DJs: Most Charted - Disco - September 2011

Review: Master producer of smooth Balearic grooves Max Essa returns on John Daly's Feel Music with "Iberia Sequences", an extended odyssey in two distinct parts. The journey begins with some seriously thick analogue bass and new-age pads, taking things into an extended breakdown before dropping a totally huge baseline topped with some ascending strings and finishing off with a Balearic guitar solo. The flip side includes a further Essa production, "Islands", a slo-mo 80s inspired cut with a deep bassline which then explodes into more blissful action as soul-searching piano chords chime across the surface. Finally, Fabrizio Mammarella remixes the title track; he takes inspiration from the split nature of the original, opening with some springy acidic bass, slowly building up the blissful pads before dropping back into a solid, nicely flanged bass.

Review: Judging by the inherent floating sensation that runs through "Just Think About It", it would seem that Lithuanian producer Mario Basanov has found his muse in Miss Bee. Regular followers of Under The Shade output will know the former has already worked his magic with the latter, having remixed her collaboration with Rampi earlier this year. It's a partnership that works wonders, with Miss Bee's sultry tones the perfect match for Basanov's elastic treatment of analogue sounds and upwards glancing melodics. The usual array of remixes sees Art Of Tones calling shotgun and delivering a remix that swerves proceedings down a decidedly rump shaking disco path, with some excellent key stabs throughout. This is matched by the Social Disco Club and Mirror People remix that builds brilliantly from the glistening opening few bars into an excellent live disco chug - just wait for those piano lines to come soaring in!

Review: The ease with which the dual city house and techno pollinations of Chicago and Detroit are referenced these days both by producer and listener has clearly irked The Juan MacLean. Luckily for us instead of simply lambasting all via Twitter etc, the newly gonzo look rocking producer has channelled this sense of distaste for the status quo into a new project, intriguingly named Peach Melba with a clutch of new productions that stay true to the spirit and blueprint of these formative sounds. Married with a desire to release material that doesn't fit alongside the more song based Juan Maclean output, the first fruits of the Peach Melba project offer an intriguing insight into what may follow - with three variants on "Can't Let Go". Utilising the vocal talents of NYC singer Amy Douglas, Maclean crafts everything from scratch and as a result the sounds are quite unique. Alongside the sprawling burn of the original, the flipside Dub and Dub of Dub versions strip proceedings back to various degrees with the latter occupying Ethereal Sounds territory before gradually being flushed with searing incandescence.

Review: The ease with which the dual city house and techno pollinations of Chicago and Detroit are referenced these days both by producer and listener has clearly irked The Juan MacLean. Luckily for us instead of simply lambasting all via Twitter etc, the newly gonzo look rocking producer has channelled this sense of distaste for the status quo into a new project, intriguingly named Peach Melba with a clutch of new productions that stay true to the spirit and blueprint of these formative sounds. Married with a desire to release material that doesn't fit alongside the more song based Juan Maclean output, the first fruits of the Peach Melba project offer an intriguing insight into what may follow - with three variants on "Can't Let Go". Utilising the vocal talents of NYC singer Amy Douglas, Maclean crafts everything from scratch and as a result the sounds are quite unique. Alongside the sprawling burn of the original, the flipside Dub and Dub of Dub versions strip proceedings back to various degrees with the latter occupying Ethereal Sounds territory before gradually being flushed with searing incandescence.

Review: Having treated the discerning vinyl buying public to a quartet of stories from NYC duo Runaway, On The Prowl seek out a selection of fine production talent to rework them on this swiftly released twelve inch. Whilst Tensnake might be about to take an unforeseen swerve towards the forgotten West London bruk sound on a forthcoming remix for Mark E, his reinterpretation of "Chapter IV" remains resolutely within the slow burning house template indebted to the 80s era upon which he made his name. It's brash in its intent and contains several Technicolor swerves which will make the floor sweat. Demonstrating their keen eye for new talent, Runaway handpick LIES duo Two Dogs In A House to give "Chapter II" a grittier, lo fi warehouse feel that buries the horn stabs in a dark analogue funk. Just wait for the build up and melt down! On the flip DJ Kaos tackles the same track twice, bringing the big room jack vibes in full effect amidst a familiar pulsing bassline.

Review: Brisbane based producer Youth is the latest producer to break free from the infinite realm of waveforms and inane comments that is Soundcloud. A prodigious talent for recrafting his favourite tracks under the Young Edits name has landed this 22-year-old with the chance to impress via the tenth release from Finnish label Kojak Giant Sounds, and he certainly doesn't slack lacing the A Side with a beefed up take on the Stevie Nicks classic "Smiling At You". If you're a fan of Ms Nicks and a fan of chugging arpeggios then you'll be keen on this. On the flip The Catch's high pitched ode to getting home "25 Years" gets put through the Young Edits mangler, extending and dubbing out the intro and slipping in a great big kick drum that has satisfying weight to it.

Review: This 12", containing two unreleased tracks from Can co-founder Holger Czukay, is a typically gorgeous effort from Claremont 56, replete with gold embossed sleeve, and full liner notes on these two 30 year old gems. On the A-Side is "Music is a Miracle", an 18 minute musical lecture, in which Czukay talks the listener through selected examples of sounds from several tracks contained on his 1981 album On the Way to the Peak of Normal, the first he wrote solo following the break-up of Can. On the B-Side is "Ode to Perfume Part 2", a companion piece to the opener to that album, a leisurely guitar jam with elements of French horn that would be considered positively Balearic by most quarters today. But it's the extensive vocoder use, which, together with the spectral organ sounds, add a particularly haunting element to the track's proceedings. A must for Czukay collectors and Can fans alike.

Review: The second release on the label shaped offshoot of Melbourne Deepcast sees the collective make further room for themselves in the house scene. If the inaugural release was a statement of intent, introducing four key members of the Melbourne Deep House Mafia, the second release is more focused with Andy Hart returning to the fray and serving up a delightful collaboration with the rightly lauded Francis Inferno Orchestra. "D2Me" has everything you want in a modern deep house jam; a bassline that is subtle yet heavyweight, crisp drums, multiple layers of melodics and deft vocal turns dipped in soul and most importantly there's a real progression throughout. The duo flex their solo production muscles on the flip with Mr Hart taking the lead on "Tell Her You Know", which similarly impresses via the sheer depth of sounds at play through out. The Francis Inferno Orchestra solo jam is more about the groove, whipping up a head of sultry steam over a rasping beat and gliding disco strings.