Juno Recommends Disco: Best of 2022

Review: The much loved and highly sought after Hot Toddy Remix of 'Never Gonna Reach Me' is finally getting a long overdue vinyl repress from the original masters and artwork. It's no exaggeration to say that NGRM has become a bona fide disco classic since its first release that has stood the test of time. Crazy P band member Chris Todd took the original version from the band's Stop, Space, Return album and remixed it up for the dance floor adding disco drums, rhodes keys and arpeggiated synth sequences. On the flip side there is another sublime remix from Still Going, the New York duo best known for their output on DFA. All in all an absolutely essential addition to any record collection...

Review: The mysterious House Bros originally recorded this song in Hollywood in 1979, cut it to acetate and then seemingly forgot all about it. That sole acetate was destined for obsolescence until it was discovered some 40 years later by a devoted Northern Soul DJ. Not content with just driving dance-floors wild with his discovery, he asked Al Kent to "do something" with it. And boy did he do something! By adding new drums, Rhodes piano and strings, rearranging and extending the song from 4 minute to over 9, and adding the obligatory disco break, Al's created a modern but authentic disco epic that could just as easily have been recorded and mixed in a New York studio in 1976.

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 is of course the given name of Joey Negro, the tireless UK music head, disco lover, record label owner, DJ, producer and archivist. 'Hey Uh-What You Say Come On' (Dave Lee Revibe) is first and is a big percussive workout with man Roy Ayers bells and xylophones over a steaming groove. 'Steal Your Heart' (Dave Lee Showtime mix) reaches for the big Philly strings and sets them free over a more chunky and funky groove that gets right under your skin. Lovely stuff.

Review: GW Edits made a fantastic start to life with a big edit of an Italo classic back in September. Now the second volume of edits arrives with three more disco gems. Up first is a bonkers mix of Amerie in fine form and drums from The Verve's 'Unfinished Sympathy', a character cut with bustling beats. 'Gotta Keep Workin' It' the mixes up Miss Elliot with some old school funk to playful effect and 'Working The Illusion' layers up 80s synths and vocals with tambourines and hip swinging claps next to more iconic samples.

Review: There are very few editors who could give Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards revisions respectful enough to release but Dimitri From Paris most definitely has the credentials and class. As proved by last year's Chic Remix album on which 10 of Rodgers & Edwards got the precision Parisian kiss. Here are two of the many highlights in full 12" form. Chic's "I Want Your Love" gets a perky energy boost in the kicks while Sister Sledge's "Thinking Of You" retains all the smouldering emotion with a subtle nudge towards both the bedroom and the dancefloor. Loaded with the instrumentals on the B, Glitterbox have delivered once again.

Review: Bohannon's biggest dancefloor hit, 'Let's Start II Dance Again', has been remixed umpteen times over the years, with several reworks of the slamming disco-funk classic released in the early-to-mid-1980s. Here it gets another new lease of life as part of Unidisc's 40th anniversary celebrations, with disco remix maestro Dimitri From Paris at the controls. The Frenchman delivers two tasteful, club-ready tweaks: an 'Extended Remix' that wisely utilises all of the familiar elements of Bohannon's original, while subtly beefing up the beats and adding a few drops and breakdowns, and an even longer, more dubbed-out 'Super Disco Blend' revision. Over on the flip there's a chance to enjoy Bohannon's original version and the raw and heavy 'Part 2' mix from 1981 album Alive.

Review: The Mushi 45 series is dedicated to bringing you the finest funky cuts on cute little 7"s, stamped up with a distinctive yellow label and guaranteed to bring the groove. On this occasion Mister Mushi himself is on the buttons, offering up some cool and deadly edits to get the party juiced up good and proper. On the A side comes a slow and sizzling version of Sister Sledge's eternal 'The Greatest Dancer', pitched down and leaning heavy on the bass for a slice of warm up magic. On the flip, savour the crisp, cool breaks of 'Elements Of Hip Hop', which is all the lean and mean funk you need to get busy in a sampler or just straight up freaky on the decks.

Review: Candi Staton's gospel-fired "Hallelujah Anyway" has a long and complex history. Over the years it has appeared in countless different forms, with this Glitterbox edition pairing two 2012 reworks with a couple of fresh rubs. In the latter category you'll find a deliciously bouncy and loved-up interpretation from Dr Packer that sounds like a late '80s Frankie Knuckles remix, and a "Classic Club Vibe" version by Moplen that dips the tempo and doffs a cap to early '90s New Jersey garage and gospel-house. Also worth a listen is Frankie Knuckles' luscious 2012 "Directors Cut Signature Praise" version, while there's also a fresh airing of Larse's chugging and dreamy deep house take.

Review: Soundway offer us a new compilation featuring 20 rare tracks from the currently much talked about world of Nigerian pop music; a zeitgeist of their early 1980s club culture. The country's economy was booming at the time and so was its recording industry. Strongly influenced by '70s disco and funk, this new generation were, as the liner notes explain "Eager to sound as American as possible with no hint of the fervour for afro-beat, afro-rock and afrocentric thinking that the 1970s had thrown up". The original albums that many of these singles came from go for exorbitant prices online, so here's a chance to snap up some of the periods finest music, remastered across three 12"s.

Review: Eight TK classics unwrapped and regifted by some of the best in the disco game... Danny Krivit, Todd Terje, Norman Jay, Kon, Late Nite Tuff Guy and Dimitri From Paris all play killer roles in this stunning compendium of edits. Everything you could ever need for a super-sweet shindig from the instant sing-along spankage of Jimmy Bo Horne to the wah wah wriggles and giggles of T-Connection by way of Gwen McCrae's locomotion soul power, this really is an impressive piece of work.

Review: Glossy disco beat maker and silky synth-smith Purple Disco Machine really leans on the OG pure one, Prince, for the opening track on his Soulmatic album. It's filled with electronic funk, twisted vocoder vocals and big licks that will work on a wide range of dance floors. Elsewhere his collab with Boris Dlugosch, 'Love For Days' is a dazzling vocal house anthem thanks to the seductive sounds of singer Karen Harding and 'Devil In Me' feat Joe Killington & Duane Harden is a cover like you have never heard before. This special Record Store Day reissue is limited in numbers and sure to fly off the shelves.

Review: DJ, curator and producer Dave Lee (fka. Joey Negro) continues to celebrate his 30-odd year long career in music with his second curatorital comp release. The 'Produced With Love' series charts all of Lee's original productions in soulful house and disco, and this second edition includes choices songs by the likes of Destiny II, Leroy Burgess and Andreya Triana. Always collaborative and with effortless attention to funking detail, Lee brings it once again.

Review: Eagle-eyed readers may have already spotted the triple-CD version of this Sam Records retrospective when it popped up on the site a few months back. Thrillingly, the lads and lasses at Harmless have succumbed to pressure from vinyl-loving DJs and put together this triple-album edition. While many disco DJs will own some of the bigger tunes already - Vicky D's "This Beat Is Mine", Gary's Gang's "Keep On Dancing", K.I.D's "Don't Stop" etc. - curator Bill Brewster has wisely included a string of must-have obscurities and harder-to-find gems. Of these, it's the synth-laden sweetness of Greg Henderson's "Dreamin", the Italo-influenced eletcro-disco chug of the Webboes' "Under The Wear", and the unbridled boogie positivity of BBCS & A's "Rock Shock" that stand out.

Review: You can always count on Z Records to bring a deep-digging, dedicated approach to anything they put out, and that goes double for their flawless Under The Influence series. The 10th volume in the series sees them inviting the incredible Chicago-born DJ Rahaan to select some seriously headsy cuts from his collection, carefully cleaned up, de-clicked and remastered for the best listening experience. Given the nature of the series, don't expect the usual suspects, and instead savour the discovery of some of Rahaan's most treasured cuts, presented here on a double LP comp brimming with discoid magic.

Review: Risco Connection were the perfect reggae-disco crossover act, founded by Studio 1 sticksman Joe Isaacs after he moved to Canada in the late 60s. Searching for a sweet spot between the plush orchestration of disco and the upbeat shuffle of rocksteady, he embarked on a series of covers with a strong cast behind him, taking on the likes of Chic's 'Good Times', 'It's My House' and a version of 'Ain't No Stopping Us Now' which became a staple at David Mancuso's mythical Loft parties. This collection gathers together all the singles - vocals, dubs and all - and comes packaged with an interview with Isaacs and liner notes, restored and remastered and sounding better than ever.

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: Best known for producing chart-topping disco anthems like the Sylvester-fronted 'Do You Wanna Funk?' - that still crop up in DJs like Juan Atkins' sets to this day, Cowley died in 1982 due to an AIDS-related illness. He left an incredible body of work but since 2009, the Dark Entries label has been working with Cowley's friends and family to uncover the singular artist's lesser-known sides such as his soundtracks for gay pornographic films. Malebox brings us six more recent discoveries from the hidden archives, very much in the churning disco-funk and hi-NRG areas that we've come to know and love as trademark Cowley. Recorded from 1979-1981, one of Patrick's most creatively exciting periods, this bumper pack includes early Paul Parker demos 'If You Feel It' and 'Love Me Hot', a demo version of 'Low Down Dirty Rhythm' with Jeanie Tracy's vocals, plus 'Floating', 'Love and Passion' and 'A Wicked Tool', all infectious and brimming with joyfulness and futuristic exploration. Also included is an air mail envelope containing a letter from Patrick Cowley to French disco producer Pierre Jaubert as well as liner notes and hand-written lyrics. Malebox will be released on November 12, the 40th anniversary of Patrick's passing.