Juno Recommends Disco: March 2024

Review: LNTG brings another batch of supremely-executed edits to the table; timeless tracks from the vaults given a fresh feel, extended, reworked and reloved direct from the stems. The A-side hears disco-funk royalty reworked to perfection, flipping none other than George Duke's 1979 sizzler 'I Want You For Myself' and exposing its machinic underbelly. On the flip, we hear two party anthems: a nicely beefed-up take on Steely Dan's 'Peg' and a mandatory tributary version of Cheryl Lynn's '2 B Real'.

Review: Funkyjaws Music launches a new edits series here with four absolute dons of the form on one vital 12". It's Lay Far that kicks off with 'Never Ever Edit' which is all horn-led excitement and upbeat disco claps and kicks before Admin's 'Moon Trippin' takes a more slow and soulful approach. When it comes to edits few are more essential than Chicago's Rahaan who kicks off the B-side with 'Gonna Get Ya', a leggy funk number infused with cosmic synth rays and warm piano chords. Delfonic shuts down with the loose percussive jumbles and jazzy vibes of 'Let's Dance The Spank'. A fine start to the series with volume two already in the works.

Review: Temu's outings on Star Creature offshoot Tugboat Editions tend towards the squelchy, synth-heavy and eccentric, joining the dots between classic electrofunk and neo-boogie. Here he continues that trend, offering up two fantastic cover versions of classic cuts that somehow manage to sound contemporary and fresh despite extensive use of vintage synth and drum machine sounds. On side A he presents 'Love Dancing', a warped and wonky synth-boogie style re-imagining of Loose Joints' 'Is It All Over My Face' that's as potent as it is eccentric. Over the on the flip, he steps it up further on a killer synth-funk-meets-80s soul take on Kano's 1981 Italo-disco gem 'Can't Hold Back Your Loving'. It's simply superb and drips soul from every note.

Review: Funk, soul and house music courses through the veins of Jamie 3:26 and he always manages to convey that into his irresistible grooves. The best of them come on his own label 326 which is where he arrives now with this new 12" Dancefloor Damage Vol 1. It's a tight affair with just one cut on each side of the wax, starting with 'Maqnifique' which is a steamy, intense disco house stomper with wiry lines and unrelenting grooves. On the flip is a very different vibe - a sunny, flute-led led and jazzy soulful house number with heart-melting chords.

Review: Some 14 months on from his first outing for Newcastle-on-Tyne's finest re-edit imprint, former Wild Bunch man DJ Nature returns to Hot Biscuit Recordings with three more tried-and-tested reworks. A-side 'Poincina' is particularly potent, with the exiled Bristolian making merry with a full-blown disco extravaganza built around sensationally squelchy synth-bass, rubbery slap-bass, lolloping beats and soaring orchestration. 'Endless Flight', meanwhile, sees him tweak and extend a sun-baked slab of Brazilian jazz-funk-fusion full of heady female vocalisations and twinkling piano solos, while 'Inside Your Love' is a glassy-eyed, loved-up slab of soulful disco perfection.

Review: Fool's Paradise is the exciting new label from Toolroom Records' Mark Knight. Coming straight from the heart, it's a natural progression from his hugely acclaimed 2021 album release, 'Untold Business', which saw Mark go back to his roots, paying homage to the more funky, soulful, and vocal house from the 1990s from where he came. With a focus on real instrumentation and production, coupled with great songwriting, this new Toolroom sublabel will be a platform for high quality house music designed to stand the test of time. Launching the new label with a mighty bang and delivering the first in our exciting new vinyl sampler series is head honcho Mark Knight, who joins forces with his Australian Toolroom labelmate, Sgt Slick, and British Soul sensation, Beverley Knight, on a dynamite cover of Prince's 1979 classic, 'I Wanna Be Your Lover'. Respectfully transporting the song onto today's dancefloors, Mark & Sgt Slick deliver a classy uplifting soulful house production, loaded with funky guitars, warm pads and sublime key performances. Adding the icing on the cake and putting her own stamp on things, Beverley belts out one of her signature spine-tingling vocals, garnished with lush harmonies and BV's that would indeed make The Purple One proud. Completing the vinyl package is dance music stalwart, Opolopo, and British soul icon, Jaki Graham, whom together bring the dancefloor heat with their new single, 'Fire'. Powered by a potent soulful house groove from Opolopo, loaded with warm piano hooks, emotive synth melodies and a sublime popping bass hook, 'Fire' see's Jaki flaunt her electrifying vocal talents with a show-stopping performance on this irresistibly catchy song.

Review: Melbourne's Sgt Slick returns with another four superb re-edits for his Recuts imprint. 20 years deep in the game, accolades aplenty, collabs with some of the finest out there and with a serious string of his own productions to his bow, Sgt. Slick knows what works on the dancefloor. These edits flaunt this intel to a T; tracks one to four are all edited out-and-out classics, with each original cut extended to ultra-dreamy and driving effect.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: The Edits Collection label is fast becoming essential with a third irresistible offering in a little over a year. This latest one opens with some soul drenched boogie and disco featuring a heart-aching vocal hook and snappy grooves, then gets more deep and jazzy with 'Disco Is A Feeling'. The flip side opens with the steamy 'Take U 4 A Ride' with its explosive Philly strings and busy percussive lines and '10.15' then slow it down with a more steamy and sexy late-night sound that is all big loved-up vocals and freewheeling synths. All four of these are glorious weapons to have handy.

Review: Expansion deals pretty much in good vibes only and that is what we have here with OZONE's '(Our Hearts) Will Always Shine'. It is a 7" that radiates with infectious energy and heartfelt emotion as it seamlessly blends elements of pop, electronic, and dance music. The uplifting melodies soar high, the pulsating beats power things along and the soulful vocals deliver a message of resilience and positivity. The song's anthemic chorus is destined to take listeners to a new level and ignite dance floor in equal measure and it sure does that. 'Mighty Mighty' on the flip is another feel good and upbeat funky disco workout.

Review: Under the familiar Leo Zero alias, Leo Esltob has crafted countless killer re-edits over the last few decades - though only a limited number have ever been released. Hence the Edit Archive series of 12" EPs, which here reaches volume two. As you'd expect for a man of his experience and expertise, there's much to admire, from the sing-along powder-rock brilliance of 'Dreams' (a tasteful, extended re-work of one of the most famous and celebrated songs of the 1970s) and the re-vitalised Balearic brilliance of 'Taboo' (yep, it's an excellent Sade re-rub), to the loose-limbed-but-locked-in house-not-house headiness of 'Feel The Pain', with its echoing vocal snippets, metronomic cowbells and bubbly synth sounds.

Review: Isle Of Jura propel their Instrumental Dubs series further forward with a second release. Capturing the etheric essence of the 'version' and ready-making it for the present day, the nominal series welcomes contributions and reissues from new and old producers alike. This time around, we're met with a slow, George Kerr-produced cut from 1984, 'If You Want My Lovin', followed by a Brit-funk-esque instrumental from Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes, originally released on the Philly World label. The A-side closes with the 'Sweeter' instrumental mix of boogie bomb 'Loving Sweet Devotion' by Idiater Edwards; then comes the B-side with that indelible Mad Professor flavour, bucking the dub trend with a syncretic of dub, freestyle and disco; and finally, we end on a touch of next-gen psydub bubbling up from The Underwater World (of Jah Cousteau, that is).

Review: Sweden's mash-up maestro Beatconductor returns with six tracks of masterfully cross-pollinated bangers on this hand-stamped white label. On tap we have edits of the likes of Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Elvis et al., indicating a worthy breadth of knowledge of both classics and non-classics - but all classily recontextualized in ways only the Beatconductor himself can manage. Set to heavyweight 12" wax on two sides, we're certain this one'll serve you well for drunken Saturday dancefloors and upmarket, warmly-lit Sundays alike.

Review: If you don't have love for Rahsaan then you don't have love for life. The American is a veteran of the edit scene and someone who can flip any joint into a joyous groove. Here, Hot Biscuit have assembled a limited double 12" that brings together some of his best 'Disco Edits, Versions & Dubs." 'Big Bisou' opens up with a jumble of Afro drums and loose limbed rhythms, 'Mamoe Lowe' then has tribal vocal chants and raw percussive energy, and 'Preto Velho' then brings a little more laid back soul to the party. '77' is a funky disco strider and 'Secondo' closes with some hard assed funk.

Review: February is the month of love and so it is fitting that a new 7" drops from our much loved Washington DC label Peoples Potential Unlimited US. Every bit of lo-fi funk and disco this label deals in comes with a healthy dose of romance and this one from Marshall Titus is another case in point. 'Take A Chance' is full of steamy promise and retro-future 80s synth work over crunchy drums. The vocal is alluring and sensuous and the bassline further pulls you in. On the flip is a more raw and affected alternate version.

Review: German artist Purple Disco Machine is a studio wizard and something of a throwback - he manages to make tunes that are rich in musicality as well as having plenty of focus on the dancefloor. Each one brims with colourful hooks and catchy grooves and this new one 'Beat Of Your Heart' comes with delightfully soulful vocals from singer-songwriter ASDiS. It's got summer anthem written all over it such is the feel-good nature of the whole thing with both a club dub and instrumental also included for different settings. Bring on the sun!

Review: XL Middleton is an absolute don of boogie. He can bend his synths and warp his baselines into fresh new forms and make sure than anyone who hears them has to pop their body non stop. He brings that studio mastery to a remix here of 'High Class' by Sauce Lady that is full of withering sci-fi pads, fresh vocal hooks and bright pads. His version is pretty unbeatable to be honest but on the flip the Slynk mix has a fine go of remixing it with a more upbeat and strident groove.

Review: Insatiable funk lovers rejoice! One of the most sought after top vocalist/songwriter Lee Wilson who's known to dominate house music dance charts week after week delivers this time a boogie banger 'Do Better'. The feel-good Original Mix on the A-side boasts a thick boogie synth bassline and uplieing chords that carry Lee's captivating vocals inspiring us with a strong message of positive self-image and self-improvement. The B-side features the monolog remix by multi-instrumentalist Yuki Kanesaka playing all vintage analogue instruments himself bringing that heavy funk to all diggers of sick grooves. Both tracks are upbeat, uptempo and ready to heat the floor.

Review: Str4ta is a joint project that includes Gilles Peterson and Jean-Paul Maunick aka Bluey, inspired by 80s Brit funk bands. In 2022, Str4ta released their third album Str4tasfear for Gilles's label, Brownswood Recordings and this 12" stamped white label offers two dance remixes of two tracks from Str4tasfear. For the A-side, 'To Be As One' is remixed by Venom with vocal by Theo Croker. This soulful house version is jazzy and slightly psychedelic, that gives off a tremendous 70s vibe to it, while the second side sees 'Lazy Days' is remixed by Wallace, adding a bit more of a Latin house feel and features Emma Jean Thackray on vocals. Both versions turn the originals into the perfect dancefloor shufflers for eclectic people. This is the perfect 12" for house, soul and Latin DJs to express their more jazzy side.

Review: Sao Paulo artist and About Disco label head Rafael Cancian once played Motor City Wine party in its native Detroit and was thought to hail from the city itself so synonymous was his sound with what the locals expected. As such he now steps up to Hot Pot with a new pair of edits starting with 'Heaven.' It's a fulsome cosmic disco stepper with low sling drums and plenty of shiny synths as well as soothing vocal coos that help take you to ecstasy. Flip it over and you will find 'Nigeriac' which is a syncopated mix of Afro funk and rock to shake your bones loose.

Review: As we roll further into the New Year we're still enjoying the arrival of plenty of new labels. Now Is Not The Time is one of them from the US that takes a bow here with its first EP, Lost In The Message. It's a three-way collab between the legendary Rahaan plus DJ Reg and Jerome O. What they do is chip up classic samples and killer grooves form the worlds of funk, soul, house and disco with 'Lost In The Message' kicking off in freewheeling fashion. 'Get Up Out Tha Water' has oems nice big horn energy and plenty of whistles and 'The M8 Track' is a deeper house sound with a belting diva vocal.