VA: Future Disco Volume 4 'Neon Nights'
Needwant
The fourth installment in the Future Disco series wastes no time getting delirious, about twenty-five seconds to be exact. That's how long it takes for Greg Wilson's version of Escort's “Cocaine” to kick the mix into gear with funky guitar riffing and a pumping bass line, and the set simply rolls on from there without pause. Served up in an ultra-smooth and seamless blend courtesy of Sean Brosnan, Neon Nights moves at a breathless pace from start to finish and harks back to the scene's early days when one associated New York disco with glamour and good times more than decadence and depravity. The mix's rapid segue from the Classixx Acapulco Nights version of Holy Ghost's “I Will Come Back” to Ray Mang's mix of 2020 Soundsystem's “Ocean” calls to mind the relentlessness with which the prototypical disco DJ would keep the tunes coming. But Neon Nights is no nostalgia trip, as tunes by the likes of Hot Chip, The Revenge, and 2020 Soundsystem make clear.
Highlights include Bad Rabbits' “She's Bad,” which receives a remix from Gadi Mizrahi and Soul Clap that's ultimately more funk than disco and even boasts a Prince-styled synth squeal as the cherry atop its irrepressible bass line. A low-slung lead bass line lends Hannulerauri's “Zombie Tropicana” a bit of a New Order-ish vibe but the moment soon passes when the track mutates into a seductive, Ibiza-styled anthem. The connections between disco and house are rendered overt when the piano lays out a classic house pattern amidst the hard-grooving synth flourishes and funk guitar patterns of Bonar Bradberry's “Siula Grande.” Storm Queen's “Look Right Through,” by comparison, nudges the mix into a deliciously soulful zone that eventually bleeds into a storming Wild Geese remix of Hot Chip's “Hand Me Down Your Love” that grows progressively deeper with each passing moment. Mario Basanov's “Up” stokes a euphoric house burn that's simply glorious, and a brief Soul Clap remix of Kaine's “Love Saves the Day” (bolstered by Kathy Diamond's indelible vocal contribution) segues into the Kaine original before Flight Facilities rides the mix out with a radiant take on The C90's “Shine A Light.” Aside from the choice track selection, one of the best things about the mix is that the tunes keep coming fast without any one of 'em overstaying its welcome. Each sticks around long enough for one to dig into it without boredom setting in, and then another just as quickly takes its place.March 2011