Disco Recommendations November 2016

Review: Pete Herbert and Phil Mison's Reverso 68 project is hard to beat when it comes to classically-informed disco, Balearic and house music, having shored up on Eskimo, and Is It Balearic? in the past. It's been some time since they dropped fresh productions of their own, so this new four-tracker comes as a welcome injection of seasoned, high-end grooves for the slow but heavy part of the night. "Piece Together" is a natural opening gambit, letting acid basslines rub up against delayed strafes of synth and subtle guitar chops in the most grooving of ways. It's set the perfect tone for the rest of the EP to follow, guaranteeing this 12" a place in scores of bags.

Review: "Lescudjack" is one of the finest moments in Michael Chapman's epic discography. Originally featured on 1978's "Life On The Ceiling" album, the instrumental track melded the British guitarist's distinctive finger picking style with throbbing synthesizer lines and heavy space rock influences. Famously a favourite of Daniele Baldelli, and a long-standing secret weapon of Kosmiche-minded DJs, Chapman's peerless original version is joined here by a brilliant Lexx edit that subtly extends it into a more dancefloor-friendly version, with a longer opening build-up, a tasty drum break in the original, and a deliciously dubbed-out conclusion.

Review: With his star most definitely in ascendance, Mehmet Aslan brings his Turkish tones to his own Fleeting Wax label with some assistance from Dario Rohrbach on the anthemic, big room burner "Gazel". It's the kind of dramatic twist on house music that will inspire a fevered reaction from the floor, respectfully channeling exotic tropes while retaining a necessary functionality. Meanwhile Rohrbach's collaborative project Alma Negra resides on the B-side with the more delicate, North African simmer of "In The Beginning", tapping into the tradition of transcendental music in an engrossing fashion. Both sides represent the thrill to be found in crossing over ethnic music with Western club tropes.

Review: The work of obscure, conscious funk outfit Africano has previously proved popular with reissue labels, in part due to the rare nature of their original 1970s releases. This limited 7" single features two of their finest tracks: the fairly well known "Open Your Heart", and 1973's "Satisfactorize Your Mind". While the latter is a string-drenched treat that feels like a dustier, slightly more psychedelic take on the Philadelphia International sound, it's "Open Your Heart" that most impresses. Featuring urgent, passionate vocals, winding horn lines and a stomping funk-soul beat, it remains the outfit's finest moment bar none.

Review: Joe Clausell began this project in 2005 and still it keeps giving. An evocative fusion of afrofunk and disco inspiration, most of us assumed his decade's work had culminated last year with the album Makussa. We were wrong; this year he's delivered a series of heavily requested extensions, this beautiful slice of string-surged disco being the most recent. The extra two minutes are exactly what the DJ needs for a much roomier groove that allows the salubrious elements to really strut; the shimmering guitar, the strident strings, the insatiable afro-infused drums. Just when we thought the original couldn't be topped... We were wrong. Again!

Review: T.K Disco's 21st century re-edit series continues, with Danny Krivit providing fresh scalpel reworks of classic tracks from the legendary Miami label's archives. On the A-side, the New York legend gets busy with Voyage 1977 single "Lady America", making merry with the headline-grabbing piano riffs, vibraphone solos and hustling, dance-all-night groove. Arguably even better is Krivit's rub of the same band's "Point Zero", a sweaty, chant-infested Afro-disco stomper. Krivit wisely focuses on the French outfit's fantastically dense and percussive groove, emphasizing the intoxicating, chanted vocals, darting Clavinet lines and crunchy Afro-funk guitars.

Review: Already busy popping up on the first release for Power Cuts, Jonny 5's productivity is going through the roof right now as he returns to Bahnsteig 23. The swooning mood is hard to argue with on "Deja Vu" as spacey toms pop away over impeccable slap bass, strutting on towards a truly soul stirring peak. Compared to such smooth tones, "Miami Slice" is a startling, abrasive confection full of scratchy samples and discordant vocals, layered up with a fearless imagination that pushes the record into exciting new territory. "Slow Bodies" reins things back in with a dubby, arpeggio powered jam that sits easy on the ears while still marking a strong step forward for an increasingly busy producer.

Review: Nobody makes groovy, slo-mo dancefloor shufflers quite like Italy's LTJ Experience. Over the last decade, he's trademarked a head nodding, loop fuelled style all of his own. This EP for Irma CasaDiPrimordine is his third of 2016, and contains another trio of loopy, slowly unfurling beauties. First up, he gets deep into the groove on "People$", a hazy and intoxicating funk-soul revision built around twinkling electric piano loops, urgent vocal samples and glistening guitars. Like the best of his work, it gently increases in energy throughout the track's nine-minute duration. On the flip, you'll find the Soundstream style loop jam "Hit Groove", and the bouncy, vocal-heavy soul revision "I Need It Constantly".

Review: Snacks last appeared on Magic Jams back in 2014, and it's with absolute joy that we welcome back the artist's music onto our charts via this new single for House Of Disco Records. Sweet, sunset vibes emanate from every angle of "Burnin'", and "Matinee" follows suit with a funky little stepper complete with roaring bass and glorious vocal samples from the disco era. The flipside features "Deep Fry", a string-heavy, glitter-bomb nugget, which is accompanied by a deeper, more house-laden Fouk remix. Yes.

Review: Out of the buoyant Melbourne house, disco and edits scene, Power Cuts kicks off as a sublabel of Power Station with label boss Kris Baha joined by some likeminded heads for four varied and generally far out party joints. These are after all eclectic times we live in, and Power Cuts reflects this by veering from Jonny 5's dense and tense "Voices" to the limber Afro inflections of Dreems' "Ahead Temper". Baha himself delivers the industrialized thrust of "Heart Of Foil" and then Otologic finish the record on a jolly note with the charming, synthy delights of "Ballada Kwasu".

Review: Few edit labels have made quite as big an impact with their first release as Disco Bits, whose spring 2016 debut sold out in record time. This follow-up, featuring authentic scalpel reworks from the mysterious DJ S and DJ TS, is every bit as essential. Arguably the most headline-grabbing edit is a tasteful extension of Alicia Myers' oh-so-short, end-of-night classic "I Want To Thank You", which is almost doubled in length. Arguably almost as impressive is their wild, solo-heavy rearrangement of BT's slap-bass wielding killer "Tighten It Up", though the cowbell-laden interpretation of lesser-known disco-funk bumper "Disco Power" is equally vibrant. The glistening disco sweetness of "Let's Do It Again" completes a fine package.

Review: Originally operating in the 80s industrial scene, Plus Instruments have recently found a new lease of life. (Emotional) Especial are just the kind of label to jump on such deviant club fare, and on this package "Love Is Enough" gets a variety of remixes that all embrace the groups seedy ambience. Richard Sen brings a muscular thrust to the track, while Khidja takes a more delicate approach. Luke Solomon meanwhile casts his years of experience in oddball house on his steady grooving version, and then Jamie Paton taps into the industrial vein to finish the package off in fine style.

Review: Infamous Parisian afterparty Discomatin update the edit series they launched earlier this year with another clutch of beautifully modified obscurities. Once again we're treated to the full spread as the collective lay down the sunny side grooves: "Show Me" is a brilliantly kitsch moment in disco with spoken word that guarantees dancefloor humour. "I Need To Meet You" whisks us off to the horizon on a yacht while "Le Paradis C'est L'enfer" is an emphatic piece of French electroboogie that's so raunchy it could make Gainsbourg. Finally we hit "Deboto Love Song". A serious end-of-night (or end-of-morning in the case of Discomatin) unity cut, if the harmonies don't have grown men on their knees you're doing it all wrong.

Review: Blast away those gloomy clouds with this wonderful set from the Street Edits clan. Having previously been spotted on Lumberjacks In Hell with Rahaan, it's evident that Sean Sounds knows exactly what he's doing when giving classic funk and disco a tasteful re-rub. "Disco Child" on the B-side is likely the big party starter, but there's grade A soul to be soaked up elsewhere too. "Rock Your Bones" is an especially sunny jam with African flair in its bones, while record closer "Get Up & Party" has a classic 70s Motown feel to it. In the face of overly slick re-edits this is a release with a welcome grittiness to it.

Review: There's an abundance of boogie-infused heat pouring out of Freekwency's latest offering to keep you warm on those cold winter nights. Ale Chambers lays down a smooth, passionate vocal line on the title track before we get treated to some excellent alternative versions. The "First Touch" mix is a buffed up jam that brings the electro funk into a leaner club-ready situation, while Magic Touch and Luvraw work a tougher house thump underneath Chambers' vocal on the B-side. Not content with making a peak time killer out of the original, the pairing also turn in a sublime ambient mix with the drums replaced by swirling, dubbed-out synth lines.

Review: The Shimmy Sham Sham disco edits have gone AWOL for some time, so we couldn't be happier to see them land on our shelves once again, and boy do we love the smell of freshly pressed nu-disco in the morning. We're gonna keep this shit incognito, because that's the way the label would want it, so let's jump straight in: "Track 1" offers a spacey, electronic disco joint that turns a lighthearted 70s vibe into something much more explorative, "Track 2" also injects a subtle layer of oddball electronics into the traditional disco ball format, and "Track 3", surprisingly, manages to blend a fast-paced house groove together with a 50s swing sound. You love them, and they keep pressing them!

Review: Nu-disco does't really do Hysteric's tunes enough justice. The Melbourne-based DJ and producer is not one to shy away from a good sample, or even a little house now and again, so we like to see him as someone who merely produces GOOD dance music. After several appearances on his native Public Possession, as of late, he lands on Violette Szabo for the label's fourth drop, and we have to say that "Amour D'Ete" is a wonderfully charming piece of electronic boogie - fit for any sort of DJ set. On the flip, however, is where Hysteric flaps his wings; "Amoureuse" recalls the romanticism of the 1980's, and the European wave of disco-not-disco that was so strong back them. All in all, a pretty strong appearance from the Aussie lad. Tip!