dirty agency.

In the 70s, your parents may have missed the boat on some things. They probably liked The Beatles and the Rolling Stones but then fell into disco and did tons of drugs and then OOPS! Kids! Now, I wasn’t around in the 70s. I’m only in my mid-twenties. But being the curious MP3 blogger that I am, I enjoy finding out about a lot of eras of music, especially the decade that apparently inspired a bunch of potheads to turn into a bunch of cokeheads; the 70s. Kind of like the 90s into the new millennium.

I had a nightmare dream that I had a son and daughter and they asked me “What did the people who didn’t like Kayne West listen to?” That’s when I dusted off my old 4th gen iPod from a box in the basement and played them Kylie Minogue? Right. So the point is, what did people who didn’t like ABBA and The Bee Gees listen to? Hmmm…..

Christian Gaubert was a composer for a lot of French films. In 1976, he created this epic disco track for a marginally decent documentary called Sex O’Clock USA. What is better? The fact something is called “Sex O’Clock” or the fact USA is tagged at the end? Does “Sex O’Clock” reference a specific time for sex or is that sometime usually before bed? Whatever the case, at least it had a halfway decent soundtrack.

Christian Gaubert - Baby Come On

Contrary to popular belief, the are more than two music acts that came out of Canada that don’t include Rush or Bryan Adams. Erotic Drum Band sure had some great albums such as “Plug Me To Death” and “Touch Me Where It’s Hot”. Jesus. It’s disco’s Spinal Tap. This percussion heavy disco act was blazing in Canada. Americans simply didn’t know what the fuss was about.

Erotic Drum Band - Plug Me To Death

And what would dance music be without a little Latin flavor (ie Ricky Martin)? After Fernando Arbex split with his drug-fueled blues band-mate in the early 70s, the next logical step was writing disco music. And that is just what Fernando did. Not to be confused with the bandit from the children’s tale The Bible, Barrabás, was Arbex’s next project.

Barrabas - Checkmate

And if you haven’t noticed, this stuff is a bit catchy. So throw some of this stuff in your next mix. If any of this followed whatever Ed Banger song you were playing, you’d have instant disco cred.

A while ago, I was really, really into Sigur Ros. I don’t disagree with most people. They are a good band. They are a talented group of Icelandic individuals. But, pardon my blasphemy, I get it. I was really excited when I first heard these guys. These days, it’s not that they aren’t making bad music. It’s just that they are music that hasn’t really moved me as much as the first time I heard it. They are one of those groups that is always is someone’s top ten for the people you would typical think they would be. Their newest album falls right back into that category of music that I’ll probably listen to when I’m reading or doing something that isn’t causing me to pay much attention to it because frankly, it’s not catching me like it used to.

Maybe my tastes have changed but maybe when I listen to a Sigur Ros album no matter which it may be, I can pretty much know what to expect and frankly the only thing separating that from Coldplay… is an iPod commercial.

I know. It’s real easy to be a critic. But when a band grabs me by the balls the first time, I want so badly to hold them to a higher standard of appreciation than, oh I don’t know, talk radio, which I can also listen to on a 45 minutes drive.

So blasphemy be damned. Them Jeans just remixed a Sigur Ros song to make it more dance-able. If that isn’t the best “fuck you” you’ve heard all day, then you, my friend, clearly need to stop reading Hipster Runoff.

Sigur Ros - Illgressi (Them Jeans Dance Remix)