New releases last eight weeks: All genres

Review: Cosmic master and eclectic DJ trendsetter Daniele Baldelli is back with more Cosmic Voodoo in the form of this new series of releases alongside Mattia Dalara. 'Saturn Express' gets underway with a typically diverse set of influences from psych rock guitar to disco drums and cosmic exploration. 'Countless Sigga' is a playful sound with 80s synth seances looked over drums with a hint of Afro charm and fat disco basslines. Last of all is the wonderful 'Silverado Trail' with its hypotonic lead, crunchy and chuggy ALFOS style drums and percolating arps which shine as bright as the sun.

Review: Over the years, Chicago house DJ Mark Grusane has prospected for treasure with such success that he has more or less marked *himself* out as one such treasure. Such high praise, of which there is much online, offers a kind of eternal gilt return. This second edition in Grusane's Tape Edits series stocks a select six of his much-envied "disco tape to tape edits", made in Chicago between 1988-1999. Emphasising the fullest, most maximal quixotisms in disco, all the tracks here brim with seething compressed energy, with the limitation of tape transfer serving to squash and squeeze far more out of the disco genre than the simple, ostensibly humble mylar medium might suggest. Most arresting is 'Mapouka Dance (Non Stop)', an animalistic fire dance and lusty attention grabber, serving whipping snares and whooping crowd jeers; sexy spectatorship by the dance.

Review: Intrallazzi and Dario Piana have been friends and Milanese scene contemporaries since 1981, when they both fell in love with the distinctive Afro-Cosmic sound of local DJ (and later Piana collaborator) Daniel Baldelli. Since then, they have both made records aplenty under a variety of aliases, but this EP on Leng marks their first joint release. The headline attraction is opener (and lead cut) 'Out of Control', a dubbed-out cosmic disco chugger propelled by echo-laden percussion and a deep, low-slung bassline, smothered in psychedelic synth and guitar sounds. Fellow Italian producer LTJ Experience remixes, offering up a stripped-back and acid-flecked interpretation. Elsewhere, 'Lazise' is a TB-303-sporting cosmic shuffler and 'Saocraffen' is a Baldelli-influenced fusion of Afro-cosmic funk and ethereal Balearic sounds.

Review: Mar De Novo is a mainstay of the Vinyl Only label which is now almost up to release number 20. As always these are magnificent beats that blend great invention with a healthy respect for disco days gone by and they are all made in what must be a studio jam-packed with analogue gear from all across the ages. 'Instant Humidity' has plenty of characterful synth details that are freaky and playful, 'Call Me' pairs stepping disco beats with super sweet vocals and 'Paraggi' is a blissed-out seaside gem. 'Progression' heady back to the club with strobe-lit disco arps, 'Get A Way' pairs plunging basslines with cosmic keys and another great vocal and 'Quiet Down' rounds out with another horizontal downbeat disco gem.

Review: Star Creature is very much leading from the front right now if you like cosmic disco. Tim Zawada's label is back with another delicious dose of the stuff here as Plastic Bamboo heads out on a crime jazz exploration of the outer reaches of our galaxy. His lithe beats and rugged drums are laced up with marvellous synths that are ever on the move. They shine bright and bring real sugary rushes of joy as curious narratives and intergalactic intrigue come thick and fast. Amongst the big bright cuts are some more mellow moments like the wonderful 'A Scene At The Sea' with its hints of Afro percussion. Delightful.

Review: Intime Anthem is a new label that makes a suitable impressive debut here with a various artists offering that explores a leftfield disco sound. Ramozel's 'Nomentum' has deadpan indie vocals and stark mechanical drums with cold wave synths. Parker Bjoske wars monads with twisted synth modulations and slow, purposeful kicks on 'Tempo.' Naimer then switches the mood with a more playful and 80s-inspired sound, bright retro synths and euro-dance grooves on 'Wildejoe.' There is a supple acid-laced majesty to Ivaj Odnode's closer 'Atillol,' which makes this as vital as it as varied.

Review: Skyrager returns to his HITD imprint with more of the magical sounds that have made him an international favourite with dedicated disco-heads. This three-tracker brims with his signature grooves, all of which are crafted from deep crate finds and reworked with his unique touch. The A-side is a 14-minute, Euro-funk-inspired boogie that combines dreamy keys and smooth synths with real vocal soul. 'Love Is Good' brings a Caribbean-infused, soca sound with a catchy guitar hook before closing with 'Love Is Bad', a funky yet laid-back disco groove with a slinky bassline and euphoric guitar riffs that ring out in prog fashion next to female vocals.

Review: UV & Nenor link up once more and return to Fossils with three new edits that take the form of spaced-out deep cosmic chuggers. These are all classy tunes with an analogue edge, great deference to the classic synth sounds of days gone by but all with nice modern touches. 'Space Love' is a widescreen odyssey with sultry female vocals and a sweet theremin sound. On the flip, 'Shwag' has hazy pads and slowed down, rugged, sleazy drums and bass and then last of all comes 'GoGo Stomp' with another bubbly bottom end, squelchy bassline and weird but wonderful vocal sounds. A brilliantly high-grade addition to your record back.

Review: Laurin Rinder and W. Michael Lewis were amongst the most prolific producers of the disco era - a pair of jazz-trained eccentrics who not only embraced the disco sound, but did more than most to help develop it (they were particularly big fans of synthesisers, showcasing in their work as much as Giorgio Moroder and Patrick Cowley did). They also loved a concept - hence recording and releasing The Seven Deadly Sins, an album-length celebration of disco's sinful side, in 1977. As this Be With Records reissue proves, the album remains a rare beast: a largely instrumental disco album that sparkles from start to finish. For proof, check the seductive, electric piano-and-synth smothered grooves of 'Lust', the heavily electronic proto-techno of 'Gluttony', the solo-laden disco-funk heaviness of 'Pride' and the undeniably epic heaviness of 'Anger'.

Review: Outer-psychic dance orienteers Invisible Inc. return to the fore with a bright, effulgent, new wave and disco infused EP, Sordid Sound System's 'Gimme Fever'. A pungent, eight-track mini-record best played at a motorik tempo, this one wafts full Oort clouds of psychosomatic orga-noise in a refractive stylistic rain-ring, coming full circle on torrential synth cascades like 'Gimme Fever' and 'Inanna'. Opener 'Wired Wyrd' is circuitous and boxy enough, and keeps truer to a surfy song format, recalling early filter-glam James Ferraro. We reach a full, pavilioned exotic head within the plodding pergola that is 'The Ocean', up which rare vines climb a trellis made of tuned steel pans and reso-sploited marimba.