Urlaubshits

I hate iTunes, I really do. Not the program itself per se, but the iTunes store, an evil business model offering a pittance to artists, which does nothing to further the cause of legal music downloading, offering only AAC as a file format, in slightly sub par sound qualities, and uses the bane of the modern electronic world, Digital Rights Management technology. Thankfully, most of the really good music that is released digitally is sold through retailers who offer a choice of file sizes and price ranges, and in a choice of formats, but unfortunately sometimes great things are released only on iTunes, and Lo Recordings‘ recent iTunes exclusive Milky Disco 1.5 (and half follow up to 2007’s Milky Disco compilation) is one of them.

Let’s get this out of the way first - forget what I have just told you about iTunes, because this compilation is brilliant. It seems to have been somewhat criminally overlooked, having been released a few months back, but to little fanfare, which is a shame, because the content is so strong. I don’t want to use the “balearic”, because that would be to do this compilation a disservice. What is perhaps most striking about the tracks is the real vintage feel they have. The second track, In Flagranti’s “Preceding Stairs” is a real surprise. In Flagranti always seem to turn up on these sorts of things, but their track is one of the best things on the compilation, possessing a haunting melody which sounds like it could have been lifted from a 70s science fiction movie; positioned prior to a brilliant Professor Genius remix of Jean Jacques Perry and Luke Vibert, and a Black Devil Disco Club dub version, it gets the album off with a suitably analog mood.

The slightly more “balearic” axis is brilliantly represented by Soft Rocks, whose “Leave Your Earth Behind” takes an acid bassline and layers disco percussion and guitars over the top to great effect, while NDV’s “Touchy Philly” is the kind of piano based anthem that has that melodic rush that Aeroplane possess the ability to create.

There are also some heavier moments; the album kicks off with Maelstrom’s “Acid Dub” of a track by The Flying Sapphire. I have no idea who The Flying Sapphire is, or are, but a trip to their MySpace page is highly recommended - the tracks on their player have a fantastic vintage cosmic dub sound and have got me hooked. The acid dub is a very different sound to what I have come to expect from Maelstrom, but it’s excellent nevertheless. There is also “Life’s A Gas” by Black Mustang and Kerrier District, which has a much darker, housier feel than all the other tracks, and has some searing synths which swell up to a noisy crescendo. The track I find myself listening to over and over though is Lurifax’s “Midnight Drive”. The title might be a well worn trope in the world of cosmic disco, but the phased guitars and violins will haunt you long after the track has finished.

MP3:> Lurifax - Midnight Drive

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Milky Disco 1.5 is available now on Lo Recordings

Buy it exclusively through iTunes