Tags: Balearic Disco

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Afrodesia may come on like another dusted down gem from those dedicated detectives at Best, but it is in fact a modern construction from the talented studio trysts of Mystic Jungle and Whodamanny from the Periodica camp. These Italian producers have more than proved their knack for crafting sublime, honey-smooth jams with a nod to the golden studio era of the 70s and 80s, and they're more than up to the task on this killer 12" of heavy funking jams with a dose of boogie and a nod to Ivory Coast disco. It's quite simply perfection, rendered with love and attention to detail, but utterly natural in its feel and flavour.

Review: More quality grooves from Washington DC label specializing in reissuing obscure and unknown 70s and 80s dance music. This time around is Dreamcast who are Davon Bryant in conjunction with Swedish guy Sasac aka King Al. "Liquid Deep" is sexy late night deep funk the way it was always intended and Bryant's smooth as silk vocals are just like... Wow! So with Dreamcast on the vocals and Sasac on the beat, we are hoping there's more things on the way from this trans coastal duo in 2017.

Review: It's well known that People's Potential Unlimited boss Andrew Morgan has some serious crate digging skills. Even so, he continues to amaze with the obscurity and quality of the releases he chooses to reissue. Serious collectors have long sought out "Let's Ride" by guitarist Willie Lee Jnr under his occasional Junei alias. Originally released on 7" back in 1987, it's a killer chunk of synthesizer-heavy electrofunk blessed with some serious eyes-closed guitar solo action. Flipside "You Must Go On" - originally the A-side of the '87 release - is fantastic, too, offering a near perfect blend of sun-kissed Balearic attitude and smooth '80s soul grooves.

Review: Apparently DJ Harvey and Lovebirds have been hammering these "personal edits" from the Sirsounds crew in recent DJ sets. Listening to the clips, it's easy to work out why: they're a cut above the rest, edit-wise. There's a good variety of sounds and styles on show, from the stuttering drums, blissful guitars, dewy-eyed vocal snippets and rich boogie synths of "Love Me Right (Version)", to the eyes-closed synth solos and driving disco-funk grooves of quirky closing cut "What Does It Take". Our pick of the bunch though has to be the effortlessly eccentric Italian electro-funk insanity of "SASA", which sounds a little like it could be a lesser-known outing by Tullio De Piscopo (though don't quote us on that).

Review: Arthur Baker is the perfect host for this new series from Demon Music which focuses on the famous extended remixes of the 80s. Each series will be a multi-disc, various artist collection that is united by one remixer, and there can be few better to kick it off than the legend that is Shep Pettibone. He was a hugely in demand studio hand who reworked multiple genres and everyone from Pet Shop Boys to Duran Duran, New Order to Level 42, George Michael to Erasure. This ambitious, widescreen collection takes in all manner of golden remixes from the world of soul, pop, synth and more.

Review: Emotional Rescue returns with the third (and final?) King Sporty & The Ex Tras releases with the first ever-official reissue of the highly sought after cult boogie jam Do You Wanna Dance? Coming as remastered vocal and instrumental, plus again featuring a special Discomix, this time courtesy of acid-disco slayer Felix Dickinson.

Appearing shortly after the success of the band's only album, Extra Funky, Do You Wanna Dance? pointed the way forward, moving further from Disco and closer to the rising electro-boogie sounds that were sweeping the dance floors. The confident up / jump electro drum programming, slap bass and trademark Sporty guitar chops are propelled by a monster swamp inducing synth arpeggio that sings the funk electric, while hip-hop-shout-outs ride the rhythm. If the vocals are too much for some, then the original Instrumental (dub) is also included for those just wanting that infectious groove.

As many will recall, Do You Wanna Dance? featured on Felix's "Originals" compilation for Claremont 56 back in 2011, so when the King Sporty reissue project was coming together there was only one name to be asked for the Discomix. With a long history of DJing and music production, as well the man behind the Recycled Records, Fools Gold, Urban Myth and Bastedos labels, as well many, many releases on the long running and aptly titled Cynic Recordings, his remix arrives on point.

Teasingly drawn out, his mix switches back / forth between versions, the interplay between vocals, guitar, bass and electro-glide synths hypnotically building, with Dickinson's deftly dubbing tripping it out, making the title's question irrelevant, as mind and feet involuntarily move.

Review: Until he quit the music industry in the mid-1990s, Shep Pettibone was the most in-demand remixer on the planet - a position he'd held since the late 1970s. This four-disc compilation does a great job of showcasing some of his greatest remixes, all of which are presented in full-length form. There's naturally plenty of versions of big pop singles of the '80s - see the epic 'Mastermix' of Pet Shop Boys' 'West End Girls', as well as rubs of Duran Duran, New Order, Whitney Houston and Belinda Carlisle - as well as a sprint through his celebrated disco and boogie reworks (see disc four). In addition, you'll find versions of some lesser-celebrated gems from the freestyle-era, including heavyweight revisions of Sinammon, Alisha, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam and The Flirts.

Review: In a move towards soulful French electro-funk from the duo that brought us 'Caipirnha', comes the latest new single from DjeuhDjoah & Lieutenant Nicholson. The two producers here bring together a vast cast of musicians playing everything from Moog to claviers, culminating in a texturally rich afro-soul single that urges us to "hold our horses" ('Pas Si Vite') in these troubling times.

Review: Revisionist history is just as important for music as it is for geopolitics or economics, so we're more than happy to recognise this 'Alternative Vision Of Argentinian Music' throughout one of the most important decades in popular music history. Whereas popular thought tended towards Argentina being a hotbed for 'rock nacional' (national rock) music made in the post-dictatorship return to democracy, here Soundway focus on the more extreme ends of the experimental music fringes that cropped, thanks to the newfound freedoms allowed by neoliberal policies. Arthur Russell-esque disco, downtempo battle breaks, avant-garde obscurities - it's all there.

Review: After a potential demo deal with Island Records went south, Belgian electro-samba outfit Antena parted ways in the mid-'80s. Singer Isabelle Antena quickly moved onto new projects, forgoing her cold wave aesthetic for an excitingly new sophisticated pop sound. On 1986's En Cavale, there's the undeniable influence of Madonna and city pop sounds with the inevitable bleeding through of late-'80s Euro dance and even a bit of bossa nova would you believe - and it works well!. The elegant second chapter of a French pop treasure. In the '90s, Antena led another group, the Powaga Sisters, and was with them for three albums between 1993-2004.

Review: Some superb musical archaeology here, as The Artless Cuckoo presents an album of rediscovered 1980s recordings from obscure German outfit Ghia, including a smattering that the trio made whilst living in Spain between 1986 and '88. Some of the tracks were reportedly recorded using a porta-studio style four-track, but you'd never be able to tell thanks to the fine mastering job. Musically, it's an undeniable sun-soaked affair that brilliantly blurs the boundaries between horizontal electrofunk, instrumental Balearic synthpop, Mediterranean jazz-funk, Afro-cosmic and more energetic, dancefloor-focused flavours. It's the sort of thing that Nu Genea would rightfully be praised for releasing, except it was recorded 'back in the day' rather than earlier this year. Terrific stuff!

Review: DJ Scientist aka John Raincoatman is the German record collector behind the Outer Edge label. This time he welcomes Ghia for a second outing following the sold out and hugely desirable first one. This one comes in the form of a full length album featuring some previously unissued songs and lots of the group's signature downtempo synth pop sounds. They are soothing, lush and soulful, with delicate female vocals over sweet and innocent 80s keys and drum sounds. Perfectly steamy and sexy for slow dancing or lazy afternoons.

Review: 'Electro-samba' didn't used to be a genre name one came across every day, but that all changed with French pop icon Isabelle Antena, whose daring solo ventures in the 1980s saw to many a creative explosion. First coming to prominence as part of the self-styled French-Belgian trio Antena, who were more coldwave than city pop, Isabella's solo defection proved a thorough change in tack, as her debut En Cavale dealt in all the sexiest styles from bossa nova, to electro, to synth-pop, to cafe-ready easy listening. From 'Magic Words' to 'Sea Side Week End', this is dreamy, electrified musical sophistry for the Sylvester era.

Review: Famed for their thrilling, dancefloor-friendly fusions of West African funk and disco, American electrofunk and post-punk pop, Ibibio Sound Machine is one of the most exciting and essential bands of recent times. It's for this reason that "Doko Mien", the Eno Williams fronted band's first album for two years, is so hotly anticipated. Happily, we can confirm that it's another stunning set, with Williams and company charging through a set of sizzling songs that wrap kaleidoscopic synths, rubbery bass, fiery horns and off-kilter funk-rock guitars around grooves that variously doff a cap to '80s electro, Italo-disco, jazz-funk, Tony Allen and thrusting, mind-altering mutant disco. In other words, it's another must-have collection of cuts from the London-based band.

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: Alex Puddu is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer renowned for his collaborations with luminaries like Edda Dell'Orso and Joe Bataan, and here he presents a debut double single that is sung in Italian. With tracks 'Pullover Grigio' and 'Texas Blonde,' he introduces a fusion of Italian funk-pop from the late 70s and early 80s and melds the with the pop and indie melodies of contemporary Italy. Also drawing on influences from soul to disco, Puddu's unique production style shines through with its most tender chords, seductive vocals and sunny sounds.

Review: DJ Cat comes through on Scruniversal here as the young label continues to go from strength to strength early in its existence. This time he serves up some re-edits and reworks of old and rare records from Scru's friends' collections. Up first is 'Roots & Culture' which is a languid funk workout with Prince style vocals bring some libidinous vibes up top while sci-fi synths and raw claps and perc all flesh out the groove. 'Possibelle' then cuts loose on a much more laid back and steamy summer vibe with the sort of chords that have you laying back in the park and staring up at a cloudless sky.