Black Devil Disco Club

In 1978, Bernard Fevre (as part of Black Devil) released an odd electro disco album titled "Disco Club." The record was made manually in a recording studio using synths, occasional tape loops and a drummer. The audio result was something like Kraftwerk (but more analog), and was an early precursor to techno and IDM. Now in 2011 (after a handful of recent releases as Black Devil Disco Club), the French producer has collaborated with vocalists like Jon Spencer, Afrika Bambaataa and Nancy Sinatra to kick out a new manifestation of the old sound. Circus comes forth as another hyper-weird record, this time in the no-holds-barred creative climate of artists like Frank Zappa or Mr. Bungle. "Fuzzy Dream" presents Jon Spencer somewhere away from his "Blues X Man" persona, in a place more serious and brooding. "Stay Insane," with vocals by a Siouxsie Sioux-sounding Claire Evans (Yacht), exemplifies the gothic flavour on the record ("If Jesus came back to Earth, they'd kill him. His message does not fit our world anymore"). This is counterculture wisdom-fuelled ramblings fused with classic synthesizer soundscapes.