Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Many Hands is a fresh label helmed by Jona Jefferies and Kava that here kicks out an eclectic EP with four tracks from various members of its musical family. Dan Aikido opens with '0800 TXT4 Herb,' a smooth fusion piece that builds a laid-back groove, blending fretless bass, jazzy keys and soulful vocals all reminiscent of Rare Silk's 'Storm.' Ernie Ruso's 'Stroke It' offers slow, sensual r&b infused with P-funky wah-wah effects while DJ Nomad's 'African Boy' brings upbeat pop house next to funky organ and a female reggae MC.Jefferies' closer 'A Change Will Come' samples Dr. Martin Luther King Jr with a rave-inspired beat and soulful piano. Cracking stuff.

Review: UK disco sensation Glitterbox light the touch paper on another fizzy summer with four gossamer smooth edits of four seminal house classics. Gliding us through time to soulful house's golden era with a sassy, loose groove shine to each edit; Soulsearcher's 96 anthem "Can't Get Enough!" gets respectfully plumped, Shapeshifter's 2003 sing-along bomb "Lola's Theme" is stripped back to a stark funk groove while Johnny Corporate's 2000 hit "Sunday Shoutin'" gets flipped into slinky bassline wriggler. Finally one of the best covers Stevie Wonder has ever had gets a luxurious rub down as Cleptomaniacs' 2000 swoon-fest enjoys the full Packer treatment. Summer starts here.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve slightly damaged, record slightly warped***


UK disco sensation Glitterbox light the touch paper on another fizzy summer with four gossamer smooth edits of four seminal house classics. Gliding us through time to soulful house's golden era with a sassy, loose groove shine to each edit; Soulsearcher's 96 anthem "Can't Get Enough!" gets respectfully plumped, Shapeshifter's 2003 sing-along bomb "Lola's Theme" is stripped back to a stark funk groove while Johnny Corporate's 2000 hit "Sunday Shoutin'" gets flipped into slinky bassline wriggler. Finally one of the best covers Stevie Wonder has ever had gets a luxurious rub down as Cleptomaniacs' 2000 swoon-fest enjoys the full Packer treatment. Summer starts here.

Review: Toolroom's Fool's Paradise offshoot has done a good job in offering up fresh, disco-inspired material, but it also acts as an outlet for key crew member Michael Gray's 21st century reworks of classic disco cuts. On this 12", the long-serving Essex producer puts his slant on Inner Life's boogie-era gem 'I Like It Like That', a 1982 Salsoul single fronted by a then young Jocelyn Brown and produced by Leroy Burgess and Patrick Adams associate Stan Lucas. Gray begins with a lightly housed-up - but suitably reverential - full vocal remix, ensuring plenty of space for the studio band's squiggly synths, bold pianos and dextrous bass guitar. Arguably even better is the B-side 'Dub', which alternates between heavy groove sections, extended breakdowns and effects-laden showcases of Inner Life's piano, bass and synths.

Review: This classic Japanese funk tune has long been adored by erudite boogie, 80s funk and soul fans in Japan but also more internationally, and for the first time here it is now available as a 7" single. Produced by Toshiki Kadomatsu, the release includes one track each from the Jadoes albums It's Friday from 1986 and Free Drink in 1987, both of which are considered iconic in the Japanese boogie canon. 'Summer Lady' is full of glossy 80s drums and sparking melodies that bring unbridled joy and 'Friday Night' is a little more paired back but the stepping drums and male-female vocal interaction is a thing of beauty.

Review: Jamie 3:26, the Chicago house luminary, returns with the second instalment of his Danacefloor Damage series, a collection of re-rubbed disco cuts crafted with the dancefloor in mind, but possessing a depth that transcends the club. This time around, he's unearthed three gems, each an ode to his impeccable taste and his uncanny ability to breathe new life into forgotten classics. 'Flyin'' takes flight with a dizzying array of soaring strings and a groove that's as infectious as it is propulsive. 'Funkin' (Hardy Tribute Version)' pays homage to late disco/early house legend Ron Hardy, its driving bassline and soulful vocals a fitting tribute to his enduring influence. 'Jungle DJ Tool' injects a tribal energy into the mix, its percussive rhythms and hypnotic chants guaranteed to induce a state of dancefloor abandon. Jamie 3:26's edits are a masterclass in dancefloor manipulation, expertly balancing euphoric highs with moments of introspective restraint. A potent reminder that the classics never truly die when preserved in the right hands.

Review: JKriv returns to Razor-N-Tape after two years away and in that time it is clear to say he has further fine tuned his sound. This latest offering kicks off with 'Blueprint' which is a nice loose sound with elastic acid lines and bright chord stabs. 'Intuition' (feat Megatronic) slows down to sun-kissed and lazy swagger with soulful spoken words and cuddly pads and soft shakers all soothing you to your core. 'Zone 1' then kicks on with a nice bright blend of nu-disco colours and soft acid undulations and 'Paula's Dance' (feat Pauha) closes with some steamy and timeless house that is perfect for sunset sessions.

Review: Over the years, France's Favorite Recordings has been very good at sniffing out lesser-known European gems from the disco and boogie era, mostly for superb and must-check compilations. Recently, they decided to make some of these licensed obscurities available on a series of 12" singles, where a louder, club-heavy cut is preferable to DJs. The latest sees them offer-up two lesser-known Belgian gems produced in the mid 1980s by future new beat don Tony Baron. Jonathan Jr's 'Hanging On To You' is warm, shuffling and synth heavy, with the artist's soulful and jazzy lead vocal sitting alongside squelchy synth-bass, Nile Rodgers style guitars and post-electro beats. Special Occasion's 'Flying To Santa Barbara', meanwhile, sits somewhere between 80s soul, AOR synth-pop and sax-sporting B-movie soundtrack goodness.

Review: Five years after unfurling their first collaborative album, Iron Curtisn and Johannes Albert have finally got round to recording and releasing their fourth - three years after its predecessor landed in stores. As with previous sets, it's loosely inspired by all things lunar. In practice, that means hazy, spacey synths aplenty, slowly unfurling grooves, and loads of cosmic intent. Beginning with the soft-touch headiness of 'Void Gathering', the German duo flits between moon-lit, synth-powered nu-disco ('Silverclub'), jaunty analogue house ('Sound (The Feels)'), warmer and more tactile dancefloor gold ('Ohne Dich', 'Club L'Avenir'), bubbly electro ('Pipeline'), revivalist Italo-disco ('Into Somethin') and ultra-deep bliss ('Daso').

Review: Grace Jones' fifth studio album, released on 11 May 1981, this album highlighted a legendary reinvention for the artist, moving her nearer towards the global fame that she's enjoyed for subsequent decades since. A sonic melting pot that blurred the lines between genres while retaining an air of effortless cool, it fuses of reggae's rolling basslines, the tight precision of new wave, the slick production of synth-pop and the ghost of disco's past. What made Nightclubbing particularly special was the way Jones fully embodied the musicinot merely performing songs but inhabiting them with an almost cinematic presence. Her deadpan delivery on 'Walking in the Rain' oozes detached swagger, while on 'Use Me', she turns Bill Withers' plea into an anthem of raw, unfiltered sensuality. The icy menace of 'Demolition Man' feels tailor-made for her, making The Police's later rendition seem comparatively tame. The reimagining of Piazzolla's 'Libertango' as 'I've Seen That Face Before' further demonstrated her ability to transform existing material into something wholly unique, haunting and hypnotic in equal measure. Sly & Robbie's rhythm section, along with Wally Badarou's textural synths, gave Nightclubbing an unmistakable grooveione that would be endlessly referenced by artists in the coming decades. From Massive Attack's trip-hop atmospherics to the sleek funk of LCD Soundsystem, the album's DNA is all over contemporary music.