Compilation Recommendations May 2011

Review: What's perhaps most impressive about this latest installment of Fabric's peerless mix series is its unashamedly upbeat nature. Agoria has rarely been one to celebrate techno's darkest depths, but even by his standards Fabric 57 is pretty celebratory. While the tracklist itself is impressive - Carl Craig, Space Dimension Controller, Moritz Von Oswald, Cottam, Sydenham and Claussel etc - it's the positive air and all-round gorgeousness of the grooves that really hits home. There are thunderous dancefloor moments, sure, but these nestle side by side with genuine jazz excursions, the blues of Ella Fitzgerald, deep afro-house and snaking, MDMA-friendly synth pop. The result is an impressive mix that will surprise, delight and inspire in equal measure.

Review: Following its initial, limited-edition release in 2011, copies of this sparkling mix of forgotten, mid '80s Italo from Danish digger Flemming Dalum has been changing hands for upwards of L30 on Discogs. Here it gets a deserved repress, allowing skinflints everywhere the chance to bask in its tongue-in-cheek glory. Dalum is something of a synthesizer fetishist, and here he celebrates the appregiated basslines, sparkling stabs and Fairlight-ish chords that were such a feature of Italo between 1984 and '87. In typical Flemming style, few of the records are well known, even in Italy, but that's half the fun. And as the title hints, Italo Good Times is most definitely fun.

Review: For the penultimate installment of their usually excellent mix series, the team behind Frankfurt club Robert Johnson has decided to "keep it in the family". So, instead of a flowing, all-action mix from a jet-setting international star, we get an unmixed, cassette mixtape style selection from the club's veteran resident DJ, former Playhouse boss Ata. It's an interesting approach. While it could easily fail, the quality of music on offer - an entertaining mixture of vintage Italo, oddball electronic disco, German dub-funk (Grauzone's "Raum"), club-friendly new-wave synth-pop, freestyle and forgotten Factory favourites (the brilliant "Atom Rock" by Quando Quango) - more than makes up for any shortcomings.

Review: 2009's M+M Sessions Volume One was undoubtedly one of the most essential disco/electrofunk compilations of recent times. Over the course of two discs, it brilliantly chronicled the productive studio partnership of celebrated NYC engineers and mixers John Morales and Sergio Munzibai. No disco collection was complete without it. Naturally, hopes are high for this second instalment. This time round, Morales (the sole survivor of the M+M partnership) has dug even deeper, dusting down previously unreleased versions of some lesser-known disco bangers. For disco completists, then, The M+M Sessions Volume 2 is a more exciting prospect than its predecessor. With 18 strong tracks to choose from - a number featured in both vocal and instrumental formats - picking highlights is tricky. It's perhaps no surprise that some of the real stand-out moments come from Leroy Burgess-related projects - see the deliciously dubbed-out take on the Fantastic Aleems' "Get Down Friday Night", the uplifting "Hooked On Your Love" (another Fantastic Aleems cut) and Logg's "Dancing In The Stars". There's a whole heap of Salsoul-related goodies, including Morales' soon-to-be definitive version of Inner Life's brilliant "Caught Up (In A One Night Love Affair)". Oh, and a couple of quite remarkable, previously unreleased dubs of vocal disco anthems. Well and truly essential.

Review: More from the Roller Disco reissue series, as Intergalactic Gary's tongue-in-cheek tribute to the joys of camp '80s synthesizer music gets a deserved repress. For the uninitiated, Intergalactic Gary is a Hague-based synth fetishist and notorist Italo digger. Here, he showcases a tiny fraction of his unrivalled collection of (largely European) synth-pop and disco oddities, mixing up 19 tracks that will be new to all but the most dusty-fingered of collectors. Original copies still fetch relatively high amounts on Discogs, so this reissue is perfect for those without the means and dedication to cop the hit. More importantly, it's also a brilliantly enjoyable mix

Review: For clubbers of a certain age, Patrick Forge remains something of a hero. Ever since the rare groove days of the 1980s, the London record collector turned selector has been turning people on to brilliant, soul, jazz, funk, Latin and Afro music. Here, he offers up another revealing selection of forgotten, slept-on and little-known gems for Japanese label ESP. For those with a passion for positive music, highlights come thick and fast, from the sweet disco-jazz of Pleasure and gospel disco of Aretha Franklin to the rubbery grooves of Angela Bofill, lazy soul of Lava and end-of-night sensuality of Mellaa + Co's "Be Free". Nothing short of essential.

Review: "For those DJs who prefer the ""big room"" end of house music, Strictly Rhythm's Strictly 4 DJs series is always a safe bet. Certainly, the combination of DJ-friendly, unmixed format and two discs of big Strictly Rhythm tunes and remixes is hard to ignore. Sure, Strictly may not be the groundbreaking force it once was, but they rarely fail when it comes to tunes designed to rock big dancefloors. That's certainly the case here, as the Defected-owned imprint offers up classic-sounding NY grooves (Quentin Harris), sax-laden funky house (Alias Rhythm), impeccable deepness (Ben Westbeech as remixed by Deetron), twisted electro-house (Groovenatics) and even a cheeky remix of an old Strictly classic (Ramon Tapia's chunky rub of Sir James' ""Special""). "

Review: It's hard to imagine what minimal techno artists like Gary Beck and Spain's Paco Osuna are doing on a Defected compilation. However, Beck's contributions display none of his usual white knuckle fury, and the rolling grooves of "Hands in Mine" and "Get Down" are full of seductive vocals and filters. The same can be said of Osuna's collaboration with Daniel Sanchez, a deep, summery groove propelled by a sexy filter. There are darker moments on this compilation, like Riva Starr's own bleepy, analogue version of Cajmere's "Percolator", but in the main, it focuses on the style favoured by Osuna, Beck and the ivory tinkling, jazzy nuanced tracks from Guti & Dubshape, Santos and Deniz Kurtel.

Review: Despite operating around the fringes of Chicago's electronic music scene for 15 years - and releasing a whole heap of genuinely impressive, forward-thinking records - this is the first official mix album from the Mathematics camp. Fellow Chicagoan Daryl Cura is the man at the controls, laying down a one-take vinyl-only mix that touches on many of Mathematics disparate themes. So, over the course of a spellbinding hour we get piano-laden downtempo beats (Bocca Grande), future space-disco (Les Aeroplanes), Metro Area on smack (Audio Atlas), touchy-feely techno (Alessandro Izzo, Marcelo Napoletano), sprightly synthscapes (Vagon Brei), far-sighted floor fillers (John Heckle) and indispensible tech-jazz (Gentl3man).

Review: In recent years, we've become accustomed to disco compilations appearing at a furious rate. While many of these compilations are undoubtedly worthy of attention, the volume of releases can sometimes be bewildering. This 15 track mixed election from Al Kent, the second in his Disco Love series, ticks all the right boxes, however. Even by the highest crate digging standards, these tracks are pretty obscure; many won't have had much of an airing since their original release. Those into the rich, soulful side of disco - that brand of string-laden dancefloor material most associated with the Philadelphia International label and studio -will find much to enjoy. Perhaps the most noteworthy is Scarborough's delightfully sweet "Make Love To You", an epic of biblical proportions that lasts longer than most drunken one night stands. See also Valerie Simmons' supersweet "I Can't Make It On My Own" and the rousing orchestral manouvres of "I've Got The Need".

Review: Swedish DJ/producer Avicii steps up to the decks for this second annual instalment of Strictly Miami, the WMC-themed series from New York's most famous house imprint. In keeping with Strictly's recent rebirth as a purveyor of breakdown-heavy big room house, Avicii largely sticks to the tried and tested, laying down two discs of chunky beats, electronic riffery and sneaky vocals. Dennis Ferrer, Quentin Harris, Bob Sinclair, Moguai, Barbara Tucker, Erick Morillo and Richard Grey all deliver memorable moments, while rising star Eddie Thoenick breathes new life into old Strictly Rhythm classic "Witch Doctor" by Armand Van Helden. File under "big".