Various: Disco Not Disco, Vols 1 & 2

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * * )

Being subtitled "Leftfield disco classics from the New York underground" might suggest these were tracks that had early 80s dancefloors humming. Maybe, maybe not.

It's hard to imagine Yoko Ono's '81 Walking on Thin Ice had the fashionably hip up 'n' struttin'.

Here, in a rare '85 re-edit, it's the kick-off track on these two separate albums compiled by Joey Negro and Sean P. They include unexpected material from the Steve Miller Band (the faux-rap and funky Macho City), jazz trumpeter Don Cherry (I Walk), Bill Laswell's outfit Material (Over and Over), Can, the late avant-garde composer and cellist Arthur Russell and other unlikelies.

The unifying thread of pulsing and often primitive electrobeats, rhythmic repetition, funky horns and unexpected name players (Ian Dury?) make these two engrossing, serviceable and prejudice-challenging collections best sampled with an open mind.

Label: Strut