Give Me Disco - Vol 1 (Selected by DJ Kobayashi)

Springing from the ranks of global grooves ensemble Muito Kaballa and psychedelic travellers YĪN YĪN, Jiri Jiri have honed their musical chops and crafted four Neapolitan funk and pan-European disco jams as hot as the Adriatic coastline. The songs on ‘Give Me Disco - Vol. 1’ were born in Naples. Collaborators Jan Janzen and Niklas Mündemann enlisted the production expertise of Pellegrino S. Snichelotto — founder of Early Sounds Recordings, former Nu Genea producer, and a key architect of the Neapolitan funk renaissance, to further refine their sound. 

The Neapolitan connection shines brightest on opener “Gino”. Gentle, breeze-like percussion interlocks with a gorgeous guitar line and a buttery bassline, laying the foundation for a seductive Neapolitan-style vocal. Flute and synth flourishes are the icing on the cake. Things crank up a notch on “Senza Benza”. This uptempo, largely instrumental track fuses Afro disco rhythms with Azymuth-esque synths. The relentless groove hardly lets up, save for a brief, wordless vocal break. Elsewhere, “L’amour” does what it says on the tin, expanding the palette from Neapolitan funk to include AngloFrench vocals that both lament and celebrate love’s ups and downs. Closer “Lummo Luvva” returns to instrumental territory with flair. The ‘Give Me Disco - Vol. 1’ EP marks the beginning of two exciting new ventures — the emergence of Jiri Jiri, and inspired by their need for a home, the launch of Batov Records’ ‘Give Me Disco’ 12” series.