HORSE MEAT DISCO [CD]

I've been a big purchaser of Disco and 80's dance compolations over the last few years like Joey negros Disco spectrum series along with quite a few others. I stumbled on this the other day and liked the tracklisting so bought it instantly. It seems Horse meet disco is a club night in london aimed at the gay crowd,not being a gay man myself this has passed me by but the guys there seem to have their heads screwed on musically as this is a very nice compo indeed and avoids tracks that are mainstream and overplayed like the aforementioned compolations.

Ranging from the late 70's0mid 80's its a mix of straight up disco tunes and more boogie based 80's stuff. Some of the quality sonically varies a lot. Some tracks like the Sheryl lee ralph track sounds fresh and mastered from the original tapes etc..whilst other tracks like Gregg Diamonds Danger and Tamiko jones Let it flow sound mudy and clearly taken from bad vinyl copies..so its a mixed bag in that respect but the tunes are great.

I look forward to more stuff from these guys.

I've become a fan of disco/funk/boogie really through tracing back through the roots of House Music (which is my first love) and I was first introduced to Horse Meat Disco a few years back when they DJ'd in the Bacardi tent at "V Festival". I remember thinking how good the tracks were but they were all new to me. The set they played was just superb and stuck with me.

So when I saw this mix CD by HMD I had to get it straight away and it did not disappoint. It surprised me how good most of the tracks are that were still relatively unheard of (well, by me and a lot of my mates anyway).

The mix opens with a bizarre but hilarious phone message titled "Ribbs 303". I won't explain, just listen. It then moves swiftly into the epic "Deetour" by Karen Young. This is a massive disco tune and sets the standard.

This is followed neatly by "Disco Jam" which ups the tempo and then into Larry Levan's mix of Smokey Robinson's `And I don't love you' which is simply sublime (which is no surprise as most anything that is touched by Larry Levan is). This is mixed nicely into what has become one of my favourite disco tracks ever. The very brilliantly named "Hupendi Muziki Wengu (you don't like my music) by K.I.D. The first time I heard this track I was totally blown away. It's just amazing. And if you need to know what House music, especially the funky/soulful side, owes to disco then listen to this. It is the complete blueprint.

"It's Alright" by Gene Soccio adds some funk and sleaze to the mix which flows into "In the evening" by Sheryl Lee Ralph which I can only assume would have been a massive gay/disco diva anthem back in the day. The lyrics "In the evening, the real me comes alive, I can feel it and it's something that I can't describe.......". You can just imagine all the gay guys and women that in the day were unemployed or worked dull, dead-end jobs only to become a whole new personality when they got into the club under the disco lights. The people that took on their disco character or alter-ego would have loved this track.

Manhattan by Laura Greene is just spell-bounding and takes you directly to the heart and soul of NYC at night and this is woven neatly into "Love me tonight' by Fern Kinney which is arguably one of the finest, sleekest produced and most solid disco tracks ever made (well, that's my opinion anyway!). This track is simply beautiful.

One thing about this CD is that virtually every track could and should have been a massive mainstream disco hit. But that's the beauty of it. All of these tracks remained underground and in the clubs where they were born and belonged. The artists and producers didn't run to the mainstream market. They stayed loyal to the disco. And that's probably why unless you are a complete disco efficianado then you may not have heard a lot of these tracks so their impact is double.

So in a nutshell this little CD is a piece of musical history. The beats, funk, strings and brass on the tracks takes you direct to NYC during the disco fever years and the mix really gives you a feel for exactly what was being played and danced to back in the day. The mix is uplifting, funky, sleazy, melodic and allows you to understand the spiritual atmosphere created in those famous and seminal clubs of NYC in the `70's and '80's.

Technically the mix is excellent. Mixing disco is not one of the easiest genre's to master but HMD have it off to a tee. Great track selection all through and neat, tidy mixing allows the mix to flow freely and efficiently.

On a side note the inside booklet is very interesting and gives you a brief history of disco, how HMD was created and about some of their famous club nights. There is also a DJ friendly 2nd CD which is not mixed.

For any disco fan this is a must. But I think also for any fan of House music they should get this to go back and join the dots from where the music they listen to today was born.

As a lover of 70s - 80s Disco, Boogie, Funk, and leftfield beats,I saw this comp pop up and new it was gonna be descent and i wasnt wrong. Side 1 is mixed and has a great build up. And side 2 has some of the tracks played in full length. Ill be honest ive never heard of horse meat disco, But if this is the sort of music they play i hope they pump out some more comps. Great stuff.