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• Underground DISCO

Bo Kool / Funk Masters - (Money) No Love / Love Money - 21-Nov-07 08:19 AM
Gorgeous, early example of dub /disco from the underrated Funk Masters (who were seemingly alone in the UK in pushing a harder, New York groove whilst many other British disco / funk outfits, such as Light of the World and Central Line, were going down the far cheesier jazz / funk route). Ignore the Bo Kool side, which contains a simply hideous early rap (rhyming 'no love' with 'rubber glove', for no apparent reason) and head straight for 'Love Money' - deeeep bass and funky synth stabs mix with blissed-out jazzy guitar to stunning effect... and the contemporaneous remix that can be found on Champagne Records takes the groove even deeper, further playing up the dub angle. Utterly essential for any underground disco heads, even at its current over-inflated original 12" price...

West Phillips - (I'm Just A) Sucker For A Pretty Face - 24-Jun-07 03:07 AM
Wow. Classic piece of downbeat electro-funk from West Phillips, about whom I know very little. Hard to put one's finger on why it sounds so bloody great - after all, the vocals are so-so at best and the track doesn't really go anywhere too meaningful once it gets going. But it's just... indubitably funky. And Sucker's mix of ultra-tight guitar licks and typically '80's style synth stabs sounds surprisingly fresh even today... drop this early on in any set and watch those heads start nodding...

Renegade Soundwave - The Phantom - 19-Jan-04 10:03 AM
Although the years 1988-1990 are simply labelled as the 'UK acid house years'', the most exciting music for anyone stuck in a freezing cold field during that time was the stuff that was loosely termed 'freestyle' - it kinda covered alot of bases back then, from The Moody Boyz' "Funky Zulu", to Masters At Work's (the Todd Terry one) "Alright, Alright" to alot of Frankie Bones' tunes to Renegade Soundwave's "Ozone Breakdown". But the master of all was undoubtedly "The Phantom". Very seldom did a bassline cause complete bedlam as soon as it came on (one of the few rivals in the acid house arena I can remember is Charles B's "Lack of Love"), but this did the business everytime. And the difference between this and 80% of the acid house output is that "The Phantom" STILL sounds great today.

Various - New York Noise - 07-Oct-03 12:20 PM
Another slightly confused post-punk/dance compilation from Soul Jazz: if you're supposed to be highlighting NY's early eighties avant-garde club culture, why haven't you included August Darnell's excellent remix of "Contort Yourself" rather than the (admittedly also great) rockier Contortions version? And it may be an obvious tune to drop, but Dinosaur L's "Go Bang" is infinitely preferable to the cheesy "Clean On Your Bean" included here (and if you had to include a lesser known Arthur Russell tune on the album, why not "Wax The Van"?). Disappointing.

Various - In The Beginning There Was Rhythm - 07-Oct-03 12:11 PM
Fairly disappointing compilation from Soul Jazz: top tunes from This Heat, Cabaret Voltaire & Human League, but The Pop Group & The Slits released way more interesting tracks than the ones featured on this album. And a couple of tunes lean a bit too close to early eighties jazz-funk for this listener's comfort...

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