Summer Record Reviews

July 2018

MIDNIGHT RIOT PRESENTS BALEARIC HEADSPACE VOL TREZ









Those Midnight riot boys have put together a really strong album here with some great mid tempo Balearic grooves. Some of these sound like they could have been made in the late 80's, they sound that authentic. Starting with the strong opener by Dim Zach who samples the loop from Imaginations early 80's hit Just an Illusion and adding fresh beats with a dream like feel to it reminiscent of early Crazy P records. Other stand out tracks are Mandarins and Heroin by Northern Souls which is an arpeggio driven groove with a very haunting melody line throughout. Shit Hot Sound System have added an edit of Billy Paul's classic of the Paul McCartney & Wings hit Let em in, which is a slow smooth soul groove that chugs along very nicely.





The Outsider re-edits Leos Sunships hit Give me the Sunshine, which is a pure 70's Jazz Funk anthem if ever there was one, but the re-edit here does it justice and flows as smooth as the river on a lazy summers day. Very nice indeed. Upping the tempo slightly is Limpodisco and the track entitled Patty Mode on, which has a strong feel of early 90's Todd Terry to it with the repetitive synth stabs through out which I really like and admire.

Doctor Soul does a very unusual take on a Prefab Sprout record which was called Cars and Girls. A song that was written about Bruce Springsteen to be matter of fact. The samples in this use the guitar loop and a few delayed vocal snippets in a dubby kind of way, and to be fair it has turned a rock song into a mid tempo groove all on its own. A good and interesting concept.

Overall a great selection of tracks of a various nature but all directed at the mid tempo Balearic vibe.





LUKE SOLOMON LIGHT YOU UP THE LOUIE VEGA REMIX









The master at work Louie Vega remixes this Organ vibe that flows through with its raw drum beats and the vocal talents of Queen Rose and Amy Douglas preaching their Disco Gospel styled lyrics with such conviction making this an infectious track that makes you just want to move on the dance floor.Nice to hear such rawness in both music and vocals again.





CANDI STATON HALLEJUJAH ANYWAY 7" VINYL









One of Discos royal performers, Candi Staton gets a remake by Italian producer Moplen, which carries the MK Deep House sound from the early 90's with that organ bass line but the piano and the string sections make this a nice Disco crossover blended with soulful backing vocals and uplifting licks throughout. The flip side of this 7" single is a short version originally remixed by the god father Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper back in the day. A nice soulful take with the traditional organ licks throughout making it a Gospelesque affair with all the ingredients of a vocal house classic.









ILIJA RUDMAN LOVERS CHANGE MINDS









Hot Toddy is in command here with the remix duties. Adding his spark to the flame just like he always does with his mid tempo percussive swings and his rolling arpeggio bass lines to full effect. This track has that late 80's feel to it with the deep vocals over the melodic riffs throughout. The original version has some piano drops in there with synth bass lines that are heavily 80's influenced and so the track carries that feel throughout. A nice late night groove.





MK LOVE CHANGES REMIX









Originally released back in 1993, this has the vocal talents of Alana who provided MK with the vocals on his other hit Always. This is just a simple reissue on 4th Floor Records via Defected Records. This is the Masters At Work remixes and the MK mixes. However it sounds so contemporary with the millions of MK imitators over the last few years of the deep house revival which has occurred, but the true player of that sound was MK himself over a quarter of a century ago. This just shows that a timeless house music record will still sound as fresh as the day it was made. A nice track that can still be played today without it sounding dated.

















Its been a while since Waxadisc reviewed new music, so lets get to work with a selection of the best releases to come out this Summer. From classic reissues to 7" vinyl all the way up to brand new Balearic edits compilations.