JUDGING from the title of Calvin Harris's debut album, I Created Disco, the 23-year-old DJ from Scotland isn't lacking in self-confidence, but then he did create the 80s electro sounds of I Created Disco from cheap recording equipment in his bedroom.
And thanks to his disco-inspired tracks pop princess Kylie Minogue is now lavishing him with attention, (she has recruited the Dumfries native to produce some tracks for her forthcoming album) – surely a marriage match made in pop heaven.
The firs
t single to be taken from the album, Acceptable in the 80s, is a tribute to the decade which taste forgot (think shoulder pads and bad perms) and as a floorfiller it ticks all the boxes - infectious beats and superficial lyrics - and with his My Space following the single charted at number 10 and stayed in the chart for 15 weeks.
One of the few DJ/producers who performs live, Harris obviously views himself as the UK equivalent of US indie/disco producer LCD Soundsystem – an executer of strong dance beats but with a twist; appealing to those who generally wouldn't listen to dance music.And with second single The Girls, Harris attempts to channel 18th century lothario Casanova; "I like them tall girls / I like them short girls / I like them brown hair girls / I like them blonde hair girls," and so he goes on, and on... (I'm sure redheads are crying up and down the country lamenting their absence).
But whatever; I Created Disco was never going to rival punk/disco band CSS in terms of biting social observations, and nor would Harris would want it to; he has frequently stated in interviews that his music has absolutely no meaning – much to the annoyance of music critics.
Nevertheless his debut makes a bold statement and one, which at times, it fails to live up to.
The album title track, for instance, is actually quite bland and merely meanders on and some of tracks, are unfortunately, just average.
The album opens well with upbeat number, Merrymaking at Pace and continues with the jazz influenced Vegas, but it would be interesting to see what Harris's next musical venture would be – and with Mark Ronson currently stealing his thunder with his unique covers on well known pop tracks – could Harris be getting a little nervous? Well, time will only tell.
