Special Occasion - "Flyin' To Santa Barbara" (6:37)
Review: Over the years, France's Favorite Recordings has been very good at sniffing out lesser-known European gems from the disco and boogie era, mostly for superb and must-check compilations. Recently, they decided to make some of these licensed obscurities available on a series of 12" singles, where a louder, club-heavy cut is preferable to DJs. The latest sees them offer-up two lesser-known Belgian gems produced in the mid 1980s by future new beat don Tony Baron. Jonathan Jr's 'Hanging On To You' is warm, shuffling and synth heavy, with the artist's soulful and jazzy lead vocal sitting alongside squelchy synth-bass, Nile Rodgers style guitars and post-electro beats. Special Occasion's 'Flying To Santa Barbara', meanwhile, sits somewhere between 80s soul, AOR synth-pop and sax-sporting B-movie soundtrack goodness.
Feel So Good Inside (extended Waxist edit mix) (6:51)
Feel So Good Inside (4:19)
Take Me To (New York City) (4:18)
Review: The result of a diligent digging quest since he heard DJ Klas drop it many years ago, Lyonaisse editor Waxist has finally track down his own copy of Lamar's 1980 disco soul love gem and given it some serious treatment. Extending the unfettered positivity of the original by almost two minutes (with special attention paid to that immense organ solo), it lives up to its name in every possible way. For authenticity's sake he's also included the original B-side "Take Me To New York". Still standing the test of time impeccably after 35 years, one tickle from the lolloping bassline and swooning keys and your dancefloor will be hooked.
Review: Sounds like it came out of Lagos in 1971, actually written and recorded in Lyon in 2015: Voilaaa is the brainchild of Bruno Hovart whose long relationship with Favorite goes way back to his days as Patchworks, Mr President and The Dynamics. Recording on a whole host of vintage machines and calling upon local African singers both cuts have a real authentic sense of realness; "Spies Are Watching Me" drives with big horns and swooning strings which isn't dissimilar to the work of The Movers, while the TY Boys-esque "Le Disco Des Capitales" is a heavier, more concentrated slab of floor-minded disco where the groove takes more of a forefront role. Apparently there's a whole album of this cooking... We can't wait to hear it.
Review: A warm welcome back to Bruno Hovart's Voilaaa project, traditionally a revivalist Afro-disco vehicle best known for 2015 dancefloor smash 'Spies Are Watching Me'. 'Fache', featuring Pat Kalla, explores similar sonic territory, with punchy Afrobeat horns, woozy chords and crunchy clavinet licks rising above a low-slung, hypnotic, dub disco-meets-Afro-boogie groove. It comes accompanied by a fine, effects-laden instrumental dub and a trio of similarly tasty bonus cuts: the warming, early garage-house and deep house influenced 'Trouble Travel' (featuring Jai-Nah), the languid, soulful and Latin-influenced 'Too Young To Die (featuring Olivia)' and the Afro-speckled disco-goes-jazz-funk loveliness of 'Trop Jeune Pour Sa'.
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