Reviews

Bruisin' Music> Did Calvin Harris Really Create Disco? Uh...No.

E365 -- With a deliciously arrogant aura and a purist electroclash/disco revival setlist, Calvin Harris blasts onto the UK and global scene with debut album I Created Disco. Hey, you get to work with Kylie Minogue when you're that self-assured.

The bright yellow dot-matrix album design adorned with the sunglassed Harris blares out at you, inviting you to enter his sordid world of stardom. At just 23 years old, the guy admitted that he "needed a few drinks" before meeting the Queen of Disco, but it's been a colourful ride since I Created Disco hit the shelves earlier this year. Not only is his tour schedule as busy as the mating schedule of a white tiger, but he's had the opportunity to tour the notoriously fickle pop industry with an unabashed embrace of retro-cool.

I Created Disco is a classic example of the Myspace/bedroom composer phenomenon that has characterised this decade. Harris was discovered on the web, and now does vocals over the machines at venues all around the UK. In his words, "I'm not the kind of dude who buys Sound On Sound. I know if something sounds nice. If it does, I'll keep it. If not, I'll try and make it nice. You don't need to splash out on technology."

The album oozes sex appeal, and resonance-drenched basslines make it quite clear that this is one for the dancefloor. That said, there's no harm in trying it out in the bedroom, either. Heavy on minimal, repetitive vocals boasting every behind-closed-doors indulgence from narcotics to women to chic fashion to the unknown practices of the music industry ("lovemaking, drugtaking at my place, baby, at my place", "I get all the girls"). Tracks entitled 'Vegas', 'Love Souvenir', 'This is the Industry', 'Electro Man' and  'Neon Rocks' paint a picture of the scene before the throbbing sound waves even hit your ears. Brilliant branding.

Standout track and first single 'Acceptable in the 80s' is a tribute to how retro-dance should sound. Catchy and user-friendly electronic stabs and other synthesizer sounds lend the track a quirky and definitively nostalgic sound.

The album is big on everything except authenticity. It's quite clear that although Calvin Harris has fulfilled his ambition to be a pop superstar, it's come at the price of a certain humility. His supposed Scottish accent has been conveniently replaced with a more mainstream South English sound to add to the generic consistency of his specifically plastic brand of disco.

But on the other hand, which ordinary person was ever famous in their time? On the whole, this thing smacks of fun, danceability and the recklessness of youth. So drop your inhibitions at the door and get busy under the mirrorball.







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