Kid Creole : The August Darnell Sessions
August Darnell was the real name of Kid Creole, the Canadian-born funk and disco fusionist who found success with The Coconuts during the '80s. This album draws on various examples of the music he had a hand in from the '70s onwards, helping to shape the sound of artists like disco diva Cristina, Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band and Aural Exciters. One of the finest things here, Cristina's 'Is That All There Is?' is a despairing, seedy tale about the emptiness of disco and New York's club scene, all delivered with a lovable theatricality. Perhaps it's to do with this particular period in history, but you might find yourself wincing your way through a passage that treats domestic violence in a morally ambiguous fashion, something that crops up quite uncomfortably elsewhere, during Kid Creole's own 'He's Not Such A Bad Guy After All'. It's all a bit too much like The Crystals' 'He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)': not an easy listen, despite how well put together the productions and songs are. Still, from the label that brought you the excellent Disco Not Disco and Funky Nassau compilations, here's another interesting slant on alternative disco.
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August Darnell was the real name of Kid Creole, the Canadian-born funk and disco fusionist who found success with The Coconuts during the '80s. This album draws on various examples of the music he had a hand in from the '70s onwards, helping to shape the sound of artists like disco diva Cristina, Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band and Aural Exciters. One of the finest things here, Cristina's 'Is That All There Is?' is a despairing, seedy tale about the emptiness of disco and New York's club scene, all delivered with a lovable theatricality. Perhaps it's to do with this particular period in history, but you might find yourself wincing your way through a passage that treats domestic violence in a morally ambiguous fashion, something that crops up quite uncomfortably elsewhere, during Kid Creole's own 'He's Not Such A Bad Guy After All'. It's all a bit too much like The Crystals' 'He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)': not an easy listen, despite how well put together the productions and songs are. Still, from the label that brought you the excellent Disco Not Disco and Funky Nassau compilations, here's another interesting slant on alternative disco.
August Darnell was the real name of Kid Creole, the Canadian-born funk and disco fusionist who found success with The Coconuts during the '80s. This album draws on various examples of the music he had a hand in from the '70s onwards, helping to shape the sound of artists like disco diva Cristina, Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band and Aural Exciters. One of the finest things here, Cristina's 'Is That All There Is?' is a despairing, seedy tale about the emptiness of disco and New York's club scene, all delivered with a lovable theatricality. Perhaps it's to do with this particular period in history, but you might find yourself wincing your way through a passage that treats domestic violence in a morally ambiguous fashion, something that crops up quite uncomfortably elsewhere, during Kid Creole's own 'He's Not Such A Bad Guy After All'. It's all a bit too much like The Crystals' 'He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)': not an easy listen, despite how well put together the productions and songs are. Still, from the label that brought you the excellent Disco Not Disco and Funky Nassau compilations, here's another interesting slant on alternative disco.