Spacetalk Schallplatten & CDs

Review: BeachFreaks Records co-founder Charles Bals is a man who knows about records - and obscure European ones at that. Club Meduse, his first compilation for Spacetalk (a label with a track record for producing these kinds of killer, crate-digging comps), is loosely designed as the soundtrack to life around a mythical (IE imaginary) Cote D'Azure resort. Musically, it gathers together the kind of hazy, soft-focus and life-affirming cuts that you would have heard at resort discos in the mid-to-late 1980s. Suffice to say that Bals' selections tend towards the rare, magical and undeniably Balearic, from the glassy-eyed, cascading jazz-funk of the Keyboys and loved-up post-boogie sweetness of Gemini's "Take a Chance", to the sparkling Euro-electro of Miss' "Hip Hop" and pitched-down drum machine chug of Gigi Flag's "Nymphomaniac (Instrumental)". Essential.

Review: A couple of years ago French crate digger Charles Bals invited us to "Club Meduse", an imaginary Riviera club where the music was always obscure, European and decidedly mid-80s. Here he opens the doors once more, delivering an open-air friendly soundtrack heavy on rare private press gems, overlooked beauties and the kind of cuts that most would consider Balearic (even if they may have been more popular in Italy and France). Highlights are plentiful, from the eccentric instrumental of Voyage De Charme's fretless bass-powered "Hotel Des Savanes" and the soft-focus, flamenco-tinged bliss of Claude Miss' "Paco Ye Adama", to the sun-kissed jazz-funk/synth-pop fusion of Marc Et Frank's "Cap'tain Coke" and the reggae-zouk quirkiness of Les 36 15's "Zoulous! (Remix)".

Review: The new Spacetalk label gets off to a flying start thanks to this compilation by French house shotter, Jeremy Underground. We know him, and you surely know him, though his My Love Is Underground label, an imprint that has produced some of the best deep house in the last five years. He's not in house mode today, though, and instead the DJ shows us his soul roots. Ron Rinaldi's opener "Mexican Summer" is a real peach of a song, then there's some Brazilian disco-funk through Leila Pinheiro's "Tudo Em Cima", and the supremely deep and sensual "Superstar" by NCCU. Other favourites include Maureen Bailey's bittersweet anthem "Takin' My Time With You", and June Evans' "Hardly Need To Say", a tune that we could just leave on repeat. A highly recommended comp!

Review: The Spacetalk label returns with this fine compilation by French house shotter, Jeremy Underground. We know him, and you surely know him, though his My Love Is Underground label, an imprint that has produced some of the best deep house in the last five years. He's not in house mode today, though, and instead the DJ shows us his soul roots. Ron Rinaldi's opener "Mexican Summer" is a real peach of a song, then there's some Brazilian disco-funk through Leila Pinheiro's "Tudo Em Cima", and the supremely deep and sensual "Superstar" by NCCU. Other favourites include Maureen Bailey's bittersweet anthem "Takin' My Time With You", and June Evans' "Hardly Need To Say", a tune that we could just leave on repeat. A highly recommended comp!

Review: Sean Worsey was a successful lawyer in California when he started getting emails about some music he had released and all but forgotten about back in the 1980s with an obscure band called Passion Theatre. He eventually agreed for one of the tracks to be included on Charles Bals' Retour Au Club Meduse compilation before agreeing to let Sapcetalk put out both of the EPs in full. And here they are - Strange Desire and Mannequin have been assembled together on this gatefold double LP. The music mixes up super tight, high speed funk, strident disco and post-punk energy into a collection of dance floor ready cuts with personality to spare.

Review: Ilan Pdahtzur is as obsessive a record digger as any of his more visible peers. His particular niche is early to mid-eighties club music, and now he gets a platform to show off his skills thanks to the Spacetalk label. "Night City Life" is about music to match that exact setting - nocturnal urban metropolises with glowing neon lights shimmering in the darkness. There's a lot to love across four sides of vinyl here, from Italo disco to steamy boogie cuts and iridescent synth jams. It will make you nostalgic for a time and place you've never experienced (at least not as perfectly as this) and no doubt get plenty of dance floors on their feet.

Review: Spacetalk Records returns from a period of hibernation with something special: a new collection of ultra-rare, little-known nuggets from label co-founder Danny McLewin AKA Skyrager. Unlike his previous compilations as part of Psychemagik, there's no killer concept behind Traces of Illusion, just a desire to share some of the dusty obscurities he's found during years of determined crate digging. Musically, it's a mixture of psychedelic folk, leftfield synth-pop oddities, blue-eyed soul, acid-fried blue-eyed soul, Balearic boogie, Americana, ambient jazz, AOR, late 80s dancehall-soul and even a spot of grizzled progressive rock. In other words, it's as educational as it is entertaining, and packed to the rafters with private press treats and impossible-to-find curiosities.

Review: Crown Ruler Records co-founder Jeremy Spellacey is highly regarded within the crate-digging community, primarily for his ability to sniff out copies of obscure - but, naturally, high quality - boogie-era disco records from Africa and the Caribbean. On this fine compilation, Spacetalk has offered the New Zealander the opportunity to showcase some of those finds, alongside a smattering of better-known favourites and more recent cuts (see Mike Fabulous's overlooked modern boogie gem "Wang East"). Predictably, Spellacey has delivered the goods, serving up humid, exotic and loved-up gems galore, including the fluttering brilliance of Stimela's "I Love You", the marimba-laden Balearic boogie of Feladey's "Forest Music" and Devon Russell's impeccable reggae-soul cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Move on Up".