I Created Disco

by

Calvin Harris

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Track list for the CD is as follows:

1."Merrymaking at My Place" - 4:09

2."Colours" - 4:01

3."This is the Industry" - 3:56

4."The Girls" - 5:15

5."Acceptable in the 80s" - 5:32

6."Neon Rocks" - 3:48

7."Traffic Cops" - 0:54

8."Vegas" - 5:41

9."I Created Disco" - 4:07

10."Disco Heat" - 4:30

11."Vault Character" - 0:08

12."Certified" - 4:06

13."Love Souvenir" - 4:18

14."Electro Man" - 4:58

"I created disco" is the debut from Scottish dance singer/producer Calvin Harris. The album has already had two big hits in the UK; the nostalgic "Acceptable in the 80s" (#10) and the ode to all types of girls worldwide, "The girls" (#3).

Its an album with an eighties sheen that shamelessly courts fans of Groove Armada, Daft Punk, and even LCD Soundsystem, but unlike other producer-turned-singers, he eschews guest vocalists and does the singing himself.

"Merry making at my place" has a groovy bassline, chorus sung in falsetto, and repetitive hedonistic lyrics. A clear standout which wouldn't sound out of place on a Groove Armada CD.

Title track "I created disco" is an instrumental (bar a few spoken words midway) with a fuzzy bassline, and loads of electronic effects. "Certified" is another instrumental with woozy effects. Brilliant!!

Other standouts are "Disco heat", the Giorgio Moroder-like "Electro man" (a relaxed vocal delivery over pulsing hypnotic synths and beats), and the lone ballad, the dreamy plodding instrumental "Love souvenir".

Harris has already been named as a possible producer for Kylie Minogue's new CD, so I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from him.

You can't blame Calvin Harris for wanting to have a good time, and with I CREATED DISCO, he has his disco and eats it too. It's silly fun -- the funk bass and simple breaks of "Merrymaking At My Place" exemplify this or the slow groove of "Neon Rocks" -- but that's not to say that it's not catchy. And for the boast of creating disco, I'd say 80s electro would be more appropriate. "The Girls," an ode to the fairer sex, is doused in electro like it's cheap cologne, while "Acceptable in the 80s" is an ode to a whole decade. You could argue that the tracks are pretty much the same -- and they are -- but this is a drawback. But a fun drawback! Harris' disaffected lyrics seem pitch-perfect to echo the 80s ennui, even as the kick drum goes into a dancefloor frenzy on "Disco Heat." When Harris slows it down for "Love Souvenir," you have to admire the romance and the sleazy existing on the same plane. And the final track, "Electro Man," is just a blast of fun. Hey, why not?