Disco Recommendations February 2010

Review: New on the Delusions of Grandeur label (a sub label of Jimpster's excellent Freerange imprint), Berlin based duo Session Victim have made a gem of an EP that would find a good home in the racks of any nu-disco fans. "The Keyboarder" sounds like something Treasure Fingers would drop, as it's both full of groove and heavy on the silky string stabs. The clean, live sounding drums on "Tomorrow Night" alone are worth getting excited about, underpinning a corking deep rhythm that becomes infectious. Well worth checking out.

Review: Messalina Records return with another top-notch package of Balearic disco delights, sure to warm up your autumn evening. First up is the wonderful sun-drenched groove of 'Fly Away', an obscure track by Laidback (of White Horse fame), previously only available as part of an LP medley but stretched out here into eight minutes of pure Balearic bliss. Followed by an awesome, chugging, bass-heavy, slo-mo disco workout of The Destroyers' fantastic 'Lectric Love'. Then flip over for a brilliant floor-friendly edit that chops up the outro section of Eddy Grant's 'California Style' into a smouldering dub disco bomb. Finally the cool Balearic Latin groove of 'Maracatu Atomico', a great useful little edit of a lost gem by Gilberto Gil.

Review: Croatian producer Ilija Rudman delivers two original tracks on an EP that displays the kind of fusion of nu disco and deep house that has made him and his label, Red Music, such big players over the last five years. "Call Me Tonight" and "Night People" are slices of pure funked up dancefloor material. The body-jerking remix comes from one of last year's biggest breakthroughs, The Revenge.

Review: Ilya Santana uses complex structures and enchanted melodies in his music in an attempt to uncover hidden emotions. Having previously remixed The Human League, The Phenomenal Handclap Band and Lindstrom, Santana's first release for Eskimo is "Burning Jupiter," a spaced out, disco tinged piece of electronic. The singles precedes his debut artist album, out later this year.

Review: Matt Waites began his musical career as Nightmoves, creating a series of memorable remixes for Roisin Murphy, Robbie Williams, Delphic and the Friendly Fires. Then in 2008 he announced his intention to release music through a new project entitled Moscow, stating the aim of making deep and atmospheric disco-tinged electronica; using the freedom a new identity brings to create and develop a much more precise sound. The first releases under this guise were remixes for They Came From The Stars I Saw Them and Detachments, each of which showed a different side to his musical influences. The 'Throw Up' EP is his debut single as Moscow: a slow build-up eventually bursts into an epic, rhythmic nu-disco number, layered with hooks and percussion. Although the sound is slightly less instantaneous than his earlier productions, Waites seems at ease with this new sound and offers plenty here to make a mark in this new territory.