If you’re a groover with a jones for get-down sounds that’re fresh to the ear and permeated with vintage ambiance, then Too Slow to Disco 4, the latest volume of discoveries assembled by DJ Supermarket, should fill that tall order without a hitch. But get this: the set is something other than a pileup of dancefloor burners, as the 16 selections feature strains of West Coast AOR and even a few yacht-y soft pop sojourns. And even better, there are enough unusual touches and unexpected twists to stir the interest of unrepentant ass-sitters. Everybody wins! It’s out on 2LP and CD August 26 through How Do You Are? Recordings.
For starters, let’s just say that Too Slow to Disco 4’s curatorial spirit is quite potent. Who’s the man responsible? To quote the press release, Berlin-based DJ Supermarket (real name Marcus Liesenfeld) is an “in-demand DJ wherever sophisticated dancing is popular.” Sweet. He’s also formerly half of the electropop duo Le Hammond Inferno alongside Holger Beier, with the pair also founding Bungalow Records.
Additionally, How Do You Are? Recordings is DJ Supermarket’s label, and this latest effort is the tenth installment in the Too Slow to Disco series, this one described as a getting back to the roots kinda deal, with those origins, as mentioned above, Cali AOR and boaters music. Spanning from the mid-’70s to the early ’80s, the global contents heard on this collection are smooth, frequently funky, and unabashedly overproduced (a term the label embraces).
Too Slow to Disco 4 serves as my introduction to the series, which should make clear that DJ Supermarket’s thematic passion falls a little outside my typical listening diet. That’s not to insinuate an aversion to the contents, as I’ve found many of the recent reissues of disco, boogie, AOR, city-pop etc. to be of no small worthiness.
The Dukes, aka Brit songwriting duo Bugatti and Musker, kick off the set with a song taken from their 1982 album for Atlantic. Given the wiggle funk sheen of “Mystery Girl,” it’s unsurprising that they wrote songs that became hits for the likes of Sheena Easton and Chaka Khan, but I find the harder hitting beat and deeper R&B foundation of the Prime Time Band’s “Fall in Love in Outer Space” more to my liking, especially the guitar solo and the soaring keyboard touches. It segues nicely into the horn-laden sophisto groove of falsetto-wielding hitmaker Kenny Nolan’s “You’re So Beautiful Tonight.”
It’s with the decidedly British hue of Peter Skellern’s “Now That I Need You” that things start getting really zesty. Certainly soft pop of a late ’70s variety, but energetic, with sturdy bass, the hangdog introspection of Skellern’s vocal really adds value. After it, Marc Jordan’s “Generalities” is a relatively straightforward affair, though it does have a likeable sax solo. Next is “Stay” by Severin Brown (Jackson’s younger bro) a vaguely Bill Withers-like number but with yet more sizable bass presence (cut for Motown).
From there, it’s “Stay the Night” by the Faragher Brothers, which the notes astutely observe has some affinities with Hall & Oates, though there’s a deep voice in the mix that helps it to stand out. There’s also prominent keyboards in the track, which helps to usher in Alan Price, easily one of the bigger names on this set, as he handled the 88s in The Animals, in addition to a lengthy solo career. His “Groovy Times” is more Brit soft pop, stretching out to six minutes and with some wild keyboarding in the back end.
There’s also a short but very worthwhile dose of keys in “Open Up” by James Felix, a number that delivers a gospel twist to Too Soon to Disco 4. And “Altogether Alone” by Hirth Hernandez (a noted Dylan and Robbie Robertson associate) ushers in a deeper wave of the eccentric, though still unstrained pop and not disconnected from the thrust of Skellern above (and for that matter, Gilbert O’Sullivan).
It leads into one of the strongest cuts on the 2LP, “Tell Me the Reasons Why” by Max Leake, the vocals in the track strong and the instrumental component striking in how it stands apart from the norms of commercial R&B of the time. Unsurprisingly, it’s taken from a private press album, though don’t get idea the song is strained or off-kilter. It’s a totally together bit of business, as is “Music in Me” by Trinidadian singer Stephen Encinas, with its funky upshifts a highlight.
Eric Andersen is the other undeniably high profile name on this volume, with his “Can’t Get You Out of My Life” driving home that well-established folkies had no problem going straight-up soft pop in the mid-’70s. It’s a pleasant enough little ditty, but I’m more taken by “Beautiful News” by Jimmy Spheeris, with its vibraphone and hints of Harry Nilsson.
Like a lot of comps, Too Slow to Disco 4 saves some of its best selections for late in the order, as Jeannine Otis’s “Magic Song” is a pure disco high-stepper enhanced by Otis’ Broadway-esque belting and a robust arrangement. And then Pleasure gets even more funky with “Nothin’ to It” for the close. I mean, the bass in this track is pure wickedness, and there’s even a nifty little sax freakout at the fade.
In summation, four sides maintaining the sheer heat of the Otis and Pleasure tracks would’ve been a major statement, but DJ Supermarket’s focus on AOR and soft pop, if lesser, isn’t without its charms. Too Slow to Disco 4 goes down easy and is enlightening throughout.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B
