2009 has been a bit of a tipping point for disco. Hipper than hip bands like Friendly Fires and The Virgins have produced critically acclaimed albums that reference the once maligned genre while acts like LCD Soundystem, Aeroplane and Lindstrøm have continued to keep disco sounds on the radar’s of those in the know - and that’s without even talking about the omnipresent sound of Quincy Jones produced Michael Jackson numbers that have pepper the latter half of the year!
Continuing the trend for disco that does it for the kids not for the kitsch, Italian producers Crimea X are giving away a free track here on the Shazam Blog. Taken from their new EP ‘Chorne More’ available on Hell Yeah records, track ‘Liubov’ is sure to appeal to those who like the more discerning discofied sounds.
Mungolian Jet Set may well be one of the world’s hardest bands to pin down and decipher. Far from being actual jet setters or hailing the central Asian country of Mongolia, as the name may suggest, Mungolian Jet Set are actually Norwegian DJ Pal “Strangefruit” Nyhus and his collaborators Knut Sævik and Reidar Skår. Mixing jazz, disco, afro-beats, techno and folk with a hefty dose of tongue in cheek prog-rock epicness, Mongolian Jet Set make unclassifiable and often conceptually insane records. Add to this a whole range of pseudo mystical vernacular coupled with a load of crazy far Eastern imagery and you get one of the most un-pigeon-holeable groups on the planet.
Their latest release is a collection of their finest remixes including their re-works of tracks from Lindstrøm, The Shortwave Set and PizzyYelliot – whose cover of Bob Marley’s ‘Could You Be Loved’ is nothing short of deranged. Entitled ‘We Gave It All Away, Now We Are Taking It Back’, the record has already had serious props from dance music bible Resident Advisor who have hailed it as one of the finest releases of the year. If you’ve never experienced the Mungolian Jet Set sound check out this video, which throws together (deep breath) afro drumming, dancing aliens, a keyboard thwacking Norwegian Spaceman, a chanting face painted cowboy, a two minute jazz piano solo and a pummeling disco bass.
