TOM NOBLE レコード& CD

Review: ** Full Vibe Repress ** Sometimes a record comes along that perfectly captures the mood and sound of a particular corner of the music world. This double pack compilation from DC imprint Future Times is most certainly one of those releases, joining the dots on an international network of underground house artists spanning both coasts of the US and mainland Europe. New York imprint L.I.E.S. feature heavily with Steve Moore and his namesake Summers both contributing tracks - Summers also appears as Confused House - along with label overseer Ron Morelli under his L.I.E.S. moniker. The latter's "Comeback Dust" - originally out on the excellent Echovolt imprint - is given a stripped down rework from Maximillion Dunbar for the opening track. Whilst there is plenty of raw warehouse business here, Vibe 2 includes tracks that aren't afraid to deviate away from this towards carefree experimentalism, see for example the hi nrg camp bump of Alexis Le Tan's "Marathon Man" and the almost horizontal sprawl of "Volatile Memory" from Steve Moore. Highly recommended.

Review: Tom Noble teams up with Mystic Pleasure on this must have Superior Elevation 12" issued with the assistance of Peoples Potential Unlimited. If you were one of those that indulged in the Tom Noble edits of "Africa Bump" and "Party Together" for PPU back in 2009, then you know this combination of artist and label equates to dancefloor gold and will need little further wooing to indulge here (PPU have just repressed that 12" for those didn't btw). Everything Noble touches drips with disco authenticity and that's the case here with "Back Door (Gettin Down)" a sublime funk addled floor burner of the highest quality. One Sided and comes hand stamped with the PPU logo.

Review: Few disco and boogie DJs can boast record collections deeper than the one owned by Superior Elevation chief Tom Noble. It's this access to obscure, little-known gems that makes his regular re-edit releases so darn checkable. You'll find plenty dusty, rare revisions on the Brooklyn-based digger's latest EP for Razor 'N' Tape. Exhibit A: the low-slung, dub disco-goes-Latino flex of "They Came To New York", which exhibits a similar sonic space to early '80s heroes Konk. Also impressive is the high octane, jazz guitar-powered Afro-disco brilliance of "Disco Massamba", and "Parang-A-Teng", a chant-along tropical disco workout rich in heavy bass, delay-laden piano stabs and woozy female vocals. We haven't a Scooby what records he's been playing around with, but the resultant reworks are ace.

Review: Another superb afrofunk outing from Renata Do Valle's Hello Sailor as he and Tom Noble dig deep and apply a little cosmic edit craft. Marthe Zambo's horn-tooting, key-tickling soul gun "Alu" gets a little tempo touch, a thrust in the kick department and a lavish synth solo breakdown. Meanwhile on the B the latent funk and insistent swing of Nigerian legend Sonny Okosuns' "My Ancestors" is given a perfect and respectful lick of contemporary production paint and a little cosmic polish. Hello indeed.