Juno Recommends Disco: May 2022

Review: There is a good chance that the K in Mr K stands for Knife, surely, because of how good this man is as crafting his own studio edits? Next up he tackles the frankly already very brilliant Stevie Wonder gem 'If You Really Love Me' but somehow he manages to improve it for modern club play. The horns are bigger, the drums are that bit more house-y and the whole arrangement is beefed up for a big impact. 'I Know You I Live You' on the flip is a disco dazzler with lucid horns and big soulful vocals for an all out good time.

Review: For his latest trick, cheeky scamp The Reflex has turned his attention to the Herbie Hancock tune that inspired countless 1980s kids to don a tracksuit, grab a pair of Adidas Shelltoes and hurl themselves around like the Crazy Legs crew. Naturally, his version of 'Rockit' is a body-popping treat that subtly extends and rearranges sections - especially those containing Hancock's jammed-out synth parts - and adds a few tasty breakdowns before unleashing the now familiar melody. Over on the flip the French producer takes his scalpel to the Isley Brothers, providing a fine multi-track edit and extension of the group's much-loved, guitar-solo sporting proto-disco soul number 'That Lady'.

Review: Since 2020, Athens of the North's in-house band, East Coast Love Affair, has been serving up increasingly impressive slabs of retro-futurist brilliance. Previously, they've turned their hand to spacey jazz-funk/house fusion ('Don't Be Afraid'), deep vocal house ('Without You'), disco-funk ('Confrontations') and lovers rock (a superb cover of Eddie Kendricks' 'Date With The Rain'). This time round, they join forces with veteran gospel-soul choir United Spiritual Singers to deliver an incendiary disco-funk cover of the outfit's obscure (and recently reissued) 'A Minute Too Late'. The scorching, club-ready original mix comes accompanied by a superb Tom Noble rework that re-images the track as a Boyd Jarvis/Paul Simpson style proto-house heater full of reverb-laden vocals, echoing drum machine percussion and addictive synth-bass.

Review: Dave Lee's Z Records hits the milestone 20th edition of this Attack The Dance floor series. It has always been a reliable outlet for glossy, disco tinged and floor friendly house tunes from some of the genre's most accomplished names. This time out, Dave Lee appears ac couple of times, firstly with the feel good and soul-licked remix of Mike Lindup's 'Atlantia' and then with a boogie mix of Jungle's 'Keep Moving' which comes with a nice dotted funk bassline and big shiny strings. Lazywax and and Emmaculate Afrodisia remix further boost this useful 12".

Review: If you're expecting more organ-sporting house mixes of one of the most popular (and it should be noted, influential) house records of all time, Robin S's Stonebridge-produced 'Show Me Love', you might be more than a little surprised by these versions from former Chicago hip-hop beat-maker Emmaculate (real name Eric Welton). Thrillingly, he's decided turn the vocal singalong into a bustling, jazz-funk-tinged disco number full of Salsoul Orchestra style drums, Fender Rhodes chords, jazzy guitar licks, rubbery bass and - you guessed it - brand-new vintage organ stabs. The full vocal rework on the A-side is our pick, but the flipside instrumental version is rather tasty too. An admirable and imaginative remix

Review: After dropping two fine contributions to the Echo Beach Edits series, Pantai People main man Marc Roberts pitches up on Moton with four more ear-catching revisions. He begins by putting his stamp on a familiar disco favourite, looping up the most impactful orchestral sections before unleashing the original vocals ('King of Nice Days'), before switching his attention to an early-to-mid-80s disco-boogie number on the glassy-eyed 'Uno'. 'Maia Amor' is a tidy tweak on a summery, sun-drenched, Spanish language disco workout, while 'Star Max' sees Roberts successfully turn his attention to a polished, early '80s AOR disco number of the sort that yacht rock fans will undoubtedly love.

Review: Andromeda Orchestra returns with an original dub disco peak time floor filler. Sounds fx dub over a throbbing bass line before the chorus drops, launching the latest EP into soaring high disco heaven.

"Dance Closer" is the title of this latest offering from Faze Action brother, Rob Lee, that sees his signature organic production style right where it should be; front and centre.

Accompanying the title track is a darker, dub work out called "Primo Ventura" along with the Salsoul-esque "Inferno," before the stuttering mid tempo "Hoops," with its slap bass and wigged out synths, rounds things off.

Oozing with disco dub goodness, this four track EP is one you'll be reaching for at any occasion.

Review: Collab EPs are back in fashion, and Tropical Disco are leading their charge. The boundlessly potentiated space between disco, dance and jazz is their game, and 'Tropical Disco Volume 23' proves they can win it time and time again. Four tracks of trumpetting 4x4 glory-buzz dominate this EP. Clean Is Good wipes the floor with disco-edit edge, while Moodena comes through with a mighty mood of motor city madness, and Sartorial and Infrasoul share the B-side with a pair of broken, drum-banging and glass-shattering instrumentals. There's even a disco flute in there somewhere.

Review: Ten years after volume one hit stores, legendary disco-boogie label SAM Records delivers a third collection of contemporary reworks of tracks from its enviable back catalogue. As you'd expect, most of the remixers strike a perfect balance between paying tribute to the original material and giving the '70s and '80s material 21st century dancefloor weight. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the energy-building loops and chops of the Dorothy's Fortress remix of Lucy Hawkins' 'Gotta Get Out Of Here' and the Saturday night-friendly boogie-house revision of Komiko's 'Feel Alright' by Dr Packer and Michael Gray, to the sensationally squelchy and soulful Pathcouli Brothers' rework of Steve Shelto's 'Don't You Give Your Love Away' and the filter-sporting disco-house hedonism of JKriv's take on disco classic 'Bourgie Bourgie'.

Review: If these drums could talk, they probably wouldn't talk too much; they'd do more slapping. As much is true for Manchester's mysterious Talking Drums outfit, who hardly talk up their music online more than they simply unleash it to the world and allow the public to take it in on its own merits. Vol. 5 of their self-titled 10"s series hears three tracks of wavy, downtempo proportions, modelled after the sound of a turntable playing at -6 on the pitch dial. 'Speaking Drums', our highlight, remixes an overlooked slice of German glam.

Review: The Soul Clap-associated Gator Boots series has long been a source of mixed-up, floor-friendly revisions and high-grade DJ tools. The hush-hush imprint's first outing of 2022 sticks to this peak-time-friendly formula, with Jacques Renault sharing some of his personal stash of revisions. On side A he dips into the section of his collection marked "Latin gems", first adding a touch of sweaty, locked-in house shuffle to a punchy, horn-heavy mambo workout, before rearranging and tweaking a Latin disco obscurity. On the reverse, the Brooklyn-based producer first plays around with a percussive and hazy disco number, emphasizing the drums and held-note horns, before re-wiring and dubbing out a throbby and druggy chunk of Patrick Cowley style electro-disco.

Review: The super reliable Riot label celebrates 10 years of irresistible disco goodness with a special series of releases. 10 Years of Riot Vol 1 brings the funk right from the off with a various artists EP that kicks off with Mark Brickman's classy ad sting-laced loopathon 'Freak It 21.' Yam Who? & Jaegerossa bring some live Philly disco sounds with a soulful vocal and Da Lukas then ups the camp factor by at least 10 with the classic vocal samples of 'Nasty Girl.' last of all,
Danny Kane's 'Sweat' (feat Princess Freesia) gets a glossy, lip-pouting JKriv remix filled with sugar synth goodness.

Review: Marma Boog is the Pond Life co-captain and steps up in driving and fantastic fashion for the label's next red hot platter. This 20th serving is made up of big room but classy disco and house heaters with plenty of strong Italo influences. 'Hypnotizing A Kookaburra' (Italo mix) opens in widescreen fashion with high energy synths and drums, then the Mood Mix gets more hippie-fide, with new age melodies and tumbling hadn't drums taking it back to go forwards. 'East Of Canada' closes with a warped and synth heavy funk-house sound that is super stylish.

Review: Last year saw Greek edit wunderkind C Da Afro drop two joints on Cardiology amongst a whole load more discofied party fodder for the likes of SpinCat, Sound Exhibitions and more besides. Now he's back on Cardiology with even more goodies to share with the people in the place, leading in with intention through the rabble rousing 'Get On Your Feet'. He's working the filter hard on 'The Solution', teasing the funk until that sweet release on the drop. 'Disco Gang' whips up Backlash's classic '81 stomper 'Hang With The Gang' and gives it a gentle house injection, while 'Doing The Boogie' burrows deep into the groove for a simmering cut to keep the crowd loose and limber.

Review: Romie Singh's 'Dancing To Forget' EP is truly ahead of its time, mirroring the production stylings of her 2022 contemporaries. First listens wouldn't reveal it was made in 1986; dub, ethereal and international styles all peek through on this recollected slice of experimental vocalism, recalling the Fairlight-hued approaches of every classic downtempo dance act from C Cat Trance to Malcolm McLaren, let staying much cleaner than either. This record grows progressively stranger as it goes on; 'Dancing To Forget', selected from her 'Masters' LP, operates in an emotive dub tone, while the later 'Credo' operates in a much jankier art-pop insanity.

Review: Set those filters to stun and get the glitterball rotating, because Italy's Giuseppe Scarano is back with some serious glitzy disco gear on his Cardiology label. 'BEK Again' boasts a hefty house undercarriage on which the brass, handclaps and funk are transported, a Jackson-esque vocal hook proving to be the cherry on top. 'Remember Da Name' and 'Know About Me' are a little sparser, with a garage beat not a million miles from some of Van Helden or Roger Sanchez's late 90s work, the musical gloriousness squashed down by filters until it's finally allowed to peak and soar. 'New Funk' completes the four track package, a tad slower and funkier with a sublimely wriggling bassline the central factor.

Review: Giovanni Damico has done plenty of great house EPs in his time but on this one he explores a retro Italo and disco sounds with lashings of synth and wave influences. His EP for Star Crature opens with 'Ashes' which could well be a long forgotten classic getting a timely reissue. The machines bring a nice analogue texture, the melodies are filled with 80s nostalgia and the whole thing is coated in dust. Flip it over and you will find the more leggy cosmic explosions and chugging basslines of 'Milky Way' which is finished with a perfect vocal and plenty of nice vocoder sounds.

Review: It's 10 up for Semi Delicious, a leading tech house outlet that calls together a selection of various artists for this cool new EP. Manami's 'Lizard Den' opens up with a high speed mix of funky bass and squelchy synths that ride on chunky drums. Demi Riquisimo's 'Tutukaka' is defined by a nice Balearic guitar line and sunset chords to melt the heart and Inner Zone's 'Lunar Trick' bangs the box a bit more with a turbocharged space-house sound. Manuel Darquart closes down with 'Track A' which is a more stripped back and cool viber.

Review: Just what we need, another 4 cuts of essential mayhem that only reinforce what a wonderful world we have. This time we get the official beatdown from one of the best to do it. Front to back & something for all ages! Another limited run of bliss, please be swift!

Review: Club Culture Rarities is - another - new label dedicated to re-prints of cult and rare 12"s, but in this case they are all taken from Expanded Music's labels. The sixth outing focusses on Hornbostel E.P. 1 which was originally released on Progressive Motion Records in 1993. It was crafted by Christian Hornbostel with Mr. Marvin (known from Virtualmismo, VFR and Tales of Underground amongst others) during a period of huge creativity and success. Their sound has stood the test of time with dark, hypnotic house sound and atmospheres built with instruments belonging to that era such as the mythical Korg M1 and Waldorf Microwave.

Review: An anthem often heard at Mexico's Sonidos movement parties, "Sweet Magic" was originally released in 1989 at the tail end of Hi-NRG and when house music emerged. Produced by Los Angeles-based duo Michael J & Abbe Kanter, better known as Dreams Come True (aka Tyrants in Therapy) with singer Stacy Dunne, it has remained an underground hit ever since. Faithfully remastered from the original tapes, which Berlin's Thank You managed to find and digitise in Los Angeles, there's the inclusion of a new stripped down extended mix by Castro (Sound Metaphors) using the original stems.