Den Haan

Disco. It's great, isn't it. Even if you're not the most discerning music fan, you can't fail to enjoy the classics. Boney M, Chic, Giorgio Moroder, Sister Sledge. All amazing artists that still sound fresh and joyous today.

For a while now, things have been bubbling under in the land of disco. A few years back, assorted producers, often people making techno primarily, started fiddling around with more disco-laden sounds. Revivalists seemed to grow in number significantly. Indie bands also started pushing things forward into disco-punk, the breakout moment being The Rapture's Echoes. In the five years since that album entered music fans collections, we've seen an explosion in punk funk and full-on disco productions. From Scandinavians like Lindstrom, Prins Thomas and Todd Terje, to bands like !!!, LCD Soundsystem (the doorway to the whole DFA label, a megalith in the scene) and Out Hud and finally to the nu-Italo (electronic disco) trailblazers like Heartbreak, Little Boots and The Juan Maclean.

On this basis, say hello to Den Haan. A duo, Creme De Menthe and Gardi (not their real names one assumes) come from Glasgow, are signed to Optimo and produce dark pumping electronic disco. It's the kind of music that sounds like the soundtrack to a sleazy leather club, that smells like amyl nitrate, that's incredibly moody but is undeniably funky. Their sound is characterised by low growling vocals, chants, retro synths, string crescendos, vocoders and arpeggios. Some of their material is also a little more new-wave, like the New Order sounding Looking For Love, as well as some other tracks which are more glam-rock. This is the kind of disco that's both retro sounding and forward thinking. Not particularly pop, but very accessible it's also the kind of disco that's a good starting point for those with a grounding in the genre but who want to begin looking deeper.

Download the Release The Beast EP (featuring three tracks, Release The Beast, Metamorphosis and Looking For Love) in shiny delicious 320kb quality from Boomkat HERE. Investigate their myspace HERE where there are a number of tracks to listen to. Lastly, download a copy of Release The Beast from the ridiculously good Waves At Night blog HERE, also an excellent place to start idulging yourself in nu-disco. Turn the lights down, the bass up and let yourself go.....