Hey everyone - welcome back at the discotheque!
As always - March was a super interesting month - and I've been listening to a whole bunch of amazing stuff - ranging from sweet, late 90s French house cuts, to quirky future funk, glamorous nu disco and a whole bunch of blog-era bangers - and as usual, today's post is about spotlighting some of the things that have been stuck in my head in March - so without further ado, let's get started!
(P.S - I am super, super sorry to anyone that stumbled upon the April Fools joke earlier today - if you missed it, check on The Internet Archive for something a little bit stupid!)
Ian Pooley - Since Then (2000)
Released through London based label V2 in September 2000 - Ian Pooley's third major record Since Then - a deep, soulful album that beautifully mixes the filtery French sound with buckets of Brazilian influence and live instrumentation - has been constantly on rotation over the last month for many, many reasons. After listening to it in full with my good friends Opierm and Luv4Loop for the first tine in a late night Discord call - I was instantly floored, and within a few days, I'd ordered it on CD - and it's playing as I write this post!
Those that know me well, know that I absolutely adore happy music (I mean, that's why I started the blog in the first place, just read the header...) - and I'm very pleased to say that Since Then is a euphoric body of work, that's best listened to on a hot, happy summer day. Every single track oozes with warm, sun-drenched quality - it's a relentlessly upbeat record that's stylish, ridiculously fun and incredibly cohesive. There's no skips whatsoever, and every single track is undoubtedly killer - whether that's the stunning titular track - a funky breakbeat jam which is incredibly rich, full and funky - the groovy 900 Degrees, which became a huge filter house hit upon release, or the soothing, underrated and deeply smooth, disco influenced classic Sundowner (my personal favourite!)
In short - this album is incredible - and one to definitely bookmark, especially as for most readers, spring and summer are finally coming!
Listen to it on YouTube here.
V/A - Versatile '98 (1998)
Another record that I've been playing endlessly this month is none other than Versatile '98 - the stunning compilation album comprised of several artists signed to legendary Paris-based electronica label Versatile - and, similar to Since Then, I've been playing this album constantly for many, many reasons (all of which, are good!)
Around the time this album hit record stores - French electronic music was soaring in popularity - with most of the attention (quite rightly) going to several filter house acts of the time - such as Daft Punk, Etienne De Crecy, Air, Motorbass and Stardust. Beneath all of that, however - lay an entirely different part of the French touch scene - focused on slightly more quirky filter house, strange disco, wild breakbeat, trip-hop and soothing chillout excursions. Versatile was (and still is) one of the premier labels that pushed all of these sounds - and it's really evident on this superb record.
The first half focuses mostly on house music infused with the same production techniques and sounds that were driving clubs worldwide insane - notable examples include Chateau Flight's debut single - DJ Gregory's legendary remix of Venus by Cheek (which was featured last month!) - Mike 303's glitzy, thumping club cut St. Sylvestre and of course, Daft Punk's iconic remix of Disco Cubizm by I:Cube.
The second half of the record is completely different in tone - it's considerably more strange and experimental yet effortlessly captivating - there's a selection of experimental house jams from Delit-K, I:Cube, Pepe Bradock and Headcore - but also thumping hip-hop from Gilb'r and jazzy, bass heavy beats from The Bel-Air Project - showcasing with ease the versatility (ha, see what I did there?) of this incredible label - far before it even reached its prime!
To sum it up - if you want disco - check out Versatile. If you don't want disco (in that case, how did you find this blog?) - check out Versatile!
You can grab the whole album on Bandcamp here:
Stay Ali - Emotional Day (2009)
Stepping away from the sweet sounds of late 90s filtered disco - here's an awesome blog-era cut for you to bump. Released through independent label Idiot House in early 2009 - Emotional Day is an absolutely brilliant piece of work done by Swedish band Stay Ali - which crosses the boundaries between nu disco, French electro and pop with practiced ease. I initially discovered it a few days ago thanks to a good friend of mine (ahem, Diskovertz!) posting it in a Discord server - and I was instantly hooked. It's super bright, incredibly playful and, despite having the glamour of disco - it sounds really gritty at the same time - so it's an obvious thumbs up from me!
You can find it on YouTube below (and also, be sure to check out the killer FutureFlashs remix, too!)
ID Chief - Main Piece (2016)
I feel like I rarely talk about classic future funk here on the blog - and I feel like that needs to change, so today, I wanted to shine a light on the final single released by Phoenix based producer ID Chief - which I've been playing a fair bit over March - even though it's been one of my general favourites for almost two years. Built off of a post disco classic from Viola Wills - it's ridiculously punchy, effortlessly catchy, incredibly clean, and a damn fine way to bow out of music - if anything, this track proved that he had so much potential - dude, come back!
You can find Main Piece on his SoundCloud.
Bob Sinclar - Paradise (1998)
Released through his own label Yellow Productions in October 1998 - Bob Sinclar's debut album Paradise is a fantastic filter house record filled with great hooks, thumping production and, although it's relatively basic in nature - it's seductive, addicting and a perfect album for the party. Although I've been listening to it for a little while now - in March, I practically listened to it daily - especially while studying, doing chores or during lectures at college.
One thing that a lot of people seem to catch on when listening to Bob's early work is that it's undeniably campy (not that that's a bad thing, though!) - and with this in mind - Paradise is an interesting album in the sense that it has the same warmth that late 70s disco and funk had - and when pairing this sound with deep, bass-heavy house music - the result is absolutely brilliant, and deeply memorable. There's so many classics on this record - there's Disco 2000 Selector - a bad-ass, yet surprisingly minimalist banger which sounds deeply mysterious - the heavy, groovy classic New York City Music - which is a huge staple in my DJ sets - the summery, calming Mo Underground People, which slightly mirrors the work of Ian Pooley with Since Then (what a convenient link!) - and finally, Thomas Bangalter's monstrous edit of Gym Tonic - which could have easily been a Roule release, no doubt!
You can listen to the full album on YouTube.
Benjamin Diamond - Fit Your Heart (2001)
To end out this post - I thought I'd mention a track I discovered at the start of this month, that I absolutely adore. Initially released as a single through his label Diamond Traxx at the turn of the millennium - Fit Your Heart is a shimmering slice of nu disco which is absolutely perfect in every way. I discovered it after watching Inky and Luv4Loop do a back-to-back set in Liverpool - and I was intrigued right from the get-go. Of course, Diamond is a fantastic singer (who everyone here will know for his work with Stardust!) - and the production is absolutely gorgeous - it's filled with loads of softer undertones, bright, crisp instrumentation, and most importantly, it absolutely bumps on my speakers, without the need for thumping beats or the driving production that most French disco stuff carried at the time.
This, is how you do a love song right!
You can listen to it on YouTube now.
There you have it, everyone!
I hope you all thoroughly enjoy the releases that I've talked about today - you can find a full playlist below!
As always - keep enjoying your stay at the discotheque!
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