Horse Meat Disco III by Various Artists
LABEL: Strut

Genre experts Horse Meat Disco return to release a double mix on (about) July 4th for Strut. The quartet of DJ’s, hailing from London, has been packing clubs to the brim for seven years now. Along with their usual festival appearances at Glastonbury and Lovebox, the summer of 2011 finds them behind the wheels of steel at Vivid in Sydney, Gay Pride in San Francisco, and Bestival on the Isle of Wight. However, this double mix is exciting because it’s the first time the collective has included a combination contemporary productions, re-works, and edits in a mix — especially prevalent on disc 1, check the dark new song by Yam Who? towards the end. This is great news. Horse Meat Disco (HMD) are clearly in love with the 70s and 80s, but by no means are they stuck in the past.

The Horse Meat Disco III compilation also marks the the first time the series explores the entirety of a night-long, HMD DJ set. Accordingly, the first disc is the “peak time” selection, curated specifically to showcase the kinds of tunes for which people cram the dancefloor. It kicks off with a stripped-down, bassier edit of “Into the Milky Way,” featuring a synth bridge that sounds like a wormhole, leading to a muted guitar. It transitions seamlessly into Leftside Wobble’s tighter edit of last year’s sooulful “Grapevine Boogie.” The mixing from track to track is, per usual with HMD, flawless. Absolutely none of the transitions are forced.

  Horse Meat Disco III Mini-Mix by Strut

After the tighter, instrumental edit of “Sweet Dynamite,” things continue to heat up with a Harvey remix of Fuzz Against Junk’s “Born Under Punches” cover — coincidentally, my favorite Talking Heads song. While the nine-minute-long original is jittery and almost cavernous in its echoing sonic space, Harvey crafts a driving psych freak out that’s closer to the original, while still utilizing Fuzz Against Junk’s penchant for sample stutters. Harvey’s interpretation of the ‘computer’ guitar solo on the original track is pretty amusing, too. The mix shifts into Norwegian duo Mungolian Jet Set’s shortened, dance set version of their 13-minute cosmic funk epic “Moon Jocks and Prog Rocks,” misleadingly tagged here as the full length version. This shorter, livelier version is unquestionably more compelling to me.

Erodiscotique’s “Downtown” is culled from their recent “I Love New York EP.” A jazzy flute floats in for the breakdown before the track returns to the ecstatic, synthy groove established at the outset. Following this is a longer edit of Suzy Q’s funk-inflected jam “I Can’t Give You More,” complete with a fat percussion breakdown — cowbell included. And after that is another stellar track, Severino Dub’s remix of “Sweet Suburdan Disco,” which (the original) is honestly terrible, completely flat and bassless. Severino Dub gives the track some heft here, making it eminently more danceable.

Ava Cherry’s “You Never Loved Me,” from the 1980 Ripe! LP, is a true classic. Check the wobbly, moaning bass which provides the basis for her lush voice, or the sax solo which foreshadows the second disc. From here, the mix moves into more electronic territory, and stumbles a bit. Ron Hardy’s remix of “Let No Man Put Asunder” is a blunder, completely lacking in bass weight until, finally, about five minutes in, the bass drops, though the production values remain (attractively?) bottom barrel. Wild Geese’s “Macho Disco Master” starts out sounding like it’s headed for disaster, with its tunnel-vision synth and computer blips at the beginning, but a soaring vocal bridge steers the song in the right direction, and it turns out pretty well, despite the dated blips which pop up throughout. The same could be said of the synth work on Tom Trago’s “Shutters.”



The second disc explores the “sleaze” subgenre (EDITOR’S NOTE: watch the video above for discussion of sleaze) which has its roots in the 1970s and 1980s gargantuan clubs like The Saint in NYC. Associated with the gay scene, music was played well past 6 a.m. for the drug-fueled disco-sluts who were glued to the dancefloor with midtempo slow-burners.

Showcasing the true spirit of this phenomenon, a lot of the tracks on disc 2 are absolute monsters. In fact, I think it’s the better of the two discs. It opens with the epic, orchestral classic “For Your Love” by Idris Muhammad, followed by the rollicking “Give it Up,” with its wailing sax solo and Rhodes groove.

“Seconds” is a pounding affair which I think could easily have gone on the first mix. Tambi’s version of Serious Intention’s “You Don’t Know" and its ping-pong snare panning become somewhat grating, but the looser, almost dancehall-influenced rhythm is compelling. Mark Kamins tackles a remix of Manchester soul maestro Marcel King’s “Reach for Love,” a Factory Records classic which never had chart presence. “Summer Breeze,” a vintage piece of German synth work, contains a surprising and wonderful key change, and is a testament to the versatility of HMD’s skillful curation. Unlike the first disc, the second disc’s mix never sags. In fact, its second half is the better half. “Lovemaker” is a rare gem — its moody synths clashing with the horns. It’s got an excellent breakdown, the synths threatening to swell until the strings interrupt. “Candidate for Love” is propelled by soaring, infectious vocal harmonies. At this point, take a second to count the number of songs on this mix whose titles involve the word “love.” Ha!

Now, I don’t want to make this review any longer than it needs to be (it’s already past that point, but oh well). I don’t need to describe how awesome the rest of the second disc is track by track, except to say that it doesn’t stumble at all, and closes with two absolute classics. Suffice to say, this double mix is a monstrous collection, one more strong effort from HMD, and it’s probably what your life has been missing. This will make for excellent dance-by-yourself material, or mix fodder. Go out and dance, for Pete’s sake!


REVIEWED BY MANUEL ABREU
MANUEL’S FAVORITE TRACKS: “You Never Loved Me” • “Seconds” • “I’ll Make the Living if You Make the Loving”

FREE MP3: “Lovemaker” by Wham