Disco Recommendations November 2013

Review: REPRESS ALERT: With just one 7" release to their name in the form of the 1981 release, Jive Baby On A Saturday Night, the cult of The Jellies was possibly accidentally assured with the long lost song being rediscovered by collectors and championed by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore no less. Picked up and reissued by the stellar Trunk Records in 2010, the B-side cut, however, was sadly overlooked. Now Emotional Rescue are proud to license The Conversation and remaster it especially for this rerelease. Based around a simple drum and bass rhythm, interspersed with crowd noise, playful female vocal yelps and sprinkled with dub effects thrown in to the mix and you wouldn't probably think too much would be going for a track that the band put together in the last two hours of their studio time after Jive Baby had been completed. However, what you get is a killer gem of pop-punk-dub oddness that gets your head nodding to its infectious, repetitive rhythm laden with effects. With just this one (perfect) track available for license it seemed only right to hand it over to the in-house production team, Apophenia, to do their increasingly trademark dubbed out reworking, this time in the form of a true, but respectful "Version" for the flip. With both members of The Jellies sadly now living overseas this piece of early '80s British dub as it were, can now be fully treasured for posterity while also, proving a nice little smokers delight.

Review: This is the third EP (in almost as many years) that sees the Japanese abstract techno duo Cos/Mes revisit their 2007 album Sadistic Skatepark: reversions come from Discodromo (deep chugging Terje style cosmodrama) and Soft Rocks (lullaby-like arpeggios set to a bed of whimsical synth pitch bends and FX) Complementing these is the appearance of Cos/Mes classic "Build The Band" which originally featured as a B Side on a limited 7" released by the High Feelings label. If the slinky slap bass twang-out with added hip-swings and wig-outs sounds familiar it's because the track was a highlight of the classic Live At Robert Johnson mix by Prins Thomas.

Review: The inaugural release from King Of Nothing's ridiculously collectable Star Time edit series, these Chic-shaping jams have been so popular it's been repressed. In case you were asleep, on another planet or unfortunately incarcerated when this first dropped, both "Good Times" and "Everybody Dance" are fully authentic edits, crafted straight from the original master tapes. Beefier drums, more spacious dynamics and some really cool remoulding of the vocal placements, KON has added to Chic's hit-smashing repertoire with subtlety and soul. A must-have.

Review: The artist occasionally known as Simon Rufdug Mcruff Al-Duggleston steps up to the collectable Porn Wax series with two lustful, lingering looks at 80s electronica. "Sorta Rican" is all soft skanks and twinkling keys. Think Ace Of Bass but with added Balearica. "MV Look", meanwhile, is a psychedelic storm where bold blasts of synths overlap like crashing waves on a new beat shore. Mesmerising and masterful, Ruf Dug is one smooth operator.

Review: With the Ableton grasping fad hunters having lone ridden off into the sun set in search of the next bandwagon to saturate, the art of the disco edit has been left in the expert hands of those methods are tried and tested. Chief amongst them is the Disco Deviance label who crank out a thirtieth transmission here, with two long term contributors at the helm in the shape of Pete Herbert and Dicky Trisco. Both "In The Disco Last Night" and "Disco Brothers" will be familiar to the diggers and come with the following glowing recommendation from Disco Godfather Ashley Beedle: "Both cracking renditions and the right amount of gayness ?. Big support!" Nuff said!

Review: Italo all-stars old (Beppe Loda) and new (Mushrooms Project) collide for a highly limited cosmic assault. "Mondo Virtuale" is a chugging analogue steam train that builds on every bar with subtle elements. Wholly immersive, muscular and complex, it's more Nordic in its make up than Italo but boy does it hypnotise. Loda's own "Tesoro" is a much more cinematic composition, full of well measured euphoria. Finally the Discossession remix takes "Tesoro" and gives it a more forthright cosmic funk feel. Cue rocket powered wah wahs, synthetic steel drum sounds and one exceedingly happy dancefloor...

Review: * Lumberjacks repress ** Italian producer Moplen teams up with The Reflex to share a track each on a transparent 10". Both acts re-jig classic disco and rock gems, with Moplen taking to '70s Philadelphian disco quad First Choice and their track "Let No Man Put Us Under", while The Reflex tinkers with The Clash's "Rock The Casbah". Where First Choice's original may be more about people-power and self determination, Moplen gears his remix directly for the dancefloor with re-swung drums, guitars, bass and First Choice's infamous everyday of my life vocal (used to great effect in Sepalcure's 2010 Love Pressure EP). The Reflex boldly revises a Clash classic, with a specifically engineered four-four drum beats dominating his casbah riddum, which is totally rebuilt from the groups original 1982 hit.

Review: Having contributed to Man Make Music's recent under-the-counter Edits 12", the mysterious U returns with a more conclusive demonstration of his/her production capacity with a second 10" release for the label founded by Georgey FitzG and co. Lead cut "I" is based around a pretty darn soulful vocal hook and the way it's edited shows U to be quite the talent. The production work around it is reminiscent of Daphni at times and the overall result is one of those tracks that will immediately grab a dancefloor. Premiered on Pitchfork, B Side cut "Left The Sun Shine In" shows U is eminently capable of more than feel good house music, feeling more like a less introverted Forest Swords track whilst "+1" is a wonderfully fuzzy piano vignette.

Review: Japans 9dw release their first track for Is It Balearic..? Right On is a super chilled loopy slo mo disco gem. Touches of soft acid and boogie bassline make this a certain for the more discerning dancefloor. The Mushrooms Project remix creates an ever growing tribal dubby trip with what sounds like a jews harp thrown in for good measure. Mesmerising. The B side features a track that has been an IIB favourite for a couple of years since it was heard live in Loop Tokyo. This slowave almost out of sync techy chugger is not like anything else. Evolving with analogue synths and stabs to become a heads downs stomper. International man of mystery Man Power adds man power to the track and creates a slightly darker journey into synth land.

Review: A veritable anthem on the more disco-aligned floors throughout the summer of 2013, Ferry's 1985 classic underwent myriad reboots, and here are three of the best. Terje goes for an authentic new beat, synth driven rework that pays respect to the original's roots while the Idjut Boys opt for a deeper, shimmering slice of Balearic cosmicity. Last but not least, Grasshopper adds a great sense of dub spaciousness allowing elements such as the soaring saxophone to truly flourish. Don't stop now.

Review: A smattering of fresh versions taken from Kon's debut album On My Way, presented on cool coloured double 7". Highlights include the smouldering bass strut that builds into a full disco hook on Caserta's remix of "On My way", the 80s boogie sensation that is "All Night" and the humungous slap bass lickage on "Love Shine". Great sounds and looks beautiful: BBE are spoiling us with this!

Review: KZA's long running Let's Get Lost series continues it's relentless slalom through the edit scene, inviting famed Italian cosmic voyager Daniele Baldelli and his prolific compatriot Marco Dionigi back for more cross genre oddities. Much like the duo's debut for Let's Get Lost, this new edition packs a hefty eight cuts spread across the two platters and from the cosmic leaning of opening cut "Frozen" Daniele and Marco run the gamut of spiky disco punk ("Gregory Band") full on psyche rock ("Noia Noia") and everything in-between. Fans of vintage In Flagranti disco sleaze will particularly enjoy the glamorous strut of "Hello".

Review: After a successful debut last year on Redux the Machete Savane duo are back with two new tracks, gracing Felix Dickinson's Cynic label with the double A sided 12" Widowmaker / Afterburner. Lead track "Widowmaker is a pumping psychedelic rock disco power piece that has been doing the business to dancefloors all summer for the select few who have managed to get their hands on it. Driving bass and rock chords layered with arpeggiators and finished off with a sublime keyboard solo from Matt Watson. "Afterburner" is a house remake of "Widowmaker", although it's so far removed you'd not recognise it as such. It still has the same late night vibe, but more stripped back and electronic, with tinges of acid. Both tracks received support from the likes of Tim Sweeney/Beats In Space, Lee Douglas (TBD) and Simon Lee (Faze Action).

Review: Few artists understand the art of the edit like Glenn Underground. Here we find him going to town on three more well selected classiques. Gloria Gaynor's "Casanova Brown" is stripped back to reveal a naked percussive beauty, Love Machine's "Don't Fly Away" is rearranged to suit a modern, energetic dynamic as we swoon from heavenly harmonies to a thriving upbeat boogie jam. Finally, the butt-wiggling funk wah wah guitar and bass fusion of Wilbert Longmire's "Take Your Love" is meticulously polished and extended with serious care and attention. A true schooling from a man who knows how.

Review: Fresh off releases on Glenview and No More Hits, dusty fingered Russian producer lays down his edit of "Emotional Rescue" by the Rolling Stones on this limited one sided 12". A classic of the Stones canon in it's own right, "Emotional Rescue" has additionally been granted one timeless edit in the shape of In Flagranti's "Emotional R" for the Mindless Boogie series a few years back. Whereas Alex Gloor and Sasha Crnobrnja reworked Jagger and company as a pumping floor jammer that Ron Hardy would have been proud off, Buzz Compass takes the track in the opposite direction, dousing "Emotional Rescue" in a horizontally inclined Balearic feel suited for those sunset moments.

Review: [Emotional] Especial is the new label from the Emotional Recordings stable. A sub label to Emotional Response, Especial is though squarely aimed at the floor rather than the head. In a similar vain to the limited 4 EPs-only label that was Emotional Relish, it will merge the sounds and styles that influence contemporary electronic producers, taking in new wave, new beat, EBM and proto-house to create something modern. Jamie Paton of Cage & Aviary helms the debut release with Bizarre Feeling. A youth soaking up punk, dub and new wave, the EP acts at times as a homage to the sounds of New Order, The The, Kraftwerk and the then other-worldly machine funk emanating out of mid-80s Chicago. With both Timothy J Fairplay and Scott Fraser aiding and abetting down in the Scrutton Street bunker studio, with keys, guitar and a heavy dose of space echo, plus hypnotic FX laden vocals from Jamie himself, all propel the EP beyond pastiche and make the perfect start to Especial.