Various - The Array Vol 1

Time for some nu-disco action, pop pickers. This five-track EP is a vinyl sampler for the forthcoming The Array compilation on Nang, which on this evidence should be worth a punt.

Things kick off with a 2009 remastered version of Space's classic Magic Fly, then we head to Slovenia for spanking new cuts from Ichisan & Nakova and Sare Havlicek. Pionir from the former is fairly typical of the kind of narcotic synth-pop that makes up most of the current wave of 'nu-disco', albeit with a slightly funkier edge; White Russian (Lazy Summer) from the latter is a more downtempo affair with a Barry White-esque vocal that could see it doing duty on Dulux adverts if it's not careful. The EP then closes with Foto's No Protection, another midtempo cut with a quite 80s-sounding vocal. Foto being none other than Kevin 'DOP' Swain and chums, don't you now. Now there's a man who knows a groovy beat when he hears one (ho ho ho).

To be honest, none of the tracks here have me hitting 'repeat' constantly, but all would be more than playable in the context of a (particularly chilled) nu-disco set. It's also good to see the music spreading beyond the unholy triangle of Norway, Hoxton and the East Village… though given Slovenia's proximity to northern Italy, where all this cosmic disco shit kicked off in the first place 25 years ago, it's perhaps not surprising.

About the label: The Nang/Tirk family are, of course, some of the leading purveyors of forward-thinking, discotheque-inclined music around, and as such should need no introduction from me. It may however interest you to know that they've also got a Space 'best of' compilation in the pipeline… find out more by clicking here.