Expectations are on high when you get two talented musicians together, but the outcome usually doesn’t match up. Rarely do the two amplify the talent.
When I heard Michael Kiwanuka and Tom Misch collaborated, I was intrigued but tried not to set expectations too high. When I hype anything up, I feel like it always falls short. Money might be the exception.
Tom Misch is slowly gaining status as one of the best guitarists of our time, and leads Kiwanuaka’s voice in this disco melody. A departure from his usual soul music, it reminds me of a Mayer Hawthorne song with a bit of James Mercer’s voice on Broken Bells. That’s why I love the song so much. Not only does it exceed my expectations, but it’s a departure from what I’ve heard in Kiwanuaka’s past.
Last year we showed our condolences for the day disco died at Comiskey Park in 1979, but with the burning of disco came the rise of house music. More than any other genre, I’ve gotten criticism for my love of disco house, but that’ll never diminish my love for it. If anything, I like it a little more.
We’ve decided to turn that playlist, BURN DISCO, into something more ongoing and inclusive. We’ve been collecting disco playlists since 2012 and before. From Frisco Disco to Lazer Disco to Horizontal Disco and Disco is to Dance, we’ve wrapped them up into one until we break them in two again.
BURN DISCO is on the four major music services, but as explained better in the previous article, not all music services are made equal. Especially in catalog. YouTube and SoundCloud have a much more expansive catalog than Spotify and Apple, which BURN DISCO exemplifies. Spotify and Apple only have about half the songs YouTube and SoundCloud do and it’s only going to get worse with the next playlist.
Special shout out to Flamingosis and his flamboyance. Y’all keep disco alive.
Yung Bae’s remix of Gassed by Weslee is worth writing about alone. I haven’t featured a single since the start of the year and this would’ve been next if Yung Bae didn’t have a catalogue of good tracks.
His name sucks, but I guess it goes well with his aesthetic. His music doesn’t suck and grooves with either old soul samples or some kind of Japanese singing. He’s expanded his sound even more with the Gassed remix and worked with other top producers, including Mura Masa, Brasstracks, and Flamingosis.
If his Gassed remix is any indication of his trajectory, see him producing for singers soon to be stars in the next few years.
The future of electronic music seems to be over exposed synth (for now), but good producers pull it off. Pat Lok goes with a disco-house/pop approach and brings in some beautiful vocal collaborations for his latest album, Hold On Let Go. Realistically though, how many of his songs am I gonna be listening to in five years? One. Well, probably two or three, but one has a more dramatic effect.
I recently finished Dr. Dre & Jimmy Iovine’s documentary, The Defiant Ones. In it, Dre says a perfect line to sum up why one of Lok’s songs stood above the others. “Every producer knows that you’re only as good as the artist you’re working with.” And how Claire Mortifee’s lines are laid on top of ‘My Own Throne’ gets me giddy every time I listen. Her lyrics are an instrument played well.
Can’t wait to hear what’s next from Pat Lok. And who’s next.
Some progress the old sound forward, but Gavin Turek brings it back to the 70’s in her latest EP Good Look for You. But she’s also teamed up with other notable producers, which gives her classic voice new flavor.
Gavin has been working with TOKiMONSTA and their juxed position in genre make for a beautiful collaboration. And even better, there are a number of my favorite young producers giving her a remix, especially Bishiclet & starRo. You know when some of the most talented music makers right now support her sound, including Mayor Hawthorne on his last tour, that it’s not just you.
This is our third year celebrating anti-Valentine’s day 2015 | 2016. We didn’t plan on doing one this year, but the house we have is always soulful, which at least half the time is about heartbreak. There were so many classics stored up we had to throw this together.
We also got another house head to whip up her own. Lauren helped me with the first heartbreak playlist about hip hop and has created her own list for house, a few of which I so badly wanted to steal for myself.
Hottest Nu-Disco in the Funkin World, our first disco list from back in 2012, had Disco Stu as its mascot. I remember someone complained about how Stu was a shining example of our culture’s lack of respect for disco. As subtle and culturally ingrained as it may be.
Back in 1979, a protest dubbed Disco Demolition Night went on at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Most of us see it on the surface level as people disliking disco and its overt sexual acceptance. But a less apparent hate against homosexual and interracial relationships had stained its legacy even further.
Today is a point in time that’s going to stir up a lot more shit against minorities and the LGBT community, and destroy a lot of good things. But when disco died back in the early 80’s, something greater rose up. I wonder what will come after house music.
I like remixes. Usually if they’re pop songs turned into dance tunes – that’s what they were originally made for. Most pop music to dance to nowadays is EDM meant for a rave rather than a night out. And while their production is usually done by the best, their creativity is stale. Which is usually the exact opposite for remixes.
Saint-Laurent’s remix of This Is What You Came For might not have the highest production value, kinda what they’re going for, but their creativity is refreshing. There’s a lot of 80’s throwback remixes popping up, but not many can compete with Rihanna backing.
We haven’t had a proper disco list on here for years, but our groovewit & tits held us over last year. For our first list this year, we bring the best disco for dancing.
Frisco Disco came from a producer’s name I misread at first, Frico Disco, but I’m sure I’ve heard it somewhere else before. I gotta give it to 95 Royale for introducing us to this style of disco house – disco pop vocals with a heavy house kick – and after more than three years we finally got all the best of it together.
Disco is having another revival. Here’s out toast to it.
About a week back I was reintroduced to Phenom’s Together Forever. And within 24 hours after that I had danced to it at least over 20 times, no bs. In fact, I had listened to it so much for the remaining part of the day that the chorus was burned into my brain, it got real tiresome.
Day after I was back on the bandwagon and I’ve got more obsessed since. I’ll probably get burned out a few more times before my obsession subsides.