disco

Bézier – Primes [DE171]

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Dark Entries presents the latest offering from Bézier, a 3-track EP titled ‘Primes’. Bézier is the moniker of San Francisco based musician Robert Yang, who is also part of the Honey Soundsystem crew. ‘Primes’ represents the theme of primordial origins and creation with three tracks that explore disparate, sonic environments in each song. The title track flows and ebbs like currents in an oil slick. Out of something messy (like primordial ooze) arises organized chaos. ‘Stranger’ is a moody dark electro/wave track for a sweaty night cruising on the west coast of Holland. Set against an underwater sound canvas the song features seductive guest vocals and lyrics by Nicole Ginelli. Doc Sleep of Jacktone Records provides additional production duties. The final track, ‘Imperial Tranz Am’, is an airy, ethereal slow burner clocking in at over 13 minutes.

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Bézier – Primes [DE171]

Old Coroner – Inside Us LP [W03]

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Terrific 12inch purple vinyl and as Waste Editions crew are really into emotive and personal sounds ,on this occasion this new release ‘Inside us’ by Old Coroner can’t be otherwise. We can’t talk about a trend since the producer from Barcelona Victor Safont ,who is the man behind this project ,started producing synthwave music in 2003. Yes siree! Powerful beats ,dark textures and touching melodies which are perfect for a diabolic dance floor or a meeting at a lodge.

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Old Coroner – Inside Us LP [W03]

Robotiko Rejekto – Rejekto [OT030]

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Optimo Trax 30 celebrates a double 30 year anniversary: the original release date of Rejekto’ and 30 years since Twitch started dj’ing. In 1987, Twitch, who wasn’t known as Twitch yet, picked up a copy of Rejekto’ at Glasgow’s then numero uno import shop, 23rd Precinct. Shortly after that he got his first ever dj gig and played Rejekto’ in his first ever dj set. Nobody danced to it. He kept playing it and still nobody danced to it. Eventually he gave up playing it, but never stopped loving it. A few years ago he felt the time was right to try playing it again, and this time, people danced to it. In fact, people loved it and would ask about it and shriek in delight when they heard it. From Germany, written and produced by Ra-Hen and Talla 2XLC, Robotiko Reject’s Rejekto’ was the inaugural release on the Techno Drome International label. With a powerful and seductive vocal sung in Romanian it has latterly been categorised as EBM/Techno but at the time didn’t really fit into any convenient genre. Twitch called it electrobeat.

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Robotiko Rejekto – Rejekto [OT030]

Roy Comanchero – Mick [WE003]

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COMANCHERO, Roy - Mick

A one sided italo-balearic bomb from Japan via Roy Comanchero with a fantastic ‘Wedding Dub’ remix of ‘Mick’ by non other than Eddie C. Hands in the air, feet on the floor and lasers going who knows where… A chuggy electronic re-rub by one of Berlin’s disco masters.

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Roy Comanchero – Mick [WE003]

Zu Dobson – Apple Knife [BS006]

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Fresh to Bird Scarer, fresh to us all; according to Weatherall all correspondence with this mystery new electroid sculptor has been done by letter (to a PO Box no less) and not even he knows who she is. Her music, however, speaks volumes: “Apple Knife” cuts with a crisp arpeggio before dropping into chunky, almost housey electro break. “Wisdom Of Rumi” softens the angularities a little with a break that’s not dissimilar to Tone Loc but awash with strange space-aged FX and numinous flourishes. According to Weatherall, he hopes there’s more to come from Zu…

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Zu Dobson – Apple Knife [BS006]

VA – Pop Makossa: The Invasive Dance Beat Of Cameroon 1976-1984 [AACD083]

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VARIOUS - Pop Makossa: The Invasive Dance Beat Of Cameroon 1976-1984

Now Analog Africa returns to put the record straight. Pop-Makossa shines a light on a glorious but largely overlooked period in the story of Cameroonian makossa, when local musicians began to replace funk and highlife influences with the rubbery bass of classic disco and the sparkling synth flourishes and drum machines of electrofunk. The resultant compilation, which apparently took eight years to produce, is packed full of brilliant cuts, from the heavily-electronic jauntiness of Pasteur Lappe’s “Sanaga Calypso” and horn-totin’ Highlife-disco of Emmaniel Kahe and Jeanette Kemogne’s “Ye Medjuie”, to the dense, organ-laden wig out that is Clement Djimogne’s “Africa”.

The Pop Makossa adventure started in 2009, when Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb first travelled to Cameroon to make an initial assessment of the country’s musical situation. He returned with enough tracks for an explosive compilation highlighting the period when funk and disco sounds began to infiltrate the Makossa style popular throughout Cameroon.

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VA – Pop Makossa: The Invasive Dance Beat Of Cameroon 1976-1984 [AACD083]

VA – Compilation 05 Sampler 1 [COR056]

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Correspondant’s annual compilation dispatches have become calendar essentials for all connoisseurs of the barbed, darker, leftfield side of the dancefloor. This summer they hit ‘Correspondent Compilation 5’ with another future-bound 15 track opus from their label family and friends. This inaugural vinyl samplers is turbo-charged by some of the label’s newest friends as Khidja, Marvin & Guy and Kempes all make their Correspondant compilation debuts alongside established affiliate Jonathan Kusuma. Each artist drawing out some deliciously mystic sci-fi aesthetics to the collection, it’s a remarkable introduction to what is arguably one of the Jennifer Cardini’s label’s most comprehensive and explorative various artist albums to date.

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VA – Compilation 05 Sampler 1 [COR056]

Perdu / Afrobot – 04AM [04AM]

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PERDU/AFROBOT - 04 AM

The 04AM A-side contains two South-African 80’s Bubblegum tracks, revamped by young DJ and producer Perdu. He provided the tracks with delicate intros and rearranged them with new percussion, synths and deeper basslines. On the flip Afrobot delivers two kind of New Beat cuts, making the originals more abstract by some heavy chopping, reducing the amount of samples used, and adding disco breaks to the track Jungle.

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Perdu / Afrobot – 04AM [04AM]

Bob Chance – Wild It’s Broken [ERC001R]

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Emotional Rescue’s killer Bob Chance 7″ makes a welcome return sporting some new blue artwork. Two versions are included: the original 7″ version, driven along by a razor-sharp guitar riff and sweetly lamenting lyrics, topped off with weird cosmic synths and galloping rhythm. However, the real gem is the edit entitled “Wild It’s Broken” which sharpens the focus of the guitar and adds some serious kick to the drums to create a beefy counterpart to the new age original.

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Bob Chance – Wild It’s Broken [ERC001R]

Krootchey – Qu’est-ce Qu’il A (d’plus Que Moi Ce Négro Lá) [DE167]

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Philippe Krootchey was a musician, DJ, radio and television host born in Versailles, France in 1954. In 1984 Krootchey released his debut single Qu’est c’qu’il a (d’plus que moi ce négro là)’ on disco label Casablanca Records. Subsequently the single was re-released the same year but sung in English as Whatazzy’. For this release he teamed up with former Love International bandmate Fred Versailles, who shared his love for Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra as well as glam rock and 70’s black American soul music. Fred remembers, The idea was to send a message about racism against black people with a humorous tone. The French title translates to What has this nigger got, that I do not have’ Reversing the racial scales, Philippe (who is black) would get the girls and the fame, making white people jealous. It was Philippe’s tactful way to joke about racism he had experienced and overcame.’ The result is a slick synthetic funk and electro boogie reminiscent of Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambata. Philippe rap and subverting racism at the same time. On the B-side is Voodoo’ a slowed down instrumental dub version that stretches out the original to over 7-minutes. Sadly on September 2, 2004 Philippe Krootchey died of a cerebral aneurysm, just short of celebrating his 50th birthday.

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Krootchey – Qu’est-ce Qu’il A (d’plus Que Moi Ce Négro Lá) [DE167]

Loud-E – The Brasserie Heroique Edits Part 4 [BH040]

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Berceuse Heroique pluck four percivals from Dutch disco DJ supremo, Loud-E’s Loudiefied [2008] album of edits, plonking them on one fine 12” for DJ use and exercise. You get four choice picks, a symphonic strut, a belting Afro-psych bit, some electrified rutting gear and a killer slow-mo stroke to close.

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Loud-E – The Brasserie Heroique Edits Part 4 [BH040]

Owen Ezard – Acid Last [SHM003]

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Shara Music presents “Acid Last” from Owen Ezard, owner of Shara Music, an EP that comes with 4 very effective cuts of slow vibes. As appetizer presents “First reload” a cover letter to open the appetite giving some clues of the tracks that follow …. acid at soft speed to start the walk by enveloping sounds that take us to the second proposal,”Acid Last ” where Owen develops an acidic sequence that evolves until getting into his spiral. And with some more bpms comes the wonderful remix by our beloved favorite Italian, Fabrizio Mammarella. the main course shines with percussions influence of Alien Alien, mysterious synthesizers taken from outer space and cosmic sound that will make lose your head … Last but not least comes “Break & Slow” with your hypnotic voices will guide you towards the exit of this labyrinth of Eclectic sounds that surely will not leave you indifferent …

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Owen Ezard – Acid Last [SHM003]

Timothy J. Fairplay – Mindfighter EP [HNRUK004]

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Timothy J. Fairplay is revisiting Hoga Nord Rekords to release the 12inch EP Mindfighter: photosensitive electronic music from one of the pillars of the modern meaningful dance music scene. Together with Scott Frasier, T.J.F. is running the record label ‘Crimes Of The Future’ and he is also known as one half of The Asphodells together with Andrew Weatherall. This is his second release on Hoga Nord Rekords and his first EP on the label.

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Timothy J. Fairplay – Mindfighter EP [HNRUK004]

Sterac Electronics – Things To Think About [VDLP001]

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Some things are just too good to be hidden from view. That’s certainly the case with Things To Think About, the first album from Dutch electronic music legend Steve Rachmad’s lesser-known Sterac Electronics project. It’s a while, though, since the public has been treated to a heavy dose of Sterac Electronics material. He first established the alias at the turn of the millennium, primarily as an outlet for hardware-driven electro music shot through with funk and soul. Recently, Rachmad and Tom Trago decided to revisit the Sterac Electronics archive, discovering a killer collection of cuts created at different points over the course of the last 15 years. Now 9 of those spellbinding hardware jams have been gathered together for the first time on Things To Think About, a warm, rich and evocative collection of electro-fuelled workouts that giddily pay tribute to the music of Rachmad’s youth.

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Sterac Electronics – Things To Think About [VDLP001]

Yellow Beach Balls – Space Cat [MSDN1207]

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Submitted to the IntergalacticFM Demo Contest in 2010, Space Cat, was a hit for all that tuned in and a personal favourite of I-F who jammed it plenty on his Bottomless Pit show. A vinyl release looked promising but never came to fruition for unknown reasons. Several rumors swirled and cryptic messages posted to the internet before Yellow Beach Balls all but disappeared. Almost 7 years to the date of the demo contest and we still don’t know the story behind Yellow Beach Balls, but we do get the release of the Space Cat EP including 3 lo-fi synth-pop tracks to join the aforementioned title-track.

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Yellow Beach Balls – Space Cat [MSDN1207]