Reviews
DISCO: JULY
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TUNE OF THE MONTH
Matthew Kyle
Breakin’ Up EP (In The Woods)
Here, Kyle says adios in his unique style: smacked-out, melancholy nu-disco that passes even the most joyous sample through a bleak filter. You probably wouldn’t play these out, but with his droning, detuned synths, slow tempo and repetitive loops, he has a forward thinking sound like no other. ‘Moments Not in Love’ is the apt title for his Art of Noise remix; perfect for the next time I get dumped, or take heroin (kidding). ‘Heartaches And Pain’ takes a Foreigner sample and drops it onto a forlorn synth wave. ‘Felt So Good’ is the dancefloor cut and sees Kyle in a better mood (ie a nicer sample). Bid farewell... but look out for future alter egos.
9/10
OOFT! / Debonair
Busy Tone EP (House of Disco)
Rhyze’s ‘Just How Sweet Is Your Love’ gets a huge makeover by Debonair – the original disco classic beefed up with a jackin’ beat that recalls 7th Movement’s ‘Odyessy’ on early Paper Recordings. Drop it deep mid-set. OOFT! brings a beautiful slo-mo groove with a vocal and synth sample from 70s disco outfit Maze. It would be easy to think this is ‘poolside disco’ because of its tempo, but thanks to the loops and production it’s powerful stuff that builds into a peak-time destroyer.
9/10
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Pryda
Leja (Pryda)
Eric Prydz’ productions have always had a spacey, synth-led sound to them. It should make for great disco, and ‘Leja’ proves it does: this is crisp, galactic disco that would sit nicely next to Com Truise tracks. While the elements are pretty basic – an arped synth, a lead synth, an atmospheric synth (lots of synths, basically) – the production is epic (it’s Pryda, after all). The irony is, it’s the same uplifting elements and Europa breakdowns that some chin-stroking house-heads may not like about Pryda that are the very things that work so well at a cosmic 110BPM. Keep the disco coming, Eric!
8/10
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Arsenal
One Day At A Time (Playout)
The press release says “Arsenal are a big deal in Europe”, thus establishing that this is nothing to do with the North London football team. Fans of indie-
disco like Mitzi and Phoenix should check the original. Com Truise offers up his signature sound, but I’d rather just play a track off ‘Galactic Melt’. Optimo do some off-the-wall ragga-rhythm disco shizzle, which is interesting – but it’s Tigersushi’s Joakim who offers the most playable mix, in that it’s the most nu-disco. But it seems the remixers are saving the real dynamite for their own releases.
7/10
Seva K/Raxon/ Sin Tek
Sonar Sampler (Audio Tonic)
“All killer, no filler”: one of music journalism’s biggest clichés. And a load of bollocks, because in a set the odd filler is exactly what you need to make the killer stand out. Finding good filler can be hard – but there are a few on this EP. Raxon’s brooding, percussive, ‘100 Years’ lays solid foundations for you to build up your set. Seva K’s ‘Stay Forever’ ticks the right boxes: nice chords, deep production, female vocal snippets. Then Sin Tek takes Madonna’s ‘Lucky Star’ and turns it into an electro-disco cut. Is it cheesy? Hard to say. Todd Terje could drop it and people would go nuts. Mere mortals may not get away with it.
7/10
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Yambee/Neon Rider
Midnight Riot Sampler (ISM)
Yam Who and Ashley Beedle have been teaming up as Yambee to make some tasty disco cuts recently – there’s their huge rendition of Phreek’s ‘Weekend’ knocking about, and now ‘Blacker’ on this EP. It’s not the first time Ashley Beedle has sampled Gil Scott Heron’s ‘Brother’; he did it as part of The Ballistic Brothers back in ’98. It’s a timeless sample, and works perfectly with a pumping disco backbone. A nice little soul cut-up in the form of Neon Rider’s ‘Groove Me’ makes this a solid release. 8/10
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