Juno Recommends Disco November 2018

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Having previously contributed to the Ruf Kutz series, Manchester-based editor extraordinaire Andi Hanley lands on Magic Wand with some off-grid treatments seriously worthy of your attention. First up on the A side is "Tied Up (Hanners edit)," which locks into a snaking, submerged and deliciously tense Afro work out for show-stopping dancefloor drama. "Happy Together" is much smoother by comparison, all laid back island boogie with cheery synth strings and ample bass sleaze to keep you warm at night. "Lucky Number" is a peppier 70s flavoured strutter that teases its ingredients out over a sustained set of riffs.

Review: Dave Lee aka Joey Negro is turning into a contemporary version of original disco mixer Tom Moulton. Like that producer's now legendary disco era reworks, the revisions on Lee's "Remixed With Love" albums are floor-focused interpretations that use little more than the original vocal and instrumental parts and some well-placed effects. There are plenty of fine examples of Moulton and Negro's craft on the Essex producer's latest collection of disco-mixes, including a slightly more dubby and spaced-out take on Evelyn 'Champagne' King electrofunk hit "I'm In Love", a swinging, jazz-funk influenced interpretation of Odyssey sing-along "Going Back To My Roots" and a superb dub of Ashford and Simpson's "Found a Cure" that brilliantly builds towards a sweaty vocal conclusion.

Review: Serbia's Disco Fruit crew continue to bring the heat with their razor sharp edits and productions mining the golden era of funk-fuelled part music. On this occasion Dr Packer and Loshmi have joined forces for two certified bangers that rank highly on the boogie scale. "In Case Of Emergency" is a tidy reworking of Gayle Adams' "Emergency" that keeps the groove heavy but stretches the jam out for extended dancefloor pleasure. On the flip, it's British funk outfit Delegation that get the Disco Fruit treatment, winding up with the stretched out delights of "House In Downtown," guaranteed to get any soiree worth its salt shaking down to the ground.

Review: Hailing from Barcelona, the 12Tree crew fire up their own in-house label Hot Piroski with a sterling opening round that's already garnering support from the likes of Pete Herbert, Crazy P, Psychemagik and more. The original track on the A side, "Sugamomma," is a well-rounded, full-fat dancefloor burner that should sit comfortably with fans of Hot Natured et al, given an extra boost with a sample of a young soul legend in the making. On the flip, Afrobeat classic N'Gwode by Aleke Kanonu gets a respectful edit that injects just the right amount of extra groove without diluting the loose, infectious soul of the original.

Review: From the team responsible for Kano and the evergreen Italo hit "I'm Ready," Matakena was a one-off release back in 1983 that has since gone on to attain true cult status (i.e. monstrous second hand prices). Thankfully, the trusted bastion of reissued Italian grooves Best Records is on hand to bring the music back to the people, digging the irrepressible funk of "Nuts On Me" and "Aphrodisiac" out of the vaults and pressing it up for a new generation to get down to. This is sleazy boogie par excellence, full of liquid synth bass, steamy vocals and grooves to die for.

Review: UK re-edit label Moton Inc. present more late night boogie down antics the way the man upstairs intended and courtesy of two undisputed experts. The first is Greg Belson: a veteran known as the 'go to authoritarian for gospel soul music', compiler of the Divine Disco series and host of the Divine Chord Gospel Show on LA's dublab.com. He teams up with Paulo Fulci: a DJ and producer out of Bristol who some of you may know from his work as part of the Situation edit crew. Some crafty resplices on offer here: the A side features the funky and lo-slung life affirmer "The Problem Solver, while on the flip there's an uplifting dose of classic disco on "Brand New Feelin'" and some good ol' fashioned soul power as heard on "Try Love".

Review: We're not quite sure who's behind the Redux Inc series - naturally, they're keeping their heads down - but we can confirm that this debut 12" is rather tasty. As the title makes clear, both cuts are dancefloor-minded reworks of one of the most celebrated, disco-era Jacksons tunes. The A-side "Full Vocal Club Mix" is effectively a tasty dancefloor extension/re-edit with a few subtle new touches and a lightly tightened beat that should make mixing a whole lot easier. The flipside "Dubbed Out Voxapella Mix" is slightly more revolutionary, with the Redux Inc. crew bringing the beat in and out while the acapella and key musical ingredients (the song's familiar piano refrain and horn lines, specifically) take centre stage.

Review: First reissue since 1982: Jimmy's stone cold disco anthem came courtesy of cult Italian dance label Full Time Records and was almost instantly immortalised by a Larry Levan remix. Both versions are here, remastered in all their glory; Levan takes the lead with a deep dubby seven minute extension that introduces each element with measured grace and groove while the original kicks straight into action with serious boogie funk flare. Fall in love again.

Review: A sweet reissue of an underground classic from 1982 here, bootlegged badly in recent years, but Isle of Jura does it right with this remaster by Matt Colton. Q were a one hit wonder (if you could even call them that!), responsible for "The Voice Of Q". Comprised of American producers Bruce Weeden & Michael Forte with their revolving cast of musicians - this electro funk/disco project is finally getting paid its dues. Deep, funked-up and spacey disco, complete with vocoder - it almost seems familiar! A true spirit of the times. Features a previously unreleased track on the flip, "Keep It Strong" (unreleased dub edit) which is a balearic tinged number that's equally as good.

Review: More from re-launched Italo-disco era label Full Time Records, who here present four fresh reworks of tracks from the vaults. G.A.M.M-signed scalpel hero Moplen steps up first to deliver a fine dubbed-out re-edit of Boeing's slap bass-propelled electrofunk classic "Dance To The Beat", before Massimo Beradi adds a little subtle, mid-tempo house flavour to Electric Mind's lesser-celebrated 1982 Italo-disco jam "Summing Up". DJ Rocca opens side B in some style, hammering away at a TR-808 drum machine while giving Maurice McGee's 1984 cut "Styx" an altogether deeper vibe. Meanwhile, Re-Tide turn Orlando Johnson's Paradise Garage favourite "Turn The Music On" into a muscular chunk of bass-propelled boogie-house badness.

Review: ** REPRESS ALERT ** A couple of all time George Duke greats get the official remastered and reissue treatment here. The American songwriting legend's "I Want You for Myself' from 1979 gets a mighty Tom Moulton rework on the A side - which streamlines the essential groove of the original just nicely. On the flip, the sultry late night mood lighting of "Brazilian Love Affair" is funky, soulful and groovy in all the right amounts - the album of the same name from 1980 was hailed as his most popular. Duke was known primarily for thirty-odd solo albums, as well as his collaborations with other musicians - particularly Frank Zappa.

Review: Inspired by early 90's house music, Toshihiro Moriguchi aka DJ Monchan has been spinning many genres, as well as producing disco edits and deep house for over a decade in New York City. The Brooklynite steps up to perform some surgical edit wizardy on four mouth-watering tracks for purveyors of the finest quality disco - Razor-N-Tape. Late night boogie down vibes are catered for on the joyous disco gem "Reaction Control", while you'll find something more of a classic soul/funk tip on "Dance It All Out" before getting back to the late-night NYC soirees of the 70s on the sexy vocal-led sway of "Get Down With Your Love". TIP!

Review: Famed Bologna selector Luca Trevisi digs deep into his crates for another edit session. Four jazz funk obscurities each one primed with the spirit the Irma affiliate has pushed since his residency at the famous Kinky Club in the 80s; vibes range from the belting Al Green style falsettos of "Trying My Best Love" to the dual guitar peaks and crazed bluesy frenzy of "Run Mona" and the Booker T style organ blasts of "Lick The Lollipop". Hot and indeed groovy.

Review: Originally released in 1979 as a B-side to The Neville Brother's "Sweet Honey Dipper", "Dance Your Blues Away" saw Ivan go solo for the first time on this sultry modern soul jam. Laced with a plucky bass and just the right smattering of sleaze, it set the foundations for Ivan's extensive solo career. It also provides the perfect groove tools for The Mighty Zaf to work his editor craft and beef up the vibe with subtlety. Keep on dancing!

Review: Here's another highly desirable slice of formative party fuel from the dusty highways and byways of dance music culture, brought to you by the diligent miners at Best Records. The Gong's Gang was a one-off alias for the equally one-off Nicolosi Family, a collective of real-life brothers and sisters who knew a thing or two about classic early 80s Italo boogie. "Gimme Your Love" is a stellar jam, with Rosanna Nicolosi out front on vocals and the cascading synths and bass stewing in an intoxicating blend that should have any funk detective frothing with approval. Whether you want the full vocal hit or the subtly dubbed out instrumental, this is a jam thoroughly deserving of a second run in the sun.

Review: Best Records are always a trusted source of reissued obscurities, but they've really outdone themselves this time. New Horizon was a one-off studio project from NYC buried in the annals of 70s disco funk, supposedly helmed by Donald Jenkins, but the chances of finding this mythical record were less than zero before now. "You" is a sumptuous jam, where each player shines in equal measure from the limber bass to the gossamer keys and stirring singers. This is soul jazz of the highest order, so very worthy of a reissue not least in its "Special Disco" guise. The vocal-less cut on the flip is just as wonderful, spinning a web of instrumentation that peaks with a wild guitar solo.

Review: The latest missive from the Imagenes camp sees Los Charley's Orchestra rework two tracks from Manana, a Spiteri side project that released one jazz-fusion/samba disco album in 1981. Both "Amor" and "Disco Samba" are taken from that obscure but inspired set, and are here given "vocal" and "instrumental" revisions from the Los Charly's boys. All four revisions hit the spot from start to finish. We're particularly enjoying the spacey synths, low-slung dub disco grooves, fluttering vocals and well-placed delay effects of their "Amor" versions, though many DJs may gravitate towards the rolling, AOR disco bounce of the duo's more celebratory remixes of "Disco Samba".

Review: Following last year's debut with the wonderfully wonked "C60 Lato A", Manchester's motley lot ungag their percussive instruments once again for another slice of craft editry. Once again, plucked from the deepest crate fathoms, "Disco Danube" whisks us across mainland Europe on a mystic bed of dreamy chords, all textured, grainy and coded with hope and a killer middle eight. "Space Talk" digs us an even deeper tunnel into a sexy sci-fi new romantic odyssey that ripples and shimmers as the male vocal purrs us onto the dancefloor. It's good to talk.

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: Elaine Kibaro is a French singer who grew up in Tunisia before enjoying a reasonably productive career in the late 70s and through the 80s. Emotional Rescue caught on to her fine contributions to the disco world via the Pour L'Amour collection, and now they offer up a pair of alternative cuts that add to the overall legacy of her career peak. "Fajrann" is a re-vocalled version of Kibaro's biggest hit "Aurore" sung in Arabic, speaking to her Tunisian roots, while "Ne Doute Pas" appears in its instrumental form for those who want the punchy Linn Drum beats and dazzling synth lines in all their glory.

Review: More from NYC party crew Kaviar Disco Club, who follow up their rather fine debut EP of reworks with a second selection of pumped up, floor friendly tweaks. To kick things off, they offer up a previously unheard "Well Being Dusted" mix of vintage Jevantte cut "Mr Piano Man", breaking up the beats a little to bring the deep house cut's smooth grooves bang up to date. There's more of an old school disco flavour elsewhere across the EP, with Ari Bald and Martin Miguel's smooth, rolling house take on a horn-toting, synth-heavy electrofunk classic ("Every Body Party") being followed by the bumping, hard-spun disco-house thrills of Tilman's "Thinkin Of It". Higgins' "Looking Back" takes a similar approach, with the producer working his magic on a soaring orchestral disco workout.

Review: Astonishingly, original copies of Energize's 1979 private press single "Piece of Class" have changed hands for over 500 quid online. Helpfully, Rain & Shine have decided to save us all a few bob by slinging out this licensed reissue. The title track is something of a bustling disco-funk gem - a genuinely wonderful fusion of hazy vocals, dueling horn solos, spacey synthesizer flourishes and driving bass guitar. B-side "Star of the Disco" is an even more up-tempo affair, with mazy saxophone solos, rasping horn stabs and starry jazz-funk keys riding a walking bassline and high-octane disco drums.