Tags: Disco House

Review: LUXXURY's 'Reworks Volume 7' serves up irresistible disco edits, transforming classics into fresh, dancefloor-ready versions with a signature flair. Opening with 'Is It Real, Now?', LUXXURY reimagines Empire of the Sun's 'Walking on a Dream' into a more melodic and expansive experience, adding layers that amplify its epic feel. On 'Rap Chore', Blondie's 'Rapture' is slowed down to a funky, slick groove, highlighted by a smooth guitar riff that enhances its iconic cool factor. Side-2 kicks off with 'Groove Prove', a classy, disco-infused take on Madonna's 'Get Into The Groove', capturing the catchy energy of the 80s with a fresh twist. Finally, 'Disco 82' brings a late-night Latin-inspired vibe that's perfect for setting the mood as the night unfolds. Each track offers LUXXURY's unique touch, making this collection of edits a must for fans of inventive and stylish disco reworks.

Review: Over the past few years, Johnny Rock has proved to be one of the shrewdest re-editors around, delivering must-check reworks of thoroughly obscure gems that tend towards the exotic and intoxicating. Further proof of his dusty-fingered, scalpel-wielding genius can be found on this Orange Tree Edits outing. Check first the rubbery, off-kilter '80s electro-flex of "Kat-Woman Do", before admiring the Mascara-sporting, New Romantic style synth-pop goodness of "Bitter Juice". Elsewhere, he offers up some skewed, percussion-rich late-night eccentricity (the delightfully weird "Hippie Jam") and successfully dances his way through some Communism-era Yugoslav post-punk heaviness ("Streets of Belgrade").

Review: Jonny 5 is known for his superlative edits as well as heading up the Bahnsteig 23 label and here he returns from time out becoming a father to kick off this new one from Duca Bianco. 'Joy riding' is loopy disco-post-punk for a peak-time trip. Multi Culti man Dreems then brings the Afro party vibes with his 'Bususua' which is packed with dub fx and steeped in fun. Miserymix then throws in their Italo-licked post-disco and punk sounds on 'Adjust Your Love' before a big finale by Black Bones. They offer a deep and dubby house that has been a secret edit for a while but finally gets unveiled here to great effect as it worms its way into your brain.

Review: Los Angeles-based ASHRR are back on 2020 Vision ahead of a new album and this time serve up their own superb version of The Romantics's 1983 hit 'Talking in Your Sleep.' In their hands, it becomes a club-ready sound with a vocal you may recognise as it featured in the Mad Max episode of Stranger Things. Add in some DFA-inspired punk funk vibes and with all the instruments reapplied while new layers of bass and synth are added and you have one fantastic new version. Balearic don Fernando steps up for two remixes, first stripping things back to a deep house sound and then bringing some dub disco vibes to the fore.

Review: Bedford-based trio Zenana never made much of an impact when they were first active in the 1980s but have become the toast of the world's media following the rediscovery of their excellent, Italo and Hi-NRG-influenced 1986 synth-pop single, 'Witches', by crate diggers a couple of years back. Here that fine track, originally produced in terraced house in Cornwall by the brother of bandmember Anita Tedder, gets the reissue treatment on Rush Hour's RSS series - thanks, in no small part, to a new (but authentically 80s sounding) extended remix from long-established Bristol DJ/production duo Bedmo Disco. Their flipside 'Spell of Love' version strips back and stretches out the track, taking cues from NYC proto-house, Martin Rushent dubs and mid-80s Shep Pettibone remixes. It's the 12" dance mix the song never had first time round.

Review: Saada Bonaire was a German disco and world music project from the unlikely town of Bremen. Formed in 1982 by DJ Ralf Behrendt, the unique concept band was based around the super seductive vocal sounds of Stefanie Lange and Claudia Hossfeld. The musicians in the band were from local immigration centres and they signed to EMI to put out one single only, 'You Could Be More As You Are.' Dennis Bovell produced it in Kraftwerk's studio and it fused dub, African sounds, drum machines and synths into something special. The band was cancelled soon after but not before they realised a load of the tunes that had already written on this essential album.

Review: The Innovative Leisure label is here with more of that irresistible hand-stamped white label goodness. This one comes from the super cool LA duo De Lux (who have a new album out this month) as remixed by Dan Tyler and Conrad McDonnell aka Idjut Boys. They bring plenty of their signature and spacious cosmic dub sounds to 'What Life', layering in the echo and spring reverb in fine style. The dub mix is on a constant upward trajectory that never resolves and so will have the floor in raptures with cowbells and big splashy drums. The original is also included as is their Seven Slackers remix.

Review: Following a couple of 2024 releases in which they variously reworked tracks by Adelle, Club and Lana De Rey, re-edit and remix collective Myoken delivers their first material of 2025. On A-side 'Play', they brilliantly breathe new life into a spacey slab of turn-of-the-1980s synth-pop, re-imagining it as a cross between Larry Levan's greatest proto-house dubs and Francois K's early 1990s revisions of Yazoo's 'Situation'. Over on the reverse, the crew goes for the dancefloor jugular, placing a prime Missy Elliott acapella atop hot-stepping, clap-happy electro beats and a dark and dirty, EBM-style sequenced synthesiser line. It's a simple concoction, but a genuinely fantastic one. It's a great example of how, with a bit of imagination, you can genuinely re-imagine a classic.

Review: This collaboration between Jimi Tenor and Tomasz Guiddo shines brightly and features a heartwarming hook that really lodges deep in the brain as 'Where The Wild Roam' pairs ancient-sounding lo-fi drums with a Western-style whistle and plenty of earthy, twanging guitars. Next up the legendary Louie Austen lends his vocals to 'Smile' for a steamy and tropical house sound lit up with Latin melodies over a shuffling, samba-adjacent rhythm. Erobique, known for chart hits in Europe and his work with DJ Koze, contributes his magic, while Freestyle Man, aka Sasse from Moodmusic, delivers his trademark deep house style. Ale Castro adds a DJ-friendly house version, enhancing the EP's overall allure.

Review: Thus spake Zaratustra, who clambered down from his mountain lair after ten years of brooding and solitude to let the people of the meadows and grasslands know of the true nature of reality; the overman, aka. Stolt. Nietzsche references aside, this new release by French disco artist Zaratustra, in collaboration with singer Stolt, is a riveting take on electro-disco-Italo; 'Uprising' is a ricocheting heater of immeasurable proportions, channelling the spirit of hi-NRG and new wave in its vocal shrieks, eighth-note bass runs and gated splashy snares. A veritably worthy addition to Skylax's LAX series.

Review: Following on from two previous EPs here in 2019 and 2022, Peter Matson now serves up a wonderful full-length on the storied Bastard Jazz. Hotel PM is a psychedelic exploration of disco and modern electronica from the Brooklyn-based musician and co-leader of Underground System. His signature attention to detail, songwriting and world-class musicianship all shine through next to collaborations with the likes of Pahua, Kendra Morris, Toribio, Phenomenal Handclap Band, Sly5thAve and members of The Rapture, Ibibio Sound Machine and Poolside. Between them, they delve into themes of time, memory and disenchantment with modern technology with a mix of lush strings, tight brass and analogue synth basslines. It's a journey of dance floor delight and more introspective moments with plenty of catchy hooks and retro-future charms.