A7 Edits Vinyl & CDs

Review: Africa Seven's A7 Edits offshoot has already proved to be one of the better re-edit series around, primarily because they consistently employ some of the best re-editors in the business, offering them the opportunity to select tracks they want to rework from the parent label's vast catalogue of licensed cuts. This edition - the seventh EP to date - is another action-packed winner. Rising star Alan Dixon delivers a lightly tooled-up, all-action revision of Gyedu Bley Amadou's tropical disco classic 'Highlife', before Barcelona-based John Talabot and Pional re-frame Ekambi Brilliant's 'Afrika Afrika' as a kind of Afro-post-punk/dub disco mash-up. Over on side B, Escapade dances through a bouncy disco-house take on Pasteur Lappe's 'Na Real Sekele Fo Ya', while Jacques Renault expertly rearranges Michael Amara's Afro-disco-funk staple 'New Bell'.

Review: There's naturally much to enjoy on the latest volume in Africa Seven's A7 Edits series, which pairs original - and usually obscure - old Afro-disco and Afro-boogie gems with fresh 21st century edits. This time round, the A-side is all about Kemayo & K System's piano and horn-heavy disco-funk jam 'Biram', a two-minute blast of dancefloor exuberance that Phillip Lauer cleverly re-imagines as loopy, locked-in chunk of Afro-disco/disco house fusion. Over on the flip there's a chance to savour Afro National's heavy, low-slung stomper 'Push Forward', a cut that brilliantly adds chanted vocals and Hendrix style guitar solos to a sweaty, non-stop groove. Al Zanders does a great job in ratcheting up the tension and heaviness on his accompanying club-ready extension.