Juno Recommends Disco August 2018

Review: Aroop Roy launches the Vive La Musique label with this effervescent blast of sunkissed Zouk music from the mid 80s. Maurice Agad, the writer responsible for "Tabala Mouv," was traced to the Caribbean island of Martinique, and it only helps feed into the exotic atmosphere surrounding the music. In its original form "Tabala Mouv" is a plush, richly produced groover laden with slap bass, strings, keys, horns and a wonderful meandering vocal. Roy beefs the track up with a rework that subtly edges a few modern touches into the mix, while Truccy offers up a simple edit of the track in its purest form.

Review: Maya's "Lait De Coco", a deliciously glassy-eyed chunk of mid-'80s Gallic pop with a decidedly Balearic bent, has recently undergone something of a revival is serious selector circles. Since copies of original 1987 7" copies have been known to change hands for eye-watering sums online, Attic Salt Discs has done the decent thing and offered up this tasty 10" reissue. Particularly alluring is the flipside Dub, which in true '80s instrumental style flits between spine-tingling ambient passages, delay-laden vocal selections, twinkling piano motifs and an even more glassy-eyed take on the warm and loved-up backing track. That said, the sax-laden A-side vocal version, the epitome of soft-focus European synth-pop goodness from the period, is also superb.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Emotional Rescue's Miami groove revival continues with the latest instalment in their celebration of Konduko Records and the work of Noel 'King Sporty' Williams. Following the stellar "Rock Attack" and "Haven't Been Funked Enough" comes one of the strongest outings from The Ex Tras, "Do You Wanna Dance?" It's everything an early 80s Florida jam should be, all tough electro basslines, limber funk instrumentation and dubby touches in all the right places, not least on the instrumental version. Felix Dickinson comes on board for a "Discomix" that stretches the original out in all the right places for an extended pleasure ride through some of the best dance music to come out of the Sunshine State.

Review: The current owners of iconic disco label Salsoul have previously been criticized for some of their remix choices - most notably Marquis Hawkes' revisions of classic Logg tunes - but we can't envisage many finding fault with this superb compilation. It features revisions of classic and little-known cuts from DJs and producers associated with Italy's Sounds Familiar crew. Highlights include a killer cover of Candido classic "Thousand Finger Man" by GE-OLOGY (here titled "ReFingered With Love"), a superb re-edit of The Strangers' P-funk cut "Stimulation" by Twice and Volvov, a dusty, Theo Parrish's Ugly Edits style tweak of "Salsoul Rainbow" by Kai Alce, and a typically on-point rearrangement by Mark Grusane of Civil Attack's little-known boogie floorfiller "On The Phone".

Review: At the time of writing, Britain is basking in what feels like its 79th consecutive day of baking hot sunshine. What could be better, then, than another dose of tropical disco reworks from Sartorial and Moodena's fast-rising Tropical Disco imprint? Certainly, we can see a few open-air parties going wild to the impeccable piano solos and George Benson style jazz guitars of Moodeena's gently housed-up opener "Strawberry Jam", while Sartorial's "Feel It" is an urgent, guitar-laden rework of a familiar disco-funk favourite that should get things going on recognition factor alone. On the flip, Sartorial and Simon Kennedy successfully play around with a Pleasure-esque, jazz-funk-meets-disco number ("Got You The Floor"), before Sartorial gets the filters out for a tops-off dance through jazzy disco territory ("Electric Lane").

Review: More mutant modifications from Wah Wah 45s Scrimshire: "Inner City Dancin'" is a one way trip on the disco express with a dramatic sense of orchestrated vibrancy, "Earthly Feelings" lets its inner desires known with a little fire and some serious funk wind while "Blazed Up" finishes the trip in the heart of New Jersey with a nod to one of house music's most influential acts. Get up, get down.

Review: If her social media posts are anything to go by, Roisin Murphy is more than a little frustrated. She's particularly irritated by the lack of media coverage for her new series of singles on Vinyl Factory, all of which were produced by the mighty Maurice Fulton. Listening to this second volume in the series, it seems remarkable that more hasn't been written about the series. "Play Thing", in particular, is a triumph - a jaunty, inventive and next-level chunk of Clavinet and piano-sporting dancefloor disco-pop that sounds as good blaring out of car stereos as it does beefy club sound systems. Flipside "Like", a slower and more trippy affair built around the kind of wonky synthesizer bass line normally found on one of Fulton's Syclops records, is similarly special.

Review: Some may argue that Dimitri From Paris and Tom Moulton have already provided the definitive remixes of Ron Hall, the Muthafunkaz and Marc Evans' 2006 gem "The Way You Love Me". This Glitterbox 12", which features alternative versions of those two legendary reworks, proves that they're wrong. Dimitri's "Glitterbox Retouch" of his Philadelphia International-inspired TSOP Version is a little more focused and tightly edited than its predecessor, but naturally incredibly similar. It's Moulton's "Philly Regrooved Mix", though, that's the real stunner. A near perfect example of Moulton's classic mixing skills, it sees the original disco mixer give space to each instrumental solo before unleashing the now oh-so-familiar vocal. The result is 13 minutes of unashamed disco bliss.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Psychemagik's Danny McLewin has been quietly cooking up some choice edits under the Skyrager alias lately, and here he is launching a new label Magic Wand Special Editions with four finely thought-out groovers for those who like their Balearic business smooth and silky. There's a hefty dose of soul pouring out of these cuts, leading in with the synth-tastic sweep of "Dream Merchant" before "Hawaiian Love Song" slides in with some seductive Rhodes licks and romantic vocals. "Magik Mountain" is blue-eyed boogie of the highest calibre, and "Yeah Yeah Yeah" edges a little understated disco into the mix for long, balmy nights dancing under the moon with your beloved.

Review: We won't get into the complex history of Candi Staton's "Hallelujah Anyway", but suffice to say that it has been remixed and re-modeled in a myriad of ways over the years. This Glitterbox edition boasts two previously unheard rubs, including a flipside Frankie Knuckles presents Directors Cut "Soul Praise" version that for some reason missed the cut (sorry) back in 2012. While that's good - Knuckles reworks were always luscious, warm and celebratory, and this is no different. Moplen's "Classic Vibe" mix is slower and groovier with a wonderful '90s New Jersey feel (albeit with a touch of gospel-disco flavour), and sounds like a summer anthem in the making.

Review: Throughout his long and distinguished career, Luke Solomon has not made a record quite as disco-fired as "Light You Up". In its' original form, the track wraps spoken word verses from beat poet Queen Rose and chorus vocals from bourbon-loving Brooklyn singer Amy Douglas around a killer Blaxploitation-era disco-funk groove. It's hooky, heavy and suitably celebratory, with lyrics (heard even clearer on the included Acappella version) that fit the simmering sexuality at the heart of the best disco records. If that's not enough to excite you (though it really should be), check out Louie Vega's remix. Here, the Masters at Work producer drops an extended disco revision that's breezier, groovier and full of superb musicianship.

Review: With the Russia 2018 World Cup hurtling towards a thrilling conclusion, Moscow-based re-edit crew That's A Steal joins the global party in fine style. To kick things off, Beard in Dust and Arsenii join forces on "Hey Hey", a thrilling scalpel revision of a barely known, turn-of-the-80s Bollywood disco gem. Arseeni continues the Indian flavour via the slo-mo, Balearic reggae flex of "Commando", before Sputnik takes our breath away via the surging, Italo-disco-goes-East brilliance of "Bhangraman" - all throbbing arpeggio-style bass, foreboding chords and exotic synthesizer lines. A fine package is completed by the bonkers brilliance of Guido Minisky's "The Villain Edit", which sounds like Mumbai's answer to Art of Noise jamming with Herbie Hancock (circa "Rockit").

Review: As well as all the jazz and funk, Best Italy are also dab hands at digging out Italo disco gems that pretty much qualify as proto house jams for their heavy spinning by the seminal Chicago DJs like Ron Hardy. This essential transmission from Amnesie is a fine case in point, a one hit wonder originally released in 1983 appropriately enough on Proto Records. Now "Turas" makes a welcome return, sounding resplendent in both vocal and instrumental versions, but the real treat for the dedicated diggers is the previously unreleased dub version mixed by legendary DJ Tony Carrasco. That's the jam that will have eclectic spinners getting in a lather.

Review: Deep digging selector Hunee's critically acclaimed collection Hunchin' All Night Long enjoys a new vinyl edition with a selection of the myriad oddities, odysseys and stone cold classics he curated. If you know the album, you'll know just how good these picks are. Ranging from Larry Heard's recent hypnotic uplift "Burning 4 U" to the ambient cosmic stew of Mappa Mundi's star gazing "Trance Fusion" via the Mali soul funk of Boncana Maiga and beguiling Portuguese contemporary classical from Carlos Maria Trindade, this is a revealing slice of one of this year's best compilations so far.

Review: Athens Of The North embrace the festival season with two exceptional floor-focussed edits of previous releases they've liberated from dusty crates and damp basements. Taking the lead on the A we have the most upbeat cut AOTN have ever put out as Dirty Channels give bang for you buck with an uptempo jacking twist on Split Decision Band's "Watchin Out". Meanwhile on the B Frazelle's "Today Is The Day" is given just a little DJ friendly tweakery with more spacious and on-grid drum work. An exciting development from the Edinburgh label, let's hope we see the AOTN logo on 12" again soon.

Review: Phil Mison returns with another blink-and-miss wax special that takes the name from a medicinal leech. Fitting; one session with any of these three versions will drain you of any ill will or negativity. Rising in tempo and energy from the original across the two remixes by Noche Espanola and Pete Herbert, this is pure Balearica with its glistening strums, sunset chords and magically scattered percussion. The seasonal timing of this is no coincidence.

Review: It's coming out on Best Italy, so you know you're in for a rarified treat from the dusty archives of pan European music. On this occasion the unstoppable reissue label has its disco hat on, serving up the "raw cosmic funk" of Oro, recorded in Naples and originally released in 1977. Back then, this crucial cut was confined to a short 7" edit, but Best have pulled the stops out to track down the master tapes and execute a thorough remastering job on the full-length versions, now pressed to 12" for your long-playing, disc-spinning pleasure. It's a good thing these tracks came back into circulation - they capture the best of the late 70s era in a cool, downright funky style that never gets old.

Review: The latest 12" from happy-go-lucky Croatian re-edit crew Legalize Lambada comes from debutant Sputnik, a Moscow-based artist who previously contributed cuts to the first two That's A Steal EPs. As you'd expect, the four edits showcased here tend towards the eccentric, certainly in terms of their obscure and quirky source material. Opener "Superlove" is a skewed slab of bouncy, proto-house era Balearic synth-pop, while "Feeling Fine" is a White Isle friendly slow jam rich in parping jazz-funk horns, cascading synthesizer solos, clipped guitars and dub-wise bass. Flip for the European reggae-disco flex of "Groove Me" and "Rick", a drowsy, slo-mo shuffler full of synth-reggae rhythms, multi-tracked AOR pop vocals and cheery digital synth melodies.

Review: Vinyl only edits sub label of House Of Disco returns, with its fourth edition in the series. A very funky and lo-slung sounding rendition of Arthur Russell (perhaps) on the groovy "Can I Get Witcha" by Snacks, newcomer SDWTRX delivers the sleazy yet smooth "Midnight Run" and label mainstay Harry Wolfman also appears - he is fresh off a great one on Outplay and serves up the dreamy and sun kissed bliss of "Nino".

Review: Earlier in the year, Rio de Janeiro-based duo Balako made their debut on Barefoot Beats, sharing the billing with Eddie C on a tasty 10-inch single. The chaps at Razor-N-Tape were clearly impressed, because they've given the Brazilian twosome a 12" on which to showcase their edits. The hit the ground running with breezy opener "Batuque", which sees them add heavy, elongated analogue bass notes and delay-laden drum machine percussion to a suitably summery and glassy-eyed chunk of mid-tempo Batacuda positivity. Elsewhere, "Deixa Acontecer" turns a sweet salsa offering into a throbbing, Italo-influenced delight, while "Honey, Honey, Honey" sees them make merry with a wonderfully low-slung Brazilian disco epic rich in stripped-back bass guitar, druggy synthesizer arpeggio lines and sparkling electronic melodies.

Review: Given that Juan MacLean has released almost all of his music on DFA, we were rather surprised when this Razor 'N' Tape Reserve 12" showed up. We suspect that these are sample-heavy dancefloor tracks from MacLean's personal stash - the kind of cuts you regularly hear in his DJ sets but have previously not seen the light of day. Check, for example, the percussive peak-time romp that is muscular disco loop jam "Fine Time" and the classic boogie-meets-NYC house fusion of "Don't Stop For Nothing", which tips a sly wink towards Toney Lee classic "Reach Up". Elsewhere, "Everybody Clap" is a dustier, looser and hazier deep house excursion, while "Panic In Fort Greene Park" sees MacLean smother a trippy and hypnotic groove in spacey motifs and acid-style electronics.

Review: Italian purist editor Moplen gets given the raw stems of two famous Salsoul classics: First Choice's game-changing "Let No Man Put Asunder" and Candido's light-years ahead of time thumper "Jingo". The former gets a little dancefloor edge as the vocal begins to loop towards the end and the groove gains more momentum. The latter remains one of the most driving, physical and addictive tunes Salsoul ever released but with added length and more of dynamic in the percussion. Known for adding little to no additional production, once again Moplen's extensions and rearrangements are done in their most honest form.

Review: Since the dawn of the decade, Valentin "Valique" Golvachev has served up a wealth of top-selling re-works via the digital-only "V's Edits" series. Here he makes his belated return to vinyl via a four-track re-edits outing on Danny "80s Child" Worrall's Masterworks Music imprint. Predictably, the Russian scalpel fiend hits the ground running with the low-slung, late night disco-funk sleaziness of "It's Hot (Heavy Boogie edit)", before whipping off his shirt and charging towards peak-time disco territory via the rubbery grooves and soaring orchestration of "Think About It (Not Too Long Edit)". Over on the flip, "One Chain (Make No Prison Edit)" is a chugging, arpeggio-driven chunk of San Francisco electronic disco perfection, while "Love Hypnotizing' (Wanna Be Free Edit)" adds a little chunky house flavour to a heartfelt disco-soul number.

Review: More sweet sounds from the sporadic but forever on-point, and consistently mysterious northern label Bitter End. The brilliantly titled "Vibrating James" takes us on a P-funk odyssey with jittering Parliamentarian synth squiggles and a jittering groove that could go on forever as far as we're concerned. "The House" is also cannily monikered with its stately strut, lavish piano roll and evocative vocals. We're not sure who's behind this series but with skills like these they've got nothing to be bitter about.

Review: When The One "O" Ones originally released Radio Cosmo Disco back in 1977 it was confined to 7", which is no place for such majestic cosmic groove exploration. Now Best Records are continuing their quest to repress every hidden gem of Italian dance music and beyond, and they're doing "Radio Cosmo 101" the right way. The full "Disco Version" of the track gets to stretch out on a full 12" side, and does so in a dreamy haze of feel good funk. You can still hear the radio edit on the flip, and the original instrumental jam is included for those who want to drift away on those sumptuous tones of the backing track.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Giorgio Gordano and Giorgio Dolce originally produced "KKK" back in 1983, and the track was taken into the hearts of the blossoming Balearic scene hovering around DJ Alfredo at Amnesia. It's as gentle and sweet natured as Italo disco can be, and of course it makes perfect sense that Best Records would dig it out of the archives and give it the shiny new reissue it deserves. The "Club Mix" of "KKK" is a feast of simple, charming programmed melodies and crisp drum machine rhythms with the innocence of the early 80s in its heart. The "Dub Mix" and "Bonus Beats" on the flip are handy for the technical DJs out there, but the "Club Mix" is where it's at for the lovers.

Review: Ever since Motor City Drum Ensemble included Licky's "African Rock" on his edition of Dekmantel's Selectors compilation series, copies of the original 1979 12" have been changing hands for vast sums of money. This facsimile reissue contains both the acclaimed Licky version - a polyrhythmic, carnival disco extravaganza full of whistles, raw sax lines, rubbery bass, mazy Moog solos and the kind of insatiable vocals that cause pandemonium on dancefloors - with the lesser-known, slightly more stripped-back and percussive Dream Lovers take that adorned the original B-side. Despite the different artist credits, both versions featured the same musicians and were produced by Patrick Adams collaborators Peter Brown and Larry Robinson.

Review: Swedish Frisbee-flinging groove conjurer Albion makes his debut on Spanish diggers imprint MM Discos with four expert edits. "He Looks Like A Rainbow" is a technicolour disco strutter of the most cosmic proportions, "J'aime BB" takes us on a mischievous trip down Madrid's darkest taverns, "Universelle" is the Italo score every Spaghetti western ever needed while "Discocoloco" whips up a fiery, bluesy Latin finale. Limited to 400; this one is going to fly.