Compilation Recommendations September 2012

Review: This collection from London-based arch-nerd Zaf (he of the rare music site Zafsmusic.com) should have crate diggers salivating into their well-thumbed copies of Record Collector. It showcases obscure disco and boogie gems released only on "private presses" - those self-released albums and singles that are usually the preserve of uber-diggers with oodles of money to burn. Given the source material, it's no surprise to find Private Wax stuffed with quality fare, from the horn-soaked disco-soul bump of Christian Gaubert's "Sweet Maryline", to the undisputed boogie glory of Jeaney's brilliant "Reservation". Electrofunk diggers should also check 94 East's "If You Feel Like Dancing", the sort of life-affirming synth jam that surely would have been a hit had it not been buried so long.

Review: For anyone with an interest in the history of house music, this excellent compilation from Jerome Derradji's Still Music imprint should be essential listening. It focuses on the output of two long forgotten Chicago labels, Mitchbal and Chicago Connection Records, during the early to mid 1980s, when electro, new wave and boogie were morphing into house. As such, 122 BPM offers a mix of rare, largely overlooked cuts that bristle with analogue dancefloor intent. There's proto-jack in the shape of Jeanette Thomas's "Shake Your Body" and Z Factor's "I Am The DJ", dubbed-out Chi-town proto house from Mitchbal and Larry Williams, and some terrific bodypoppin' electro from McGhee.

Review: Amazingly, it's some 25 years since Kevin Saunderson launched his KMS label. To celebrate, he's put together an expansive, four-disc collection featuring greatest hits, personal faves and forgotten gems. As you'd expect, the tracklist is dominated by Saunderson's own techno and house productions under a variety of guises - Reese, Inner City, E-Dancer etc - and there are plenty of familiar favourites ("The Groove That Won't Stop", "Good Life", "Big Fun" etc). That said, there's also a clutch of lesser-known cuts from illustrious names, including MK and Chez Damier, plus a clutch of remixes from the likes of Luciano, Simian Mobile Disco and Carl Craig. In a word: essential.

Review: Following the critical and commercial success of Strut's first trawl through the Factory Records archives, it's no surprise to see a second selection hitting the shelves. This time round, former Factory Benelux man James Nice takes over from Bill Brewster as curator. It's an inspired choice. While Brewster's selection touched on both well-known classics and little-known gems, Nice has largely steered clear of the obvious. As a result, FAC Dance 02 is a mine of little-known gems, from the bizarre Arabic disco of Fadela and post-punk voodoo of Biting Tongues, to the smoky dancefloor dub of Sir Horatio and vintage synth weirdness of Ad Infinitum.

Review: The popularity of Mark Knight and company's Toolroom label shows no sign of slipping. Their releases still sell by the bucketload, and their Toolroom Knights parties in Ibiza are packed to the rafters. Here, Knight himself delivers a two-disc trawl through some of the tracks that have lit up those parties this summer. It's perhaps a little deeper, groovier and breezier than you'd expect, showcasing tracks from the likes of Lovebirds, Hanna and Radio Slave as well as the predicted big room bangers from Toolroom favourites such as Pig & Dan, DJ Chus, Nic Fanciulli and, of course Knight himself.

Review: As the convoluted title suggests, this double CD mix-up from leather jacket-clad Phantasy Sound boss Erol Alkan offers two distinctly different flavours and a welcome update on his classic first Mix CD release for Bugged Out. The first disc, his Bugged In selection, delivers a fuzzy, off-kilter trawl through some of Alkan's current home listening faves. It's typically eclectic, touching on lo-fi rock, psychedelic oddities, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and soft focus electronica from the likes of Walls and Space Dimension Controller. The second disc, on the other hand, sees Alkan in full-on club mode. Recorded live, it's something of an energetic romp through darkroom disco, Italo, classic techno, balls-out bangers and twisted acid house revivalism. It is, of course, a sweaty treat.

Review: For the latest instalment of the never-ending Fabric mix series, the London super club has handed over the reigns to sometime Poker Flat and Moon Harbour man Matthias Tanzmann. It's an interesting move as Tanzmann has always been widely regarded as an excellent DJ, though his fame has yet to spread beyond the underground heads. His mix offers a good snapshot of his current style, flitting between atmospheric but percussion heavy groovers (see the Minimono and Monkey Maffia cuts), fluid tech-house (Maya Jane Coles, his own "Konoa"), concrete-clad techno (Sheronda) and quietly soulful tech-funk from Jeff Moore & Jamie Lie A Kwia and his excellent rework of Silicone Soul.

Review: Dark D&B favourites Blokhe4d have been associated with Bad Company UK's Bad Taste Recordings imprint for some time, so it's no surprise to find them at the helm for the fifth edition of the Bad Taste compilation series (for the record, they were also behind volume 4). Musically, Bad Taste Volume 5 bears few surprises, but plenty of balls-out D&B rollers laden with twisted noises, addictive stabs (see Telekenisis' "Parallel Universe") and, of course, bowel-bothering basslines. Highlights include Blokhe4d and Receptor's decidedly old skool "Bass Dust" and Dubapes spooky dubstep roller "In The Jungle", but in truth there's very little in the way of filler.

Review: Legendary New York disco producer Patrick Adams takes a trawl through the 1970s catalogue of his widely celebrated P&P Records imprint, picking out some of his favourite cuts - many of which are his own inspired compositions. There are plenty of tracks from his own Cloud One alias, including stone cold classics like "Atmosphere Strut", "Disco Juice" and the superb electro-boogie jam "Flying High" (one of the greatest synth-heavy cuts of the period), as well as such revered tracks as Mart Acuna's much-sampled "Dance Dance Dance" and the Musicmakers' thrillingly heady "Jump, Jump, Jump". Many disco diggers will be familiar with all of these already, but for newcomers The Best of P&P Records offers a great introduction to Adams' intoxicating world.

Review: As the 2012 Ibiza season hurtles towards an inevitably messy climax, Hed Kandi finally weighs in with their annual celebration of all things White Isle related. By now, you should know what to expect: bona fide Ibiza anthems (Fedde Le Grand and Nicky Romero, Alter Ego's remixed "Rocker"), sun-baked grooves (see Joey Negro's cover of 80s boogie classic "I Want You Back"), soulful sing-along (David Penn's impossibly large "Lovin U"), chart-bothering favourites (Calvin Harris remixing Florence and the Machine) and too-cool-for-school cocaine house hits (Jamie Jones, Tong and Rogers remixing Hot Chip, Alexis Raphael's touchy-feely "I Know"). Job done.

Review: This latest volume in Jazzman's occasional Spiritual Jazz series is, predictably, a fascinating beast, offering an unlikely glimpse into the sound of underground European jazz throughout the 1960s and early '70s. It's a refreshingly eclectic beast, moving from choir-laden German modal (see Herman Gehlen's bonkers "Kyrie") and folksy oddities (Jeff Gilson's excellent "Untitled"), to formidable Scandinavian deepness (the Binder Quintet), Eastern European classics (Crescendo Quintet) and typically wild Balkan freestyle (Dusko Goykovic's brilliant rendition of the "Macedonian Fertility Dance"). With detailed sleeve notes joining the dots and filling in the gaps, Spiritual Jazz 3 is a real eye-opener for those schooled on American jazz classics.

Review: Not content with unleashing a brilliant collection of obscure Japanese grooves under his DJ XXXL moniker, dusty-fingered nerd Muro delivers another admirable mix-up jam packed with unfamiliar versions of familiar favourites. As the Un Covered title suggests, the concept is simple: a mix of original versions of tracks later made more famous by cover versions, and lesser known covers of massive hits. Heavy on blistering funk and soul but also touching on jangly 60s pop and beardy foreign language versions of English hits, it's a thrill-a-minute ride that doesn't let up for 70-odd minutes.

Review: After what seems like several millennia in the game, British techno granddaddy Carl Cox is still going strong. The big man remains a popular draw, as the crowds at his Space Ibiza residency this summer have proved. Here, he offers up a taster of his sets at the legendary White Isle venue, moving from atmospheric grooviness to fist-pumping toughness over two all-action discs. The tracklist holds a few surprises, with looser house cuts from Bushwacka, Luca Banchetti and Nick Fanciulli wrestling for disc space alongside more formidable fare from the likes of Mark Book, Christian Smith, Mr G and Marco Bailey.