Alex Puddu
Professione Reporter

The Mighty Zaf & Phil Asher present ’80s, their new edit label specializing in disco & boogie, and strictly vinyl only.Their second releases continues their strive for edit heaven with three scintillating selected cuts.Best not to sleep on this because the first sold out fast!

It’s a new day – and 2022 marks a very special new chapter for Parisian producer Hugo LX, who delivers his latest sound offering on his freshly founded imprint Doma Music.A collective adventure, « The Platinum Wave » sees the return of Hugo’s most frequent collaborators – trumpeter Hermon Mehari and guitarist Christopher Johnson, with the addition of pianist Tony Tixier – the four of them connecting, building and weaving their sonic textures over these five sound cuts.A starting point in the Doma music catalogue, « The Platinum Wave » aims to propose a different sound in dance music, both a continuation of a certain musical legacy and an exploration of today’s boundless possibilities, as much as an intimate soundscape from four artists deeply involved in the Paris creative scene – and most definitely, a first taste of things to come on the label.

Founded by the pianist Robin Notte (from the former electro-jazz band WISE) Panam Panic is one of the best Jazz-Groove french bands. Influenced by Musicians like Yussef Dayes, Robert Glasper, Roy Hargrove or Christian Scott, Panam Panic mix up Jazz with groove, Hip hop and electronic textures. Love Of Humanity is their last album.Robin Notte's gamble is to create a Jazz which is sufficiently sophisticated to delight the most demanding experts, yet also accessible enough to initiate neophytes.As such, Panam Panic defends a resolutely actual Jazz, open with no borders or blinders, combining powerful organic grooves with tidy melodies, delicate harmonies and frenzied solos.

Miss D used to work as a model in New York. That she ended up in Vienna was sheer coincidence. That she became a recording artist was never planned, either. She moved to the Austrian capital with a well-known commercial producer in the mid-1980s, and soon she found herself recording TV ads for ice cream manufacturers. One day in the recording studio, someone had the brilliant idea of making a proper record with her. The outcome was the highly sought-after disco oddity "Moving", most copies of which were destroyed due to a lack of commercial success. Now getting a second chance, "Moving" is as strong as Austrian disco productions from that era come: slow, bouncy, full of personality and consistently surprising. So, three cheers to coincidences and random ideas in recording studios. This is a most memorable 7".

Pursuing their explorations in the vast corridors of international Funk and Disco music, Favorite Recordings and Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart present us Voilaaa. Following a first 2 tracks single acclaimed this summer and clearly revealing the Afro-Disco inspiration of this new experience, here comes Voilaaa’s first album, titled On te l’avait dit.Under the imprint of the label and after their long years of collaboration in the achievement of projects such as The Dynamics, Mr President, Mr Day, Patchworks Galactic Project, or Taggy Matcher, the insatiable French producer therefore returns to his first love and specialty, Disco music, staring this time at the African and Caribbean influences.Indeed, as everywhere in the 70s and 80s, Funk and Disco movements were extremely influential in these regions, and in most cases, the combination of the festive, yet sometime futile nature of Disco, and the instinctive, deep, sometimes rough nature of African music, sounds like a perfect balance. Aiming to find back this energy and specific sound, Patchworks quickly began producing a few tracks; Using his unique and ruling beats and bass lines as foundations, this time he dresses all with guitars, keyboards and brass distorted with vintage and DIY effects pedals and boxes. Surrounded by a very dynamic music scene, where there is no shortage of artists with African origins, Patchworks decided to work with local singers, even if it means to accompany them on unusual musical paths. A more than successful bet with a result surprising of authenticity, as it’s unveiled recently with two explosive titles alongside Sir Jean and Pat Kalla, both from a musical background as rich than different.The 10 tracks of the album are instantly up to expectations, chaining hit after hit tirelessly, and offering a few more brilliant collaborations with Renaud Bilombo, but also label mates Hawa and Fouley Badiaga. With this new escapade, Patchworks and Favorite Recordings make a strike again and confirm them a little more if needed, as the true warrant of the modern dancefloors’ loyalty to the spirit of their mythical ancestors ... Voilaaa tout (Thaaat’s all)!!

**** DIZONORD DEADSTOCK ****Dizonord is proud to bring you the last vinyl release of Databass Records’ veteran AJ McGhee previously released in the US back in 2006 ! AJ McGhee is renowned for his productions for Detroit’s hip hop / gangsta rap band Da-Omen and his label Thorn Entertainment is still one of the best kept secrets for all Ghettotech and Bass Music lovers ! Indeed all his electro / booty productions have this genuine ghetto / rap approach to it !