House News

THE NITE OWL DINER co-founder ALEX BURKAT finally graces us with a full EP! "SPINNING PLATES", "STYLE WARS", "MOVING DAY" and "RED PINEAPPLE" are all driving late night stompers sure to leave an impression long after the party has ended. Support from THE BLACK MADONNA, OCTO OCTA & others.

Loleatta Holloway is one of the most distinctive voices in dance music history.
Her career has been long and storied. Coming from modest Chicago church roots she has forged a unique career lasting decades that has taken in Soul, Funk, Gospel and most importantly in this case - Disco and House music. Holloway's collaborations with the legendary NYC label Salsoul has long been a thing of legend, her voice has graced SO many classic club records that it is literally part of the DNA of contemporary dance music.
She has appeared and been sampled on numerous, huge hit records and continues to perform and work at the top of her game with some of the biggest names in the music biz.
This collection of some of her highlights from Salsoul's influential catalogue cements her reputation even further as a true star. Only the finest and most sought after versions have been included here featuring game changing mixes from some of the pioneers of dance music - Shep Pettibone, Walter Gibbons, Larry Levan, Tom Moulton and Bobby Guttadaro. Pretty much everything about this selection is legendary, faultless and essential. One only has to look over the tracklisting - 'Love Sensation', 'Hit & Run', 'All about The Paper' and more all feature, unabridged, in their definitive form, remastered and repackaged with the utmost love and respect.
A truly essential package for the die-hard Disco aficionado or for those who are exploring this most important movement in dance music for the first time. Curated with the full input and backing of Salsoul Records and carefully selected to reflect the truly timeless nature of the music contained within. For listening, for dancing, for turning on a party!
Remastered by Optimum Mastering. Artwork & design by Million Dollar Disco.

4 tracks of stunning french disco in a wide range of styles : from 80s afrobeat to underground canadian cosmic groove, here is another bullet from the parisian gang! A1/ Guehi Jean Pantalon Craqué Guéhi Jean is a key figure of Ivorian music and many of his records mixing funk, jazz and afrobeat are sought after nowadays. Having left Africa in order to make it in France, he recorded this digital afrobeat hit in Paris, then went back to his native country where he died in 2012. Despite his talent, Guéhi Jean didn't get the recognition he deserved. A2/ Michel Conte & Cie Magoshan A disco anthem composed for Quebec cultists wearing flares, or the main theme from an obscure series Anyway it is time to acclaim Magoshan's pulsing come back on the dancefloo ! B1/ Jean-Michel Gascuel Dominus This French composer who collaborated with Pierre Schaeffer was also a great lyricist working for the likes of Vivian Vee or Suzy Andrews, and a fashion designer. With its Latin touch, this track is a little UFO standing out of the rest of his French productions, so let us be blessed by Dominus Domine Dominarum. B2/Michel Robidoux les Planètes This track by composer Michel Robidoux featured on a kidisk with a book called Visitons les Planètes avec Goldorak' and was released in Canada in 1980. This incredible space jam was chosen as a macaroon for this new EP - our tribute to an amazing composer who wrote more than 325 songs and even collaborated with Leonard Cohen.

Tracy Island announces Episode 2 of the 10 piece concept series with 'The Unlimited'. This time the musical transmission comes from Beach Wizards, the secondary alias of the well renowned collective Seahawks, offering their interpretation of Island mentality. The release opens with the ever growing mood of 'The Diamond Sea' - 18 minutes of building disco strings and stabs, rolling bongos and percussion, and intermittent ambience with an A side offering a true listening experience. 'Don't you wanna get off.' Get out the city they called. The B side starts and ends with the lulling sound of midnight waves in a downbeat balearic boogie of rain chimes and head nodding subs. Between these tides interjects 'Lucky Dips' on the B2, with melodies from an aquatic saxophone from below the surface.

"For WS021 we head to Italy where we find a duo by the name of Concret aka Italo-Mexican musician Diego Angelico Escobar and producer Q-pha. Together, they submit a couple of ethereal, stripped-back and driving techno tracks that compliment each other so well they appear to be brother and sister from the same session. On remix duty we've got another Italian, Rodion, who ads his signature sound to Ritorno and flips it into a laid-back dark groover. Last but not least is UK's Heretic, aka Timothy Clerkin, who remixes Andata into a classy acid burner fit for a massive warehouse party or dark, sweaty basement. "

The Eccentrics parties started some three years ago by Will Overill and Mark Gilbert have been a monthly staple of the eclectic nightlife in Peckham since its inception, playing a very wide selection of music attributed to thirty years of record collecting. The second release of which delves into those collections to amass a veritable hoard of gold.
Cosa Rosa: is a stunning fretless bass led boogie new age monster, with soaring vocals guaranteed to bristle hairs on the back of the most cynical of music fan, a sure fire winner here.
Wake Up: Is a dose of downtempo synth laden kraut funk urging the listener to taste life in all its technicolour glory.
Nar Na Neh: Here's something a smart Dj will use to build a dance floor, a disco not disco jam that rolls along with drum machine insistence, compass point sensibilities with synth and slap bass wonder.
Och Eye: Dirty, sleazy synth laden kraut funk, heavy heavy chugg
4 Rune : Mystical bongo laden intro with eastern snake charming seduction builds and builds to dramatic synth stabs, cinematic, wide and very very hot

Norm De Plume (Kolour Ltd, Delusions Of Grandeur, Sideways Recordings, Plumage) debuts on Black Riot serving up four deep disco bombs in his signature style.

That cyberpunk chameleon of styles, Manchester's pride and dancefloor master Ruf Dug is back on wax on Copenhagen's Music For Dreams. Following up the first 12' of remixes that came out last year, we once again re-visit the island life of monsieur Ruffy and his debut full length album Island' (recorded during a sojourn on Guadeloupe).
First up we have Italians on the mix. Hi-jacking Ruffy's tribute to Wally Badarou, Leo Mas and Fabrice opt to do their own thing: which is churning out a bouncing house belter of their own that bears little resemblance to the original lo-fi synth reverie.
Closer to the original then, is fellow Mancunian Andi Hanley's take on the same track. Adding sparse percussion and and a simple but effective drum beat, this take seems to simply be an uncovered second half of the original, where it finally takes off for the dancefloor.
Mangrove Dub' is reworked by fresh-on-the-scene Aussie producer Tropical Hi-Fi who creates a brilliant version full of moist ambient textures and reverb-heavy dub treatments.
At last but definitely not least, Seahawks turns the whimsical hippie folk ballad Le Rayon Vert' into a more intense and neatly dressed affair, focusing on the instrumental parts and lifting aside vocalist Nev Cotte's contribution to the original. Still with a mindful of tropical dreams and the ocean shore close at hand, but in a more introvert Vini Reilly kind of way.
Essential package.

Heavily arpeggiated, slow paced, disco drummed LP by Finnish Televisio (produced by half of Helsinki's Jesse). Tracks never leave the territory of instrumental early 80's disco oriented grooves, some with chugging rhythms, others uptempo styled. Highlighting "Kutonen" as a peaceful space balad and "Seiska" as the most hypnotizing one.

Some records are timeless and never age - "Happiness Is Just Around The Bend" by The Main Ingredient is one of those records. Originally released in 1974, "Happiness" was a record before it's time - had it been released a year later it would undoubtedly have been one of the first 12" discs - so as a result, most discerning DJs at the time chose to play the album cut.

The song is actually a cover of UK Prog-Jazz band Brian Auger's Oblivion Express's version from the year before but Main Ingredient took the song to a whole new level and, 44 years later, it has become one of the most revered dance tunes of all-time.

Main Ingredient were unlucky with 12" releases, which is why we're delighted to give "Evening Of Love" it's first-ever 12" release! Once again this was a 1981 album track which years later it would become a Modern Soul anthem and rightfully be regarded as one of their best records.

12' DANCE is a 12 Track vinyl compilation series dedicated to showcasing the finest rare original 12' remixes and extended versions of crowd-pleasing, floor-filling classics. From the Disco, Soul, Rare Groove and Funk mixes of the 70's, to the Groove, Hip Hop/Electro & Techno/House of the 80's and the Acid Jazz, Indie, R&B, Rap & Club/House of the 90's, 12' DANCE will deliver a lovingly curated selection of both the commercial big hitters and the underground cult club classics! Many of these mixes have not yet appeared on general release... until now.

12' Dance House showcases an essential selection of both the finest & the best-selling 12' single remixes of the genre, featuring mixes of iconic acts such as Happy Mondays, New Order, Chaka Khan and Brand New Heavies

Hot off a couple of 12' from Topher Horn, Rocksteady Disco follows up with its first compilation featuring a heap of heavily sampled originals from more well­known editors.Pontchartrain leads the release off with a summer­inspired aural prozac number. Next up is notorious Detroit editor Lafleur, busting out this original milky­smooth Detroit boogie house production. A slight little rearrangement from Rocksteady Disco label boss Peter Croce makes this one a bit more cohesive for the DJs. Lyon, France's G2S (In Any Case) kicks off the flip with a big­bottomed stomper reminiscent of some MCDE 'Raw Cuts'. Pontchartrain book­ends this release with a track that puts the 'rocksteady' in Rocksteady Disco, with heavy analog­meets­electro drum programming and complete with Pontchartrain on vocoder duties

Shanghai based, Altieri second release on Slow Motion and it is an absolute belter. An insane mix of acid and middle eastern influences that punches its way to the cerebral cortex and takes no prisoners. Sure to any drive any discerning dance floor into overdrive, Spazio Terra is backed up with a peak-time remix from the man that always can Fabrizio Mammarella.

Ben Jacobs aka Crackazat first made a name for himself when he was still living in Bristol and released on EP on the city's Futureboogie label, which has also signed music from the likes of Julio Bashmore, Crazy P and Outboxx.

Early in his career Crackazat was also the official warm up act for an at the time up and coming artist called Floating Points, who now needs no introduction as one of the world's leading electronic music producers.

Moving to Sweden shortly after the Futureboogie release, Crackazat made contact with the Local Talk owners Mad Mats and Tooli, and after a couple of single/EP releases signed his debut solo album Crescendo.
The last couple of years Crackazat has had an explosion of global popularity, which has led to playing gigs all over the world, and releasing tracks and remixes on labels ranging from Josh Wink's Ovum, Joey Negro's Z Records and Eureka in Japan.

Classically trained with a strong Jazz influence, Crackazat has a distinctively individual sound that fuses funk with soulful vocals and the electronic bass music associated with his former home of Bristol.
Eloquent and intelligent, Rainbow Fantasia is a masterpiece that showcases one of electronic music's most exciting talents.

Fred Ventura and Paolo Gozzetti are Italoconnection. In anticipation of their upcoming album 'Metropoli' on Bordello A Parigi we present to you the Voyage EP album sampler with alternative edits and an amazing cover version of The Electronic Circus' 'Direct Lines' which are exclusive to this 12.

Joining the Unknown Precept forces are C.G.I. Records' label head Matthew Wei- ner teaming up with Christopher Daresta as Pyramid Club. Being known for their T.W.I.N.S. and Anticipation solo activities, Cyclic Obsession comes as the debut re- lease of the four-handed formation taking its name from the eponymous venue which helped define the counterculture and queer sound of lower Manhattan in the late 70's. Recorded in their stronghold of Atlanta following a handful of tracks released via the jointly-operated D.K.A. Records, it shows the duo taking over primitive body music in its most physical and psychedelic dimension. Thick as a brick bass lines for the basement turmoil — reflecting the hazy vortex smoldering out of an ill-lighted nightclub. Think of spasmodic synth-driven tunes interspersed by convulsive vocals and throbbing snares, in which one could see the whites of the dancers' eyes right before the lights turn back on.

Original pressing. Canadian import.

Essential Disco right here - 'Act Like You Know'! What a banger, famously sampled by De La Soul on 'Ring Ring Ring'. Old school CLASSIC!

Calypso's next EP comes from one of the label's owners, Thomass Jackson. Delivering 3 tracks full of psycodelic guitars, analog synths, soothing percussions and with Italians "Boot & Tax" on remix duties, this Ep covers a broad range of sounds and styles. The journey begins with the westernesque "Head Rejection" sumerging us in a hallucinatory desert full of weird snakes and scorpions. Up next is "Witzelsutch"(a leftfield secret weapon for some djs already) with sublow basses and sharp synths doing all the work. "Creepy PC" is a slow chugger with a trance-inducing vibe aimed to make you close your eyes and let go. Last but not least, Italian super duo "Boot & Tax" delivers a somewhat more straight foward version of "Head Rejection" where a sonic synth makes you forget you are in the desert.

In May 1976 a record was released that would have an unforeseen and lasting impact on the music industry Ten Percent' by Double Exposure was an early release on the New York independent label Salsoul Records. America was in the grip of a disco explosion with new clubs opening on a weekly basis, Salsoul saw what was happening and swiftly created a sound for their label, heavily influenced by the music then coming out of Philadelphia, aimed directly at New York's dance-floors. Records like Salsoul Hustle,' Tangerine' and You're Just The Right Size' by The Salsoul Orchestra borrowed heavily from the beautifully orchestrated Philadelphia International records but added a more percussive, bass heavy depth that New York's DJs loved. So what was so special about this particular single then Double Exposure was, after all, just another band, Ten Percent' just another song, one of many disco' records released that week. First of all Salsoul became the first record label to make a twelve inch single available to Joe Public - the exotic format was previously only available to DJs as promotional items or bought under the counter at certain record stores. Not only that though, the extended version was created by Walter Gibbons, a DJ at New York's Galaxy 21 who'd built his reputation making exclusive versions of tracks to play in his sets. In 1976 it was unheard of for a DJ to set foot in a recording studio, being seen as little more than living jukeboxes by the serious music industry. Recording studios were strictly the domain of recording artists and producers so Walter found himself in a unique position, gaining access to a world no DJ had been granted before. Or so we thought...
The Men In The Glass Booth tells the full story. Featuring ground breaking re-edits and remixes by some of the Disco era's most influential DJs including Walter Gibbons, Bobby DJ Guttadaro, Tom Savarese, Jellybean Benitez, Tee Scott and John Luongo, this opulent release also includes a 40 page book which features exclusive photos and insights from some of the story's key figures.

REPRESSED !!
STILOVE4MUSIC keep 'em coming, this time the mysterious Devin Dare steps up with 2 killer sides for all the Disco freaks out there! You all know the drill by now with these releases, minimal info, obscure cuts, dope edits, vinyl ONLY! That's right, don't sleep because here we are treated to some serious dancefloor trouble! In our opinion this Chicago label is always quality so if you're looking for some club ammunition then this 12" will definitely "Feel so right..." You see what we did there Disco heads get on this one! Highly recommended!