Nang Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Under the now familiar DJ Rocca alias, Luca Roccatagliati has been serving up Italo-disco, Balearica and boogie-influenced nu-disco cuts for the best part of 15 years. It's something of a surprise, then, to find that "Isole" is his debut solo album (his previous full-length excursions were made in cahoots with Dimitri From Paris and Stefano Ghittoni). It's a colourful and hugely enduring affair, with Rocca flitting between percussive, synth-bass-propelled nu-disco goodness (Rodion hook-up "Nassau"), Balearic-minded soundscapes ("Tokyo", the acid-flecked "Favignana"), delay-laden, proto-house style New York electrofunk dubs (standout "Stone Town", produced alongside Dimitri From Paris), tropical-tinged late night jams ("Taquile") and electro-fired early '80s Brit-funk ("London").

Review: This is big: a collaboration between Balearic nu-disco heavyweight Pete Herbert and "the voice of house" himself, Robert Owens. In its original form, "Pass Me By" is bubbly and attractive, with Owens' adding deep, soulful and emotion-rich vocals to a sparkling, synth-heavy backing track that effortlessly joins the dots between freestyle, proto-house and Italo-disco. The equally impressive remix package is headed up by a fine rework from Daniele Baldelli and DJ Rocca: a chugging, undulating cosmic disco revision that's surprisingly more organic in feel. Elsewhere, Aussie adventurer Dr Packer gives it an electrofunk flavoured house makeover and Pete Herbert turns in a fluid, Balearic-inspired rework full of heady synth lines and tumbling pianos.