Last month we published an article in which Dimitri From Paris charted Disco’s evolution into House, and House’s subsequent devolution back into Disco. Here, Dimitri identifies and discusses some of the key records that define these distinct, yet ultimately fluid, musical shifts.
Read Part 1 - From Disco to House here
Part 2 - From House to Disco
Faze Action - In The Trees (1996)
While House music came largely from the US, it is Europe and particular the UK that made it as big as it is today. From the late 80s, a slew of UK artists came up with their own interpretations. S-Express, Coldcut, Bomb The Bass and many others soon reached pop star level with their own combination of US original House and sample based Hip-Hop, a sound that was parting from its Disco and Chicago roots. In the mid 90s a newer generation of DJs started adding more Funk and Disco to their sets and productions. DJs like Joey Negro, DJ Harvey, the Idjut Boys were the vanguards of the genre then called ‘Nu House’. With ‘In The Trees’, Faze Action jumped the gun with a rare mix of deep House and all acoustic Disco elements.
Nu Yorican Soul - Runaway (1997)
In the mid-90s alongside Frankie Knuckles and David Morales, Masters At Work were the go-to remixers. Their sound while being electronic had a more jazz and Latin flavour that perfectly fitted the UK’s eclectic dance music culture. Under the influence of Talkin' Loud label boss Gilles Peterson, they went on to create a full acoustic project as Nu Yorican Soul. Inspired by the big band Disco sound of the late 70s, they left the electronics aside, and recorded with a large group of musicians, with legendary Salsoul Orchestra director and Philly arranger Vince Montana Jr at their helm.
Stetsasonic - Talking All That Jazz (Dim's Respect For The Old School) (1998)
Already a huge fan of Disco at the time, it was my dream to make an all-acoustic track in the vein of those I loved. This required an altogether different approach, namely a few (good) musicians, and the facility to record them - something that was quite out of the ordinary in the already very DIY and computerised club remix realm. As the original was a manifesto for the art of sampling, I put together a band that played a new backing track, re-interpreting the original's Disco samples, resulting in a Rap, Disco and House crossover.
Ron Hall & The Muthafunkaz ft Marc Evans - The Way You Love Me (Dim's TSOD version) (2006)
Where House came from Disco. Disco came from Philadelphia Soul: the Philly Sound. The four-to-the-floor Disco beat and open hi-hat pattern that are ubiquitous to House music were created in Philly in the mid-70s, and so were the luscious string arrangements. Moreover it was almost solely the work of the in-house band from the city's Sigma Sound studios, which played for many artists, and under different names (MFSB, John Davis & Salsoul Orchestras…). When I first heard the original of ‘The Way You Love Me’ I instantly though it had the aesthetics of a Philly Disco song, bar the electronic House beats. I recorded a completely new acoustic backing with the excellent musicians from the band Los Amigos Invisibles and begged Defected who had signed the original song for enough of a budget to record the signature strings I wanted Philly legend Vince Montana Jr to score.
Daft Punk - Get Lucky (Dimitri From Paris Re-Edit)
I couldn't find a better example than Daft Punk to illustrate how House went full circle from Disco and back. The self-proclaimed kids of the Rave culture started in the 90s with the Jacking Chicago sound. They perfected the art of chopping up old Disco records over powerful electronic beats and became globally successful with it, spawning thousands of wannabes and copycats. Their latest output is almost like a prequel to their original sound: a return to making songs like those they sampled. Getting some of the original Disco musicians like Nile Rodgers of Chic fame on board they (eventually) won a Grammy with a record that has all the ingredients of a classic Disco record from 1977. If they influence producers even half as much as they did in the 00s Disco, will definitely have its revenge.
Dimitri plays the Glitterbox Opening Party at Booom Ibiza, Saturday 07 June - click for full details
