TALKING DRUMS レコード& CD

Review: Duca Bianco is back with one of its special various artists' releases, and a mighty fine one it is too. This one finds four guest producers all with their finest studio tools sharpened and ready for action. Two of the artists are well known but use new alias - one is Israeli synth and psyche wizards Red Axes who work their magic as Der Sexa on 'Gabi Plane' and another is Beauty & The Beat party man Cedric Woo as CW. He gets nice and twisted here while the other two cuts - one from Italo king Franz Scala who builds slow new wave funk, and one from Manchester's renowned edit kings Talking Drums who offer some lovely leftfield madness on 'DMNB', all make for crucial listening.

Review: Self-styled 'semi-cosmic' and 'way wonky' sorts Talking Drums - a mysterious Manchester-based crew dedicated to digging in pound bins in search of wayward classics to re-edit - return with a seventh collection of inspired reworks. The undoubted killer here is 'Doner Summer' (we chuckled, at least), a suitably cosmic chunk of Munich-made disco smothered in exotic Turkish instrumentation and trippy electronic noises. Over on the flip they deliver two takes on a re-imagined Algerian record, which they've cheekily named 'Chaba Ranks'. There's their original mix - proto-dancehall, Algerian style, with added analogue synthesiser insanity - and the largely vocal free, Balearic dub style 'Chaba Skanks'.

Review: A strong, strong showing from Duca Bianco after a period of relative dormancy, teaming up with Manchester's Talking Drums for a musical culture clash with maximum impact. The four tracks see a wide palate of influences being mixed up, from the cheeky Afrobeat shuffle of 'Monkey Key' to the 80s electropop of 'Voice Of Omicron' and the Nico-esque vocal delivery on Balearic groover 'Dolce Julia'. This is an EP with lots of surprises, tons of originality and musical confidence brimming over its edges.

Review: Self-proclaimed purveyors of 'music for the fringe class' Talking Drums have been responsible for some terrifically cosmic, percussive and oddball re-edits over the years, something that makes their self-released EP series a genuine must-check. Volume six boasts three more eccentric but essential treats, with the Manchester-based crew successfully breathing new life into some pleasingly obscure gems. A-side 'Air Ecosse' sounds like a quirky, mid-80s European workout - all cascading, chiming synth sounds, reverb-laden percussion solos, whispered female vocal snippets, staccato machine drums and seriously squelchy bass. Over on side B, 'Too Yacht To Handle' is - as the title hints - a tidy revision of a groovy, loose-limbed yacht-rock funker, while 'Aorwaves' is a slow-motion AOR disco gem.