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Midnight Star - Freak-A-Zoid / Operator / No Parking On The Dance Floor

Storming vocoder Boogie produced by Reggie Calloway and remixed by the legendary Timmy Regisford!

Essential business for the Electro and Funk freaks out there, pressed on a nice loud 12".

From the archives of the legendary BELTER and DISCOPHON labels, essential to understand the birth of the Catalan Rumba and Flamenco-Pop genre in Spain, we've selected 14 dance-friendly tracks taken from overlooked LPs and 45s.

This is the real gipsy-funk sound, full of screaming flamenco vocals, funk drums, electric guitars, wah-wah, organ, electric bass, exotic percussions, soulish horns, latin and even oriental touches...

Featuring folkloric ye-yé singers, gipsy princes, teen rumba stars and groovy rumba-pop bands: DOLORES VARGAS La Terremoto', CHANGO, ROSA MORENA, RUMBA 3, EL PRÍNCIPE GITANO, EL NOI...

*Master tape sound

*Insert with photos and liner notes by Txarly Brown (Achilifunk)

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.

Casino Times continue on their crusade into the speakers of Earth's hottest dancing spots with the fourth edition of the Casino Edits series.

For the A-Side, the duo encapsulate the energy that has made the previous records in the series so memorable, this time by taking the cosmic sounds of a Space Disco favourite and reconstructing it into a punchy, euphoric, electronic symphony.

The B-Side sees the BPM's drop and the concepts become more left-of-centre.
The B1, a cut-up UK Grunge head nodder, features gritty guitars, a sludgy bassline and a pulsating synth lead.
Whilst on the B2, a well-loved Italo essential is reincarnated as a dramatic piece of sequenced bliss..

Before the release of their self-titled debut, the six-man collective of Crash Crew had already released several singles around New York City. Stories go that one of their first, "High Powered Rap" would later be copied by Sugar Hill Records' own Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and form the basis for their first national hit "Freedom", almost certainly leading to animus between the two groups. Regardless, Crash Crew also ended up on Sugar Hill Records, and released their full-length debut through the label in 1984. Crash Crew, along with Treacherous Three, T La Rock, and the aforementioned Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, would become vanguards of the first true generation of early hip-hop music, with Crash Crew in particular being exceptionally good at party anthem raps. Their debut meanwhile would find new life as a crate digger's dream, and prime sample material for De La Soul, Jurassic 5, Black Eyed Peas, and Cut Chemist.

The apparition of Spanish female duo Las Grecas with their Gipsy-Rock sound in the 70s created quite a boom in the Spanish market at the time and paved the way for other similar gipsy-rock duos.

Morena y Clara were one of them. Launched by bizarre flamenco producer Lauren Postigo, they released a string of 45s and three LPs (highly sought after now) for the Discophon label. They mixed Rumba, Flamenco, Psychedelic Rock, Funk and Disco Music featuring an amazing production (heavy drums, fuzz-wah-phaser electric guitars, Moog, Hammond) over the wild flamenco female vocals of the duo.

Here's a compilation spanning 1974-1978, featuring their psychotronic hits like No llores más', Dejé de quererte', Buscando alegría' and more.

Insert with liner notes by Txarly Brown (Achilifunk) and photos.

Die Begegnung zwischen den Produzenten, Musikern und langjährigen Freunden Nicola Conte und Gianluca Petrella bringt uns eine 12" EP mit Einflüssen aus Detroit, Afro Spiritual Jazz und zeitgenössischer Disco-Atmosphäre. Der A-Side Track "African Spirit" ist ein spirituelles Mantra, ein einfacher Dancefloor-Groove, der ein ekstatisches Gefühl erzeugen kann. Der "New World Shuffle" auf der anderen Seite ist auf dem gleichen Element aufgebaut und wird durch die Vocals von Bridgette Amofah ergänzt, was eine tolle Tribal-Stimmung erzeugt.

First ever vinyl reissue of this sought-after synth-pop /cosmic disco / funk / boogie album from 1983! Lots of Vocoder, analogue synths & keyboards, heavy drum machines, spacey vocals, bossa / Brazilian touches, cosmic effects...

The RAH Band was the brainchild of legendary English producer & arranger Richard Hewson. They debuted in 1977 with the cosmic glam hit The Crunch', on which Richard, an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, played all the instruments himself. In 1983, he released Going Up' the second RAH Band album, where he also played most of the instruments himself, helped by several drummers, a brass section and the sweet vocals of his wife Liz Hewson. Including massive club classics like Messages From The Stars', Perfumed Garden' and more.

A 1980's classic which has influenced everyone in the dance scene from Daft Punk and Goldfrapp to Richard X, Dam Funk or Cornelius.

Featuring newly remastered sound.

Having been endorsed by Andrew Weatherall on his June 2017 NTS radio show, the band were inspired to release this four-track vinyl EP on their own label Big Shanty Records.

A heady mix of influences colour The Spellbinder Project sound, with elements of jazz, post punk, psych and funk in the blend. These tracks were produced by Malcom Catto, head instigator of the Heliocentrics and collaborator with DJ Shadow, together with Mike Burnham, who has worked extensively with Little Barrie.

The core band of Sean Pereira Summers (guitar), Michael Levison (bass) and Michael Rathbone (drums) are joined live by Lascelle Gordon from Vibration Black Finger on percussion and Chris Williams from Led Bib on saxophone.

The Vivien Vee project, an Italian singer discovered and produced by young duo Claudio Simonetti - Giancarlo Meo, has certainly been one of the first and best attempts to impose a clear European-style disco music. The first tracks, as well as the sequels, will be released from the banana records and the real big international success comes in 1983 with this album "with vivien vee", thanks in particular to the 2 strong singles "Higher" and "Blue Disease". This album, produced entirely by Giancarlo Meo, contains, in this rare special edition, 6 tracks in extended original versions, very rare to be found individually. Featuring a sound that is still up to date, it also meets the most demanding palates for the finest style of the best disc, all in one single vinyl: From the powerful and robust funky electronic to "Destiny" and "Wanna Feel" reminding of the best production of Change and Peter Jacques Band, still transmitted by milano international classic, "Gotta Go" in pure Imagination style, to the absolute pearls in "Higher" (cult of disco-disco) and "Blue Disease" explosive electro break synth-pop. Particularly important is that the texts are signed by the great Rossana Casale. Basically a vinyl that is unmissable for any collector or fan of the best Italian productions in the 80's.

Originally released in 1981. 12 track single black vinyl, including "Mary's Boy Child".