VARIOUS ARTISTS - Future Disco Vol. 7 - 'Til The Lights Come Up

I’m always a bit wary of compilations. They’re the kind of thing people get their cousins because they know they’re into music.

Unlike the worn-out, conveyor belt of the Ministry of Sound brand, the Future Disco moniker has time on its side. It’s still only seven volumes young and looks as if it serves a more important purpose than simply cataloguing the 90’s to 00’s dance chart.

Compiled by DJ and Needwant record label boss Sean Bronson, ‘Till the Lights Come Up’ suggests a focus on the ‘Magic and mystery of the early hours’. That point on a night out where your ears go a bit fuzzy and every sound satisfyingly leaks into another, but you’re still happily jiving on the dance-floor, probably making a tit of yourself.

The album covers ground between house, dance and neo-disco – possible Chill-house territory. The Psychemagik Remix of Mirror Mirror’s ‘Kaleidoscope’  proves to be the catalyst for that sound; heady with a touch of ambience yet mildly danceable; maybe swaying a bit or trying not to fall over after all those trebles.

Axel Boman’s Remix of Name In Lights’ ‘Naughty’ provides the modern house juices of the album, coupling shiny synth with a knocking beat, that flows comfortably throughout the track. A more signature house sound, can be found in Ejeca’s  ‘Together’ which combines just about the right amount of bouncing piano chords with sharps, pulsing beats.

Some of the tracks have crude Homework-era Daft Punk qualities - squelchy basslines and orgasmic female vocal samples in Renato Cohen’s ‘Suddenly Funk’.  Elsewhere, Mount Kimbie’s ‘Made to Stray’ is put through the blades of a software blender to create an odd yet distinctive remix by DJ Koze, that couldn’t get further away from the original, without losing it’s genius. 

There’s an overall consistency to the sound of the album, although later moments like Templehof ‘s ‘Drake’ (Future Disco Edit) and Tale Of Us & Clockwork‘s ‘Lost Keys’ seem incredibly light next to other tracks. It’s like there’s an overly conscious effort being made to milk the concept of hours passing and the night moving on but coming off woozy and lethargic rather than relaxing.

‘Till The Lights Come Up’ stands well above other dance compilations, simply by promoting the more obscure or unknown artists on the scene. Until it starts to dissolve into a floppy mess; reflecting the heap your body is in after on too many, the album makes a good claim that those hazier hours of the night might just be the most special after all.

Words: Nad Khan