12"

La culture des clubs en France aurait été différente sans Micky Milan (de son vrai nom Milan Zdravkovic). Il est l'un des véritables pionniers de ce que l'on appelle aujourd'hui le French Boogie.Tout a commencé alors qu'il était le DJ attitré du très populaire club L'échappatoire, à Clichy sous Bois, en banlieue parisienne. À l'époque, il était en relation avec Champs Disques, le magasin le plus branché situé sur les Champs Élysées, et avait un accès privilégié aux meilleurs maxis américains, faisant de son club le bastion incontesté du disco-funk.Fait significatif, il est l'un des très rares artistes français signés sur le légendaire label américain Salsoul avec le titre "Quand tu danses".Club culture in France would have been different if not for Micky Milan (real name Milan Zdravkovic). He is one of the true trailblazers of what is known today as French Boogie.It all started when he was the in-house DJ of the highly popular club L'échappatoire in the Parisian suburb of Clichy sous Bois. In those days, he was well connected with Champs Disques, back then, the hippest record shop located on the Champs Élysées and had privileged access to the best imported U.S. 12" thus making his club the undisputed stronghold of disco funk.A significant fact is that he is one of the very few French artists signed on the legendary U.S. Salsoul record label with the song "Quand tu danses".Teaming up with funkateer and close friend François Feldman, the track was recorded with Feldman on keyboards along with the Gibson Brothers on percussions, drums & keyboards, a French group, originally hailing from Martinique and Kamil Rustam who later went on to work to the who's who of soul and funk music adding his powerful licks of funky guitar. The influence of Lamont Dozier of "Going back to my roots" fame is that of a tutelary god all over these tracks. The goal behind this EP is to highlight Micky Milan’s multifaceted musical talents, from disco funk to jazz and synth pop. The record contains two tracks never previously released on vinyl, the groovesque “Paris amour” built on guitar riffs carrying the sexy voice of Alexandra and the instrumental version of "Quand tu danses" epitomizing the essence of funk and the power of a sound on par with the American productions of the time. Hail to the pioneer.

Following up from their smash collaboration with live band Cotonete, Dimitri From Paris and Heartbeat records shop boss Melik Bencheikh, team up once again to launch their new label, Le HeartBeat.In an ongoing mission to champion the live side of dance music, they locked themselves up in a studio, with the ace players of new Parisian combo, Chatobaron. The first outing on Le HeartBeat draws from the cheekiness of London’s Punk Funk, meeting with New York’s Disco Not Disco. The all acoustic performance invokes the spirits of Ian Dury, Arthur Russell, bouncing on the walls of the Paradise Garage, to enter the soul of Chatobaron’s expert players, each at the top of their game.Dimitri gets on mixing duties and makes sure the rhythm section keeps the dancefloor busy. In his signature roller coaster style, he provides vocal and dub versions, chock full of breaks and drops. Working with seasoned players, using the best of vintage and modern recording techniques, Le HeartBeat Records aims to bring decades of record digging culture onto todays dance floors.

Atangana Records is back with a new track from Henry Wenceslas Thénard.From the collection Maxi Disco "Single 12" since it's creation in 2018,Atangana brings back to life a Zouk Funk Disco bomb of the album Laser released in 1978

Repress, blue marbled limited version

Vive La Musique brings us yet another magical release, compiling four stunning tracks from South African bass player - Sipho Gumede. Taken from two rare albums originally released in the 80s, the music blends South African roots with Boogie influences and is the follow-up to the hugely successful "Jika Jika" reissue.The release was born through label founder Aroop Roy's relentless search for a copy of the 1983 Peace album, which led to him tracking down the original producer - Greg Cutler - a key figure in South African music from that period and regular collaborator with Sipho. Aroop was blown away by "Uthinina" and "Bayabizana" - two unique tracks, featuring haunting Zulu vocals, African jazz flavours, and epic changes over hypnotic grooves."Something to Say" and "City of Gold" were recorded a few years later in the world-renowned Battery Mobile Studio. Sipho had been working there with Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbulu and their influences can be heard, with drum machines and American Boogie instrumentation laying the foundation for powerful vocal lines sung in English, with soul and gospel sensibility. The 12" comes with extensive liner notes from Greg Cutler, talking about his time in South Africa. He recalls his experience as a White producer, working with Black musicians under the challenges of apartheid and describes his musical journey with Sipho Gumede, with intriguing details on how the music and production evolved.

Freestyle reissue another 12" of prime UK boogie funk - this time giving a fresh cut and press to Bogaz's "I've Got Love", originally released back in 1983 on Dave Stevens' AGR Records imprint.Bogaz were a short-lived group formed of seasoned musicians and session players Raff Peermamode, Trevor Murrell & Randy Hope-Taylor of Congress, Cargo & Incognito fame. I've Got Love represents one of only two 12"s ever released by the group.

Freestyle serve up a slept-on piece of music history with the first ever reissue of Chartz "Girls World" - a prime 1983 boogie-funk groover from out of Wolverhampton, and the first ever release from a songwriting and production partnership that would go on to hit the pop music big time!