Audiopile Review: Some of the most evocative reissues feature music most people would not have heard at the time. Sometimes, the cult figures and also-rans evoke an era better than the instantly recognizable megastars. That’s why every new archival reissue from the vault of space-disco maestro Patrick Cowley is such a mind-bomb of nostalgia for music you probably never heard from a time you may not have even lived through. The latest Cowley release, ‘From Behind’, adds an extra layer to this by being a collection of cover versions. You may know these songs, but you never heard them like this before. Recorded in the highly productive couple of years leading up to Cowley’s tragic death in 1982, these songs are a surprising insight into his formative musical influences. The 60s soul tunes make sense coming from a legendary disco producer. But the presence of Nuggets-style garage punk rockers is an eye-opener. ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’ AND ‘I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night’??? In THIS economy?!?!?!? Erm… In any case, ‘From Behind’ is Cowley at his funkiest and, it turns out, his most rocking. And come on, who doesn’t wanna hear an instrumental cyber-disco version of an Electric Prunes choon?

Cybernetic disco maestro Patrick Cowley returns to Dark Entries with From Behind, a collection of grooving and ecstatic covers of 60s garage and soul cuts. Best known for his chart-topping disco anthems, Cowley left us with an incredible body of work before his tragic death in 1982 due to AIDS-related illness. Since 2009, Dark Entries has been working with Cowley’s friends and family to uncover the singular artist’s lesser-known sides, including his soundtracks for films on compilation albums School Daze, Muscle Up, and Afternooners. From Behind reveals yet another facet of Cowley’s myriad influences; garage and soul. As a tripped-out teenage music freak who arrived in 60’s San Francisco, it should come as no surprise that these psychedelic sounds, both heady and visceral, infuse Cowley’s oeuvre. Recorded during Cowley’s most productive period, ‘80-’82, these tracks show the master flexing his virtuosity while paying loving tribute to the songs that shaped him. A rough draft of Loverde’s “Iko Iko” contorts the jaunty Dixie Cups classic into a slithering, monstrous bathhouse groover, the song’s signature claps draped in cavernous reverb. An unexpected hi-NRG cover of The Doors’ “20th Century Fox” has Paul Parker on vocals, ironically twisting the original’s overt heterosexuality. Via Cowley’s vocoder, The Who’s “Shakin’ All Over” is transformed into a haunting meditation on the loss of bodily autonomy that AIDS inflicts, while the Moody Blues’ “Ride My See Saw” appears in instrumental, amped up and synthesized for dancefloor impact. We’re also graced with instrumental demo versions of The Seeds’ “Pushin’ Too Hard” and The Electric Prunes’ “Too Much To Dream (Last Night),” which later appeared on Paul Parker releases. Things close out with a swinging version of the Four Tops’ Motown classic “Baby I Need Your Loving”, Cowley later reimagined for R&B artist Carl Carlton. The record comes housed in a sleeve designed by Gwenaël Rattke and includes an insert with photos and liner notes written by Louis Niebur. Arriving on October 19th in celebration of what would have been Cowley’s 74th birthday, From Behind gives us yet another glimpse into Cowley’s world: iconic, erotic, and more than a little cheeky.