Controversial, perhaps. But anyone close paying attention to releases in the genre so far this year cannot fail to have noticed a rush of compilation releases documenting all things Italian, with DJs such as Daniele Bordelli thrown back into the worldwide spotlight.

That's the perception from this end, at any rate. What's beyond doubt is that the music is pretty damn funky, and as with almost all of Strut's releases this year, hits the spot immediately.

Their service to disco fans is most valuable, for many of these are written onto CD for the first time, albeit some of them in carefully worked edits from Chicken Lips producer Stevie Kotey. As boss of Bear Entertainment, he knows something about where disco is going today - and an awful lot about its heritage.

So that's a bit of the historical background, which of course is worth nothing if the music fails to live up to the bill. Happily it doesn't fall short at any point, from Five Letters' The Kee Tha Tha all the way through to Valentine's Tina Are You Ready.

On the way the highlights are plentiful, with the handclaps of Kano's Now Baby Now, the slightly slower but oh so funky singalong Love (Is Gonna Be On Your Side) from Firefly and a big ensemble number in 1979 It's Dancing Time, one of Kotey's re-edits of Revanche. For sheer feelgood sashaying around the floor, you'd be hard pushed to beat the Number One Ensemble and their carefree falsetto number Flor De Coca.

Not everything's purely about the funk, though, and Rainbow Town's Dreaming is a good song, pure and simple. Meanwhile Tullio De Piscopo brings the genre into the 80s with a faintly exotic piece of Balearic funk, E Fatto E Sorde! E?

Throw in for extras a booklet of rare photos and a liner note from acknowledged expert in the field Bill Brewster and you have a package well worth acquiring - even if your bank balance is still recovering from previous Italo outlays.

Italians do indeed do it better - and here's the proof.

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