You'd think that following "Melodies Of Love" would be an impossible task. Not so, if you happen to be genius Brit-Funk pioneers John Rocca and Andy Stennett. On their more understated - yet, pound for pound, stronger - second record, Pink Rhythm stretched out to create a 4 track EP of richly melodic, exquisite beauty. In the process, they trumped their most well-known release.

Cruising on a funk-fuelled journey from the swaggering title track, via the blue-eyed soul of "Trust Me", to the stabbing staccato synth heat of "More And More" and back again ("India" dub) this EP has ESSENTIAL seared onto its substantial grooves.

STAFF COMMENTS

Sil says: Dreamy, galactic, synth-ridden and surprisingly soulful killer funk 4-tracker for those who dig deeper. Perfect soundtrack for my Saturday night ride back from clubbing hard on my Delorean.

Poolside began as a recording project in a converted Los Angeles backyard pool house in early 2011, producing sunny tracks of subaquatic indie dance music in this makeshift recording studio. Surfacing first in the form of a YouTube video for the catchy track "Do You Believe?" Poolside were soon gaining local and national attention, with DJs like James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, techno legend Derrick May, and disco don Todd Terje spinning these tracks at events and a growing online following. Throughout 2011 Poolside continued making waves with a sound called "daytime disco" through tracks like their cover of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" and original tunes. In 2012 Poolside worked on a remix for longtime disco punks The Rapture and held fans over with a new single and video for a song called "Slow Down" as they prepared to release their debut album. That album, Pacific Standard Time, was self-released in July of 2012.

After the album's release, remixes for artists like Matthew Dear, Little Dragon and Fool's Gold soon followed, as well as rehearsing and touring with a live band and doing DJ sets around the world. As thoughts turned to a second album, Poolside went on ice for a year to regroup, beginning to work in earnest on another album in the Fall of 2016. While still revolving around the sunny, laid-back disco sound of PST, these sessions yielded the additions of up-tempo dance songs and more guitars, and generally more fleshed-out arrangements. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Sil says: Glossy disco journeys for the discerning listening. This is the perfect soundtrack for your weekend away somewhere sunny with the ocean as a backdrop. Look at that gorgeous cover!

Brazilian boogie merchants Barefoot Beats return with more of their patented 10" bad boys, ready to rock your all nite tropical discotheque!

NYC's Jacques Renault steps up first with "I Want You More" - a mid tempo, low slung tropical funker that packs a punch with maximum sway. Anyone that's just got back from Tisno or Pula should relate to this slice of beach bar slaying, daytime joy.

On the flip, Selvagem's Trepanado drops into edgy, EBM tackle. Brazilian new beat anyone? Yes please! - a warehouse friendly shudder accompanies catchy female vox as proto-house guitars and pummeling toms as to that rawkus vibe. It's another winner from the camp!

STAFF COMMENTS

Sil says: A smile appears on my face when I see Jacques Renault name on a vinyl. The man knows how to do edits. Remember the anthemic, groovy and infectious 'Young Single and Free' on RVNG INTL? I do. His signature is here too. It is not as dancefloor filler as the one above but the quality is there. Always. A bit more laid back but still inviting you to dance the brazilian way. Flip this 10" and you get yet another beauty edit of another Brazilian rarity. Bass heavy and groovy all the way. One of the best Barefoot to date.

If "Movin' On" is Witch's "Rumours" then "Kuomboka" is their "Tusk". A remarkable follow-up to a timeless album that shows the band taking greater risks in songwriting and playfully experimenting with production techniques. This album is Witch's stunning swansong before the fast-changing music industry and political environment in Zambia took its toll on the group. Although once again inspired by American FM radio, from soft rock ballads to boogie, this album sees the group embrace their Zambian roots to a greater degree, resulting in fluid rhythms and sweet melodies. This time around Patrick Mwondela pushes his synth work and electronic production to a whole other level, especially on the bombastic "Erotic Delight" and low slung "More Sweat Than Sweet". "Kuomboka" is the unforgettable last voyage of this legendary band.

FORMAT INFORMATION

LP Info: Repress in new artwork

Those scholarly diggers at Invisible City Editions make their first foray into the world of the long player with this beautifully put together reissue of Witch's most diverse record. 'Movin' On' was released after the Zamrock heyday, when the music of 80s Zambia came to be influenced by disco and rhumba from neighboring Congo. Bands that didn’t adapt sounded outdated. Thus even Zamrock’s greatest band, Witch, splintered, with a skeleton crew of core members embracing younger musicians to record and release two albums that found the band replacing fuzz guitars with whirling synthesizers and trying their hand at soul, disco and boogie. The LP explodes into action with the title track, an uptempo groover driven on by Gedion Mulenga’s heavy duty bass playing and set alight by Christine Jackson’s cut glass vocals. “Movin On” is swiftly joined on the dancefloor by the James Mason styled funk of “I’m Coming Back” and the powerhouse disco of “It Feels So Good”, a psychedelic disco bomb propelled into orbit by Patrick Mwondela’s swirling synths, which would undoubtedly been sampled by those French robots had they known about it. Elsewhere, Witch inject traces of the Carpenters (“It Was You Boy”), the Doobie Brothers (“You Are My Sunshine”) and Ned Doheny (“Let’s Get Together”). On paper this should be a disaster; at a push one could imagine an afro-psyche group managing a half decent disco-funk record, but the soft rock stylings of America’s west coast are surely a step to far. But in reality, the planets aligned and circumstances fell perfectly into place, as the combination of a band of talented musicians, at the height of their creative powers wrote eight perfect songs, each a snapshot of that era, but completely unlike anything else around.

FORMAT INFORMATION

LP Info: Repress in new artwork