Disco Recommendations June 2014

Review: Those that keep their left eye finely trained on the new releases in the Disco section will remember fondly last summer's debut slammer from the My Rules crew which gripped a pair of proper edits in the vein of COMBI and NY Edits and is probably still servicing the dancefloors overseen by the more adventurous selectors. A second release from My Rules arrives and brandishes more of the same, with lead track "Yah Yah" a wonderfully insouciant slice of psychedelic disco where harmonious vocal chants duel flirtatiously with swirling synths and a killer bottom heavy groove. Face down and "Woman" ups the tempo slightly, adding some electric funk with the results reminiscent of Junior Byron or Rick James.

Review: Few other producers seem to be able to match HNNY when it comes to reworking old, pop, dub or unknown selections with such confidence right now. The Swedish producer's latest willing outlet is Omena, the fledgling label set up by Local Talk artist Tooli and features just the one track in "Always" which finds HNNY in particularly silky form. "Always" has looped vocals, travelling filters and organic sounding percussion - underpinned by big beats and bass - that makes it as good as anything the Studio Barnhus crew could throw down.

Review: Edit culture has gone to such great crate digging depths, sometimes it's nice to return to the bigger, most well-known cuts... As long as they're edited and reworked with creativity, there's still heaps of miles left in them. All of these four twists are fine examples, as we're treated to Queen, Foreigner, Toto and the BeeGees. Each one subtly tricked out, dubby and just on the right side of cosmic, it's a kindly reminder than sometimes the best edits are the ones you've known all your life. Solid, sweet and essential.

Review: The Late Nite Tuff Guy gets in on the action once again with this triple gripper of edit goodness. Those with a perfunctory grasp of disco knowledge will probably guess that the title cut from this Make Me Feel 12" takes it's cue form the classic disco track by Sylvester and in the hands of the Tuff one we have a beefed up rendition that will service any self respecting discotheque dancefloor perfectly. "Love To Love" eases down the tempo and turns up the heat as LNTG brings his Midas Touch to the Donna Summer standard, whilst "He's Mine" is a nice little muscled up tweak on the Brandy and Monica classic.

Review: Disco doesn't get any deeper than this: Tim Waine makes his debut on the mighty Tusk with "No Hats", a purring, sludgy stomper that ripples and flutters with the majesty of a Prins Thomas joint. Slowly morphing with a mischievous sense of psychedelia, it's a stone-cold beauty. Need to dive deeper? Jump straight onto the self-explanatory Seahawks' remix. For those who love to plunder even deeper into the dubby depths, then "The Sun Came Out Last Night" and "Maybe You're Awake" are tailor made for you...Spacious beats, distant guitar trembles and lapping analogue textures, they're the ultimate audio floatation tank.

Review: Argentinean musician and producer Fernando Pulichino joins the Cynic fray and brings with him a storied reputation that includes a multitude of releases as Fernando for the likes of International Feel, Leng, Internasjonal, Redux, Under the Shade, Nang, and Bearfunk. In addition to his solo work, Pulichino has been an integral cog in the 2020 Soundsystem, a live act headed by Ralph Lawson that have been known to close out proceedings at Sonar. The Stereo Drive 12" is a fine example of Fernando's style, all clean production values with subtle hints of proto house and Balearica respectively running through the title cut and B Sider "Sunset Strip". Another killer 12" from Felix Dickinson's revitalised Cynic label.

Review: Given that it was one of the most jaw-dropping dancefloor moments on Todd Terje's recent debut album, it's perhaps little surprise to find "Delorean Dynamite" dropping as a single. The version here (the "Disco Mix", no less), is a surging, shimmering chunk of Back To The Future-inspired synth disco - all undulating Italo-style appregios, bold chords, catchy guitar hooks and rush-inducing builds. In all honesty, it sounds like another Terje anthem in waiting. The included drum track - "Delorean Drums" - is inspired, too, and re-casts the strobelight original as a carnival-friendly percussive assault. There's more grandiose, wide-eyed Scandolearic disco in the shape of "Oh Joy (Disco Mix)", which sounds like vintage Lindstrom after a fist full of happy pills. Put simply, it's stunning.

Review: ** REPRESS ** Tom Noble on Beats In Space Records? It had to happen sooner or later given how often the Superior Elevation boss has blessed Tim Sweeney's radio show with his collection of rare and dusty disco and boogie gems. Taking the name House of Spirits, Noble's unparalleled mastery and knowledge of the disco arrangement is on full display with "Holding On" which takes it's cue from the Salsoul label in it's pomp and is dominated by a sublime gospel vocal delivery. The accompanying Peaking Lights Dub has been explained by Beats In Space as a "free-flowing disembodiment of the performers, melting into one amorphous, hustling and bustling entity held together at the whim of Coyes at the controls." Which seems a pretty apt description from the soundclips.

Review: Tribal Balearic is the genre Aficionado are pushing to describe their latest 12" offering which is a split release from Max Essa and Basso, but put down that pinch of salt because it's another winner for the Mancunian label. Essa of course needs little introduction to anyone that indulges in some of the more horizontally inclined disco releases, whilst fans of the Black Disco label will remember Sebastian Graetz's killer contribution as Basso. There's a pleasant degree of chunkiness to "Chou Chou San," Essa's opening gambit where hefty drums are complemented well by the Oriental synth lines and spiritual pads that Max has made his own. "Peninsular" is most definitely not tribal but it is Balearic at it's most serenest and offers a moment of calm before Basso mans the B Side deck with the vibrant afro disco flavours of "Sore Sebi" and the languid "Waking Up Late".

Review: Blase is the new collaborative project from Eddie Ruscha and Diego Herrera, whose respective work as Secret Circuit and Suzanne Kraft should be familiar to anyone with a firm grasp of more cosmically inclined music. Recent albums for Beats In Space and Emotional Response have brought the psychedelically charged Secret Circuit project to wider attention, with Ruscha a long term fixture in the Los Angeles music scene under a variety of names. Herrera is a much younger producer, and in addition to his solo work as Suzanne Kraft - which provided an excellent EP for Running Back in 2011 - he forms one third of new age house act Pharaohs. The stars of collaboration have now aligned, with Ruscha and Herrera teaming up as Blase for the Sunset Dawn album ESP Institute. Apparently adopting the name due to their shared "lackadaisical style and confident panache", the Blase project manifests with six tracks that feel perfectly at home on Andrew 'Lovefingers' Hogge's label.

Review: Imagine being unheard for 35 years. Just sitting there, gathering dust, not a soul knows you even exist. Then bang: along come a crack team of contemporary disco evangelists and restore you to your original recorded splendour. Now stop imagining and start living! This is the reality. Recorded in 1978, both these lavish soul disco cuts ooze authenticity and emotion. Sitting somewhere between Average White Band, Troubleman-era Gaye and Faze O, both cuts are driven by golden falsettos, rich warm orchestration and slick grooves. Super-limited, grab them now or forever sit silently gathering dust.

Review: Now firmly part of the Glenview family, the brother Lipsky return with their first offering of 2014 in the shape of the wonderfully titled Apes In The Orange Groove 12". In original form, the title track finds Sergey and Sasha offering up a quintessential slice of timeless euphorica, as heady waves of analogue synths and textures are complemented by Amazon flute attitude and tropical bird call. This timeless fusion of classic house and spell-binding Balearica is well complemented by the acid tickled revue from West Coast sonic mystic Secret Circuit that brings some dancefloor weight to proceedings. Go ape!

Review: Even for a man that's been as prolific as Ed Upton has for two decades, it's clear the mainstay of UK electro is in the midst of a Midas touch-style production patch with this album for Shipwrec following swiftly on from similar length projects for Mystic & Quantum and Rush Hour No Label. We could throw in all the 12" and track contributions too just to slam home how busy Upton has been. Unlike the albums for the aforementioned labels, Shape Shifting Shaman finds DMX Krew working without the constraints of concept and is no less impressive for it. Indeed there's a breezy confidence to the nine tracks here that nudges the album towards a place amongst Upton's best work of a long and richly rewarding career.

Review: Yet another coup for Mudd's Claremont 56 imprint, Paqua first made their rocky, psychedelic Balearica known to world with the sleazy, guitar-twanging chugger "Late Train" in the summer of 2013. Following it with beautiful "Dinosaur Zappa" shortly after, the UK/US band suddenly went quiet on us, leaving us thirsty for more of their heady cosmic brew. Mercifully they've returned... And have done so with an entire album of material. Ranging from the string and strum bliss of "The Visitor" to the "Horse With No Name" style pace and folky delicacy of "We Are What We Are" via the Motown-style funk missile "Ruby Running Faker", Akaliko is stamped with indelible cosmic authority thanks to its dynamic compositions and tight instrumentation. As spellbinding as it is essential.

Review: The good DJ Reverend P has already contributed two tight edits 12"s to the GAMM cause for the disco and house selectors out there and now he surfaces with more of the same for the similarly minded Basic Fingers label. With a summer of European coastline festivals beckoning, "Angels In Africa" is the swooning Chicago house and pop-influenced vocal jam and a perfect fit for sunshine filled dancefloors. And just as Michael Jackson's Xscape hits the shelves, why not get in the mood for some more bubblegum pop - turned house - with a cheeky Justin Timberlake infused "Just In Strawberry". Hee hee.

Review: Glasgow duo Mermaids make their Young Adults debut with a quartet of glistening, velvety house cuts that will resonate well with the nu-disco set, too. "Cherry Cola" is as sweet as its namesake but without the sickliness... All loopy and pensive, there's a very subtle sense of gradual dramatics to it dynamic. "Signal" is a much more heads down affair with nuances of the mid noughties Julien Jabre style house to it. With its insistent arpeggio and lush wafting pads "Chateau Mermont" recalls the Renaissance heyday two decades ago while "Everything But You" concludes this pristine emotive show on a deep, filtered breakbeat affair. Progressive.

Review: The mysterious KBE comes through with a prize selection of five edits on the newly minted Balearic Blah Blah label. Some concerted googling brings up very little about editor or label here, and you'll have just as much luck trying to use the internet to try and decipher most of the source material used. "Sexy Sexy" is apparently extended from it's 7" origins for ease of mixing and will delight the more open minded dancefloors out there. "French Jones" sounds suspiciously like a Euro Disco cover version that we can't quite put our finger on, but it does feature a nice laser style bassline effect. Face down and KBE loffers two untouched cuts in the shape of "Robert Love" and "Emwen" which are cool but slightly overshadowed by "Testing John" which sounds like Bryan Ferry doing proto house pop.

Review: Power house trio Diesel, Jarvis and Harvey together on a Moton 12"? Yes please! Here we find the respected selectors at their most sedate and discerning on a very special record issued as part of this year's Record Store Day celebrations. Most DJs will immediately gravitate towards "Northbeach" which is a stunning tribute to the man George Duke; they've taken his cosmic key sprinkles and given them a deep, unrelenting chug factor that will drive any floor insane. Flip for the equally beautiful piano-heavy cut "In The City". Gorgeous business from Mr Bassett and his pals!

Review: Prins Thomas seems to have got this album making malarkey down to a fine art. Having taken what seems like an eternity to put together his 2010 debut album, Prins Thomas, he's now up to volume three in his self-titled solo series. Whereas previous albums had a crustier krautrock feel amongst the cosmic synths, Prins Thomas III is largely downtempo, delivering a range of atmospheric Scandolearic moments that recall his two full-lengths alongside pal Hans-Peter Lindstrom. As usual, there's much to enjoy, from the drifting downtempo fluidity of "Trans" and wonky leftfield disco of "Labyrinth" to the sparse off-kilter Italo of "Apne Slusa" and intoxicating Middle Eastern chug of "Arabisk Natt (Dub)". In many ways it's a muted set - by his standards, at least - but that only adds to its' lazy, hazy charm.