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: Antoni Maiovvi returns to Cosmic Club with an EP destined for classic status. Drawing from 15 years of experience, his fusion of disco, synth beats, and Italo influences shines. 'Lucidario' opens with Moroder-esque grandeur, cinematic and mesmerising. 'Cenotaph' echoes Legowelt's spirit, blending pop sensibilities with intrigue. 'Cyberia' closes the Side-1, mysterious and alluring. On the Side-2, 'Ghosted Again' ignites the dancefloor with dark Italo-disco energy, while 'Levitation Technique' explores ethereal realms. 'Today Is Yes' brings a satisfying conclusion to the album in an impressive way. Each track is a sonic journey, showing Maiovvi's diverse influences woven into a coherent whole. His work resonates alongside Gesloten Cirkel and Dopplereffekt, solidifying his future classic status.
Review: Martin Matiske was discovered by DJ Hell as something of a child prodigy already deeply immersed in the history and present moment of electro and synth-pop, and by 2012 he had already released his debut album Robotermusik. This release on Bordello A Parigi revives one of the tracks from that album, 'Dimension Phantasy', and gives it a standalone release with some interesting remixes. Captain Mustache does a fine job of threading extra arpeggio sparkle into the track without derailing it, while Play Paul turns the track into his own bombastic synth-pop anthem which appears in vocal and instrumental versions.
Review: First released in Austria way back in 1986, Miss D's sole single, 'Moving', has long been an in-demand item on the dusty-fingered 'selector' scene. Listening to this much-needed reissue, it's easy to see why. In its' A-side 'driver mix' form, the track sees the mysterious Miss D deliver rhythmical spoken word verses over a rubbery electro-funk beat, killer synth bass and some Balearic-leaning melodies. Throw in a catchy (male) chorus, and you have a genuine winner. The flip side 'Move It Again' mix' is a dub mix-style affair that dispels with most of the vocals and instead focuses on the killer groove, mid-80s sample cut-ups, scratching sounds and some suitably spaced-out effects.
Review: Danny Krivit aka Mr K, that veteran of the Roxy and Paradise Garage, turns his attention to the 80s for his latest Mr K edits aka brush ups for the sound systems of today. 'Pleasure Boys' by Visage epitomised the new wave crossover sound when was released in 1982, and Krivit would eschew the vocal, using two copies to concentrate on and extend the thunderous synth bass break in his sets instead. Here he recreates the trick - a bare bones riff that still sounds enormous on a club system.
For the flip, Krivit goes a little deeper with his edit of 'Emotional Disguise' by Peter Godwin again ditching the overwrought new wave vocal in favour of the atmospheric synth stylings of the instrumental, which he recalls being a big tune with hip-hop crowds at the Garage and Roxy alike.
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.
This Party Ends In Tears (feat Digital Love) (3:46)
Review: Avant! enlist the services of roster-shifting Italo disco project Male Tears to envisage the 'Paradisco', a clever portmanteau that invites us into further speculate on the term as a thought experiment. Indeed, a disco thrown in paradise is the obvious imago; less obvious is the observation of a very real zeigeist; that all discotheques today occur in a sort of para-situation, in a space that is a cut above normalcy, thrown in discrete fantasy spaces. Male Tears know this all too well, with such escapist flights of fancy as 'Sex On Drugs', 'Regret 4 Nothing' and 'He Wants Everything' eliciting surreal extremes of emotion, with their reverb-laden voxsynth patches, insouciant masc-femme vocal switches, and longing hooks reminiscent of Talk Talk or Liquid Sky.
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.
Review: The Mausovic Dance Band may be based in Amsterdam but their music comes from an utterly unique and distant world. Their madcap sounds are driven by elastic rhythms with potent dub sorcery as the five-pice outfit draws on global music traditions and adds in their own synth styles and forward-facing dance floor dynamics. The new album Buckaroo Bank brings an industrial, post-punk feel with proto-electronic explorations all couched in, of course, dub. It's a captivating listen, make no mistake.
Review: The debut album by Malcolm McLaren - former manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls, and infamous producer in his own right - was known as Duck Rock. First released in 1983, it showed off as far-flung a mix of genres as hip hop, international music, rockabilly, and disco, not least due in part to its hand in the production duties by Fairlight pioneer JJ Jeczalik, Trevor Horn and Anne Dudley, all of whom would form Art of Noise, as well as further guest appearances by Africa Bambaataa and Thomas Dolby. An electrifying medley of the sample-tastic sensibility of the day, the album also plays out as a form of satire, parodying the oft-chaotic flights of fancy indulged by the very same era.
You Are So Beautiful (feat Killme Alice & La Tosa) (3:36)
Summer On A Solitary Beach (feat Johnson Righeira) (4:17)
Italopop (feat Anna Soares & Eugene) (3:22)
My Love In Tokyo (feat Terrienne - French version) (5:04)
Betty Blue (feat Alice Silvestrini & Margo) (4:37)
Everybody Say Oh Oh (feat Chiara Camillieri) (3:51)
Review: Following their debut with Monochromatic, the Milano 84 duo of Fabio Di Ranno and Fabio Fraschini returns with Ultradisco, an album that sharpens up their signature style. Combining synth-pop, new wave and Italo disco with modern flair, this record includes 11 tracks in both English and Italian and offers an emotional, refined sound for modern dance floors. Collaborators include Johnson Righeira with a futuristic twist on Franco Battiato's classic 'Summer on a Solitary Beach' and Anita Dada alongside Fabrizio Massara on the poignant 'Darling.' Fred Ventura energises the album with 'The Right Words' and serves as artistic supervisor for this essential 80s-inspired collection.
Review: Moderna's arresting debut album on her own Brave New Rave has been in the works for seven years and was written across sessions in Berlin and Mexico City. It is an exploration of Berlin's influence on techno, dark disco and queer culture that takes in a diverse array of influences and inspirations from the music of Prince to a collaboration with post-punk artist Skelesys via electro, dark wave and more. The tracks are all raw, dancefloor-focussed cuts with rugged basslines, layered and well-treated vocals and a futuristic sense of sound that draws you in deep and keeps you locked.
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