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Telephone Man bring the joy of the Paradise Garage to Mafalda’s Tropic of Love with expansive 17-piece live disco EP, Angel.

A coming together of close friends Nostalgia 77 aka Benedic Lamdin and DrumTalk aka Nathaniel Pearn, Telephone Man fuse the stirring arrangements and technical prowess of library music with a dance floor sensibility drawn straight from the heart of Larry Levan’s NYC.

Imbued with the DNA of iconic library label KPM, the project began as an exercise in disco, written to the KPM brief, complete with the stuttering drum loops, funk guitar licks and euphoric piano breakdowns of classic Sleeping Bag and Dinosaur L recordings.

Angel was then recorded live by a core group of musicians featuring Tom Herbert (bass), Jose Joyette (drums), Kishon Khan (piano), Ross Stanley (Rhodes), Anselmo Netto (percussion), Rob Updergraff (guitar) and Nathaniel Pearn (synths).

They were joined at Fish Factory studio in London by vocalists Jaelee Small and Chantal Lewis Brown and an 8-piece string section arranged and conducted by Giles Thornton, in a scene that recalls the golden era of live disco, when large ensembles of the world’s best musicians would cut live arrangements for the likes of P&P Records, Prelude and Salsoul.

Described by Nathaniel as “warm, deep, colourful music, that wears its influences on its sleeve with pride,” these live recordings were then taken back into the studio, where Benedic and Nathaniel cut them with tape echo, layered additional synths and crafted each track with the extended topography of a Walter Gibbons disco mix.

Presented as a four-track EP, Angel opens with the rolling percussion and heavy piano stabs of the title track, before the lush and opulent strings set the tone for what is an ambitious and astutely executed piece of club-ready disco.

A motorik beat and sparse guitar work line the edges of second track ‘Burning’, where the bass and synths simmer on a groove without letting the intensity drop. The third track ‘Stand Up’ is pure Class Action - all wriggling baselines, wonky cowbells and rising chords - dubbed out for another 6-minute odyssey on the EP’s final track.

The EP was mixed to tape through the MCI console at Fish Factory, and mastered and cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery in London. That it has landed on Mafalda’s label chimes with the vibrant, sunshine music of her own much-loved DJ sets.

Angel is disco as it should be done, touching the soul and lifting the spirit in the process.

Parkway present latest 12 inch single from The Whole Truth.

We’ve all been tested under hard times lately so Parkway hope this gem goes some small way to lifting your SPIRIT!

The Whole Truth have brought us a classic for our times, bouncing boogie for the head, hearts and feet of your dancefloors.

Mark went back into the studio to provide two extra mixes to compliment the outstanding original, mixes which we hope will meet the needs of our most demanding spinners!

All in all, we feel “Lord Quench My Soul” is one of our strongest releases to date and we are looking forward to more magic from The Whole Truth in the very near future

NU PORT 62 is the new project from Italian veteran DJs and producers Claudio Ricotti and Davide Domenella (Double Dee). With more than 30 years’ experience they have joined forces to create a modern nu disco duo. On the A side you’ll find ‘When Love Is Over’, marrying beautiful vocals with a catchy "Philly" groove topped off with an incredible saxophone solo. Edited by Micky More & Andy Tee, this version is exclusively available on vinyl.

Flip it over for ‘Make It Happen’, characterized by a hypnotic synth groove, euphoric vocals loops and a pumping bassline. Quality dance music for those that like to get down.

DJ Feedback:

Jazzy Jeff: Dope Dope Dope!

Dimitri From Paris: Lovin’ Both Tracks

Jayda G: Lovin Makin It Happen

Low Steppa: Massive Guys.

Kevin Saunderson: Will Support.

Cj Mckintosh: Love Both :)

Dr Packer: Great Vibes.

Michael Gray: Lovin’ Both Tracks.

Booker T. : Super Disco Vibes, Love Both Tracks.

Moodena: Great Vibes As Always.

Yam Who?: Full Support

Lenny Fontana: Great

On Animals Dancing's eighth disc, Dazion aka Cris Kuhlen lets rip with three psychoactive, percussion-laden mind benders for all good dance floors.

A tweaked vocoder mantra speaks in tongues across interlaced layers of live percussion on 'Yu Go Bah' before sirens ring in the distant chants.

Blood Moon takes the marching band down to the basement, fusing more twisted percussion with electro squelch to soundtrack the sweat rain down from the heavens.

'The Chant Of Celebrational Beings' beckons in a sunrise as the last inklings of serotonin jerk a tear to your eye.

Faze Action return with a classic original house track "Paradise" managing to seamlessly fuse Italo house with the New York sound of the late 80's early 90's. Finely mixing a cocktail of heavenly piano house riffs with dreamy vocals and dubby bass lines, topped off with some classic breakdown moments to tease the most discerning dancefloors into hysteria.
We have also included two tracks for the first time on vinyl, the classic Rudy's Midnight Machine - "Open to Your Love" and Faze Action's - "I Wanna Dancer" (Old School House Mix) plus we have the floor filling ST House Mix of "Freak for Your Love".

DJ Feedback

Jkriv:
"10/10 - Classic FA vibes! Love it, thanks guys."

Alan Dixon:
"10/10 - Quality, as always :-)"

Grant (Daddy G) Massive Attack:
"8/10 - Takes me back to the sound of Flying Records "

Andy Taylor (We are the Sunset):
"8/10 - Bouncy with plenty of piano power... thinking of Adriatic nights already. Thanks for sending."

John Le Visiteur:
"10/10 - Classic vibes all the way on this, love it and happy to support."

Phil Cooper Phil Cooper Nu Northern Soul Various Ibiza :
"8/10 - Full support. Lovely stuff. House music I understand and dig right here."

Guy Williams Flash Ibiza:
"8/10 - Nice retro bumpy - vibes will be supporting."

Collecting Orders For Repress

Hifi Sean gets his hands on a dusty old tape that had the golden vocal of the ultimate soul diva Loleatta Holloway singing the Style Council classic 'Shout to the Top' which was recorded and released by Fire Island in 1998. There was no musical parts on this tape only the vocal so Sean went about rewriting the arrangement and brings this beauty into the present with these 3 versions including a soulful string laden soul groover , a real late night pumping gospel house jam and a swooning orchestral reprise closing the E.P which includes the last repeated line we all want to hear and we all want to believe right now . "It's going to be alright"

Legito follow up their first single ("Be Happy" which was played by various DJs inc. Giles Peterson, Francois K, Artwork, DJ Harvey and Folamour), with a nod to both Philadelphia soul and Chicago house, in the form of new release "The Old Routine". Describing the frustration of wanting to change in a stressful world over a smooth, head nodding backing track with shuffling house drums for the dancers and gorgeous orchestral strings for the dreamers. The B-side has a deeper house vibe with a conga groove over a nagging guitar line that leads into a synthetic string, drone like breakdown with inspirational spoken word over the top, before bursting back in to the dancefloor groove with driving bass and shuffling hats. Limited repress of 200 copies after intial 100 sold out quickly in 2021.

Collecting Orders For Repress!

Craft Music's taste in sizzling hot party music is absolutely confirmed as razor sharp with this third instalment of edits and re-rubs with a twist. Far from vanilla re-arrangements, these re-versions get fruity with the source material and on Good For Dance there's a particular emphasis on acid. First up Scruscru & Aman Po-Kaifu get right down and dirty with Nigerian classic 'Salem' by The Funkees, whipping up a veritable storm with 'Acid Salam'. Next up Skitcut gets into a serious stomp laden with wriggling 303 action on 'Zaletaet Na Acid', and Funkyjaws has some fun weaving slamming claps and nimble bleeps into the brassy source material for 'Acid Circus'. Eddie C rounds things off with a proper rubbery acid tweaker which slips in smooth on 'Dysk Dzokej On Acid'. Classy stuff, and whole heaps of fun for those who love acid, those who love disco, and those who love both.

Next up, we have another dance floor igniter.
These are 4 sweaty basement party with a red light kinda vibe cuts that will stay in your record box for rotations on end.
No repress, act accordingly.

Plastik People is proud to bring you a new collection of vinyl classics that takes us back to those House & Garage vibes from our most loved era, the 90's. all are rare & hard to find track compiled with love by label owner Marc Cotterell.

The cosmic funk sounds of Crazy P are sure to endure through the ages but it's always good to hear classic tackle through a fresh lens. And so it is that Walk Don't Walk asks four crucial artists to add their own spin to some fine originals. DJ Nature brings his textbook rawness and heaviness to 'SOS' while Ilija Rudman's take on 'Night Rain' is lovely downtempo boogie funk. Running Back label head Gerd Janson is in dazzling disco mode on his take on 'We Will F**k You Up' and last of all is a super vibe and atmospheric house joint from Ron Basejam.

Four highly soughta after cutz from label boss, DJ Mes have been put together on one 12"! Fans have been requesting these tracks on vinyl for ages, so we decided to put them all together on one EP to satisfy the demand. This EP is stacked with chucky, funky, deep, dirty, jackin house tracks aimed directly at the dancefloor.

Makèz have come a long way since they first sneaked into Amsterdam’s studio 80 at the age of 17 to hand over their demos to Dam Swindle. Those demos led to their debut EP ‘Different planets’ on Heist in 2019 which gained major support from artists like Seth Troxler and Chez Damier. Quickly after, they signed two records on New York based label Let’s Play House. Fast forward two years, and here we are: the release of their debut album “City of all”.

"City of all” shows an admirable level of sophistication and matureness and effortlessly bridges genres across its 13 tracks. You can feel the amount of thought that has been put into this record, with songs happily blending into each other as Makèz submerge themselves in their concept of accidental encounters, inclusiveness and what it means to live in a city like Amsterdam.

On “City of all”, Makèz bring together all the musical influences they’ve picked up in their life as music fans, clubbers and art students. The jazz-funk of opening track “The entrance” feels breezy, casual almost, like the freeform rhythms that are played in a jazz club during soundcheck. That energy also oozes from “Not so different”, which features the smooth vocals of LYMA. There’s a hint of the house-meets-R’n B vibe that made Anderson .Paak the star that he is now. The song is brilliantly funky and shows the songwriting and arrangement talent of Makèz, who cleverly use pop & soul cues to create one of the album’s highlights.

What follows is 4 cuts ranging from the syncopated Balearic funk of “Orbit”, the strings of album title track “City of all”, the organ-led jam “Gonna getya" and the downbeat “Sonder”. Allysha Joy -best known for performing in Melbourne Hip Hop collective 30/70 - is featured on the deep and jazzy cut “Looking up”. If Makèz and Allysha are all looking up, it’s clear they’re seeing the same thing. These kindred spirits perfectly complement each other on this track, where the deep bass, warm harmonies and jazzy percussion prove to be a perfect foundation for Allysha’s rhymes.

Is it an album all about jazz and soulful tracks to listen to at home? Far from that. There’s a nice bit of dance floor-oriented tracks, where the distorted filter funk of “Roselane” featuring Fouk proves to be a highlight along with what is arguably the heaviest cut of the album: “Bent with funk”.

In an EP context, these house tracks would surely do their work, but they really come to life in this album format. No compromise has been made to storytelling and the house tracks all play their part while still standing their ground as powerful club tracks. It’s the expert production and smart arrangement that gives this album its casually funky feel. On “City of all”, Makèz showcase their remarkable talent for writing an album that goes to so many different places, but most of all, just really feels like home.

Enjoy the music,
Maarten & Lars

Sounding simultaneously from the past, the present, and the future, the debut album 'MLDE' by Marxist Love Disco Ensemble seeks to eradicate both the trite from disco and the sobriety from political music. Half poetic, half tongue-in-cheek, this stunning compact eight-track album is influenced by Eastern European and Mediterranean 70s disco records. In the words of band member Paolo, ''it was written in response to hearing 'I love America' by Patrick Juvet. The song prompted the question: why does disco, a genre originally created by oppressed minorities, eventually become synonymous with American capitalist excess?" MLDE seeks to break this connection.

Merging disco, post-disco 80s pop, and boogie into the fold, 'MLDE' was recorded using only analogue instruments, giving it warmth and space. Recorded on cassette, ¼ and ½ inch tape, this gives moments of lo-fi abstraction between the beats of an aggressive, tight drum kit. Instruments used for this recording range from saxophone, trumpet, harpsichord, guitar, and rare analogue synthesisers. The bass sound is shaped by early 80s boogie records, whilst the influence of artists such as Hamlet Minassian can be heard in some of MLDE's more driving-disco outings, such as 'Hues of Red'. In the tradition of Soviet vocal group records, which the band has studied, some songs are sung by a vocal quartet in homage to this tradition.

Tracks such as '1905' and 'Brumaire' have a greater pop aesthetic, with Paolo's vocal style on these more pop-driven songs evoking early 80s bands such as Orange Juice and Chas Jankel.

The format and message of pop and disco are commonly viewed just to entertain and move bodies around a dancefloor; however, lyrically, the subjects range from dialectical and historical materialism, class struggle, Marxist theory and praxis, as well as the concept of Marxist disco music.

Adding the icing to the cake, mastering don Joker aka Liam McLean dusted the album with his magic, giving the songs space where the room is needed, as well as the kick and punch demanded by the modern dancefloor.

Yes, this is a press release, and they are always full of hype, but we were blown away when we heard this album, and we hope it enriches you too.

It's the 9th innings, the bases are loaded and Schatzi's at the plate...
Will the knight of the night hit the ball outta the park and into the lights? Yes, of course: you've got sliced up disco, chopped up chants, piano riffs and steady rhythms to go all around the bases.
Whether it's a Brooklyn home game or away, Schatzi always has you covered for the win!
Signs point to Schatzi!

What do you get when you combine one of history’s greatest vocalists with one of our era’s most gifted discotizers? There’s only one way to find out! Al Kent has been on a roll of late, and it’s pretty certain that this record will find its way into an awful lot of DJ’s boxes.

Back in 1985 the Kae Williams II penned and produced album “Genie” delivered, such under the guidance of executive producer Jacques Fred Petrus, a brilliant combination of soul and disco-tracks. Boogie natives the BB&Q Band’s – Dreamer perfectly encapsulates the music of the 1980s. Introducing Curtis Hairston as the then new vocalist, it delivered chart-positions for a.o. “Genie”, “Ricochet”, “On The Shelf” and… “Dreamer”!

Arguably, the decade when music was real music.

Michael Gray has donned his long satin shirt and patent brogues to bring the “Dreamer” classic up to date with a fantastic new house remix.

His tight percussive groove, punchy bassline, and pad work take the vocal and track to another level along with uplifting pianos! A classic-sounding gem – ready for the charts again!

We need more dreamers!

Controversy, Prince's fourth album, originally released by Warner Bros in 1981 and now re-issued by Rhino with original content.

For the most part, the album was an expansion of its predecessor, 1980's Dirty Mind. This record was considered to be his most political to date. The album was also an important stepping stone from his early works to the more mature song writing of the mid 1980s.