Burn this disco out

Music! I wonder if it will ever lose its ability to surprise and thrill me. I already know that I could learn about a new artist every day of my life and still not mine the depths of what there is to know about the vastness of what is out there. For music, of some kind or another, is surely as old as we humans have been conscious beings, and if we count such phenomena as whale song, perhaps even longer. Anyway, the point is that music, like nature, is in a constant state of flux, of energy, and of mutation. There is simply too much to know, and the best that we music lovers can hope for is that the soundtrack we choose to accompany our lives continues to inspire, amuse, educate and entertain us through to the very end. But also that we can inform other people's own choices, and in some way affect their own choice of soundtrack, no matter how small that change may be.

And with this in mind it is no accident that the term file-sharing has come to be synonymous with music itself, because what better to share in this digital age than the music that we love, have loved in the past, and will come to love in the future? Sharing is good, and learning from others is good. And that is why I must give some love to my man Dames for opening up my eyes during a recent tete-a-tete. A discussion about what music we are currently grooving to was meandering along nicely into a playful one-upmanship, when he mentioned the work of French producer Cerrone. Now at the time I thought little more of it, other than past experience showing that a recommendation by Dames is often worth pursuing further. It didn't cross my mind to feel ashamed to not know about him or his work. For all I knew he was some obscure house producer that Dames and perhaps two other people in the world are actually into. Oh dear. How wrong I was.

Because for the uninitiated, discovering Cerrone, certainly for this self*styled music lover, felt a bit like saying I am into thrillers, and then finding out about some 2-bit director called Hitchcock. A bit of a strange analogy, but you get the picture. Because Cerrone's music is that good, and his influence that profound. He was virtually responsible, alongside Georgio Moroder, for the blueprint of what would soon become the all-conquering sound of disco in the late 1970s, and the impact of the two is unrivalled, certainly from a European perspective. With his seminal debut "Love In C Minor", which still sounds incredibly fresh and exciting today. Cerrone can truly be considered a pioneer and architect of the disco sound. The afore-mentioned debut and third album "Supernature" are true masterpieces. If you don't know them, like yours truly until recently, then dig them out and I guarantee you they will not leave your speakers for some time yet.

The orchestration is lush, with layered vocals and swirling strings, driving beats and a sensuality and sexiness that all the best dance music gives, intensified by the knowledge that on these records Cerrone is creating the aesthetics of disco for the first time. If you are a fan of the French disco revival led by the likes of Daft Punk, Bob Sinclar, Modjo and Etienne de Crecy amongst others, chances are you may have already availed yourself of Cerrone's work, knowingly or not. Certainly Bob Sinclar's own 2001 compilation of Cerrone's best tunes is a great shortcut to knowledge, and surely one of the best dance compilations available today. So thanks to Dames for showing an old dog some funky new tricks, and who says that disco is dead?! I for one, it woul appear, am only just getting started.