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What I've Been Listening To: January 2026

Hey everyone - welcome back at the discotheque!

To switch things up a bit - for today's post, I've decided to shine a light on all of the great things I've been listening to this month - there's a whole bunch of stuff, ranging from disco, to classic French house cuts, and some interesting bits thrown in there for good measure.

Let's get started!


Askine - Black Lips
To kick this post off - I wanted to talk about one of my favourite French house singles of the blog-era, which was released by French House Club and VCH in 2008 - Askine's Black Lips. While there's nothing particularly genius about this track, it's a personal favourite of mine due to the excellent sampling techniques, jittery (yet upbeat) production and above all - it's super stylish and very summery. Also, it's built off of a sweet Diana Ross track, which is super dope!



The Phantom's Revenge - I Can't Stop Bullets
Also released sometime in 2008 - the first ever mixtape from French filter house producer and superhero The Phantom's Revenge has become part of my daily listening. It's filled with all kinds of things, ranging from Chicago house, disco, funk, rap and synth-wave, with odd appearances from Kanye, The Ronettes (yes, I'm being serious...) and Justice - amongst a bunch of other awesome musicians and producers in a stacked track-list of fantastic music, which spans several decades, moods and vibes. 

If you want to take a detour into the early mind of a god - this is the best way to do so!



D.I.M. - Is You
Building onto the topic of bloghouse (can you tell I really love that era...) - Is You, a single released by German producer D.I.M. for Boyznoise Records in late 2007 is a definitive slice of electro house that absolutely slams to this day. It's ridiculously punchy, insanely funky, effortlessly trippy and although relatively minimal - it's a tool built for raucous, eager crowds to lose their minds to (or just aggressively head bang, if that's your style!)

It's heavy. It's filled with buzzy synths. It's quite mad. You should listen to it!



Alan Braxe and Fred Falke - Penthouse Serenade
Now, to completely flip the switch - released in 2002 on Vulture Music, the B-side to the excellent, synth-led classic Palladium is absolutely incredible. Penthouse Serenade is one of my all time favourite tracks to come out of the early 2000s wave of the French touch scene - and after re-listening to The Upper Cuts at Christmas, I fell in love with this tune all over again. It's incredibly warm, rich and soothing - the instrumentation is incredible (the chords make me feel like I am ascending to heaven, not even kidding!) and as always, Alan's signature style is showcased in this single excellently. 



Solitaire - Ghost
Everybody loves a bit of nu-disco, myself included - and this excellent track from Vancouver based musician Solitaire is a buttery smooth jam which has been in rotation in my house for years now. Like Penthouse Serenade - the instrumentation on this track is absolutely brilliant - filled with glitzy, bright synths, smooth guitars, late 80s percussion and soft, comforting vocals from Solitaire himself - this is one of those tracks that you can basically play anywhere to feel happy - and it wouldn't sound out of place on Skylar Spence's debut album - or on a DJ set from Louis La Roche. 



ID Chief - Pool Hoppin'
I feel like classic future funk isn't really talked about enough on the blog - so here's something for you - released through Horeazon in the summer of 2015, this classic by Arizona based producer ID Chief is legendary in every way possible. It's extremely French house influenced, it's built off of an obscure post disco joint from The Creations - and it sounds impossibly bright and lively (but that could just be the compression talking...)

Either way, it's bloody great/ Crank it loudly to get a glimpse of the June weather that's forthcoming.



Patrick Alavi - Caesar
It sure as hell wouldn't be an ATD post without some filtery disco goodness - and today, I bring that to you in the form of a 2002 classic from Patrick Alavi. This was the time where the German producer was in his absolute prime - and if you ask me, this is the ultimate display of his work. Caesar is a huge favourite of mine - it's really funky, extremely groovy, and it displays perfectly where French house was heading at that time, and although it's repetitive - it's a very addictive track - I could listen to it for hours on end!



The Dare - Girls
Released through independent label Fire Talk in August 2022 - initially as a joke - the debut single from New York's finest electro house / indie musician The Dare - who has become one of the figureheads in the blog house revival since, is a raunchy, humorous yet effortlessly catchy classic. It has all of the major ingredients to be a MySpace hit if it was still around - and thanks to its DIY aesthetic, tight production and memorable lyrics, it truly is able to represent the indie sleaze movenent currently happening. 

If you work in the music business - please don't listen to this. You might end up in hospital.



Louis La Roche - Super Soaker EP
I don't think you can really go wrong with this...

To end out this post - I thought I'd talk about one of my all time favourite EPs from London-based music producer, DJ and singer-songwriter Louis La Roche. Released independently in late 2009, this simple three tracker is bursting with quality - every track is club-worthy, produced excellently and with buckets of style. There's sun-kissed disco jams, there's disco slammers, and even some Mr. Oizo influenced filtery goodness in the middle (which comes in the form of the title track!)

A fantastic piece of work. Malfunction is incredible!


There you have it, everyone!

You can find the full playlist for all of these tracks below.


I hope you've enjoyed today's post - be sure to support all of the artists featured, and as always, keep enjoying your stay at the discotheque.




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