September 19, 2004

Various : No Disco

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a robot. Playing cowbell...

7 / 10 Music culture, as we know, is predicated on tribalism. But, there has never been a greater urgency (well, not since late-'80s Madchester) for us all to get over rock and dance music's petty rivalry because, right now, as all the cool spods from Nag Nag Nag to Optimo know, the most exciting innovations in music are happening in that Bermuda Triangle between punk, funk and electronic music, where Franz Ferdinand and Fat Truckers happily co-exist.

Italian collective SHADO calls it 'No Disco' and this compilation illustrates how modern dancefloor adventurers like !!! and Midnight Mike share an avant-garde aesthetic with an earlier generation of post-punk disco divas such as Lizzy Mercier Descloux and, erm, Foetus. They're not the first to put together a compilation like this, of course, but 'No Disco' is a cut above.

Tony Naylor