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VA: Future Disco 7 ‘Til The Lights Come Up'
Needwant

A news item I happened upon recently identified early January as the most depressing time of the year for many people, with things such as the post-holiday return-to-work, bone-chilling temperatures, credit card woes, and failed New Year's resolutions contributing to the especially bleak state of mind and spirit. With that in mind, Needwant might want to consider expanding on its usual PR approach to market its seventh Future Disco compilation as some special kind of aural anti-depressant. Certainly anyone suffering from the January blues will experience some degree of alleviation in suffering after prolonged exposure to the seventeen-track set.

Curated as always by Sean Brosnan, Til The Lights Come Up offers a joyous compendium of unreleased cuts and classic tracks by artists both familiar and obscure. Figures such as DJ Koze, Crazy P, Ada, Mount Kimbie, Axel Boman, Mario Basanov, Michael Mayer, Terrence Parker, and Benoit & Sergio appear as either original contributors or remixers in a wide-ranging collection of house and disco that, as intimated by its title, takes as its thematic springboard those magical early morning hours in the club.

Brosnan wastes no time in getting the party started, with “You're the One” by Sonny Fodera (featuring Cajmere) establishing a low-down and funky vibe from the outset and others following his lead. Though Parker's irrepressible “Finally” (taken from his terrific Planet E album Life On The Back 9) is positioned fourth, one already hears its delicious “‘Cos I want you” refrain sneaking into the mix during H.O.S.H.'s “Disc Jockey” and Ejeca's “Together.” Parker's cut is an instant classic of the first order, but it's hardly the collection's only memorable moment: Psychemagik's remix of Mirror People's “Kaleidoscope” and Renato Cohen's “Suddenly Funk” respectively sparkle and strut in all the right ways, while Ada's cover of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' “Maps” still sounds as entrancing today as it did when it first appeared on 2004's Blondie—especially when the jacking remix version by Michael Mayer and Tobias Thomas is the one featured.

A rather limp closer notwithstanding (Tale Of Us & Clockwork's “Lost Keys”), Til The Lights Come Up oozes a silken and sensual allure, and its exuberant tracks, far removed from antiseptic minimal techno, are powered by tight house rhythms, piano chords, synth radiance, and soulful vocalists (see James Fox's “Holding On” featuring Vanity Jay as a particularly satisfying example). If anything, the listener emerges from the sixty-three-minute experience less bleary eyed than rejuvenated and emboldened to meet head on any number of 2014 challenges.

February 2014