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].

Single Review: Beautiful World - Amirali

This debut release from Iranian / Canadian producer Amirali really reminds me of the whole tech-house prog movement of the early to mid-noughties. That may feel like a bit of a backhanded compliment but the sweeping cinematic sounds and large echoing bass lines come together to make a promising debut release from Amirali.

The original is a little bit gothic, and sure, it takes leads from Booka Shade and label mates Art Department but everyone here is ultimately just singing from the same hymn sheet popularised by Depeche Mode and The Normal's 'Warm Leatherette'. As source material goes you could do worse, but it inevitably feels a little sterile in comparison to the real thing.

The original is backed with three remixes. Daniel Bortz's is more minimal with a large scale breakdown complete with pregnant pauses laced with paranoia. As Hrdvsion, Nathan Jonson turns in a starker electro-influenced mix - functional but it lacks the impact of either of any of the other versions.

Deniz Kurtel, also on Crosstown Rebels, delivers the stand out mix however. Adding in a dark bass line with distorted synths and drums packing masses of reverb it is the only version that really delivers on the promise of the original, the extra flourishes playing off the darker sounds the original feels inspired by.

Amirali's debut album is out this Spring on Crosstown Rebels. Beautiful World is out on 13 February.

Album Review: Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads - Dustin Wong

Dustin Wong - Diagonally Talking Echo from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Dustin Wong's first solo album Infinite Love was both weird and wonderful, coming out of left field to create a bizarre concept album based around his experimental instrumental guitar work. As a double album it seemed like it would be a daunting listen but it turned out to be anything but. This follow up is shorter and therefore a little more approachable... But in reigning in the scope has it lost some of the magic?

Basically the answer is no. The shorter duration makes the album feel more focused and yet it actually feels more experimental. The music strays into more processed, fractured and electronic sounds and at times it all creates a staggering collage of noise unlike anything you have heard.

The beauty of Wong's sound is in the rhythmic warmth of it all. Each song typically consists of a passage or two that begins simply but gradually builds and layers into a more and more complex piece of music, transforming itself from something delicate and quiet to a far more triumphant conclusion. This is actually the result of Wong's recording process, which involves using pedals to loop elements throughout the song. It means the songs innevitably get increasingly complex as they progress. In fact Wong apparently recorded much this album live, using just a few overdubs to move sounds through the stereo field. The result is a dizzy mix of Eastern-influenced post-rock and folk.

Dreams Say... has some spellbinding moments and it stands up to Wong's previous solo album. It is interesting to hear his ideas gradually evolve and transform his music, often over the course of a single song, and it is this organic growth that makes his music appealing. Despite a shorter duration, I can't help but feel there is still a little too much here to not feel a bit overwhelmed. And yet the best bits shine enough that it is worth persevering. Wong's dreams are complex, overwhelming and at times beautifully uplifting - and well worth listening to.

Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads is out on 20 February on Thrill Jockey, available to pre-order on Amazon.co.uk on CD [affiliate link].

EP Review: Modern Heat EP - MAM

Image source: DJ MagMiguel Campbell and Matt Hughes' new EP as MAM is as tight as a nut. Slick disco stabs, funky MJ style yelps and heavy baselines abound. Take Metro Area and give it a French Touch twist, serve in a long glass over ice.

What you have here is a four-track EP of funk and disco inspired house and, well, it's inspired. 'Modern Heat' is filtered heavy disco funk, whilst 'Crushed Ice' is sleazy eighties funk that channels pure Discovery-era Daft Punk.

The guitar work on the latter yearns for someone to dance with and whilst it may be a little slow for the main room this is perfect for the more discerning bars out there. As if to answer your prays 'Crushed Ice' also gets a remix that just gives it a bit more oomph. Perfect.

The final offering, 'Sunset Funk' is pretty much placed between the other two tracks, mixing the filtered disco of 'Crushed Ice' with the squelching synth funk work of 'Modern Heat'.

With no bells or whistles this EP pretty much just focuses on doing one thing well. And do just that it does.

BP x

Modern Heat EP is released on Fina on 19 February, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].

Single Review: Game Over - Pool

Pool's 'Game Over' is a tribute to video games. You don't get enough of those in music in my opinion - who needs love when you've got a 20-hour-a-week Skyrim habit? Of course there could e some sort of clever analogue to love or getting drunk or something going on here but I'm going to plump for the assumption that this Hamburg three-piece just really dig their Donkey Kong.

It's a pretty awesomely catchy-pop record with a lovely bounce to the bass line and a slightly scratchy guitar rhythm. It also sounds quite a bit like Alphabetical-era Phoenix which basically means rather good.

'Don't Say My Name' is similar in style, if ever so slightly less infectious. The rhythm here is tight and fast, the overall feel being a great mixture of a live sound combined with a strong production.

The single also comes with two remixes, one of each track. Solomun takes the vocals from 'Game Over' and puts it on the top of a funky, loose proto-house bass line - either element is fine on it's own but the vocal and the melody just don't really gel for me. Stimming's remix of 'Don't Say My Name' is much better, reigning the track back into a disco-influenced dub that leaves behind almost all of the vocal.

Worth a listen. We like bookish indie euro kids.

Check out a previews of all four tracks below (the order is the original of 'Don't Say My Name', the Stimming mix, the original or 'Game Over' and then the Solomun mix):

BP x

Game Over is out on 2DIY4 on 30 January, you can order it now on Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [afffiliate link].