Reviews
DISCO: FEBRUARY
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TUNE OF THE MONTH
Units
High Pressure Days (Todd Terje remix) (Opilec Music)
Unit’s ‘High Pressure Days’ is a bit of a synth-punk classic, originally self released by the band on white label in 1979. Needless to say, that goes for enough cash these days, and while you’ll still cherish that piece of wax at home with a glass of Pinot Noir, if you’re playing out it’s the Todd Terje mix that you’ll drop. Taken from the forthcoming ‘I-Robots Present: We Are Opilec’ compilation, Terje doesn’t fuck with the original, just injects it with more beef than you’ll find in a slaughterhouse. Built around an arped 80s synth, it’s the distinctive vocal – so of the era – that makes this special.
4/5
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Joash
Mission/Bleed/Don’t Fear It, Fight It (remixes) (Compost Disco)
An EP featuring three remixes of tracks taken from Joash’s ‘Don’t Feat It, Fight It’ album released last summer. First up, Cologne-based boogie aficionado, Chocolate Garage Productions, lays an old-skool hip hop accapella over a mid-tempo, bouncy, nu-disco groove. Strangely enough, it actually works – drop it at bar gigs. Next up, Sportloto remixes ‘Bleed’ and turns out a hypnotic slo-mo disco burner complete with harp twirls and a catchy lead melody that could’ve come from a 70s TV show. Finally, Woolfy (aka Projections) remoulds ‘Don’t Fear It, Fight It’, giving it a top groove and a havily pitched-down spoken vocal. All tracks are decent, but not quite as memorable as other Compost Disco releases.
3/5
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Acos CoolKas Feat Nata Tomata
Don’t Fly Away EP (Audio Tonic Records)
It’s been a hard week at work, and you don’t want to plunge headfirst into a heaving electro sweatbox. Sure, once you get going, it’ll be orgasmic. But you can’t just plough into it without getting yourself a little moist! Ease yourself in gently with this track. There are mid-tempo beats, a subtle acid line that twitches like you do in bed after a 48-hour session and a girl singing about something. Who cares what – it sounds sensual. Thanks to this, you’re now in a great mood, so get to the bar, sink a beer and let the disco lube do its trick.
3/5
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Superlife
Go Bananas (People’s Potential Unlimited)
Peoples Potential Unlimited specialise in reissuing rare records, particularly from the ‘no-man’s land’ era between 1979 and 1982: a time where disco was in terminal decline and artists were just starting to get to grips with all the new electronic instruments on offer. Superlife, aka Danan Potts, was originally inspired by techno pioneer Juan Atkins, who apparently used to hang around the studio. You can definitely hear the seeds of techno in ‘Go Bananas’, with its synthy bassline and machine snares. Is it a good record by today’s standards? Of course not. But in context? Yes! One of only two records released on Detroit’s Southern Sun Records, in a strange way its naffness is its beauty, and its innocence its charm.
4/5
Rob Made
You & Me (Deep & Sleazy)
You & Me is the second single form quality new label Sleazy Deep. If you liked Miguel Campbell’s hit ‘Something Special’ then this tune will be right up
your street. In fact, so similar are the sounds and parts that I was almost tempted just to copy and paste the Miguel Campell review from a few months back. The drums have the same 80s reverb, the deep chords seem almost to have been made using the same synthesizer and a sultry female vocal provides the hook. That’s not a bad thing, though – as the saying goes, ‘talent imitates, genius steals’. This will undoubtedly find its way into future disco sets. And now that Miguel’s track has been hammered to the point it’s almost unplayable, you can happily spin this in its place.
4/5
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