JAZ Vinyl & CDs

Review: Under the Jaz alter-ego, John Zahl has been serving up laidback, Balaearic-minded edits of musical obscurities since the mid 2000s. Initially, that was for Claremont 56 offshoot Sixty Five, but in the last decade he's also appeared on Passport To Paradise, Rotating Souls and, most recently, Pinchy & Friends. Here he returns to the latter label with four more rubs of atmospheric cuts from the dusty corners of his record collection. He begins with the wonderfully throbbing, solo-heavy dancefloor synth-scape of 'Cloud Worship', before successfully tinkering with a tactile, semi-organic proto-house gem on 'Pick a Toy'. Over on side B, 'Puzzle' is a tidy revision of a cosmic-minded, French language Balearic synth-pop gem, while 'Friday Night' is an eccentric, off-kilter slab of new wave disco oddness.

Review: Death On Wax has already slipped out a handful of sharply informed edit and remix 12"s which fly the flag for the early 80s dance culture, when seedy, nocturnal bands were colliding with the flamboyant grooves of disco and synth pop. On this latest record, Jaz goes low and slow on the new wave goth tones of 'Cleopatra' before Frantz leans in on the Eurodisco freakiness of 'Hyde & Go Sleaze'. DJ Rocca & N2B pile on the pressure with the camp delights of 'Abuse' and Facets completes the set with the boxy beats of 'Never Passing'. Essential cuts for any discerning death disco.