Review: Brandon Markell Holmes - TRY Remixes (toucan sounds)

Well, it's safe to say that there's no shortage of folks in the queue to remix any tracks with Brandon Markell Holmes' voice on them, but you've got to try your hardest to get on the list for his track 'TRY' and you've got six of the best on this hot 8 track release!

Brandon moved from Chicago to NYC where he's attracted attension from the likes of Derrick Carter, Dee Diggs, musclecars and more to do a remix of his songs after he appeared on Gorillaz album ,‘Humanz'.

And the gang are back again for a look at the album 'TRY' that came out last year and the track 'Fuller' (see review HERE) got one of our favourite world wide DJs, the constantly busy Aroop Roy.  

And another one of our long-time favourites is Byron The Aquarius and he gets ontop of the pumping 'Go Ahead' like a train (which is always a good thing in our books and don't forget the original 'Go Ahead' - see review HERE) and then you got Bad Colours (he of 'Promise' - see HERE) deals with the post-watershed late night weather forecast.

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One of the many stand-out tracks on the album was 'Es Pa Ti' featuring label boss, Robert PM and whilst we're talking of fast trains, you get that on Moon Boots' remix and radio edit.

Dee Diggs sounds so good with BMH they are clearly best buds (see 'Toss It') and the Diggs' remix of 'It Goes On' is the longest on here as just over 6 minutes.  This would usually mean it's our favourite, and it's very close, but if you pushed me to it's down to the 808 Beach (yep, see review HERE) with their remix of the title track 'TRY' (extended and normal for some retro synth disco heaven).

TRY all you might, you might not a better collection of dancefloor groovers than this lot in just one album, so don't try; TRY remixes is the answer.

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: https://music.toucansounds.com/tryremixes

Artist: Brandon Markell Holmes

Title: Try Remixes

Release date: 15th May, 2026

Label: Toucan Sounds

Cat. No: YTCW167

Format: 12" Vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Various Artists - XPRESS Singles Vol. 2: Nothing But The Music / 20 Buck Funk (The Disco Express)

After the XPRESS Singles Vol. 1, service is resumed with Vol. 2 as your 4 carriage (track) train of "funk, soul, nu-disco, house".

The next train of singles after XPRESS Singles Vol. 1 release (see HERE) sees XPRESS Singles Vol.2 leave the platform and its a certified dance floor weapon with London duo Dirty Supercar with a brand new cut, 'Nothing But The Music' in original and Angelo Ferreri remix versions.

We know Dirty Supercar from 'Get Down Boogie'/'Body Slam' (see review HERE) and this track is supported by the soulful vocals of Elliot Chapman with some super 70s strings.   

Ferreri version is a bit of a slow burner but it builds to peak time levels: this guy knows what he'd doing.

But hold on, what's this '20 Buck Funk' on a return ticket from the Château d'Amour residency? 

Bustin' Loose's love letter to James Brown

 (see review HERE).  This time it's the DE SOFFER remix and it's got to be a "stand out" we demand the funk, "the 20 Buck Funk".

And you know that 'Hot' by La Felix was melting (see review HERE) well, it's back and DE SOTTER extended for more dancefloor action.  Both DE SOTETER remixes feature West Coast's Relaye on the rap that moves the crowd to the front for the heatwave.

A seriously strong vinyl package from front to back. Pressed in a limited run of 300, and already sounding exceptional on wax, this is one for the collectors and the selectors alike.

BUY LINK / Pre-Order: https://thediscoexpress.bandcamp.com/album/xpress-singles-vol-2-nothing-but-the-music-20-buck-funk

Nothing But The Music https://go.protonradio.com/r/rlQyAH8AtCSbE

20 Buck Funk https://go.protonradio.com/r/rl2BFofbSChUA

e & Felmann,Funky Love EPThe Disco Express,7

Artist: Various Artists (Dirty Supercar, Angelo Ferreri, Bustin’ Loose, Relaye, La Felix)

Title: XPRESS Singles Vol. 2

Release date: 15th May, 2026
Label : The Disco Express
Catalog Number : XPRESS109
Format:  Vinyl / Digital / Streaming / Bandcamp

Review: Did Virgo ft. Mickey D'Lange - Dream Alone (inc. Black Spuma, JKriv & Marc Brauner Remixes) (Ravanelli Disco Club)

If you can imagine an Italian football player with a high level of panache that's just moved from Middlesbrough to Marseille, it's going to leave an impression - and here's another big impression as Did Virgo and Mickey D'Lange get together on the Ravanello Disco Club label to 'Dream Alone'!

It's hard to believe that there was a time when footie stars at the top of their game would move from Juventus (Italy) to Teesside for a couple of years and then to Marseille all in the late 90s: well that's what Fabrizio Ravanelli did and could it have been to inspiration fo the nu-disco label Ravanelli Disco Club?  I'd like to think so and even more so as this new release is like a relaunch after 18-months out (of the first team) with a big re-signing on vinyl of Did Virgo with guest Mickey L'Ange on a bouncey original track 'Dream Alone' where acid touches the Empire (well, it's only a little passed May 4th - be with you).

Not only that, what would possibly the most active record label boss of Razor-N-Tape, DJ, Producer, JKriv (he of 'Real Ones' - see review HERE) make of a remix?  Perhap, not surprisingly, he builds up from a slow-mo with the sleazy synth wobble with the percussion taking front row of the main stand.

And now you've got the feel for it, Marc Brauncer remixes pushes you onto the TGV for some hi-speed acid disco that's mad rave up whilst Black Spuma manages to fit it all into one big 6:29 dream sequence.

This 12" is far more Marseille than Middlesbrouugh and great fun for a DJ set that'll fit a party anywhere.

 

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: DID VIRGO feat MICKEY L'ANGE - Dream Alone Vinyl at Juno Records.

Title: Did Virgo ft. Mickey D'Lange

Title: Dream Alone (inc. Black Spuma, JKriv & Marc Brauner Remixes)

Release date: 15th May, 2026

Label : Ravanelli Disco Club

Catalog Number: RDC020

Format: 12" vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp  

Review: Number - Discoid (Ramrock Red Records)

Ramrock Red have finally pollinated the new single from Number with a big 'Discoid' that's template for the dancefloor.

If you're following the curious evolution of Number from 'Le Boucle Nouveau' (see review HERE)  and 'Pollinate' album (see review HERE), this 'A Certain Radio, Talking Heads, P-Funk' hybrid project.  Taking this single from the album, now with vocal and instrumental versions, D-I-S-C-O-I-D dancefloor is aiming high this summer holiday with pollination potential

As we know 'Discoid' has that disco groove and old skool vocoder that seems to be trendy once more but don't turn off as it's knob setting is low so it doesn't disctract as would an AI would - suspect these guys love their analog equipment.

We're told Ali and Rich (aka Number) grew up with "the dirty disco bass lines, noisy drum machines, wonky percussion, leering live drums, jagged guitar melodies and uplifting soulful songs of the 80's" with their original incarnation as Red Snapper that flowered in the 90s sharing stages/studios with The Prodigy, Björk and Massive Attack, ACR, The Sugarhill Gang , Edwyn Collins, The Sabres of Paradise, David Holmes and more.

BBC Radio 6's Lauren Laverne is a big fan of Number and get ready to move your 'Discoid' butt. 

LINK / PRE-ORDER: RRR095 Number - Discoid | Number | Ramrock

Artist: Number

Title: Discoid 
Release date: 5th May, 2026
Label: Ramrock Red Records
Cat. No: RRR095
Format: Bandcamp / Digital

Review: Detroit Rising - Lush Grooves Vol. 1 (DownJazz Records)

Detroit Rising, "A Cosmic Jazz-Funk Adventure", is on the rise again with Vol. 1 of some 'Lush Grooves'.

Nothing to do with the LUSH's fresh handmade cosmetics for "Vegetarian & Cruelty Free" bath bombs but as explosive as the 2023 Remixes release that featured our favourites Jimpster, Sean McCabe and Kaidi Tatham. 

Well Kaidi and Jimpster are back for this 5-track EP along with Kai Alcé (famous for his NDATL remixes), DJ Spinna's Galactic Soul Remix (last seen on Alistair Colling vs. Tortured Soul ft. Sabina ,'When You Find Your Love... Hold On' with new DJ Spinna - see review HERE) and Matica.

But that's only half the story as this project is connected to the label's recent album by Mark Adams & The Ubiquity Band (see review HERE); Mark being Roy Ayers' band's Musical Director for 25 years! 

Opening with Kai Alcé's BBQ remix of 'Talking Walls', well , if they could talk and dance they'd say this is the one that's so LUSH with big strings - no vegetarian BBQ here - or perhaps it is?

So you've got you're value track there but wait!  A cover version of 'You've Got The Feeling' as a Jimpster Dub!  You're kidding?  But so true and talk about bringing "fresh energy" to the project.  Not only that, DJ Spinna does the same with 'Open Letter', taken fromt he album, that's more basic Ayers' as in soulful vocal, horns, synths and of course, vibes.

 

Kaidi Tatham is the "godfather of Broken Beat" and another UK heart touched by Ayers over his many jazz-funk years.  And you'd be surprised his 'Day Dreaming' mix is exactly that, deep soul dreamstate that's make you want to "kiss and hug"- until it flip into a synthy jazz-funk wobble board.  The set ends with Matica doing his 'Funk Dub' Love NSA of 'Talking Walls' which is the most mixed of the lot - brilliant!

Whether you have grown up with Ayers' music or never heard of him - this project (as album and remix) is mor than a fitting tribute to the great man as the great maverick/innovator that he was.

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Detroit Rising - Lush Grooves, Vol. 1 on Traxsource 

Artist: Detroit Rising 

Title: Lush Grooves Vol. 1 EP

Release date: 8th May, 2026

Label : Downjazz Records

Catalog Number : DJRLUSH001

Format : 12" LP / Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Tema Due (Nicola Conte & Nico Lahs) - Universo Astratto (Schema Records)

Tema Due's album, 'Universo Astratto' is 'THE WAY' 

You'll recall EP1 and EP2? There's no EP 3 as they've gof on straight into the double Vinyl LP 'Universo Astratto' for the electronic, spiritual, jazzdance album of the year by Tema Due, the immaculate pairing of Nicola Conte & Nico Lahs! 

The album features an exceptional cast of musicians — including pianists Giovanni Guidi and Pietro Lussu, percussionists Gabriel Prado and Abdissa Assefa, Magnus Lindgren on winds and Hammond, and vocalists Lalin St. Juste, Siya Makuzeni, Nina Miranda, and Toco.

More than a club record, Universo Astratto is a manifesto — treating the dance floor as a space for collective awareness, inviting listeners into an immersive world of ancestral grooves and cosmic jazz designed to transcend as much as it moves.

BUY LINK: Music | Schema Records

Artist: Tema Due (Nicola Conte, Nico Lahs)

Title:  Universo Astratto 

Release date: 8th May, 2026

Label : Schema Records

Catalog Number : SC548

Format: 2 x LP Vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Bolbec - Foutu Félin (Batov Records)

Childhood friends and multi-instrumentalists both, Axel Concato and Barth Corbelet are back with another fantastic album crammed with your favourite influences with 'Foutu Félin' and there's more than a bit of musical fun in there too!

Bolbec's' album ;Victime De l'aube' was deep in the OST world of Piero Piccioni, Michel Legrand or Jonny Trunk's favourite, Basil Kirchin with a more than healthy dollop of library (see review HERE).

I can't say 'Foutu Félin' takes us further than 'Feuille D'orage' in that you can can still find a bossa theme next to a 60s gangster jazz noir (in a bathroom!) which in diggers terms is still "worth the price of the album" on its own.

In fact, we're told it's "richly cinematic collection of instrumental music that feels less like a record and more like an imaginary film — one where melody, harmony and rhythm take centre stage in deliberate contrast to the texture-obsessed trends of contemporary scoring."

Like a lost John Barry?   And there's some great flute-gang vibes going on, like 'En Voiture' as a hip-hop beats blues walk; could Dingwalls eventually have a Backroom? This would be where you'd find me totally chilled with 'Le Fou-Rire' along with 'Fanny au Phare''s trumpet!

 

And perhaps it's because these 10 track have a strong sense of française from ya overflowing 'Café Frappé' to 'Terrassée' it still sounds so familiar yet it's new!  And it's no surprise that it's this good as he duo are again supported by Ben Lamdin and Nostalgia 77 (still love 'The Lonliest Flower In The Village; see review HERE).

Batov Records 'traditional' Middle Eastern Grooves (see review HERE) and if you have had enough of dusty Bruton / KPM / Chappell and the like, swing onto this is the must summer album.

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Foutu Félin | Bolbec

Artist: Bolbec

Title:  Foutu Félin 

Release date: 8th May, 2026

Label: Batov Records 

Cat. No: BTR136

Format:  LP vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp

Review: Rosa Brunello - We Are Surging Waters (Domanda Music)

This is the third album by bassist/composer Rosa Brunello on Domanda Music and 'We Are Surging Waters' has lubricated our world / jazz / experimental / dance view like a refreshing spring!

This is bonkers!  Can you imagine Batov Records and the Noslagia 77 team taking on Derek Bailey with Eno (in his non-ambient periods) a la Ze Records on Radio 3 with some jazzdance free style percussion?  And then some!

This is no Ellie Wilson 'Listen To The River' (see review HERE) but you've got to be 'Living Upstream' to get this.  Rosa wasn't in this mood when she was gigging with Dee Dee Bridgewater (Ed. perhaps she was?) as this is the best "headlong rush shaped by extensive improvisation and reduced post-production, capturing the album’s raw energy and sense of forward motion" track you're likely to hear anyway.

Supported by a large supergroup featuring Yazz Ahmed and Tamar 'Don't Be Cruel' Osborn (see HERE) the album stretches (more like a rack than yoga) from Middle Eastern traditions to improvisation, disco, jazz and dub.

Wonder if Rosa is up for a remix of 'Listen To The River' or Bolbec (see HERE, new album coming soon) but I think we could do with long versions of some of the tracks, particularly the synth mad 'Witching Hour'.

I'd like to think if Mingus was around today, this is what he'd be doing!

BUY LINK / Pre-Order: We Are Surging Waters | Rosa Brunello

Artist: Rosa Brunello -

Title: We Are Surging Waters

Release date: 6th May, 2026
Label : Domanda Music
Catalog Number : TBC
Format:  Vinyl / Digital / Streaming / Bandcamp

Rosa Brunello: Composition, Electric Bass, Double Bass, and Djembe
Yazz Ahmed: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Tamar Osborn: Baritone Saxophone, Flute
Luca Tapino: Trombone
Enrico Terragnoli: Guitar, Synthesizer
Maurice Louca: Synthesizer (We Are Surging Waters, Witching Hour)
Marco Frattini: Drums, Percussion
Tommaso Cappellato: Drums, Percussion (We Are Surging Water, Fish Without A Bicycle, Living Upstream, Memory In The Making)
Rabih Beaini: Mixing, Sound Design

 

Review: Marina Trench - Watching Back EP (Sweet State)

French producer and DJ Marina Trench releases her 'Watching Back' EP - look into her eyes, tell me this isn't "future soul music, dance driven electronica" house music! 

Making a name for herself with a 3 year residency at Paris' Rex Club plus DJing internationally and having releases on Wolf Music and Razor'n'Tape to name just two labels, we prepared to be taken aback with this 4-tracker EP.

'What I Do' opens to what you might think is euro-pop soul but there's hidden depths to it ison repeat listens as 'Get High (If You're Looking For Love)' which is Chic does odd-ball space synth 'n' piano house that nicely fits in and out (of love).

Like as merger ot the A-side, the flip is big as 'Shake Zone' with vocals by Yaje and the instrumental club mix version keeps us moving alt the way from "versatile pop vocals " to "unwavering commitment to joy". 

I was having a deep conversation with Industry/DJ/producer the other day about the future of house etc (you know, deep stuff with a couple of drinks) and we came to the conclusion that what we all need is more "fun stuff"; and this is exactly what we were talking about - Shake Zone club mix people!

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: https://marinatrench.bandcamp.com/

Artists: Marina Trench

Release: Watching Back EP

Release Date: 8th May, 2026

Label: Sweet State

Cat. No. TBC

Format:  Digital / Bandcamp 

Review: The Ruffcats ft. Doug Shorts - I Ain't Worried (inc. Erobique Remix)(Sonar Kollektiv)

You'll recall RAH & The Ruffcats on Sonar Kollektiv from a couple of years ago; well they've removed RAH and got Doug Shorts, who luckily ain't worried about a thing at all on this new single, 'I Ain't Worried' that includes an Erobique Remix!

RAH & The Ruffcats' 'Wake Up' got the Yoruba Soul mixes treatment (see review HERE) and the album, 'Orile To Berlin' (see review HERE) really showcased the 'supergroup backing band', The Ruffcats (from Berlin) and now they front the mighty fine soulful voice of Doug Shorts.

In that soulfully downtempo of a Jeb Loy Nichols (on Timmion - see HERE) at one extreme, with the original version in it's 60s/70s vibe, or at the other, a Jono McCleery album 'Reconcile' (see review HERE) where the remix takes it into a Northern Soul Modern Room / downtempo soul. 

You can see why there's already a high demand for the old skool 7" vinyl as it's aimed squarely at soul lovers, DJs, and collectors alike: a record that feels just as at home in a crate next to vintage originals as it does in a contemporary DJ set.

 

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: https://sonarkollektiv.lnk.to/iaintworried

Title: The Ruffcats ft. Doug Shorts

Title: I Ain't Worried (inc. Erobique Remix)

Release date: 8th May, 2026

Label : Sonar Kollektiv

Catalog Number : SK560D

Format: Digital / Bandcamp