This weeks staff pick comes from DJ, record label owner and psychic-to-the-stars Matt Neale. Matt's chosen D.J. Rogers 'Love Brought Me Back' - available on 12" vinyl here.  

For my staff pick I’m going in with a slice of soul that I would put in the morning music category. That slow to mid-tempo soul that at the end of the night eases dancers back into their reality outside of the dance. There’s different interpretations of what morning music is, but the reason for the name is pretty self-explanatory - disco DJs in the 70s and 80s aimed to take their dancers on a journey that mirrored nature's own peaks and ebbs. During the early morning hours when the energy began to be subdued the DJs would play their selection of "morning music" or its typically slower subset, “sleaze". It acted as a perfect counter-balance to a night of frenetic 125bpm+ disco and hi-energy. It has become most often associated with legendary NYC clubs such as The Flamingo, 12 West, and the Saint.

My pick is an anthemic gospel disco gem that would be one of my proposed additions to the morning music cannon (if not already in it). Its D.J. Rogers ‘Love Bought Me Back’ on a South Street Disco 12”. It’s all soaring vocals and soaring strings, with a chunk of funk to make the groove. The original is reportedly trading hands for upwards of £70 so it’s great to see it getting a reissue and becoming accessible for all types of pay checks.