It's impossible to measure which field of music the Sleeping Bag label had more of an impact upon: dance or rap. Founded in the early '80s by Will Socolov and Arthur Russell, Sleeping Bag became the home for several groundbreaking releases in both fields. The label's contributions to rap include material from EPMD, Mantronix, Just-Ice, and Nice & Smooth, yet there's an equal amount of music -- both pre-house and house -- that dance music fanatics have to be thankful for. P-Vine Japan's Sleeping Bag Exclusive Mixes: Mixed With Love doesn't advertise itself as a be-all-end-all document of the label's best dance music (it's too scattered to qualify as such, and it also crosses a few too many boundaries), but it does boast several underground gems that were released from the mid-'80s through the end of that decade. Most notably, there's François K's remix of Dinosaur L's "#5 (Go Bang)," "Go Bang"; his reworking of the original is such a definitive hybrid of jazz, funk, disco, and dub that it continues to act as the standard by which all such mongrels are judged -- groups long since its release have made entire albums devoted to re-creating its magic. Both parts of Indian Ocean's "School Bell/Tree House" are included, as is the ten-minute Tom Moulton mix of the same; "School Bell/Tree House" is a wonderfully warped and incredibly spacious track from Arthur Russell, full of pattering percussion, a sparse, rubbery bassline, and Russell's quavering voice atop a distant chugging rhythm. The remainder sticks to clubland, including Konk's "Your Life," Urban Blight's "A Night Out," Shank's "Jazz Track," and Tafuri's "What Am I Gonna Do About You?" There are better places to find the essentials here (namely Harmless' Jumpin' and Strut's Disco Not Disco), but hardcore dance fans who aren't vinyl hounds will want to seek this out. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide