Juno Recommends Disco: June 2023

Review: Long-serving Japanese nu-jazz collective Kyoto Jazz Massive is back in focus again after a cool outing featuring Roy Ayers back in February. This time they're on Mukatsuku with this limited edition and hand numbered 7" featuring a pair of new edits of their 'Get It Together' tune Featuring Vanessa Freeman. The first is from Yoshi and is a glorious bit of big disco energy with diva vocals and sumptuous chord stabs. The second is an instrumental with backing vocals which then gets edited by Robin Lee & Nik Weston into something a little more free, loose and cosmic.

Review: Spacetalk Records returns from a period of hibernation with something special: a new collection of ultra-rare, little-known nuggets from label co-founder Danny McLewin AKA Skyrager. Unlike his previous compilations as part of Psychemagik, there's no killer concept behind Traces of Illusion, just a desire to share some of the dusty obscurities he's found during years of determined crate digging. Musically, it's a mixture of psychedelic folk, leftfield synth-pop oddities, blue-eyed soul, acid-fried blue-eyed soul, Balearic boogie, Americana, ambient jazz, AOR, late 80s dancehall-soul and even a spot of grizzled progressive rock. In other words, it's as educational as it is entertaining, and packed to the rafters with private press treats and impossible-to-find curiosities.

Review: Monsieur Dimitri from Paris works his magic on Casbah 73's organic disco grooves with a remix treatment that surpasses all expectations. Casbah's original track may sound like a band-recorded take with added production sheen, but it's actually a deceptively well-made track recorded by a talented solo artist. Dimitri brings added wompy disco-house heat to the track in two parts, with the first part focusing on the more bangerific elements of the original, and the B (part two) stripping things back to focus on the more minimal, solo dubby parts.

Review: The FunkyJaws Music label invites us deep into their world for a third time here with another delicious 12".It's a various artists EP that features one of our top disco favourites - Eddie C. He opens up with 'Do You Wanna Dance' which has vocals pacing about the mix and old school acid bass twangs under raw house drums. Elado's '25.4 Millimeters' is a Middle Eastern funk workout with spangled drum hits and the flip side brings twisted acid disco and the cosmic trip that is 'In Your Ear With It' from Funkyjaws themselves.

Review: Since emerging last autumn, Newcastle-based Hot Biscuit Recordings has dropped a clutch of fine re-edit releases, mostly (though not entirely) courtesy of Chicago legend Rahaan. Here DJ Nature (AKA NYC-based exiled Bristolian Milo Johnson, once a founder member of the legendary Wild Bunch soundsystem) gets his chance to shine across a must-check double-pack. He first delivers a weighty, loopy, dancefloor dub style rearrangement of a suspenseful and low-slung disco treat ('Feel Dub'), before delivering a scalpel style edit of a string-laden disco-soul number ('Disco Power') and expertly stretching out a sensual, low-slung Fatback Band classic ('Midnite Freak'). To round things off, he lightly dubs out a shuffling disco groover ('Want Your Loving') and delivers a heavy take on a Windy City disco classic ('Chi-Town Theme').

Review: The most luxurious of re-edits comes rolling round once again, with the sixth volume in Los Angeles-based disco stu LUXXURY's rework series. From the pumping funky house anthem 'Let The Disco Play' on the A-side, to the slo-mo boogie-down vibes of 'Last Night' (also on the A), to dancefloor heaters over on the flip such as the low slung Afro influence of 'Nancy' and the deep down and dirty 'Every 1' with its well famous riff - they're all re-tweaked for the modern dancefloor.

Review: For the latest instalment of the label's occasional seven-inch series, Groove Culture has decided to offer up fresh takes on classic Italian house hits. On side A, the legendary Dimitri From Paris gets his mitts on Double Dee's 1990 number 'Found Love', re-imagining it as a colourful blend of rubbery nu-disco and hands-in-the-air piano house that rightly places Dany's recognisable lead vocal front and centre. Flip for label chiefs' Micky More and Andy Tee's take on Jestofunk's 1993 classic 'Say It Again'. Like much of their work, the Italian duo's translation blurs the boundaries between funk-fuelled house and revivalist disco, with flanged, occasionally bluesy guitars, strung-out synth solos and energy-packed sax lines catching the ear.

Review: Proper boogie-funk stylee from Rome Jeffries, first recorded in 1983 as a paean to confident, smooth loving. The sultry mood of the song is backed by its cut-up claps, bouncy synth piques, and weighty veneer, which all went on to contribute to its later status as a sought-after diggers' slab. As much is ever-more evidenced on the instrumental B-side, which has an unprecedented - dare we say cheek-slapping - grit to it.

Review: French label Act Of Sedition returns this week with another splendid 7' double pack. A1 is Mikeandtess with a nice edit titled 'Preacher Man' that's seriously Dusty and slo-mo as you like it, while Oldchap's 'Big At The Jazz Club' chugs along just as slowly with its locomotive and jazzy groove with rap vocals. Over on the second disc, Bully Boy gets the late night boogie-down vibes in effect on 'Central Train' followed by Vibes4yoursoul with the sunny and low slung goodness of 'Delicious'.

Review: Eight years ago, Super Weird Substance unveiled a cover of Bessie Banks' classic 'Don't You Worry Baby The Best Is Yet To Come' - a hybrid nu-disco/classic soul interpretation that was credited to The Reynolds (twin sisters according to press releases circulated at the time), but produced and mixed by Greg Wilson and regular studio buddy Peza. This timely reissue marks the first time the track has appeared on a 45. Just like many classic soul sevens, it features 'Part 1' and 'Part 2' versions, which seem to be edits of the near nine-minute 'club mix' that appeared on the original 12" release. Both are great, with the Reynolds' gorgeous vocals being joined by rubbery synth-bass, simmering synth-strings, tasteful synth-horns and unfussy, floor-friendly drums.

Review: Earlier this year, French disco and jazz-funk combo Chatobaron joined forces with fellow Parisian Dimitri From Paris for the rather good 'I Like (The Music That You Play)'. While that was a wholehearted disco workout, this speedy sequel sees the band (and their high-profile collaborator) explore their West Coast jazz-funk influences via an inspired workout full to bursting with killer instrumental solos, dusty grooves, memorable motifs and a genuinely killer, cowbell-sporting percussion brerak. This time round, there are no Dimitri From Paris remixes; instead, dubbed-out disco favourites the Idjut Boys are on hand to smother the track in tape echo and dub delay. The result is a typically spaced-out, low-slung affair that naturally makes the most of the band's killer bassline and layered percussion sounds.

Review: The Patchouli Brothers are Jedi-level Canadian diggers who now make their debut on the always excellent Razor-N-Tape label. They offer up four edits from the world of disco starting with the driving and striding 'Disco 4 A Non-Nuclear Future' with its expansive vocal and big string energy. 'Emotional Dancing' is a clean and serene disco groove with florid female vocals and a super funky bassline which leads into the classic sounds of 'Dance, Disco Dance', a feel good and heart swelling sound then things slow down into big hand claps and vibing trumpet motifs on 'Zane & Len.'

Review: As part of this year's Record Store Day festivities, Arista have got a real treat for fans of modern soul and disco. The A-side features a Mike Maurro remix of Breakwater's 'No Limit', a groovy and funky tune from their debut album. Maurro adds his signature touch of extending and enhancing the original elements, creating a dancefloor-friendly version that respects the original. The B-side features the rare 12" version, which showcases the band's tight musicianship and vocal harmonies. This record is a collector's item and a tribute to a classic song.

Review: On the second volume in the GATT edits series, Swedish scalpel fiend Beatconductor once again pairs a previously unheard rework with something sought-after from his catalogue. In the latter category you'll find flipside 'Crazy in Kingston', an early noughties mash-up that adds Beyonce's superb lead vocals (and Jay-Z's on-point rap verse) from the peerless 'Crazy in Love' with a dusty old reggae riddim. It's a simple idea, beautifully executed. The brand-new (or at least previously unheard) cut this time around is 'Finger on the Trigger', a lolloping, life-affirming tweak of a 1970s dancefloor soul number that sits somewhere between the stomping heaviness of Detroit Soul and the proto-disco deliciousness of Philly Soul.

Review: This 2023 RSD release on Z Records is a treat for fans of soulful disco and 2-step garage. The A-side features a special 45 version of 'Secret Life Of Us', a catchy and uplifting anthem from The Sunburst Band's fourth album. The B-side showcases a 2-step soul mix of 'Look At The Stars', a smooth and romantic tune from Dave Lee's Produced With Love II album. Both tracks showcase the vocal talents of Maurissa Rose, who adds warmth and emotion to the songs.

Review: This new take on African disco from Jeff White hears the Chicago producer flex his wonkiest production chops, as he does best. 'Free People' and 'Save The Dance' are really re-edits, but a cursory listen might lead one to believe they'd been lifted from vinyl for the first time. The kind of thing you might find in the 'in-house' record collection at a late 80s nightclub, these are stringy, joyous and sunbeaten forays through instrumental and vocal house respectively.

Review: This one does what it says the tin. Both label and artist are called Jackin Disco, so you know what you're in for here. Following up a debut array of EPs and singles of a similar nature, this one drops two throwbacks to disco's most timeless sample threads. The A proffers the hard-edged original version of Modjo's 'Hear Me Tonight' in full quality, while the B provides us a history lesson with the more serene Chic song 'Soup For One', the guitar riff for which is sampled by the Modjo track.

Review: After a string of sought-after releases on labels like Barefoot Beats, Cocada Music, Bongo Synth and Too Slow To Disco, Bernardo Pinheiro brings his seasoned production skills to Onda Boa. It's nothing short of miraculous that this release is considered an effort in 'production' over composition, as these tracks could fool anyone into thinking they were recorded by a live band. That's part of the art, though: with Pinheiro described as a "man at home working in a myriad of styles", we truly do have a jazzdance production master on our hands, and this time he covers from scratch Marcos Valle and Azymuth's classic 'Virabrequim'. On the B, there's also an organic broken beat remix by fellow producer Voilaaa, who demonstrates an equal taste for retraining a live feel in their productions.

Review: The freshest 12" Balearic vinyl release on the block comes courtesy of Discotecas, a label who prefer to home in on underground house and Balearic edits. The release features four tracks: 'Move', 'Like Syrup', 'Take It' and 'Always Forever', all of which are essentially lost vestiges of well-known songs. Some parts are genuine edits, sometimes they aren't and instead function as made-from-scratch imitations, but that's part of the art. Whether or not they're built on wholly original samples is superfluous - as long as the tracks pique the brain's deja-vu receptors, as they do with, their slap-basses, clavey shakers, and sultry beachside vocals, then we're good.

Review: It's all systems go in the percussion department as this rhythm-centric affair wastes no time laying down the massive, bongo-enhanced disco beats, adding some lurking bass, tasty wah-wah guitar, saucy Rhodes tinkling and lost-in-space synths for maximum 1970s-style glamour. Polished off by a shimmering vocal that merely underlines the track's main sentiment, feels like this one sided 12" from Japan's Funtown label is indeed just the right size to cause some serious dancefloor damage.

Review: To mark the label's 50th release, the Disco Express imprint has put together a six-track missive packed to the rafters with high-grade disco club cuts. Side A begins with the bouncy, low-slung disco-funk-goes-disco-house heaviness of Giman & Chic Ago's edit-not-edit gem 'The Job', before Vanessa Jackson handles lead vocals on Magnolia's 21st century disco sing-along 'Never Give Up On Love' and the legendary Michelle Weeks performs the same role on Luke Delite's celebratory and nostalgic, Salsoul-esque 'Give Me Your Love'. The fun continues on the flip, where Hotmood blurs the boundaries between chunky deep house and nu-disco on a fine revision of Generoco's 'In The Music', Foot Loose serves up the sun-splashed joy of 'Nah That's Ross Kemp', and Sean Den stomps his way through the heavy disco-house pressure of 'Ain't No Love'.

Review: DJ Kawasaki went big on love performances with his last album One World back in 2021 and the resulting tunes mixed up fine house vibrations infused with immaculate jazz-funk instrumentation. He is back now and in top-notch form with a new 7" for At Home Sound in Japan. There is more of a disco feel to this one with the cosmically minded 'It's Your World' kick off on the a-side and then the just as good but differently groovy 'Step Out' taking care of the b-side.

Review: Well, we know absolutely nothing about this brand new edits label, nor the artist behind it, so in wonderfully cliched fashion, the music is left to do the talking. What we do know is that Harri Pierson must have a penchant for classic house because that's the vibe of the A-side 'Bananas'. It has retro-future vibes, a pitched-up rave vocal, and lively piano chords over shiny metallic drums. It's a real bouncer with hints of Italo madness, then 'Funk Rail' is a more worldly affair with Indian-sounding melodies, rich layers of instrumental funk and jostling, loose-limbed drums. What a scorcher.