Disco Not Disco (1974-1986)

Stumbled across a great little release on the resurrected home of rare grove Strut records ... Disco Not Disco (1974-1986). 

Every track on the compilation is an influential classic - including tracks from Shriekback and Gina X. What really took me back was "Sharevari" by A Number of Names - which was a staple of Miss Kittin's sets and one of my first ever Gigolo twelves (of course that was decades after it was initially released). Some rare gems here - compulsive listening.

Disco 2009?

What sound dominated 2008? When you are looking at the industry from a long tail perspective, with all the various niche labels and artists beginning to flourish, it really is difficult to pin down what they year sounded like. The pop chart was its usual mess of cheap RnB and mildly entertaining electropop, with even some Nickleback thrown in to balance things out. Not forgetting the Brit school class of '08, of course.

I had been predicting the return of disco for quite some time. You could feel it bubbling - the word returning to the vernacular, a mid-tempo pace coming back to the dance floor. Hand claps and triangles were seeping into even the most stalwart of producers material. We'd already seen some mainstream applications - both Madonna and Goldfrapp had big success with Confessions and Supernature - though I felt both of these albums used disco in a kitsch retro form (incidentally in 2008, both artists turned their back on disco with albums that were commercially less successful).

Hands down the best "dance" album of the year goes to Crazy P's Stop Space Return - fantastic fresh disco and electronic pop. The underground retro italo movement also came to the front with Heartbreak's debut Lies - hot on the heels of Vogue's prediction that italo was back. I had thought that new albums from The Killers and Cut Copy might encorporate more of the disco sound - instead, they kept things cautious and stayed well within their established boundaries of 80s pop.

And DJs were allowing the sound to sit prominently within their sets. A visit to Glasgow during Sara Berg's UK tour allowed us to check out Optimo's set at Sub Club. The small basement was alive with shimmering nu disco and italo - truly the best set I heard this year. Metro Area - no stranger to the genre that they perpetuate in immitable style - delivered the best mix of the year with their contribution to the Fabric series. The London club scene was not so consistent - with large clubs closing down, and the kids still falling into k-holes across Shoreditch, harder darker electrohouse still dominated - though there were signs of a more melodic, discohouse trend developing (The Joiners Arms legendary Thursday night sets being a prime example!).

Will disco finally re-invent itself in 2009? For the sake of the future of clubbing - lets hope so.

Image from PTGreg on Flickr

Italo-vogue

Vogue has released its list of what's hot this autumn.

And at number 5 - italodisco.

Fabulous.

Crazy P - Stop Space Return

It's been a long, long time since I got excited about an album. It seems like people aren't focusing on the format at all right now (and if Bill Drummond, oh wise sage, has anything to do with it, the LP is on its way to the grave ... )

A few weeks ago I was sent the new Crazy P album "Stop Space Return" (having dropped the "penis" in some sort of bizarre symbolic castration ...). They've moved from one classic label (Paper) to another (2020 Vision) but they are still fantastic.  And this new album does not disappoint.

What I look for in an album is continuity - both in sound and in form. I want to be guided by the music from track to track - just as a novel guides you from chapter to chapter. The version I received was via MP3 and the tracks were out of order - I could tell from the first listen (and the fact that the last track has a huge space to lead you to the ubiquitous bonus track). Once rearranged the genius was revealed.

A collection of fantastic discopop ("Love On The Line"), with even a smattering of dark deep house ("Caught Up"). Though they tread somewhat on the line of commercial house, what I love about them is their ability to create their own take on disco that is fresh and relevant. "Lie Lost" could have been made for heavy rotation at the Loft - with its comped piano chords and delicious strings. Check out the Maurice Fulton mix for even more nostalgia ...

It really is the summer of the return of disco.  Fantastic.

Go to 2020 Vision's page to get a free download of Lenny Annex's equally brilliant mix of "Laid Lost"