Funky French League Vinyl & CDs

Review: He may have started life as a dusty-fingered hip-hop beat-maker, but French producer Julien Ozonder AKA Young Pulse is undoubtedly best-known for his party-starting disco, soul, funk and jazz-funk reworks (for proof, check his ongoing Paris Edits series on GAMM, which has so far notched up eight instalments). On 'Shake Your Body Down', which lands on the label founded by the Funky French League collective he's a member of, he combines samples from a forgotten disco gem with his own beats and instrumentation. On the A-side 'Disco Mix', that means squelchy bass, 126 BPM disco drums and mazy synth solos aplenty; while on the 'Beat Street Mix' he limbers up for the breakin' at the Paris Olympics via an authentically early 80s sounding electro workout.

Review: He may have started life as a dusty-fingered hip-hop beatmaker, but French producer Julien Ozonder aka. Young Pulse is undoubtedly best-known for his partystarting disco, soul, funk and jazz-funk reworks. On 'Shake Your Body Down', which lands on the label founded by the Funky French League collective of which he also a member, Ozonder mixes stems from a forgotten disco gem with his own beats and instrumentation. The lost azure in question is KC & The Sunshine Band's 'Get Down Tonight' (1975), and Young Pulse's version is restless as it is redolent of fishy funk, exuding eurgh-inducing effluvia at every turn, be that through wow-modded bass progs or topline squeezers. The Beat Street Mix on the B-side moves much more streetwise, trawling, navvying the rues with a cabbie's knowledge of Cybotronique vocoders, 2-step breakdowns and factory-fire percs reminiscent of the turn of the 80s, almost completely upending KC's original for an entirely new mix.

Review: Since dialling down on his re-editing activities in favour of showcasing his composition and production skills, Paris-based Young Pulse has released a swathe of sensational singles - most of which doff a cap to his long-known love of disco, boogie and 80s electrofunk. He leans giddily into the latter on this superb three tracker, kicking things off - with a little help from vocalist Wayata - with the revivalist P-funk colour, squelch and shuffle of Parliament/Funkadelic side A-side 'Reachin' Out'. The fun continues on the flip, where the organ and sparkling synths-enhanced headiness of 'Lose Control' (a kind of Prince tribute by the sounds of it) is followed by Fleur De Mur collaboration 'Love Addict', a Skipworth & Turner-esque slab of mid-80s dancefloor joy.

Review: It's been two years since the 2022 release of Young Pulse & Natalie Nova's multi-mix single 'Free', across the digital version of which we were graced with five exclusive mixes. With the 'original' itself and in turn being a cover of the Ultra Nate song from 1997, Pulse and Nova's version is a jubilant, disco-strung version, abandoning Nate's garage house proclivity for an upped sense of swing. This new vinyl edition also brings a fresh mix to the table, totting up the versions to six; first, there's the OG aforementioned 'Disco Tribute mix', as well as a 'Disco Dub' version, the new and never-heard-before highlight.