DJs: Most Charted - Disco - Most Charted January 2016

Review: Re-issue of the TK Disco classic from 1977 and it still sounds as awesome as ever. Particularly if when you get two dons of the current scene to edit it. On the A side Boston's Kon gets on board to give it two fine re-edits. The "Kon Keep It Movin' mix" clocks in at just over eight minutes and works the track main hooks for a lot longer on this cleverly executed an essential edit for any serious DJs box. "Kon's Groove" is a more condensed version of the previous and great modern revision of the track. On the flip we've got none other than Todd Terje, giving Jimmy McGriff's classic "Tailgunner" a tasty re-edit too. The classic from 1977 gets its epic Hammond Jazz organ solo extended over nearly seven minutes of glory!

Review: As debut 12" singles go, this first offering from Venetian trio &Co - surfer/skateboarder mates who decided to get into music production - is quietly impressive. Opener "Best of Friends" blends the piano-heavy, slo-mo style of Still Going, with twinkling jazz pianos, an air of humid Balearic sunshine, and occasional flashes of Timothy J Fairplay style acid. That last influence is even more evident on wonky B-side "Bonus Acid", which is little more than a beatless exploration of ragged 303 lines and pulsating bass. The EP's other track, "Wine Cooler", smartly joins the dots between rolling, slo-mo disco house and the kind of fluid electric piano solos frequently found on classic Philadelphia International releases.

Review: Having previously established the Diggin Disco Deep formula - think sumptuous, sun-kissed deep house revisions of old disco and Balearic cuts - with a trio of 12" singles, the crew gathers for a fourth vinyl missive. Junktion gets the party started, layering eyes-closed electric piano lines and glistening guitars atop a suitably hazy deep house groove, before Funkyjaws moves further towards filter disco-house territory on the jazz guitar-clad shuffler "World Spin". On the reverse, you'll find some bumpin', locked-in loop funk from Martin Hayes (the DJ tool style "Eternia"), and the swinging, Balearic trance influenced positivity of Vinyladdicted's "Felt So Good".

Review: Bristol's Admin is a man on the rise. Having previously released material on Boogie Cafe, Futureboogie and Glasgow Underground, he's been snapped up by Sleazy Beats. Here, he delivers the latest instalment in their Black Ops series, laying down three chunks of bass-heavy disco/house fusion. "Have A Nice Day" is sweet, rolling and tasty, with dense, bongo-laden percussion, swirling vocal loops and tasty disco samples riding a low-slung house groove. He goes deeper and smoother on "Sugar Loaf", whose sparkling breakdown is almost Balearic in its' wide-eyed, spine-tingling execution. Finally, he steps back towards the disco with "Super Lover", a house rearrangement of a horn-heavy disco jam smothered in filter tweaks.

Review: Aside from being the originator and creator of the Osmose Sound 7" Vinyl Record Stabiliser, DJ Osmose is a purveyor of the finest house and disco concoctions, a man who has clearly dedicated his life to both house culture and the vinyl format - we dig. This time he's up on the newly crowned Morgan Avenue Edits, and first up is a collaboration with byDesign, a track entitled "Red Light Disco", and one that is a total discoid banger, backed by one hell of a baseline. "Hazardous Disco" sees the man go solo and deeper than before, serving up a beautiful, vocal-laden, string-heavy disco joint for the modern ear, followed by the smooth-as-silk groove of "I Don't Wanna Know". Stunningly fab.

Review: Initially started as an excuse for Eric Duncan and friends to release pitched-down reworks of suitably cosmic jams, the New York Edits series has taken on a life of its own over the last 18 months. No doubt this fifth installment will become as in-demand as the previous installments, thanks in no small part to the suitably chugging chop-up of David Keaton's stoner disco fave "Gloria" on the flip. The NY Edits version is, predictably, even more baked, working the killer, organ-laced, clavinet-heavy groove for longer before introducing Keaton's half-whispered vocal. The A-side is more in keeping with the smacked-out feel of the series, with grandiose analogue synthesizer lines riding a delay-laden blue-eyed soul groove. Serious sleaze.

Review: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The House Of Disco, come in and make yourselves comfortable. What began life as a blog and party has now become fully established as a record label, as THOD arrive at release number 14 with Dutch pair Daniel Leseman and Hans Peeman at the helm under their FOUK name. The Gruff EP comes after two well received FOUK Eps last year and fits snugly into The House Of Disco aesthetic, brandishing a trio of disco house pumpers that all retain that loose and live feel to them. Push us for a favourite and we'd probably plump for the filtered pump of the curiously named "Freebooter". Complementing these are remixes from Ron Basejam and Snacks of the title track, with the rasping groove of the latter a delight.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Marcel Vogel has decided to celebrate the first five years of his edit-heavy Lumberjacks In Hell imprint in the only way he knows how: by putting together a sumptuous double-pack stuffed with fresh new material. In keeping with the way the label has developed in recent times, the eight tracks blend the boundaries between original productions, illicit remixes and straight re-edits. There's a celebratory, life-affirming feel throughout, from the rubbery bass, D-Train synths and rolling house grooves of Giovanni Damico's "The Break Down", to the bluesy deep house brilliance of Borrowed Identity's "Queens Bridge". Highlights are plentiful elsewhere, too, from the hustlin' electrofunk-meets-disco of Vogel's own "Come On", to the killer synth solos and fuzzy bits of Tim Jules' thrilling "Slap Beat".

Review: Growing Bin Records head honcho Basso unearths four obscure oddities to play under the mirror ball or with cocktails by the pool. Limited to 300 copies worldwide

Review: San Francisco's Honey Soundsystem are doing a good job in unearthing long-lost Patrick Cowley productions. Having previously joined forces with Dark Entries to release the pioneering producer's soundtrack to gay porn flick School Daze - and soon, a compilation of his other work for pornographic movies - they've decided to go solo on this 12". Kickin' In features a trio of previously unreleased Cowley disco workouts, recorded between 1975 and 1978. The real killer is the title track, a typically epic, 15-minute excursion that fuses Cowley's throbbing, masculine synthesizer lines with vocals and instrumentation from disco band Loverde. Flip for two groovy, low slung disco workouts that are, rather surprisingly, free of Cowley's usual Hi-NRG arpeggios. Instead, there are live basslines, organic percussion and decidedly sleazy spoken word vocals from the great man himself. In a word: essential.

Review: It was only right that New Zealand-based crate digger Frank Booker lined the debut release on his new imprint Down In the Basement, setting the bar for others to follow. Certainly there is no drop in quality in this second 12", with Canadian musician, DJ and artist Julien Dyne at the controls for a four track display of his edit talents. No track titles here, so the diggers will have plenty of mulling over to do as Dyne veers through rare boogie, disco and Afro jams and lays down no small amount of delay and FX in a manner that recalls the early Idjut Boys. Last track is a boogie burner and then some.

Review: Italian DJ agency Sounds Familiar continues its' 7" explorations of the space where disco re-edits meet deep house. This latest missive comes from Detroit's Specter, who was last seen on Theo Parish's Sound Signature imprint back in 2013. He begins with the eccentric "Circus Time", a bizarre, circus themed disco jam tightened up for contemporary dancefloors. It boasts a brilliant walking bassline and, somewhat creepily, maniacal clown laughter. B-side "Concrete Jungle" is a more straight-up disco-funk affair, with Specter brilliantly re-arranging the kind of urgent, socially aware, electric piano and synth-laden jam that was all the rage in the mid 1970s.

Review: Chicago's Cratebug has supposedly been on the scene since 1983 but only started releasing in the last six years. About time and the results are great. Recently releasing his cheeky edits on Tugboat or KAT, he's now taken to releasing them himself on his own Bug Records. On this release, Chicago Edits, he does some dirty acid house on the A side with "Acid Train", an epic tour de force with synths snarling and squealing all about the place but just wait until that epic horn sound comes in. On the flip is an absolutely killer re edit of Sparks 1979 hit "Beat The Clock", which works those furious steel drums that come rushing in halfway through the original version. Tip!

Review: Vinyl only, limited numbers: Masterworks launch a brand new 10" series, and they're doing it in style as rising French disco doyen Closed Paradise lays down two powerful sample-based grooves. "Your Love I'm Gonna Take" slaps with a sleazy bassline, rushing sound FX and textures and teasing snippets of the original source vocal. "The Vision" takes a loopier twist with a pristine guitar line that opens out with every 16 to reveal more and more. Soulful, timeless and stupendously funky. Grab it while you can.

Review: Glasgow's Green Door studios proves once again to be a fine source of talent for JD Twitch's Optimo Music empire with newcomer MR TC making his mark via the Optimo Trax offshoot. Soundtrack For Strangers may well be Thomas Clarke's debut release as Mr TC, but you wouldn't know it such is the confidence in production evident throughout. Four tracks deep, this 12" sees Clarke trying his hand at a deep and hypnotic brand of dance music which looks to house, disco, techno, and more for inspiration with refreshing results. Those lucky enough to have attended Dusseldorf's Salon Des Amateurs will probably close their eyes when "Hebrew House" is playing and imagine it going down very well at the venue. A fine debut, more please Mr Clarke.

Review: Tom Noble teams up with Mystic Pleasure on this must have Superior Elevation 12" issued with the assistance of Peoples Potential Unlimited. If you were one of those that indulged in the Tom Noble edits of "Africa Bump" and "Party Together" for PPU back in 2009, then you know this combination of artist and label equates to dancefloor gold and will need little further wooing to indulge here (PPU have just repressed that 12" for those didn't btw). Everything Noble touches drips with disco authenticity and that's the case here with "Back Door (Gettin Down)" a sublime funk addled floor burner of the highest quality. One Sided and comes hand stamped with the PPU logo.

Review: Having previously established himself as fine re-editor and bootleg remixer, DJ Apt One recently donned the Michael The Lion alias for an outing on Brooklyn's Razor 'N' Tape. Here, he utilizes the pseudonym once more, delivering another quartet of killer re-edits for London's Giant Cuts. There's naturally much to admire, from the Idjut Boys style dub disco effects and rolling grooves of opener "The Hangover" (a revision of Diana Ross's brilliant "Love Hangover"), to the chunky, disco-meets-house chug of string-laden flipside opener "Fly Robert". Elsewhere, check the sweaty, cut-up, heavily percussive hustle of "Bo Knows", and the swinging, guitar-led disco soul-goes-house pump of "Know This".

Review: Amsterdam's smoothest boogie operator Mendel follows up a string of well-received edits on Basic Fingers, Lumberjacks In Hell and Street Edits with a debut on Disco Deviance. "On The Way" is a furiously funky case of looped up momentum that teases more and more before culminating in a big key crescendo. "Higher" plays the same game but with original disco source material where a juicy bassline underpins larger than life gospel-level soul vocals. Chicago in their construction, New York in their delivery, these are two Mendel's best edits to date.

Review: The Waffles label arrived last September with a much loved 12" that spanned the discotheque spectrum and had plenty of people salivating, no doubt thanks to some prolonged plays at Jim Murphy and the Dewaele's Despasico. The Soulwax brothers being Belgian has led many to speculate if Waffles is their work, cos you know the country is famous for them... A second helping of Waffles is here and boy is it tasty. Up top, the sleazy "Macao" stomps out on a mid-tempo bump, whilst "Spanish Fly" glides along happily with an absolutely killer bassline. The resident disco digger at Juno is off today, so we're not so sure about the source material here, but Waffles have struck gold once more.