Title:
Disco & The Halfway To Discontent
Artist(s):
Clinton
El-Camel's Ratings:
Label:
Meccico Records
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Reviewer:
rukhsana yasmin
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A heady trip down nostalgia avenue - where the kitsch just got cool and the sweetness of by-gone times is rosy hued.
This collection of 12 tracks takes you on a winding trip through retro grooves: from the heady, honeyed ‘Saturday Night Dancing’ - with its similarities to the re-mixed ‘Brimful Of Asha’ – to an ‘80s night out at the ‘Buttoned Down Disco.’ And it goes on and on through the decades from the ‘60s to the present day: electric funk, hip-hop, disco, soft rock and fragrant melodies.
For all its syrupy and candy-coated feel, Clinton are still talking attitude - ‘People Power In The Disco Hour’ - but the crack of the words is disguised amidst the silky smooth and effortlessly rolling lyrics from golden-throated Tjinder.
‘G.T. Road’ is one of the two most obvious ‘tributes’ to Tjinder’s Asianess - and for all the claims of "Asian music samples out of context sound shit! And white people get loads of fucking praise for it!" – Tjinder: NME – ‘G.T. Road’ and ‘Giddian Di’ are a mix of urbanism and Asianess which, er...erm... don’t sound shit.
‘Gidian Di’… there I was, all settled down, expecting the usual happy Bhangra version – definitely not the repetitious track it is here. I didn’t think there was any other way to sing it (years of hearing the same melody performed by a shifting gallery of other artists had washed away any expectation – or possibility - of an imaginative and varied approach.)
Whatever the twists, the obvious tinkling of disco remains in the background and the aptly named ‘Halfway to Discontent’ is certainly felt. This is disco… and with its safe and contented wash-out comes a sense of unease: disco was not that safe and pink past - there was cultural upheaval, assorted mayhem, and the rapid turn and shift of politics in the ‘70s and ‘80s to contend with.
Cornershop - whoops - I meant Clinton, may not match the impact that ‘Brimful Of Asha’ had on the music scene two years ago - but to get away from all things shopping related (forget the bills/Bill?) - Clinton is a great place to be.
To sum up?… It’s a retro cool-kitsch swim through all things (future) past
Oilzine Members Reviews
Disco & The Halfway To Discontent
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Where's Monica? |
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19/06/01 12:01:58 |
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