Collection: Sample / Edits

Riot!!!

Tom Jay

Since debuting on Stilove4music in 2012, Brooklyn duo Devin Dare has offered up an irregular smattering of brilliant EPs for the likes of Apron, Misterio and La Mission, including a couple of notable outings alongside London badman Stevie J AKA Funkineven. Here they showcase their scalpel skills via a first outing on local label Razor-N-Tape. They begin by offering an extra-percussive, party-starting revision of a low-slung, turn-of-the-80s deep disco-meets-punk funk affair ("Clash & Burn"), before romping their way through a weighty revision of a high-octane disco stomper ("KOHO2"). Over on side B, "Dust" sees them successfully re-wire a Hammond-heavy chunk of gospel disco-funk, while "Stop" is a pleasingly percussive revision of a soaring disco number.

Having previously worked his magic on classic cuts from Diana Ross, Luther Vandross and Teddy Pendergrass - among others - Bridge Boots boss Caserta has now moved on to Marvin Gaye. He's grabbed the acapella from a classic song - in this case one of Gaye's duets with Diana Ross, "My Mistake (Was To Love You)"- and incorporated it into a brand new track. The A-side "Casey Mistake Mix" sits somewhere between early '80s boogie and the mid-80s proto-house sound created by Boyd Jarvis, Timmy Regisford and Paul Simpson. Interestingly, Gaye and Ross's vocals fit it like a glove. The flipside "Dub That Got Away" is an altogether more bumpin' garage-house workout rich in cut-up vocals snippets and wobbly analogue bass.

More from the mysterious Ron's Reworks series, which seems to specialise in good old-fashioned re-edits of tracks played by the late, great Ron Hardy (or at least that's how it appears to us - whoever is behind the project is keeping quiet). The real killer here is A-side "Your Brain On Music", a slightly beefed-up and tooled up version of an Italo-disco-era chugger rich in driving bass, spacey synthesizer lines, proto-acid sounds and almost symphonic electronic chords. Elsewhere "Be Bizarre" is a tight, mostly instrumental revision of an electrofunk era big studio rock number - all squelchy synth bass, glistening guitar riffs and stuttering drum machine beats - while "Call Me" is a fine scalpel edit of a sparkling boogie jam.

To mark their 50th release, Brooklyn scalpel fiends Razor-N-Tape has put together a triple-pack of tried-and-tested reworks from some of the scene's heaviest hitters. It's as strong as you'd expect, with highlights including the heavyweight, delay-laden disco-funk brilliance of Dimitri From Brooklyn's "Hooked On This Feeling" (a dub disco revision of an old Frank Hooker jam by Dimitri From Paris), the Clavinet-driven, piano-laden peak-time hustle of Joey Negro's "Let's Get Ornery", the Clarinet and trumpet-sporting hedonism of Jacques Renault's emotive and heart-tugging "Said I Would" and the screaming, hands-aloft rush of Superprince's "Dependable". Fittingly, label co-fouder JKriv delivers one of the standouts, a rolling revision of an Italo-style, arpeggio-driven delight titled "Lovin' Lasers".

Belpaese Edits

Remarkably, almost a decade has passed since the first missive from re-edit crew Heavy Disco (AKA Ashley Beedle, Dave Jarvis and Darren House) landed in stores. Here the London collective returns for the first time in four years with two more tried-and-tested dancefloor rubs. "Run Down World" is particularly delicious, delivering a groovy revision of what sounds like one of the Police's hazier and more groove-based moments (IE there's less reggae influence and more of an AOR disco flex - think great grooves and flanged, spaced-out guitars). On side B it's all about "Times Are Bad", a fine extended revision of Tavares' deep disco/Steely Dan-goes-jazz-funk rub "Bad Times" that seems eerily fitting for the situation the world is in.

Like many Australian artists, Melbourne's Mildlife are keen to raise money for the Bushfire Relief Fund. To do that, they've decided to offer up this surprise Artwork re-edit of 2018 album track "Zwango Zop" and donate all sales revenue to the appeal. While the band's original version is a deep and groovy chunk of spaced-out disco, Artwork's version is a far more forthright, peak-time ready affair. He's beefed up the beats a little, pitched up the band's fine instrumentation and added some densely layered new synth sounds of his own. The result is an intergalactic disco workout straight from the top drawer that could well become one of the underground hits of the summer.

Ghosts Of Venice Edits

The Anything Goes "Rollover Edit Service" continues apace with this latest grip of four unique choices of forgotten disco treasure to get a 2020 spruce up. Ferraroni is on "Le Soleil Bateau", a sunkissed schooner by any measure with a Balearic tint in the easy tempo and cheery disposition. Jacques Renault brings equally slick vibes with "NYC Lights", which teeters between yacht rock and synth pop to perfection. Makossa's edit of "Dio Come Ti Amo" is a more reflective cut, subtly dubbed and revolving around an introspective guitar hook. Pasta brings the tempo back up with a version of "Di Di No" that will have party people young and old dancing in unison.

Apparently DJ Harvey and Lovebirds have been hammering these "personal edits" from the Sirsounds crew in recent DJ sets. Listening to the clips, it's easy to work out why: they're a cut above the rest, edit-wise. There's a good variety of sounds and styles on show, from the stuttering drums, blissful guitars, dewy-eyed vocal snippets and rich boogie synths of "Love Me Right (Version)", to the eyes-closed synth solos and driving disco-funk grooves of quirky closing cut "What Does It Take". Our pick of the bunch though has to be the effortlessly eccentric Italian electro-funk insanity of "SASA", which sounds a little like it could be a lesser-known outing by Tullio De Piscopo (though don't quote us on that).

Duca Bianco have been on a roll lately with their off-beat edits and versions, finding a unique niche in a saturated market by welcoming a bit more of that psych rock sound into their grooves. On this record it's DJ Si Si Si Gracias, who is happy slinging out loose and jangly funk that sounds like it's been picked up in 1980s New York lolling around outside The Mudd Club with one eye on Danceteria but definitely too freaky for Studio 54. "Gerry" is a special highlight - a slow and delirious groover with wild synths spilling all over the funk. If you want things really messy though, head straight for the dub chaos of "All The Feeling", where the percussion sounds like it's falling in on itself (in a good way).

Secretsundaze haven't been known for their re-edits much in the past, but that's about to change with this choice new 12". On one side, the label bosses James Priestley and Giles Smith take a tender touch to "Ghana Nila", a little-known spiritual originating in a Californian ashram. Ge-ology is ready to go on the flip, bringing his distinctive MPC funk to Herbie Mann's "Stomp Your Feet" and teasing even more juice out of this already abundant floor burner from the late '70s. From movement meditation to effervescent energy, this record has a spectrum of feelings covered in two edits that sound genuinely fresh and inspired. Played by

Fresco Is Back!!!