VA – Studiolo (The 90’s Cosmic Afro Era) [ATN053-DZN02]

Antinote and Dizonord present Studiolo. Northeastern Italy, at the beginning of the 1980s, an entire local scene gathered around a handful of DJs who put their dancefloors in a trance to the sounds of ”rare, new, and singular” music, under the strong influence of ethnic and world music. Mixes where German Kosmische clashes with space disco, along with the most experimental side of British new wave, industrial music, creepy funk, deviant rock and pop. All this mixed with Brazilian and Afro music, reggae, ragga, percussions and bhangra… A kind of mixing in total rupture with that of a dying disco for which it is intended as an alternative. A way of playing songs often at the wrong speeds, at 33RPM instead of 45RPM and vice versa, and always the obsession of a slow tempo, between 95 and 110 BPM, while the cruising speed of disco mixes goes up to 125/130 BPM… A haunting rhythm, accelerated or slowed down voices, with experimental and ethnic approaches. This fusion of styles was named “Cosmic Style” by Daniele Baldelli, resident of the Cosmic Club in Rimini, and ”Afro Style” by Beppe Loda, resident of the Typhoon in Gambara. It is in this last period that this compilation will immerse you, through 8 tracks from the Italian, German and Austrian scenes.

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VA – Studiolo (The 90’s Cosmic Afro Era) [ATN053-DZN02]

Bufiman – Albumsi [DKMNTL074]

The long-awaited debut album from Jan Schulte’s more dancefloor-focused Bufiman project. He’s absolutely nailed it, offering up a vibrant 12-track selection that giddily joins the dots between freestyle, electro, dub disco, vintage deep house, skewed Balearic synth-pop, breakbeat, hip-house, kosmiche and the heavily percussive drum workouts that have long been Schulte’s stock-in-trade. The fact that each track offers multiple musical reference points whilst delivering something undeniably fresh – despite the undeniably retro-futurist feel present throughout – is undoubtedly the album’s strongest suit. To put it simply, “Albumsi” is a gloriously kaleidoscopic, thrill-a-minute concoction that counts as Schulte’s single greatest body of work to date.

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Bufiman – Albumsi [DKMNTL074]

VA – Diamonds In The Night [BAP134]

Bordello is back with a new compilation series: Diamonds In The Night. An homage to the hours of darkness (and the great composer who went by the name of Felli – R.I.P.). From ecstatic peak time dance floor action to erotic euphoria and its more edgy after hours just before dawn. For the first volume we’ve selected four fine diamonds by The Hacker and Voiron from France, Armonics from Italy and Discobeton from Bulgaria.

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VA – Diamonds In The Night [BAP134]

Frank Hatchett – Body Shots [MOCR003]

Frank Hatchett was a legendary dance instructor and originator of VOP. VOP is not an abbreviation but, as he himself puts it: “VOP is a style”. It’s used to flavour the choreography and to communicate and translate emotions to the audience. The record produced by Don Alan Tipton is a wonderful complement of said VOP style. It features 11 tracks made for dancing that are produced and arranged in a moving and funky fashion.

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Frank Hatchett – Body Shots [MOCR003]

Kamazu – Korobela [AFS043]

New anthology on Afrosynth Records brings together six songs by South African disco star Kamazu, spanning his career from 1986 to 1997: two of his biggest hits, ‘Korobela’ and ‘Indaba Kabani’, two more obscure songs from his catalogue, ‘Victim’ and ‘Why’, and two tracks from his kwaito comeback, ‘Mjukeit’ and ‘Atikatareni’.

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Kamazu – Korobela [AFS043]

Adrian Marth – Martians World [IM001]

Adrian Marth, based in Barcelona, comes through with his new debut EP Marthians World by Italo Moderni own imprint. His italo is infused in electro tracks that are bound with their vibrancy to make any listener dance, with a killer bassline and super spacial synths. Including remixes by the great Baldo, Antoni Maiovvi and Mufti.

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Adrian Marth – Martians World [IM001]

Etbonz – Dark Leader [DL006]

Portland’s Etbonz is once again making waves through his brand of cybernetic machine funk, this time on Dark Leader. The A side consists of Etbonz’s deliciously dark and epic electro disco take on the theme from 1984’s The Terminator. “The Future Is Not Set” transports you through time and space on a mission to save the future of humankind. Side B kicks off with “Magic By Human Minds” a robotic workout with a heavy psychedelic, broken beat feel. The final track “Melt FM” finds its footing as industrial techno then takes a quick detour into the realm of electro and finally morphing into dreamy ethereal house. The perfect track for changing up the vibe.

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Etbonz – Dark Leader [DL006]

Marching Machines – Lonesome [WE010]

The next 12 incher on Wrong Era is made by Marching Machines, a Belgian duo made of Dimitri Andreas and Spacid. Their love for electronic machine manipulation and their musical history that spans over 2 decades, built an excellent foundation for this brand new project. “Lonesome” is a slow burning dark electro track with howling and gloomy synths that flow into acidic tendencies. “Desolat” continues on the emotional path of the previous track, embracing solitude on a broken rhythm, ending up in arpeggiating classic and cosmic italo track. In succession of that, there’s “Driven” which moves up to dancefloor dynamics by using harder and raw sounds, combined with an analogue pulsewave sound generator and building into a release of energy with wavy synths and smashing snares. The final track is a remix of “Lonesome” by one of Wrong Era’s label bosses Fabrizio Mamarella. While the original idea is still intact, the remix is a definite bigger and faster version, implying a stark contrast that still remains powerful, perfectly made for the dancefloor.

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Marching Machines – Lonesome [WE010]

VA – Nothing Matters When We Are Dancing Vol 10: Garden [CDA010Y/GARDEN]

Discodromo present a three-vinyl compilation to celebrate the tenth birthday of their Berlin party CockTail d’Amore. The compilation features the sound that best envisions the party and its evolution throughout its first decade. This installment features the sound of the Garden and its kaleidoscopic surges. Tornado Wallace’s contribution is a fetishized Italo-High-Energy adventure. On the same side the breaks of Greenvision’s Sleeping Bag In New York conjure a clubber’s hallucinations on a Sunday afternoon. Bell Towers and Bon Voyage nostalgically cover the flip side. The former with synth pop inspired ode to the this special dance-floor and the latter with a classic cosmic emotional composition.

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VA – Nothing Matters When We Are Dancing Vol 10: Garden [CDA010Y/GARDEN]

Abel – Surfing in Kansas Vol. 1 [SIK001]

Inaugural release of this newly established edit label dedicated to reshaping discarded and forgotten grooves from days gone by. They start off quite the right way with three party starters by none other than Red Light Record’s Abel! Time for another cigarette.

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Abel – Surfing in Kansas Vol. 1 [SIK001]

VA – Ecdisis Vol 2 (Bartoszek Edits) [FRV032]

Frigio Records is consistently plumbing the depths to unearth exciting talent. Bartoszek has been corrupting and manipulating tracks to fit floors for years, editing and slicing past pieces to breath new life into them. The German artist has turned his hand, and scissors, to four tracks from a spread of musicians from far and wide for Frigio’s latest: Ecdisis Vol.2.

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VA – Ecdisis Vol 2 (Bartoszek Edits) [FRV032]

International Music System – International Music System Vol. 4 [MD31813]

The International Music System series is finally complete, with Volume 4 released on Mr. Disc Organization. It’s another essential vinyl for collectors with four killer tracks extracted from the International Music System second LP dated back to 1984 and all remastered for 2019. Often abbreviated as I.M.S. the project was created in Vicenza, Italy in 1983 by Maurizio Cavalieri and Giorgio Stefani, the same musicians who brought you “Spacer Woman” by Charlie. Under this moniker, the two would release two albums of stylized and syncopated electronic dance songs showcasing the still-evolving advancement of computer and keyboard-generated music.

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International Music System – International Music System Vol. 4 [MD31813]

Ambros Seelos – Ambros Seelos [369.059]

Private Records is back with the archives of SONY Music and the library archive of Ambros Seelo. The German musician Ambros Seelos recorded this psychedelic Disco, Afro Funk and Jazz magic during the 1970’s and early 1980’s.

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Ambros Seelos – Ambros Seelos [369.059]

Armonics – Nuovi Orizzonti [SLOMO044]

Following his debut 12” “Human”, Armonics teleports back to the Slow Motion mothership with his debut mini-album: Nuovi Orizzonti. Dreamy, lo-fi fuzz emanates from cassette tape and vintage circuit boards to synthetic travel music that will jettison you into outer space. Strap in. Tune out.

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Armonics – Nuovi Orizzonti [SLOMO044]