Dr. Z

With the 2016 Ibiza summer season in full swing, Dave 'Joey Negro' Lee has gathered together a bumper collection of label tracks that are currently doing the business on the White Isle. There are few surprises amongst the 28 selections - think swinging piano-house, soulful grooves, sun-kissed broken beat, contemporary disco reworks and synth-heavy boogie-house - but the quality threshold remains remarkably high throughout. Highlights include Lee's glistening 2016 re-rub of his vintage Doug Willis anthem "Spread Love", a deliciously loose and synth-laden Fouk rework of The Sunburst Band, the bad-ass boogie business of Spirit Catcher's "Rendez-Vous", and a killer 1995 rework of Fonda Rae's "Over Like A Fat Rat" from U.S house legend Victor Simonelli.

As the title suggests, this fantastic - and let's face it, pleasingly epic - compilation showcases some of the many disco-centric cuts in the Z Records vaults, throwing in a few exclusives (see Dave Lee's fantastic, hybrid disco-boogie rework of Firefly's 'Love is Gonna Be on Your Side') for good measure. Such is the high-quality threshold that picking stand outs is tough, but our picks of a very strong bunch include the slick, boogie-funk brilliance of Crackazat's 'Sensationalized', Larry Levan's vintage, delay-heavy synth dub of Johnny Dynell's 'Rhythm of Love', the stomping disco-house release of 'Gotta Thing (2021 Remaster)' by Foreal People, Taana Gardner and Dave Lee, and John Morales' epic rework of Sean McCabe's 'Love For Life'. As the old saying goes, this is all killer and no filler.

Three CD set exploring rock's dark underbelly and explorations in the occult, witchcraft, bad majick and satanism from 1966 onwards. As the Fab dream of the first half of the 1960s began to fade and the acid took it's unpredictable hold, spirituality in it's many forms provided some outlet for many of pop and rock's weariest souls and most enthusiastic experimenters. As the rock became harder and more progressive, the drugs grew dirtier and peace and love began to falter, the individualistic indulgence promised by the occult and it's many sisters drew it's cloak around already established acts and birthed countless other bastard and hybrid offspring. Divided into several offshoots and outlets - Buried Underground, Phantom Sabbaths, Popular Satanism, She Devils, Folk Devils, Evil Jazz, Beelzefunk and Incantation Chants - 'The Devil Rides In' captures a snapshot of that time and place, when rock, jazz, funk and folk took a step into the darkness, returning with tales of possession, witchcraft, covens, occult ceremonies, black masses, sabbats and encounters with He Who Walks Backwards himself. Enthusiastic and celebratory in places, damaged and cautionary in others, these artists offered a counter balance to the thread of Christian and Eastern spirituality also working it's way into rock at that time. Sometimes overtly, sometimes veiled, but always with something to say.

Three CD set exploring rock's dark underbelly and explorations in the occult, witchcraft, bad majick and satanism from 1966 onwards. As the Fab dream of the first half of the 1960s began to fade and the acid took it's unpredictable hold, spirituality in it's many forms provided some outlet for many of pop and rock's weariest souls and most enthusiastic experimenters. As the rock became harder and more progressive, the drugs grew dirtier and peace and love began to falter, the individualistic indulgence promised by the occult and it's many sisters drew it's cloak around already established acts and birthed countless other bastard and hybrid offspring. Divided into several offshoots and outlets - Buried Underground, Phantom Sabbaths, Popular Satanism, She Devils, Folk Devils, Evil Jazz, Beelzefunk and Incantation Chants - 'The Devil Rides In' captures a snapshot of that time and place, when rock, jazz, funk and folk took a step into the darkness, returning with tales of possession, witchcraft, covens, occult ceremonies, black masses, sabbats and encounters with He Who Walks Backwards himself. Enthusiastic and celebratory in places, damaged and cautionary in others, these artists offered a counter balance to the thread of Christian and Eastern spirituality also working it's way into rock at that time. Sometimes overtly, sometimes veiled, but always with something to say.