Tornado Wallace with a new EP on ESP Institute. Tree killer tunes from starting with “BIT 1”, a hypnotic groove with a deep bass and slow arpeggiated synths. “Cloud Country” follows with a space-like electro vibe while the title track on the flip opts for a sweet atmospheric feel and more outer space attitude.
Pharaohs is a live band from Los Angeles including blossoming producers Suzanne Kraft, Ale Cohen and surfer/synth-geek, Sam Cooper. Side A leads with “Ahumbo” (named after Sam’s dream beach in Zanzibar), blending a dry and simplistic rhythm section with swelling synth chords, a cheeky vocal and a vibrant surf guitar. The title track “Island Time,” a bouncy jungle vibe with chant about tropical fruits, a reminder that its always Summer somewhere. Side B doles out “If It Ever Feels Right,” a percussive House jam that is literally a JAM.
Bohemian Groove are taking their inspiration from the infamous Bohemian Club, a conclave of powerful men who met annually at the Bohemian Grove campground in California to plan world-changing developments including the Manhattan Project. The three puppetmasters of the Groove make machine-based body music connecting the dots between house, techno, and something altogether uncategorizable. Now they are unleashing their first standalone dance manifesto in the form of the “High Jinks” / “Low Jinks” EP, with remixes by Gilb’r and Photonz.
A mix done 4 hands by Intergalactic Gary and D Cosmo to celebrate the upcoming party at Club Zukunft the 16th of February 2013.
Dj Kent aka The Backwoods on Jolly Jams with Breakthrough. On the flipside, for your extra dancing pleasure Dj Kaos take the song into new spacey places Chicago electrofunk excursions, with an hyponotic bassline and some killer synths.
Two discoid house cuts by Soundstream on his own label. On “Julie’s Theme”, there’s some unabashed delay rippling going on, but still that ever-loving disco groove sits underneath in the bassline on the one and the natural hand claps. On the flip, the disco is thoroughly loud and proud, with “Inferno” resplendent in searing Philly strings and slinky bass that was built for grooving.
Few can match BBE when it comes to the funk and disco compilation stakes – the label’s been issuing killer compendiums curated by some of the finest and most eminently knowledgeable DJs and diggers since the mid 90s. Soul In The Hole sees them hand the controls to Sadar Bahar, Chicago based DJ described by BBE as the city’s “best kept secret”, one of the most sought after DJ’s in the world of soul, funk and disco. Together with Lee Collins he selected 12 tracks for this compilation, all rare treasures, traversing through a colourful range of funk, soul, disco and boogie, with Frederic Mercier’s “Spirit” a real gem.
Although he started his career back in the early 2000s and has links with Moodymann’s Mahogani Music label, Andres’ profile has increased of late thanks to a string of brilliant EPs for M1 Sessions and his own La Vida . The time is surely right, then, to drop his first commercially available mix CD. As you’d expect, it’s firmly rooted in soul, effortlessly joining the dots between disco-funk, jazz, slow jams, global beats and summery Latin flavas. Opening with the Universal Robot Band’s impeccable “Dance and Shake Your Tambourine”, Culture Shock sits somewhere between a particularly good radio show and a dancefloor-bating mix-up, making it perfect for home listening. It also includes Gilberto Gil’s disco era samba classic “Toda Menina Baiana”, which is never a bad thing.
More Ron Hardy edit business from the vaults: First choice – ‘Let No Man Put Asunder’ (unreleased Ron Hardy Edit) and Jamie Priciple – ‘Your love’ (original unreleased version female vocals).
Simoncino, with his alias Nick Anthony, takes on the second release for the Conservation Department series with a four track EP. The title track leads off and is followed by the killer groove on “Underwater Sunlight”. “Jamaica Girls” & “Lay It On The Line” on the flip bring more disco dance.
Third release on Andrew Weatherall’s Bird Scarer label with some advanced disco influenced electronix by George Thompson part of Spectral Empire, also known as Black Merlin. Remix work delivered by Scott Fraser.
Spectacular Italo disco 12” featuring two superslick synth-groovers from the mighty Klein & MBO, aka Mario Boncaldo and Tony Carrasco, whose genre-bending electro-Italo proto-house sound hit big on both the NY disco and Chicago house scenes of the early 80s. Side A slides in with the deeply electro ‘MBO Theme’ whose killer blend of disco-tinged techno beats, quirky 80s robotic rap-style lyrics and catchy guitar licks. Flip over and you are treated to the the aptly named ‘Wonderful’. First we have the fantastic eight-minute disco-dub version featuring the gorgeous sweet vocals of Rosanna Casale followed by the hugely in-demand instrumental version. Sounding almost like a live mix, this tech-heavy beauty punches out synths and drum machine effects that are way ahead of their time! Minimal Italo production at its best.
Big time stompin’ and ultra rattling disco. Sex Tags Ufo with trademark disco cuts by DJ Fett Burger and DJ Grillo Wiener. Trademark disco for the heavy buglin’ percussion mixes.
A side is a little bedroom jam that has never been released. Drums by the mightful Matt Rex, hand claps and finga snaps by Tom Noble. Flip is a gently reworked version of “Music Engine” from Tom’s “In Liger Vision” EP.
Continuing their forays into the world of yesteryear grooves unabated, Lumberjacks in Hell are at it again, this time drafting in O Boogie and Red Greg for some disco funk finesse for the smoothest get-downs. O Boogie lords it over the first side, leaning heavy on a rich piano hook that hammers lower register chords over an incessant disco tick, while evergreen track “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” gets re-versioned in such a floor-burning fashion you’ll need asbestos boots just to get out alive. Red Greg’s “Inner Rhythm” plies familiar tropes into a sweet instrumental groove that makes all the right moves.
The first release of the new Dutch label Pinkman contains four great tracks from Drvg Cvltvre, formerly known as RA-X. His music is slow, doomy, with broken disco and house elements, focusing on on hypnotic repetition and percussion. The first track is the cult hit “Offender Status”, deeply doomed disco that will hypnotize the dance floor as soon as you put that needle on. Next is the slow melodramatic track “Quasimodo Predicted All Of this”. On the flip you’ll find “Lingettes Humides”, a typical westcoast-ish electro disco track with a theme that will be stuck in your head forever. The final track “Dakar” takes you on a voyage through the Mediterranean Sea, raw submarine house with a middle east theme.
The Hipodrome Of Music 