Category: Dance (Page 26 of 26)

The Black Kids: Partie Automatic

July 18, 2008 /

There is a strong case to be made here for the importance of sequencing. The track listing for Partie Automatic, the debut album from Florida synth-rockers the Black Kids, paints the band into a corner before they’ve had a chance to spread their wings. Opening songs “Hit the Heartbreaks” and the title track are serviceable enough, but it’s the third track that throws everything out of whack: The weedier-than-weedy “Listen to Your Body Tonight” has no business whatsoever in the three-hole; that slot is tailor-made for lead single “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You,” which would have propped up everything on either side of it. Instead, “Boyfriend” is batting seventh, behind the girl group-ish “I’ve Underestimated My Charm (Again),” which feels like an answer record to the Pipettes. Granted, those two songs work really well together, but is anyone still listening by this point? Lead singer Reggie Youngblood has a few different speeds, but his strained Robert Smithisms dominate the front half, making the album a more laborious listen than it needs to be. Our suggestion: re-sequence the album, and replace “Listen to Your Body Tonight” with their cover of Sophie B. Hawkins’ “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover.” Everyone loves a cover version, right? (Columbia)

The Black Kids MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Dance, Pop, Rock

Kasper from the K: Whatcha Gondo EP

July 4, 2008 /

Yes, his rhythmic style is little more than a combination of Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg, but there is something charming about Kentucky white boy Kasper from the K (Timothy Hoggard to his mother). Maybe it’s the fact that he accepts that he’s a white boy, and forgoes the cliché hardcore gangsta scene in favor of sleazy club jams. And man, are these songs sleazy: there isn’t a moment on the Whatcha Gondo EP where Kasper isn’t talking or thinking about getting’ him some freaky. The super freak path is a slippery one, though; go too far, and you come off as a serial rapist, but Kasper is more fast-talking himbo than roofie-slipping perv. And with a calling card like the super-catchy, “Obsession”-cribbing title track, he is going to be up to his eyeballs in women for the foreseeable future. Isn’t that the primary reason why guys get into music in the first place? Sure, “Whatcha Gondo” might wind up as the “Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back to My Room)” of the new millennium, but as long as it helps him score women, we doubt Kasper will care much about his long-term legacy. (EO Music)

Kasper from the K MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Dance, Hip Hop, Rap

Hercules and Love Affair: Hercules and Love Affair

June 27, 2008 /

It may sound like the ultimate insult to call an album a dance record for people who don’t dance anymore, but let’s face it; most of the people who went club hopping in the late ‘80s simply don’t dance anymore, but they’re going to love Hercules and Love Affair, the collective effort by Andrew Butler and a small army of friends. Ranging from Inner City-style house (“You Belong”) to brooding, Shriekback-ish dark grooves (“Easy”), the album has both Thievery Corporation cool and traditional dance pop sensibilities. “Blind” goes back even further in time, rocking a full-on disco groove, and the sincerity of the performance is as convincing an argument for the awesomeness of early disco as you’ll ever hear. Hercules and Love Affair is, quite literally, groovy stuff. More, please. (Mute)

Hercules and Love Affair MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Dance, Electronica, Pop

Walter Meego: Voyager

June 27, 2008 /

You’d be hard pressed to find a genre with a greater POF (Poseur Overload Factor) than the Nouveaux Wave scene, where the majority of the bands equate squawky synths with detached, ironic hipster cool, as if the world needs more detached, ironic hipster cool. (It doesn’t, by the way.) Huzzah, then, to Chicago duo Walter Meego – neither of whom is named Walter or Meego – for putting the song first and going from there. Their debut, Voyager, takes Daft Punk’s poppiest work to its logical next step, matching the bubbliest of pop songs with “Aerodynamic”-style keytar riffs. “Girls” is the clear standout, which a guitar hook the size of an anchor, while the ode to voyeurism that is “Keyhole” has a tribute of sorts to “Aerodynamic” in the solo. If you’re looking for a frothy, fun summer album, look no further. (Almost Gold)

Walter Meego MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Dance, Electronica, Pop

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