Album Review: Future Disco Vol. 5: Downtown Express - Various

Last year's Future Disco 4 turned out to be one of the better mix albums I heard last year. Despite coming fairly late in an ongoing series it had a really strong sense of identity and multiple classic tunes. Future Disco Vol. 5 follows the mantra of if it ain't broke, don't fix it... What you have is another collection of contemporary house tracks from the current batch of hot new things, this time packages up under the subtitle Downtown Express.

So we have another winner then, right? Sort of. The problem here is two-fold:

Firstly this doesn't have any disco. Where as volume 4 had Kaine's 'Love Saves The Day' and 'Zombie Tropicana' - classic soul vocals and experimental eclecticism that encapsulated some of the original spirit of disco this latest release really just feels like a collection of recent house releases. Because of that fact there just isn't any noticeable identity.

Secondly and more importantly the quality just ain't as high. There are a few good standout tracks but nowhere near the same caliber as on the previous release.

So if it isn't exactly a killer release or a highwater-mark for the series then what is it? Mostly just a collection of decent tunes - good but unlikely to blow you away. Miguel Campbell's 'Something Special' is a case in point - it's a nice minimal but bouncy house track but nowhere near as good as his MAM collaboration I recently reviewed, which would have been a much more 'disco' choice.

There are still a few good moments, they just aren't quite as consistently essential as volume 4's best tracks were. Tensnake once again deliver the business on Tiger & Woods filtered mix of 'Need Your Lovin' and the Pitto instrumental version of T J Kong & Nuno Dos Santos' 'Something Happened' is a great tense piece of tech-house funk. Benoit & Sergio's 'Principles' is still excellent, as Benoit & Sergio frankly always are and Maceo Plex's mix of DJ T.'s 'City Life' shows once again that no-one makes techno influenced sunshine house as well as Maceo Plex.

The album only really starts to deliver as it closes though. Joakim's 'Find A Way' is given a beautiful remix by Soul Clap - aptly entitled the Soul Clap Floating remix the result is a deliriously contemplative loved-up sensation that captures the introspective coming-of-age feeling the Joakim album from which it is lifted attempted to capture in the first place. It just might be Soul Clap's finest remix to date. Similarly the Prince Language mix of Penguin Prison's rather formulaic pop house track 'Multi Millionaire' transforms the original into a suitably climatic old Chicago house tribute.

It's a shame things don't start quite as well as they finish.

Future Disco Vol. 5 is out on February 27 on Need Want, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD and MP3 [affiliate links].

Download: 2011 Overview Mix - Mario Basanov

Mario Basanov is another artist who has been on my radar for a while. Last year he dropped the nice disco effort 'Up' (which featured on Future Disco 4, as covered here) and he also featured on the Future Balearica album. Whilst those tracks are good it is his latest single, the first to feature a full vocal (delivered by Mario himself no less) that really blew me away.

'Lonely Days' is pure summer Balearic heaven - a fusion of cosmic disco and house that I can't get enough of. The original mix is pure laid back summery goodness whilst the Plate Dub adds a slow piano combined with a driving build-up this is utterly irresistible - to listen to this and not dream of being out lounging in the sun is impossible. Even better is Drop Out Orchestra's remix, which adds a heavier disco flourish to the original and some awesome guitar (there is nowhere near enough guitar in house music). You can check out embeds of the former two on Soundcloud below, but the Drop Out Orchestra version is worth seeking out:

Mario Basanov - Lonely Days 12'' by Mario Basanov

Mario Basanov - Lonely Days (Plate Dub) 12'' by Mario Basanov

Mario has also just released a free downloadable mix and I'm pleased to say that it totally brings the lush, warm sound that I love about his work to a long form mix. No track listing at present (let us know if you find one) but trust me, it's a keeper. You can listen to it and download on the Soundcloud player (or link) below:

Mario Basanov - 2011 Overview Mix by Needwant

BP x

'Lonely Days' is released on Need Want on 13 June, available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].

Album Review: Future Disco Volume 4: Neon Nights - Various

The Future Disco albums always look as if they are a little too cynical to be any good. The concept just feels too well worn, too obvious.

Yet every time BlackPlastic hears a new one there is always enough to impress, and the same definitely goes for Future Disco Volume Four, subtitled Neon Nights. In fact, we'd go so far as to say that volume four is probably the best yet.

Things start well, with Greg Wilson's mix of a cover of Dillinger's 'Cocaine' by Escort - a wobbly heavy-based take on a classic. But it is Stefano e Bene's 'Why Your Love' that really kicks things off, starting off a series of absolute gems... The transition into the Classixx Acapulco mix of Holy Ghost's 'I Will Come Back' is beautiful. And what's more this is easily Holy Ghost's best track since 'Hold On' - exactly the kind of classic house with attitude we had been yearning for.

Ray Mang's mix of 'Ocean' by 2020 Soundsystem is equally epic - subtle and cool but with lush muted vocals running through the song - and then the listener is treated to Bad Rabbits' 'She's Bad', which we have already declared our affection for. Next up is 'Zombie Tropicana' by Hannulerauri, a track which sounds like something New Order would have made if they never came back from Ibiza after making Technique and had instead just kept on the E and given up wearing clothes. In other words, expect lush basslines, warm synths and a pervading sense of loved up apathy.

Elsewhere Tape To Tape's 'Pure & Easy' shines for it's sprinkling of starlight and peaking basslines and the double dose of Kaine feat. Kathy Diamond's 'Love Saves The Day' really pays off when it hits the original mix but in all honesty it is the middle third that really makes this album special.

In the age of MP3 blogs and Soundcloud mixes proper mix albums are feeling increasingly rare - each good one feels like it my be the last. You could worse than make Future Disco Four the last one you buy.

BP x

Future Disco Volume 4: Neon Nights out on Need Want on 7 February, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD or MP3 [affiliate links].