Tags: Balearic Disco

Review: Faze Action's Afro series hits a fourth and final volume with Zeke Manyika and Faze Action themselves at the helm of two new singles. The vibes on this one take their cues from Afro Latin and Balearic worlds with opener 'Maswera' bringing nice open-air festival sounds, rich horn work and expressive drum funk. Manyika's chants are the icing on the cake for this one. Then comes a nice dubbed-out remix of 'Rugare' by Faze Action with lively disco drums and loose-limbed percussion. The original on the flip is a more straight-up and dazzling disco cut while a paired back instrumental of 'Maswera' closes things down in style. Timeless Afro bombs for sure.

Review: The Saint Wax Edit Service is back with more offerings for us to bow before. This latest eclectic disco sermon comes from Pleasure Voyage and kicks off with the topical Afro disco heat of 'Jongkoloni'. 'Arzaa' has a similarly international feel with Arabic-sounding vocals over a nice striped back but simple synth-heavy groove and 'Xibi' then sinks into a lovely deep house groove with 90s influences and more worldly vocals. Last of all is 'Tudod' which has nice tight bassline twangs under pirouetting chords and vocals. A fine EP.

Review: South African funk outfit Stimela, named after the Zulu word for locomotive, formed out of the ashes of bandleader Ray Phri's previous band, The Cannibals, and soon became an institution in their homeland. Five albums deep in 1986, they also released the astounding Rewind EP, which now gets faithfully reissued by Mr Bongo for a fresh audience. Every track on here is a winner, from the epic, proggy groove of 'I Love You' to the low slung, synth-rich funky angles of 'Shaka Doo Ba'. You won't regret copping this slab of wax, trust us.

Review: Rose Robinson is something of a rising star: a musician and producer inspired by the twin delights of disco and the different musical cultures she's encountered during her travels around the world. Her debut album as Tigerbalm does a brilliant job in fusing these together, with Robinson and a string of vocalists and guest musicians giddily flipping between bongo-laced, early morning dub disco ('Kete'), colourful and extra-percussive nu-disco ('Tokyo Business'), hot-stepping Afro-house ('Waiheke'), revivalist NYC proto-house (the incredible 'Cosmic Camel'), spaced-out samba-house ('Bahia Escapista'), Latin-fired, Prince style purple funk ('Riad De Lister') and her dark, rolling, atmospheric and sweat-soaked tribute to tribal house ('Cocktail D'Amour', a track inspired by the Berlin LGBTQ+ party collective of the same name).