Edsel Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Until he quit the music industry in the mid-1990s, Shep Pettibone was the most in-demand remixer on the planet - a position he'd held since the late 1970s. This four-disc compilation does a great job of showcasing some of his greatest remixes, all of which are presented in full-length form. There's naturally plenty of versions of big pop singles of the '80s - see the epic 'Mastermix' of Pet Shop Boys' 'West End Girls', as well as rubs of Duran Duran, New Order, Whitney Houston and Belinda Carlisle - as well as a sprint through his celebrated disco and boogie reworks (see disc four). In addition, you'll find versions of some lesser-celebrated gems from the freestyle-era, including heavyweight revisions of Sinammon, Alisha, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam and The Flirts.

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: John Luongo is a Bostonian disco legend and although his contributions to the proliferation of the sound are more than noted within the industry, his recognition among regular old music fans seems, as his own estate puts it, "to have slipped through the cracks of dance history." Demon hopes to change all that with this new multi-format box set of his music, which aims to memorialize him as one of the most influential DJs and mixers of his day. Luongo's many credits include remixes of Jackie Moore's 'This Time Baby', 'Vertigo / Relight My Fire' by Dan Hartman and Patti Labelle's 'Music Is My Way Of Life'. Luongo also went on to establish a production career in his own right, and his legacy is more than cemented here. This box set compiles his most striking tracks in a 4xCD compilation, as well as many other trinkets and rarities including a 32-page booklet and an in-depth essay from Alexis Petridis.

Review: Belinda Carlisle undertook a huge world tour back in 2022 and 2023 and in the wake of that she has now dropped the second volume in a series of media book sets of her recordings. This instalment of Decades takes in all of the tracks off her four albums Real from 1993, A Woman And A Man from 1996, Voila from 2007 and Wilder Shores from 2017. As such there are plenty of her well known hits here from 'Big Scary Animal' to 'Lay Down Your Arms' to 'Always Breaking My Heart' as well as some covers of some well and lesser known French songs.

Review: While they might be best known for one mega-hit, Pete Burns' Dead Or Alive were much more than 'You Spin Me Round'. Emerging just ahead of the new romantics era, their embrace of synth-pop collided with an antagonistic spirit rooted in punk. Capped off with the flamboyant theatrics of Burns' voice and appearance, and you have one of the all-time greats of the era, amply celebrated on this singles collection which features some of the killer extended mixes and alternative versions that make their 12"s as essential as their LPs. At 180 tracks spread over 27 discs, there's a lot to chew on - much more than just a one-hit wonder.

Review: The Pete Hammond Hi-NRG Remixes presents a nostalgic journey into the classic 80s sound with 11 tracks from Dead Or Alive, expertly remixed by Pete 'Mixmaster' Hammond. Renowned for his work with the band's later recordings, Hammond breathes new life into these tracks with throwback Hi-NRG remixes. Originally issued as a 2LP colored vinyl set for Record Store Day, this project is now available as a 2CD set, catering to both RSD enthusiasts and CD aficionados. These remixes reimagine newer songs in the style of the 1980s, offering a retro take on their original sound. Included in the album are fresh remixes of hits like 'Hit And Run Lover' alongside the 2000 remix of the iconic 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)'. Each track is meticulously re-played and reworked by Hammond, capturing the essence of the era and paying homage to Dead Or Alive's iconic sound.

Review: Fierce, fabulous and more than a little fancy, Box Of Sin takes an exhaustive look at 80s gay nightlife as the driver for the evolution of dance music. Spread over five CDs, we're taken on a sweat-slicked thrill ride through hi-nrg, disco, proto house and synth-pop taking in seminal classics and deep cuts alike. There are plenty of perennial favourites contained within, from The Pointer Sisters' 'Jump (For My Love)' and Soft Cell's 'Memorabilia' through to S'Express' massive chart dance banger 'Theme From S'Express', and you can be sure the compilers have taken care to source the real deal 12" mixes that bring out the best in a track. With plenty of lesser known surprises and a frankly head-spinning amount of knockout tracks, this is an essential document of the outsized impact queer club culture had on electronic music in the 80s and early 90s.