Orange Tree Edits Vinyl & CDs

Review: After an 18-month hiatus, the admirable Orange Tree Edits series returns via a first re-edit outing from former Nail Shop artist Moving Still (real name Jamal Sulaimani). Like many of the label's releases, the four reworks on show are undeniably exotic, with Sulaimani delivering revisions of exotic Arabic and Middle Eastern dancefloor workouts from the '80s and '90s. Check for example the raw, Italo-style analogue electronics, jacking machine beats and drifting Arabic synthesizer lines of "I'll Tell Ya For A Tenner", or the melodious, life-affirming Middle Eastern synth-pop bliss of head-in-the-clouds gem "Ah Stop". Arguably best of all though is opener "Bint Al Sa7ara", a druggy stomper where snake charmer style leads lines and North African vocals ride a seriously druggy, arpeggio-driven groove.

Review: Over the past few years, Johnny Rock has proved to be one of the shrewdest re-editors around, delivering must-check reworks of thoroughly obscure gems that tend towards the exotic and intoxicating. Further proof of his dusty-fingered, scalpel-wielding genius can be found on this Orange Tree Edits outing. Check first the rubbery, off-kilter '80s electro-flex of "Kat-Woman Do", before admiring the Mascara-sporting, New Romantic style synth-pop goodness of "Bitter Juice". Elsewhere, he offers up some skewed, percussion-rich late-night eccentricity (the delightfully weird "Hippie Jam") and successfully dances his way through some Communism-era Yugoslav post-punk heaviness ("Streets of Belgrade").