Various Artists - Le Disco: Tele Music Remixed

  • Share
  • You just have to glance at the bestsellers charts at various record stores to see how the fortunes of disco re-edits have changed over the past decade. Original pressings of DJ Harvey's Black Cock series passed by largely unnoticed, while nowadays represses of the same quickly sell out and new tracks on his label, Whatever We Want, go for $30+. Yet with renewed interest in disco there has been a flood of poorly produced, roughly mastered and altogether badly put together edits that have saturated record stores. An argument could easily be made that the last thing anyone needs is yet more re-edits and producers should just get back to making original music. However the folks at DJ History quickly quiet that claim with their latest release, Le Disco: Tele Music Remixed. Much like a pair of grizzled disco prospectors, Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton have delved deep to find untapped disco gold. Rather than focusing on the same old Paradise Garage and Loft classics, Tele Music uses long lost French library music as its source material and updates it for club systems and basement parties alike. For the uninitiated, library music is made for people who need off-the-shelf tunes for advertising, TV and radio. And, as you would expect, a lot of it is pretty awful. However the compositions from Tele Music were originally recorded by some of the tightest session musicians of their day—people who featured in groups such as Arpadys, Spatial & Co and Voyage. (Arpadys are particularly worth a mention as, unlike most collectable music, their records are as good as they are expensive. Arpady's "Monkey Star" is a secret weapon for Cosmic godfather, Daniel Baldelli, and original copies of their first album are worth about $350.) The producers drafted in to remix Tele Music pretty much reads like a who's who of disco re-edits. From stalwarts such as Ray Mang and Idjut Boys to current favorites such as Mark E and Toby Tobias. Whether it's Phoreski's slow psychedelic edit of "All the Bass" or Wolfy's jazz-funk-esque version of "Disco Free," the quality remains high throughout. Standout tracks include Leo Zero's take on Baby's Band which takes the subtle grooves of the original and infuses them with acid house sirens, wonky synth leads and MDMA-soaked debauchery. Also worth special attention is Foolish Felix Dickinson's dangerously groovy interpretation of "Life & Fun," which contains a bassline so wobbly it would be perfectly at home on a Maurice Fulton track. Currently finding favor with scene mainstays such as Prins Thomas and Greg Wilson, this should tickle the fancy of anyone with even a passing interest in disco flavors. With tracks plucked from obscurity and full of original touches, Tele Music is what every re-edit release should be like.
  • Tracklist
      CD 1 01. Life & Fun (Mudd Edit) 02. Disco Free (Faze Action Edit) 03. Phantom Rock (Toby Tobias Mix) 04. Cold Coke (Al Kent Edit) 05. Baby's Band (Leo Zero Edit) 06. Mystery Rock (Vlad Naywad Edit) 07. Music Robot (Unabombers Mix) 08. Let's Go To Brasilia (Ray Mang Edit) 09. Red Heart (Vlad Naywad Edit) CD 2 01. All The Bass (Phoreski Mix) 02. Disco Free (Woolfy & Shady Re-Rub) 03. Funky Bass (Idjut Boys Edit) 04. Meteor One (Bonar Bradberry Edit) 05. Black Cars (Toby Tobias Acid Ape Mix) 06. Black Cars (Prins Thomas Edit) 07. Cold Coke (Mark E Mix) 08. Music Robot (Pete Herbert Mix) 09. Disco Free (Dirty Jesus Mix) 10. Life & Fun (Flx Mix)
RA