"Simply The Best": Disco. Warner Brothers (2 CDS). Rock historians usually underplay the fact that disco music originated in gay clubs; that's why it's so cool that this stunning compilation opens with that gay anthem, I Will Survive. Unlike in rock, in the mid-1970s, when disco danced its way around the globe, women were well represented in this genre with tracks like I'm Every Woman, by Chaka Khan and We Are Family by Sister Sledge. They're all here. Many of these tracks now resurface as samples in hiphop tunes and are direct and easily discernible influences on bands like Texas. Apart from that, this collection is classic, good-time music. In fact, tracks like Donna Summer's I Feel Love may be some of the most celebratory pop songs ever recorded.
Joe JacksonCorduroy: "The New You" (Big Cat) The new album by the Fabric Four is a sometimes confusing mix of styles, from acid-jazz to theme music, laid-back funk to full-on rock'n'roll. Corduroy are such energetic genre-jumpers, they're in constant danger of slipping into dance limbo; like some ditzy fashion victim, The New You can't seem to make up its mind which outfit to wear. Evolver is like The Who's Tommy recast as Funny Girl, while Supercrime and Season Of The Rich stir up so many memories from the 1970s, your head is left spinning in an alternative musical universe. Designosaur attacks futurism with a retro sword, and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle tackles the issue of domestic violence, but sounds too much like an American cop show theme to truly win our sympathy. As usual, the band is infectiously upbeat, but the songs veer between impossibly catchy and unbearably kitschy.
Kevin CourtneySoraya: "On Nights Like This"(London) Any vocalist who can make her soul's energy shine through, despite the insipid production values of Rod Argent and Peter Van Hooke, deserves our attention. And that's exactly what Soraya achieves with this album. Partly because she is rooted not just in her original love of Colombian music but because she is clearly a fan of the kind of hyper-confessional songs recorded by her idol, Joni Mitchell. That comes across in the opening track, Suddenly, which was written for her husband. The title song, on the other hand, deals with the death of her mother, while Ruins In My Mind hauntingly evokes the feelings fired when she passed a set of earthquake ruins in Guatemala. Though next time she really should get another set of producers: Argent and Van Hooke are, after all, the guys who once produced Tanita Tikaram and who, if anyone, remembers her?
Joe Jackson
