Ali Renault @ Hot Pony, Sameheads (Berlin) 23.03.2019
disco
Tiger & Woods – A.O.D. [RBLP13]
What once started as an anonymous underground project with stamped white labels and a clever take on sampling, has since then unfolded to be one of the longest-running and most successful teams in current dance music. Nurtured by the sounds of the past and blessed with the techniques of today, the music of Tiger & Woods always kept evolving in and around the tropes of disco, house and boogie. Celebrating the 10th anniversary this year, Marco Passarani and Valerio Delphi managed to arrive at album number three. A.O.D. (adult oriented dance) is inspired by the faded buildings and images of discotheques on the Italian countryside, the romantic start and bittersweet endings of summer, beach life and the excitement of travelling through the landscape to get to aforementioned temples of dance and subsequently the morning after. Except for the 100% sample-free 1:00 am, everything on A.O.D. is based on a quiver of cleared samples from the Roman institution that is Claudio Donato and his Full Time and Goodymusic emporium. In Tiger & Woods hometown Rome, the often very electronic and futuristic sound of Italo Disco had a different twist. Much more boogie-based and influenced by the song-writing styles of New York City’s dance scene, it played in a league of its own. Tiger & Woods use these materials to take them apart, out of context and into contrasting areas. Molding something completely new, one gets fooled to recognize Sade songs that aren’t, pop music instrumentals and a reprise of memories that never existed. A ride through ones brain in a convertible with an Italian FM radio station playing in the background. Or to use less stiff poetry: a chill out album you can dance to or a dance album you can chill out to.
Khidja – In The Middle Of The Night [DFA2635]
Romanian production duo Khidja present their first EP for DFA. With four tracks of inner city insomnia, The Middle Of The Night soundtracks the realm between being half awake and asleep. With jagged and pulsating synths and dubbed out howling vocals, we are left disorientated in the underground tunnels that connect the clubs of Bucharest, London, and Berlin. Summoning the spirits of Kraftwerk and John Carpenter, they cast a spell on the dancefloor that is a perfect addition to the ever-evolving DFA roster.
VA – Africa Airways Five (Brace Brace Boogie 1976 – 1982) [ASVN050]
The skies are calling and its time to board our trusty jet for the 5th outing of Africa Seven’s premiere class compilation Africa Airways. For volume 5 its time to brace yourselves for 10 slices of Afro boogie goodness. There’s a slightly different feel to the latest instalment of the fantastic “Africa Airways” compilation series. While previous instalments have largely focused on heavy Afro-funk and Afro-soul, this fifth edition showcases material recorded during the disco and boogie era (1976-82). The ten included tracks are superb, with highlights including the fuzzy, Clavinet-driven thrills of “Sweet Sidney (Edit)” by Black Bells Group, the heavy grooves and dancing synth lines of Gyedu Blay Ambolley’s “Highlife”, the spacey Afro-boogie badness of Fotso’s “French Girl” and the flash-fried disco-funk celebration that is Jide Obe’s spacey, Moog-sporting “Too Young”. As the old cliche goes, this is all killer and no filler.
Unknown Artist – Tropical Jam [TJE-003]
It’s been a fair old while since we last heard from Tropical Jam, the sneaky re-edit imprint from Vakula and Aussie crate digger Daniel Lupica. Surprisingly, this is the duo’s first 10-inch missive of humid, floor-friendly revisions since the summer of 2018. They begin in a suitably sunny mood, offering up an on-point rearrangement of a cheery, sax-laden Afro-synth workout that sounds like it originated in the early 1980s. The A-side also boasts a second bubbly synth workout, possibly of a South African cut from the same period, where jaunty Clavinet lines and male/female vocals rise above a sparse but funky groove. Side B, meanwhile, contains a more Balearic-minded electronic cut rich in lo-fi drum machine beats, dreamy chords, chiming lead lines and glassy-eyed vocal snippets.
Kyoto / Zoe Sinatra – Venetian Blinds / Mais Qu’Est-Ce Que Tu Fumes [STR012-026]
”Venetian Blinds, bound to be partly closed for eternity, Offer a glimpse into a miniature of trompe-l’oeil and deceitful appearances. Time sometimes lets truth leak. Due to some obscure little schemes your name was never mentioned: Belinda de Bruyn, you sung with a glacial voice, shaping fantasies with surgical mastery.You were young, inexperienced, and very angry and deceived – and Kyoto’s song became a lone pop hit that never reached the charts. In the paranoid era that bred it, it should have. It has to. Give this ode to consenting voyeurism a second chance. Get the one you love a bouquet of black painted roses, this record and a venomous kiss.”
Artrax – Intersections #73
Peter Yamson / Tala A.M. – Afro Funk & Disco Gems Volume Ten [MUKAT064]
Volume Ten of the Mukatsuku label’s Afro Funk & Disco Gems series has two more tracks released for the first time on a 7 inch in their own right. First up is Peter Yamson’s 80’s afro boogie feelgood masterpiece ”Everybody Dance” taken from the Sun On Africa album (mispelt on discogs as Sun Of Africa by the way!) and licenced directly from the artist. Infectious chorus and funk groove with Roy Ayeresque vibes and punchy brass. On the flipside from 1981 we get Get Up Tchamassi from french African group Tala AM which is a funk drenched heavy slap bass boogie mostly instrumental affair with female vocals and great sax playing and catchy rhythm guitar.
Alessandro Alessandroni – Background Disco [FLIESDJ03]
Just say ‘Background Disco’ and you’re quickly reminded of the super-groovy sound that pervaded certain sequences of 1970’s Italian films, generally set in discos or clubs with a strong presence of music. Soul, disco, and funk tracks playing in the background, between a dance on the floor and a glass of J&B at the counter, that were supposed not to overcome the dialogues. Two of these jewels, signed by Alessandroni for the sexy comedy Frittata all’italiana (1976, Alfonso Brescia), are proposed in a new edit designed for the dancefloor.
Thomas Leer – Saving Drum / Tight As A Drum [ERC075]
Emotional Rescue announces an EP with two (un)classic songs from Thomas Leer, remastered, reappraised and reinterpreted with new versions by Bullion. The release starts with ‘Saving Grace’, a long famous cosmic classic, it’s mid-tempo, spacey, lifting repetition is the perfect soundtrack for trips straight to the stars. This is backed with ‘Tight As A Drum’, a quintessential Leer production, where Teutonic drums is overlaid with sequencers and synth tones to elevate the song to some kind of disorientating outer-dimensional dub, while his lucid, spoken word vocals instill degradation and reinvention. Bullion is offering his own take on these two songs. A revered artist in his own time, the warmth and depth of his versions takes the originals to his own inner world.
Full Circle – Back To Disco Valley Vol. III [CRWDSPCRX007]
TOPO – Ba Ba Go Go [BST-X054]
The official remastered reissue of one of the rarest and sought after italo-disco record from early 80’s. This is an epic out there electronic production that’s one of a kind. In the same period of other italo-disco classics like REM, STOPP, Klein & MBO, GANG previously reissued by Best Italy, they representing the roots of chicago sound played by the pioneers like Ron Hardy.
Vermelho Wonder – Night Crawlers EP [MMR033]
Sao Paulo’s “Vermelho Wonder” (AKA DJ Vermelho and vocalist Ivana Wonder) debut on Mister Mistery, loaded with Italo-disco, New-wave, Synth-pop and House influences, the duo already made a name for themselves locally with a huge and very present fanbase. The EP comes with two dance-floor remixes by Italian Massimiliano Pagliara and Mister Mistery’s ROTCIV.
Machinegewehr – Kurayami [EE025RTM]
Rotterdam’s Machinegewehr returns to Electronic Emergencies with Kurayami, a four track 12-inch. Its analogue synths make Machinegewehr’s sound darker than ever, reaching into every groove. The embodiment of Disco Noir, the record leaves you with a sophisticated sadness, made bearable only by the pulsating bass and rolling beats leading you to the dance floor. Kurayami’s mysterious cover art was created by the multi-talented artist himself.
Unknown Artist – NOEDIT001 [NOEDIT001]
Four edits which have had been rinsed from Panorama Bar to Love International over the past 12 months finally see the light of day. Reworked lovingly for the dancefloors by Jordan McCuaig.
Space Dimension Controller – Redemption Of The Cryonauts [REDEMPTION]
Space Dimension Controller catches everyone by surprise with the release of ‘Redemption Of The Cryonauts’, a new 13 tracks double-LP out of nowhere that lands on no label and little is really known about this release.
Curt Cress – Dschung Tek EP [MFM038]
This EP from Dutch archival imprint Music From Memory is every bit as glassy-eyed and loved-up as the rest of their left-of-centre, Balearic-minded catalogue. German drummer and composer Curt Cress first released “Dschung Tess” in 1992, layering his own dense tribal drums across a tropical, ambient house and dream house influenced backing track on the brilliant “Long Version”, before stripping it back to a loved-up, Ibiza-friendly house cut on the “No Live Drums” version. Both mixes can be found on this reissue, alongside a trio of similarly percussive, tropical-minded cuts from the artist’s 1983 LP, “Avanti”. All three are ace and almost as good as the more floor-focused title track.
Relmer International – Relmer International [MAG132]
Upcoming Amsterdam-based DJ, producer and new kid on the block Relmer International produces atmospheric house with a keen eye for the dancefloor. His self-titled 4-track debut EP on Magnetron Music sounds both flourishing and refreshing due to its warm, lush and deeply layered sound. All of these factors combined connect the dots between the contemporary Amsterdam club sound, the quietness of Relmer’s origins in the Dutch meadows, and the sun-kissed beaches of Brazil. On his self-titled debut EP, he creates floor-fillers and balearic beach openers.
Mystic Jungle – Jurakan [PRD1013]
Mystic Jungle is back with four slabs of stylish and edgy electronic Italo-Disco cuts by the head honcho of Periodica Records and Futuribile Record Club.
Unknown Artist – Light Touches 03 [LTR03]
Light Touches Records is devoted to shed a new light to hot rarities, unknown grooves as well as forgotten classics. The new 12′ brings three hot smoking tunes, from the killer acidic and hypnotic groove of ‘Flashed’, to the bass-driven funky roller of ‘Changes’. To round up the edges, ‘Do’ is a sweet conscious twostep jewel. All tracks have been carefully edited by Andrea “Passenger’ Di Maggio, without overdubs, in order to bring the spirit of classic disco manipulators to today’s dancefloors!
The Hipodrome Of Music 