It’s a scarce limited edition of the Italian soundtrack ”Paura Nella Citt Dei Morti Viventi” produced by Fabio Frizzi in 1980. The high quality vinyl record features sought after unreleased tracks which are missing on the earlier pressing on Beat Records and includes a beautiful poster.
Post-voodoo, intergalactic grooves, layered and psychedelic, hypnotic and infectious. Formed originally as a jam-based project in the ever-fertile analogue studio ‘Green Door’, Whilst jump seamlessly between free jazz, primitive electronics, dubby post-punk, North African and motorik stlyings, underpinning their sound with a strong punk ethos.
Those cheeky scamps at Golf Channel come through with a surprise here with A Walk In The Dark, the debut album from a mysterious group of individuals known only as The Central Executives. Concerted internet searching as to the exact identity of The Central Executives has proved fruitless, as have attempts to coerce the label for information. However given how extensive Phil South’s figurative rolodex is, not to mention the sheer breadth of talent that’s appeared on Golf Channel over the years, we are willing to wager there is some high profile disco talent behind The Central Executives. Certainly A Walk In The Dark is filled with loose limbed punk funk and supple house that’s quite aptly described by the label as “Sound Signature style machine jams, bare bones vocal led improvisations, discordant Arthur Russell moments & the distorted reflections of roots House that run to the very core of the big apple.”
Kalakuta Soul Records come back with another deep set of disco gems, touched by the hand of one of the most respected heads of the genre. Glasgow’s disco godfather, the almighty Al Kent, has delivered three eclectic masterpieces, due to take the international dancefloors to a further level of musical consciousness. A further pack of deep dug bombs that confront the functionality in music many labels have always strived for. The A Side keeps every imaginable sound system busy with a drifty percussive harvester adorned with an eclectic instrumentation that splits flesh from bones and mind from soul. “Colder Than Cold” on the B Side is a perfect example of how a dancefloor should sound like. A thick bassdrum, a bass slapped by the fingers of a giant, keys and chords from heaven and horns hailing from the utmost depth of Kalakuta’s soul. Bringing you back to where it all started, the almighty Al Kent does an immense work on an evergreen, you might have bumped into as a munchkin. “Gee Wiz” closes this opus with a orchestral beauty that once gathered all the souls behind what we call music today.
After a serie of great edits on the previous Macadam Mambo Edits records, Guillaume Des Bois brings us 3 super cool Re-edits of deep Balearic, Afro and Funky stuff.
Thirteen is unlucky for some, but that’s not the case when it comes to the hugely popular RDY label which digs through the vast archives of Muzic Box favourites pioneered by the legend that was Ron Hardy for a thirteenth time. On the A Side is a classic example of Ron’s style, extending the intro to “Adventure” by The Dells into 8 minutes of blissful disco excellence, whilst the take on “Love Surge” embellishes the electronic nuances of Jules Shear’s mid 80s synth pop curio. House heads will be all over the final cut, a “Untitled” production/edit Hardy collaborated with fellow Chi-town House pioneer Jesse Saunders which has box jam brilliance written into it’s DNA.
New release by Phillip Lauer on Running Back imprint. Post-house-proto-disco-trance rockets fuelled by new wave and sound transmissions from middle-wave Caucasus.
Following the success of the Midnight Express single Danger Zone, Robbie M and Terry Patton continued to search for new sounds. Over the next few years the duo would produce dozens of instrumental sketches. Terry always recorded these backing arrangements to cassette tapes so they could easily listen to them later in the car. Cruising the streets of Rock Island IL, vocalist Robbie M would write the additional melodies and lyrics. The plan was to release a full length studio album, combining all parts and adding vocals, but the group dispersed in 1985 before their dream was realized. The Terry tapes, which were never intended for commercial release, are all that remain. When we first heard them, they were inaudible with almost no tones left to preserve, but thanks to a few small miracles and genuine science the shroud of noise has been lifted to reveal an unexplainable haze of funk.
Dream House Volume 1.4 delivers even more depth to their winding journeys. Featuring specifically invited artists Heko, Marius Varied, Gnork and new boys Lock Eyes!
Ali Renault’s Vivod label drops its best disco assault yet: a darkside double header from Newcastle’s Emile Strunz and Intergalactic FM regular/Flight Recorder boss, Iron Blu. From his studio overlooking the North Sea, Strunz follows ace issues for Tusk Wax and World Unknown with a proper body-rockin’ chugger meshing mystic, orientalist synthlines with steely 111bpm Belgian New Beat rhythms on the front. Iron Blu complements this with a more sensuous, spaced-out flipside working like a medicated EBM groove or Pye Corner Audio’s darkwave panoramas.
Intrusion II, the follow up of the magnificent Elitechnique EP of last year. Another 8 stunning tracks. Ranging from their own brand of disco to 70’s porn funk.
Rory Phillips’ ‘Mixed Fortunes’ singles series returns for it’s fifth outing, the penultimate instalment in the series. Opening track ‘Circuit‘ is a playful piece of analogue machine music, starkly contrasted by it’s flip, the sprawling ‘Rise Up’ which begins as a basement dub jam before evolving into.. well, you’ll see.
Invisible City Edition descend to even further depths and give us a fully re-mastered issue of this mythical treasure. For many this is the ultimate Disco Illusion; a record that should have been epoch making in its day, something that would have been a staple for David Mancuso, Larry Levan & Ron Hardy had it ever gotten distribution when it was originally released 34 years ago. Somehow time passed it by and it was only re-discovered in a warehouse in Trinidad last year. Since then it has been gaining momentum fast, with DJ support from Moodymann, MCDE, Floating Points & Kon, as well as original copies selling for four-digit sums. Part of the illusion is in the structure of the record. The A-side begins with beautiful, but relatively normal disco song, but suddenly an Egyptian sounding bridge turns the things inside out and the song opens up into a proto-house jam complete with bubbling Sun Ra synths and Black Ark tape delay action. The there’s the b-side, which sounds like Bob James after he had a taste of callaloo, with deep electronics and a mind-melting steel pan solo. Finally, thanks to Invisible City this record is getting the life it has always deserved. ”
The latest strictly limited edition 7” and digital release from Fresh Up Records, a label specialising in brand-new, old-sounding synth funk, Moog disco and library sounds. This time, Fresh Up founder Ed DMX brings us two synthy jams using his original DMX Krew name and 80s feel. ”Hot Punch” is just what you need to get your party started: an intoxicatingly spicy blend of vintage synths and catch melodies. ”My Metro” is a slightly slower laser-boogie instrumental featuring heavy drums and bass backing up some sweet synth and Rhodes grooving.
Rome based producer Heinrich Dressel sucks you into a movie full of pain and misery. The most sinister euro crime and giallo mixed to a heart crushing thriller filled with synthesizer suspense. Partner in crime DJ Overdose finished the job in style.
For its seventh release Shaddock unearths a genre-defining piece of music overlooked by even the most thorough of crate diggers, backed by a storming Hercules & Love Affair remix. New York, New York by DeeKay Jones is an electrifying piece of hypnotic electric-disco-wave, produced in the eponymous citys concrete jungle back in 1981. Its a track that had all the potential to propel dance music forward: Relentless drum computer beats that predate techno, and even Chicago house, by years. A minimalistic synth hook that sounds more futuristic than any cutting edge dance record available at the time. And brilliantly overdubbed chants (taken from a 1970 The Last Poets album), which anticipated sample culture and should have made this an anthem. New York, New York is accompanied by two more unreleased DeeKay Jones tracks from the same era and a remix by non other then Hercules & Love Affair vs. Haze Factory.
PPU providing yet again with 10 more selections from the archives of Estonian funk front man Uku Kuut. Grand Hotel is an instrumental journey from his days in the Soviet Union, Sweden, Los Angeles, Estonia. Including his very first home recording dating back to 1982, and a track that was recorded at Herbie Hancock’s personal studio. It’s a miracle these masters are still around after 30+ years of traveling from country to country. They finally find a safe place to rest.. Grand Hotel.
The Hipodrome Of Music 