Social Disco Club: Let's All Chant EP

I discovered Humberto Matias aka Social Disco Club quite by accident, via Dimitri from Paris' collection of edits released under the title Sakura Blue. I was quite late, but it won't happen again. "Let's All Chant" is a three track EP released on vinyl and digitally exclusively on Juno Download, and it's gorgeous.

The Sakura Blue edits were given odd titles with wacky, Engrish spellings; here, SDC's more explosive edit of "Let's All Chant" carries the distinction of being the "Gay Version". I've no clue of Humberto's sexual preference or, if like the Sakura Blue edits, he's just amused to hear RecordDudes in their stubble and hoodies shout, "Yo dawg, I LOVE DIS GAY VERSION, its da bomb!" Whatever the case, you can tell he's got a sense of humor about what he does, and in this day and age of Quincy Jones wannabes, it's refreshing to find a guy (much like Dimitri, to be sure) who doesn't take himself all that seriously.

So on to the music. The title track is an edit of Michael Zagar Band's kitschy classic "Let's All Chant", and the Gay Version is music to dance, to chant, to woo woo to. Among DJs beating the same two dozen records to death and especially for those DJs playing for crowds that want to be murdered by classics, this is your secret weapon in the crate to get those asses off the stools and into the middle of the room.

The original mix of "Let's All Chant" (called the "Macho Dub" on soundcloud) is fairly muted in comparison, dropping the vocal in a classic dub. Both versions build like an unholy rumbling deep in the Earth and take no prisoners when they finally break free. There's something to say for both edits but this straight man would probably favor the Gay Version. So there.

Last comes an edit-of-an-edit that gets serious marks for both creativity and cheekiness: a kind of slow disco reboot of Armand van Helden's meth-propelled remix of Tori Amos' "Professional Widow". If that sounds like a trainwreck, you should know that Social Disco Club exists on the fine line between trainwreck and brilliance. A twisted original became a hectic club smash in van Helden's hands, and here becomes something that sounds like it was made by some nodding brothers with soulpatches and backward hats in a basement in Brooklyn.

[ - Review by Terry Matthew / July 2011 - ]

Available: Released on vinyl first; check your local shop and give them a bit your filthy lucre first, eh? Digitally, this is an exclusive released July 8, 2011 from Juno Download.

Let's All Chant (Gay Version)

Let's All Chant (Gay Version) [Hands Of Time Gold] by Social Disco Club

Let's All Chant (Macho Dub)

Let's All Chant (Macho Dub) [Hands Of Time Gold] by Social Disco Club

Professional Widow

Professional Widow [Hands Of Time Gold] by Social Disco Club