Just when we thought we could get our feet back under the table & to our regular D.J. focuses, up come a veritable feast of compilations & tracks, which have kind of forced our hand (in a good way of course) into filing another newsletter, not two weeks after the last. Indeed, with a pretty hectic February that includes trips to Paris, Brussels, Antwerp & Amsterdam, not to mention the big one, South Africa, we thought it best to get this mountain of mixes to market while they are still fresh in the mind, some which may not have yet made your collections. But just before we do, a reminder to watch out for our first full-on D.J. focus of the year, coming up this week, Tel Aviv’s own Guy Scheiman standing under our spotlight, while February sees an Anglo French special to kick off the month, as well as a special devotion to Lovechild’s music in time for their 2^nd birthday.

But back to our mountain and first up is Steven Redant who has had a whirlwind of a time over the last few weeks, having rounded off his 2010 and then kick starting the New Year with a tour of Brazil, followed by trips to Bordeaux, Zurich, & Cologne, not to mention squeezing in his birthday in the first week of this month, meaning that his feet have hardly touched his beloved Barcelona base. So, it is no surprise that his usual stream of compilations have taken a little bit of a nose dive recently, but fear not, as Mr Redant has hit the recording studio to celebrate that Brazilian tour with a 68 minute mix lifted direct from one of his live sets & includes “…full on international tribal house, with exclusive mash-ups & upbeat tracks…” and had us hooked from the start. So, to get your slice of Steven in action, go now to http://stevenredant.com/ and while you’re at it, keep an eye out for his tracks “Naked” & “I Need a Hit”, which are storming up the Billboard dance charts.

Leading on nicely is firm friend of Steven’s, the delectable D.J. Phil Romano, who, like his close pal, was in Brazil for the New Year, mixing business & pleasure in Rio before returning to his Barcelona base & a mossie on down in Madrid on the first weekend of this month. Having had, in his own words, “…one of the best years ever…”, 2011 is not shaping up at all bad either for this Italian stud, with terrific touring trips to Montreal for Valentines, Sydney for Mardi Gras, Hawaii in May & much more besides, let alone the inaugural La Demence cruise, it seeming that the insatiable desires for his services remains just as strong this year as it was last. Plus, Phil is currently working on studio track projects with Steven & Lenz Garcia, not to mention having recently released a new podcast serenading the end to his year, this marvellous mix which is out at http://djphilromano.podomatic.com/ and  has already been shared on Sydney Homesexual’s  podcast site http://homesexual.podomatic.com/, marking his appearance at club on Mardi Gras weekend in March. So, for this a-typical Phil pulsating & pumping progressive come uplifting splendour a worthy addition to your collection, go click on the links & download away.

Staying with Barcelona boys and a man that really came into his own in 2010, not just landing on London twice in the year, but more importantly having been headhunted by massive club brand Matinee, Mr Medina signing on the dotted line in December & kick starting his Matinee career with parties in Paris, then over in The States for NY, featuring large in Miami & New York and racking up a considerable following Stateside as a result. So, it is most appropriate that, after a drought of nearly four months, our man Javier has laid down a compilation to celebrate his glorious news & mini USA tour, his performance at Pacha in NYC concentrated into a 60 minute mix which is out on his Souncloud page (direct link http://soundcloud.com/javier-medina/pachanyc2011) while two of his track remix works are also Javier jewels, first his remix of Nacho Chapado’s “Aimione”, then another nod to USA with his take on the D.J. Rony & Giese track “Always There For You” which he cutely calls  his “I Love America” remix, both out at http://soundcloud.com/javier-medina/. Plus, if you haven’t yet, make sure you grab his “A Night With The Boys In BCN” comp, as it is, in our own estimation, one of his best yet, leaving us to express our hearty congratulations on his magnificent Matinee news & wish him all the best for what looks like a hectic yet fulfilling & fantastic year for him, we proud as punch on his amazing achievement.

Just before we wave farewell to Spain, we kind of thought it would be appropriate to slot in the latest podcast release by Tony English on behalf of Logan presents, Tony as you may have gathered from our previous posts, having a soft spot for all things Spain. And, in terms of tracing tracks & finding out new sounds, there is no-one better connected to do so, this latest compilation come newsletter from Tony very much is THE place to get the hot off the press news on SuperMartXe & other Logan Schmitz projects, let alone all those moovin & groovin tunes that are rocking the European dancefloors. So, with Spanish superstar D.J. Juanjo Martin joining Tony on this January edition, plus with tracks from other Spanish stars, including that rocking release from Steven Redant,  “I Need A Hit” kicking off this 81 minute mixed-in music & news issue, go to http://loganpresentspodcast.podomatic.com/ to get right up to date with the L.P. action.

Jumping over the border & into France, we are hoping to do the same next week with a leisurely three day stay in Paris, when we will also be planning a special music post devoted to all things French (& Belgian). However, we couldn’t resist sharing a handful of new releases with you now, the first from Ben Manson, this Paris based D.J. starting his 2011 as he means to go on with an appearance for La Demence’s NYD session In Brussels, while gigs for Thursday night club Urban People at Makassar, Saturday nighter, Spice, as well as legendary club, Scream & the first WE party in Paris, have kept him very busy in his home city since then. So, he could be forgiven for not being in the recording studio, but none of it, as Ben has released a new compilation, shouting for all things Scream which is superb & well worth adding you our collection by going to http://benmanson.podomatic.com/, while track recordings with mixing partner Oliver Malone, gather steam, the latest being a deep house re-work of Jose Diaz’s “Erika”, which is out at http://soundcloud.com/manson-3/jos-diaz-erika-ben-manson-olivier-malone-deep-remix.

Next in our French threesome is Bruno Kauffmann, whom we hope to meet in person in Paris next week, during which time we will be commissioning a fresh new bio & focus on this well established talent, his track release “Feel Me”, which we mentioned in our last newsletter, having been given the remix treatment by fellow Frenchmen, Aurel Devil & Leomeo, links to which we will share in that upcoming bio (oh we are a tease!). However, in advance of our devotion to Bruno, we thought we would share with you, a substantial slice of this man’s style & sound, his latest compilation entitled “I Love Paris”, as good an example as any, his tech house  come pumping progressive persuasion, very much reflected here & well worth both listening to & downloading via direct link http://soundcloud.com/djbrunokauffmann/dj-bruno-kauffmann-mix-live-i-love-paris-2011 while we have much more  Bruno brilliance coming up in our full focus, so watch out for that.

Now, not a newsletter or post seems to go by without friend & French fancy, Leomeo Carandang issuing a new track or mix, such is his dedication to his art & his feverish work in the studio. Mind you, despite gigs dragging him away from his home city on a weekly basis, Leo was actually in Paris a couple of weekends ago & was part of the launch of a new club in the city. But he was back on the road again before you could say kilometre, travelling 364 of them down to Lyon where he played at La Garçionnière on Saturday and upon returning to Paris, laid down a special compilation to mark the occasion which is so hot of the press it is still smouldering, although this tech house triumph is smouldering in itself, with track re-works of classic Moby & Depeche Mode hits among plenty of others, this is Leomeo at his lavish best & a must for your collection by going to http://soundcloud.com/djleomeo/la-gar-ionni-re-the-mix. But the news doesn’t stop there as our Parisian pal now has his own channel, which pulls into one site & source, his videos & tracks, but we once again tease, as more news on this will be released in our upcoming “Parisian Pleasure to Belgian Brilliance” special music post.

Our final continental based bloke for this post, although an Aussie by birth, is Mike Kelly who also gets our singular nod to Australia day (today Wed 26^th Jan), although he is far from home, having rested his hat firmly in Cologne now for a few years. Since seeing him play live at Hustlaball when we visited Berlin in October, Mike has remained as busy as ever, not just with gigs across Germany & the further reaches of Europe, but he is active in the studio, while also managing record label Sorry Shoes with recording partner Jean Phillips, the label recently celebrating its 30^th release as well as two weekly radio shows hosted by Mr Kelly over the airwaves in both Germany & Brazil. That said, Mike was in the recording studio not a week ago, laying down the second part to his “A Nice Day Shopping” mix, a more progressive production compared to the tech infused first, but both excellent examples of his style, so worth grabbing at http://soundcloud.com/djmikekelly. However, it is Mike’s & Jean’s “Bedroom Muzak” mix of the superb “Show Me Your Love” by Miguel Picasso, featuring Rebeka Brown’s vocals, that really does it for us & is a must have by going to http://soundcloud.com/djmikekelly/miguel-picasso-feat-rebeka-brown-show-me-your-love-jean-philips-mike-kelly-bedroom-muzik , plus as it is just five days released,  like Leo’s mix,  is still smouldering and  is indeed smouldering (if you get our drift!)

Right, well time to head home a rattle through news of some latest podcast releases to hit our desks, the smouldering slant continuing as Chris Brogan, who starred at Industri’s birthday bash last Wednesday, has literally just released a new compilation & very much in the New Year vein, especially with a title like “Resolution”, although it’s the music that does the talking & sets a statement here. With favourite tracks of ours including Chris Lake’s remix of Nalim & Kane’s “Beachball” Dr Kucho’s “Sanity” & Funkagenda’s “Past Dreaming”, as well as Mr Brogan’s edit of Martin Solveig’s “Hello”, the mix is jam packed with gems and is worthy of your collection by going to  http://soundcloud.com/djchrisbrogan/resolution, as it has already made ours.

Foxy female MisWhite is the next newsworthy entrant, our Emma having stormed Salvation on NYD with a scintillating set, so decided to put together a mix called “Keep On Rising” which she explains as “…a little something to keep you going through the cold winter detox months…” she further exclaiming of the tracks on her mix “…those of you were at the amazing Salvation at Koko on NYD, will recognise a lot of them, and those who weren’t make sure you at the next one!…”, hear, hear and no whispering from us (in house joke) as we sink into the splendour of this superlative set of sounds, this magnificent mix a must, which is out now at http://miswhite.podomatic.com.

Onward and sticking to the rising theme is Zach Burns, very much a rising star and a talent we spotted a few months ago, although have still yet to laud a full focus on, but with plans to chalk a special report covering new & up-coming talent, Zach will certainly get his share in that, However, in the meantime, we want to share his latest compilation release with you and one lifted direct from his live set just over a week ago at mad Monday nighter, Popcorn, when Mr Burns played out alongside percussionist David H, Zach remarking of the experience, “…playing alongside David again was such a buzz & I enjoyed literally every minute of it…” this euphoria very much reflected in his performance and by this recording, so is well worth a listen at http://djburns.podomatic.com/.

Our final mention (well almost) goes to Brazilian Doug Guimarães , better known behind the decks simply as DouGuim, a talent that was spotted by Lovechild top man Alex Erfan and given a big break at the launch of The Week in London back in September. Mind you, he disappeared under our radar at the time, although has since come shining through with outstanding performances at Beyond, as well as having taken guest spots for Onyx & Later, and holding down as a residency at Ku Bar. Plus, along with the so called “Brazilian Mafia”, Doug’s face is becoming very familiar on the scene, partly why he has been elevated to an intrinsic ingredient in the re-launch of afterhours club brand, Open. But just round the corner, Saturday in fact, when Brazil’s best is back, he will take centre stage at The Week alongside fellow Brazilian Leandro Becker, the London based Mr Guimarães having laid down a special compilation to mark the occasion which is an absolute corker so yet another must for your collection, which you can snap up at http://douguim.podomatic.com/.

Right just before we finish, a quick bit of news about Lovechild, which scooped the SeenQueen crown for Best Monthly Club in their “Your Disco Needs You” poll, but moreover celebrates its 2^nd birthday next month. So, naturally, we will be giving it the full music attention, focussing on stars Chris Bekker & Eduardo de la Torre, both who jet in from Germany to star in this special birthday bash. But on top of that we will be sharing the brand new “Lovechild” track, currently being pressed in the studio by Lovechild resident Tony English. Featuring vocals from the amazing Kaysee, who will also be starring at the 2^nd birthday & performing the track live for the first time. Add to that mentions & nods for the huge Lovechild resident D.J. team (over a dozen of them) & this will be a music special post to top the lot.

Well that’s it, our latest newsletter covering 12 D.J.’s & 19 compilations/tracks, although there is a 20^th and one we unashamedly  can’t put down, a self indulgent further mention going to our own “Disco Matt’s Dance-tastic Top 20 Of 2010” collection, a compilation mixed exclusively by Brent Nicholls, whom we paoured plaudits on in our first special music post of the year, “Die-Cast Disco Duo”, and well deservedly so, as he has made this mix available on his own website at  http://djbrentnicholls.com/music as well as issuing a special download option at http://brentnicholls.mysites.com/-podcasts/1101-discomatt-2010-top-20-128.mp3, so another big thanks to him. Plus,  with any luck the mix will eventually make it to our own podcast & soundcloud pages, the latter incidentally, where you can find segments of our newsletter devotions to various D.J.’s at http://soundcloud.com/discomatt. including some metioned right here.

So, with that self indulgent moment over, and plenty of other compilations & tracks to chose from here, all that’s left to say is, “sit back, select those sounds, turn up the volume & let them play, as music IS the answer” (DISCO MATT)