Tags: Electrofunk

Review: Arthur Baker is the perfect host for this new series from Demon Music which focuses on the famous extended remixes of the 80s. Each series will be a multi-disc, various artist collection that is united by one remixer, and there can be few better to kick it off than the legend that is Shep Pettibone. He was a hugely in demand studio hand who reworked multiple genres and everyone from Pet Shop Boys to Duran Duran, New Order to Level 42, George Michael to Erasure. This ambitious, widescreen collection takes in all manner of golden remixes from the world of soul, pop, synth and more.

Review: Dabeull follows up a string of recent EPs with yet another to renew his credibility as a leading electro-funk producer-entrepreneur. Owing to his own preference for making music entirely on analog gear, his latest LP Analog Love flaunts this love and then some, laying down nine wet, delectable dancefloor dynamos and enlisting the likes of Rude Jude, Reva DeVito, Ferdi and Holybrune on vocal duties to back it up. Heralding an upcoming 100% live version of the album to come, we know Dabeull means it when he says 100% analogue: we don't take those words lightly round here.

Review: There is no end to the amount of music that NOW has served up over its many years in the music business. From its thrice-yearly pop comps to its vast decades-long snapshots, it has always offered up the freshest pop hits in fulsome fashion. This latest collection, NOW That's What I Call 80s Dancefloor: Disco & Electro, is a double vinyl album on purple and pink wax that brings together the best disco and electro of the 80s. All the names you'd expect feature from Malcolm McLaren & The World's Famous Supreme Team to Shannon with Freeze, Chaka Khan and more also adding weight.

Review: Ritual Release, the California-based imprint established by Woolfy vs Projections, have long kept tight-lipped about the identities of synth boogie revivalists Guruku. We have no idea (we suspect it's them, but could be wrong), but we do know that the act's latest EP is superb. There are two original tracks on offer, both featuring vocalist Rojai: the Dam Funk-meets-Dayton brilliance of 'Mesmerized' and the dreamier, sunnier, 80s synth-soul-inspired excellence of 'What It Takes'. Both come accompanied by tasty remixes. Giovanni Damico re-imagines 'Mesmerized' as a thickset electrofunk-goes-jazz-funk workout, while Daniel T stretches out and lightly dubs out the same song in a nu-disco style. Rayko and Woolfy vs Projections join forces on a dubby and club-friendly nu-disco revision of 'What It Takes', before we treated to a dancefloor dubs style 'Bonus Beats' mix.

Review: The Outer Edge rounds off their series reworking tracks from the archive of lesser-known German 80s outfit Ghia. This time round, they're offering re-imaginations of an instrumental synth-funk track first featured on last year's Don't Look LP, 'Message From The Other Side'. This time round, the band has recruited vocalist Adrian Prestel and re-imagined it as colourful and authentic synth-number simply titled 'The Other Side'. As well as a solid instrumental take, we're also treated to a superb Marian Tone take which blends bits of the 1985 demo with elements of the 2023 re-recording. Elsewhere, there are also three takes on previous single 'Out of Luck': squelchy and crunchy neo-boogie vocal and instrumental versions courtesy of DJ Friction (the disco one, not the d&b producer of the same name) and a more low-slung, dub disco style instrumental revision by Soundrays.

Review: Legendary Rephlex alumni and electro mainstay DMX Krew revisited a Minneapolis sound with boogie and freestyle elements in this timeless 2005 Japan-exclusive release. After almost 20 years it finally gets a vinyl issue over there in Europe thanks to Cold Blow and is a surefire way to kick start your day no matter the mood you are in. As ever, the studio wizard cranks up through the gears, gets the most out of his array of machines and explores rhythm and sound from many different angles, sometimes seemingly all at once. This remains a great record despite its vintage.

Review: Let's hear it for Ed Upton, otherwise known as the evergreen DMX Krew. We're never short of essential electro of all stripes from the Rephlex veteran, but there's a special place in our hearts for the vocal turns he used to do back in the early days. Around 2004 he was focusing on purely instrumental experiments through the Collapse Of The Wave Function series, but Japanese label Poplot convinced him to return to the feelgood vocal electro and synth-pop sound and snuck this out as a CD-only release. Now on double vinyl, it's a love letter to the best of boogie and electro funk and Upton has a whale of a time laying down those endearingly straight-up party time, open-hearted lyrics about good times and love lives that any proper boogie record needs.