Peace dance

There was much merriment at Tricky Disco Towers when we heard about ‘Computer Incarnations For World Peace 2’, Sonar Kolektiv’s timely follow-up to last year’s superb collection of obscure prog disco and experimental electronic oddities. This time round, compiler Gerd Jansen has swapped vintage ’70s and ’80s electro oddities for contemporary nu-disco, cosmic and Balearica. In this regard, ‘Computer Incarnations…2’ is more of a companion piece than a straight follow-up.

Still, the tracklist is certainly tasty, with the mouth-watering prospect of rare and unreleased material from the likes of Todd Terje, Prins Thomas, Chateau Flight (who will be making their Bristol debut at best before: at the end of March), Maurice Fulton (coming our way in April) and recent TAPE guest Mark E.

Since it landed on our desks this morning, we’ve had the finished CD on almost constant rotation. As you’d expect, it’s a lovely collection – once again Gerd Jansen has put together a set that will appeal to both disco newbies and fully paid-up Balearic beards (only the most obsessive of nerds will have the vast majority of material here). Craftily, he’s found space for some relatively big records – in nu-disco/Balearic circles, at least – in the shape of Smith & Mudd’s ‘Shulme’, Ray Mang’s ‘To & Fro’, Danny Wang & Brennan Green’s largely forgotten 2002 remix of Crazy P’s ‘Keep On’, and Woolfy’s brilliant ‘Odyssey’, one of the best things released by Rong in 2007.

These underground “beard anthems” nestle side by side with a selection of real exclusives – a string of unreleased and suitably obscure cuts that are worth the admission price alone. Mark E’s ‘Fighter’ is the sort of track the bespectacled Brummie is becoming renwoned for – long, loping, atmospheric and subtly euphoric. It’s not in the same league as his forthcoming release on Internasjonal (the brilliant ‘Good Times’), but it’s still pretty darn hot.

Another of the exclusives comes from Tricky Disco’s fave Swiss producer, Alex Storrer AKA Lexx. His ‘Mahogany’ instrumental feels like a logical extension of his recent uber-Balearic ‘Axis Shift’ single, all bubbling German house synths, subtle disco guitars, sunset kys, dubby basslines and music box melodies. Wonderful stuff.

Perhaps the most high profile of the unreleased tracks is that by Versat'ile Records’ Chateau Flight. Ironically, it’s perhaps the most pedestrian of the lot. Trippy, chugging and hypnotic with appregiated synth meldoies aplenty, it sounds like cosmic disco for the afterhours generation. It's not bad by any means, but they've done better.

Away from the exclusives and “big hitters”, there are plenty of highlights. Todd Terje & Prins Thomas’s ‘Reinbågan’ is arguably the compilation’s stand out track. For those who don’t own one of the 60 12” copies supposedly in existence (that includes us, by the way), it’s a fantastic dub disco cover of Cloud One’s disco classic ‘Don’t Let My Rainbow Pass Me By’ complete with anthemic piano flourishes, deliciously dubby beats and On-U-Sound style harmonica. Thankfully it’s one of the tracks Sonar Kollektiv have picked for the ‘Compter Incarnations For World Peace 2’ 12” sampler, so all us vinyl junkies can finally own a copy. Hurrah!

Almost as good – and also destined for the 12” sampler – is Project Sandro’s ‘Blazer’, a marimba-tastic nu-disco epic that’s so Scandolearic it should move to Oslo and call itself Rune. I have to admit not coming across it before, though apparently it came out in 2005 on L.A’s Sentrall Records. Incidentally, another Sentrall track appears on ‘Computer Incarnations… 2’ – Maurice Fulton’s typically dreamy/walking bass-heavy remix of Rollmottle’s ‘Take A Break’. It’s good, too, though followers of Fulton may feel a little short-changed; he might be a genius, but he might want to thinking about writing some new basslines.

Throw in a dash of Balearic disco-pop from Frontera (their chill out comp-friendly cover of the classic ‘Walking In The Rain’) and San Serac and a wonderful Al Usher tune (‘Lullaby For Robert’, which I somehow managed to miss when it was released a couple of years back) and you’ve got another essential collection of electronic disco oddities. Good work Gerd.

Expect to see ‘Computer Incarnations For World Peace 2’ in record shops around April time.

Kelley Polar: All Around Is Elysium

When former Julliard School of Music graduate Kelley Polar first appeared on our radar back in the early noughties, it would be fair to say very few people were taking notice. Initially known as "that guy who does the strings for Metro Area", Polar began to make a name for himself thanks to a series of inspired EPs on Morgan Geist's Environ imprint. These were truly wonderful concoctions, full of grandiose but understated space-disco with brilliant string arrangements and an aloof, off-kilter feel.

Then came his debut album, the delightful 'Love Songs Of The Hanging Gardens'. Taking his love of vintage electronics, cosmic imagery and studious classicism to new levels, it showed Polar - real name Mike Kelley - to be an artist more than adept at making understated, intergalactic pop. It quite rightly earned him a reputation as a 'one in a million' producer - one whose take on music was different to almost everyone else on the planet. Praise was more than forthcoming, not least from yours truly, who used the pages of iDJ magazine to predict that Polar would "become one of the most celebrated talents of the modern disco era".

Yet since the release of 'Love Songs' in December 2005, we've not heard much from the acclaimed violist. Bar the brilliant 'Chrysanthemum' single – and accompanying dancefloor-friendly 'Rosenband' remix - last summer, all has been quiet on the Polar front. There was also, of course, a remarkable remix of Caribou's 'She's The One' – the sort of record that no doubt confused as many people as it delighted (for the record, we think it's brilliant). That, though, has pretty much been it in recent times.

Soon all that will change and Kelley Polar's profile will rise dramatically, thanks to the imminent release of his second album, 'I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling'. And this time, people might just get it.

Certainly, 'I Need You To Hold On…' is another superb piece of work. It further develops Kelley's widescreen, cosmic vision whilst showcasing a newly-sharpened pop sensibility. At times, it it deliciously out-there and experimental; opener 'A Feeling Of The All-Thing', for example, is one of his most adventurous tracks yet, an other-worldly fusion of whispered vocoder vocals, disembodied operatic wailing and bubbling electronics - all cut through by those trademark strings. 'Zeno Of Elea' is equally eccentric – a beatless electronic journey layered with his unique harmonies and an oddly-confident vocal. See also the weightless rush of 'A Dream In Three Parts (On Themes By Ernesco)' and the eerie star-gazing of 'Thurston & Grisha'.

Yet for all the neo-classical electronic experimentalism, there are also moments of pure pop genius. See the sharp, dancefloor-centric duet 'Entropy Reigns (In The Celestial City)' (a tribute to a "party without end", it's Kelley at his most Arthur Russell-esque - though since Russell was a cellist, Kelley may take issue with that comparison), the previously-mentioned 'Chyrsanthemum', 'Rosenband' and, most gloriously, the seven-minute 'Satellites'. It's here that Polar momentarily turns soul singer, emotionally opening his heart to the woman (or man) of his dreams ("you keep me waiting… and I could wait forever"). With a careful bit of spit and polish and the odd nip and tuck, it could be a bona fide dancefloor slayer. Also worth mentioning is the glistening 'Sea Of Sine Waves', which sounds like Brian Wilson's 'Our Prayer' as played by the Cantina Band in Star Wars. Sort of.

Certainly, 'I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling' is an album you'll be hearing a lot more about before it's March 31st release. Quite rightly, too; if there's a better leftfield electronic pop album this year, I'll be surprised.

Kelly Polar's 'I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling' is released by Environ on March 31. Watch this space for a special feature celebrating 13 years of Environ Records.