Andy Butler is such a talented songwriter and arranger that it’s always interesting to hear him apply these skills to other people’s work through remixes. He’s taken on tunes by artists as diverse as Lady Gaga and Jori Hulkkonen, so the task of reworking Chromeo’s “When The Night Falls” single was well within his wheelhouse. Where the original was a slick, modern take on boogie, Butler opts for a jagged house angle that’s somehow an even better fit for vocals by Dave 1 and Solange Knowles. The latter’s vocals pop out from the bleepy melody like some forgotten house diva reclaiming her place among the spare percussion. The remix makes room for an electro-like breakdown that’s particularly suited to Dave 1′s smooth, comely vocals. And like the best of remixes, it quickly replaces the original as the definitive article. Our thanks to all involved for making this delightful remix available.

Chromeo, “When The Night Falls” (Hercules & Love Affair Remix)

[Moshi Moshi Recordings]

Adored by the press and embraced by audiences beyond dance music circles, Hercules & Love Affair’s self-titled debut album could not have been better received. Head songwriter/producer Andy Butler’s elaborate disco and house tunes felt simultaneously faithful and inventive, persuading many listeners to revise their assumptions about how engrossing the oft-maligned forms could be. With his Tim Goldsworthy-produced sound finding such acclaim, it would have been understandable if H&LA’s second full-length largely deferred to those original blueprints. Yet for Blue Songs, Butler’s newly configured group tackled a broader range of styles tied together by his canny songwriting and the guidance of veteran producers and instrumentalists.

The most conspicuous difference between the albums is in their personnel. With Antony Hegarty and Nomi Ruiz departing, Butler enlisted Aerea Negrot and fan-turned-contributor Shaun Wright to take over androgynous diva duties. Aided by long time collaborator Kim Ann Foxman and Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke, the group turns Antony’s absence into an opportunity to display a multitude of vocal talents. Hercules & Love Affair’s instrumental core received a makeover as well, recruiting an equally inveterate cast of players from bands as disparate as Santana, Meat Beat Manifesto and Elektro Guzzi. But an album that finds Butler reaching for synthesizers and drum machines more often than the bright horns of S/T is clearly influenced by the addition of synth wizards Patrick Pulsinger and Mark Pistel. Bringing with them the grit of their own respective sounds, the album pulses with live-wire energy and is executed with a preciseness that comes with many years of experience behind the boards.

Even with the shuffled line-up and enduring presence of synthesizers, Blue Songs seems like a natural progression for Hercules & Love Affair. The group’s disco roots shine through on the jubilant “Falling” and the skewed funk of “Answers Come In Dreams.” They’re also felt in “Leonora,” a Butler/Foxman sung tune whose placid, synth-aided vibes reference Pet Shop Boys in the same breath as low-key boogie. A gentle disco pulse even runs through the ornate baroque instrumentation of the title track. Butler’s desire to write songs unrelated to the dance floor and his penchant for orchestral pop manifests itself in the album’s midsection. Thick with strummed guitar lines, stately horn arrangements and palpitating synths, “Boy Blue” has Wright serenading listeners as if he were Arthur Lee of Love. But the album’s slowest number is also its most patience-testing; the group’s cover of “It’s Alright” by Sterling Void pairs Foxman’s deliberate phrasing with somber piano chords, coming off hopeful but mawkish, especially as the record’s closing chapter.

The most promising moments on Blue Songs come when Butler rekindles his love for making house music, a sound attempted only briefly on S/T. The first single, “My House,” snaps together Chicago-influenced beats and an eminently memorable chorus wherein Wright gushes over a stable relationship he compares to his home. “I Can’t Wait” is a quirky melange of sputtering samples and a defiant vocal performance by Foxman, during which she throws off the mantle of victimhood and promises to “fight my own fires.” Perhaps the most unexpected delight is how tremendously Kele Okereke fronts the breezy “Step Up.” His ode to owning up to one’s true identity is subtle but affecting, insisting, “Baby, you might just be like this / Baby, this might be who you are.” All this said, Blue Songs is not a house record as some critics have blithely suggested, overlooking the prevalence of disco signifiers and the depth of its ponderous moments. House is but one genre in the band’s repertoire — one they’ve gotten even better at executing but ultimately only part of the whole package.

Hercules & Love Affair should be celebrated for taking risks and coming away with a more mature, complex and varied offering. For audiences weaned on the group’s more singularly focused, DFA-endorsed first album, however, Blue Songs may disappoint. Lacking hipster cred and a bellowing Antony to distract from thinly veiled gay themes, the album’s variety could be seen as inaccessible to fickle or unadventurous listeners. Yet art should not necessarily be judged by the reactions of cautious, trend-hopping audiences. An album as accomplished as Blue Songs shows impressive development in Andy Butler’s songwriting and his ability to recruit and arrange talented artists. Making tough choices rarely elicits rapturous receptions, but doing so can be just as satisfying in the end.

01. Hercules & Love Affair, “My House”
[Mochi Mochi Recordings] (buy)
Although Hercules & Love Affair is best known as a disco group, Andrew Butler often worked elements of influential American house music into their songs. In fact the band’s first single since 2008 is the spiritual successor to their charged Chicago house track, “You Belong.” “My House” seems to inch forward in time to the late ’80s and early ’90s and integrates touches of a New York sound in its Windy City foundation. Its mellifluous bass and dexterous percussion form a muscular core that pulls the track through live-wire synth hums, vocals exhorting listeners to “Get up! Get up!” But what always sells me on Butler’s compositions is the songwriting. From its ebullient chorus declaring “My house / is in order,” to the clever verses and extraordinary bridge/breakdown, the song has fan-turned-vocalist Shaun Wright belting out an endearing tale about the peace of mind accompanying a stable relationship which doubles as an excellent house track. If you had any concerns about how H&LA would top their early peaks, “My House” should put them to rest with yet another high watermark for the group.

02. RNDM, “Hideaway Lane” (Dub) [Laid] (buy)
Oliver Kargl hasn’t seemed rushed by dance music’s mercurial ways, releasing only occasionally as half of Pigon with Efdemin, and just as sparingly when flying solo as RNDM. Slowly but steadily he’s established himself as a canny house producer with a few tracks for Dial, a tune for Naïf, and a 12″ for Laid. Hideaway Lane, his second, latest release for Laid, represents a leap forward for the Berlin-based producer. The Dub mix emerges as my favorite for bringing together the tuneful bass of the Shine mix and the spiraling, airy treble of the original. With its soothing pads and soft, tuneful synth undulations, the tune conveys a calm that’s only made more inviting by the lathered up bass line. Tender and limber all at once, “Hideaway Lane” strongly affirms the promise of Kargl’s measured ascent.

03. Lone, “Cloud 909″ [Magic Wire Recordings] (buy)
In spite of his prolific nature and the hype surrounding his “Pineapple Crush” track, Matt Cutler aka Lone didn’t really get my attention until the arrival of his late-2010 album, Emerald Fantasy Tracks. Over the course of its eight tracks, Cutler refined the sun-warped house sound of “Pineapple” into something a bit breathtaking. Opening track “Cloud 909″ is exemplary of this; hyper and housey like Underground Resistance’s “Jupiter Jazz” but furnished with a micro-textured sound akin to DJ Koze or Pepe Bradock. The result is sprightly and somewhat dazed by its own ostensible age — exultant and familiar but too singular to be pastiche. It’s a style few producers can pull off and Cutler does so repeatedly across his fourth long-player. I eagerly await his work 2011.

04. Sandwell District, “Speed + Sound (Endless)” [Sandwell District] (buy)
Sandwell District, both the label and collective, first established itself as a bastion for bleak, uncompromising techno. But as time passes the stony facade has crumbled and a more hopeful and melodically inclined face has revealed itself, starting with the sampler EPs and coming to a head with their long awaited album, Feed-Forward. Although critical consensus has lifted “Falling The Same Way” as the album’s peak, I find myself returning to its closer, “Speed + Sound (Endless),” for repeated eardrum massages. As with much of the album you can pick up any number of influences from the tune, mostly from the electronic side of Krautrock: Manuel Göttsching as Ash Ra Tempel, Harmonia, Tangerine Dream, Cluster, or even Kraftwerk. Balmy and pulsing, crested with gorgeous, swelling chords, minute hi-hats ticking along without disturbing the flow, the track gives the listener the sense Sandwell are as content to conjure soothing moods as dreary ones.

05. XI, “Gamma Rain” [Orca Recordings] (buy)
After a very prolific 2010, Toronto’s XI (Christian Andersen to his friends) begins 2011 on an auspicious note with his Gamma Rain/Medicate single for quickly rising imprint Orca Recordings. Side A dominates the proceedings with a hyper kinetic garage tune that imagines frantic sax lines being beamed through a wormhole, their notes and composition turning inside out, ripping apart and smacking back together with cosmic force. Both the interstellar mood and jazzy nature of “Gamma Rain” smacks of latter day Flying Lotus, but its limber yet straightforward percussion arrangements have more in common with garage/bass music than Dilla’s most revered disciple. Reaching uncharted corners of the sonic universe last aimed for by drum n’ bass producers, “Gamma Rain” is an impressive way to begin a year and potentially the catalyst for more concerted interest in XI.

06. Lauer, “Banned” [Live At Robert Johnson] (buy)
07. Audio Werner, “Guteaussichten” [Story] (buy)
08. Tin Man, “Nonneo” [Absurd Recordings] (buy)
09. Obsolete Music Technology, “Latency”
[Machining Dreams] (buy)
10. Roman Flügel, “How to Spread Lies” [Dial] (buy)

Staff Charts:

Chris Burkhalter
01. Digital Mystikz, “Education” [DMZ]
02. Lone, “The Birds Don’t Fly This High” [Magic Wire Recordings]
03. Kassem Mosse, “2d” [Kinda Soul]
04. Moritz von Oswald Trio, “Restructure 2 (Digital Mystikz)” [Honest Jon's]
05. Aardvarck, “Nosestep (Cosmin TRG remix)” [Rush Hour]
06. Rolando, “Junie” [Ostgut Ton]
07. Sandwell District, “Svar” [Sandwell District]
08. Tin Man, “Nonneo” [Absurd Recordings]
09. Area, “So Many Fireflies” [Kimochi]
10. Juju & Jordash, “Quasi Quasi” [Dekmantel]

Luke Hawkins
01. Bodycode, “I’ll Hold Your Hand” [Spectral Sound]
02. Newworldaquarium, “The Force” [NWAQ]
03. SND, “Atavism 2″ [Raster-Noton]
04. Ø, “Helium” [Sähkö Recordings]
05. Flying Lotus, “Parisian Goldfish” [Warp]
06. Moritz von Oswald Trio, “Restructure 2″ [Honest Jon's]
07. Actress, “Purrple Splazsh” [Honest Jon's]
08. Hieroglyphic Being, “Belief and Reality” [Mathematics]
09. Rick “Poppa” Howard, “Do What You Have To” [Rush Hour]
10. Tin Man, “Nonneo” [Absurd Recordings]

Steve Kerr
01. Andy Ash, “Freak” [On The Prowl Party Breaks]
02. Cally, “Wake Oops” [Fear Of Flying]
03. Virgo Four, “Look Into Your Eyes” [Rush Hour]
04. Tony Wilson, “New York City Life” [Bearsville]
05. Elphino, “I Just Can’t” [Somethink Sounds]
06. Roche, “Sk Rhythm” [Solos Recordings]
07. Brooks Mosher, “Intermetro” [Dolly]
08. Kowton, “She Don’t Jack” [Idle Hands]
09. Ital, “One Hit” [100% Silk]
10. Nina Kraviz, “Tanya” [Rekids]

Kuri Kondrak
01. Martyn/Mike Slott, “Pointing Fingers” [All City]
02. Shake, “Trackin” [Fit]
03. Tevo Howard, “The Age Of Compassion” [Buzzin Fly']
04. C-Beams, “Thumbling” [Uncanny Valley]
05. Ever Vivid, “Abandoned Virtues” [Open Mind]
06. BitterSuite, “Squeeze In” [Atmospheric Existence Recordings]
07. Juanpablo, “Dream” (J.T.C. Remix) [Frigio Records]
08. DMX Krew, “Worm Hole” [Fresh Up]
09. Arne Weinberg, “Motive Force” [Diametric]
10. Kassem Mosse, “2D” [Kinda Soul]

Chris Miller
01. Steffi ft. Virginia, “Yours” [Ostgut Ton]
02. Margaret Dygas, “We’re Not The Same” [Perlon]
03. Scuba, “Feel It” [Hotflush Recordings]
04. Tin Man, “Nonneo” [Absurd Recordings]
05. Joy Orbison, “BB” [Doldrums]
06. Tyrez, “Functional Love” [Dolly]
07. Kassem Mosse, “Untitled” [Trilogy Tapes]
08. Sepalcure, “No Think” [Hotflush Recordings]
09. Martyn x Mike Slott, “All Night” [All City]
10. Owen Jay & Melchior Sultana, “Days Gone By” [Underground Quality]

Jordan Rothlein
01. Tin Man, “Nonneo” [Absurd]
02. Steffi, “Reasons” (feat. Virginia) [Underground Quality]
03. Sepalcure, “No Think” [Hotflush Recordings]
04. Pawel, “Kramnik” (John Roberts Remix) [Dial]
05. Lauer, “H.R. Boss” [Live From Robert Johnson]
06. Steffi, “Nightspacer” [Ostgut Ton]
07. Mayhem & Distal, “Frozen Barnacles” [Surefire Sound]
08. Knifeshow, “Hallways” [Fancy Restaurant]
09. Rolando, “Junie” [Ostgut Ton]
10. Margaret Dygas, “We’re Not The Same” [Perlon]

Andrew Ryce
01. Kevin McPhee, “Get In With You” [nakedlunch]
02. XI, “Gamma Rain” [Orca]
03. Croms, “Invisible Cities” [Exit]
04. Boddika, “Daze That Were”
05. Joel Mull, “Holographic” [Truesoul]
06. Salva, “Icey” [Friends of Friends]
07. Steffi, “Reasons” [Underground Quality]
08. Contakt, “Not Forgotten” [Local Action]
09. Mode, “Stepping Stone” [Exit]
10. DJG, “Automatic” [Brownswood]

Jack Scourfield
01. Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx, “NY Is Killing Me” [XL]
02. Braiden, “The Alps” [Doldrums]
03. Sepalcure, “Your Love” [Hotflush Recordings]
04. Krystal Klear, “Tried For Your Love (Hudson Mohawke Remix)”
[All City]
05. Vindicatrix, “Hume” [Mordant Music]
06. Bakey Ustl, “A Tender Places” [Unthank]
07. Cassie, “Me & U (Brackles Remix)” [Local Action]
08. Chasing Voices, “Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit” [Preserved Instincts]
09. Katy B feat. Ms. Dynamite, “Lights On” [Rinse]
10. Mzo Bullet, “Casablanca” [New State Music]

Many dance music artists are aptly described as producers, but when discussing Andy Butler the titles of songwriter or composer come to mind. He’s the brains behind Hercules & Love Affair, an ambitious project whose 2008 self-titled debut dropped jaws and shook asses with thoroughly composed, soul-baring disco/house hybrids. Tunes like the Antony-fronted club smash “Blind” or the wickedly propulsive “You Belong” illustrate an approach that is mindful of tradition without being shackled to history; the desire to create something new with disco and house templates is plainly apparent. H&LA is also a full band with whom Butler embarked on world tour in 2008; try to imagine your favorite house producer undertaking such a feat. These days he’s spending more time DJing (which has yielded the recently released Sidetracked mix CD for Renaissance) and writing the second Hercules & Love Affair album. We caught up with Butler by phone at his San Francisco apartment in anticipation of his appearance at NYC’s Electric Zoo festival. He filled us in on the sound of album number two, his take on contemporary production styles, and the vanishing influence of gay people in dance music culture.

Tell me a little bit about how the Sidetracked mix for Renaissance Recordings came about.

Andy Butler: They contacted me to start of the series they’re doing that’s, to my understanding, band members who also play records compiling mixes for the label. I knew Renaissance, I’ve known the name for a long time. I always associated it with the big room prog-house sound of…

[At which point the phone goes dead. Trying not to suspect Renaissance ninjas, I called back and the interview resumed.]

Along the lines of associating Renaissance with progressive house, I was curious if you had considered doing mixes for other labels like DFA or someone a bit more underground? I was just a bit surprised your first mix was for such a huge label. Not that you’re not huge, but…

(laughs) Yeah, yeah. There had been talks with some other underground labels about doing a comp, and I think timing was bad. I was touring, I was on the road with the band for the most part. So when this came about, it was like, ‘Oh, I actually am off the road, I’m kind of working on the new album and DJing a lot, so maybe this is a good opportunity.’ Renaissance did have quite a presence in the early and mid-90′s, you know? For me, I come from club culture, I come from dance music, I come from house music. So it was kind of fun and flattering for a label like that to ask me. Kind of felt like, wow, that’s really throwback. I remember the days of first buying records and hearing about Renaissance, so it was an honor to be asked by them.

When was the new Hercules & Love Affair track on the mix recorded?

Over the past six months. The bulk of the album has been written over the last… well, that’s not true. Maybe 75% of it has really been written over the last six to twelve months.

So it sounds like it’s near complete, or at least formulated as to what you want to do. Is that true?

Yeah, I mean I have a lot of — I call them sketches at this point. I have a lot of songs that are quite developed and a lot of the music done, so I’m pretty far along, yeah. With the initial production phase. But there’s a lot of finessing that has to get done.

I read in an interview you thought some of the tracks on the mix had a tech-house sort of feel; and that made me wonder, with you DJing a lot now are you keeping up with the new underground house and techno being released?

To a degree.

Because it looked like many of the tracks were older.

Yeah, to a degree I do. The new productions that really speak to me… I generally do have a particular taste. When it comes to contemporary production styles and stuff, it has to suggest that the artist is rooted in the tradition. I like it when it evokes a classic classic sound, which I guess is quite predictable coming out of my mouth. I don’t really get into tricky new production styles, and a lot of contemporary tech-house and music that might be available on dance music websites and stuff is so homogeneous sounding. You know what I mean? I don’t want to play filler, that’s something I can’t really get into.

Who are some of your contemporaries you do admire?

Well I threw a couple of them on the mix. Obviously In Flagranti are probably one of my biggest inspirations and one of the artists currently making music that I really, really dig. And not just because they come from a cosmic disco background; they do something really aggressive and different with it. Of course Danny Wang, but he really hasn’t been releasing much, has he? Hard to call him a contemporary artist. Also Deetron is another artist in terms of the techno side of things, I really enjoy what he does. I’ve recently come into some Pete Herbert records I really enjoy.

A lot of dance music has moved away from songwriting in the last decade, and I wondered if you’d venture a guess as to why a “tracky” style has replaced the songwriting style, like what you’re doing?

I can only hypothesize. I think that it depends also on the kind of club you’re going to, the genre you’re interested in. I think a lot of more overground, overblown dance music, more main stream dance music is intended for just creating a sexy vibe, a sexy environment for people who want to go out and get fucked up. So there isn’t that much thought, there isn’t that much substance that needs to go into it. I also think that, there was just a real trend toward minimalism. And that’s fine, that’s good. I think minimalism really took over for a while. I appreciate minimal techno, I really loved the early Playhouse records, I like some of the early tech-house sound. But I don’t know; I started a love affair with disco and older songs early on, quickly after finding those [records], so my taste has changed. But on the whole people really embraced minimalism.

Do you think technology has anything to do with it? That the tools that are at people’s disposal now weren’t before.

I think what ends up happens is people get really caught up in the latest software, the latest studio trickery they can get lost in. There’s a lot of tweaking and twiddling of knobs that the focus goes away from harmony, melody and interesting rhythms and goes towards the crazy thing that this module can do. I don’t think that helps. I also think it requires a couple of different levels of consideration when it comes to writing an actual song. You have to get a performance out of somebody, you have to write lyrical content you feel comfortable with; you have to attempt chord changes that don’t feel one way or another to you, that feel like it’s not going to work on a dance floor, it might kill a dance floor. Once you get into the territory of chord changes and more involved music, you know, you run the risk of losing people. It’s just that way. I think there’s a bunch of reasons why, but I think people are taking more risks and just throwing vocals on more tracks more frequently. And even just in terms of minimal techno, I feel like a lot more artists are having vocalists pop up on their records, which I wholeheartedly welcome. I enjoy the song that much more that can stay as minimal as they want with just a kind of deep, interesting vocal on it — I love it.

How has making music in San Francisco been for you?

It’s been interesting, it’s been good. I’ve been working with an engineer that I met last year who’s a long time musician. He used to do a lot of industrial music and was in a band called Consolidated and Meat Beat Manifesto. As a kid I was really into both of those bands, and when I met him and went to his studio and saw all his gear I got really excited. He happens to know a lot of really top notch musicians around town, so San Francisco is a great music town. It has a lot of people who have just been slogging away for a really long time and take their craft really seriously, so there’s an abundance of really talented musicians, skilled people to work with. On that front it’s been really genius, it’s been really great. I actually really love San Francisco.

What besides your surroundings has changed about the new Hercules & Love Affair material?

There’s definitely some different emotional content. There was a bit more youthful optimism… not that I don’t still have that. I tend to be on the whole an optimistic person, but there’s just maybe a little bit more of the dark side on this record. Not so much in terms of the sonic quality even, but perhaps more in terms of the lyrical content and emotional content of the record. I think there’s even more of an emphasis on songs and songwriting on this record, so there’s a lot of really lyrical, really soft and pretty stuff going on. I just wanted the freedom to assert that — I want to write beautiful songs. It’s oddly softer sonically, at times, and harsher emotionally (laughs). I guess the contradiction, at this point, is OK. People were brought up initially to think, ‘It’s so weird to dance to such a sad song. It sounds so melancholy,’ but then it’s these uplifting songs. So there’s this emotional content that doesn’t really match the sonic quality of the track. I think kind of similar things are happening, but sometimes they’re very much married. There are some aggressive songs on the record.

You were working on your first album for a long time before it came out; I know “Blind” in particular was a song for five years before it was released. So you had your entire life up to that point as material before putting out a record. Now you’ve got new blank slate and perhaps less time to put it together. What’s the experience like for you? Does that make sense?

Totally. That’s a very real experience; I’m definitely dealing with that. And it’s kind of daunting, because in the past — you’re totally right — I had this freedom to let life inform the art, let the songs be born from my experiences and there was no time line put on them. I was free to collaborate and have fun. But now it’s not like that. To a degree there’s some expectations and there is also a sense of timeliness that has to be acknowledged. But at the same time I feel like I’ve finally been let loose to do what I’ve always wanted to do and what I love to do. It’s really fun for me to just write, write, write, write, write. I still have the same process, you know? Like, what am I going to write about today? Something that’s most the meaningful, or something I need to address. That process is still the same. I’m no less fraught with crazy emotions (laughs), so it’s totally doable. But it is frustrating, and kind of like, ‘Man, I wanna see if maybe in six months I don’t want a live bass on this track at all.’ Right now there is live bass on the track and it sounds great, or it is what it is, but maybe in six months I’m going to feel differently, and that’s the way I really wanted it to be. Songs for me are living, breathing things that can endlessly be changed and remixed and redone, blah blah blah. When they make it to a record, like they did last time, that’s just the last form that they’re in before they were shipped out.

I understand you have a friend from Berlin with whom you’d like to work on this record. Have you had a chance to work with her yet?

Yes, I recorded a couple of songs with her.

I remember reading she was really into minimal techno. Is she someone techno heads would know?

She’s relatively under the radar. She’s more of a performance artist, but in Berlin she definitely has been on the scene, performing and stuff. She’s more of an artist, though, fine artist with an amazing voice. Her stage name is Aerea Negrot. She’s originally from Venezuela. She’s lived in Berlin for a long time and is classically trained, and just all out phenomenal and spectacular. She’s also a dancer and just oozing talent, so I was really keen, honored and excited to be working with her.

Disco and house — dance music in general — used to be a scene of gay artists and DJs. These days it seems that element has become all but invisible in dance music culture, especially on the artist side. As a gay man I find that really disappointing. I was wondering if you had any thoughts about how we’ve receded into the background of what was once our habitat.

It’s a tricky question. I think that struggle we experienced, finding a place where we could congregate and celebrate and be ourselves, isn’t as depressing any more. In the 70′s and 80′s, we had a heyday, a golden era. It was a hotbed of creativity where we were actually coming together and expressing ourselves sexually and artistically. Now that public spaces have been much more neutralized and we can kind of be who we are, I think gay people have become complacent; I think gay people on the whole have reduced our identities to who we have sex with, how much we have sex, sex sex sex. For me, the identity is much more complex than that. Our experiences and life experiences are rich; and there’s still a struggle and still a lot to be mined in terms of… I don’t know, artistic expression.

I find it troubling when I look at the state of “gay art,” how reduced to our sexuality it is as opposed to more nuanced things that gay people go through, the nuanced experiences we have. For Hercules & Love Affair, for me when I was writing it, I wanted to write about authentically who I was as a child — which was a gay child. But also about the different way that I process the world, and it didn’t have to be just… as an oppressed person. You know what I mean? I also think you have to look at America and you have to look at hip-hop being the dominant club sound, which is not entirely welcoming to the homosexual community. I think DJing became very macho; it’s a very macho kind of thing. I think DJs… I could go into a bunch of things. I think people don’t value DJs as much as they used to. Circuit parties did something bad to gay culture (both laugh) I think, that’s kind of problematic. There’s a handful of things.

There are really cool gay kids doing amazing stuff all around the world, and I try to remember and acknowledge that. The guys in London, Horse Meat Disco doing really smart, really cool parties for a long time now. Here in San Francisco there’s a really cool crew of gay boys called the Honey Soundsystem that do smart parties: really fun, high quality, good music, focused on dancing, focused on educating a dance floor — as opposed to playing cha-cha, numb out hits. I do feel like the gays are coming around, I will say that. Pockets of them are saying, ‘Hey, gay culture is so boring now. Let’s not do that any more.’ Or, ‘Gay culture is so one dimensional, let’s not make it so one dimensional. Remember when it was colorful and remember when it was about diversity?’ I think potentially it’s coming back.

Unlike our rock fan peers, dance music enthusiasts are often unaccustomed to experiencing our favorite artists as live acts. And while laptops, midi controllers and Ableton now allow producers to stitch together “live PAs” with double clicks and knob twists, the experience is still closer to a DJ selecting and mixing records together than your average rock concert. Hercules & Love Affair is one of the few groups to straddle the divide between the endless beats of a club gig and the sensory impact of a full band’s live performance. Chicago has patiently waited for HALA to make its way to the Midwest while their hometown NYC and Europe received most of their attention; and this past Friday our number was finally up to experience the spectacle in person.

The Metro was crowded but far from sold out for HALA’s debut show (if you discount head producer, Andy Butler’s DJ slot during the Hideout Block Party), so there was ample room to dance rather than simply being bounced from side to side as part of the heaving mass of people. Within moments of taking the stage, Butler and vocalists Nomi Ruiz and Kim Ann Foxman declared their love for all things Chicago house, with Derrick Carter and Marshall Jefferson getting specific shout outs in the blitz of affection. That out of the way, the eight-piece group — a trumpeter, trombonist, drummer, bassist, Butler and another guy behind racks of synthesizers, and the aforementioned vocalists — launched into their first tune with near mechanical precision.

Months of constant touring had obviously toned the group into a disciplined force which followed a carefully orchestrated routine that shifted from tune to tune on a dime and didn’t stop until nearly 50 minutes later. Up against expectations set out for DJs who don’t need to catch their breaths, HALA powered through with seasoned resolve. Unfortunately that came at the cost of sacrificing some spontaneity and human interaction that set concerts apart; to her credit, Nomi did her best to rile up the audience with provocative dancing and calls to clap and chant along.

But all their focus also meant a killer performance of full-bodied sounds even the Metro’s often hapless sound guys couldn’t muddle too badly (although they tried, with the drum kit often receded far back in the mix). Nailed in place by the drummer’s strict time-keeping and bouncing on the back of their bassist’s popping funk syncopations and Butler’s chattering synth programming, the group filled the air with balmy nu disco meets house melodies. The horn players were absolutely stellar in tone and accuracy, lending the tunes a much needed punch and providing the insistent bassist with a sharp foil to play against. Nomi Ruiz, a perfectly sculpted transsexual with a lovely set of bassey alto pipes, is well suited to fill in for Antony Hegarty (whose appropriately histrionic vocals adorn the album). She and Kim Ann Foxman make for great front women, alternately shimmying and bouncing around with obvious (if trained) enjoyment. Somewhat hidden by their instruments, Butler and the other synth player had to fight for their spot in the crowded mix, but seemed to be programming their 808s and 909s (I believe) before our eyes and dropping in the occasional piano chords for added sparkle.

With a short discography to draw upon, HALA cruised through almost the entirety of their debut album in the first 50 minutes. As one might expect, their mega hit “Blind” was transcendent and expertly executed. A number of tunes were liberally adapted for the stage in ways that left them at first somewhat unrecognizable. Their current single, “You Belong,” is actually a fairly sparse song dominated by drum programming on record, and suddenly this fleshed out disco pop song that first turned the corner of recognition during the chorus emerged in its place. The crowd didn’t seem to mind much and kept moving until the band had finished its encore, which came complete with a new and already familiar sounding track.

Overall, it was a great experience seeing and hearing Andy Butler and his merry band of disco-teers bringing Hercules & Love Affair to life, coming face to face with dance music as it was created before me. I’ve become accustomed to all but ignoring the people who crank out the music, and this was a breath of fresh, shared air reminding me that disco and house can be both an engaging spectacle and a means for shaking it. Perhaps it’s just my rock roots showing through, but I hope more dance musicians strive for staging a real performance as it gets easier to do the opposite.

01. Ben Klock, “October” [BPitch Control] (buy)
No rest for the wicked, it seems, as Ben Klock drops another heavy one on fans with “October.” Like a ghost in an aggressive, pounding machine, the title track’s melody billows upwards and is zapped into place by laser precise synth strokes. “Similarity” relishes its unadorned percussive charges, awaiting another record to double its size. Snap this up.

Listen to “October”:

02. Bruno Pronsato, Why Can’t We Be Like Us
[Hello?Repeat] (buy )
It’s going to be difficult for me to concisely articulate how much I love this experimental house album and why, but suffice it to say it surpasses, nay, decimates all my expectations of what Steven Ford’s songwriting capabilities. Unlike This Bliss or Honigpumpe, let’s keep this one floating down a stream of praise until year end list time comes around again.

03. Hercules & Love Affair, “Blind” (Hercules Club Mix)
[DFA] (buy)
“Blind” is such a ridiculously well crafted, memorable tune that I can already imagine this being crowd surfed into a crossover crowd and yet not being shunned by first adopters. Andrew Butler gets Antony to perform at his troubled soulful best as the diva icing on his gorgeous arrangements. Frankie Knuckles remix womps as well. Future ubiquity.

Listen:

04. Andreas Heiszenberger, “Perfect Moment” (Efdemin’s Creme de Cramant Mix) [Brut!] (buy)
I find myself drawn even more to Efdemin as his love for repetitive dub techno grows more evident in his tracks and remixes, and this one is especially easy to be enamored with. Crisp drum work, ear-hooking dub peals and Efdemin’s enviable sense of order and structure make this one a must buy for his growing league of admirers.

Listen:

05. Daso & Pawas, “KKB” [Spectral Sound] (buy)
Only available on Spectral’s Dintf iEP, Daso and Pawas’ “KKB” stands out from the rest by being decidedly maximal to his peers’ minimal and a touch grand without taking itself too seriously. Built on the back of an old acid house groove and crammed full of struck melodic strains and regal pads, the track manages to be compelling while refurbishing some already popular sound sources — not an easy task.

Listen:

06. Efdemin, “Lohn & Brot” (tobias. remix) [liebe*detail spezial] (buy)

07. Jichael Mackson, “Piepe” [Hartchef Discos] (buy)

08. Andomat 3000, “Cognitive Dissonance” [Cécille Records] (buy)

09. Roland Appel, “Unforgiven” [Sonar Kollektiv] (buy)

10. Chevy & Lemos, “Woman’s Key“ [Be Chosen] (buy)