Juno Recommends Disco October 2020

Review: The tunes on this 7" have legendary status and are hard to find in original format. But Mr K serves up a couple subtle but essential reworks here that mean you don't need to look any further. Opening up the a-side is 'Love Is The Message', a perfect soul drenched and funky groove train that never lets up, with big sax lines and chunky drum breaks carrying you as far as you want to go. The flip side 'I Can't Turn Around' is a mainstay of the early house scene and has classic status to this day with its broad horns and tender male vocal.

Review: Gospel music has had a long relationship with the underground dance floors of New York and New Jersey, sharing an emotionally charged spirituality that is central to devotees of each. Sitting at the nexus of these worlds is "Stand On The Word," a praise song that opens an album privately pressed by the First Baptist Church of Crown Heights in 1982. Who exactly recontextualized the churchly platter for the spiritual dance floor is a matter of some contention. Was it the born-again Walter Gibbons, a member of the congregation who lived nearby at the time, and then perhaps Tony Humphries, who worked at a local record store that carried the LP? But in an ocean of gospel dance music, this one distinctively sticks out as an underground dance classic. For this special release, Mr. K has trimmed his rare Japan only "Stand On The Word" 12" release from the crystalline intro to the beloved standout vocal lines to an ear-catching alternate piano outro, making it readily attainable on 7-inch for the first time. An astounding acapella fills the flip side with crackling handclaps and thundering foot-stomps, sounding as if it was recorded at church, or the final hour of the 718 Sessions (same thing). A better example of the sacred and secular crossover connection would be difficult to find.

Review: Following on from the bumper compilation on Z Records of all the label's greatest hist, boss man Joey Negro offers up a third volume of 12"s. He goes first with a nice loose mix of 'Love Hangover' that bumps in all the right places. Opolopo's 'Get On Up' is a dazzling cut with cosmic chords and long legged drums that move you to your core, then Joey is back with a slick dubwise version of the classic TW Funkmasters cut 'Love Money.' Last of all, 'Far Beyond' is a reflective closer with far-sighted chords and a late night glow.

Review: Back in 2015, Imogen offered up a 12" featuring two rubs of fresh Brand New Heavies tracks by label co-founder Ilija Rudman. Five years on, they've decided to repeat the exercise, this time on a 7" single, with the long-serving Croatian applying his magic touch to cuts from the legendary British jazz-funk band's 2019 set TBNH. On the A-side he delivers a near perfect, cowbell-laden, stripped-back disco rework of 'Beautiful', which comes topped off by a superb lead vocal from Beverly Knight. Over on the flip he gets his mitts on jazz-funk-meets-disco-funk number, 'The Funk Is Back', successfully stripping it back and emphasizing the track's excellent instrumentation and floor-slaying percussion breaks.

Review: Following two sterling turns from Dedication feat Danielle Moore and Smith & Mudd feat Quinn Lamont Luke, Adventures In Paradise returns with another effervescent, vocal-led bomb. Soma World team up with Falle for an energising track that fold high life, funk and Kwaito house into a potent blend given voice by the infectious singing of Falle. As well as the original version of 'Want This', we're treated to two remixes by Ray Mang, who dubs the track out into a simmering, bass-rooted groover that captures the moody allure of a picture-perfect sundown moment.

Review: A new one from Paris' Favorite Recordings. After two acclaimed LP's as Mr President released over the last decade, Bruno Hovart is back. One Night is soul and disco with a modern touch, fitting all the criteria to become an instant club classic. With special guest vocalists like Jennifer Zonou (Hawa), Cindy Pooch, Celia Kameni (Saving Coco) and Sabba MG - who you may recognise from previous releases. The title track is a sexy, loungey and jazzy deep house joint reminiscent of early noughties grooves on Naked Music or Hed Kandi. Plus, there's also a wonderful rendition of Roy Davis Jr and Peven Everett's classic 'Gabriel'.

Review: Emotional Rescue are turning their attention to King & City, a label that dealt in the UK-rooted take on reggae, lovers rock, at the turn of the '80s. First up is this sublime cover of William DeVaughn's evergreen, much-covered soul classic 'Be Thankful For What You Got'. This take is breezy and hopeful, but still shot through with a certain sense of longing in the tight riddim backing up the sweet vocals. On the flip, Emotional draft in one of their favourite remixers, the mighty Lexx, to deliver a disco mix that teases out the original and amps up the dub-outs for maximum groove satisfaction.

Review: Balearic titans Chris Coco and DJ Rocca team up on this new slab for Faze Action which celebrates all the finest qualities of these two veteran maestros. 'Discoteca (Heavy Fun Dub)' pours plenty into the mix, from sizzling disco and dreamy dub to slick 80s motifs, and yet it all comes off feeling very chilled indeed. 'Brute' plays around with analogue synths and raw drum machine punch to create a slow but intense cosmic workout, before Faze Action themselves step up to rework 'Discoteca' into a lean and mean club tool. For those who want to skip the breathy vocals, there's also an instrumental mix of 'Discoteca' included on the B2.

Review: Lumberjacks In Hell draft in a sublime cast of sympathetic operators for a second volume of From Hell With Love, providing you with eight perfectly formed tracks that straddle the divide between cosy, home-friendly house and dancefloor delectation. Laville's moody vocal turn kicks the record off in style on Austin Ato's 'Control', while Waajeed works his broken beat magic on 'What You Know'. Elsewhere Detroit Swindle bring a tougher slant on soul-rooted house music to the table, while PBR Streetgang aim straight for your pleasure centre with the soaring 'Madame Z'. And that's just the half of it.

Review: Mr. K and Most Excellent Unlimited are back with another must have motherlode of ten essential cuts on 7-inch, assembling a serious cross-section of diverse jams that were particularly popular at The Garage, majority of which appearing on 7-inch for the very first time in any form, let alone in these unique quintessential edits. Patrick Adams and Greg Carmichael production, female diva classic "Let's Get Together" backed with a previously unreleased NYC Peech Boys demo version of "Somebody Else's Guy." Tough South Bronx funk "Standing In Line". Synth epic, Krivit's classic edit of "Evolution". Disco Funk edit of Larry Levan's "Slap, Slap, Lickedy Lap". With much more in this diverse and remarkably sought after tracklist, surprises, like "Catch The Rhythm" (the only Boris Midney production regularly played at The Garage), along with Mr. K's previously Japan-only edit of Loleatta Holloway tour de force "I May Not Be There When You Want Me". Five singles impressively mastered with maximum fidelity and playability for an exclusive Record Store Day, including a bonus pair of newly designed, Mr. K seven-inch slipmats.

Review: For the latest in their ongoing series of limited-edition, hand-numbered singles, Zurich outfit Phantom Island has turned to the label's in-house producer and "sound wizard", Florin Buchel. As you'd perhaps expect, there's much to admire on the producer's first single under his given name, particularly A-side 'Proper Distance'. This sees guitarist Roger Szedzalik add glistening, sun-soaked jazz solos to a dreamy, sunset-ready backing track rich in liquid synths, reggae bass and bubbly electronic beats. The leisurely, Balearic-focused vibe continues on the flip, where Buchel peppers a delay-laden drum machine beat with fretless bass, gently unfurling synthesizer melodies and flecks of echoing instrumentation.

Review: The fantastic Parkway label bring a little - well, a lot of - joy into out collectively miserable lockdown-not-lockdown lives with a tenth release that dazzles on every level. The Whole Truth are a modern funk and boogie band with plenty of knowledge of the past as well as a vision of the future that leads them to create camp, analogue sounding gems like this one. The original has a nice heart swelling and gospel tinged vocal next to soaring chords and the club mix then dials back to the languid beats and sci-fi stabs. Last of all is a mix which goes heavy on the chords and amps up the effects to stellar effect.

Review: Take It Easy are a Milan-based crew who love nothing better than the sweet fusion between classic disco sounds and upfront house music energy. Dirty Channels capture that spirit perfectly on this third release on the label, opening up this split 12" with the crisp and strutting "Guava Juice". DJLMP takes things in a more psychedelic, tripped out direction for the more adventurous groove hounds before longstanding champion Memoryman Aka Uovo gets dusty and woozy with "I Wonder". Bugsy completes the set with the feisty stomp and sizzling tension of "Pomiri Dan".

Review: This essential 45 from Japan's Octave Lab brings together two essential productions from legendary disco studio wizard Patrick Adams. On the A-side you'll find Four Below Zero's 1976 modern soul scene anthem 'My Baby's Got E.S.P' (originally simply titled 'E.S.P', fact fans), a sing-along treat that arguably counts as one of Adams' most accessible and straight-forward productions (this is not a criticism, by the way, just recognition that he made some seriously bonkers disco and boogie records over the years). Over on the flip it's all about the Peter Brown co-produced 'The Guardian Angel is Watching Over Us', a rare 1979 cut that features a sublime lead vocal from Margo Williams. While not as celebratory as the A-side, it's every bit as essential.

Review: Star Creature Vibes is the label's first ever compilation and boy is it a good one. Across both sides of wax are unreleased tracks and new mixes by label favourites, all of whom offer up a new school mix of contemporary disco funk complete with spaced out synths, go slow jams and cosmic vibes. The whole thing is an easy to love collection of tracks that work as well on a lazy Sunday as they do a sun-kissed Saturday afternoon terrace. Kutkorners conjuring authentic disco magic with their cut 'The Finest', while Shiro Schwarz's 'Exoplanet Love' is particularly smoochy with its whispery vocals squelchy boogie bass. This is a dazzling collection.

Review: After a strong start from Haners, the second drop on Misadventures steps once again into the neon-lit alleyway of finest Italo disco, with all the seductive sass you could ever wish for in a party 12". On the A-side, 'Aargh Money' works around a seriously funked-up rhythm section and a choir extolling the virtues of working together. It's bombastic and elastic, just the right thing to get the limbs greased up for a heated hoedown. 'Little Looks' takes things rougher and tougher, with one of those Italo basslines so nasty it borders on proto-acid. The vocals are divine here too - smouldering come hither lines that amp up the intensity of the track to 11.

Review: It would be fair to say that post-disco outfit Unlimited Touch's 1980 single "I Hear Music In the Streets" is one of the greatest boogie/electrofunk records of all time. Louie Vega clearly agrees, because late last year he decided to gather together the remaining members of Unlimited Touch and record a fresh 2020 version. The A-side "Touch Mix" is the bomb. It features a more organic-sounding disco-boogie groove than the 1980 original, with delicious guitars, bass and electric piano/organ underpinning seriously good group vocals from the sometime Prelude-signed outfit. Over on the flip, Vega serves up an electric piano solo-laden dub mix, as well as a "Classic Boogie" take that naturally sounds very similar to the band's much-loved original version.

Review: Super Spicy is a new Mexican label committing some serious heaters to wax. Helmed by Monsieur Von Pratt, the label boss himself sets the tone with opening track 'Forever Funk' on this various artists 12". The vibe is clear from the outset - classic disco-flavoured house music with oodles of soul and good vibes by the bucketload. Igor Gonya & Crack D get busy with the filters on 'Two-Piece Orchestra' and The Funk District take a more delicate edit approach to stomping peak-time burner 'Watcha Gonna Do'. Paul Older's 'Love' is the perfect swooning closer to the record, romantic and triumphant in equal measure for a proper hand-waving release of energy.

Review: Siggatunez kicks off a new imprint, Gooey Editz, with four of his own edits of disco and funk gold. The Frankfurt producer also runs his own label Tieffrequent and this time out opens up with 'I Who Have Nothing,' a joyous and piano laced jam that never lets up. Elsewhere there is the vocal laced, slow motion slide-funk and disco daze of 'Living Easy' with its big guitar riffs. Last of all, 'Boatride' brings a Balearic vibe that will transport you to the side of the sea in no time, then keep you dancing until well past sundown.

Review: Jeff Lane formed his American funk and disco group in 1972 and has plenty of huge hits to his name. The two presented on this special new 7" are not amongst them, but are standout tracks for lovers of funk, soul and disco fusions. 'Have Some Fun' has the big strings and dazzling chords that soar to the cosmos, with buttery vocals leading the charge. On the reverse is the much quicker and more direct 'Energy To Burn' with its dense rhythm section, charging drum grooves and noodling bass riffs stitched deep into the hurried funk.

Review: He's taken his time, but finally Norwegian nu-disco legend Todd Terje has delivered a debut album befitting his immense talents. While there are plenty of examples of his vibrant, synth-heavy dancefloor style on It's Album Time - see "Delorean Dynamite", "Inspector Norse", "Strandbar" and the Lindstrom-ish grandiosity of "Oh Joy" - what really makes it such an essential set are the curious turns and oddball moments. Samba, jazz and easy listening get the Terje treatment on "Alfonso Muskedunder", "Leisure Suit Proben" and "Svensk Sas", while there's a welcome dose of wide-eyed Balearica on the tweaked "Swing Star" (one of a string of previously released cuts on the album). Most interesting of all, though, is "John & Mary", a woozy, Roxy Music style cover of a Robert Palmer classic featuring the effervescent Bryan Ferry.

Review: Daje Funk serve up the first instalment of their Daje Cuts series and enlist three artists for three fresh new tracks. Monsieur Van Pratt's 'Feeling Funky' is a real party starter to kick things off with life affirming riffs that will have you aping along in mid-air. Matalo! explores a more subtle and stripped back vibe with sax solos and Latin sounding percussion bringing the summer sunshine. Paul Older's 'Faces' closes out in sliding fashion with wide open hi hats and trilling bass riffs that are finished off with sax toots and vocal highs.

Review: The Begin label from James Holdroyd ha continually served up the most sublimely serene downtempo and Balearic sounds. Winter might be coming to us in the UK, but not in this artist's world, because Alldaydream is another exquisite musical getaway. The warm and humid 'Super Barrio' rolls on gentle drums and is awash with dreamy pads, while 'Above' features some neat piano playing and grown up grooves with plenty of Spanish overtones. The title track is another fine fusion of lounge, acoustic guitar, funk and adult disco for sunset parties on the beach.

Review: Rabo & Snob's new one is all about exploring forgotten jams from the outer limits of Tel Aviv, the city they call home and a city with a rich 1980s scene to mine. This super fine EP kicks off with a mix of boogie, new wave synth and disco that is full hearted and high definition. 'Hare Rama' is a real chugger that roots you to the floor with its rubbery kicks while freaky vocals bring plenty of character. There is a withering sci-fi feel to 'Ego Intrigo' that is embodied today by the likes of Red Axes and 'Tik Wah Hood' closes out in psyched-out fashion with weird percussion and intoxicating vocal wails.