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Number 3 for Disques Sinthomme features the smooth grooves of Beat Broker's "Cactus Cool(1)," a breezy balearic joint that'll go well with your cosmic set. Label head Citizen Kane gives the track a more acoustic pumping feel on his "White Night Riot...
expand review Mix(2)," while Lars Behrenroth continues the mellow disco house vibes with "The Beach(3)" on the flip. Also features Smith & Mudd's mix of "The Beach(4)" which adds some funky guitar in the mix and is my pick of the bunch. -snackmaster
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So, Rong CEO DJ Spun tells me that there's a lot of crazy back-story behind this release... something about off-shore oil, bank accounts in the Bahamas, and the rich sons of plutocrats who happen to have themselves a jam-band. Regardless, all the...
expand review educated dance-music consumer needs to know is that the fine standards of the Rong Music imprint have not suffered any ill effects by such intrigue - this 12" is another winner. The original mix(1) is kinda dubby and Material-sounding, albeit a bit more noodle-y than I'd like. But luckily the "Thick as Thieves" edit(2) does a lovely job of excising the aforementioned unpleasantries and turning the whole affair into nice DJ Harvey-esque groover; dubby in a King Sunny Ade kind of way, yet still chugging enough for the dancefloor. It kinda reminds me of Nick Chacona's "Band Practice" too, which is a good thing. Also includes a dub of the original and the DJ Harry version(3). This may be the wankiest review I've ever written, but trust me, it's a pretty good record. 4 tracks in all. -Dj Language
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Roy Dank's (a former Lab writer and mind behind the Pop Your Funk parties) Wurst Edits series has quickly established itself as the premiere stateside re-edit series (cool sleeves and logo helps). For the third installment, Dank has enlisted Rong's heavy hitter...
expand review Lee Douglas for a pair of obscure but ultimately playable edits. The lean and mean "Do Right(1)" is in the disco-funk vein with strongman vocals, nimble bass play, and a driving disco drums. Ungh! On the flip "Breakwind(2)" is quite a discovery and definitely playlist material. This punk funk sounding track is ridiculously hard with a rock solid rhythm section, airplane sound effects, and even a crowd noise breakdown for getting the crowd in a tizzy. Breakwind! -the mgmnt
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Mr. Kevorkian is still traveling into deep space, approaching his mid-fifties! Francois has inhabited a place where all record trends seem to be leading: the intersection of cosmic, dub, house, and techno sounds. "Road Of Life(1)" is a prime example of the...
expand review style, pitting rigid techno drums with more fluid "space" synths. Remixers Quiet Village (aka Joel Martin and Radio Slave), coming off an excellent Mudd remix on Rong, drop an even better version with a relentless (and perfectly EQ'ed) 4/4, and a slowly developing synth line that will have the crowd going mental (in the good way). This is one of those tracks that seems to have a brain of its own, let it work for you. -the mgmnt
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Free Blood sports an impressive resume for an unknown Brooklyn band. This year alone, they've opened up for Hot Chip's latest tour and released this single simultaneously on Rong and DFA. With the male-female chemistry, they remind me a bit of The...
expand review Kills but with more of the dance-y DFA vibe. There's two original tracks(1,2) here plus a dark disco remix(3) by Rong's Barfly. -the mgmnt
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The latest from these on-the-rise Brooklynites comes once again from both Rong AND DFA at the same time (talk about a good label deal), so if you haven't heard about these guys ilsten up. "Royal Family(1)" is a prime slice of modern...
expand review dance rock goodness that pushes the boundaries and blurs the edges. Slightly dark, but definitely danceable and with a quirky, artsy vibe. "Grumpy(2)" ups the BPMs to a speedy electro tempo adding funky bass and energetic vocals in the mix for a hip dance bomb... I can see both of these being played at bars in Williamsburg for the rest of the summer and then some! Of course you get the remix action - one from Brothers(3) who turn in a chuggin' electro version of "Royal Family" and one from UK DJ legend Greg Wilson(4) who does a dubbed out disco take on "Grumpy." -suicide bangs
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Gary Davis' lo-fi disco boogie funk bomb "The Professor's Here" gets the modernized revamp from UK DJ legend Greg Wilson and Rong representatives 40Thieves. The original(1) is the shit and can't be touched, so thankfully these dudes know what they're doing and...
expand review handle the track with the utmost respect to do it justice. Greg Wilson(2) adds a bumpin' 4x4 disco thump to the track giving it easy to mix in your house set and when those guitar licks and funky bassline kicks in it's a wrap! SF's 40 Thieves(3) beef up the drums as well, plus add some sick congas, percussion, and replayed analog bass to keep things movin' real smooth. Recommended. -snackmaster
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"Happy House(1)" is a new direction for the Juan Maclean, who seems to be veering away from the darkness of his last couple singles and into the bright light of big house anthems. The nearly 13-minute long(!) track was co-written by and...
expand review features the vocal excellence of LCD Soundsystem's Nancy Whang atop some bouncy bass and 90s style piano. Great stuff with an uplifting vibe without getting too corny. Flip features remixes by two NYC killers: a fantastic dub by longtime Lab amigo Prince Language(2) and an Italo-influenced cosmic burner from Rong's Lee Douglas(3). Three solid mixes; definitely recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Brooklyn's Lee Douglas is probably best known for his amazing new disco productions and remixes (ahem, on Rong and DFA) more than he is for his edits, but that doesn't mean he can't cut it up with the best of 'em. Here...
expand review he is representing on the second installment of Lovefingers' Black Disco series with that straight disco fire that's an excellent edition to your crate. Setting of the A-side at 45RPM's is the sensual disco sounds of "Cum N' Go(1)" complete with hot Spanish guitars and plenty of sexy "oohs" and "aahs" to get a steamy mood set. Play this one out till the break and be rewarded by a hype spaced-out breakdown. Flip the record (and don't forget to change speed to 33 1/3) and check the straight ahead disco boogie sounds of "Hide N' Seek(2)." Feeling the grown and sexy mood on this one. "Fuego (3)" seals the deal on a crazy cosmic foot-stompin' tip. Epic! -snackmaster
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Rong is back, remixing the 1989 Nu Groove classic "The True Story of House Music." First up, "The New Age of Faith(1)" is a slow burner, with an almost soundtrack quality to it. Mellow, yet deep, we are thrown into a dreamland...
expand review journey here - a great track for warming up the floors with. Next up, "The New Age Of Faith (Act 1 The Sea: Birth, Act 2 The Land: Life, Act 3 The Stars Faith In Heaven)(2)" really sounds like a play- with no beats, and different elements of the track appearing and disappearing. Last up, "Music (I’m So Alone) (3)" is a classic early 90's sounding house joint, with an old school male vocal layed on top of old school beats, and a dark bassline. Gotta love the "feeed meeee bass" sample, as well as the SUPER old school keys in there. Rong does it again! -Alison Tara
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This record has a gang of chunky tripped out beats that will appeal to almost everyone who takes a listen. There's tuff breaks, smooth downtempo, dirty disco, and house beats. These sound like track ideas that just never got finished, so they...
expand review pressed 'em as is. Doubles are probably needed to extend some of these cuts out a little, or get your quick mix on and do something creative. Side A starts with "Bunker Beat(1)," an uptempo broken beat jam with a dirty bass line and some reversed vocal samples. "Orange" is pumpin house beat that would sound progressive if it weren't for the thick ass beat and old school hand claps. "Mike's Monkey(2)" is an insane combo of b-boy breaks, brazilian cuica noises, and weird digital feedback. With a ton of clever beat drops and stops, the track keeps getting stranger and stranger but never loses its funky edge. The B-side takes a more downtempo approach with two really nice warm beats. "Tregay(3)" is a dubbed-out beat sounding kinda like Zeb without the middle eastern influence. "Slow and Low(4)" is probably the only full song on here, clocking in at six and a half minutes, and it's a keeper. Buttery downtempo with lots of dubby keys and chords, strange atmospheric samples, and a head-nodding beat. The final cut is called "Interlude" and could be used for just that, breaking up your set with a quirky chopped beat with tons of reverb on a percussive tabla loop. This is a cool record which any creative DJ should find some use for. And this most likely this won't be available for easy download, so all you Serato geeks who think they can mix without cue points and on-screen tempo displays may actually have to carry these on vinyl. Aww poor things... -SABO
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West Coast connection in effect on this one: Scotty Coats (took me a second to figure out why name was so familiar - dude was in charge of sales down @ Ubiquity, been receiving his emails for a while now) and Wes...
expand review the Mes (in my favourite name top 10 now), probably old compadres of Spun and Ben. The duo comes correct with a proper (non-demo) version of their "Double Fisted(1)" track and even get Norwegian disco wizard Prins Thomas to turn in his signature "Disko Miks(2)" of the track. There's actually two Prins Thomas versions on here, the other(3) is super extended with all kinds of funk guitar and instrumentation. Also includes the lo-fi rockin' sound of "R.I.P. Mike Conley(4)." -snackmaster
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