Disco Recommendations June 2011

Review: Faze Action maintain their fine run of form in 2011 with this four tracker from The Shack, aka Guy Williams and Dan Williams (not related!) Both have been active in dance music from the early 90s ,with Guy holding DJ residencies at clubs such as the Ministry Of Sound and Turnmills during their pomp while Dan Williams aka D.R.W carved a career as a singer/songwriter. Together as The Shack they have absolutely nailed it with "Touch It", a sleazy-does-it Italo peak time jam. Arpeggiated synth lines, catchy vocal hooks and instant bassline work in jotous unison with some cowbell carnage. The 12" comes replete with a dub version and boogie influence Faze Action remix . Rounding off the release is another original cut, namely "Don't Stop", in which tough drums combine with a late night vocal intoning the track title to bewitching effect. This Shack Attack has already found its way into the record bags of Pete Herbert and Severino - expect it to be in many more come summer's end.

Review: Yam Who?'s ISM label come through with a four track slice of disco centric Futurism, featuring the man Yam himself alongside PBR Streetgang and Ron Basejam. It's the latter who takes the lead with a remix of Alena's "Changes" that sees her sultry vocal teased by a most excellent of analogue synth leads that splurges brilliantly across the crisp mid tempo chug. Yam Who? teams up with vocalist Natasha Watts for the similarly bottom heavy bump of "I'm In Love" which has a certain warehouse appeal to it. On the flip, PBR pay respect to the godfather of soul James Brown with the gritty flex of "J2thaB" with the sadly departed Mr Brown strangely sounding at times like he wants to go to Tesco. We always took him for a Waitrose man, but regardless this is probably the track you'll reach for most! Finally Brothers Young do their thing to a Trammps classic, with little more than the bassline retained. Big tip!

Review: Traxx - who has productions with International Deejay Gigolos and Creme Organization under his belt - is the man behind the third release from fledgling imprint Lumberjacks In Hell, following sterling efforts from Spanish edits don Rayko and the mysterious Em Vee. Sprawled luxuriously across the A Side is the epic 13 minute ode to Danielle Baldelli, "To The Beat Bizarre", all tumbling drums, Tangerine Dream synths, and perfectly timed claps and keys. "An Insane Experiment", influenced by Ron Hardy, clocks in at a meagre 09:47 and is characterised a straight up jacking rhythm, with junkyard drums, eerie synth squiggles and truly weird robotic gurgles trading blows before the track morphs into a full on acid wigout. In a word, awesome.

Review: The newly crowned Dutch emporium of all things disco tinged swiftly presents a second round of vinyl-only gems - commencing with the classic Philly disco boogie strains of "Just Can't Get Enough" which contains just the right amount of deviations into sonic filtration. Complementing this is the instrumental boogie heat of "Let's Go Swingin" which fully demonstrates the Majesty's Pleasure talent for slicing and dicing the groove. Turn over for the insistent chugging sounds of "Tainted Binary" which unfolds brilliantly into a string heavy disco epic. The best is perhaps saved for last as "Didn't Mean To Dub U Off" reveals itself as a crystalline filled excursion into 80s proto house excellence.

Review: Eddie C and his Seven Inches of Love buddy Koosh present the second release on the newly formed Common Edits label. Borne out of the intimate Edmonton club night called The Common, this second drop gets off to a suitably sultry start via Koosh's take on the Diana Ross classic "Love Hangover". Focusing mostly on portion of the track that has Ross grunting like she's on heat, this is a re-edit that's gonna get a few people in the mood. On the flip Eddie C drops "Got To Find", a delightfully wavy soul gem characterised by intermittent swathes of emotive synth washes

Review: "My Enemy" is the latest single to be culled from Aeroplane's debut album We Can't Fly and comes adorned with some suitably heavy remix support. Undoubtedly the most dancefloor pliable track on the album, in the hands of Rex The Dog it is turned into a heaving arpeggio epic that sounds like the collective work of a thousand Moroders! In contrast Curtis 'Green Velvet' Jones twists the track into a forever rolling behemoth of a club track primed for the more tribal leaning floors. Vito's original is included here for good measure and still packs quite the over the top Abba leaning orchestral disco punch.

Review: The Soft Rocks camp launches a newly minted label in the shape of Kinfolk, whose intention is to showcase rising talent and fully indulge the experimental. The first release from Maurice & Charles smacks it right in the spot - you may have enjoyed the loose vocal acid throb of A Side hugger "Moroder In Milan" on Sir Wevver's recent 6 Mix show. There isn't a recommendation that comes any higher than that! On the flip, Mo & Charlie indulge their floaty Balearic side with "Underneath The Universe" which also contains a pleasant undercurrent of bubbling acid. The same track is twisted inside out and taken to the New Forest by the Soft Rocks crew themselves on an expansive dubbed out refix notable for some rather tasty metallic 808 hits!

Review: Original Pirate Soul architect Yam Who returns for more disco edit excellence on the Demo Disc imprint, laying down a heavily phased take on a Johnnie Taylor rarity with "Just Can't Get Enough". Only the veteran diggers will have an original copy of "Seconds Of Your Love" so don't feel reticent about indulging in this Yam tweak which retains the core 80s boogie bump whilst adding just the right amount of modern day vibes to proceedings. The eighties soul male energy quotient is kept at an optimum on the flip too with "Someday" occupying the sort of end of night territory the old soul heads cry out for.

Review: M Division is no stranger to the less linear strokes of disco genius - being largely responsible for gracing our ears with the oddball greatness of Nacho Patrol. For their next release the label looks to more local talent in the shapes of Melbourne slackers Inverto. Brushing aside any notion of stage fright, the duo drop a killer slice of Sergio Leone infused live disco on "Gunslinger" - a track that essentially marks them a cut above the dry sounding Ableton produced nu disco that floods the market. In addition the flipside holds a cheeky cover version of Metro Area's signature track "Miura". An auspicious release ahead of their debut album.

Review: Claremont 56 continue to disregard the genre boundaries - preferring instead to give good music the attention it deserves - as their latest looker of a twelve inch presents us the sounds of Torn Sail. Fronted by Smith & Mudd vocalist Huw Costin, Torn Sail go all 60s West Coast rock on us with the gloriously rich sounds of "Birds". From its acoustic beginnings the track gradually unfurls into a delightful groove embellished by soothing vocal harmonies. It's almost a thankless task enlisting anyone to try and remix what sounds like a perfect song, but Claremont 56 obviously chose right in requesting the services of Tiago. In the Portuguese producer's hands "Birds" is transformed into a heavily psychedelic freakout which gently develops into a kraut rock behemoth filled with swathes of heavy organ vibes. Containing several shifts in momentum - including a glorious half speed finish - this is a truly stunning remix which left our jaws occupying the floor!