Afrobutt
Wunderbutt
Stevie Kotey – aka Afrobutt aka Darkfader aka one-time member of Chicken Lips – is a true pioneer of the contemporary European and UK disco scene. His imprints Discfunction, Big Bear and Bearfunk have had a mighty influence on a sound which is now thriving across Europe, and beyond, and as such he stands up there with the likes of The Idjuts as a main player in its history. He’s also a real nice fella. In this LP project for exciting new UK imprint Electric Minds – which has been releasing all sorts of excellent stuff and doing numerous fascinating projects – Stevie makes bold with his musical influences. From the Italo disco chug of Urgent Workout Required and the loopy disco vibes of Gee Keeps On, to the the Gino-Soccio-meets-Hari-Prasad-Chaurasia sounds of Kali Dreams, and the stripped-to-the-bone Idjut-style Take The Bus, this is an encyclopaedic introduction to the wonderful world of SK. There’s stuff for club play – such as title track Wunderbutt, the already mentioned Kali Dreams and Morning Bump with its echoes of In Zaire – but there’s also just loads of great listening music influenced by afro, cosmic (the good stuff), Kraftwerk, Russell and Troutman. Hats off to Mr Kotey then. If only everyone cared so much about music and stuck to their guns regardless of current fads. 9/10 DT
Out now on Electric Minds
Various
This Is What The Universe Sounds Like Pt 1
Set up by Paddy Freeform to showcase the sounds influenced by his radio shows, this compilation is a retrospective look at the label’s first year of digital and vinyl release. To be honest, my first thoughts were: “I doubt the universe sounds like this…” I personally think it would be a bit less smooth, more irregular and certainly much weirder, as opposed to sounding like a slightly leftfield and deep techno DJ mix. However, there are some definite highlights here, such as the wonderful Astro Travellin by up-and-coming producer Andy Ash, who has also being releasing stuff on the Revenge’s imprints. Jaffa Surfa’s Here I Am is also a nice piece of Soul Mekanik-inspired house, and that’s followed up nicely by some funky electronic business from Poussez on Natural Conditions, and some deep fluctuating techno from Darko. All tracks worth checking out. 6/10 DT
Out on Universal Vibes on May 11
The Glimmers
The Glimmers Present Disko Drunkards
Disko Drunkards are a band of live musicians put together by The Glimmers as a source of music for them to develop and edit. DJs setting up bands and using live musicians as sample sources seems a craze at the moment, with The Idjuts releasing a similarly inspired project, and on a slightly different tip, the Emperor Machine becoming a live band as opposed to a studio synth fantasy. It’s probably a reflection of declining DJ revenues and audiences – the grass clearly looks greener on the band gig side of things – but it also makes for an interesting fusion. However, on this release, the results are fine but they seem to be missing that one killer track that really blows you away. The basic sound is the classic Glimmers disco meets post-punk meets raw house – a slightly sanitised take on the more out-there and DJ-based Optimo. Do It is a post-punk-gunk jam and works nicely, while G is a disco groove with a monster synth bassline. Kookoo hits the post-punk Liquid Liquid button, while Picture is more funky and on an ESG tip, and Huh is like an Energy Flash dancefloor trip. So the influences are all good and the performances solid, but the stand-out cut is the previously released DFA-style version of Olivia Newton John’s Physical which you either love or hate – it certainly has that sit up and fucking notice it value. Solid stuff. 6/10 DT
Out on Glimmer Twins on May 11
Various
Milky Disco 2… Let’s Go Freak Out
There’s a lot going on with this compilation – track exclusives, new remixes, unreleased remixes, underground classics… Following on from “the quintessential cosmic compendium” that was Milky Disco 1, this is a contemporary take on Krautrock, Italo disco, cosmic, post-punk, disco kind of territory. And in a strange – albeit a predictable way for those of us who are old enough to remember those heady – the results are… eh… mixed. Highlights include Richard Sen’s remix of Black Devil Disco Club which has elements of post-punk and electronic disco in there, but keeps its eye firmly on the dancefloor rather than becoming too indulgent. DJ Mooner favourite’s Pollyster also impress on their Throbbing Gristle-like anthem You Are Amen. Pete Lawrence of The Big Chill does the business in a very different way on his Chilled By Nature track which is remixed by Black Mustang into a nice slice of slo-mo electronic disco. Dissident’s Gatto Fritto also deliver some tasty 80s Balearic disco vibes on their Hungry Ghosts, and Soft Rocks continue to impress. Plus there’s an excellent outing by Expanding Head Band whose clean and played brand of disco makes it no surprise that they are actually the rather excellent Tussle of West Coast fame. So plenty to dig for in the crates, but some over indulgence in places as well. 7/10 DT
Out on Lo Recordings on May 18
Various
Originals Vol. 2
The second in the Originals series takes us to Stockholm and the home of Mark Seven, a great, diverse DJ, a passionate music lover and record collector, and the proprietor of www.juswax.com. So his credentials as a compiler are unquestionable, but his real strength is his ability to go out and dig for those very special and rare records. While most people would just be happy compiling tracks from other people's playlists – or to buy the regulation well-known classics – Mark is to be found checking through piles and piles of obscure records from the most unlikely sources in search for that special gem. And gems are definitely what he's come up with for this. Highlights include the slo-mo proto-house vibes of Mr Monday’s Daybreak, the Balearic bliss of Last Man Standing, the seriously discoid grooves of Joker’s African, the wish-I-was-standing-in-a-field-in-88 Hall & Oats-sampling joy of Swayzak’s Stronger Love (a real surprise and an excellent choice), the early 90s piano house vibes of Clay’s My Unknown Love, and the incredibly catchy Italo electrofunk of Louis’s Pink Footpath which has ‘last tune’ written all over it. A great addition to the series and a lesson in crate digging, the importance of maintaining an open mind musically and the skill in playing surprise selections if you are a DJ who aspires to do anything other than the same old thang. 8/10 DT
Out now on Claremont 56
Faze Action
Stratus Energy
Faze Action are probably best remembered among the dance music fraternity for their deep house classic In The Trees on the now defunct Nuphonic Records back in 1996. But in the last few years, brothers Simon and Robin Lee have been busy at the helm of the cosmic disco resurgence. Their re-edit of Tele Music’s Disco Free was one of the nu-disco – for want of a better term – highlights of last year, and now comes the album Stratus Energy, which pays homage to the inspirations behind the resurfaced and re-edited Italo/cosmic/space disco records of the past couple of years. It’s a selection of 11 original recordings that manage to sound forward-looking and nostalgic at the same tome. First single Good Lovin’ sounds like classic Italo, with its understated and camp vocal and a driving med-NRG groove. Hypnotic retains the camp vocal stylings but throws in some 1980s-sounding electro. Starship is unsurprisingly redolent of the space disco of acts such as France’s late 1970s pioneers Space, while I Wanna Dancer brings to mind the classic disco sound of Staton or Gaynor, but updated with intergalactic effects and slightly afro-tinged instrumentation. Faze Action save the best track for last though – Keep It Coming is like I Feel Love meets Todd Terje meets Magnifique. It’s that good. You could be forgiven for thinking that Faze Action are bandwagon jumping or contrived with their unashamed nod to science-fiction cosmic balearica, but every track is excellent and you can tell the brothers Lee are fanatical enthusiasts of the classic late 70s and early 80s sound the celebrate. Imagine a pop version of the Full Pupp school of modern disco and you’re just about there. 4/5 AM
Out on May 8 on Faze Action Records
A-Trak
Fabriclive45
Fabriclive’s latest mix comes courtesy of the ridiculously talented, world renowned, award winning, genre-bending A-Trak – and it’s ruddy good too. So don't let the fact that he moonlights as Kanye West’s tour DJ put you off. Although the mix is heavily informed by his first love, hip hop, it’s anything but uninteresting. This varied journey (understatement) makes you want to be at Fabric hearing it firsthand on a sweaty dancefloor. It takes in everything from the late 1990s Daft Punk remix of Mothership Reconnection to DJ Zinc’s wonderfully wonky drum ‘n’ bass squelch of 138 Trek, via the likes of Zombie Nation and Voodoo Chilli. It also features some of the best remixes of the last year or so courtesy of Aeroplane, Todd Terje, Erol Alkan and A-Trak himself. The genre-hopping ethos and credibility of the mix’s choices shows a DJ who loves electronic music from all corners and scenes – Balearic edits sit next to Baltimore edits, and the mix has a genuinely playful and creative buzz about it. A-Trak has said that on paper the mix looks like it should be a bit of a mess, but it works and you’ll return to it again and again, something that sadly can’t be said for a lot of Fabric’s compilations of late. It should appeal to a wide range of clubbers and electronic music fans, but it may ostracise certain purists who like their mixes straightforward and formulaic. Formulaic it is not. Illuminating, inventive and encouraging it is. Go on, blare it loudly. 4/5 AM
Out now on Fabric Records
Fever Ray
Fever Ray
Fever Ray is the eponymous debut album from Karin Dreijer Anderson, one half of Swedish electro duo The Knife. It’s altogether a more unsettling and tense experience than the body of work she has made with her critically acclaimed band, and via the collaborations she has been involved in, most notably with Royksopp. Opening track If I Had A Heart is an intense introduction to a record that is equal parts frightening and relaxing. Similar to another tipped for cult greatness Scandinavian band, Taken By Trees, but with a far darker and more mysterious edge, the album is atmospheric and ambient in the main. There are points where Fever Ray does veer towards a more positive and uplifting side of the street though, albeit in an avant-pop vein. Triangle Walls, for example, recalls the weirdness of Bjork or Kate Bush, but mixes in elements of 80s pop and oriental mysticism. Dry And Dusty sounds like The Orb versus Sigur Ros and is a definite highlight. Stand-out track I’m Not Done features the kind of sonic jiggerypokery that would not be out of place on an Animal Collective tune, but Karin’s unique vocal style ensures it is unmistakably the work of Fever Ray. The album is similar to The Knife in that it is predominantly electronic, but the use of guitars and congas embellish the sound, and the overall outcome is an original album with a voice of its own. There are no tracks which grab you in the same way as The Knife’s more populist and dancey offerings do, but as an album it is an accomplished, inventive and emotive downbeat journey into the unknown. And the unsettling, almost anxiousness of the record could well reflect the feeling of uncertainty and fear many are experiencing as we enter the media’s concept of world recession. 3/5 AM
Out now on Rabid Records
Joris Voorn
Balance 14
Back in 1997, Chris Morris – the comic genius behind the likes of Brass Eye and The Day Today – hijacked Radio 1 for an hour every week to assault our sense with Blue Jam. Broadcast in the middle of the night, this was Morris at his most experimental, blurring together a soundtrack on ambient music and surreal black comedy to create a haunting whole. His intention was for us to tune in as we were falling asleep and to wake up not knowing what we’d really heard. But even if you listened to Blue Jam in the cold light of day, it still sounded like you were tuning into someone’s subconscious mind. No one has ever recreated the world of dreams so well. But to bring this lengthy preamble to a close, it’s fair to say that Joris Voorn comes close with his latest album. You’ll no doubt have heard all about Balance 14 by now, so you’ll know the Dutch DJ has undertaken a massively ambitious project by mixing together more than 100 records over just two discs. Each of Joris’s ‘tracks’ contains elements of several existing tracks, often no more than the tiniest element. The result is a strangely narcotic listening experience, which sounds like it’s trying to recapture what went through your head last night – familiar parts drift through the mix like half-remembered fragments of a dream. If all this sounds a little bit poncey, it really isn’t. Balance 14 isn’t some self-indulgent piss-about – it’s an attempt to push the mix album to its furthest limits. And by and large, it really works. Some sections don’t quite fit – a dub interlude here and a downtempo interlude there interrupt the flow – and both CDs take a while to get going, but once we’re up and running, this album is both an education and a joy to listen to. 4/5
Out now on EQ Recordings
