Track Listing
Hit ’em with the Boogie
Beware
She’s So Damn Fine
Sau Paulo
Bounce It
Better Mind
Disco Nap
Head’s in the Sky
Dawn Light Hits the Snow
With experience working in band Lotus and with numerous years DJing too, Luke The Knife’s debut LP oozes musical knowledge. Interestingly, Disco Nap is the successful result of a Kickstarter project and you can tell there’s been a lot of effort to make this album as diverse as possible.
This debut album oozes house and electro influences, taking suitable detours along most of the funkier sub-genres that come with this. There are dabbles of electro, funky, vocal, jazzy and even progressive house here. The result is an LP with a surprising amount of versatility and you can tell Luke has done everything he can to make this an audibly interesting journey from start to finish.
This 9 track LP essentially combines simplistic beats with funky synths and vocals. Given the previous experiences Luke has as a DJ and musician, that “it” factor to finding tracks that work on a dancefloor only really comes from experience in the field. Disco Nap undoubtedly understands that and you can definitely see each of these tracks showing up in the midst of a DJ set.
Personally, ‘Better Mind’ is the track that really elevates the album, oozing some uplifting lyrics alongside a simple chord structure. It’s the sort of song that slots nicely in the middle of a house warm-up set (perhaps this is a little biased given that’s what I used to do before this site!)
However, the album itself starts off on a suitably funky note with ‘Hit ‘Em With the Boogie.’ It’s an effectively funky groove that uses a simple phrase with a head-bopping bassline and brass instruments.
‘Beware’ slows the tempo down a little but still holds onto some of the same phrases as ‘Hit ‘Em With The Boogie.’ This poses a slight problem, especially as the tracks tend to blur together a little.
Cherub’s collaboration on ‘She’s so Damn Fine’ is another stormer though; an excellent track that leans in hard on the funk.
‘Disco Nap’ takes the tried and tested formula of splicing up a phrase and spreading it across the breadth of a song, and it certainly wouldn’t be amiss on one of those Twisted Disco Hed Kandi mixes.
The final track, ‘Dawn Light Hits the Snow’, strips everything back and showcases a solid, chord-driven prog-house number. It’s the perfect way to close this album out and also highlights a slightly different style of production work.
Disco Nap is a funky, versatile house LP that manages to somehow squeeze in as many different influences as possible across its 9 tracks. The sheer breadth of variety here makes this a really impressive entry but it’s not without its problems.
Some of the tracks feel like they should be condensed slightly, with some tracks feeling like radio edits and others as unmixed originals. There’s an almost sporadic feel to the track placement too. ‘Beware’ feels misplaced, and I’d say it should be swapped with ‘Disco Nap’ for a more coherent sonic.
‘Sau Paulo’ is another track that suddenly slams on the brakes midway through the LP before upping the tempo again with ‘Bounce It’. One can’t help but feel this would have worked better as the penultimate track, right after the ethereal ‘Head in the Sky’ to complement the slower tempo before closing the album with that prog house number.
Beyond that though, the actual production work and tracks themselves work really well across the length of the LP. Disco Nap is certainly a commendable effort and a very solid debut. Anyone who enjoys house music will be in their element with this.
You can check out the full album below:
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Verdict - 7/10
7/10