Les Mondes Engloutis (Psychemagik main mix) (7:17)
Les Mondes Engloutis (Psychemagik 5am mix) (9:07)
Review: Martin Brodin's MB Disco imprint continues to deliver the good stuff, this time featuring two utterly essential Psychemagik mixes of Alico vs Cagri's "Les Mondes Engloutis". These mixes actually first surfaced on a digital-only release back in 2013, but now they've been buffed up for a full vinyl pressing, and rightly so. A side "Main Mix" is a full bodied, emotional banger with a lead drop to get crowds waving arms and singing along wholeheartedly. Our pick is the "5am Mix" on the flip though, where the synths take on a more shimmering nocturnal tone without losing that bright and bold character that will land this 12" in all manner of record bags this summer.
Review: Heavyweight sunnyside nostalgia from Whiskey Disco faces old and new. Icelandic BG does what he does best and work a sample until it's looped so well you could listen to it for days on end. The highlight of his couplet being the sweet subtly filtered take on Passion's "Don't Stop My Love" on "Astarjatning". Closed Paradise takes us much deeper into the night with the sexier, groove-focused "Breakin' Down" while "Wolf Sisters" closes the show on a reflective, slo-mo minor key note. All sides of disco - old and new - covered right here. Beautiful.
Philipp Gorbachev & Hugo Capablanca - "Berlin Esta Helado" (feat La Muerte)
Review: Four very different interpretations of house music prevail on Power. First up is Geffen, whose dubby, staccato drums, bursts of percussive noise and ominous bass provide the backdrop for a series of frequency-shifting tonal blips. Danny F opts for a different path on "Chalole Batata", where a pulsing bassline and heavy drums steer the arrangement into an ethnic chanting break down. Christian S's contribution is tracky and designed specifically for DJs; centring on rolling, insistent drums and mangled filters, its crashing cymbals enhance its impetus. Finally, the trio of Philipp Gorbachev, Hugo Capablanca and La Muerte deliver the deranged vocals and noisy voodoo groove of "Berlan Esta Helado" - which sounds like vintage Chicken Lips on acid.
Review: Moonboots and Boardman's Aficionado label continues its sun-kissed sermons with this very special homage to the nylon six string. Famed Spanish guitarist Joan Biblioni lays down the roots of Balearica with this incredibly laidback web of twangs and ripples. Coyote echoes the same sentiment over a slightly more prominent beat and synth textures. Finally Rune Lindbaek and Blikstad provide their own Nordic twist where the guitar is eschewed for synth twinkles. Beautiful stuff.
Review: Prins Thomas has decided to shake-up the Full Pupp release schedule a little, launching the Full Pupp Splits series to showcase tracks from different artists on one slab of wax. For the first installment, he first turns to long-established label artist (and occasional Norwegian passport office pencil-pusher) Daniel 'Blackbelt' Andersen. His "Dolphin Sandwich" is a deliciously tasty affair, with bold but breezy synthesizer riffs, huggable grooves and yearning, sun-kissed chords. In contrast, newcomer Christian Engh offers up something darker, chunkier and more bass-heavy, drawing influence from both Dutch revivalist Italo and the analogue-rich Norwegian disco with which Lindstrom made his name.
Bloodfire (aka Daz I Q )Volume VIII (original mix)
Bloodfire (aka Daz I Q )Volume VIII (dub)
Review: The Bloodfire series makes a return and it's summer vibes aplenty as Bugz In The Attic alumni Daz I Kue takes on the (original) 2-step boogie stylings of "Good Lovin' Is Good Livin" by Creative Source. The original is packed with such sing-along joy that the Bloodfire original mix doesn't mess with the template too much, merely advertising the Daz I Kue talent for percussive embellishments and beefed up bass. It's the accompanying dub mix where the Daz I Kue production skills come to the fore, extending the intro out for a delightful age before the soul flushed backing swoops through the channels and the track drops into a heavily chopped main section. A real delight of a twelve inch!
Boogietraxx & Monsieur Van Pratt - "Sigueme" (5:15)
Hotmood & Gledd - "I've Got Jazz" (5:20)
C Da Afro - "Ultrafunk" (6:02)
Djeko & K'you - "Money Don't Spend Me" (5:33)
Review: Super Spicy Records continues its run with great releases, with this second instalment of the Super Spicy Recipe proving a great compilation with big names of the disco scene rubbing shoulders with some super talented newcomers. On A1, we have Boogietraxx and Monsieur Van Pratt teaming up for the fantastic 'Sigueme', that brings a Latin flavour to the table, followed on A2 by Mexican disco master Hotmood and Italian star Gledd combining their superpowers to bring the maximum jazz spice to the recipe via 'I've Got Jazz'. On the flip, Greek edit master C. Da Afro salts this dish with some 'Ultrafunk', while last but not least, we have French duo Djeko & K'You applying some extra spice with 'Money Don't Spend Me'.
Review: Initially released as part of last week's Record Store Day antics, Juno are happy to get our mitts on some of this limited "split grooves" 12" from the always reliable Kolour Ltd. Mr Frank Booker of Hit It Or Quit It fame leads the way with two A Side productions that sit happily between disco and house; loose, funk laden disco is very much the shape of lead track "Movin On" which features some great drum chopping. Complementing this, "It's Time" takes discoid elements and applies them to a crunchy mid tempo house template. Flip over and rising talent Ugly Drums pairs with Chesney for two soul laden productions, with the dusty Raw Cuts style antics of "Soul To Keep" complemented by the sugary beatdown of "Girls Girls Girls".
Review: It's been an extremely busy year for Greek producer C Da Afro already, with smokin' hot releases recently dropped on Moiss Music, Love Harder, Sound Exhibitions and Samosa. Now he's kicking off the vinyl branch of SpinCat Music with the utterly joyous grooves of "Full Level". It's an 80s-soaked ray of sunshine with boogie in its heart and more classic motifs than you can shake an FM synth at. Keeping the era but switching the style, regular collaborator JB Boogie offers up a remix on the flip that sinks down deeper into the funk of the original, but not at the expense of those sugary sweet synth lines.
Review: Party days can't be that far away now, and Cardiology continue to have you covered with some of the choicest slabs in the edit game. This time it's C Da Afro on the buttons, shining bright after a massively productive 2020 in which he slipped out no less than five records. He's clearly not short on material to get busy on the slice and dice with, given the quality of the gear he's presenting on this new 12". As you'd expect for Cardiology the tracks aren't that easily trainspotted, ranging from the insanely catchy disco delights of 'Hustle' to the housed-up funk of 'Hold Up'. It's serious music for serious heads, but with that universal party starting appeal that any self-respecting disco edit should have.
Review: Runaway tyke Marcus Cabral was responsible for perhaps the best Party Breaks output to date with the extended brilliance of "Lifetime Groove" and he's back at the controls for On The Prowl's fifth Party Breaks release, offering up tweaks of vintage freestyle boogie, deep house and New Jersey style garage jackers. Naturally for a selector as gifted as Cabral, all the tracks here are arranged with club play in mind, leaning on raw drum machine programming and big vocals and melodies to hook your attention. The post disco Musiq Box stylings of "Better Think Twice" and the classic boompty stylings of "Non Stop" in particular are effective for exactly these reasons - some big old piano hooks on the latter!
Review: Not content with their joint record label endeavours On The Prowl and it's Party Breaks offshoot, Runaway duo Jacques Renault and Marcus Cabral are in various stages of launching their own independent keep vinyl alive projects. Cabral edges ahead of Jacques with the first release on his Hamilton Dance label that delivers four tracks of backwards glancing goodness. "Save The Day" opens proceedings with a ripe nod to one of the 80s biggest R & B divas, effortlessly laying down a warehouse friendly proto house groove before revealing the source. Just as good is "I Can Tell You" a stripped back vocal house number notable for some deft dubby vocal intonations. There's a slickness throughout that will appeal to fans of the Crosstown/Hot Creations sound. "FAB" is perhaps our favourite here, commencing with spectral analogues swinging rhythmically beneath the singular 808 thump and insistent bass drops. The tension grows before a bleep heavy drop into the excellent main section of scattergun drum machine crunches and analogue malfunctions. Essentially all four track blur the lines between straight up edits and all new compositions - which is all too rare these days!
Review: The musical branch of the Mercer Hotel Empire expands beyond the basement club SubMercer with the launch of this affiliated record label. Much like the (literally) underground club and its booking policy, the standard of music here is rich and refined and sees two regulars take the reins for the inaugural release. Runaway's Marcus Cabral continues to remind us of the duo's potency for proper house music. Utilising the vocal talents of Lindsay Mound, as well the mixing skills of John Selway, Cabral's "It's On You" is dream like, sensual house music at its finest. Occupying the flip, Eli Escobar follows a recent dashing outing for Wurst with "Lovely Feeling" an excellent rasping vocal house number which sees Lindsey Caldwell's vocals emerge from the depths and latch onto a classic rhythmic house refrain with aplomb. All in all the type of classy release you would expect from all involved.
Review: It's been a while since label bosses Cabral and Renault treated us to volume six but, as always with OTP, its well worth the wait. Cabral kicks off proceedings with a sludgy proto-house number that comes complete with some fantastic chopped up vocal work a la Kevin Aviance. Kon follows with a homage to the disco edit. Not to leave us languishing in the 70s for too long, "Love Reaction" whisks us forward to a packed warehouse in Chicago circa 1989. Big, roomy, boomy and laced with just the right amount of contemporary production, it's Renault at his darkest. "Night Walker" is the final piece of the edit puzzle; woozy, filtered and possibly the best example of a processed Cevin Fisher vocal ever, it's the ultimate funk finale.
Review: Having helmed the two previous Hamilton Dance releases himself, Marcos Cabral elects to introduce the record buying public to some new talent that's fallen on the Runaway man's radar of late. First up is the simmering "Times In My Life" from long term Philly house DJ Billy Werner which presents the sort of sultry, atmospheric poise you can imagine soundtracking the sunrise moments at Le Bain. Next up Mark Ingram and Brenden Wesley demonstrate there's more to the Boston scene than Soul Clap with the heady 90s stylings of "Sans Snare", which acts as a bumping prelude to the two contributions from Cabral himself. First up is Time Reveals, the new project he's started with synth extraordinaire Susan Domelsmith which sounds quite promising if "Cave With You" is any indicator, all lolloping drums spaced out to let the rich analogue sounds draw you in. Those lucky few that picked up Cabral's white label for LIES will like the final creeping bumper "Tuesday".
Review: Migration, the debut album from Cage & Aviary may have been a long time coming, but the intoxicating blend of scuzzy, lo-fi synth-rock, druggy electronica and intoxicating dancefloor oddness showed the South London duo chose well in working with Prins Thomas' Internajonal label. The duo usher in the first of three EPs based around the twelve tracks from Migration, though the material here is gratifyingly all new with expert Dub recreations of three tracks. The A side belongs to an expansive "Chromotose Dub" take on "Colourless Plastic" which chips away most of the vocal excess in favour of sprawling out that tape saturated jackers groove. On the flip, "Good Egg, bad Apple" gets turned inside out, with hollow percussion and thick, sludgey bass, whilst the album's dirgiest cut "In Todd We Trust" gets dusted down and sent to the nether regions of the Cage & Aviary cosmic echo chamber
Review: "Television Train", by Cage & Aviary, is limited to 200 copies. This Wall Have Ears release heads into spaced-out punk-funk territory with live bass, guitar and extremely hooky vox.
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