ARTSETC.
Tim Deluxe does dance right
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by Christopher J. Ewing
Friday, February 6, 2004
Tim Deluxe has been receiving rave reviews overseas for smash dance-floor hits like “It Just Won’t Do” and B-Side breakthroughs like “We All Love Sax.” His label, Underwater, landed a coveted spot in DJ Magazine as label of the year (it’s also home to label boss Darren Emerson, dance vets Gus Gus and hit-makers like Sam La More). Deluxe is on fire, but unfortunately it isn’t one that will catch in the states.
Anyone looking for hot beats will fling themselves upon Deluxe’s deft scattering of Disco Pop sensibilities and raging house beats. His debut album, The Little Ginger Club Kid, will offer up a few definite spins for anyone looking for tight, poppy dance or interested in trying to liven up a dead party. But his sensibilities lean more toward disco than could be accepted by mass American audiences, who feel that funky and danceable is equivalent to a plastic reproduction of true music — of course, this only happened after disco went mainstream and became diluted with corporate greed.
The first track, “Heavy Weather,” kicks into a Daft Punk-style buildup and flanges its way into an episodic series of pop-vox bursts. Simple funk guitar riffs, with a serious house-beat backbone and some muted trumpet lead the way into an eclectic album. And with lyrics like “Heavy weather / Breakfast and dinner in bed / Ready leather / Guess I get so easily led,” you can be sure that Deluxe isn’t looking for any deep intellectual relationship. He only wants you for one night of sweaty bodyrockin’ and then sends you on your way.
“Mundaya (The Boy)” is an Indian-infused stomper. Beats and shredded sitar lines blend effortlessly behind tribal, chanted lyrics. When the Latin guitar lick joins the party, “Mundaya” takes flight.
On “Less Talk More Action!”, vocalist Terra Deva sings of a love affair with a French boy where “A little bit of Franglais was all I spoke / But on body language we got by.” This asserts Deluxe’s take on dance music. This is music for your body, not for your mind. His beats are crisp and the message is clear.
However, The Little Ginger Club Kid is not a repetitive or boring album, an all-too-usual pitfall of dance albums (usually the American ones). “What A Life (Amsterdam)” finds Deluxe dropping laidback loops and letting Brit rapper The Bugsta weave a humorous narrative about Amsterdam’s red-light district in and out of the old-skool backing. The following track plunges into the cold sweat 4-4 funk of “2Kool 4Skool.” An army of chillaxed funkateers asks, “Why you want to make boogawooga when you can relax?” Good question, my friends. Then, when Deluxe drops the low end and makes the bass chirp like a Nintendo sound effect, you can’t help but add a little swing to your strut.
Other club hits like “We All Love Sax” and “It Just Won’t Do” make his success seem obvious. With the exception of a few prolonged tracks (a usual flaw when securing enough material for an entire album) and unnecessary interludes, Tim Deluxe gives up a very solid offering with The Little Ginger Club Kid.
