Juno Recommends Disco March 2019

Review: As one of the driving forces in the irrepressible Faze Action, Robin Lee has more than proven himself in the fields of disco, house and funk over the years. His solo baby, Rudy's Midnight Machine, is increasingly carrying some of his most vital work to date, and this latest transmission on Faze Action is a prime case in point. This is effervescent, '80s-informed groove business of the highest order, leading in with the instrumental boogie delights of "Camera Dans La Nuit" before launching into the jazz funk inflections of "Une Vie Elegante." "La Cadenza" has a breezy Balearic feel to it, while "Secret Garden" takes things to the most chilled end of the Ibicenco style. "Shifting Sands" is the consummate finishing move, moody and introspective, hopelessly romantic, and subtly funky.

Review: Barbara Lynn (b. 1942) is an American rhythm and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for her 1962 R&B chart-topping hit, "You'll Lose a Good Thing". Her highly sought after 1976 song "Movin' On A Groove" gets a much needed repress here from London's Soul Brother, with the funky "Disco Music" featured on the flip. The title track is a soul anthem for those who know, and it's been sold for extortionate prices on the second-hand market but thanks to Soul Brother you can finally get a copy for a reasonable price! A very strong 45 release for DJs and collectors alike.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Best may be best known for jazz and disco reissues, but they're also dab hands at unearthing forgotten gems from the annals of Italian deep house too. The Countach were last seen in active service back in 1990, dropping just two singles but making sure they were bona fide classics. "Aqua Marina" has plenty of lashings of jazz funk rubbed into its loins, not least on the "Sweet Dream Version". The "Paradise Version" nudges the key of the club mixes and ramps up the reverb, and then the "Original Studio Version" switches up the mood with an organic, live band groove on this crucial 12".

Review: Lexx and company's Phantom Island imprint has yet to release a duff 12" since springing up back in 2014. Their latest limited edition EP marks the debut of Fuga Ronto, a project birthed by two of the label's four co-founders, Ron Shiller (he of Drumpoet Community fame) and DJ Foster (AKA Tobias Schweizer). Predictably, the five tracks on offer are woozy, Balearic affairs that draw influence from the more humid, horizontal and new age-influenced end of 1980s European synth-pop. Some may draw comparisons with Franco-Belgian outfit Antena (they of "Camino Del Sol" fame), while others will point to Dunkelziffer as a clear inspiration. Whatever the various influences, the Invisible Escape EP is stunningly beautiful and exquisitely produced.

Review: It's been a while since Eddie C last donned his riding gloves and polished his helmet, the best part of a year in fact, but here he is cruising fashionably late into the year with his first release of 2019; "Think (About It)" celebrates the surging 80s soul and production finesse of Rockie Robbins while the B-side nudges us gently towards much balmier climes with undulating twists and turns of Balearic-meets-Latin funk by way of Earl Klugh's "Hot Hands". And he's not talking about the riding gloves...

Review: The Athens of the North label is a blessing for those whose tastes in soul, funk, disco and boogie tend towards the obscure and ludicrously hard-to-find. Their latest re-issue fits into both categories. Seemingly the only single they ever released, "Confrontation" came out in 1981 on Arista but copies have since proved incredibly hard to find; so hard, in fact, that original 7" singles now change hands online for nearly L300. The title track, produced by A Taste of Honey's Perry Kibble, is brilliant, though, delivering a soulful, heartfelt disco-funk jam full of smooth backing vocals, bubbling clavinet lines and deliciously righteous horns.

Review: Originally released in 1979 as a B-side to The Neville Brother's "Sweet Honey Dipper", "Dance Your Blues Away" saw Ivan go solo for the first time on this sultry modern soul jam. Laced with a plucky bass and just the right smattering of sleaze, it set the foundations for Ivan's extensive solo career. It also provides the perfect groove tools for The Mighty Zaf to work his editor craft and beef up the vibe with subtlety. Keep on dancing!

Review: Steel City Connection were not, as the name might suggest, an unlikely disco act from Sheffield, but rather a heavyweight combo from the American equivalent, Pittsburgh, who released a sole, now highly sought-after private-press single way back in 1978. "Steel City Disco" has long been regarded as a "holy grail" amongst collectors of rare disco, hence this essential reissue from Kalita Records. The title track is certainly something of a beast - an inspired fusion of disco-funk tropes, spiraling Latino horns, jazz-funk style male harmony vocals and sustained organ chords that will wind their way through your subconscious. Excitingly, the flipside boasts a previously unreleased extended version of the similarly fine workout "Dansation".

Review: Last year, Marcel Vogel dusted down his Em Vee edit alias for the first time in three years, serving up a tasty four-pack of reworks for OYE's ongoing Edits series. It clearly inspired him to make more reworks, because now he's popped up on Razor-N-Tape with another fine selection of scalpel revisions. He begins by reworking a tongue-in-cheek chunk of disco silliness rich in spacey Moog lines and wonky vocals ("You Move Me"), before tweaking and rearranging a superb chunk of Latin-tinged tropical disco ("Spreading Energy"). "Don't Be Sabi Say" is a high-tempo chunk of Afrobeat/Afro-disco fusion full of ear-catching Nigerian vocals and bustling electric piano riffs, while "I Wish I Knew The Words" is a cheeky revision of an obscure Japanese synth-boogie number.

Review: More stellar rearrangements from scalpel-wielding Light Touches supremo Andrea 'Passenger' Di Maggio, whose approach to the humble re-edit sticks closely to the founding principles of disco-era reel-to-reel rework legends such as Danny Krivit and Francois Kevorkian. Top of the list is A-side "Flashed", where Passenger makes merry with a groovy, low-slung AOR disco-funk number rich in blue-eyed soul vocals, layered Clavinet lines and nagging electric guitar motifs. Over on side B, "Changes" offers up some slightly heavier (and undeniably spacey) disco-funk/funk-rock fusion, while "Do" is a leisurely, arguably Balearic cosmic rock number complete with sleazy sax solos, hazy vocals and tactile synthesizer motifs.

Review: Super Disco Edits add more fire to their Grand Union series with two never-before-released brit funk cuts recorded in Birmingham in 1980. One four-hour session, and nary a rehearsal beforehand, this is the sound of a young Midlands four piece just jamming and pulling the vibe together effortlessly. Vocals on "Jazz Dancin'" come courtesy of Jaki Graham, who was previously in the Paul Hardcastle produced act Kiss The Sky. With her late entering vocals and that sublime flute line, it's criminal this release never saw the light of day at the time.

Review: Disco Halal's latest release pairs boss man Moscoman with Ukranian producer The Organism - last seen releasing on Dushe in 2014 - for a four-track trip into Middle Eastern cosmic disco/electronic house fusion. The whole EP is as heady and intoxicating as you'd expect it to be, with title track "Rite" - all druggy, hypnotic synth-bass, delay-laden tribal percussion hits, gravelly scat vocals and mind-altering electronics - brilliantly setting the tone. The accompanying Disco Halal remix re-casts it as an off-kilter chunk of Turkish electrofunk/cosmic disco fusion, while flipside opener "Chumbai" is a suitably psychedelic and trippy slab of exotic nu-disco. Closer "Rubab", meanwhile, is jackin' Arabic house with added Middle Eastern rave stabs. Really.

Review: Classic boogie-down antics for those that know on this wonderful old school production by short lived outfit Hipnotic. Alongside the wondrous rarity that is "Are You Lonely?", it also comes with four new interpretations of the much loved and sought-after funk fuelled gem. First up, Stockholm legend Peter Major aka Opolopo delivers his usual style of magic featuring an amazing bassline and slick neon-lit production style. Legend Greg Wilson is joined by Che Wilson to deliver smooth and lo-slung rework, while Scottish disco hero The Revenge does his usual slo-mo thang, before Midnight affiliated Yam Who? goes back to the program with his respectful edit.

Review: Mystic Jungle Tribe leader Dario di Pace won plenty of praise for last year's "Night Of Cheetah" album, which offered up a range of leftfield boogie, jazz-funk and synth-disco cuts built around the producer's love of vintage equipment and real musicianship. This time round, there's a little more up-front dancefloor flavour, though the obsession with spacey synths and loved-up musicality remains. We're particularly enjoying the spacey proto-house flex of EP opener "Jurakan" and the clicking, synth bass-propelled intergalactic boogie business of "Tropics of Capricorn", but the standard remains impressively high throughout. If you're in the mood for something a little slower and more Balearic, "Parisienne" is a must-listen.

Review: One of the Fatback Band's most celebrated cuts gets the reissue treatment. The A-side is dedicated to the band's two "original" versions from 1975, with the hard to find, previously promo only "Special Disco" mix - a wonderfully percussive, low-slung affair guaranteed to create pandemonium on dancefloors - being accompanied by the breezier, solo-heavy album version. On side B, there's a chance to savour Joey Negro's brilliant remix from a couple of years back, a ground-up, multi-track re-build that sees the veteran disco and house producer make merry with the band's sweaty percussion and hot-to-trot instrument solos. There's also a brilliant bonus in the shape of a "Beats" style mixing tool in which the Z Records founder brilliantly layers up heavy disco drums and head-mangling Latin style percussion.

Review: Disco Fruit head honcho Tonbe returns to his own label with more of the addictive, feel-good vibes he's become so well known for. "Make It Last Forever" is a string laden, emotionally charged shuffler with sweet vocals that sound like they could belong to house titan Robert Owens. "Get Loose" places the emphasis on a cheeky piano line that will have you strutting and finger waving with abandon, while "Gem Picker" gets deep on the choppy drums and smooth jazz samples. "Rough" is a seriously funky number, oozing warmth and soul to set your party off in all the right ways.

Review: London based Tropical Disco is run by Sartorial (Alex Sartori) and Moodena (Tim Burnett) and in a short time they have built up their project to be one of the go-to labels for quality repurposed disco, soul, funk and jazz. They're back on wax for this edition with 3 summer-ready cuts. Uplifting opener "Key Me Up" and sexy dancefloor explosion "Dumplings Over Flowers" which features a mad brass section take the A side while on the flip, they call upon Sould Out who gets properly lo-slung on the dirty late-night groove "Vamos Baby!" before the label heads come together to deliver the feel good, jazzy closer "Come Get It".

Review: Mexican label Calypso have thus far released some choice original material from the likes of Aristidez, Colossio, Thomass Jackson and more, but now they're firing up a new line that focuses on edits from a varied cast of characters. "Correcciones Calypso" starts with the sizzling heat of Tyu's "Meneo," a clamouring drum workout with chanting, heavy cowbells and a bubbling acid undercurrent. Inigo Vontier's "Justus" is a brittle, industrial-tinged drama that keeps building without ever losing the all-important tension and release. Plot Pilot heads skywards with "Knock Around," which sends strafing synth lines darting across the mix, and then Serial Experiments deconstructs "Industry Works," coming on like an On-U Sound electro record falling apart at the seams.

Review: Pure Italian disco funk from the late 70s: deep digging selector Beppe Loda curates the first of a series of cult spaghetti disco smoochers and heaters. Decadent, lavish in groove sensibility, playful and setting the foundations for the Italo sound that would refine and become more sophisticated, each cut screams party: The Blaxploitation movie score style OTT funk of "BBLSST", the dreamy freeform narrative of Bus Connection's "Skateboard", the pure sleaze of Sweet Company's "Life (Thank You Harvey)", the relentless guitar twangs and poppy vocals of N Cassini's "Passaporto Per La Follia"... The expectation and hype for the next volume!

Review: The Apersonal crew offer up a selection of varied, on-point edits that reflect the wider scope of what the label is all about. Trujillo is up first, taking Robbie Ellington's "Don't Cry" to emotive new heights, before Cisco Cisco have some fun with the "Shaft" theme tune. The Portuguese duo fly in some cosmic flourishes to shape out the dancefloor prowess of this timeless crowd pleaser. KMA tackles "Storm" by Rare Silk, stretching out the illustrious instrumental flow of this dreamy Balearic roller to become a thing of beauty. With respectful approaches to the source material and enough personality in their styles to make it a worthwhile exercise, the Apersonal crew excel themselves on this release.

Review: The mighty Cherrystones originally dropped the crackling party heat of "Blood, Campari & Sand" on his own Bandcamp page, and now he's doing the right thing and committing it to wax via Duca Bianco. It's a vital, funk-rooted jam that revolves around dusty drum licks and piano, as badass as it is considered. "Meta Weta on the flip is equally cool in its execution, this time using some uneasy synth pulses that reverberate between the laconic step of the beat. Drawing on library music, Giallo and deep-digging grooves from the outer reaches, Cherrystones once again demonstrates his knack for off-kilter tackle to get the freakier party set moving in approval.

Review: Fire in the hole! The legendary Les Inferno returns on tasty Roman funk empire Samosa with four more salubrious shakedowns. "Making Me Sweat" lives up to its name with its tightly coiled guitar/horn looping chuggery before "Doin' It" brings in the sleaze by the dollop. Flip for the conga-led ivory burning romp "Dude Piano" before we get all sandy-toed and Balearic on the subverted glass of ice cold OJ that is "Ahmed Love". Feel the heat.

Review: Duca Bianco's 7" series continues with aplomb following Cherrystones' essential drop, and this time esteemed German DJ and producer Tom Bolas is at the controls for two more heady trips into the far flung corners of funk. On the A side he drops the loose and limber "Kangham Funk," which bends and wobbles around liquid guitar lines, bugging synths and dreamy Oriental vocals. "Senopati Punk" is not a three-chord riot as the title might suggest, but rather a subtly noirish synthwave delight fronted by another striking female lead vocal. Two sides that complement each other even as they say very different things, but both aimed squarely at the eclectic groove-hunting crowd.

Review: UK label G.A.M.M. are back with label staple Simbad (aka SMBD), whose work and music has built him a solid reputation worldwide, making him a very sought after producer and DJ. On his newest offering, we hear him serving up some surefire edits of classics to those that know. On the A side, a resplice of the Sun Ra classic "Space Is The Place" (SMBD Gospel Shakedown) which hones in on the core of this timeless jam's infectious groove, plus some some additional touches. On the flip, he turns his deft hand to the romantic soul number "We Need Love" by Elder Jeffrey Roberson & The New Life Singers, blessing us with a life-affirming edit.

Review: Bristol's Alfresco Disco crew welcome a new producer into the fold emerging from the underground of their home town. As you would expect from the outdoor-oriented lot, this is gorgeous, sample-heavy house music that pines for open air dancefloors and balmy temperatures. Remotif sounds utterly confident sweeping the filters across the hazy "Warmer Still," and then leaps forward even further with the fabulous disco carnival sass of "The Golden Hour." "No Bones About It" is a smooth, smoky affair that nods to the legacy of Moodymann and jazz-inflected Detroit house, while "If & When" rounds the EP off on a blissful, heart-melting harp-led reverie.