Cool vintage disco, never worn

Today's electric independent sounds like condensation on the surface of a soda can

I tend to be somewhat skeptic about album format dance music, but this compilation is just so much fun. So totally leaned back that after a few drinks at 5 pm, you are unable to tell when the Chic song coming from the worn out soundsystem of the empty dancefloor ends and someone puts this fine set of nu-disco spinning.

The album frontloads with two superb tracks, 1gnition's Secret Sunday Lover -edit by Greg Wilson and Goblin City by the Panthers as Holy Ghost!'s dub version. Both have killer basslines and the latter keeps jerking exactly like the Leagues' Don't You Want Me, although not sounding like synthpop at all.

Following takes are not too bad either. The rising electro duo from Belgium, Aeroplane remixes Paris by Friendly Fires. Reminds me of Neon Neon in their most easy-going mood. Cool. Hercules & Love Affair have never been my wet dream of choice, but their version of a Chaz Jankel (always soaking wet, yes) track is good fun. It's something very dangerous as a matter of fact. When you loose that, for lack of a better word, sophisticated nu-disco sound for a moment and start sliding towards a nightmare ridden DT with Midnite Vultures by Beck as a soundtrack (a band of lizards playing which may be a gas or may not)... It's not bad, more like a dead-drunk guy pulling a pocket knife on you. It gets some of your adrenaline flowing.

A couple of other tracks as well are about to go from chilled to cheesy. I could do without Love On The Line, Brooklyn Club Jam and especially DJ Koze's remix Minimal which I find horrendous. Luckily the end of the album is saved by Holy Ghost's superior Hold On, which I'd already cite as a piece of classic vintage disco. Another original, Low Motion Disco's Low Murderer... is the most lavish sounding piece of, again, beckish trash retro - this time in a good way, no lizzards in sight since I'm keeping the DT's away with a nice flow of booze. You see, this song might be playing in the very same bar near the beach line where the pinball machine of Motorcycle Theme edit blinks in the corner. We even hear a nice Franz Ferdinand rework, sounding like Happy Mondays doing their Barbados "vacation", which makes me want to order another glass of white rum on the rocks and sell all my clothes for a vial of crank.

VA: Future Disco - A Guide To 21st Century Disco
(Azuli 2009)
Record rating: 8.5/10