warmth of Thomas Lang. Other highlights include a fine instrumental cover of Pet Shop Boys' classic "West End Girls" by Hawaiian producer Ginobeat and a typically melodious shuffler from prolific Spaniard Rayko.

Review: Since launching five years ago, Tirk offshoot Nang has been so successful that it now rather overshadows it's parent label. Their recipe for success has been pleasingly simple: delivering hazy, multicoloured nu-disco shot through with the sun-kissed charm of nu-Balearica. This fifth anniversary set gathers together some of the label's standout highlights to date, from the blissful shuffle and acid-flecked swing of Lasertom's "Call" and Pyschemagik's anthem-like remix of Situation's "Barcelona", to the nu-disco does-bleep flex of Si Begg's superb rework of Hiem and Phil Oakey's "2AM". Best of all, though, is Loudery, Derek Forbes and Mick MacNeill's delightfully Balearic cover of Electronic's Hacienda classic "Getting Away With It".

Review: For those keen to keep tabs of developments in the more overtly electronic side of the nu-disco scene, Nang's label compilation series, The Array, has always been required listening. This sixth volume, featuring a mixture of recent and vintage gems, is no different. There's much to admire, from the curious shuffle and endless synthesizer loops of Prins Thomas' remake of Daniele Baldelli and DJ Rocca's "Space Scribble", and the sparse-but-immersive Italo-influenced synth-pop of JMRS and Andy Bell's "Only A Feeling (Epic Journey Remix)", to the swinging, organ-laden disco-funk warmth of Tonbe's "So Fresh".

Review: Since launching as a Tirk sub-label in 2009, Nang Records has gone on to outlive its parent label and become one of the most reliable imprints in nu-disco. The label's progress has traditionally been charted by compilation series The Array, with new volumes appearing every 12 months or so. This latest installment is naturally packed with highlights, from the sparkling disco-soul of Hot Toddy's remix of Situation's Andre Esput hook-up, "Get To Know Me", and the contemporary Italo-disco throb of James Rod's "Steelerr", to the quirky Balearic bliss of Cardmoth, the synth-heavy wooziness of Deepkey, and the trippy, acid-flecked thrills of Aimes' "A View of Istanbul".