Soundway Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The debut album from Bahraini-born, British-based musical duo Dar Disku is a celebration of their Arabic heritage and multicultural influences that melds golden age West Asian and North African sounds with a contemporary dancefloor focus. The eight-track record hears the duo traverse their West Asian and North African origins and bring them back to their current place of residence, crossing from disco to Rai, from piano house to Turkish psychedelia, and all manner of other cross-Med import-exports. From the degage Turkish psych prog-house builder 'Sabir' with Billur Battal, to the penultimate piano-breaks rattler 'Galbi', this is a chilled and wavering dance release primed for bridging international gaps.

Review: Soundway surpass themselves again with this wonderful reissue from the Ghanaian artist Rob, who released two albums back in 1977 for the West African Essiebons label. Rob was a seasoned musician in the 70?s, having recorded and toured with many well known bands. The album is a somewhat Spartan, brooding affair where less is most definitely more as slow burning, hip swaying cosmic funk drenched compositions are offset by wonderful punchy brass arrangements. A slow burning pulse is present throughout with highlights being ''Loose up Yourself'' and the irreplaceable carnal conquest anthem '' Make it Fast, Make it Slow''. Songs of celebration sit alongside other pieces of introspection and socially conscious topics; some might criticise the odd duff notes and occasional raw vocal edge, but this just adds texture to the overall performance and vibe. Without question one of the best reissues of 2012.

Review: Soundway Records deliver a new compilation, delving deep into the many obscure and experimental disco cuts laid to record in 70s and 80s Southeast Asia. Here Soundway's longtime general manager Alice Whittington (aka. DJ Norsicaa) steps into the limelight, embracing her Malaysian heritage and selecting music from her heavy collection of Asian records. Taking its namesake from the Indonesian phrase for "let's go to the disco", Ayo Ke Disco spans ten rare slices of disco-funk, psychedelic funk, synth, city pop and Hindustani-Arabic rhythms, all painstaking licensed from the local labels whose efforts still often persist some forty years on.