Nu Disco | Disco Edits | Cosmic 20 Items

The always hard working Emotional Rescue now unveils the electronic disco project Exo Fender, helmed by esteemed New York producer Eric Calvi and featuring the legendary Steve D'Acquisto. The remastered songs 'Big Mood' and 'Music In My Mind' span two new EPs, with updated edited versions by NYC producer Justin Van Der Volgen. Calvi's journey from Paris to New York's music scene in the 1980s when he engineered hits for artists like Cameo and Africa Bambaataa, and laid the groundwork for Exo Fenders. Inspired by clubbing friendships, the project's infectious grooves and tongue-in-cheek nature gained club play and collector's acclaim, with Van Der Volgen's remix enhancing their timeless appeal for today's dancefloors.

This is the second of two releases from Emotional Rescue that looks to the music of the Eric Calvi who headed up the collective Exo Fender, a project that brought together a bunch of friends, producers, and studio amigos. This one is a live boogie jam 'Music In My Mind' with Brooklyn DJ and producer Steve D'Aquisto. He was a regal at The Loft and a friend of Arthur Russell so all that bears out in the music - a loose-limbed disco groove with languid percussion and big vocals. A Justin Van Der Volgen edit rounds out the 12".

Following on from Los Rayos Del Sol (2021) & the follow up Los Rayos In Dub (2022) NuNorthern Soul presents ‘Moonbeams’ by Ibiza based producer, per-cussionist and sunset selector, George Solar.

Inspired by nocturnal moods and illuminated by the moon in all its phases, this collection follows the vibrations of 'Los Rayos Del Sol.' It's a journey into night-time peace and harmony, embracing the moonlit atmosphere.

Precious gems mined from a wall of vinyl. Cut, polished and mounted for maximum love

The third release of the Italoexotica Crew will take you back in time, more precisely to the Era of Disco music and the Italian nightclubbing, where the parties began with the romantic melodies of the pianobar and then ignited the souls, the passions and flowed into eroticism.

“Valsadeira” is a pulsing uptempo excursion from the African island nation of Cabo Verde, with driving percussion, impassioned vocals, and tasty synth work. Sung in Portuguese, the track begins on a romantic note which builds toward a dramatic flip halfway through that gives way to a hypnotic tropical vamp. The drum tool extends the rhythmic breaks of the song into a useful standalone percussion jam. Odo Kakra Sika Kakra is a bouncy and joyous slice of Ghanaian highlife. With crisp 90s-era production and sweet vocal melodies, JKriv edited this one with love for maximum booty shaking and smiles. "Batonga" is a mid tempo slice of Afrofunk with a mid 1980s downtown NYC feel, led by angular and funky guitars, layered synths, and a female vocal with African chants. The drum break features a textured beat including big electronic drums, percussions and an interlocking kalimba line.

We have a subtly edit of “Soul Town” by The Motherhood, the psychedelic 1969 LP “I Feel So Free. Motherhood was the unlikely name of Klaus Doldinger's psychedelic fusion band, who eventually transmuted into the bands Passport (Klaus Doldinger, Lothar Meid & Udo Lindenberg) & Hallelujah (Paul Vincent & Keith Forsey). “Soul Town” appears as the B-side to the first single “Back In The Grass”, which fetches ~$275. It was produced by Siegfried E. Loch, & written/arranged by Paul Nero. Many will recognize it as the closing track on the Ocean’s 13 soundtrack. It’s a psychedelic, jazz-funk bomb that punches hard.

Pinball Number Count (Edit) by The Pointer Sisters b/w Soul Town (Edit) by The Motherhood | Galaxy Sound Company — Gsc45-043, test pressing | You know the drill. It’s Galaxy Sound Co. It is cop-on-site. It is yet another Gsc45 edit you need in your crates. & number 43 doesn’t disappoint. I have been wanting both of these jazz-funk nuggets on 7-inch for a minute now, so much love to the GSC crew!

Any of us who grew up on Sesame Street in the 1970s will know this A-side righ away. “The Pinball Number Count” (or Pinball Countdown) is a collective title referring to the 11 one-minute animated segments on the TV series Sesame Street that teach children to count to 12 by following the journey of a pinball through a fanciful pinball machine. These segments are notable for the colorful, imaginative animation as well as the funkysoundtrack with vocals by The Pointer Sisters. It was produced in 1976 by Imagination, Inc. in San Francisco, California for the Children's Television Workshop & debuted on Sesame Street during Season 8 .

JKriv’s long out-of-press Bukom Mashie Rework gets a king-size reboot in this tasty 7 Inch package with a fresh new acid dub! J’s original 8 min opus is nipped and tucked in all the right places to make for a streamlined A-side stomper, and a brand new version on the flip, with a tastefully reimagined arrangement, punctuated with spicy 303 acid lines and live flute performed by the inimitable Domenica (of Underground System). Big summer banger alert!

Played on 6Music by Tom Ravenscroft & Deb Grant.

The fledgling Stereo:type label is back with a sizzling second release and it is the UK's Risk Assessment at the buttons. Once again here his sophomore vinyl outing is all about soul drenched and peak time disco cuts with plenty of passion and character. 'Welcome' has all the funky loops and neat keys you need to get you going, 'I Hear Music' is a real stomper with freaky guitar riffs and '5 O'Clock In The Morning' brings some big diva vocals and plenty of lush strings. Last of all is the steamy hot disco funker 'Disco Night' with its slick filter work and rich bass. Another delicious EP, then.

French producer Jerome Barresi assumes his Robert's Diary Palais here for a new outing on Is It Balearic that offers something a little adjacent to the norm. Opener 'Dinky Bird' is a mix of tender keys and hand claps with a soulful vocal sample that reminds of early-era Moby. Norse mainstay Bjorn Torske appears then to remix and brings some scuttling percussive sounds and watery effects over four-four drums. 'Six O Six' is a yearning dub cut packed with wild FX and 'kxp' is a zoned-out and tinny retro-future nu-disco cut that is a perfect B-side.

Blur Records brings some eclectic magic to its next release and it's one that gets the New Year underway in essential fashion. Venerated Russian DJ and producer Scruscru is behind the beats and goes deep into everything from disco to jazz, starting with 'Alright, Alright' which is a bust of disco goodness with lively bass. Things get slow and sensuous with 'Twilight Voyage' which comes with a touch of nostalgia then Dwaal features on 'Breezy Noon' and blends downtempo bossa and Afro rhythms. More slow disco delights come from 'Nostalji' with Jehan and then 'Kno 2morrow' gets jazzy with some classy melodies to close things down.

In The Beginning There Was Jack…

And House Music Was Born…

Say Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!

Since launching in 2020, Claremont 56’s Claremont Editions series of compilations has delivered a trio of must-check collections featuring a mixture of unheard gems from the label vaults and brand-new, previously unreleased tracks. Label founder Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy continues with this blueprint on 2024’s instalment, the fourth in total. There's naturally some genuinely headline grabbing highlights amongst the nine tracks on display, starting with opener ‘Crossing’ – a fresh cut from C56’s in-house super-group Hillside (aka Paul Mudd Murphy, Alex Searle and Patrick Dawes), featuring lead vocals from long-time friend of the family Quinn Lamont Luke. The track is prime Hillside: all rolling hand percussion, warming keys, simmering synth-strings, sun-splashed solos and blue-eyed soul vocals from the effervescent Quinn. It sets a high bar, quality wise, but predictably the rest of the collection hits similarly heady heights. Mudd contributes two other tracks of note: a first collaborative outing with long-time creative partner Ben Smith for five years, Smith & Mudd’s ‘Journey Seven’ – a languid, slow-motion affair that hints at what we can expect from their forthcoming album – and a typically rich, jazz-fusion influenced solo excursion, ‘Massimo’s Steps’. As vivid, emotive and detailed as you’d expect, the track explores similar sonic territory to Mudd’s recent album, In The Garden of Mindfulness. It's usual for Claremont Editions collections to include tracks from new members of the Claremont family. Editions 4 is no different, with Danish producer Fureby – a close friend of fellow Danes Mike Salta and Peter Visti – joining forces with Guy Moscoco and Brian Faber on ‘Halcyon (Extended Mix)’, a gorgeously kaleidoscopic Balearic groover rich in fluttering flute solos, simmering disco strings and sun-bright electronics. Elsewhere, a few familiar favourites contribute suitably stellar tracks. Mai Fujinoya dons the Yamp Kolta alias for the first time since appearing on the first editions compilation in 2020, serving up the languid Japanese language Balearic pop brilliance of ‘Saturate’, featuring beautiful lead vocals by Yuzz. Krautrock-influenced duo Neumayer Station – who made their C56 bow on last year’s Editions collection – lay down a typically stretched-out, dubbed-out groove with Spaghetti Western soundtrack flourishes (the lilting and atmospheric ‘Bassrutscher’), while Ferdi Schuster invites us to dive into the immersive depths of ‘Resonance’ – a lightly art rock and progressive rock-influenced soundscape best enjoyed while lying flat on your back. Slow-motion house specialists Hear & Now continue to join the dots between tactile Balearica and pitched-down Italian ambient house on the stunningly gorgeous ‘Chimaera’, while there’s a surprise return for a Claremont 56 favourite: Mudd’s sought-after extended mix of Bel’s 2018 single ‘Ready To Die’, a sing-along modern Balearic classic. This time round, it has been re-edited by Blank & Jones, who teases out the sun-soaked instrumentation before finally dropping the original’s emotion-rich lead vocals. It all adds up to another must-check instalment of the indispensable Claremont Editions series. As usual, the vinyl version has been pressed in limited qualities and comes housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve, complete with another stunning cover painting by illustrator Mark Warrington.

Dave Lee's Z Records looks back to go forward as it offers up a spiffing new 12" of contemporary reworks of 4 classics cuts of various vintages from the ZR back cat. Kicking things off in fantastic fashion is a slap bass and wah clav powered take on Raven Maize's 'Forever Together', originally released in1989, this was the first house cut to feature the now iconic keys riff. Dave's Heavenly Star mix of 'One Kiss' (first out in 1991) is pure hip-swinging soulful disco. Joey Montenegro (who could that be?) offers two classic cuts on the flip side. 'Make A Move On Me' (Original Disco mix) sees the crossover hit from 2005 get a Chic like makeover with its zippy leads and timeless diva vocals. Whilst the special 25th Anniversary Mix of 1998's 'Can't Get High Without U' closes things off with some peak time, tension filled, disco house action!

Be Strong Be Free debuts a new series here, Mellow Magic Worldwide, which will offer up a series of DJ weapons that have been produced by "worldwide studio buds." The first one opens with some superb tackle from Gold Suite whose brilliant 'Crush' is a slow-burning 80s jam and emotive rollercoaster that has made a real impact during road testing experiments. On the flipside is the mysterious Mancunian Visions Of Eden who debuts on vinyl with a lush deep house jam 'When It Has Past that has a subtle Balearic charm. Lastly comes Murrin who heads up the Puca Sounds label and co-runs Berlin party Fandango. His 'Maybe Tonight' is a late-night cosmic delight.