Compilation CD offers the best of the London club scene
Tom Ogorzalek
London Scene Music Critic
In the vast mental wasteland that is popular culture, there are two beacons that serve as guides for those who seek Complete Mindlessness. The first is Howard Stern and his cohorts, having polluted our airwaves in their attempts to make us laugh and gasp. The second, far less menacing Essence of Mindlessness, is dance music. When one wants to simply get down, ignoring all other qualifications that would otherwise be required for something to be considered art, it is not necessary to look any further than the nearest Eurotrash discotheque.
Every year the biggest DJs in Europe come out with new offerings, and these are most consistently swallowed whole by a culture that centers around the club scene. Entire walls of music stores are covered by Club Compilations, all of which are virtually the same, containing around 40 or so essentially similar songs.
The Club 2000 dance hits release is no exception. Available in virtually any record or grocery store here in London, Club 2000 is a perfect taste of the club scene, without having to pay an outrageous cover to be surrounded by a sea of trendy, black-turtleneck-clad British people and clumsy American tourists. From the very beginning of this two-disc, 43 song compilation, it is clear that there will be no attempt at profundity made as the original mixes of these songs are presented in continuous manner, ideal for a three-hour dance party or torture session.
The first three tracks are the strongest on the release — one need not go much further to understand what "clubbin' in the new millennium" is all about. The Artful Dodger is positively Dickensian on "Rewind." The Wamdue Project chime in with the hit of the season, "King of My Castle." And Bob Marley vs. FunkStar De Luxe's bastardized version of "Sun Is Shining" shows that in full combat, Funkstar De Luxe is able to utterly destroy the old Soul Rebel.
From there, one becomes literally entranced by the continuous and monotonous disco beat, which reverberates through the soul until it becomes absolutely unbearable.
But disco-dancin' music is not really about expression. It's not about sitting around and finding important social messages in the mixes. Rather, it is about drunken, ecstatic hedonism, sweaty bodies grinding against each other on an illuminated floor, and about finding that certain special someone sexy enough to wake up next to just once in a lifetime. For this, the music is perfectly conceived, and I count myself lucky for having had the opportunity to experience the London disco scene in its entirety. Disco is not dead. It is constantly renewing itself in ever-more mindless and repetitive forms. And God Bless us all for that.
All Scene Stories for Tuesday, March 21, 2000
