Compilation Recommendations August 2015

Review: Having previously put together seriously good retrospectives for Fresh Records, Sam Records and Easy Street Records, Bill Brewster turns his attention to another seminal New York imprint of the 1980s - Arthur Russell, William Socolov and Juggy Gales' eccentric Sleeping Bag Records. Over the course of its 11 year lifespan, Sleeping Bag moved between dancefloor-friendly genres at will, a facet that Brewster has wisely chosen to celebrate over three discs. So, while there are disco and boogie bangers - Class Action, Dinosaur L', Joyce Sims, Konk etc - we're also treated to dubbed-out beatbox electro (Sound of JHS 126 Brooklyn, Mantronix), freestyle (Nocera, Ann-Marie), bumpin' hip-hop (Cash Money, Mikey D & The LA Posse), proto-house and, of course, early NYC house (Kariya).

Review: New Richie Hawtin DJ mixes are something of a rarity these days, with his last commercially available selection dropping back in 2012. It's perhaps unsurprising, then, that he's decided to indulge himself a little on this celebration of his Enter Ibiza residency, which stretches to an impressive four discs. The first CD is largely deep, woozy and tactile, with deep, tribal and tech-house fare from the likes of Pig & Dan and Marc Houle. Cuts from John Tejada, Radio Slave, Paul Johnson, DMX Krew and Daniel Bell help give the second disc a bumpin', tech-funk feel, while the third disc attractively flits between melodious, progressive influenced fodder and booming, bass-heavy fare. As for the last disc, it indulges Hawtin's lesser-celebrated love of ambient, via a range of evocative, spacey and becalmed cuts.

Review: Defected's long-running Most Rated Ibiza series has a simple, laudable aim: to provide DJs with unmixed versions of the most sought-after tunes on the White Isle. 2015's edition is as packed with dancefloor dynamite as previous volumes, from the heavyweight, bongo-laden, blues-sampling funky house of Enzo Siffredi's "Sometimes", to the fidgety, low-slung bounce of Claude Vonstroke's "Make A Cake". Given the nature of the compilation, there's little in the way of filler, and even the arguably lesser-known cuts - the retro-futurist Windy City tribute "Chicago (Club Edit)" by Apres, say, or Deetron's strobe-friendly re-cut of The Juan McLean's trippy "A Simple Design" - are suitably gargantuan.

Review: Given that they've now been bulldozing dancefloors with their distinctively dark, fizzing, tech-tinged take on drum & bass for nigh on 20 years, few will be surprised to hear that Ed Rush and Optical's contribution to the FabricLive series is a bombastic, full-throttle affair. Packed to the rafters with growling basslines, skittish jungle rhythms, subtle nods to rave and nightmarish textures, FabricLive 82 is little less than a lesson in D&B's murkier margins. While there are few surprises - the duo found their niche years ago and have been happily working it ever since - it's nevertheless a hugely enjoyable excursion, somehow squeezing in 39 tracks along the way.

Review: Given the success of Disco Patrick's first collection of "independent disco, modern soul and boogie", it's little surprise to see Soul Jazz ask him to helm a second volume. While there are one or two selections that will be familiar to certified disco diggers - Mad Dog Fire Department's "Cosmic Funk", High Frequency's delicious "Summertime", Dunn Pearson Jnr's expansive "Groove On Down", Paper Dolls' heavyweight "Get On Down" - the vast majority of Disco Patrick's selections are thrillingly obscure or overlooked. Thus, there's a chance to savour the wonky, horn-heavy disco-funk looseness of Skip Jackson & The Natural Experience's "Micro Wave Boogie", the rubbery bass and sweaty Latin percussion of Montego Joe's "Freestyle", and the Afro-disco brilliance of Timmy Thomas' overlooked "Africano".

Review: No summer would be complete without Pete Tong's obligatory Ibiza themed mix-up. For this year's edition, the Radio 1 veteran has teamed up with Hot Since '82, who has become one of the biggest draws in clubland over recent years. Tong handles disc one, smoothly navigating deep, tech-tinged and big room house waters via hyped records from Fur Coat, Culoe De Song, Nick Curly and Azari & III. There's a slightly darker, woozier and more fluid feel to Hot Since '82's disc, which celebrates the best in pure white powder house whilst also including more melodic fare from the likes of Francois Dubois and Sasse, not to mention some formidably bumpin', bass heavy tracks from Deelo and Deetron.

Review: For the second installment of their Mixtape series, Hospital Records has turned to Devonian duo Fred V and Grafix, who epitomize the label's festival-friendly outlook. They don't disappoint, either, dropping an action-packed mix that shoehorns 32 tracks into an hour of non-stop dancing fun. After kicking off with the guitar-laden hip-hop wooziness of Cyantific's "High Water Mark" and Dimension's tear-out beast "Whiplash", they variously touch on liquid, Hospital style "disco drum and bass", and harder flavours. Happily, they find room to include eight exclusives from a variety of producers, including a previously unheard VIP re-work of their own summer smash "Major Happy".

Review: Future Disco's Poolside Sounds series seems to have replaced Hed Kandi's Beach House strand as the compilation of choice for those looking for sun-kissed, holiday-friendly laidback house. This fourth volume picks up where previous installments left off, offering both mixed and unmixed discs to appease DJs. There's some excellent material to be found, from the dreamy Balearic bliss of Telephones' "Blaff" and Voyeur's "Why" - a modern take on the 2000s deep house sound of San Francisco - to the eyes-closed brilliance of New Jackson's "Having A Coke With You" and Ashworth's bobbing "Cork". As the old advertising slogan goes, it "does exactly what it says on the tin".

Review: Firecracker Recordings continue to enjoy a most wonderful 2015 with Mac Talla Nan Creag the end result of several artists affiliated with the Edinburgh label spending some time in the Scottish highlands recording with traditional instruments, hardware and no small amount of Whisky! Lord Of The Isles, Other Lands, House Of Traps and local Edinburgh folk artist Wounded Knee are involved in one form or other throughout this illuminating 15 track collection. "NM 8222 0270" and 'NO 6594 9300' are lush ambient works reminiscent of Pete Namlook, whilst "Thrun' is droney feedback in the same vein as Rrose's recent LP for Further. "Forever played" and "Grugaigian Chant" are the perfect culmination of folk and electronics that this album can offer. All in all brilliant compilation that pays homage to the country's traditional music yet presenting in a modern electronic format. Highly recommended!

Review: To celebrate their weekly residency at Ushuaia in Ibiza, the United Ants crew has recruited DJ Sneak, Tapesh and Los Suruba for a bulky three-disc mix-up. Predictably, it's US house veteran Sneak who steals the show, delivering a disc that flits between his usual pounding, loop-heavy productions, dense African rhythms, sun-kissed, party-friendly deep house, and the Latin acid house of Apollonia. There's a smoother, more tech-tinged feel to Tapesh's disc, which impressively boasts no less than six of the German producer's own productions. Finally, ANTS Ibiza resident Los Suruba drops face first into powder house territory, bouncing between suitably woozy, bass-heavy grooves from Sven Tasnadi, Subb-Ann, Seff and Andre Hommen.