With electronic music cluttered with myriad hybrids and subgenres, some readers may wonder, is there really room for another disco offshoot? After all, Norway’s Lindstrom and Prins Thomas have popularized their psychedelic cosmic-disco, Germany’s Get Physical and Systematic labels trade in bass-driven electro-disco, and acts like LCD Soundsystem, Headman, and The Rapture brought disco-punk to the masses.

Rather than try and update disco’s funky forms, Compost Records has chosen to take it back to original and often overlooked European purveyors.

So what exactly do European acts Jagg, Leb Harmony, and Stroer have in common with Nigeria’s Tony Allen and U.S. soul act Rufus & Chaka Khan? You can find out when Compost issues Elaste Volume 02: Space Disco, a look at obscure ’70s and ’80s dance gems. Compiled and mixed by Vienna-based producer and radio host Tom Wieland (7 Samurai, Panoptikum), Elaste Volume 02 charts how American ’80s electro-soul met Italo-disco on a dark, stainless-steel dancefloor somewhere in Bavaria.

“When you´re digging deep in the crates of late 1970s underground disco, Kraut electronica, proto-techno, Euro-boogie, or New Wave funk, you can find plenty of un-classics that still sound fresh today and showcase the roots and influences of the likes of Metro Area, Prins Thomas, and many more,” says Wieland. “Most of these titles were fairly unknown when they were released, some became almost famous, and this is what this compilation is about. lost space disco gems and soulful Euro-boogie–the good side of the early 80s in Europe.”

Weiland and Panoptikum production partner Marc Frank contribute their modern tribute tune “Elaste” to the compilation.

A previous compilation, 2007’s Elaste Vol 1: Slow Motion Disco, kicked off the series and earned critical accolades. Elaste Volume 2: Space Disco is out June 13 on Compost Records.

Tracklisting
1. Zodiac “The Other Side Of Heaven”
2. Selection “Rebel On The Run”
3. Jagg “Take Time”
4. Hippolytes “Blow You Out Tonight”
5. Two Man Sound “Que Tal America”
6. Curt Cress “Sundance”
7. Panoptikum “Glückskugel”
8. Leb Harmony “Feeling Love”
9. Stroer “Don’t Stay Till Breakfast”
10. Alan Hawkshaw “The Speed Of Sound”
11. Panoptikum “Elaste”
12. Vulcans “Star Trek”
13. Tony Allen “Nepa Dance Dub”
14. Rufus & Chaka Khan “Ain’t Nobody (Hallocinogenik Version)”