Public Releases hits the lab for some aural alchemy and to turn out its first release of 2017. A four-tracker from Moscow’s Phil Gerus, Scenes—or, in the producer’s native Russian, ?????—manages to have a makeup that’s both peculiar and magnetic. The title’s a fitting one; every track feels like a vignette in a collection of short stories. Separately, they’re self-contained, but a rich narrative arch is added when they’re sewn together. If there is a theme here, it’s of viewing the future through the dusty lens of the past, and each of the songs explores this in its own fashion. The kick-off, “Ohashi Sky Garden,” starts as a hyped-up Italo space epic, pumped full of swirling synth licks and sharp, tight drums, but it mutates into something completely its own when vocal samples (90s R&B?) and warm keys (prog rock Rhodes?) enter. After the original’s brisk five minutes, the legendary Richard Sen—graffiti guy, breaks guy, house guy, disco guy, half-of-Padded-Cell guy—steps in to give it a trance-y tinge while doubling its runtime and adding a dancefloor-destroying Hi-NRG coloration. The B begins with “Naha Swim,” a crunchy funk foot-stomper that might as well be an unreleased Idjut Boys or Ray Mang ditty dug up from the Noid catacombs. Fiery and furious, yet utterly cheeky. Serving as a sort of coda to “Naha” is “Kiss of a Kind,” a Gerus take on 80s adult contemporary, replete with sleazy sax and sensual pads. A gentle nightcap to a zigzagging, antic 12-inch. More

Lumberjacks Boogie is back! Phil Gerus is a natural musical talent who oozes sound from every pore. Fusing together cassette pop, house, soul, r&b and funk, his sounds are effortless but hugely emotive and have come on labels like Sonar Kolkektiv, ManMakeMusic, Futureboogie, Madtech and Bastard Jazz before now. More

Those disco specialists at To Rack & Ruin are back in business, kicking off their 2016 campaign with an absolute scorcher from Moscovite producer Phil Gerus. After making waves with a string of releases for the likes of Futureboogie and Sonar Kollektiv, Gerus arrives at the Mancunian edit institution in fine form, ready to take over the world with a quartet of fully loaded floor movers for all you dancing fools. Going hard and heavy from the off, Phil introduces himself with the tumbling toms and zero gravity sequences of 'Delicious Wishes', a neon tinged reshape of an Angelic original. Working the loops and FX like a pro, the Russian sprinkles space dust all over this camp cosmic classic, packing a whole host of extra oomph in the warp drive! "Bossy Lady" Phil turns his attention to Italo, setting pulses racing and feet stomping with the space age sound of . Playing free and easy with the pitch control, the Moscow magician conjures up a space disco body mover complete with tripped out vocals, chunky guitar and nebulous synth lines. Sticking with the moods and grooves of the Mediterranean, Over on the flip we have "Stop! Let's Slow Down" powering into the peak time in a shimmer of sequins as it supercharges a boogie vintage for the modern DJ. The finest floor shaking boogie reheat since Tiger & Woods last hit a hole in one, this is gonna raise the temperature at any party worth its salt. Phil takes us home with a spaced out version of an all time Italo classic. Reworking the percussion and looping up that low slung baseline, our host supercharges the groove for modern club deployment, rounding off another essential release from your favourite edit imprint.
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Tokyo-based composer Phil Gerus gives Man Make Music a summer record par excellence, warping classic r'n'b and disco into five highly original and up-to-the minute tracks. The latest signing to the ManMakeMusic roster, from Moscow via Tokyo, is Phil Gerus. A classically trained pianist, Phil grew up heavily influenced by jazz music before progressing into electronic performance. Gerus is an avid listener of jazz legends such as Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea & Brad Mehldau, as well as funk & boogie records of the 80s & 90s. Inevitably, these sounds translate directly and smoothly to his own production: sensual 80?s vibes with tunes that are brimming with rhythm and funk. Gerus' use of synthesizers, looping, and heavily filtered vocals on the E.P are distinctive and he's marking his own sound in what is becoming a very hazy genre of music. The Opposites Left Together EP will be released on limited edition 10" vinyl

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Dr Love is a veteran and key tastemaker / vinyl junkie on the Montreal scene and Laura Ingalls is a wandering French person of no specific sex who has recently landed in the French-Canadian city.

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The inform Kat Records return for their 37th release with three disco edit purlers. A must for any edit enthusiast.
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Andi and David first met in a forest beside a psychedelic castle in the wild west of Scotland and soon bonded over a love of wrong speeders, Balearic gems hidden in plain sight and the odder side of the dancefloor before DJing together just moments after Andi was unraveled from a burning tarpaulin. A firm friendship and fun partnership was born. Hailing from Mancunia but for some time an export to the USA, Andi, for many years was one of the great things about New York City. A charming, low-key individual, a great, great DJ and a graceful presence in the land of the overhyped and ego driven. Andi held down the musical supervision of Rock Star games and was responsible for a lot of great music getting out to the gaming masses. He was a vital member of Body and Soul for the best part of 15 years, delivering infamous warm up sets for Danny Krivit, Joaquin 'Joe' Claussell and François K, pedigree vibes... David, a music lover since birth, a record collector for more than quarter of a century and a reputation for being the first on the floor at any party. DB's transition from dancer to DJ didn't take too long and his selections of rare disco, oddball gems and panglobal pandemonium have seen him play back rooms, basements, festivals and freakouts throughout the land, whether running his own parties in Glasgow or playing further afield alongside the likes of Young Marco, Jayda G and Moodymann.

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Respectful edits from NYC's finest JKriv (Razor N Tape)

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Pedantic record collector and DJ, Stephen King (AKA Virgo Type), has finally started releasing some of the tracks and edits that he's been working on over the past few years with his vinyl debut on KAT Records. There's an eclectic range of source material on this EP including early disco rap on 'Dancing Heart', chopped up, dusty lounge bar grooves on 'Jazz Cigarette' and even some 90s new-jack-swing gets the loop and filter treatment on 'Outta My Head'. Packing an MPC, drum machine and an extensive record collection, Virgo Type's tracks are a love letter to the people and places that have provided the inspiration for his music.

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Kat Records reach the ripe ol' age of 30 with the 3rd instalment of reworks by all round super ace guy Jonny Miller. Those of you out there of a certain vintage will not need any intro to Half A Minute - A guilty pleasure to some, with nowt to be feeling guilty about. If it's good then it's good is the KAT ethos and Mr Miller fully embraces this and takes this UK Latin stormer up a notch and then some. Matt Bianco, yes you know...Get out of your lazy bed et all were a house hold name in 80's UK (a Saturday superstore appearance also, well worth a mention we think!) - but we're getting away from the point here... The point is that Half A Minute is a tune, always has been and always will be with the JM edit bringing out the very best from the original with much added shine and aplomb ! On the flip we have 2 African tinged mid-tempo chuggers that tick the boxes of house, Balearic, soul, disco…well sort of ! Kalimba Tree is a track that sits perfectly between the aforementioned genres and Jonny Miller delivers a rework rather than straight up edit - The beats are incredible, very funky and infectious but laid back at the same time…Tabled with the beautiful fender rhodes and that vocal hook, it's time to head direct to your fave Adriatic festival and order a large one and pop a toast to the genius of Maurice White. Last up we have Orere-Elejigbo which is mid-tempo afro-Balearic gem and again, a rework rather than your bog standard edit. 4/4 beats, afro vocal hooks, low slung bass line and a mighty arrangement top things off very nicely on this rather fine 3 track-er. Here's to another 30 releases folks !
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Andy Hart returns after an almost two-year hiatus from the studio to release his first EP on the Voyage imprint. Following on from Urulu's Greetings From Namek, Mistress In Your Mind is the sixth release and adds to a growing collection that already includes releases from Harvey Sutherland, M5K and CTEPEO '57.Mistress in your Mind loosely stems from the intertwining influences of a love-induced delusion broken down over four tracks. Hart draws sentiment from several aspects of his record collection, giving subtle nods to break beat, soul, acid and space-laden house. More

Kat Records once again come up trumps with a blazer of a 4 tracker for release number 27 on the ever consistent imprint. Kat debutant Inxxwel continues the run of releases in fine form with a wonderful EP of not so well known dance floor smashers covering Afro, Disco, New Wave, and 80's Boogie vibes. Kicking things off is the Disco Afro goody that is Check It Out. A mid tempo shake down that ticks all the right boxes with infectious guitar riffs, vocals and bass-lines right through this with a cheeky teaser of an arrangement that's sure to do some damage on them there dance floors! Next up is I See You…. Pure Japanese New Wave badness spliced up with pure love (none of this quantising malarky here). Super quirky vibes with a new wave disco biz and bumps along with aplomb. Make Me is a forgotten 90s RnB tune chopped and given the rework love.. Re-jigged from the original half time track, with some added Moog synth vibes for added oomph. Last up is Old Fashioned, a subbed out garage Boo-gie vibe with sweeter than sweet vocals that hark back to shiny outfits, hair spray and some ever so sexy moves. Lets do this! More

Relentless stuff from KAT with release number 26 coming via the Hinge Project, a disco balled collaboration between Florent F and Yo-One Sutter. Having a penchant for all things Rinder & Lewis is no bad thing and that's what this release if all about, a cap doffed in their El Coco direction. First up we have 'Cocomotion 79' : A top draw, classy as, uber cool disco lounge biggie that was out in (you guessed it) 1979. Things have been slightly slowed down from the original and chopped in all the right places taking this from over 10 mins down to just under 7 strengthening those fender Rhodes and string sections along the way. Next up is 'It's Your Last Chance'… A sultry mid-tempo ditty with an absolute killer groove edited down to accentuate that ace vocal hook. Tempo'd for Dj pleasure (without losing that all important live feel), subtle delays effects sprinkled over the top with a filtered mid section for added oomph - massive ! On the flip we have 'Love Exciter' - A full on dancer with bonafied disco hand claps, squelchy bass, clavs and strings. Here the tempo has been brought down considerably from the original with the beats are locked down for mixing delights and finishing things off nicely we have the classic 'Coco Kane'. Insane disco loops, massive bassline and all round killer string arrangement rounds things up very nicely. More

Four fine edits of super rare cosmic disco tunes from French playboy and producer Maximilian Blanc. Maxi wouldn't reveal the details of the originals but needless to say these tracks will do the business on the dance floor. The tracks range from wigged out funk to space cruising strutters, all with that classic cosmic vibe. Enjoy the ride... More

Ilija Rudman has a passion for disco, pure analogue disco at that with buckets of soul to boot. For over 10 years he's been producing bonafide dance music which has seen him team up with the likes of Mark E, Chaz Jankel, Steve Kotey, The Revenge and Greg Wilson amongst others with releases coming via Rong Music, Under the Shade, Bear Funk and Tirk labels. Here we see Ilija bring a 3 tracker to the table for the KAT imprint which brings somewhat of a change in direction for them as these are not re-edits or reworks but original tracks. ‘Just Remember' is a sultry Summer time Disco house melter which oozes all that's good about dance music... Fender rhodes, laid back guitar licks, strings and a groove that glides along effortlessly throughout but it's the ever so subtle dreamy soulful feel to this track that makes it really shine through. On the flip both tracks take on a slightly more uptempo House feel but the analogue sound continues... ‘Never Forget' really is all about the hooks...staccato guitar licks and a rhythm section that's more solid than your average breeze block. And 'Once and 4 all' ending things on a high with a breathy pad lead track that delivers on all fronts. Iliya's studio has taken 3 years to build and consists of 15 years of collecting studio gear all based around the MCI 542 D Series console from 1981. Fully restored, this is the hub to the whole operation which also has EMT compressors and limiters, 25+ synths including Moog, Prophet and Oberheim and a huge rack of drum machines and samplers. Ilija Rudman returns! More

3 reworks from Antipodean DJ and Producer, Frank Booker. First up is the monster reworking of King Sunny Ade's afro biggie Synchro System, originally released in 1983 and taken from the album of the same name. Things are turned into a mid tempo 4/4 house shuffler with a killer groove and dope arrangement. The guitar lines, horn riffs and vocal hooks will have you gripped and holding on for dear life, but the real winner here is the groove that underpins the whole shebang which just glides along and takes you with it for a highly enjoyable ride.......This will be causing all sorts of commotion on dancefloors near you soon, you have been warned ! On the flip we have Frank's take on Fela Kuti's Egbe Mi O. Again, a low slung 4/4 house groove sits under this Fela classic....All sorts of Afro goodness are diced up (including the ace Ginger Baker percussion) and lovingly strung back together turning this into an instant mid-tempo house classic.. Rounding things off is a cheeky cut n paste track, People Must Jam named after the Sydney based Disco party. It sits somewhere between P-Funk, Roller Skating Jam Disco and House, an achingly infectious filtered groove teases and then teases some more sealing this fine 3 tracker off with a winning smile. More

DJ SUPPORT FROM: HORSE MEAT DISCO / RAINER TRUBY / CRAZY P / LEFTSIDE WOBBLE ETC More

A. ONCE IN A LIFETIME B. JUST A TOUCH OF LOVE More

KAT011 brings you 4 edits from Shanghai based duo The Horses....

Starting things off is It just happened, a reworking of Vangelis's blissed out classic Let it Happen from their 1973 album Earth. Subtle 4/4 beats sit oh so well underneath the plush rhodes, pads, chimes & laid back guitar thus shifting the track from the deckchair to the dance floor. Next is Backed up, originally recorded and released in 1975 by Fantasy Records at the height of their jazz funk golden era, this rare groove classic by the Three Pieces and is brought bang up to date, almost doubling the length of the Donald Byrd produced original with a filtered intro and killer groove throughout - BIG !! First up on the flip is Do you Remember...An ace summer mid-tempo melter that could be destroying a soundsystem near you very soon and to finish things off we have the Donald Byrd discofunk biggie Change. Weighing in at over 7 mins in length with dubbed out vocals a plenty, a sure party winner if there ever was one - makes you wanna hustle !
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