Back catalogue:

Review: It's a sizzling seven up for Moiss Music here as they draw together four different artists to offer up one cut each for this new various artists collection. Boogietraxx goes heavy on the filter vibes on 'S N T' which is French touch disco-house of the highest order. Kellit's 'Pryscoks Sockin Socks' is all about sultry sax lines and loose-limbed disco house beats while C Da Afro gets heads up with the streaming sunshine synths of 'Don't Be Quiet.' Groovemasta shut down with the funky Afro-disco stylings of 'Gonna Make U Rock.'

Review: Especial Specials has joined forces with Osaka-based imprint Chillmountain Recordings to offer up another Enjoy Your Self EP. This one once again showcases the talents on its roster with label head Ground kicking off with a beatdown meets trance sound on "Utau Narukoyuri'. After that slow burner come tribal percussive sounds from 'Arauma' (Kobato Dub), sunny cumbia on 'Something Sign' and a meandering Balearic journey from Akira Arasawa With KUN & FRANKY-CH that is brought to life with new age flute sounds, bird calls, jungle drips and folkloric strings. A fantastic EP, then.

Review: Son of Todd Osborn (Soundmurderer/Ghostly) Kaito Ian makes a hugely impressing first outing on the Galaxy Sound Co label with a series of lo-fi hip-hop beat-strumentals that cannot fail to get your head nodding. He is a dedicated music lover and skater with a deep knowledge of his craft and that shows here with some refined sounds starting with the soul drenched 'Revert', then on to the warped angelic vocal samples of 'Sequoia' and the percussive jumbled and scratching of 'Trek'. 'Wait Up' is another excellently blissed out joint and 'Sloan' is a sunny, laid back, lazy vibe to close down a superb EP.

Review: Kalita Records are proud and honoured to announce the first ever and official reissue of Kallaloo's sought-after 1982 disco single 'Star Child', accompanied by interview-based liner notes. Originally released on Jeffrey Turpin's Trinidadian record label IDA, 'Star Child' has since become highly sought-after by both DJs and collectors alike as an invisible, yet astonishing piece of Caribbean disco. Unable at the time to gain the traction and success that it deserved, we hope that this re-release provides an opportunity to bring such a great record to a much wider audience.

Kallaloo consisted of various Trinidadian musicians including Keith Alexander and Peter Wayne Barkley. Keith had been well-respected as a member of the Trinidadian group Impact, and was later to become an in-demand producer and composer under the name of Keith Diamond, responsible for various hits by Billy Ocean, Donna Summer, Starpoint and Melba Moore. In contrast, Peter was a well-known recording session drummer, but after 'Star Child's' release he moved to North Carolina to pursue other interests and "was never heard from again".

'Star Child' was recorded at Right Track Recording, in mid-town Manhattan, New York. As Jeffrey recalls, the atmosphere in the studio was "great", with "everyone upbeat, the cream of the crop just looking for that break... everyone was talented and just wanted the chance to express their own ideas". Five hundred copies of the record were released on IDA with a white label design, and they were sold both in Brooklyn, New York and Port of Spain, Trinidad. It was also released on a red label, however this was not to Jeffrey's knowledge at the time.

Jeffrey explains that the reason why the record didn't fare well at the time was because of the difficulty in getting the song played on the radio. As he recalls, radio stations were much more likely to play 'radio versions' of songs which lasted for a couple of minutes, rather than five or seven minute 'extended' versions such as 'Star Child', which were more suitable to a club environment. In addition, as Jeffrey explains, radio airplay is a "political business", and also within a short while band members such as Keith got their own breaks, and the Kallaloo era was over as quickly as it had started.

Review: Kaymany & Asestar hail from Rome, a city where many musicians spend most of their days producing sounds for the television industry and even shopping malls. That's part of the reason the country has such a reparation for great jazz-funk sounds and now adding to that cannon are Kaymany & Asestar. 'Effimera' is glossy and feel good disco with retro future chords, while 'Digressione' has a Bob James style energy to it with its high speed funky bass and incidental chords. 'Capao' closes in Latin fashion with manic keys and more plucked and funky bass slaps making you shake every limb.

Review: If you're reading this you will probably already know that this Cruise Music series has been full of gold over the previous instalments. Whoever is in charge for curation has pulled it off again with four more funky and disco infused house gems. Keller's opener is a classy mix of filtered vocals and drum loops with an aching soul edge. Mark Funk offers a more party starting disco bumper with classic vocal hooks and Danny Cruz takes things onto a summer terrace with glorious horns and uplifting grooves. Makito shuts down with the dusty deep house shuffles and party atmospheres of 'Jackin With Millie.'

Review: Taken from the album of the same name, this 1976 classic from Temptations frontman Kendricks was a huge disco anthem when released. Only, apparently, to be overshadowed by Donna Summer's "Love Trilogy". Kendricks' trademark falsetto rings with emotive insistence and with a tight guitar and bass backbone, big strings and bold horns, funk oozes out of every single beat matching his soul bar for bar. An excellent reissue.

Review: If we had to put together a list of the world's greatest dusty disco re-editors, Al Kent would come somewhere close to the top of the list. Further proof of the Glaswegian's scalpel-wielding genius can be found on this epic two-tracker for GAMM. We're particularly enjoying flipside "Erotic Queen", a 12-minute-plus revision of a near unknown disco track that boasts densely layered, sweat-soaked percussion, razor sharp strings, hammered-out Clavinet lines and, as the track speeds towards its near orgasmic conclusion, spacey synths and all manner of alternating instrument solos. Massive! A-side "Fist Of Fury" is tidy, too, with Kent working his magic on a particularly spacey, deeper disco jam that has Moog solos for days.

Review: Spain's Esuoh White label kicks on here with a sixth outing that welcomes various talents to offer up their own deep house delights. Kid Mark kicks off with 'Need U' which is a big-hearted jam with full-throttle vocals and hefty house drums. Chris Fry & Owain 124 slip into a deeper vibe with the sunny loops of 'Together' and lush guitar trills. Ezequiel G channels the raw jack of early era-Chicago house with 'Soul Enough' then George Feely shuts down with the high energy and hard hitting house sounds of 'Groovin'' complete with an effortlessly uplifting and soulful filtered vocal.

Review: Vancouver's Maya Killtron is an artist on a mission. A talented songwriter and vocalist with a deep-rooted love of synth-funk and 80s boogie, her slim catalogue to date is full of quality collaborations with talented, like-minded producers. She's at it again on her latest missive for Spanish "modern funk" stable The Sleeperz Records. On side A, she works with producer Andrew Napoleon on the brilliant 'Body Fly', a glossy slab of mid-80s synth-funk/synth-pop fusion rich in squelchy P-funk bass, bright lead lines and colourful chords. Estonia-based Latvian Artis Boris tales over on side two, underpinning a typically expressive and soulful Killtron vocal with sinewy strings, modern boogie grooves and nods aplenty to early 1980s disco. Naturally, the sound is nostalgic, but both cuts sound undeniably fresh.

Review: Emotional Rescue closes out another brilliant year with one final hot drop. This sorting 7" Safari by King Sporty was the artist's first ever single back in 1976. It comes after the label has served up plenty of reissues of the man known as Noel Wiliam's tackle but this one might be the best. It's from his album Deep Reggae Roots and is nice tropical excursion with steamy hits, wooden percussive sounds and funky bass over a low-slung groove and chanting vocals. This one is backed with a special disco mix by Lexx that reworks the tune for more lively moments.

Review: Here comes Emotional Rescue and Konduko's last in their series of Noel Williams/King Sporty reissues, this time looking at later electro productions and the hip-hop/boogie influenced 'Sun Country'. Vocals and co-production come from Williams' long-time partner Betty Wright and as well as a vocal and instrumental mix there's a longform remix by Bay Area disco dub stalwarts, 40 Thieves.
By this point in his career, the godfather of Miami Bass had travelled a long way from his Jamaican roots in reggae and soul, paying homage to the warm climbs of the Sunshine State and laying down a much copied template using the TR-808 drum machine create the electronic emulations of the breakbeat, claps accenting the backbeat and trademark low frequencies shaking the floorboards. The instrumental stretches the arrangement, emphasising the interplay between electronics, bass, vocal samples, scratching and fx, the voice transformed into a percussive element in its own right. The flip sees 40 Thieves flexing their understated understanding of electro funk, making for a rounded, generation-jumping package.

Review: There is some class edit and mash up business going on here with the latest one from the Disco Bits crew. The 45 takes the form of of classic cuts reworked with an all new and contemporary edge with the dancefloor very much in mind. First up, a Patti Job classic gets taken apart and rebuilt with new vocals and a more stepping beat. The Chopper's 'People Hold On' is a more smoochy sound with classic vocal refrains singing out and twanging guitar riffs powering along a groove that is suited for everything from weddings to late night shenanigans.

Review: This delightful 7" features a collaboration between two Star Creature veterans from Northern and Southern California who deliver a raw, uncut boogie track. The wonderful 'Girl Ur Freaky' is both breezy and laidback but irritably dance. The vocal harmonies are heart-melting, the wispy synths bring cosmic cool and the drums and squelchy bass sit together perfectly. The vocal version really is where it's at with this one but if you want it more subtle then the flip-side instrumental is the one for you.

Review: For the 29th instalment in their ongoing series of seven-inch singles, Demon Singles Club has decided to offer up a 45rpm pressing of Komiko's 'Feel Alright'. First released on legendary disco-boogie imprint SAM Records back in 1982, the track has long been a favourite with boogie DJs and with good reason. Built around a memorable bassline, squelchy electrofunk synths and unfussy machine drums, 'Feel Alright' boasts a fine female lead vocal whose lyrics extolls the virtues of dancing all night with happy strangers. As it did back in 1982, the vocal mix comes backed with an instrumental take in which producer Darryl Payne's killer bassline and synths rightfully take centre stage. If it's not in your collection already, you need to grab one of these copies pronto.

Review: From Kon's forthcoming compilation on BBE entitled Kon & The Gang, this 12? sampler features two cuts taken from the LP and an exclusive remix from Boston producer and mix engineer Caserta, namely "Timeless" (Caserta mix)" a tasty serving of super deep and low slung disco goodness. A more functional edit for DJ use follows on "Timeless" (remix - Caserta mix)". On the flip Truccy (better known as Compost's Rainer Truby and Corrado Bucci) present "Closer", a gorgeous slo-mo house jam with a rolling groove fetauring all the good stuff: swirling Rhodes keys, groovy congas and hypnotic vox.

Review: Krewcial unleashes Discosaurs Vol Two with another series of raw edits that are all given some modern dance floor weight to get dance floors roaring. 'Track 1' is all about the soaring strings that bring great scale to the instrumental disco beats. 'Track 2' gets even more expressive with florid melodies, big disco male vocals and hurried funk grooves. 'Track 3' keeps the soul train chugging with more gorgeous strings but this time some cute balearic style guitar noodles and then the closer slows things down a touch to allow a female vocal plenty of room to to its work.

Review: DeLaChaud is the long-time home and record label of Krewcial, who is something of what you might call a young veteran in the game. Following impressive solo albums on PlayItAgainSam and UK's BBE in the early 2000's he is still going strong and this new one proves it. Whether sampling jazz greats, laying down funky bass and infectious drums there is no mistaking the soulful impact of these tunes. 'Love & Devotion' is a vocal gem that will raise anyone's spirits no matter which version you pick here and 'Nereci' brings a throwback house sound with a Latin vocal on the club mix. The Bruk mix is a lovely London broken beat and a final acoustic mix is a useful tool.

Review: There's naturally much to enjoy on the latest volume in Africa Seven's A7 Edits series, which pairs original - and usually obscure - old Afro-disco and Afro-boogie gems with fresh 21st century edits. This time round, the A-side is all about Kemayo & K System's piano and horn-heavy disco-funk jam 'Biram', a two-minute blast of dancefloor exuberance that Phillip Lauer cleverly re-imagines as loopy, locked-in chunk of Afro-disco/disco house fusion. Over on the flip there's a chance to savour Afro National's heavy, low-slung stomper 'Push Forward', a cut that brilliantly adds chanted vocals and Hendrix style guitar solos to a sweaty, non-stop groove. Al Zanders does a great job in ratcheting up the tension and heaviness on his accompanying club-ready extension.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Funkyjaws Music is back to make your body move with the latest instalment in its ongoing edit series, Let's Dance, this time with a sixth sizzling volume. Monsieur Van Pratt's loose and languid 'Besame' opens up with some gorgeous strings and funky guitar licks then Kiko Navarro brings a rich Afro flavour with the shuffling and percussive rhythms of 'Bosinga'. Bogdan Ra's 'Get On The Floor' is a fresh take on a disco classic with irresistible vocal charm and swooning pads. Last of all, Zaffa demands you 'Shake It' and you surely will as he layers up wet claps, sliding hi-hats and lively drums into a big-hearted party starter.

Review: The second installment of Multi-Culti's Moon Faze Sun Gaze series is a typically psychedelic affair, with an impressive cast of producers delivering a quintet of trippy workouts. Von Party & Dreems join forces to present "Wet Raga", a spaced-out combination of delay-laden drums, space disco electronics, and Eastern mysticism. The ever-reliable Red Axes fuses heavy post-punk bass, with punchy percussion and minimal wave melodies on the excellent "Boosha Gdola", while Dreems go solo on the weirdo acid-electro bubbler "Sine O'The Tymes". Nick Murray and Kris Baha underpin psychedelic disco electronics with the heavyweight throb of house on "Say Something", before Cocolo draws proceedings to a close with the pitched-down shuffle of analogue wobbler "F33lings".

Review: Always keen to break new ground, Strut's latest compilation comes not from a well-known European or American crate-digger, but rather Kenyan-born, Uganda-based DJ Kampire. A Dancefloor in Ndola sees her look back to her time growing up in Zambia and specifically the music she heard and loved during these formative years. It's a great idea, executed brilliantly, with Kampire showcasing an enticing and highly entertaining mix of East and South African music from the 70s and 80s, including Congolese rumba and soukous, bubblegum, and kalindula, a guitar-led style native to Zambia. It's a joyous an eye-opening collection all told and notable for - aside from the high quality throughout - Kampire's decision to showcase a high number of tracks from legendary and little-known female artists. A genuinely essential collection all told.

Review: Dutch party-starters Kraak & Smaak have always been hard to pin down, with their vast catalogue containing everything from jubilant nu-disco, funk-fuelled breaks and Afrobeat to club-ready hip-hop jams, revivalist electrofunk, purple P-funk and slow-motion Latin treats. What unites their output - as this expansive two-disc 20th birthday celebration proves - is a hard-headed commitment to making sure everyone has a good time (something also proved by their occasional live shows). As best of collections go, Twenty is inspired, not least because it not only contains their biggest singles and fan favourites, but also some of their most notable collaborations. Look out for killer cuts with house legend Romathony, soul sensations Durand Jones, Mayer Hawthorne and Izo Fitroy, and yacht rock-loving Aussie nu-disco band Parcels.

Review: After a 10-year hiatus, Balearic Mike and Kelvin Andrews return to continue the journey of the Balearic Beat with another edition of their distinguished Down To The Sea And Back compilation series, presenting a formidable new set of rare and obscure records. Once more sifting from the formidable crock of late 80s to intra-90s Balearic music, this eight-track LP begins on a serene note with the expertly layered guitars from Dagobert Bohm on their re-arrangement of Josete Ordonez, before moving into increasingly complex but still no less sunny waters from the likes of Vidderna, Lee Ryda, and Pressure Drop. A veritable three years' worth of digging, finally condensed into a single selection.