COEO Vinilo y CD

Review: Munich twosome COEO have long been a reliable source of hybrid nu-disco and house productions, with their releases on Toy Tonics being particularly good. Music For Friends, their first release of 2021, is another rock-solid collection of ear-catching cuts. The most incendiary, peak-time ready number is undoubtedly 'Voyager (Piano Mix)', a brilliantly rush-inducing slab of piano house revivalism with added nu-disco synths, though EP opener '25 Hundred Friends', a tough-as-teak blend of chunky deep house, fluid piano solos and warming jazz-funk instrumentation, pushes it close. Elsewhere, 'Slipstream' is a borderline Balearic chunk of dreamy and melodious deep house, while 'Midnight Visions' is colourful, emotive and musically intricate.

Review: Unwaveringly reliable house stable Top Tonics keep the good stuff coming this October as COEO steps up with an extra vibes four tracker. This is pure and unreserved house joy, music to party to without a care in the world. It's the bouncing drums and happy trumpets that make it so, with energetic piano stabs and driving bass all working to make you forget your woes. The music is nothing particularly new, but it is pulled off with such a sense of style and class that it's impossible to ignore. Whether all out and sweat inducing or ever so slightly deeper, we cannot get enough of these cuts.

Review: The sixth volume in Toy Tonics occasional "Tonic Edits" series comes courtesy of label regulars COEO, a Munich-based duo who previously proved their edit credentials via a tasty 12" on Razor-N-Tape. This collection is arguably even better than its predecessor and sees them take their rusty scalpels to a quartet of Japanese disco-pop tracks from the 1980s. There's much to admire, from the sleazy electrofunk grooves, bold pianos and sparkling pianos of "Matchbox" (A2) and the slap-bass propelled boogie goodness of the Teena Marie-esque "Uber Man" (B1), to the freestyle influenced synth-pop bounce of cheery closing cut "Tibetan Dance". Arguably best of all, though, is lead cut "Japanese Woman", a bi-lingual disco song rich in rubbery bass, Chic style guitars and sparkling synthesizer flourishes.

Review: Since 2012, Munich duo COEO has served up a swathe of sample heavy, disco influenced house EPs for such labels as Let's Play House, Toy Tonics, Lagaffe Tales and Razor-N-Tape Reserve. Here they pop up on Razor-N-Tape's main edit label with something different: a quartet of traditional scalpel works from their personal stash. First up is the elastic, horn heavy disco-funk of "Express Lane", which is quickly followed by the skewed Arabic boogie-funk brilliance of "Libyan Sun". Over on side B, "Don't Oho" is a breezy revision of a sun-kissed Afro-disco workout that sounds like it would be capable of causing a commotion in the club, while "Move Your Body" makes merry with a warm, rich and intoxicating early '80s boogie-soul jam of unknown origin.