DJs: Most Charted - Disco - Most Charted August 2016

Review: The Melbourne artist most commonly known as Andras Fox reaffirms his bright light status with a mini-album under a new alias, House Of Dad, which arrives as the debut release on the label of the same name. Fox, real name Andy Wilson, has been in impressive form across a number of projects of late - Andras, A.R.T. Wilson and the Wilson Tanner collaboration with John Tanner among them - and fans of his rich approach to production will delight in this House Of Dad endeavour. Described as an homage to his plumber father, the six tracks veer from Gigi Masin-style piano meanderings to pattering electro workouts and deep house shufflers. Throughout it all, Wilson's measured talent for instrumentation shines through.

Review: Lavish gospel disco action from AOTN: longstanding gospel writer Calvin Bridges gets the 45 salute he deserves with two powerful 1978 flashbacks. Reminded by Floating Points just how relevant and timeless "The Power Of Your Love" sounds, AOTN bossman Fryer has licenced its vibrant, floor-shaking sermon with complete blessing from Bridges himself. "He's Alright", already a staple for Fryer for years, enjoys the coveted b-side status; with its big piano roll intro and gutsy gospel vocal, if there's a bad vibe in sight after dropping this then you're in the wrong job. Mighty.

Review: Not to be confused with Trevor Jackson's covert edit alias of the same name from the mid '90s, Chicago scalpel wielder Leonard Part Sixx brings his Underdog project to New York's finest Razor N Tape for a hefty double pack. "Drum Jawn" sets the bar high, a percussion heavy version of early '80s German curio "Din Dada" by George Kranz that seems geared to set new records for the amount of drum samples used within the space of a track. From here, proceedings veer off down a classicist vocal disco wormhole - blessed with some modern squelches and groove twists from the Underdog - on "Love Is Da Need" before the second platter opens with the brushed honey soul strut of "So Damn Good." Sir Leonard rounds out the double pack with a slab of '80s disco funk in the shape of the heavy flexing "Just Fakin' It."

Review: One-time Witch Doctor "Prins" Emanuel Sundin has shown plenty of promise on his three EPs to date, so hopes are naturally high for this belated debut album. Across two slabs of wax, the producer expands on his loose, organic disco template, drawing on influences including krautrock, kosmiche, Scandolearic disco, dub reggae, calypso, new age, and skewed boogie. It's an entertaining and typically melodious affair, full of instrumental cuts that impressively tiptoe the fine line between Balearic goodness and full-on dancefloor disco. The second record heads further towards downtempo territory, whilst retaining the key musical ingredients of Sundin's ear-pleasing blueprint.

Review: Not just a beautiful compliment to pay someone special, but a hugely influential record that inspired Floating Points' now legendary Plastic People parties, too... A super obscure and expensive one at that. Now re-issued on Floating Points' own Melodies imprint - across three 45s - the Detroit band get full exposure with the deliciously funky main track enjoying two versions before dipping into the softer, more pastoral charms of "I Feel Like Dancing" and the string-led swoon festival, "Theme For Someone Special". We close on two contrasting grooves; an earthy ballad ("Trust Me") and a Whitfield & Strong style funk instrumental ("Dance Awhile"). Cheers Sam!

Review: Heads down as the mysterious Secret Squirrels series returns for an eleventh outing. As usual, they're keeping quiet about the identity of both the source material and the editor (or editors) involved. "Track 1" is something of a proto-house treat, with Fairlight style stabs, bongo hits, and spine tingling piano motifs - accompanied by just the right amount of delay - holding court over a killer electronic bassline. Flip for "Track 2", where more extensive piano solos and riffs do their thing over a post-Italo disco, early house groove. If Giorgio Moroder and Frankie Knuckles had ever got together to make a record, it would sound like this.

Review: VinylAddicted's Editor's Kutz off-shoot continues with four more chugging sun-dappled disco gems. The Silver Rider takes the lead with a massive overhaul of Odyssey's "Don't Tell Me Tell Her" with a whole new set of chunky percussive drums while Marsupials follow with a lush string-based joint that's disco to its rotten sinful core. Flip to find a loopy, filtered twist on Ashford & Simpson as Stereo 12 takes us deep into sexy, slinky pastures with "Da Flow". Finally Napoleon closes the show on a deeper hypnotic flex with the hazy, string-munching "Luv Passage".

Review: Giri & Lentano's Mushroom Project returns to its spiritual home Leng after myriad mystical excursions on labels such as Uber, Horn Wax and Hell Yeah... And it seems they're packing a follow up to their perennial debut Undergrass. If these two tracks are anything to go by, we're in for a treat; "Dirty Bolas" is a dense, percussion-heavy trip with zooming synth lines and a lolloping bassline that refuses to quit. "Sunset Ballad" lives up to its name in every shimmering, guitar-twanging way. Golden.

Review: Daniele Badlelli's Cosmic Temple series reaches its fourth chapter, and as usual the Italian legend is in a typically mixed-up mood. Somewhat surprisingly, opener "Joka Joka" sounds like an Afro-cosmic take on Acid Jazz (think jaunty clavs, Tony Allen rhythms, hearty African vocals and goatee-sporting saxophone solos). On the flip, Baldelli goes back to his roots with the sharp guitar solos, kosmiche synths and metronomic, Italo-disco grooves of "Vhanessa", before pitching things down to minus eight with the outer-space synth chug of "Archetipo". With its' delay-laden drum hits, heady sound effects and killer analogue bassline, it's the closest thing on the EP to the cosmic disco blueprint.

Review: Multitrack wizard The Reflex returns for his second release on Revision Records with two more killer edits. He tackles Marvin Gaye's classic "Gotta Give It Up" giving it the perfect modern revision for modern dancefloors, pretty damn brilliant if we do say so ourselves. On the B side he lends his Midas touch to Serge Gainsbourg's infamous "Sea, Sex & Sun" allegedly three years in the making, this dirty disco funk nugget includes vocals from both the English and French versions. Exclusive to vinyl and previously unreleased, get your hands on this one before you miss your chance as pressings are limited.

Review: The Kat Edits label have scored a real coup here, licensing a pair of tweaks the legend Domu originally committed to a super-rare Japan only CD compilation for the ESP DJ Classics series back in 2009. Domu's always been a classy producer no matter what he turns his hands to and this pair of edits really do deserve to be preserved on the vinyl format - kudos to Kat! Up top, "Love Vibes" by The Emotions is given a slightly upwards pitch adjustment by Domu, with plenty of skilled filtering to boot, whilst the B-side sees Claudia Barry's classic 1978 jammer "Give it Up" is embellished with some extra raunch sauce.

Review: Odion Iruoje aka Sound President was one of Nigeria's top producers in the 1970s and early '80s, but his solo recording career was restricted to just the one release, Down To Earth. Originally released on Iruoje's own label, Odion Ltd, in 1983, it was only ever distributed in small quantities and Soundway Records have given this much needed re-issue. Iruoje is known for having signed the legendary Fela Kuti to major label EMI and acting as his producer throughout the early '70s. Starting out with the proto funk rap cut "Identify With Your Root (Which One You De?)", there's some killer West African boogie-funk-soulfulness on "Ikebe" and some feel good disco vibes; Lagos style on "Love Care".

Review: Since 2014, Moscoman has worked hard to reach the reputation he's at now, and that comes in part to the music he's released on ESP Institute and Cosmo Vitelli's I'm A Cliche. But not simply relying on others to put out his music, Moscoman launched Disco Halal last year which has already notched up a whopping 10 releases, including a reissue of Tony Carey's 1984 album as TCP, which he indulgently remixes three times on this release. Appropriately, Moscoman tackles the album's title-track, shining a spotlight on the production's chorus of vocals, while the "Oasis" remix plays with Italo melodies, subtle middle eastern themes in a producton almost made for a Beverly Hills Cop scene. "A Voice Across The Nile" opens the 12" with a slinky drum track however Moscoman does let a cascading synth open up for some undeniable '80s vibes.

Review: The cover artwork for this third installment in Daniele Baldelli's Cosmic Temple series appears to have been designed by someone under the influence of 1960s strength acid. In many ways, it's fitting, because the music inside is deliciously trippy. Like previous installments in the series, Baldelli is happy to mix things up musically, with the Balearic-inclined Italo-disco dreaminess of A-side "Gandharva" being contrasted by the live-sounding, rock-tinged cosmic disco-funk of "Kosmaro". As for closer "Isotropofunk", it sees Baldelli doing his best Bob James impression, with suitably solid results.

Review: Repress of the sought after Mukatsuku Records 12 containing two remastered tracks of Atlanta musician Ojeda Penn presented here according to Ojeda officially for the very first time.The A side kicks off with the extended holy grail instrumental version of 'Brotherson' taken from the Happiness album. There were two versions of the album Happiness in 1980 on the IFE independent label. They looked almost identical but the first version contained the now rarer elongated 9 & half minute jazz fused instrumental version of 'Brotherson' and then a few months later Penn recut the same album but with a much shorter version of the main track but this time adding strings and vocals assisted by Tommy Stewart from 'Bump N Hustle Music' fame. The former version is now being sold up to 500 dollors so this 180 gram single is a welcome release to the reissue market. Juno copies come in an exclusive branded card sleeve + sticker

Review: Repress of the debut Sofrito Super Singles which celebrates the Afro-disco and boogie scene of South Africa, - where Salsoul meets Soweto. Comes housed in a new look Sofrito house sleeve. The three track EP features Teaspoon & The Waves - led by veteran alto player Teaspoon Ndelu. They released one album in 1980, covering a mix of disco and funk sounds for the SA dancefloors. Oh yeh Soweto is a cheeky version of Lamont Dozier's Going Back To My Roots - changing the lyrics and toughening up the beats, but with the same killer riffs. Saturday Night Special is from the same LP, a spaced out Afro Disco groove with excellent percussion and psychedelic synths, re-edited by the Sofrito team. The B side features a track by the Nzimande Allstars - another mysterious group of session musicians. The drawn out groove of Highway Sporo Disco fuses a heavy disco backing with jive guitar and stellar horns and organ for a unique taste of the underground sound of the Cape.

Review: Marcel Vogel's ever-ready LIH imprint celebrates six years of juicy, sassy, often illicit disco soul with some of the label's best cuts to date. Ideal for filling any holes in your collection, the likes of Uptown Funk Empire's Pharoah Saunders cover "Freedom", Manmademusic's gospel-level "Circles", Eddie C's tweaking, freaking drum funk "What It Is", Stacy and Peven's stuttering funk "Body Jerkin" still slap and tickle just as stylishly and smoothly as they did when Marcel first prised them from the editor's clutches... And still will in 10, 20 or 50 years-time. Proper dancefloor clobber.

Review: The perennially-search-engine-unfriendly Bristol beatman Admin makes his Boogie Cafe debut with this trio of beautifully loose jazz-tinted grooves. Both "Flute Loops" and "Drifting Away" err more on the house side of the spectrum with relaxed, lo-fi drums and humming pads and harmonics that you'd expect to find on Kompakt or perhaps Drumpoet. For an even freer funk sensation jump on "No Problemo". A sprightly jazz breakbeat funk chunklet, if you're aware of Farina's Mushroom Jazz series then you'll be all over this. File in your 'to play' tray.

Review: Jago's 1983 debut single, "I'm Going To Go", is largely regarded as something of an Italo-disco classic. Much of the track's infamy comes not from its' cheery original version or superb instrumental - which makes copious use of reverb and tape delay - but rather from Frankie Knuckles' Plant Mix. The house great's killer proto-house remix was a favourite with dancers at The Warehouse in Chicago, and has been bootlegged numerous times in recent years. Here, it gets an official repress on Dark Entries, alongside Jago's original vocal and instrumental mixes. All three versions are killer, making this 12" an essential addition to any record collection.

Review: From Kon's forthcoming compilation on BBE entitled Kon & The Gang, this 12? sampler features two cuts taken from the LP and an exclusive remix from Boston producer and mix engineer Caserta, namely "Timeless" (Caserta mix)" a tasty serving of super deep and low slung disco goodness. A more functional edit for DJ use follows on "Timeless" (remix - Caserta mix)". On the flip Truccy (better known as Compost's Rainer Truby and Corrado Bucci) present "Closer", a gorgeous slo-mo house jam with a rolling groove fetauring all the good stuff: swirling Rhodes keys, groovy congas and hypnotic vox.

Review: 1982's "Life Without You..." by the Expansives is a longtime italo disco classic, the sort of tune that makes you pass out upon finding it in its original format in one dusty record store bin. However, it's alright, that's not likely to happen because this is as rare as hen's teeth and that is also why the lovely Dark Entries crew have reissued it for us. The original is magical and explorative, a photo house tune with visionary robotic vocals and FX tricks that make you wonder just what sort of stuff Franco Rago, Gigi Farina and X.Monneret were toking up in Italy back in the 80's. That instrumental, too...so highly recommended.