Salsoul UK

Review: Yes! Super rare space disco from the vaults of Salsoul gets a much needed repress - expect to hear this one on all the left leaning dancefloors over the coming months. As Destroyers, Ramon Boulez, Bijou, and Edward Gash committed just the two tracks to wax back in 1977 with the assistance of prolific composers Jeffrey Lesser and Rupert Holmes. Both "Lectric Love" and "Slave For Love" are propelled forwards by grooves that dip into infinity and the instrumentation and harmonies that cover them are pure late night sleaze. This 12" has been pressed up illicitly several times over the years but this is a fully remastered, official reissue from Salsoul.

Review: We can think of few more qualified to play around with the vast Salsoul Records archive than long-serving disco lothario and re-edit maestro Dimitri From Paris. On Salsoul Mastermix, he delivers two contrasting but equally essential CDs. On disc one, he takes on the role of original Salsoul and Prelude "mastermixer" Shep Pettibone, crafting a whirlwind tour through the legendary imprint's catalogue rich in original disco scorchers, electrofunk slammers and boogie dubs. There are familiar favourites included, but also lesser-known highlights that have previously only been championed by serious disco diggers. On disc two, he dips into his own vaults of DJ-friendly re-edits, offering up killer scalpel interpretations of cuts from Skyy, Love Committee, Charo, Double Exposure and Loleatta Holloway.

Review: First Choice's era-defining disco funk anthem "Love Thang" gets dusted off by Salsoul. Timeless struts, silky bass flurries, huge orchestration and gutsy vocals; this still sounds spotless today. Complete with an acapella and instrumental, the real boon here is Kon's edit. If anyone is going to edit such a classic appropriately it's this guy; with a more mix-friendly, break and vocal focused intro, dynamic stripdowns and build ups and a big drum-focused pay-off, Kon reminds us how artful editing can be in the right hands... Again.

Review: Chicago stalwarts Cratebug and Jamie 3:26 were relatively little-known when they joined forces to create this killer rework of Loleatta Holloway's Salsoul classic "Hit 'N' Run" way back in 2011. The interpretation, which laces choice passages of Holloway's impassioned vocal over a loopy and driving house groove reminiscent of Paperclip People's "Throw", first appeared on vinyl as part of Lumberjacks In Hell's now impossible-to-find Chicago Service compilation four years ago. Happily, Salsoul has decided to reissue it on this must-have, single-sided 12". It's more of a remix than a re-edit, and is guaranteed to get things going at peak-time. Basically, it's a banger, and you need it in your box.

Review: There are very few truly essential disco albums, but Inner Life's eponymous debut album is one of those. Recorded and released in 1981 by the all-star production team of Greg Carmichael, Patrick Adams and Leroy Burgess, with lead vocals from a then young Jocelyn Brown and mixes courtesy of Tee Scott and Larry Levan, the album is one of the finest in Salsoul's catalogue. Here the original album gets a remastered re-issue, with the superb six-track set - which includes such classics as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Make It Last Forever" - with a second plate of extended club versions. This includes two brilliant Levan revisions and - most excitingly of all - the never-before-released "Let's Get This Thing Together".

Review: Boogie badman Leroy Burgess was responsible for some of the greatest disco and electrofunk jams of the early '80s. Even so, few were quite as special as "(You've Got) That Something", a 1981 killer that distilled all that was good about his productions - those distinctive cowbell patterns, life-affirming slap bass, spiraling synths, hard-wired disco guitars and one of his finest vocal performances - in one essential, 11-minute package. As on the original '81 12", it comes backed with the similarly impressive "Dancing Into The Stars", whose melodic bassline is arguably even better than that found on the A-side. If you don't already own a copy of the original pressing, this reissue should be an essential purchase.

Review: Dimitri has been very generous with his edits this year, having unleashed some of his finest DJ weapons in the form of the "Brooklyn Edits" EP and this refreshed trilogy of classic Salsoul revisions. They need little introduction as we take off with the iconic harmonies and horns of "Ooh I Love It" land with the incredible soul fusion of Love Committee's oft-covered (never bettered) feels odyssey "Just As Long As I Got You". With trips to New York for silky disco with Skyy and a synth boogie freak-out from The Jammers, it's once again another reminder that no one does edits quite like the man from Paris.

Review: Following two well-received volumes, Salsoul presents a third celebration of the records championed by Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage. There are, of course, plenty of must-have disco and boogie jams present (think Skyy's "Here's To You", Jimmy Castor Bunch's "It's Just Begun", Ripple's sweet "The Beat Goes On And On" and Inner Life's peerless "Moment Of My Life"), alongside a selection of less-celebrated - but no less essential - cuts. In this category we'd put The Salsoul Orchestra's grandiose, heavily percussive "Magic Bird of Fire" and Orlando Riva Sound's "Moonboots", a decidedly epic, almost psychedelic chunk of heavy instrumental disco that deserves wider recognition.

Review: Time to dig deep into the Salsoul vaults as a precision selected range of cult classics and lesser spotted gems are polished up and brought to our attention. Fully representing Salsoul's in-house musicians and writers across the rollcall, we're treated to the full new York spectrum from the incredible theatre of the Salsoul Orchestra right the way through to the punctuated falsettos and cinematic dynamics of Orlando Riva Sound's "Body To Body Boogie". In between you'll find cult classics such as Skyy's "High" and a firing Latin funk instrumental cover of Gil Scott Heron's "Bottle" by Joe Bataan.

Review: London-based "multi-track edit" specialist the Reflex is the latest producer to have his way with gems from Salsoul's epic back catalogue. All four rubs are up to his usual high standard - he begins by dubbing out and rearranging "Mama Don't Papa Won't", a lesser-known Loleatta Holloway cut from the halcyon days of disco, before turning piano-and-percussion-heavy Candido favourite "Dancin' and Prancin'" into a sweaty, all-action extended workout. On the second record he heads towards boogie territory, giving Skyy's "Let's Celebrate" a sweet, synth-and-delay-laden makeover before making great use of the urgent, bass-heavy groove underpinning Rafael Cameron's brilliant "Boogie's Gonna Get Ya". Recommended.

Review: With the exception of Tom Moulton, no remixer did more to shape the sound of Salsoul's club-focused 12" singles than Shep Pettibone. Here, Salsoul celebrates his immense contribution to their disco and boogie output by gathering together some of greatest "Mastermixes". There are naturally plenty of familiar favourites present - think Loleatta Holloway's soaring "Love Sensation", Pettibone's much-sampled rework of First Choice's "Let No Man Put Asunder" and the soulful, synth-heavy brilliance of Leroy Burgess's "Heartbreaker" - alongside lesser-known but no less killer re-rubs of the Salsoul Orchestra, Candido, Instant Funk (a righteous, ten-minute workout in the style of Larry Levan's remixes of the period) and Weeks & Co.

Review: The current owners of iconic disco label Salsoul have previously been criticized for some of their remix choices - most notably Marquis Hawkes' revisions of classic Logg tunes - but we can't envisage many finding fault with this superb compilation. It features revisions of classic and little-known cuts from DJs and producers associated with Italy's Sounds Familiar crew. Highlights include a killer cover of Candido classic "Thousand Finger Man" by GE-OLOGY (here titled "ReFingered With Love"), a superb re-edit of The Strangers' P-funk cut "Stimulation" by Twice and Volvov, a dusty, Theo Parrish's Ugly Edits style tweak of "Salsoul Rainbow" by Kai Alce, and a typically on-point rearrangement by Mark Grusane of Civil Attack's little-known boogie floorfiller "On The Phone".