New releases last eight weeks: Disco/Nu-Disco

Review: Bowie is a new label that says it intends to "dig deep into the unreleased sides of pop superstars material from the past." The opening gambit is a strong one that should hook you in for more as it comes in the form of a 7" with two fine funk instrumentals, neither of which have been put out before. 'Golden Years' has lovely live drums and meandering guitar licks for some carefree listening, while 'Fame' has a deep cut groove that rises and falls in dramatic fashion with more neat and tidy riffs adding the detail next to the big licks.

Review: Rolling Recordings from Antigua makes its debut here with a first release under the guise of Rock Star Heroes who offer up a couple of hard-to-find and previously unreleased funky disco influenced club bound instrumentals of out and out rock classics from one of the worlds best known stadium bands. These are perfectly designed for the club and collide rock, funk, disco and more into fresh forms. Opener 'Undercover Of The Night' popular with the likes of DJ Harvey and is a slice of raw, hard-hitting groove magic with organic percussion and live drums laden with funky guitar riffs and lively chord work that brings the whole thing to life. On the flip is an instrumental version of 'Miss You' which still has all the swagger of the iconic original with sultry harmonica luring you to the floor where the masterful drums and guitars will keep you moving.

Review: REPRESS ALERT!: Skyrager returns to his HITD imprint with more of the magical sounds that have made him an international favourite with dedicated disco-heads. This three-tracker brims with his signature grooves, all of which are crafted from deep crate finds and reworked with his unique touch. The A-side is a 14-minute, Euro-funk-inspired boogie that combines dreamy keys and smooth synths with real vocal soul. 'Love Is Good' brings a Caribbean-infused, soca sound with a catchy guitar hook before closing with 'Love Is Bad', a funky yet laid-back disco groove with a slinky bassline and euphoric guitar riffs that ring out in prog fashion next to female vocals.

Review: Ralph White's early ventures into disco are finally gathered in one place with the first official anthology of his 1978 recordings at Sydney's Albert Studios. Better known at the time as a session player and producer in the city's studio scene, White was tapped by M7 to craft four disco pieces aimed at an emerging dance market. Over just two days in the studio and a small group of local players - including a young Tommy Emmanuel - he recorded four standout cuts, together which remain some of the most refined Oceanian disco ever put to tape. Though the original 12"s saw limited success domestically, M7's distribution push into markets like Canada, India and Argentina helped cultivate a quiet cult following. Now remastered and housed in a deluxe spot-UV sleeve with inserts featuring new liner notes and White's biography, this reissue shines overdue light on a forgotten chapter in Australian dance music.

Review: Two years on from the release of his Ubiquity label debut, the hard-to-pigeonhole Balearic/global musical fusion set that was Da Cuckoo YaYa, self-taught producer and multi-instrumentalist Reuben Vaun Smith returns with a fresh full-length. Once again, the warming, colourful and effortlessly atmospheric set is both gorgeous and hard to pigeonhole, with the Yorkshire based artist variously doffing a cap to dream pop, yacht rock, blue-eyed soul, shuffling downtempo soundscapes, soft-focus AOR synth-pop and sun-bright Balearic beats. It's the kind of set that not only impresses on first listen but also grows on you with each successive listen. Few artists can achieve both of these things on one album, so congratulations are most certainly in order.