VA: Future Disco Vol. 6 Night Moves
Needwant

Needwant releases grabbed three spots on textura's 2012 year-end list of compilation picks, so it's no surprise that the label's first mix of the new year already looks like it'll be vying for a spot on the next one. Future Disco Volume 6: Night Moves plays like the most fabulous night at the disco you ever had, with one silkily stoked jam after another packed into its uninterrupted sixty-nine-minute running time.

Funky chicken-scratch guitar parts, piano, synthesizers, claps, chunky bass lines, and soulful vocals are the main ingredients in this fresh mix, but as satisfying as the arrangements are, it's the quality of the resplendent material that most recommends the release. The mix's sixteen tracks are more songs than riffs, and radiant tracks like A/Just/Ted's “A Brighter Light” deepen the mix's generally euphoric character. It opens with Miguel Campbell's “Not That Kind Of Girl” (from his recent Hot Creations album), a ravishingly soulful vocal tune goosed by a synth bass line and an irrepressibly funky groove. But though it sets the bar ridiculously high, Campbell's cut, as beautiful as it is, ends up being merely the first in a long line of equally great tracks. Peak moments include Kim Ann Foxman's “Return It,” which receives a substantial boost from its soaring “No more excuses” vocal part, and the track that follows it, Francesca Lombardo's “Sofiel,” which appears to twist a vocal fragment from Foxman's cut into sublimely trippy shape.

Sprinkled with sensual exhalations, the charging Maceo Plex remix of Laura Jones's “Love In Me” isn't shy about courting a sexier vibe, while Crazy P digs into its bluesy jam “Heartbreaker” with a New Order-styled bass line in tow. In addition, Groove Armada's “Always Take Me Higher“ strips the groove down to a funky essence of slinky hi-hats, synth bleeps, and bass thrust, whereas Bonar Bradberry's disco-fied “Loose Grip” could pass for a lost Chic jam. As Cosmic Kids' “Freight To My Soul” and Satin Jackets' “Make Me Feel Good” move the set into its last quarter, the mix's glow deepens, the night's stars softly twinkle, and the mood turns wistful before eventually coming to a peaceful rest with Flight Facilities' serenading “Clair de Lune.” That mellow end aside, the mix is largely a non-stop sugar rush of slow dazzle whose soulful vibe often exudes an old-school character without ever sounding anything less than current.

March 2013