VARIOUS ARTISTS Dirty Space Disco Tigersushi ****

Compiled by achingly hip Parisian bloggers, promoters and DJ collective D*I*R*T*Y and issued on likeminded producer Joakim's Tigersushi imprint, this collection of obscure but lovingly produced disco from the late 1970s and early 1980s is the antithesis of the new wave of irreverent, disposable French dance-rock noise represented by Justice and Ed Banger Records.

Despite having little bearing to the music in D*I*R*T*Y's immediate surroundings, these long-forgotten records, undoubtedly sourced after many long afternoons in the French capital's junk shops and flea markets, have, with the exception of John Forde's charming but cheesy easy-listening Atlantisand the frivolous glitterball pop of Starlightby Risque, aged well. More importantly, the sounds and production techniques that they pioneered still exert an influence on and are as relevant to modern electronic music's esoteric strains as the first wave of late 1980s US house and techno.

It's possible that Gallic DJ superstar Laurent Garnier listened to the evocative, lingering saxophone riffs on Odyssey's Who before he penned his biggest hit, The Man With The Red Face, while the hypnotic drums of Tony Esposito's Processione Sul Mareand organic, percussive groove of Roedelius's Regenmacherhave provided ample sampling opportunities for the new wave of spaced out "cosmic disco" emanating from Lindstrom and Prins Thomas's Oslo studios.

European electro's combination of angular, robotic rhythms and melancholic hooks can be traced back to deceased Italo Disco legend Silvester's pulsing lovelorn anthem, I Need Somebody To Love Tonight, and the Kraftwerk-does-disco pathos of Conrad Schnitzler's Auf Dem Schwarzen Kanal. Even the fast-paced world of minimal techno innovation owes a debt to this compilation: listen to the intricate percussive licks and stern bass of Undisputed Truth's Undisputedfor proof that a fixation with microscopic attention to detail didn't start with the new generation of laptop-enabled production futurologists.

Disco may still be a dirty word, but music from the past rarely sounds this relevant. www.d-i-r-t-y.com - Richard Brophy

Download tracks:Odyssey: Who; Conrad Schnitzler: Auf Dem Schwarzen Kanal; Sylvester: I Need Somebody To Love Tonight