[engl] First ever vinyl reissue of this sought–after synth–pop /cosmic disco / funk / boogie album from 1983! Lots of Vocoder, analogue synths & keyboards, heavy drum machines, spacey vocals, bossa / Brazilian touches, cosmic effects... The RAH Band was the brainchild of legendary English producer & arranger Richard Hewson. They debuted in 1977 with the cosmic glam hit "The Crunch", on which Richard, an accomplished multi–instrumentalist, played all the instruments himself. In 1983, he released "Going Up" the second RAH Band album, where he also played most of the instruments himself, helped by several drummers, a brass section and the sweet vocals of his wife Liz Hewson. Including massive club classics like "Messages From The Stars", "Perfumed Garden" and more. A 1980’s classic which has influenced everyone in the dance scene from Daft Punk and Goldfrapp to Richard X, Dam Funk or Cornelius.

[engl] "I get messages from the stars, when you’re making love to me, I get messages from the stars, you must be from another galaxy..." With its heavy drum machines, funky bass line, female vocals and analogue synths, "Messages from the stars" is an Electro–Pop / Cosmic / Boogie–Synth club classic. Remixed, sampled and played a million times by worldwide DJs, here’s the original 12" which set dance clubs on fire back in 1983.

[engl] Steve Monite's album, Only You, is a prime slab of Nigerian boogie. It's sinewy, compact and sexy, a little bit of disco mixed with a big dose of funk. Loose and groovy, it's a sonic seduction from another dimension. With legendary producer Tony Okoroji at the desk, and influential musician and sound engineer, Nkono Teles, creating magic on the synth, the title track is raw and melodic, dark and sweet at the same time. Steve sings about putting out a fire, but the music, and Stella Monye's sultry backing vocals, stoke it with aural gasoline. You've never heard a song less likely to lower the temperature and let cooler heads prevail. While never quite reaching the heights of 'Only You', 'Welcome My Love' and 'Things Fall Apart' keep the groove going, the later with a distinctly Latin swing. A couple of extended 'Disco Jams' and an obligatory, romantic ballad ('I Had A Dream') round out the record. In all honesty, however, it is 'Only You' that you'll keep going back to. It's a killer track, an Afro Boogie classic that would hold its own on any dance floor in the world, whether in the 80s or today. - Peter Moore

[engl] Next-Door-Disco & Local Spacemusic From Belgium 1975-1987 Patrick, Raymond, Marianne, Roland, Kevin and Bert. These are among the most common and ordinary names in Belgium. Yet, these are also the names of some of the artists that appear of 'Discophilia Beligica', a 30-track compilation from groove-heavy record label SDBAN. No fancy alter-egos here. Compiled by cratediggers Loud E & The Wild, 'Discophilia Belgica' is released 16th November and is a collection of next-door-disco and local spacemusic from Belgium 1975-1987. The tracks on this delightfully obscure collection are from ordinary folk. Most have day jobs. Yet as musicians, they go as far out as possible in to the disco universe and back again. Not too serious or overambitious and definitely not overproduced. This is stripped down space music. This is next door disco. The choice of music is not a reflection of an actual 'scene'. In fact, most of the bands here have probably never performed live. The 30 tracks on this compilation are the result of a decade of crate digging in flea markets, charity shops, and vinyl trades and picking out what might appeal to a contemporary dancefloor or just to our deranged and perhaps adventurous earbuds. That being said, there are not many countries that can provide you with the wonderful diversity and weirdness of the sounds you'll find here. Belgians have a great passion for music and there is an abundance of recording studios, impresarios, local radio stations and pressing plants. Bars and clubs sit side by side, providing a soundtrack for our ordinary lives and it's here where Patrick, Raymond, Roland or Marianne draw inspiration that led them into the studio and pick up a mic, a bass or synthesizer, making music to groove to, feel sexy to and be free. You are your master. From R. Roland's French-pop inspired 'Ethero-Disco' and Carl Watson's sleazy jazz flute heavy 'King Kong' to the C.C. Band's disco floor filler 'Be My Love Tonight', 'Discophilia Belgica' is a collection of odd and sods, the weird and the wonderful. A special mention should go to the uncrowned king of next-door-disco: Artibano Benedetto. The un-assuming Italian, who works out of a garage in the unglamorous town of La Louvière, is one of the only "professional" musicians on this compilation. After a successful career with the late 70s/early 80s band i dragoni, he started to produce music for local artists and musicians in the area in need of a studio or technical knowhow. The result? The soul-singing Dan Davis, the outrageous synthesized bagpipe discofest The Diskery, the spaced out Holger Czukay-esque Rayon Laser and the Arabian sleeze of Alabibi. Oh yes, Benedetto is still very much at it. His DIY ethic to music is the embodiment of next door disco and provincial space music.

[engl] 2LP gatefold with liner notes, 180gr vinyl. 'Funky Chimes' is a collection of excellent and unique grooves. It contains 13 of the most interesting yet long forgotten Belgian dance tracks from the seventies.

[engl] 2LP gatefold with liner notes, 180gr vinyl. 'Funky Chimes' is a collection of excellent and unique grooves. It contains 14 of the most interesting yet long forgotten Belgian dance tracks from the seventies.

[engl] The first official collection of Japanese soul, funk and disco in the West. Talk of Japanese soul often refers to enka, the sentimental ballad emanating from downhome bars and karaoke boxes. From the late 1960s, however, reverberations from across the Pacific would lead to the nation’s own take on soul music as we know it in the West. Some of the artists showcased on this compilation may not have been commercially successful but their legacy stands the test of time. Lily’s uptempo funk-rock gem ‘By By Session Band’ features a pre-Yellow Magic Orchestra Ryuichi Sakamoto on keyboards. Also from YMO, Haruomi Hosono’s ‘Bara To Yajuu’ (Rose And Beast) rocks to a hypnotic high hat, charting a course between slow disco and cumbia. Two western covers here: Yasuko Agawa’s version of Gene McDaniels’ ‘Why Don’t You Move In With Me’ and Yuko Asano’s ‘Summer Champion’ – a reworking of Sergio Mendes’ ‘Summer Dream’. Memphis funk band Ebonee Webb reversed the role and stormed the Japanese charts with ‘Disco Otomisan’. They followed with the album “Memphis Soul Meets Japanese Folk Songs”, from which ‘Yashow Macashow’ comes. Razzamatazz is provided by vocal duo Pink Lady, one of the country’s most successful teen pop/disco acts and the first Japanese artists to chart in the US since Kyu Sakamoto’s ‘Sukiyaki’ way back in 1963. Junko Ohashi’s ‘Dancin’, recorded in New York, was produced by keyboard player Ken Sato (her husband) and jazz bassist Teruo Nakamura. Naoya Matsuoka’s ‘Lovin’ Mighty Fire’‚ graced by soul diva Minako Yoshida, was released in 1979 as a blue vinyl 12-inch single, just before Matsuoka got his big break with the fusion boom. Masaaki Hirao was one of a small group of artists who led the Japanese rockabilly boom in the late 1950s (as highlighted on our “Nippon Rock’n’Roll” collection). He became a force in the music industry, as a writer and producer, and is a major player to this day. He released ‘Funky! “Miyo” Chan’ under the alias Sexy Rhythm Sections. An update of one of his early songs, it was arranged by jazz keyboardist Jun Fukamachi. There is a semi-mythical creature in the West: the Japanese record dealer, who, turning up unannounced in a record shop in America or Europe makes an offer on the whole stock. The hunger of Japanese collectors for soul, funk and disco is world-renowned, with many rarities ending up there. But there was a groove obscured from the West, until now. Coiled, like a sleeping dragon, it was there all this time, in the land of Japan.

[engl] Detroit meets New York when Westbound’s Tom Moulton and Issy Sanchez take on disco.

[engl] Cool compilation featuring the best tracks from the two Wynder K. Frog studio albums: "Sunshine Super Frog" (1967) and "Out of the frying pan" (1968). Top notch Hammond–fuelled mod–soul instrumental grooves by this British musician related to such big names as Spencer Davis Group, Graham Bond and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Including his killer, club–friendly covers of "Green Door", "Jumpin’ Jack Flash", "Hi–Heel sneakers", "Sunshine Superman"...Remastered sound.