Kicking off Monday with a double CD compilation for your delectation. Rather tasty it is too, Disco Circus (Tbe Sound Of Disco Past & Present And Future Volume 1) is a collection that celebrates thirty years of the disco genre. This however is a more interesting prospect than most of the compilations you will find with the word ‘disco’ in the title.

The first thing you expect in such a scenario is for all the usual suspects (which anyone worth their salt already owns) to be trotted out for another unecessary airing. There’s nothing wrong with tracks like ‘Good Times’ and their ilk but lets be fair, we know songs like this backwards. Nope this time there’s a more contemporary spin (no pun intended) on the genre which was put together by Mighty Mouse and includes contributions from the likes of Dinosaur, Bent, Crazy P and even a heftily retooled Franz Ferdinand.

As a compilation there is a lot to love about this, if you’re a fan of disco yet not necessarily familiar with all the names touted here don’t worry. The overrall sound is faithful to the original disco genre. There’s that mid tempo swagger that provides that all important dancefloor credentials. Loose limbed percussion works its way across a seamless mix with lightly chopped funk guitar and warm piano stabs weaving their way through a lot of the tracks.

For those looking for a touch of modernity to their mixes there is unquestionably a 21st Century influence waiting in the wings. Embelleshing the beats in places are some brightly coloured splashes of electronica which in places give the collection a slightly “french disco” feel (and you’ll hear no complaints from this quarter on that front). Yet wherever the detours meander throughout the thirty tracks on offer, this at heart remains very true to its roots. If you picked a copy up and slung it backwards through time to say, New York in the late seventies it would perhaps raise more than a few eyebrows (and they might struggle with the prospect of compact discs) but the most important thing is the folks on the dancefloor would doubtless keep on moving.

Recommended.

Out today.