Los Amigos Invisibles & Dimitri From Paris – Glad To Know You

Proving that you can't keep a good tune down, that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, that talent borrows, genius steals and, er, other platitudes, three new releases for ya tonight that all, one way or another, pay homage to classic tracks of yesteryear.

First up, this cover of Chas Jankel's Glad To Know You from 1982 – something of a fave on the disco/boogie floors and now re-rendered in remarkably faithful fashion by Venezuela's Los Amigos Invisibles and their regular collaborator Dimitri From Paris. Their version is just a wee bit housier than the original and comes accompanied by an instrumental, but the most exciting news here is the inclusion of an 11-minute-long Ray Mang Flying Dub.

If the words "11-minute Ray Mang dub" don't get you at least a LITTLE excited then you're probably reading this blog by mistake. If they do, then we'll just say it's every bit as lo-slung, groovy and slightly bonkers in a vaguely Levan-esque manner as you'd expect, and leave it at that.

Beards and cardigans are optional; checking for this isn't.

Out: This week

About: This comes courtesy of uber-hip German label Gomma. Click for the website, or here's their Facebook and Soundcloud pages as well.

David Garfit – Warning

Now here's a surprise – and a very pleasant one at that. See, Nocturnal Recordings to date have ploughed a fairly steady disco-house furrow… not that yours truly has any problem with that. It's fair to say some of their releases have veered towards the, er, 'accessible' end of that particular spectrum as well, but horses for courses and all that.

Tonight, though, the label throws us something of a curveball because what we have here is a slab of straight-up retrofied boogie/electrofunk… done very well. So well, in fact, that were you to hear this on the floor at Horse Meat Disco (for instance), you'd be forgiven for assuming it was a long-lost nugget beamed straight in from 1983.

Mike Gillenwater's remix on the B introduces some subtle filtering to give the track a slightly more house-ified feel but the overall retro tone remains, making this something of a surprise disco/boogie gem.

Out: This week

About: Nocturnal Recordings can be found on Facebook and MySpace

Awon & Bedmo Disco – B-Funk EP

Okay, I have to admit a family connection here, cos Bedmo Disco are two former colleagues of mine from the iDJ days. But mates or not, I wouldn't review this if it wasn't actually a good record. I'd just mutter some excuse about being busy, or the dog eating my review copy, or something.

But it is good, so I don't have to. Just as well, cos they know damn well I don't have a dog.

Anyway, so what you get are two tracks apiece from the Bedmo boys and Awon, all four of which are lo-slung funkers influenced heavily by early 80s electro, electrofunk and proto-garage. And when I say 'heavily' I mean heavily! Awon's Good Lovin' comes on like a lost Levan dub of a Patrice Rushen nugget and is one highlight, but mention must also be made of Bedmo Disco's Illusion, which will be any sample-spotter's delight – listen carefully (or not so carefully in some cases) for cheeky bites from Ma Foom Bey, Weekend, Walking On Sunshine and other 80s classics*.

If there's a criticism here, it's that this doesn't really go much beyond pastiche. But that's me over-compensating by being harshly objective – you could, after all, say the same thing about a million retro Chi-town housers I've reviewed glowingly on here. That minor cavil notwithstanding, this is pretty much can't-fail stuff for your nu-disco floors.

Out: This week

About: This is number six from the Bedmo Disco stable, which is the boys' own label, obviously, and based right here in sunny Bristol. It's also the first that's actually all original productions, the rest having been boots and re-edits, so it's good to see 'em stepping things up a notch.

Oh yeah, and it's on strictly limited blue vinyl as well! Which is always nice.

PS: Incidentally, one of the very first records I ever owned was on blue vinyl… an HMV seven-inch from the 1950s for kids, with the multiplication tables 1-7 set to music. I've still got it, if you don't believe me. I also had a red vinyl 7-inch about the littlest fire engine, but sadly I trod on that one and broke it, aged about six. I should have listened to my Mum and tidied my room, shouldn't I?

* Including one stupidly well-known electro anthem whose name, frustratingly, has been avoiding me all day. Though on the plus side this did mean I at least got to spend a pleasant hour or two rinsing the likes on Whodini and Strafe on YouTube while at the day job this morning.

Martin Brodin – Agogo

Some funk-fuelled nu-disco/boogie grooves here from Sweden's Martin Brodin, coming on his own MB Disco imprint.

There are four mixes of Agogo in total: the Original, two from Bottin and one from Copycat. The Original has a house-y feel at the start, a fat-ass b-line and carnival-esque percussion, while the Copycat Remix does much the same but with the housier sections truncated and the boogie bassline brought to the fore. For me, though, it's Bottin that takes top honours with his typically analogue-heavy take.

Look out for an album coming soon…

Out: This week

About: You can find MB Disco on Soundcloud and Facebook.

August Rush - Outta Dreams

Time to dig out those white socks and burgundy leather blouson jackets with big shoulderpads, as Incepto Music take us back to the 80s with two tracks of straight-up retro electrofunk/boogie.

So respectful are August Rush to the music they're paying homage to here, in fact, that I don't really have much else to say about either the title track or B-side Olds Cool (though the latter would have been a clever title, if they'd only put in the apostrophe). This is pretty much out-and-out pastiche, but if you like it lazy, laidback and above all smooooth then you won't go wrong here.

Out: This week

About: You can find Russian-run, LA-based Incepto Music at their website, on Facebook and on Soundcloud.

James Silk - Sweet Turning Sherbert EP

"It's that man again," as 1930s radio comic Tommy Handley used to say*. I was just saying last week how you need to be keeping an eye on Mr Silk and now here is once more, with a very varied three-tracker that shows just how versatile he can be.

Opener Sweet Spot is an abstract, ethereal and at times near-ambient offering with a female vocal, that could appeal equally to fans of deep house, deep techno and the more esoteric end of the future garage spectrum. Something of a home-listening delight, then. Orange Sherbert is a more obviously club-friendly affair, still very deep but with a fat, funk-fuelled Chicago-sounding b-line that should get booties shaking nicely.

And then finally there's Turning Over. This starts out sounding like yet another midtempo East London tech-house workout… but then after a couple of minutes slowly starts bringing in elements of boogie. Soaring strings, squelchy synth-bass and, eventually, a heavily filtered male vocal inna D-Train/Atlantic Starr kinda vein (it's probably a sample and I should probably recognise it, but you can't win 'em all) all join the party, making for a cut that starts out in darkness and ends in bright sunshine.

Quality stuff from Mr Silk once more, nuff said.

Out: This week

About: This one comes on a brand new label, Form And Function… which turns out to be yet another imprint under the Endemic Digital banner.

*Although how I know this, I'm not entirely sure.

ALBUM Wagon Cookin' - Eleven

It's been eleven years since Wagon Cookin', AKA brothers Javier and Luis Garayalde, first started releasing house records, making their debut on Chris Duckenfield's Odori imprint. Plus, of course, it's 2011. Hence the name of this long-player, which is actually their fourth.

Eleven sees them pursuing a slightly poppier direction than on some of their previous, more nu-jazz/bruk beat-inspired outings, but that's no bad thing. Things get off to a flying start with No Bossy Girl, a glorious slice of shiny grown-up house-y disco pop reminiscent of classic Om material from the early 00s (think early Kaskade or Andy Caldwell)… other comparisons might be Stonebridge circa the under-rated Can't Get Enough album, or the UK's own Cooly's Hot Box.

Elsewhere, Feel So Good is in a similar vein to No Bossy Girl, while Dance Dance is a Cameo-esque slab of retro 80s-style electrofunk with a naggingly familiar riff. Music Is Not Far is another boogie homage, Sao Paulo provides the more lounge-y, downtempo kicks and Come Into The Light is the album's most out-and-out house cut, while Nicest Aligned with its female rap will please the ageing b-boys and b-girls out there.

Eleven isn't, perhaps, an album that will change your life. But it's one that's worth checking for sure – and one that might make more return visits to the CD deck than you at first suspect.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Smoke N' Mirrors via San Francisco's mighty Om Records. I must admit, some of Om's output in recent years has been a little TOO polished and commercial for me, but this album sees them straddling the accessible/credible divide nicely, just like they used to. So a big shout out to Gunnar & Chris if they ever happen to read this, be in touch guys, it's been too long!

You can find out all you need to know about Wagon Cookin' themselves here.

Christophe – The Force

This one comes at you on Futureboogie, about whom more below! But as for the release itself… well yeah, 'future boogie' does pretty much cover it, as we take a trip back to the early 80s but in a 21st century kinda way.

SO, the original of The Force is essentially all about a big squelchy analogue bassline of the kind that emerged in the early 80s electrofunk era and was last heard during the early days of acid house. You then get a Julio Bashmore Piano Mix, in which the bassline squelch is dropped and instead there's lots of… well, yes, piano, in a vaguely Balearic kinda fashion. Lukas' rub is a more dubbed-out take on the original, and finally PBR Streetgang (AKA the Leeds-based duo of Bonar Bradberry and Tom Thorpe) serve up a mix that's also mostly kinda like the original, but has a slightly proggy feel too, in the manner of all that 'Scandolearic' bizniss.

It's a strong EP all round, but for me the Original or Lukas win out – gotta love those early 80s basslines.

Out: This week

About: Futureboogie the label is only two releases old, but Futureboogie the club night has been running in TIWWD's home of Bristol for years (the best part of a decade, in fact). Promoted by former iDJ scribe Steve 'Joe90' Nickoll, they started out pushing bruk beat and nu-jazz at a night called Seen but in recent years have gone more down the nu-disco route… and you can find out all about their many and varied adventures by clicking here. Apologies Mr N if any of the history is a bit garbled!