Juno Recommends Disco July 2018

Review: Love Circle returns for a second release, digging deep into the misty past of golden era disco and finding rare gold for the reissue market to rejoice at. This time it's the work of Barry Blue and two projects he produced in the early 80s, lovingly re-edited for maximum dancefloor pleasure by Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold (aka gerry Rooney and Joel Martin). First up is surefire party starter "Breakin In" by Javaroo, and on the flip it's low down seduction workout "Love The Way You Love Me" by Marti Cane getting a fresh airing for all vintage-minded dancers and DJs.

Review: Straight off the heat of his last ambitious collaborative opus Starring XVIII, Louie Vega returns with a remarkable disco album in collaboration with Nervous founder Michael Weiss. Inspired by the influential legacy of Sam Records, the album pays homage to the late 70s melting pot with originals, remakes and star appearances from the likes of Luther Vandross. Part 1 runs the gospel gamut with rich feelgood moments such as the First Choice cover "Love Having You Around" and the naughty undertones of Vandross's most upbeat cut in decades "Get Myself Together" and plenty more. And this is only the half of the story. Yet another unique, masterful body of work.

Review: Part two of Louie Vega's latest authentic adventure; what began as a remix project on a series of Sam Records classics quickly became a brand new artist album with Louie and Nervous boss (and son of Sam Records founder Sam Weiss) Michael Weiss orchestrating some of the finest remakes and originals imaginable. Following the Luther Vandross-featured first part comes this exceptional sophomore packing highlights such as Louie and wife Anane's sultry cover of Indeep's seminal "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life", the insatiable late night energy of "Dancing For Your Love" and the soul melting sultry style of "Love Fantasy". Exceptional to the last disco detail.

Review: There's no doubting that Idris Muhammad's "Could Heaven Ever Be Like This" is a stone-cold classic; a sparkling, heavenly chunk of dreamy, disco-era jazz-funk that's capable of reducing grown men and women to tears when played at the right time. Some could argue that it's so good that it shouldn't be tampered with. Late Nite Tuff Guy, a producer who previous for reworking classic cuts, clearly disagrees, because he's delivered a fresh 2018 revision. His version is actually rather reverential, subtly beefing up the bottom end to provide a little more a rolling disco feel while adding some easy-to-mix beats at the beginning. Otherwise, he's made use of all the key original instrumentation and should be applauded for his tasteful efforts.

Review: Eight TK classics unwrapped and regifted by some of the best in the disco game... Danny Krivit, Todd Terje, Norman Jay, Kon, Late Nite Tuff Guy and Dimitri From Paris all play killer roles in this stunning compendium of edits. Everything you could ever need for a super-sweet shindig from the instant sing-along spankage of Jimmy Bo Horne to the wah wah wriggles and giggles of T-Connection by way of Gwen McCrae's locomotion soul power, this really is an impressive piece of work.

Review: Marcel Vogel's latest on Lumberjacks In Hell welcomes the mighty leftfield NYC MC Sensational to flow over his learned disco house grooves. Sensational sounds right at home on "If You Like," and Vogel gives him a slightly freaked groove to riff on that works just fine. "Brown Curls" taps up Khalil Anthony, one of the finest UK house vocalists in operation right now, and Patchworks remixes it into a dreamy disco funk jam for the boogie brothers and sisters to shake it to. Alma Negra gets busy with "If You Like," creating a tumbling Afro-centric re-rub par excellence, and then Tim Jules comes on board with an instrumental version that nudges into tightly wound funk territory.

Review: Destination 78/79: Expansion take us deep into the illustrious back cat of revered boogaloo fusionist Willie Bobo for two of his many fiery delights. Side A is his feel-heavy cult instrumental take on Ronnie Laws' disco classic "Always There" while Side B throws us into the heart of his 1979 album Bobo with gutsy raw soul power (and just a few cheeky funk slap bass twangs for good measure) Two stone cold classics together for the first time on 45.

Review: It would be fair to say that Young Pulse has been one of GAMM's most reliable re-editors of recent years. It's now almost four years since he made his debut and in that time he's released a quartet of must-have EPs of disco-fied, soul-fired reworks. Volume five contains just two tracks, but both are - somewhat predictably - very good. A-side "Strong Survive" is a veritable peak-time disco stomper, where punchy horns, soaring orchestration and guttural soul vocals are underpinned by a rambunctious disco-house groove. "Dreaming" sees our Parisian hero stretching out a killer SAM Records cut, making more of the seductive chorus vocals and mazy, jammed-out synth solos.

Review: We were blown away by Prescription Pricing Authority's first jazz-funk and Latin-fuelled 7" on GAMM, so hopes are sky-high for this speedy follow-up. On the A-side the London twosome get busy with the soulful sunshine that is Florida outfit Popcorn's exceedingly hard-to-find "Song For You", which sounds like the sort of breezy and loved-up gem you'd like to take home to meet your mother. Turn to the flip for some tougher dancefloor business: a jaunty, tight, on-point and slightly dubbed-out rearrangement of O'Donel Levy's synth-laden 1976 jazz-funk smasher "Green Machine". We're not sure exactly who the Prescription Pricing Authority boys (or girls) are, but they've certainly got digging and editing skills.

Review: Best are really reaching for the serious stuff here - Stopp was one of those mythical one hit wonders of the Italo disco era that somehow caught a wave on distant shores. It's not hard to see why "I'm Hungry" was huge with the early Chicago house wave and DJs like Ron Hardy. It's a surefire banger, all daggering arpeggio basslines and romantic, mystical lead lines with a catchy vocal chant line to really set the party off. The "Caramba Mix" is no slouch either, edging in a little more club-ready dynamics for those who need a more beat-oriented ingredient for their proto-house cocktail.

Review: Legendary Miami songstress Gwen McCrae had plenty of huge hits in her arsenal, from '90% Of Me Is You' to 'It's Worth The Hurt.' Her biggest tune by far is the enduring classic and sure fire dance floor heater 'Keep The Fire Burning.' The strident disco funk beats, the soaring vocal and the impossible warmth and soul of it all never fail to make a mark. Here it is backed with the more slow and deep cut funk of 'Funky Sensation,' which gets those hips swinging and hands clapping.

Review: Steve Kahn & Co. are yet another of those curios of the early 80s that Best Italy have dug out, dusted down, spruced up and repressed for your eclectic party pleasure. "Got To Have Your Loving" is a pure feel good jam at every turn - it's got a very natural, live band sound mixed by the legendary Tee Scott that especially makes the aqueous bass playing shine through. Whether you plump for the vocal or the instrumental, this is the kind of record that could set a wedding party on fire as much as a serious heads-down disco funk session. You'll no doubt get a lot of mileage out of this one, and have a great time in the process.

Review: Best Italy turn to cult 80s producer Yannick Chevalier, best known for his work in the field of library music and sound effects, but also responsible for a wonderful, supremely rare disco oddity from 1984 in the shape of "Ecoute Le Son Du Soleil." As well as the off-kilter funk of the original, you can hear the heavily processed vocal on its own for all kinds of creative mixing potential, as well as the instrumental and dub versions. The latter is particularly heavy, built for tripped out dancefloor excursions if you need something serious in your 12" arsenal.

Review: Thanks to their superb collaborative album "Atemporal", many are now fully aware of the joint musical explorations of French band Cotonete and Brazilian singer Di Melo. That wasn't the case in early summer 2018 when their first single, "A.E.I.O.U", landed in stores. The record became a sleeper hit, was later remixed by Dimitri From Paris and is now given the re-press treatment. The original version (side A) is an inspired fusion of warm, breezy Brazilian disco and jaunty jazz-funk with one of the strongest, catchiest choruses we've heard in years. It's utterly ace all told, as is the more spacey and synth-laden B-side "Dub" mix. If you don't already own a copy, do yourself a favour and grab one of these.

Review: South African bubblegum soul queen Ntombi enjoys a timely spotlight session as Afrosynth look back over her short-lived career and pick some of the highlights from each album she blessed us with. Leading from the front with the cult classic "Tomorrow" we're treated to highlights such as the proto tropical house harmonies and layers of "I've Got A Friend", the shinier house-focused workout "In My Mind" and a disco dancehall shaker "Mina Ngilijaji". Tomorrow is a day that never comes... Don't sleep.

Review: After coming to light with his crucial edits on Les Edits Du Golem, Alexis Le-Tan has gone on to become one of the shining lights on Bahnsteig 23's roster of deviant discoid dissenters, and he's burning up as he comes careering onto the label's 45th release. "Agre" is a steroid-injected blast of 80s firepower, all stomping drums and a dazzling assortment of dancefloor-engineered synth parts. "Pune" is a slower, groovier jam but it's no less striking in its make-up. "Hubli" takes a more unusual path away from the party, into a hard to define zone somewhere between soundtrack, home listening jam and un-nerving warm up-not warm up. "Kulem" finishes the EP off on a more steady tone, but still the rich, glossy production details come spilling out of this bombastic jam just like the other tracks on this loud and proud record.

Review: Soul Clap definitely knew what they were doing when they snapped up certifiable diva legend Nona Hendryx to sing on one of the cuts from their self-titled 2016 album. Now Ray Mang has got his mitts on the parts to "Shine (This Is It)" and turned out three versions for his own Mangled label - the classic combination of extended vocal, instrumental and radio edit versions. Whichever cut suits you best, the vibe is the same; a bold and bright summer party track splashed with horns, keys and plenty more besides, although the smart money is on Hendryx's legendary vocal, which soars as though no time has passed since her days working with Material in 80s NYC.

Review: G&D return to action with label EP number two. There's plenty to set the pulse racing across the four tracks, from the grandiose orchestral disco swirl of "Something", to the Daniele Baldelli-esque throb of "Agua Cosmica", a killer version of a druggy Cosmic club favourite that boasts both heavy dub disco bass and mind-altering synthesizer arpeggio lines. Arguably the pick of the bunch, though, is heavy disco-funk stomping "Spider" with an edit from Volcov, a hearty, groove-based peak-time anthem rich in K.I.D style instrumentation, fantastic slap bass and righteous rock riffs.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: The unstoppable march of Dan Shake continues apace as he storms Lumberjacks HQ with some of that refined sample-a-delic house music that is fast making him a marquee booking for those who want their party started right. He sounds right at home on "Magic Marcel", throwing down an addictive bass hook and looping up the woozy romanticism of classic disco and filter house into a thoroughly potent brew. "The Bee Won" takes a more urgent approach, reaching towards a kind of jazz funk energy with some tumbling percussion shaken into the mix for good measure. Taking a cooler approach to round the record off, "Wake, Bake & Shake" lets the funk take centre stage and leaves the samples plain as day for that breezy Sunday afternoon feeling.

Review: Since launching last year, the Act of Sedition label has specialized in releasing "double-pack" gatefold 7" singles - a format rarely seen outside of indie-rock circles (and even then, it's hardly commonplace). Naturally, this third missive is another double-disc affair, stretching four tasty reworks across a pair of dinky discs.

Review: Since serving up a tasty debut album back in 2011, Magic In Threes has provided sporadic dose of funk-fuelled delight that variously draws influence from jazz-funk and soul. The three original tracks included on the combo's first Razor 'N' Tape reserve appearance fit this formula, layering up live horns, guitars and drums with loose and heavy results. Title track "Work Tapes" is a Blaxpolitation funk affair with subtle disco flavours, "Come On Down" is an Isaac Hayes style orchestrated disco-funk roller, and the superbly summery "Chupa Cabra" sounds like it could have been made in Brazil around 1979. All three tracks are given the remix treatment, with Patchworks' Afrobeat revision of "Work Tapes" and Fouk's hybrid jazz-funk/disco-house version of "Chupa Cabra" standing out.

Review: Psychemagik love Fleetwood Mac. Their love is so enduring that the dusty fingered editors/DJs/revered record collectors have gone so far as to found Fleetmac Wood, a club night dedicated to the work of Fleetwood, Nicks, McVie and the various other manifestations, where anything goes so long as it's Fleetwood Mac related. Their remix of "Dreams" has been getting playtime at the night - and by other well regarded DJs - and finally makes an appearance on this limited 12". What's immediately noticeable about the Crystal Visions Remix of "Dreams" is how much they add to the track without messing with the original's essence - it's also a lot more inventive than Psychemagik's 2009 edit of "Everywhere" which shows how far they've come in three years. Flip over for a great extension of Juno's favourite Mac moment "Big Love" from AOR Disco's Red Ken.

Review: Dekmantel's new Selectors compilation series and festival was apparently designed to celebrate those DJs who not only know how to work a dancefloor, but also dig deep for inspiration. First to showcase his dusty-fingered credentials is Danilo 'MCDE' Plessow, who's used the opportunity to gather together some of his favourite, hard-to-find house, disco and jazz-funk cuts. There's naturally much to admire, from the breezy soulfulness of Dj Slym Fas's 1997 gem "Luv Music" and Risque III's early Chicago deep house killer "Essence Of A Dream", to the ludicrously expensive jazz-funk-meets-disco-boogie brilliance of Licky's 1979 obscurity "African Rock". It's a cliche to describe a compilation as containing "all killers" and "no fillers", but in this instance it's an accurate assessment.

Review: Not only has it been some 15 years since The Shapeshifters bothered the pop charts with soaring disco-house anthem "Lola's Theme", but also nearly a decade since their last vinyl single. Appearing on a tasty seven-inch single, this two-tracker for Glitterbox features some of their strongest work since those halcyon days. A-side "Try My Love On (For Size)" is arguably the duo's most "pure" disco cut to date - a classic production that boasts rising horns, sweeping strings and a strong, Salsoul-esque vocal from Teni Tinks. Turn to the flip for the more relaxed and groovy "When Love Breaks Down", a future end-of-night anthem that's as poignant as it is uplifting.

Review: Self-styled "Sugar Shack Studio based beat junkies" Difusion pricked the ears of more than a few disco selectors with a pair of self-released re-edit EPs released in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The folks behind Editorial Records were clearly impressed, because they've snapped up this EP of rearrangements from the shadowy collective. Our pick of the bunch is probably the breakbeat-driven disco-funk hustle of "Can I Do It", though many will be attracted to the slightly more soulful and sensual orchestrated disco bustle of "I Can Feel It". The quality threshold remains high throughout, however, with the more relaxed "Askin' You" and delay-laden peak-time bounce of "Afrocal" also impressing.

Review: Spanish label Night Shift welcome Belgian duo Chasse to drop some seriously classy dancefloor jams for those who really know how to move. "Pilot" is an effervescent cut that places musicality at the front of the mix, all nimble keys and live drum funk of the highest order. "Dig Him" is an uplifting disco workout that loops it up in all the right places, and "Oh Franck" pumps the rhythm section a little more to head towards the house heads. "In Your Stride" is an unabashed reworking of "Boogie Nights" that takes on a dreamy quality as it chops the original into a fresh configuration.

Review: It's fair to say that Maurice's McGee's "Do I Do" is something of an Italo-disco classic. It was initially released back in 1983 on Full Time Records, and featured the man himself - seemingly an invented alias for a local Genova singer recruited by the prolific Studio G production team - telling a tale of missed parties and late night opportunities over a backing track that sits somewhere between the all-arpeggio grooves of Italian disco and the slick, synth-heavy warmth of '83 New York boogie. On this timely reissue, the extended vocal version (remastered to sound extra loud) is accompanied by the arguably superior Instrumental take, which wisely highlights clipped disco guitars and the superb, synth-heavy groove.