Straight from the vaults of San Francisco's Fantasy Records and New York City's Vanguard Records. The influential independent labels put out highly danceable disco & dance music in the '70s and '80s, and the 30-plus tracks collected on this 5LP release lit up dancefloors across the country. More than that, For Discos Only - Indie Dance From Fantasy & Vanguard is a look at the musical links that connect the funk & R&B of the '70s to genres that would develop in the '80s, and further, many of the remixes and extended versions here are blueprints of "an innovative music practice that prefigured house, techno, and hip-hop." Check out Shep Pettibone's remix of Carol Williams' "No One Can Do It (Like You)," or Sylvester's "Dance (Disco Heat)," one of the more well known tracks on the boxset. Fever's "Beat of the Night" enjoyed similar mainstream success, and although not on the same level, Player's Association's "Turn The Music Up!" and Ring's "Savage Lover" certainly received some radio play. Then there are the more authentic club cuts, like Spider Webb's "I Don't Know What's on Your Mind" or Free Expression's "Chill Out," and a rare instrumental 12" single version of Sylvester's "I Need Somebody Tonight."

• remastered
• music label: Craft Recordings 2018

reviewed by pocari papi 08/18