DJS: MOST CHARTED - DISCO - MOST CHARTED JULY 2014

Review: Recent New York transplant Mans Swanberg is clearly a man that enjoys an alias; best known for his Italo tinged edits on the Rollerboys label under the name Bogdan Irkuk and Bulgari, the selector adopts a new guise on this superb debut for Phil South's Golf Channel label. Waldemar Schwartz may well be a new name, but many of the elements that made Swanberg's work as Bulgari so memorable are very much in evidence on Taza De Oro. Chief among them is Swanberg's mastery of the live bass line which really transcends both the title track and B Side "Krav Maga Girls" towards disco heaven. After a fallow period of the last few months (An excellent LP from The Central Executives aside) Golf Channel seem to be gearing up for a ton of great releases, and this one from Waldemar Schwartz is a fine entree.

Review: An exclusively northern creation... Iain Mann makes his Shadeleaf debut with a trio of deep, loopy house cuts. "If You Don't Do It" smoulders with Moodymann style subtlety. Rich chords, crowd whoops and a kick drum that teases and pleases as it weaves itself around the dynamic, it's an instant attention grabber. "Flexing" bumps with more of a disco sentimentality as the off-beat guitar and synth squiggles play Q&A off a rock-solid bass lick. "Rough Times", meanwhile, has an air of Amp Fiddler to it as the organs develop with all-out jazz majesty while Kali's honey-coated vocals are buried deep under the instrumentation. For added measure Thatmanmonks gives "Rough Times" a dubby jack that's primed for the finest of dancefloors. Rough, ready and waiting for your selection attention.

Review: Having recently released a slew of white-hot, party-starting re-edits from the mighty Dimitri From Paris, Razor-N-Tape continue their ascent with an EP of summery scalpel jobs from Ron Basejam, AKA Crazy P man Jim Baron. The Nottingham-based producer is no stranger to the art of the re-edit - a selection of his reworks have already been released on other labels - and here delivers three tried-and-tested slammers. There's naturally much to get excited about, from the mid-90s gospel-boogie throb of "Someday" and the P-funk strut of the Tiger & Woods-ish "We Supply" (which comes blessed with a brilliantly rubbery bassline), to the baggy, soulful fun of "Love Don't Wait".

Review: The destination here is late '70s Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and the Bahamas. Like every other corner of the world at the time, the Caribbean quarters were busy writing their own chapter in the endless annals of the Disco bible. Tropical Disco Hustle documents the movement in great detail across two slabs of vinyl. Loaded with rarities and sun-kissed specials, highlights include the straight-up-sing-along "Instant Funk", Waxist Selecta's on-point edit of the awesome "Rappers Delight" reggae cover and Wild Fire's rootsy, stripped back sermon "Living On A String". Juicy and groove-quenching, Tropical Disco Hustle hits the spot in the most refreshing of ways.

Review: Founded back in 2010, James Holroyd's Begin project has garnered near cultish status over the course of it's six releases to date, effectively offering an update on the Northern Sulphuric Soul template where funk and hip hop are replaced by house, Balearica and disco. Just over a year on from the last Begin transmission, Holroyd resurfaces with this ace three track 12" that will suit all dancefloor orientated situations over the summer months. As the title suggests, a sumptuous electronic bassline forms the centrepiece of lead track "Bassballs" gently coaxing out a sultry vocal line and wonderfully delayed saxophone and twilight keys. It's matched by the final track "Drop" in the wow stakes which will delight anyone that's been digging that Gigi Masin retrospective on Music From Memory.

Review: Having taken us on a "Midnight Cruise", Swedish duo Prins and Golden now state their "Hidden Love" for us. Naturally with beats as stately and cosmic as these, the love goes both ways... The title track is daringly slow, its sturdy swagger allowing the pianos to deliver both an insistent spine and occasional star-gazing flurries. "Mystic Trip" takes off where "Midnight Cruise"; dreamy disco driven by bulbous bass and sweeping orchestral elements, the immense space between each riff gives the groove a delightfully immersive sensation. Both are fine-tuned for the sunny season, you'll find it very hard to hide your love for these!

Review: Jose Marquez returns to Basic Fingers with two fine examples of fine-tuned vocal-focused Afrohouse fusion. The lead sees him polishing Sassouma Kouyate's "Niani". Allowing the mesmerising natural rhythms of the vocals to take centre stage, Jose complements it with a soft but well-bodied kick that will warm up the iciest of floors. Flip for Afel Diallo's "Yele Kae Ye". Driven by a deep tribal drum dynamic and an arrangement where the flutes mirror Afel's every lead, Jose's rearrangement has realised the dancefloor potential the original always had.

Review: Berlin-based Norwegian producer Henning Severud is in the midst of a fine run of releases as Telephones right now with his debut on Running Back proving to be one of the label's most loved platters in some time (this is no mean feat it should be said). His latest appearance is on Paramida's Love On The Rocks imprint, itself a label that cant help but impress so far this year and Lotusland makes for a fine addition. Telephones offers up Sunset and Sunrise versions of the track and both feature sumptuous usage of melodies and early '90s NYC flavour embellished with a hint of uplifting European euphoria. It's likely you'll be hearing both versions for as long as the sun keeps shining this summer and they are complemented by remixes from Discodromo and Gatto Fritto with the latter a quite mind bending Electro Boogie workout.

Review: Legendary producer, groove craftsman and one half of the agenda-setting M&M production outfit, anything from Morales is bona fide disco dynamite and likely to have been sought after for at least 25 years. This celebration of Motown's leading ladies is certainly no exception... Teena Marie's "I Need Your Lovin" enjoys both a stately extension and an equally lavish instrumental, Ross's "Boss" gets a full instrumental construction that's as immersive as it is glistening and Tata Vega's "Get It Up For Your Love" goes back to the original stems for a rebuild that allows us to acquaint ourselves with each and every precision played instrument. Finally we jet right into the mid '80s for Val Young's soft-rock-tinged "If You Should Ever Be Lonely". If you're not leaping around in camp histrionics to the thundering bassline and sizzling guitar twangs, you've got it at the wrong speed. Serious Morales gold.

Review: You simply cannot pin Roisin Murphy down to one genre or scene. Over the years she's released everywhere from EMI to Permanent Vacation and Ninja Tune, making her one of the most eclectic artists on our radar. This time, she comes through on London's Vinyl Factory - a now established corner of the music industry - with a smashing remix EP by a fresh clan of peeps, old and new. "In Sintesi" is morphed by both Psychemagik, who go for a mid-tempo, semi-electro vibe, and The All Seeing, who proceed to head deep into the jungle thanks to some tasty tribal additions! Over on the flip, Horse Meat Disco's Severino and Nico De Ceglia transform "Ancora Ancora Ancora" into a broodingly funky italo bomb built for the floor, while Leo Mas and Fabrice produce a thick, oozing, spectral dub of Murphy's "Pensiero Stupendo".

Review: There's no doubt that Loose Joints' "Is It All Over My Face" is something of a disco classic; arguably, it's one of those records that any discerning disco DJ should have in his or her collection. This reissue features both the popular "Female" and lesser-known "Male" versions - the latter blessed with arguably better percussion and thrillingly eccentric horns but worse vocals - in remastered form. The re-master only serves to highlight the quirkiness and looseness of Arthur Russell and company's playing and Steve D'Aquisto and Russell's deft production. If it's not in your collection, it should be - if only for the celebratory eccentricity of one of disco's baggiest anthems.

Review: Boom! The good ship Golf Channel returns with the first of two essential offerings and a label debut for the killer Africaine 808. The Berlin-based duo Dirk Leyers and Nomad comprise Africaine 808 and those with a regular vinyl habit will know them from last year's DJ Muscle series from WT Records. As their name suggests, the usage of the 808 is key to the Africaine 808 sound, and their output thus far can be comparable with the music of Comeme albeit with a focus on some of Leyer and Nomad's personal favourite African and island funk tracks. The pair debut on Golf Channel with a two-track 12? that features some excellent graf style sleeve art done by Nomad. DO NOT SLEEP

Review: Type the name Boban Petrovic into Discogs and you'll come across a Serbian producer and selector whose 1984 album Zora racks up quite a pretty penny amongst the collectors community. Kudos then to Belgrade crew Disco Not Disco who have reissued the album with the official blessing of Boban himself for the interest of those partial to some Balkan Disco but not at the premium prices the original pressing is listed at. Petrovic's work is new to us and it may be new to you but fans of the weirder strains of disco will resonate immediately with this eight track set with plenty of material you could envisage Alexis le Tan or Young Marco slipping in their sets.

Review: Grimy keeps the heat on with a limited seven-inch from Windy City legend Boogie Nite. "Words" sounds like a forgotten classic from the legendary early 80s NYC downtown scene. The smooth disco arrangement and punk-funk vocals could have emanated from a dream session between Walter Gibbons and Lizzy Mercier Descloux. Feel-good Rhodes piano lays the melodic foundation as a gang of female voices ruminate on the rhythmic meaning of words. All the while, a shit-hot disco rhythm section keeps things in the pocket. This is a track that will light dancefloors up and have fellow djs flooding the booth for an ID. Expert Funk dub version on the B-Side. white/black swirl vinyl with custom Grimy graffiti logo.

Review: Having appeared in one form or another on labels as varied as Eglo, Neroli, Wildheart Recordings and Berceuse Heroique recently, Dennis 'Dego' McFarlane adds Drew Lustman's Blueberry Records to his evergreen CV with the excellent Nuts! EP. Such a signing by the producer known as Falty DL should not be a surprise to anyone that considers themselves a real fan of Lustman's work with Dego regularly touted as a strong influence on the New Yorker's musical output. Rich in musical flavour and heavy in rhythmic impact, all three cuts from Dego here really slam home how accomplished he is as a producer with the wonderfully bugged out "Fancy A Burger" and the rugged, dusted down swing of "Celestial Ditton" vying for first place in our affections. The latter track gets a rather nice rework from Falty DL too!

Review: The cultish Very Polish Disco Cut Outs label continue their unassailable run of releases with this rather fine 7" edition from Ptaki, the duo responsible for last year's highly sought after label sampler. There may be only two tracks here, but don't be fooled as Funkoff and Bartosz Kruczy?skiv cram all manner of obscure samples from Eastern Europe and beyond into them with superb results. "Jak Ptaki" has summer jam stitched into it's sonic DNA, manipulating vocal samples and warbling strings over a heavy as pieprzy? (google it) beat that will have you eager to slam into a mix. Flipside and "Ponure Miasto" eases up the tempo to around 100bpm and leads the listener into darker territory that takes it's cue from Dub and Polish cinema. Do not sleep!

Review: Slo-mo, steamy and sexy... Those three words could sum up pretty much every excellent Smokecloud release, but these three tracks are purpose built for the more sensual sessions you might wish to soundtrack. Each one purrs with low-end sultriness while shimmering with all the disco motifs we've come to expect from such a discerning label. Noodleman's "That Word Again" finds inspiration in the German quarters, Sleazy McQueen devilishly teases us with vocal fractures buried deep under a throbbing bass groove and finally Osmose brings us to the most hypnotic close possible with a bed of dubbed out percussion and otherworldly loops that build and twist. Ready for bed yet?

Review: Kon and Reflex combine for a cheeky 12" dedication to Michael Jackson for the fourth release on the Boston selector's increasingly on point Star Time label. Edit heaven or what? Reflex calls shotgun and reworks "PYT", amping up the vibe with much crisper drums and a whole lot more space present on that classic chorus drop. Meanwhile on the flip King Of Nothing takes "Get On The Floor" and gives it a modern day party refix complete with full-bodied dynamics, juicy slap bass and very cheeky disco bubbles in the background. Two more essential Michael Jackson edits to add to your collection.

Review: Many of us have been waiting (and searching) for this record for a long time and it's finally landed again in 2014 in all its one-sided and unofficial glory. First pressed up in 2011, ILO's glorious edit is born from the title track of New Musik's Warp album from 1982. It's the song the '70s-'80s UK synth pop group are best known for and ILO takes the playful, whistling synth hook, cartoon vocals - choral and twisted - and rearranges them over a heavy house beat and thick claps without losing the fun and pizzazz of the original. We can only hope an ILO edit of Grauzone's "Eisbaer" is next!

Review: As we continue to recover from the sheer awesomeness of Paqua's debut album Alkaliko, Claremont 56 commission two very special versions of the modern day Balearic hymn "The Visitor". Ray Mang reminds us of the true meaning of dub as we're immersed in a truly enveloping dynamic where flickers of the original's vocals fly and in and out of the mix. Idjut Boys follow a similar sentiment but instead of teasing us with the vocal shades, they extend, break down and rebuild the instrumentation in a way only they know how. Super-limited, this is the perfect complement to a perfect album.

Review: A brand new off-shoot imprint to Tiago's ever-ace Interzona 13, Outerzona 13 launches with a clear and emphatic statement of intent. It comes courtesy of Nelson Gomes, erstwhile member of Gala Drop who, for now, wishes to be known simply as Black. Repping three wholly different sides to his skills and sonic world, Nelson ticks every box. Late night dynamite by way of the frenetic conga-heavy Afrofusion of "Black", life-affirming vibes by way of the delicate balance of trembling synth arpeggio and rich motherland chants on "Van III" and end-of-night sensuality by way the laid back soul and sexy horn work of "Tabanka".

Review: 40 Thieves long awaited debut album, The Sky Is Yours, was something of an epic; 10 years in the making, it stretched out across two CDs and four slabs of vinyl. Here, two tracks from the album get the remix treatment, with crate diggers-turned-party animals Psychemagik and Phil Mison's Cantoma outfit at the controls. Psychemagik's version of "The Sandpiper" is particularly good, delivering a heady, Arabic-influenced slice of chugging, eyes-wide-shut Balearica that benefits greatly from a rubbery groove and woozy chords. Mison takes a different approach on his rework of "The Sky Is Yours", laying down a version that sounds like T-Coy making late '80s Italian house. It is, all told, the epitome of Balearic house.