Paraphrasing the Soul Sonic Force and sorting through today`s releases for tunes that could have graced Alfredo Fiorito & Leo Mas’ Amnesia dance-floor…

Jan Gleichmar, aka Disrupt`s dusts off 2 tracks from his archives for a fresh 45 of “digital laptop reggae”. Drops like only he can do, they`re prefect additions to his Leipzig label Jahtari`s Lo-Fi aesthetic. Arcade Addict dates from 2006, and is cover of the Prince Jazzbo-produced `80s dancehall hit Sensi Addict, that features field recorded video games, synthesised ray-guns, thunder and lightning. On the flip, Proper Tings, also has more than its fair share of laser blasts and 8-bit glissandos, plus chunky, clunky Computer Paul-like bass building blocks. Produced in 2012, on an MPC, from a Commodore 64 sound chip, its keys cut a cute skank similar to Steely & Clevie`s version of Chic & Carly Simon`s Why? 

Isle Of Jura have a new compilation in stores, titled Instrumental Dubs #2. It was the tracks on the second side that really caught my attention. Mad Professor’s H2SO4 – “sulphuric acid” for the chemically-inclined, those familiar with the Periodic Table – dates from 1989, is lifted from The Prof’s album, Science & The Witchdoctor: Dub Me Crazy Part 9. With backing by the Ariwa house band, The Robotiks, this is a track of two halves, with the intro being a dose of downtempo electro-funk. Its delayed drums, though, suddenly jump cut into a brass fanfare-led bump. Something that seems to take it cues from Wally Badarou and The Compass Point All-Stars.

Original Rockers were a Birmingham-based crew that comprised Richard “DJ Dick” Whittingham, Glyn “Bigga” Bush, and members of Electribe 101. Later forced to change their name by the estate of Augustus Pablo, to Rockers Hi Fi, they were pioneers in mixing reggae and house. Their single Push Push was a huge progressive hit upon its release in the early `90s, especially in its Fabi Paras remixed form. The Jura’s, however have dived a bit deeper and gone for the previously CD-only Underwater World Of Jah Cousteau version. This starts with a ripple of almost classical keys, and has been stripped back to a minimal bleep and bass monster. The Scientist-mixed Johnny Osbourne vocal sample now surrounded by suitably aquatic synthesised bubbling and effervescence.

Australian DJ / producer Suki supplies more proggy dubby sounds on his Elevate E.P. for Butter Sessions. Most the tunes are far too tonking for an old fella like me, but Entering The Microverse momentarily lowers the BPMs. Similar to Hybrid Man`s recent wonderful Wax `o Paradiso 12, but a bit more banging perhaps, its woozy rhythm rattles amid TB-303 fractals in a callback to chillout room classics by APL, HIA, and The Orb. 

Dub of a different flavour again can be found on Discotecas 004. The opener here is a bouncing, bass-led DJ tool, but on the flip you’ll find a tune called IFA. Rumbling and dancing darkly to a rudimentary house 4 / 4, step by step bongos and tribal touches are added to its techno tones. These are then further fleshed out with flashes of funky organ, and clipped, glimpsed, chants, slowly evolving from something seemingly totally electronic, toward the “organic”. Finally revealing itself to be a full-on infectious afro groove.

Still sorta reggae-influenced, Revival Season’s recent single, Propaganda, sets rough rhymes to soft, skanking chimes, conducive to cocktail-sipping in tropical climes. The “clean” radio edit is actually pretty trippy, since all the f-bombs and instances of the n-word are stuttered and sucked backwards. The pair, though, still manage to pull up powers that be, who promise bigger penitentiaries, while they can’t / won’t build better schools. This is partnered with with the more party-starting Pump, whose gymnastic jive of sliced & diced Blaxploitation and P-Funk, is anchored by a steady trap snare. Again, lyrics like “Can’t be a cog in a system that ain`t working”, will let you know where their politics lie. Ned Woodman’s Skin Teeth remix alternates between chopped & screwed and jump-up jungle. Toting the track’s titular shotgun like a super sharp shooter shooting super sharp shots.

More dancefloor-directed railing against corrupt and crooked systems crops up on Dickie Landry’s Hang The Rich. Born in Louisiana, but relocating to New York in the late `60s, saxophonist Landry sessioned for folks, and friends, like Laurie Anderson, Steve Reich, Talking Heads, and Philip Glass. He also released solo sets of free jazz on the composer’s label, Chatham Square Productions. All the while he photographed and documented the scene from the inside. DFA, however, have discovered this, uncharacteristic for “Dickie”, prime piece of percussive disco-not-disco. Originally recorded in the mid-80s, the song races, rockets, right alongside other previously DFA-rescued jams by Justine & The Victorian Punks, and Peter Gordon’s Love Of Life Orchestra. Its partying protagonist describing her lifestyle of luxury and privilege, penthouses and dining from fine china. Bringing the track bang up to date, Optimo’s Twitch turns in a ruthlessly radical rearrangement.

The new E.P. from Phantom Island’s Kay Zee feels a bit like a direct descendent of Dickie Landry, and the `80s downtown New York musical, Mudd Club, milieu that he thrived in. The Whole Shebang is an arty, experimental E.P. Strange Side Effects is sort of bruised, avant, electro. Bringing to mind Bill Laswell’s Praxis project, before assuming a livelier Salon des Amateurs-esque shuffle. Inglish pairs spaced-out blues-y picking and poetry. Wünsche Guten Flug is beatless, treated guitar ambience, accompanied by rusty reed-like drones. The opener, Le Rêve, though, is kinda catchy. Its heavy, distorted beats doing a bit of rude scuffed skanking to a digital dancehall b-line, phased percussion, and fanfares, frayed and flared.

A cracking collaboration between Man Power and Kenyan artist Rapasa Nyatrapasa Otieno has cropped on M.A.D Records. Luo Land is deep, reverberating, and bass heavy, but it actually reminds me of Batsumi’s South African jazz jams. It’s surprisingly understated gear from the usually no-holds-barred banging Me Me Me main man. Gradually evolving, like a beef-ed up Osibisa, cool Hammond B3 keys, and spirit-lifting synths in its second half, I imagine someone like Joe Claussell spinning it, or hearing it at David Mancuso’s Loft. Make A Dance themselves remix Battle Hill. A brilliant burger highlife homage, it’s also a fine flashback to `88, borrowing a classic old school Chicago jack b-line, and drum rolls. There are Harold Faltermeyer / Axel F synths and a fabulous breakdown of sirens and filtered and phased snares, while the track’s stripped down sound and vocal chants echo the Cultural Vibe favourite, Ma Foom Bey.