Back in stock: Disco/Nu-Disco

Review: Balearic scene stalwarts Chris Coco and DJ Rocca are old pals, with the pair first working together five years ago on an EP released by Faze Action's FAR imprint. Cocorocca, though, is their first collaborative full-length - a set that cannily combines Coco's love of fluid pianos, tactile downtempo grooves and sun-soaked ambient textures with DJ Rocca's passion for dubby basslines, moon-lit low-tempo nu-disco, starry Balearic synth-pop and the trippy and psychedelic ethos of Italy's 1980s Afro-cosmic scene. As a result, there's plenty of subtle variety on show - compare, for example, the dubbed-out slow acid oddness of '303/808' with the sunset-ready dancefloor colour of 'Sunshine Love' and the slap bass wielding dub disco madness of 'Night Dubbin' - as well as plenty club-ready material.

Review: Londoners Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland mix up funk, set soul, dance and nu-disco for a fourth album here in Volcano. They draw on some top-notch collaborators along the way - Erick the Architect, Channel Tres, Roots Manuva, Mood Talk and Bas - and wrote most of it while on tour to support their last album. They say it is the most honest album of their career to date and it is indeed a little more song-based and soulful. The sounds are free and the energy is still explosive so the tracks are sure to work just as well in the live area as at home.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Case cracked, product in perfect working order***


Some 21 years after volume one appeared in stores, PTG's ongoing Masterpiece: The Ultimate Disco Funk Collection series has reached its 36th instalment. Given the series' longevity and the sheer number of tracks already showcased across volumes one to 35, the cuts on display here are genuine rarities, cult classics and sought-after gems. As usual, highlights are plentiful, from the soulful vocals, dreamy chords and rubbery slap-bass of In Touch's 'Why Did You Stop Loving Me' and the boogie-era sunshine shuffle of 'I'm Yours' by Hollywood Tucker, to the big studio swell of Spence's mid-80s jam 'Gonna Party', the 80s soul smoothness of Jimmy Scott's 'Games' and the synth bass-propelled post-boogie brilliance of 'Divided Love' by Haywoode.