Back in stock: Funky/Club House

Review: After launching the Dance Masters series with a much-needed trawl through the remixography of the great Shep Pettibone, Arthur Baker has now turned his attention to his own sprawling catalogue of productions and remixes. Stretched over four discs in order to present full-length, DJ-friendly mixes, the collection does a great job in showcasing Baker's immense achievements in the 1980s and 90s. Naturally, his most celebrated productions and remixes are present - see his versions of Fleetwood Mac's 'Big Love', which became Balearic anthems, Afrika Bambaata and Soulsonic Force's genuinely game-changing 'Planet Rock', Freez's 'I.O.U', Rockers Revenge's 'Walking on Sunshine' and New Order's 'Confusion' - alongside a swathe of forgotten, overlooked and harder to find revisions.

Review: BDK's Tequila EP from Say Namm White delivers four full-powered, disco-tinged house heaters. Side-1 opens with 'Big Disco Banger,' a high-energy, filtered house anthem true to its name, followed by 'I Don't Want It,' which offers a deeper, yet still anthemic, vibe. Side-2 starts with 'Love Coming Over,' leaning into a Euro disco sound with heavy Fire Island influences. The EP closes with 'Please Don't Rush,' the deepest house track of the lot. If you are a disco house enthusiasts then check this record out because its packed with infectious grooves and vibrant energy.

Review: Self-proclaimed "quadruple threat" (he is, after all, a DJ, comedian, actor and poet) Craig Charles swings open his colossal Trunk of Funk for a third time. In line with previous dives into the popular BBC 6 Music DJ's music collection, he's served up a selection that moves between the decades, taking in all manner of funky treats (think funk breaks, modern soul, jazz-funk, disco-boogie, classic soul and more). Flick through the clips and you'll find genius-like gospel (the Harlem Gospel Travellers), recent remixes (Smoove reworking the Third Degree, A Skillz putting his stamp on The Niceguys), classics reimagined (the Boogie Back rework of Beggar & Co classic 'Somebody Help Me Out'), modern gems (Dave Lee and Omar) and the odd exclusive (a previously unheard vocal version of The New Mastersounds' 'Watchu Want').

Review: The Friends 4 Ever label makes another solid shout to remain in your affections for the long run with a fourth EP full of house joy. This one samples a delightful Chris Rea Balearic classic and layers in the vocals from 'Josephine' to a rolling, deep and soulful house groove full of loved-up vibes and laid-back grooves. It's the sort of dancefloor uniting tune that could well bring tears if dropped at the right moment. Flip it over and you'll get something tinged with boogie-disco brilliance in the form of Surface's 'Falling In Love'. Two absolute pearlers.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Record slightly warped***


A top value for money opportunity here, as Moiss Music deliver the latest in their sweet and sticky Jam series of various artist 12" line ups, bringing you no less than six bubbling, vivacious disco triumphs from six artists. Khemir's 'Disco Bandit' kicks off proceedings, a production that sounds like it was made by a band of around 45 musicians, a proper cavalcade of strings, brass, brazen disco thump and beautifully bold vocals. Wurzelholz's 'Prince' goes for a bit more economy but with a slinky funk bassline like that - not to mention the occasional exclamation from the purple overlord himself - it's equally devastating in dancefloor terms. Among the other highlights, 'Golden' by I Gemin has the feel of a lost Daft Punk flip tune and Cosmocomics' 'Glamorous Garcon', boasting 70s-style synth bubbles that are as cute as they are retro. Tasty as ever.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


A timely reminder of the enduring power of classic house music. Originally released in 1991, 'Rise Up' is a certified anthem, its infectious energy and uplifting piano chords transporting listeners back to the golden age of house music. This reissue features the original mix on the A-side, a timeless piece of dancefloor history that continues to inspire and uplift. But the real treat lies on the flip, where Vandalism delivers a remix that injects a contemporary twist via a driving bassline and fruity synths. A guaranteed mood booster and a reminder of the timelessness of classic house music.

Review: Sometimes, the right track just lands in your lap. That's exactly what happened with Mamacita's 'Tu Amor', a Chilean cover of Jamie Principle & Frankie Knuckles' 'Your Love'. Originally released in 2012, it started making waves after being played in sets by the Idjut Boys, catching the attention of DJ Steve KIW, who passed it on to Mr Bongo. It quickly became a favorite. While playing in Barcelona, Luke Una dropped the track in his set, and it instantly clicked with him. The track's raw, DIY vibe, paired with its quirky arrangement, made it a perfect fit for E Soul Cultura, and now it's getting its first vinyl release. The song was created by Chilean DJ Mamacita (Carolina Vallejos) and producer Persona RS (Sebastian Roman) on lo-fi equipment, channeling a DIY energy that recalls early Chicago house. It became a hit in Chile's underground scene, though it didn't receive much attention outside of Latin America and the US. For this release, Luke Una and Luke Solomon re-edited it, extending the track and emphasising its wonky synths, while still keeping that unique cosmic feel. Both the original and the re-edit are included in this vinyl release, bringing new life to a previously overlooked gem.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Way back in 2008, Romanian dance-pop producer Edward Maya scored a global hit with Vika Jigulina hook-up 'Stereo Love' - a slick, hooky song (complete with obligatory noughties auto-tune vocal effects) wrapped in jaunty, turbo-folk influenced accordion motifs and various nods to the EDM end of the house music spectrum. This reissue boasts three versions first released in the late noughties - the superior extended mix, radio edit and Moella's tougher, tribal house-tinged interpretation - and what appears to be a previously unreleased Mia Martina 'extended remix'. That boasts some swirly effects and slightly chunkier beats, but otherwise sticks closely to Maya's chart-bothering original mix.

Review: Mousse T. returns with All I Want Is The Bass, bringing serious heat to the dancefloor. The A1 Extended Mix delivers relentless energy, driven by a gritty, dutty bassline and featuring a standout drop that leaves a lasting impression. On the flip, the B1 DJ Tool strips things back, offering an essential cut for creative mixing. The track includes a killer vocal sample from Raze's Bass Power, originally crafted by the legendary Vaughan Mason. Pep Jam is back in full force, with this release set to light up clubs everywhere.

Review: "As human beings, what we don't know vastly overshadows what we do know. As teenagers, we would discuss our own fascination and preoccupation with the infinite and the impossible - the most profound mysteries of life." Svein Berge & Torbjorn Brundtland
Royksopp unveil Profound Mysteries, an expanded creative universe and a prodigious conceptual project, on numbered gatefold vinyl for the first time. Profound Mysteries is as mystifying as the title suggests, much like Danny L Harle's 'Harlecore' the house cuts and hardcore dance tracks of 'This Time, This Place...' and 'Breathe' are broken up with echoing ambience sprinkled with the heavenly vocals of Susanne Sundfor on 'The Mourning Sun' or the sinister 'Press R', reminiscent of Anamanaguchi's 'USA' with its text-to-speech warning messages.

Review: NicePeople co-founder Giuseppe Scarano has been making some terrific house and disco in recent years. Disco Disco Germany has been a home for his music in the past and here they've located some unsold copies of the sought after 'What A Feeling' EP somewhere in the depths of their warehouse. 'Feel Da Groove' is a classic sounding, big stomping high energy disco track for the main floor full of energy. ' ACID Banger' is just that. A banger with little letdown that works a crowd into a complete frenzy. Each track has a bit of 90s house energy in them because the beat's stomp hard with no let up. 'Living Da Life' is a good example of that hard hitting attack. 'Jazzy Swing' follows it up with a phased-out chorus blended over some intense house spirit. If you like intense tracks that pay an homage to French, New York and Chicago disco-house day's then this EP should be in your cart.

Review: Giuseppe Scarano channels an authentic, not hubristic, pride in the dance on his latest contribution to Disco Disco. 'Disco Pride' feeds the sampled origins of four, still unknown disco originals back into four equally modern 4x4 beat-forms, producing the utmost punchiest nu-discoic sound. Naming his first track after the label - 'Disco Disco' - we're met with bright, sizzling strings and lilting radiophonic sample bursts, before swaying into the relentless funk of 'Dancin All Night Long', and B-siders 'Anything For Me' and 'Dance With Me', the last of which brings the only flavours of garage house to the mix.

Review: Last year, Spain's DROP Dance Society - a collective initially founded to put on open-minded, inclusive parties inspired by iconic Chicago and New York clubs - launched an offshoot label, unleashing a swathe of digital-only singles. Here the imprint lands on vinyl for the first time via a compilation showcasing the best of their "digi" releases so far. There's predictably plenty to set the pulse racing throughout, from the lightly disco-tinged deep house colour of TeteDe La Course's 'The Light (Soulful Trip Mix)' and ELTE's Soundstream-esque disco-house looper 'Love Will Shine', to the Dave Lee style beefed-up disco revivalism of Katermurr's 'Beautiful Spirit' and the trance-meets-Italodance surge of Alistair Lane's 'Hypnodance'.

Review: During the late '90s and early 2000s, Whirlpool Productions - a Cologne-based outfit whose members included exiled Californian Eric D Clark and future Kompakt regular Justus Kohncke - delivered a string of killer 12" singles that blurred the boundaries between micro-house, deep house, disco and Italo. Their greatest dancefloor hit was undoubtedly 1996's 'From Disco To Disco', a freewheeling affair that featured improvised vocals and electric piano motifs over a throbbing, Italo-disco style bassline and sturdy house beats. This timely reissue pairs a remastered version of the band's original mix with a later Tiefschwarz remix that's more druggy, undeniably heavier and laden with additional pots-and-pans percussion. It's a fine rework that compliments the untouchable original mix.