Tags: Balearic Disco

Review: Out Of The Blue, Phil Mison's first compilation for some time, was apparently inspired by his first few trips to the White Isle of Ibiza, and specifically the unlikely set of circumstances that led to him filling in for Jose Padilla at Cafe Del Mar. Musically, it's reflective of the story, joining the dots between impossible-to-find rarities (see the loved-up instrumental jazz-rock of "Jelly" by The Cactus Rose Project and the life-affirming fusion business of Christoph Spendel Group's "Forever", for starters), huggable Balearic synth-pop, flamenco-inspired sunset gems, and a smattering of head-in-the-clouds Italian dream house killers. Given Mison's heritage and status as one of Balearica's top selectors, it's perhaps unsurprising that Out Of The Blue is undeniably brilliant.

Review: Leng Records' 59th release is something a little different: a very personal collection of largely obscure and hard-to-find gems, mostly created by European pop producers in the late '70s and early '80s, from artist and record collector Paul Beckett. Firmly Balearic and sun-soaked in tone, there's plenty to set the pulse racing throughout. For proof, first check Ray & John's 'Day By Day (Instrumental), which sounds like Please-era Pet Shop Boys reclining at a pool party in Rimini, before admiring the space rock/synth-pop fusion of 'Angelo' by Angel'o. Over on the flip, Beckett offers up three more slices of glassy-eyed goodness, with the loved-up deep synth pop of Angel and the fretless bass-sporting wooziness of Eggs Time standing out.

Review: Greek DJ/producer Lex has been part of the scene in his home city of Athens since the dawn of the millennium, though it's only in the last few years that he's focused more on making music. The results of his efforts, which were previously showcased on 12" singles for Leng and Samosa Records, amongst others, have been quietly impressive. His debut album, Waving, continues in the same vein, utilising a pool of musician friends to craft cuts that blur the boundaries between sun-kissed, sofa-friendly Balearic warmth and subtly funk-fuelled, dub disco-framed dancefloor shufflers. The plentiful highlights include the stunning, tropical-tinged opener, 'Punta Allen', the organ-sporting vocal squelch-along 'Window Spells', acid-flecked nu-disco-meets-cosmic disco workout 'Silver Peace' and high-octane number 'Down My Soul'.

Review: Sadeira - a trio made up of members based in both Brooklyn and Brazil - previously impressed with a handful of high-grade releases on Let's Play House. Now they've transferred to London-based Leng to showcase their latest colourful, cross-cultural musical fusions. Lead cut 'Luzes Ca Didade' is undeniably brilliant: a swelteringly humid slab of samba-nu disco brilliance rich in fluttering flutes, layered Brazilian percussion, squelchy synth bass, glistening guitars and life-affirming bi-lingual vocals. It's backed with two tidy reworks - a flute-heavy instrumental take, and the band's own sweaty, percussive, and sub0heavy broken house revision, which drags the track further towards peak-time dancefloors. The EP's final track is fab, too: a synth-heavy, early '80s influenced dub reggae rework of previous single 'Deixa Tudo Fluir' that may well be the EP's standout moment.

Review: After an absence of a few years, 40 Thieves return to Leng Records with one of their most special releases to date: a hook-up with long-time Patrick Adams collaborator Gary Davis and long serving soulstress Cinammon Jones. What's on offer is a re-make of one of Jones' songs, 'The Gift', whose sweet lyrics celebrate the arrival of a new day. 40 Thieves take, explored first in the A-side 'Disco Mix', sounds like it was designed to be danced to during a San Francisco sunrise - think dub disco delays, hypnotic grooves, bubbly electronics, languid guitar licks and gentle melodies. Over on the flip, they take the track further into 'woozy 6am open air dancing territory' on a superb, stretched out 'Disco Dub' mix, before peppering a killer drum track with spaced-out electronics on the 'Beats' version.

Review: A fresh collaborative dance effort from the fine folks over at Leng, centring on reworks of the brilliant debut album Waving by producer Lex (Alex Andrikopolous). Released in 2022, we're now two years ahead, and come met with this fine array. Kicking things off with a glorious Faze Action remix of 'Punta Allen', on which guitars, steel pans and clap-slaps abound, we're soon further into the mid-rave movements of 'Libre De Amor', a new one with Locke, followed by the acidic additives of Ruf Dug's version of 'Prezend'. Finally, another original, 'Super Awake', surfaces as the cascading coda to an all-out suite of neo-Balearic delights.

Review: Only by upholding and enforcing a limit can diehard music fans find the will to "keep coming back"; and by the sounds of it, recording artists Liminal know this rule all too well. The Danish duo and new Leng signees are still relative neonates on the scene, having paired up as session musicians in Denmark's flagship indie electronica studio Troest; they too could not avoid keeping coming back to each other, perhaps by sheer force of unavoidable collaborative potency. With a new midnight funk-disco threnody, 'Keep Coming Back To Me' harks back to the best of Scandi post-punk and disco as it swept the Baltic peninsulas in the early noughts; 'The Moon Is Changing' develops said captivating indietronic sound to a post-progressive effect, bringing a next-levelling of fused funk and abstract electronica.

Review: Intrallazzi and Dario Piana have been friends and Milanese scene contemporaries since 1981, when they both fell in love with the distinctive Afro-Cosmic sound of local DJ (and later Piana collaborator) Daniel Baldelli. Since then, they have both made records aplenty under a variety of aliases, but this EP on Leng marks their first joint release. The headline attraction is opener (and lead cut) 'Out of Control', a dubbed-out cosmic disco chugger propelled by echo-laden percussion and a deep, low-slung bassline, smothered in psychedelic synth and guitar sounds. Fellow Italian producer LTJ Experience remixes, offering up a stripped-back and acid-flecked interpretation. Elsewhere, 'Lazise' is a TB-303-sporting cosmic shuffler and 'Saocraffen' is a Baldelli-influenced fusion of Afro-cosmic funk and ethereal Balearic sounds.

Review: When it first landed on Leng in 2018, Fernando Pulichino's 'Search of Indigo' delivered a typically attractive blend of dub disco, nu-disco, Balearica and stylish lead vocals from Luca Gaspirini. Six years on, the track returns in remixed form. The Argentinian producer and multi-instrumentalist kicks things off with his own 'AM Mix', a deliciously low-slung and psychedelic chugger propelled forwards by raw, restless TB-303 acid lines, low-slung bass guitar and the dreamiest of pads. Luca Trevisi AKA LTJ Experience handles the rest of the EP, delivering a trio of hazy, slow motion and pleasingly dubbed-out revisions. His A-side remix, in which echoing vocal snippets and jangly guitars catch the ear, is followed by the superbly squelchy, acid-flecked 'Dirty Mix' and the more immersive and hazy dancefloor 'Dub'.

Review: Baz Bradley and A Girl Called Kate team up to make Orbs Of Light, cementing their decades-long collaborative synergy with a slice of contemporary Balearic beat. 'Billion Days' hears Kate loll through a resolute vocal line, as its production opens up an ever-expansive beach-bound vista, whether by sequenced steel pans or synths. The 10" also includes remixes by 40 Thieves and Mind Fair, who add their own twists to the original.