Back catalogue: Disco/Nu-Disco

Review: Edits don't come any more legendary than these highly sought after (and barely/if-ever pressed) extensions from the veritable don that is Danny Krivit. Bringing the dance magic out of any record and fuelling our focus on the most essential element of the original's groove, each of these edits is a schooling in version science from the lavish emotions of his "Runaway" to the epic, DJ secret weapon percussion frenzy at the end of "Victorious". Essential.

Review: There was one irrepressible Chicago club act that refused to be replaced by any DJ's sound system. Soul septet Maxx Traxx (and Third Rail before them) commanded a scene unto themselves in the early 80s, playing live five-plus nights a week somewhere in the 312. Their two LPs, both recorded in 1982, are a sheer energy-ride almost too explosive to be captured by studio tape. And yet these two stone-cold classics would remain unanswered by a city, as it moved determinedly toward the motorik sound of house. Hop the turnstile and move with this complete document of Chicago's last great club band told in detailed text, newly revealed photos and complete studio recordings painstakingly remastered.

Review:  "It's not really house, more electronica - like a proper album," John Talabot said of this album. . It's an apt description. Fin is clearly rooted in house - and the kind of melody-driven, atmospheric tackle that the Barcelona-based producer excels at - but it's certainly not a dancefloor-focused set. There are off-kilter downtempo moments, slo-mo compositions and twisted beatscapes that recall the impossible-to-pigeonhole antics of Hyetal (circa "Broadcast"), Sepalcure and Instra:mental. Then there's closer "So Will Be Now" (one of two collaborations with Pional), a near-genius chunk of future garage/deep acid house fusion that's so beautiful it almost hurts. As transformations go, Fin is stunning.

Review: By now, most should know Gloria Ann Taylor's "Deep Inside of You", a sublime chunk of rare disco-soul that's been reissued several times in recent years. Fewer will be familiar with Taylor's other work in the same period for the similarly obscure Selector Sound label, which is gathered together on this fine compilation. Evocative, tear jerking and largely heavily orchestrated in the "wall of sound" production style of Phil Spector, the heart-aching songs benefit greatly from Taylor's fragile but forthright vocal style. Ironically, the finest single moment - "Deep Inside of You" aside - is also the most sparse and bluesy: the near perfect "Burning Eyes". "Love Is A Hurting Thing" sold out when it first appeared in stores in 2015, so this reissue is bound to be popular. Don't sleep.

Review: It was only last year Lewis Taylor returned after 18 years with the warmly received NUMB. As an unconventional spirit within the modern British soul scene, he's always pursued his own path whether recording in the late 80s as Sheriff Jack or working with Gnarls Barkley. In 2002, in the wake of a deal with Island Records, he struck out on his own with two-part psychedelic soul opus Stoned, and here we get a reissue of Stoned - Part II laid down on wax for the very first time courtesy of Be With. If you have a thing for blue-eyed soul as well as Shuggie Otis' dreamy approach to songwriting and instrumentation, you're going to love this record.

Review: Many will know Teaspoon & The Waves' incredible 'Oh Yeh Soweto' - a brilliant Afro-disco riff on Lamont Dozier's 'Going Back To My Roots' that has appeared on countless compilations and re-edit releases over the years - but fewer have heard the rest of the tracks on the South African band's incredible 1977 debut album (in part because original copies are rather hard to find). To those people, we'll say this: check out this Mr Bongo reissue right now! Blending Afro-jazz with jazz-funk, soul, deep funk and disco, every single track is a winner, with highlights including the celebratory 'Friday Night', the dazzling, duelling solos and heavy percussion of 'Saturday Express' and the life-affirming brilliance of 'Got Me Tight'.

Review: Known for their cover versions - having re-read Sly Stone, Plastic Bertrand, Les Chats Sauvages, and many more over the years - Telex managed to tread a fine line between comedy and innovation. Focusing heavily on a lo-fi synthesised sound, the Belgian alt-poppers would use plenty of humour in their work, but never allowed this to outshine or overshadow the musicality of it all. Released in 1980, Neurovision is a case in point. According to the band, this was their tongue-in-cheek entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, for which they were chosen as representatives for their home country in the same year. Deliberately banal lyrics, mostly referring to the competition itself, married to the glittering wonder of a proto-electronic soundtrack, mark it as a work of bold daring and a little genius. Sadly, it failed to secure them last place in the tournament, as they hoped, forcing them to settle for 17 out of 19.

Review: The album that everybody is talking about. 'Sexuality' is produced by Sebastien Tellier, alongside Daft Punk's half Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo.

Review: He's taken his time, but finally Norwegian nu-disco legend Todd Terje has delivered a debut album befitting his immense talents. While there are plenty of examples of his vibrant, synth-heavy dancefloor style on It's Album Time - see "Delorean Dynamite", "Inspector Norse", "Strandbar" and the Lindstrom-ish grandiosity of "Oh Joy" - what really makes it such an essential set are the curious turns and oddball moments. Samba, jazz and easy listening get the Terje treatment on "Alfonso Muskedunder", "Leisure Suit Proben" and "Svensk Sas", while there's a welcome dose of wide-eyed Balearica on the tweaked "Swing Star" (one of a string of previously released cuts on the album). Most interesting of all, though, is "John & Mary", a woozy, Roxy Music style cover of a Robert Palmer classic featuring the effervescent Bryan Ferry.

Review: Rose Robinson's debut album as Tigerbalm, 2022's International Love Affair, was a genuinely glorious affair in which she wrapped indigenous instrumentation and all manner of global music influences around grooves rooted in cosmic disco, nu-disco, proto-house, Italo and Balearic beats. This palette of influences once again comes to the fore on this remixed version, which boasts some of her favourite artists rework tracks from the LP. It's all killer, no filler - as the old saying goes - with our picks including Session Victim''s percussive deep house fix of 'Cocktail D'Amore', Isaac Soto's devilishly dubbed-out interpretation of 'La Brisa', a hybrid jazz-funk/Balearic soul re-build of 'Cosmic Camel' by Mystic Jungle, and a predictably proto-house leaning vocal interpretation of 'Tokyo Business' by Andrew Meecham AKA The Emperor Machine.

Review: 'Available Forms' is the latest masterwork of the musical project Tobor Experiment, led by Giorgio Sancristoforo, an Italian sound artist and music software designer based in Milan. Active since 2007, Sancristoforo's work has largely centred on highly technical odysseys in avant-disco, exploring surreal takes on the ambivalent promises made by the tide of technological advancement, channelled into a that has been described, perhaps quite cleverly, as 'moogsploration'. Coming after a 12-year hiatus on gatefold LP, Sancristoforo returns to his go-to label Bear Funk for yet another foray into this retro-modernist vision, mixing genre-bent jazz, electronica, nu-disco, and psychedelic influences.

Review: Before finding global fame as the Weather Girls, sometime Sylvester backing singers Izora Armstead and Martha Walsh recorded a couple of albums as Two Tons O Fun. This, their eponymous 1980 debut, is the strongest of the pair and here gets a much-needed reissue. Like many disco albums of the period, it combines up-tenpo, peak-time-ready workouts - some, such as the ace 'Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven', 'I Got The Feeling' and 'Do You Wanna Boogie, Hunh', swim in similar sonic territory to Sylvester, while others such as 'One Sided Love Affair' are more NYC style stompers - alongside smoother, more soulful mid-tempo workouts and sugary slow jams.

Review: The Mellophonia label offshoot Fusion Sequence won us over with its well-presented and great-sounding first EP, and now a quick follow-up does the same. This one is another various artists affair that starts with some nice futuristic robot disco from Vanity Project. There is more organic and lush Balearic from Bobby Bricks and Pacific Coliseum follows that spine-tingling Ibiza sunset vibe. On the flip side, there is everything from late-night electronic house to lazy disco via Sorcerer's blissed out 'Just For Love' which would entrance any dance floor. There's as much quality as there is variation on this one, which makes it a useful EP indeed.

Review: We're prepared to argue with anyone on this, but Universal Robot Band's "Barely Breaking Even" is one of the best boogie-era disco records ever made. Its title was also the inspiration for the name of BBE Records, so it seems fitting that the label's 500th release is an all-star re-recording that brings together NYC house hero Louie Vega and original creators Leroy Burgess and Patrick Adams. Vega delivers vocal and instrumental versions of two distinctive passes: a slick, smooth, soulful and string-laden "Boogie Mix" rich in warm electronics and subtle nods towards the early '80s original, and a rolling "NYC House Remix" full of twinkling Fender Rhodes solos and atmospheric chords. As you'd expect, Burgess' re-recorded vocal is superb.