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Reviews

Ante Perry - Flashing Disco Sounds II


Label /	Moonbootique Recordings
Cat # /	MOONCD05
Released /	June 2011
Style /	House
Rating /

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In 2008, perhaps due to the inevitable ennui that came after a decade or so of dance music minimalization, the processes of cross-fertilization between house, techno and disco were in overdrive. Bouncy, discofied basslines were everywhere; sweeping melodies dared to make their presence known; and '70s (or '70s-aping) vocal snippets provided the hook for some of the year's biggest underground tracks. (The fact that many of those vocal bits were the very same ones that graced early Chicago house cuts is a matter for another day; whatever the case, it was hard to argue with their appeal.) Into this world slipped Flashing Disco Sounds, a compilation of electronic mirrorball action—some from Perry itself, others from such likeminded artists as Still Going and Burnski—which succinctly summed up the more stripped-down end of that era's sonic spectrum. Listening to it now is almost like glancing at a particular point on a timeline of recent house music developments: "Oh, wow, remember when piano chords were coming back into fashion?"

Now, Perry's released Flashing Disco Sounds II, and though three years have passed and electronic disco has reached the age of maturity (or, more likely, middle age) the producer is sticking to the sound that made his name. Not so much a progression from the first edition, the new double CD set works pretty much the same exact territory as the first. That's not a bad thing—the selections are rock-solid, most relying on a rigid digital-boogie beat, spare instrumentation, subtle builds and a touch of disco glitter to work their magic. Like the first comp, CD 1—a various artist mixed set—is the stronger of the two, filled with music that hits the autonomic-response button marked "bob your head and shuffle your feet."

Ante Perry and Olivier Gregoire's groovy remix of Spirit Catcher's "No Way Out," with its spare drum pattern, barebones (yet undeniably funky) bassline, whisper-chant vocals and old school house vibe is a simple and effective pleasure, while Stereofunk's "The Knife" adds the inevitable three-chord piano progression to hands-in-the-air effect. Even the Ramon Tapia & Kabale und Liebe rerub of Ultra Nate borderline-cheesefest "Free," her wobbly, reverbed vocals sitting astride a throbbing bass, kind of works in this context.

Perry's own productions, residing on the second disc, aren't quite as Pavlovian in their appeal—but, after the single-mindedness of CD 1, their varied templates comes as a bit of a release. The deep tech house of "Do-Pe-69," with its rounded, soft synths and airy melody, could almost be from Dessous or Plastic City circa 1999; "Hit the Floor" is a disco strutter straight out of the French Touch school of dance floor philosophy; and Ante Perry Vs Tube & Berger's "Moltisanti" sets Detroit-inspired chords atop an insistently chugging percussion pattern. None of these cuts push any envelopes—but they're probably not meant to. Perry's primary goal is to make music that DJs will play and clubbers will dance to—and on that score, he's certainly succeeded.

Words /
Bruce Tantum

Published /
Tue, 14 June 2011

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