It’s high time we had a little funky disco music

THIS WEEK’s featured artist operates within a genre that is sometimes maligned, sometimes revered, but remains one that has influenced a wide range of world renowned artists and spawned a subculture of its own when it first made its mark in the 1970s.

The genre to which I refer is disco, and this weeks album is ‘Huge Disco’, by Niteshifters.

Released on the back of the success of debut single, ‘Show Me What You’ve Got’ which got favourable international airplay, ‘Huge Disco’ is an eclectic mix of tracks encompassing various aspects of the disco genre.

The album begins with the stellar track, ‘Any Way You Want It’, which is part Jamiroquai and part Gloria Estefan, blended together to a disco beat.

The bass line in particular is fantastic and is exemplary in terms of how it showcases how much of an impact an intricate walking bass line can have on the overall rhythm of a song.

The way the bass locks in with the kick drum is brilliant. The song is a lovely blend and funk and soul and the vocals, courtesy of Khadija Jajue, and Elliot May, are incredible.

There is an appealing soulfulness and fragility to Jajue’s voice that gives the track some wonderful bluesy undertones.

‘Move Those Dancing Feet’, continues the walking bass line style rhythm of the opener but it also benefits from some wonderful saxophone.

There is a joyful quality to disco that few other genres can match; its the type of music that gets people moving almost instantaneously and that’s down to its reliance on feel. It’s fair to say you can’t keep a good groove down and so it is with ‘Move Those Dancing Feet’.

The rhythm guitar displays hints of classic Doobie Brothers while vocally the message is simple; sporadic repetition of the songs title.

The production on the album is fabulous and there is wonderful space between the instruments so the groove of each track is can shine.

The varied nature of disco is such that it influenced acts as varied as the Bee Gees, Abba, and Hall & Oates along with Motown legends like Diana Ross; even James Browne, while predominantly a funk soul icon, at times incorporated disco into his sound.

‘Show Me What You’ve Got’, begins with a guitar riff that has subtle hints of Living Colour but it falls into a steady bass-driven groove that builds all the way to an immensely catchy chorus.

One of the wonderful things about this album is the fact the songs are sharp, concise and straight to the point while the bass plays a very dominant role throughout.

The importance groove-filled bass cannot be overstated and for disco it’s the essence of the genre.

The guitar playing on the album throughout, courtesy of Andrea Terrano, is fantastic and that’s perhaps nowhere more apparent than on ‘ Boogie Storm’ which is an upbeat instrumental track where the musicianship of the band members is allowed to be showcased.

The arrangement is fantastic and the guitar lines are wonderfully intricate and funky. There are also some very interesting space-age keyboards lines on the track and around the 2’14” mark there is a subtle rhythm change that is fantastic.

An instrumental version of ‘Any Way You Want It’ follows on and it’s such a wonderful piece of music that it stands on its own merit even without the wonderful vocals of Jajue.

The importance of the musicality of disco is perhaps highlighted by the fact instrumental versions of a number of tracks are included.

There are hints of Soft Cell and Depeche Mode to the track ‘Say Yes’, where Jajue showcases the extent of her vocal abilities.

The song has a brilliant chorus and is like a modern-day take on ‘Flash Dance’ or ‘Fame’.

The brooding nature of the keyboard rhythm is infectious and grabs the listeners attention from the off.

‘You Are My Sky’ takes things on a different path in view of the fact the vocals are in mixed language but that just adds to the intrigue.

It has an infectious groove and again showcases the high level of musicianship within the band. Think of Studio 54 in its heyday and you’ll get the picture.

Electronica is very much to the fore on ‘Give Me Five’. Although it’s an instrumental track the melody is such that it’s very easy to imagine what the vocal line would be like.

‘She’s The Girl’ sees Elliot May take over lead vocals although it has to be acknowledged the backing vocals of Jajue are exemplary.

To be fair, the vocals are actually minimalist anyway and the track is very much an instrumental piece with a big vocal chorus.

There is also a wonderful jazz style piano break around halfway through.

Disco is a genre that is sometimes overlooked by music fans but within it there are some fantastic contemporary acts and Niteshifters is among the best.