MAN POWER Vinyl & CDs

Review: Another Cheap Thrill's byline is "cool shit when we feel like it", perhaps even rivalling We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records in affective coolness (just remember, if you want to succeed in today's music ecology, make sure to project an aura of listless ease). The Newcastle label present here a brand new one from our favourite noughts-10s indie disco graphers Django Django, the London quartet formed of Dave Maclean, Jimmy Dixon, Tommy Grace and Vincent Neff. It adds to the long tradition of limited 12"s largely released by the band through Because Music, but 'Home' is different: its ultra-polished indie disco falsettos and synthy steel-pan-esque progressions reveal a band happily devoted to the art of the single. Not to mention *that* version from Man Power, which has Mr Fingers' ghostly fingers all over it...

Review: Fresh from delivering the excellent El U Vee EP, Make a Dance welcome North-East titan Geoff Kirkwood AKA Man Power to M.A.D Records for the first time. This time round, Kirkwood has company: Kenyan singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rapasa Nyatrapasa. The pair set their stall out on opener 'Lou Land', where Nyatrapasa's Kenyan vocals and percussion slowly rise above a deep, drowsy and trippy deep house groove, before opting for an Amapiano-influenced Afro-tech-meets-Afro-House vibe on the more electronic 'Battle Hill'. Make a Dance deliver two takes on the latter on side B: a proto-house style vocal 'Remix' rich in vintage synth sounds, undulating acid bass, drum machine fills and echo-laden drum hits and a 'Dub Mix' that re-invents the track as a hazy, immersive slab of dub house/deep house fusion.