DJs: Most Charted - Disco - Most Charted July 2015

Review: Following the runaway success of their re-release of James Mason's cult classic "I Want Your Love" a few years back, Rush Hour asked the legendary disco-soul producer whether he had any unreleased material in the archives. After rooting around, he unearthed enough material to fill an album, Recollection Echo, which hits stores later in the year. Before that, Rush Hour present two previously unheard gems; the breezy, soulful disco brilliance of "The Rhythm of Life" (which, brilliantly, features Bernard Purdie on drums, and Fonda Rae on backing vocals), and "Up Jump", a brilliantly strange - and thrilling - combination of pitched-down electro beats, vocoders and spiraling soul vocals. That album should be pretty sensational; until it's released, these two tracks will more than suffice.

Review: Brooklyn's Razor-N-Tape reach out to the Lowlands and coax Hans Peeman into donning his Junktion alias for a new four-track 12" on their Razor-N-Tape Reserve label. Living up to it's dignified and reserved billing, this fifth release on the offshoot finds the Nijmegen-based Peeman laying down some luscious, colourful disco vibes that will brighten up any sun laden afternoon on the terrace. Title track "Hot & Bothered" sets the tone with a summery vibe underpinned by some bumping drums, whilst "I'm wishin'" glides with a subtle house bump and some wonderful vocal touches. "Fling Cleaning" sees Peeman veer off into disco chug territory, whilst "Visions of You" ends the 12" on a soulful note.

Review: There's been a fair bit of hype surrounding this latest release from Fouk man Johannes Peeman's Junktion project. Listen to the clips, and you'll soon realize why. Ostensibly a re-edit with some additional beef to the groove, "Running From Whatever" offers the perfect balance between the warm, jazzy looseness of laidback disco-funk, and the woozy lusciousness of contemporary deep house. In other words, it will fit into either house or disco sets. Similar accolades could be bestowed upon B-side "Pale Blue Dot", which moves further towards traditional deep house territory, while including some seriously cosmic synthesizer builds and all manner of neat musical touches.

Review: The Faze Action brothers released their fifth studio album entitled "Body Of One" last year and to continue the celebration they have recruited some heavy weight talents to give their spin on three tracks from that album. First, the brothers take on the remix duties of "Magic Touch", giving it a dub house reboot that could be the sound track to countless sunsets this summer. Next up is a deft dub mix of the same track by Maxidiscs cohort and globe trotting DJ, Dicky Trisco. On the flip side we have the Balearic powerhouse that is Phil Mison, remixing "Echoes Of Your Mind" into an electronic, down tempo feast with additional Bass, Guitar and Keyboard played by the man himself. The final mix on this 12" is provided by "Emotional Response" curator and head honcho Stuart Leath under his Chuggy guise, delivering an organic dub mix of Faze Action's "Floating World"

Review: Arthur Russell and Steve D'Aquisto's legendary 1980 club anthem has always been shrouded with stories when it comes to unreleased and alternative cuts. And West End have just added a whole load of fuel to the hype fire. Two versions and brand new edit: taking Arthur's original genuinely loose instrumentation and raw funk (as opposed to Levan's more famous stripped back club-ready takes that took the centre stage), both the female and male versions are here in all their extended, unreleased glory. For added measure, edit king Kon has crafted a duet cut that fuses both versions into one gloriously slack, free-flowing groove. We're all over this record.

Review: Gala Drop's Nelson Gomes dons his Black suit again for Outerzona13 and gets busy on the edit flex. "Good Time" sees him dig deep into Tamla-Motown-era Jacko for an up-tempo, feel-good stomper that makes you strut in a way only Michael can. "Keep It Fit", meanwhile, sees him move deeper into the '70s with an awesome take on Brenda Harris's timeless and relatively wholesome "Making Love Keeps You Fit". Finally we hit the cosmic sex button as the jazz-minded "Macho Macho" oozes raunchy, breathy sensuality over a sprawling, head-bendy instrumental groove.

Review: France's Favorite label dabbles in all things funky and disco-flavoured, and this time they've decided to go with a Brazilian edge on their latest 12". Painel De Controle begins with a Waxist mix of "Relax", a chilled-out boogie monster with sultry vocals, while "Ripa Na Xulipa" by Rabo De Saia is more uplifting and heavy on the disco strings. Finally, Nick The Record rewires "Labirinto" by Famks into a subtly electro-fied boogie nugget. Nice!

Review: The disco loving yet secretive Sciuridaens return with an eighth volume of finely teased productions primed for deployment on the discotheque. We are still none the wiser on who is behind the Secret Squirrel project despite some scurrilous rumours but it's clear by now they have quite the knowledge of funk, boogie, Italo, acid, disco and vintage house. Up top it's a funk-flecked disco number that feels like the tempo has been nudged down slightly, adding a subtle druggy feel to those Philly strings. It's good but Secret Squirrel really hit the spot with the think break-infused '90s era filtered house burner that sits on the flip. Some vocal hook on this one.

Review: Sam from Floating Points begins a sub label of the Eglo imprint and kicks off with the sought after disco/funk/soul gem from Taxie which originally came out on the Archwoods label back in 1979...

Review: Recloose's live band Star Blazers have been circulating this deeply trippy, cosmic-minded take on Midnight Express's 1983 disco hit "Danger Zone" for at least four years now... Whether it's taken this long to licence or just a straight up case of disco/editry longness we don't know, but it's finally available and it comes with a powerful, loose-beat shake-down by one of edit culture's genuine princes, Kon. Dangerous.

Review: Linen fresh Balearica from Swiss soul man Lexx. First up is a slight re-pointing of Bing Ji Ling's "Hanging On A String". Still fresh from his Paqua adventures, the crisp guitars and Doobie Brothers harmonies are maintained as Lexx adds more pluck to the low end. "All That Is Now" lowers the tempo a little, easing us into a steamy deep bath of fragrant pads of delicately over-layered arpeggios and more shimmering guitars. A perfectly timed summer record.

Review: The Silver Rider is a transdimensional traveller and purveyor of fine disco, funk and soul. He is currently Earth-bound, inhabiting a studio somewhere between Brooklyn, NY and Austin, TX and has developed a penchant for drinking Laphroaig Scotch Whiskey. Here, he presents his first, solo vinyl release in the form of the "Silver Street EP" which features three cuts that blur the lines of boogie-funk, jazz fusion, tribal disco and psychedelic house.

Review: The My Rules imprint was set-up by prolific re-editor Justin Van Der Volgen as an outlet for his wares, whilst retaining an element of mystery. While the New York producer is indeed at the controls, he prefers to let the music do the talking. "Closer" has the feel of a pumped-up San Francisco or New York electronic disco stomper, with sharp strings and woozy backing vocals riding a thumping, Italo-influenced groove. The Italo-disco influence is even stronger on flipside "Dig Dag", whose relentless arpeggio lines and woozy synthesizers also recall EBM-era industrial funk. It's certainly a shirts-off smasher.

Review: Disco Patrick delivers once again... Four previously unreleased gems from the source, only ever pressed to limited acetate during the early to mid-70s. Expect a bombardment of grooves; Eric & The Vikings 'Get Off The Streets" is a honkytonk funk strutter where there pianos galvanise a premium groove the refuses to quit. Robert Drake's mix of "Hustle & Bustle" is a really cool example of how tape edits would daringly switch the dynamic without warning while Al Johnson has the honour of closing the ceremony with a deliciously languishing, never-before-release 12" adventure. Keep on hustling!

Review: Can We Melt The Ice is one of those mystery records that collectors love so dearly. Very little is known about it, other than that it appeared on Plush Records sometime around 1982 or '83. It was written and produced by Chicago producer Morris J Williams, whose sweet vocal provides a vocal point for the track's sensual boogie vibes - all lilting horns, subtle synthesizers and shuffling grooves. Brilliantly, this reissue from Finland's constantly on-point Traveller Records also boasts a previously unreleased longer version, which naturally extends the track's wonderful instrumentation in all the right places. Recommended.

Review: Heavyweight sunnyside nostalgia from Whiskey Disco faces old and new. Icelandic BG does what he does best and work a sample until it's looped so well you could listen to it for days on end. The highlight of his couplet being the sweet subtly filtered take on Passion's "Don't Stop My Love" on "Astarjatning". Closed Paradise takes us much deeper into the night with the sexier, groove-focused "Breakin' Down" while "Wolf Sisters" closes the show on a reflective, slo-mo minor key note. All sides of disco - old and new - covered right here. Beautiful.

Review: Think you have Bradley Zero's Rhythm Section International label all figured out? Think again pal, as their latest 12" release puts aside the South East London dusty house business and heads for the Australian sunshine in the company of avant pop quartet Retiree. If Tame Impala took their cue from Arthur Russell and Talking Heads instead of The Beatles they might sound like Sydney act Retiree, who first surfaced on the city's excellent Plastic World label back in late 2013. Whereas that Together 12" was more rooted to the dancefloor, filled with dreamy boogie, the three tracks on This Place hint at a new found maturity to the Retiree sound with fully formed songs drenched in a loving avant pop sensibility.

Review: South Africa's Letta Mbulu has put out a vast amount of quality material in her lifetime, and although the singer was based far away from Europe, her music was picked up by the London massive during the mid '80s at clubs like Dingwalls and featured heavily in the rare groove digs. The opener "Sweet Julu" is now a London two-step classic, while other tracks like "Nomalizo" or "The Village" are more on the disco side, all of them filtered with a distinctly tropical edge! A top reissue!

Review: The guys behind the legendary Brazilian festival follow up last winter's debut release from Pete Herbert, Dicky Trisco and Eric Dunks with another all-star nu-disco cast. The Revenge gets playful with a string sample (and the title) on "Strings Of Fife", Eddie C ups the cosmic factor with an array of dubby textures and an insistent guitar loop on "Take Me Or Leave Me", Pete Herbert get evangelistic with big disco vocal harmonies and a groove so slippery you could wash your hands in it. Finally Max Essa flips the switch heads south for an Amazonian synth adventure that's so immersive it might swallow you whole.

Review: Blend It! bossman TwICE and his pal Native get their knuckles dusty in the crates once again, unearthing five more beautiful proto house, boogie, Balearic soul and disco gems. From the Elton-level vocal emotion on "Pusher" to the jittering keys and clicky synthetic percussion of "Dinner With Mr Pedro" via the lavish Latin dynamics and breezy flute fusion of "Sir Orange", each cut tells its own unique immersive story. Ready for take off?

Review: Given that Bufiman is another of Jan Schulte's many aliases, we probably shouldn't be surprised by the loose, live-sounding drums, rich electric bass and topsy-turvy acid lines underpinning "Die Mumie", the opening track on this typically eccentric EP. Or, for that matter, the cheeky synths, bold melodies and overall quirky air of celebration. Predictably, the rest of the EP lives up to these high standards, with the slap bass workout "Raising (Delay Dub)" sounding not unlike the greatest Balearic edit-not-edit of the season. The accompanying "Clean Dub" of the same track is also killer, with glistening new wave guitars and wild synthesizers adding to the deliciously glassy-eyed mood.

Review: After pit stops in Cuba and Kenya, Auntie Flo and Esa's Highlife World Series lands in Uganda for its closing edition. Recorded over various stints at the East Africa music conference DoaDoa in Jinja in the past year, these four tracks find our intrepid pair of travelling fusionists working with musicians from Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa. First up is "DoaDoa14" by Christopher and Swahili Alley, named in honour of its genesis at that year's conference and a fine journey through spiritual African house music. Next up Esa shows off his prowess at extended dancefloor burners with a superb twisting remix of Santuri's "Min Kula" whilst the B side features Bantu Clan Vs Sarabi's "Africa Ni Leo" in both extended and remixed by Behr form. A fine end to a consistently enlightening series.

Review: The title says it all: Joia rara...Rare jewels. The well-established and authoritative knowledge and enthusiasm of Mojoknights blog comes correct on this collection of boogie, funk and soul rarities from the Brazilian motherland. From the staccato narrative and slinky boogie guitars of Jackson Goes "Variacoes" to the Parliament-style chants, heavy percussion and Chic/Sugar Hill references of Bons Tempos "Sao Paulo" to the velvet lounge-lashings of Brasil Show's piano-happy "Lagrimas", the whole collection sparkles with myriad sunny-side soul grooves and Latin heat that has largely been unavailable until now. Universal.

Review: Amsterdam-based DJ/producer Olivier Boogie has been creating high-class disco and boogie re-edits for years, though it's only in the last 12 months that he's really had a chance to showcase his wares to a wider audience. Here, he delivers his second 12" for Whiskey Disco, following tasty outings on Phat Elephant and Hot Digits. As usual, his reworks get just the right balance between house style loopiness and the more reverential re-works of countryman Mr Mendel. That loopy feel is particularly evident on the sweet disco-soul shuffle of "I Know You Care", while the brilliant "Come Inside" gives a storming, upbeat disco number a colossal boot up the backside. Flip for the snaking sax lines, warm grooves and vibraphone solos of "How High", and the horn-totin', extra-percussive disco-funk deepness of "Watch Your Step".

Review: Like its predecessor, Diggin Disco Deep #2 is an all-star affair, with all manner of established artists queuing up to contribute woozy deep house cuts infused with rich disco influences. This time round, it's a two-disc affair, with some eight tracks to enjoy. It represents great value, as there's little in the way of filler and plenty of highlights. Saine delivers some breezy, almost Balearic goodness in the shape of "Bronx Medium", while Junktion's "Sidewalk Salsa" joins the dots between early Latin house, mid '80s New York garage, and the kind of sumptuous contemporary deepness that sounds tailor-made for open-air parties. Best of all, though, is Funkyjaws' "World Spin", which comes blessed with some of the most evocative, jazz-inclined guitar solos you'll hear all year.