Electrorash

Two secretive producers from Belgium, they call themselves Low Motion Disco, and a more descriptive name it would be hard to think of. As they put it:

We tend to be the strange kind of party visitors. The ones that would rather stand around and watch people dance than dance themselves. It‘s not a voyeur thing, it comes from being slightly shy and unsporty. Never the less we want to be part of the party. Therefore we have developed a way to dance while not moving. We do it standing at a bar, or sitting on a sofa, in a car, wherever. While doing this, we groove and shake like hell, it just doesn‘t show on the outside. This technique is the basis of all we do. We call it low motion disco

A tad pretentious as it may be, I’ve just listened to ‘East Mountain Low’ for the eighth time end to end, and I haven’t even started writing yet. It’s… captivating. And sure, I’ll admit I’m a few beers down right now. And perhaps I’m hitting that point where you’re not necessarily morose but you do feel as if you’re slightly more attuned to the vicissitudes of the world. But it’s still wonderful. It still speaks to me… Or something like that… Not that this is depressing fare - I’ve been listening to the song almost non-stop since Friday - but there’s something wonderfully undemanding about the emotional tenor of the track, like it’s a loose clay onto which you can paste the wanderings of your mind; the euphoria, the depression, the middling contemplation. It kinda puts me in mind of Sébastien Tellier’s consummate ‘La Ritournelle’… which is probably an apt comparison considering he’s already done a remix for LMD of ‘Things Are Gonna Get Easier’, which you can still catch over at Have Fun Club. Awesome.

But man, ‘East Mountain Low’. The song starts with absent minded percussion, setting up a loose groove for the song to roll onto. Forty seconds in and the melody arrives, a set of nostalgia-ridden, counterpointed synth and guitar lines framed by what seems to be beautifully strangulated vocal samples. Then, over halfway through, the vocal proper arrives, providing the song with a brief and uncertain climax, before everything fades away again, tapering off to the same plucked guitar sample that began it all. The circular shape of the song makes for very easy repetition, I assure you. The entire album (Keep It Slow) is gorgeous, but ‘East Mountain Low’ stands out amongst the rest, a gently rolling swirl of warmth and safety. I picked it up randomly a few days back from the venerable Motel de Moka, nestled in amidst a playlist for tropical rainstorms. That seems apt, in an odd way.

Low Motion Disco - East Mountain Low

And just to prove that Aeroplane can do no wrong (ditto 20 Jazz Funk Greats, from whence I plucked this track), here’s their remix of LMD’s previous single ‘Love Love Love’. It’s exactly what you’d hope for from Aeroplane: laconic, emotive disco house that makes you think everything’s chilled out, when all of a sudden halfway through you find yourself glancing around the room and wondering where the hell this funk behemoth came from. I swear Aeroplane is almost single handedly convincing me of the merits of new disco. So cool.

Low Motion Disco - Love Love Love (Aeroplane Remix)

You can keep up to date with the Low Motion Disco boys over at their semi-regularly updated blog, but in the meantime make sure to hunt down the amazing ‘Keep it Slow’ LP - out now through Eskimo Records - and find yourself a new autumnal, mid-afternoon funk friend.

More BNGRZZZZ!!!1! soon. Maybe.

-luke