CERRONE – ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACKS BRIGADE MONDAINE (VICE SQUAD / LA SECTE DE MARRAKECH / VADOU AUX CARAIBES
3CD/3LP SET)
A mighty
great set – three rare soundtracks from dancefloor maestro Cerrone – none of
which we ever see on vinyl here in the US! First up is Vice Squad (aka Brigade
Mondaine) – a rare soundtrack from the mighty Cerrone – recorded right at the
height of his electro disco fame, and with a very similar groove! The film was
also titled Vice Squad in the US market – and the music here definitely echoes
the sleaze of its subject matter – with loads of sweet clubby lines that are
heavy in the keyboard styles you'll know from "Supernature" – but
maybe even leaner and meaner here – with a stripped-down punch that makes for
plenty of funky disco moments! The tracks are mostly groovers, but even the few
mellow moments are great – and titles include "Phonic", "Give Me
Love", "Make Up", "The Loft", "Strip Tease",
"Experience", and "Deauville". The set follows with two
more albums in the Brigade Mondaine series – both similarly groovy, with a
wonderful mix of disco grooves and crime/cop soundtrack styles – and all three
records come with original album sleeve artwork, and bonus CD versions of the
material too! (Limited, numbered edition of 1000 copies!) ~ Dusty Groove
THE
KONGAS – BEST OF THE KONGAS
Great
grooves from The Kongas – a French disco group who worked heavily with the
great Cerrone, but who also had a much rootsier feel overall! The Kongas style
mixes in long percussion lines with plenty of keyboards – all in an extended
clubby groove that has all the French disco appeal of Cerrone, but which also
brings in some Salsoul touches as well! This sweet 2LP set appears to include
both of the group's key albums – and titles include the side-long
"Africanism/Gimme Some Lovin" medley – plus "Kongas Fun",
"Dr Doo Dah", "Rocket In The Pocket", "Anikana
O", "Tattoo Woman", and "Why Can't We Live Together".
(LP comes with bonus CD version of the full album.) ~ Dusty Groove
CERRONE –
LOVE IN C MINOR / CERRONE’S PARADISE / SUPERNATURE (3CD/3LP SET)
A
wonderful package – a very limited set that includes the first three albums
from Cerrone, with bonus CD versions as well! First up is Love In C Minor – the
fantastic first album by Cerrone – a landmark disco record that features the 16
minute long "Love In C Minor" – a swirling bit of strings, beats, and
female voices – one of those tunes that forever went onto change the face of
dance music in the 70s! Cerrone really set up a whole new blueprint for club
here – stretching things out plenty, and layering in subtle time and chord
shifts that expose the proggish influences that filtered into French club as
the 70s wore on! The title track's got some nice keyboards by the great Alan
Hawkshaw – who sounds even better on the album's cool disco version of
"Black Is Black" and the tight snare-beat original, "Midnite
Lady". Cerrone's Paradise is Cerrone's second album – a swirling mix of
disco beats and strings that follows very clearly on the spirit of his landmark
first one! Like that album, this one's got a title track that runs well over 15
minutes long – building in a slowly dancing way that says everything about
European disco styles that one track could ever hope to do! Other tunes on the
album are shorter and tighter – with soulful vocals dancing in and out, and
some nice keyboard work that makes the tunes sparkle with a sweet electric
groove. Titles include "Take Me", "Time For Love", and
"Cerrone's Paradise". Supernature is the height of French disco – a
huge worldwide hit for Cerrone, a nutty bit of space disco that actually holds
up pretty darn well over the years! The guy's not really a looker – and the
strange "animal operation" cover almost makes this look like a prog
rock album – which is where Cerrone probably got his inspiration for the
incredible keyboard work on the set – but the record's a killer bit of club
that went onto influence generations to come – and is arguably one of Cerrone's
best moments ever! Includes the classic "Supernature", a catchy disco
groover you'll recognize instantly – plus the tracks "Love Is Here",
"Love Is The Answer", and "Sweet Drums". (Limited, numbered
edition of 1000 – pressed on colored vinyl.) ~ Dusty Groove
DON RAY –
GARDEN OF LOVE (CD/LP SET)
One of
the coolest club projects of the 70s – a set of tracks based around the
keyboards of Don Ray, but handled with lots of electronic disco touches from
Cerrone! The pair are great arrangers on their own, but together they really
make some magic – kind of a leaner take on the extended Cerrone groove – honed
to a "t" in the studio, and sometimes given a nice punch with chorus
vocals too. The tracks are shorter than you'd normally get from Cerrone, but
still filled with all those freewheeling clubby grooves – warmly soulful
undercurrents that make a great platform for the more electronic keyboards –
never too cold at all, and a fair bit more personal than the sorts of keys
we're used to hearing from the European scene. A really unique record – a
partnership we wish worked together more like this, although we're plenty happy
to have this treasure too! Titles include "Garden Of Love", "My
Desire", "Body & Soul", "Got To Have Loving", and
"Standing In The Rain". (LP comes with bonus CD version of the full
album.) ~ Dusty Groove
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