Back catalogue: Disco/Nu-Disco

Review: When tasked with compiling his first After Dark compilation for eight years, musical font-of-all-knowledge Bill Brewster decided to go "slow and low", picking an impressively eclectic collection of low-tempo outings old and new. The results are undeniably impressive, with Brewster serving up an entertaining and eye-opening mixture of twinkling, jazz-flecked electronica (T.O.E), synth-laden proto-Balearic dreaminess (Island Band), Weatherall-esque dark disco psychedelia (Brewster's Hotel Motel project remixing Jeb Loy Nichols), squelchy nu-disco deepness (Ray Mang dubbing out Khruangbin), acid-flecked revivalist proto-house (Rhythm Plate), little-known, 80s soul era synth-pop (Debbie & The Code), future Balearic anthems (Nail re-editing Gilbert O'Sullivan), saucer-eyed, piano-sporting space house (Gus Patterson) and ultra-deep electro (Carl Finlow). As usual, Brewster has largely avoided familiar favourites, instead showcasing obscurities that deserve wider attention.

Review: Having previously shone a light on lovers rock via two volumes of his For The Love of You compilations, dusty-fingered selector Sam Don has turned his attention to 'underground UK soul'. In practice, that largely means - though not uniformly - street soul of the late 80s and 90s. It's a simple idea, executed brilliantly, with Don working tirelessly to get the blessing of all the artists involved. Sweet, synth-heavy and lusciously loved up, the 12 tracks on show are undeniably excellent, with the many highlights including the piano-sporting, breakbeat-driven dancefloor pleasure of Kofi's 'Step By Step', the sax-sporting shuffle of Jenny B's 'Sexy Eyes (Club Mix)', the bubbly 80s soul cheeriness of Cavalier's 'Don't Touch' and the bustling post-boogie brilliance of 'Passion' by Taffy.

Review: Earlier this year, Defected offshoot Glitterbox Recordings delivered its first documentary, Where Love Lives, a loving tribute to the power of "dancefloor expression and liberation" which was filmed over 18 months in Paris, Ibiza, New York and London. This expansive three-disc set showcases cuts from the film's soundtrack, with Defected boss Simon Dunmore and Glitterbox A&R chief Seamus Haji acting as curators. The 52-track set is little less than a whirlwind tour of revivalist disco, nu-disco and modern boogie, with reworks of classic cuts sitting side by side with celebrated contemporary cuts and future classics - all rippling with a mixture of squelchy basslines, electrofunk synths, sweeping disco orchestration, crunchy cowbells, fluid piano solos and heady, life-affirming vocals. If you dig disco, you'll definitely dig this.

Review: Dutch DJ, remixer and producer Ben Liebrand to dip into the disco, boogie and 80s electro side of their catalogue - including a wealth of treats from US labels such as Salsoul that the imprint released in Europe - and curate an action-packed mix. Liebrand's on-point and funky-as-hell mix is featured on disc one, with the remaining three CDs containing full-length versions of each of the featured 27 tracks. There's a wealth of classics on show, as you'd expect, including such must-haves as Loleatta Holloway's 'Love Sensation', Inner Life's 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough', Joe Baatan's 'The Bottle', West Street Mob's 'Let's Dance (Make Your Body Move)', Midnight Starr's 'Midas Touch' and Aurra's 'Such a Feeling'.

Review: For their latest deep dive into Italo-disco history, ZYX Records have enlisted the help of Guiseppe "Joey" Mauro - an Italian producer, songwriter and keyboardist whose career stretches right back to 1984. His "Italo-disco legends" selection is heavy on his own work - no bad thing given his credentials - and contains a wealth of material that has never appeared on CD before. Highlights are plentiful, with our picks including Mauro and Ventura's sparkling and uplifting 'You & I', Italowarriors' throbbing and colourful crew cut, 'The Warrior (120 Italo Version)', the bubbly cheeriness of 'Crazy (Classic Mix Version)' by Malcolm & The Bad Girls, and the effortless Italo funkiness of Raf Coney's 'Horsepower'.

Review: Since 2019, Nairo "Papik" Poggi has served up a trio of Cocktail Italy albums, all of which make use of an impressive variety of (mostly) Italian musicians and vocalists. Volume Four sticks to the same script as its predecessors, serving up sun-flecked, often soulful treats that variously mix and match elements of classic string-laden jazz, soul-jazz, jazz-funk, P-funk, bossa-nova and Latin jazz. Basically, it's music to enjoy while sat somewhere hot (either in the sunshine or by a roaring fire) with a glass of something tasty and refreshing in hand. Highlights include the revivalist disco-soul of 'Primavera (featuring Nadyne Rush)', synth-laden Danny Losito hook-up 'Prima di Andare Via', mid-80s Italo-disco-goes-jazz number 'Notti (featuring Anna Fondi) and superbly summery dancefloor workout 'Ti Sento (featuring Vittoria Siggillino)'.

Review: Under The Influence is Z Records' effort to document and preserve lost, forgotten soul-and-funk-feeding-into-house finds. Rahaan, from Chicago, here gets their attention and praise; a DJ and early progenitor of Chicago house, these tracks (unearthed from the vaults) are expensive and weighty forays through italo, disco and new wave, all carefully chosen by the man himself.

Review: As he did to celebrate Claremont 56's fifth birthday, Paul "Mudd" Murphy has enlisted the help of the Idjut Boys to mark the passing of the label's first decade. This time round, the long-serving dub disco duo has put together a spellbinding, two-disc mix of specially commissioned material. Of course, they've gone to town, blending the label's 10th birthday tracks with oodles of dub delay, all manner of trippy effects, and a swathe of their own specially prepared dubs, DJ tools and re-edits. These intoxicating, mind altering versions are showcased in unmixed form on disc three, following two discs of horizontal Balearic bliss, slow-dance goodness and the impossible-to-pigeonhole antics of Can founder Holgar Czukay.

Review: In 2008 the Masterpiece compilation series continues with 'Masterpiece Volume 6: The Ultimate Disco Funk Collection'. Again a very special collection of 12 inch mixes of the eighties. You will find great 12 inches of Bar-Kays, Roy Ayers, Dynasty & Love Club and less known (but not less loved) long versions of Kathy Buck, Up Front and Evan Rogers. All tracks have been digitally re-mastered for all 80’s disco funk lovers.

Review: Mikko Mattlar, a walking encyclopaedia of Finnish electronic music, has been responsible for some killer compilations over the years, but 'Black Hole', his latest collection, may be the best yet. It focuses on exceedingly obscure 'culth synth disco music' produced in his home country between 1979 and '91 - mostly in the early-to-mid-80s - with every track either being an unreleased oddity of a genuinely uber-rare private press record. It's both eye-opening and extremely entertaining, with the included tracks doffing a cap to heavy disco-funk, underground gospel disco, bedroom-made late '80s synth-disco and quirky Scandinavian electrofunk.

Review: Volume One of For the Love Of You was an instant hit and so it makes sense the irrepressible Athens of the North label has come back with a second volume. Once again this is a collection of soul covers featuring interpretations of Grover Washington Jr., Midnight Star, Meli'sa Morgan and Simply Red and loads more. The music is golden, the soul vibes rich, and the new styles brought to these classics is instantly appealing in a whole new way. As alwayss, this is another superb release from Athens of the North.

Review: As with its five predecessors, the sixth volume in the Mr Bongo Record Club series of compilations is another must-check affair. Keeping the same "lesser-known music we like and want to share" approach, the 21-track collection drifts between drowsy, jazz-powered ambient pop (Japao), righteous gospel disco (New York Community Choir's sublime 'I'll Keep a Light in My Window'), floor-friendly Latin jazz-funk fusion (The Drive), suspenseful big band mambo (Manny Corchado & His Orchestra), soaring 1970s dancefloor soul (Vee Gees), samba-funk (Copa 7), dubby and dreamy pop (Dina Ogon), acoustic guitar-smothered dream pop psychedelia (Matta), and much more besides.

Review: Having delivered a string of loosely themed collections of extended mixes and 12" versions from the 1980s, the long-running NOW compilation strand has launched a new series focusing on music released in specific years across the decade. 1980, the inaugural collection, is relatively light on pop, 'alternative' and new wave extended mixes (though OMD, Spandau Ballet, Sparks and UB40 all appear), but big on soaring disco hits, crossover club classics and chart-bothering dance numbers from the dawn of the decade of Thatcher and Reagan. That means outings for the likes of Tom Browne's 'Funkin' For Jamaica', Teena Marie's exceptional 'Behind The Groove', Grace Jones' low-slung cover of Roxy Music's 'Love is the Drug', Tom Moulton's peerless version of Loleatta Holloway's 'Love Sensation', an Odyssey's addictive 'Use It Up & Wear It Out'.

Review: The latest volume in Soul Jazz's Boombox series, which focuses on the formative years of hip-hop culture, delivers a notably deep dig into some of the innovative and inspired disco-rap, electro and proto-hip-hop records released by independent labels, mostly based in New York City, between 1979 and 1983. It's a genuinely eye-opening affair that boasts a mixture of little-known debut singles from now legendary acts (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Funky Four Plus One More), inspired obscurities (see 'Get Live '83', a rare recording by a Chicagoan high school band), bona-fide dancefloor gems (Mike T, Sangria, the electrofunk-rap of Silver Star), and deliciously deep cuts. Throw in Soul Jazz's usual exhaustive, expansive liner notes, and you have another essential collection from the quality compilation specialists.

Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from the popular Too Slow To Disco series, namely glassy-eyed, pitched-down disco, boogie, yacht rock, blue-eyed soul and AOR with a distinctive soft-focus flex. Naturally, there's plenty to savour on the series fourth edition, much of it either obscure or previously overlooked. Our picks of a predictably strong collection include the horn-totin', much-sampled Pleasure classic 'Nothin' To It', the lusciously loved-up cosmic soul of Prime Time Band's 'Fall in Love in Outer Space', the eyes-closed, Rhodes-sporting AOR soul of 'Stay The Night' by the Farragher Brothers, the slow release swell of Alan Price's 'Groovy Times' and the sun-splashed jauntiness of Max Leake's 'Tell Me The Reasons'.

Review: As the title makes clear, this three-disc, unmixed collection has one simple aim: to soundtrack kitchen discos, living room dances and long car journeys with a jam-packed selection of disco hits and disco-tinged pop favourites. It does a good job at that, even if some of the selections tend towards the lesser-known end of the commercial disco spectrum, with all three discs showcasing such disco must-haves and part-starting sing-alongs as Dan Hartman's soaring 'Relight My Fire' (famously covered by Take That in the 90s), Diana Ross's 'I'm Coming Out', Chaka Khan's inspired 'Young Hearts Run Free', Grace Jones' punk-funk Roxy Music cover 'Love Is The Drug', McFadden & Whitehead's epic 'Ain't No Stopping Us Now' and Cheryl Lynn's peerless 'Got To Be Real'.