"We’re not quite sure if Hibernation is the right title for our latest compilation album. We are definitely not sleeping! In fact we are busier than ever. So much amazing music out there… and so little time. Hibernation Volume 1 is the first of a new series of compilations. These unmixed CDs feature a few greatest hits of the previous months, the future smashes and some exclusives unavailable elsewhere.
Things open up with the slick vocal styling and chilled bar grooves of Social Disco Club & Maia and “The Way You Move”, our pal Greg Wilson on the edit. Ronda, Jan Ken Po (a new guise for Max Essa), King DJ and Billy Bogus/Sal deliver us some fine nu-disco gems. Old label favorite and Japanese buddy Altz gives us an exclusive track “Orympia Rocks” and label head-bear gets busy with Lindstrom with their collaboration Daybreak. Talking of Altz and Mr Kotey, there is a digital only exclusive mix of the Lordy track “Off With His Head”.
Things get all George Clinton with newcomers “Free Disco” and their Psychedelic Disco romp “Kelp Man”. Dutchman Roberto Auser gets filmic and leftfield with “Secret Can” while due Filipsson and Ulysees deliver some NYC house flavored disco beats. Florida based Sleazy Mcqueen gets his percussive groove on, while uber-cool French favorites Black Joy remix the Barbarella-esque Diaphonoids classic “Mermaids Of Lunaris”. Things end up on a more downtempo affair with Matt Playfords Weirdo Police project on the haunting closer “Ghost Boat”.
There we have it. A fine Bear-tinted slice of what’s at the cutting edge of today’s Disco spectrum."
HERE'S A NICE REVIEW ON INTHENEWS.CO.UK
In a nutshell...
Disco, disco and yet more lovely disco…
What's it all about?
Collection of nu-disco gems from one of the main players in the capital's basement electronic scene, Steve Kotey. Despite an ill-fitting moniker (Hibernation? In summer? What were they thinking?) it's a fine sift through the best bits of from his Bear Funk label past, present and future. The most notable are the Kotey Extra Band's collaboration with Norwegian disco macdaddy Lindstrom and a Greg Wilson edit of Social Disco Club & Maia’s The Way You Move.
Who's it by?
Bear Funk is the brainchild of sometime Chicken Lips collaborator and tape-op Steve Kotey. Such is the demand for the Lips, they entrusted a chunk of their djing duties to Kotey who jumped on the opportunity with both hands and carved himself a pretty large rep as a party starter in his own right. He's played records with plenty of big names including the likes of Harvey and Francois K and put together the Disco Italia compilation for Strut records. It's obvious that Kotey has this disco business running through his veins.
Likelihood of winning a trip to the Grammys?
If there were awards for services to funk, house and underground disco stylings, then the big bear's mantel piece would be creaking under the weight of accolades. It hasn't happened just yet...
What the others say
"Every song is fantastic and keeps to the Bear Funk disco stylings. I've chosen Greg Wilso'’s version of Social Disco Club & Maia (I also recently posted some Rui Maia originals) and Japan's Altz remix of Lordy, but I could of easily picked any of the songs. No fillers here." - Big Stereo blog
So is it any good?
If you associate the concept of disco with 70s wigs, the Village People and inebriated stag dos lurching around in flares necking alcopops, then you should set your preconceptions right and get your ears round this.
The roots of all good things electronic lie within the disco vibe, something that this Hibernation compilation manages to nail down with a series of strong looks and slap bass pinned down by a fresh backbone of groove. Altz's Orympia Rocks manages to balance a bassline made from utter filth with a suitably ridiculous surf guitar twang while Lindstrom and Kotey's cross breeding doesn't disappoint either, getting an afro-cosmic peacock-esque strut on. If you know your Disco Bloodbath from your Horse Meat Disco, then Hibernation will be right up your dirty alleyway...
TRACKLIST:
Social Disco Club & Maia - "The Way You Move" (Greg Wilson version)
Ronda - "Folana"
The Diaphanoids - "Mermaids Of Lunaris" (A Blackjoy disco mix)
Jan Ken Po - "Rhapsody In Leather"
Billy Bogus & Sal - "Terror Island" (Enzo Ponzio mix)
Altz - "Orympia Rocks"
Filipsson & Ulysses - "Fluffy Amadeus"
Roberto Auser - "Secret Can"
King DJ - "Ex Memory"
Sleazy McQueen - "One Extra Day"
Free Disco - "The Kelp Man"
Kotey Extra Band (Lindstrom & Stevie Kotey) - "Daybreak"
Weirdo Police - "Ghost Boat (Many People Died)"
HERE'S THE GREG WILSON VERSION OF MY TRACK WITH MAIA ;)
Social Disco Club & Maia - The Way You Move (Greg Wilson Version)
Social Disco Club & Maia - The Way You Move (Greg Wilson Version)
GET IT ON:
Ps.: "The Way You Move" will be out soon on vinyl 12" with the Original and Instrumental, plus the Greg Wilson Version and Diskjokke Retromix.
www.myspace.com/socialdiscoclub
www.myspace.com/ruimaia
www.myspace.com/djgregwilson
www.myspace.com/diskjokke
www.myspace.com/bearfunk
