Starbow - Intersidereal Message (1978, AVI)
Starbow - Voyager II (1978, AVI)
As far as Space Disco goes, this one has to be one of my best and most recent acquisitions in the genre. A couple of instrumentals written by the same guys behind Ottawan's "D.I.S.C.O." of all things, Jean Kluger and Daniel Vangarde (whose probably more well-known these days for being the father of Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter) and with production credited to Ralph Benatar, and Mike Butcher; despite it's apparent obscurity, this Starbow single had some rather notable, prolific names attached.. Benatar, along with Kluger had been behind notable projects/acts like Black Blood (which also invoved Vangarde), L.A.X. and the one-off disco classic "Do You Speak French?" by Nite School, while co-producer Mike Butcher was not only a frequently credited engineer on a good number of Jean Kluger productions, but at one point had evidently produced Black Sabbath, of all things (just in case anyone out there's searching for an Ozzy Osbourne disco connection).
With it's heavy bass drums and guitars, the kaleidoscopic layers of deep, eerie synths (especially that jagged, hypnotic intro); of the two tracks, the A-side "Intersidereal Message" (special disco edit by Patrick Jenkins) probably hits the hardest. That being said, the B-side, "Voyager II" would have to be my pick. With the guitars and drums given a slightly more prominent place, that along with the sublime synth work, it ends up cutting a slightly easier groove than the heavier A-side.. These days, "Voyager II" is perhaps the slightly better known of the two, as a result of being included on Dirty Sound System's "Dirty Space Disco" (2007, Tigersushi) compilation..
Not completely sure if this Starbow project was simply another one-off, but it certainly looks that way. Given how excellent these tracks are, it's too bad they don't seem to have been expanded on further in LP form.. As they are though, the two sides on this single, both of them with their darkly ethereal grooves would have to be prime examples of the Space Disco subgenre.
PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
THE ONE I LOVE TAKES ME DOWN, TAKES ME THERE.. (THURSDAY DECEMBER 13, 2007)
DISCO DELIVERY #40: MUNICH MACHINE - A WHITER SHADE OF PALE (1978, CASABLANCA) (SUNDAY APRIL 29, 2007)
TIMING, FORGET THE TIMING.. (WEDNESDAY JANUARY 31, 2007)
PURCHASE:
VARIOUS - DIRTY SPACE DISCO (INCLUDES "VOYAGER II")
AMAZON.COM | AMAZON.CO.UK
LINKS:
DISCOGS: STARBOW - INTERSIDEREAL MESSAGE/VOYAGER II 12''
DISCOGS: JEAN KLUGER
DISCOGS: DANIEL VANGARDE
WIKIPEDIA: DANIEL VANGARDE
DISCOGS: RALPH BENATAR
DISCOGS: MIKE BUTCHER
DISCOGS: PATRICK JENKINS
WIKIPEDIA: SPACE DISCO
CATEGORIES: MINI DELIVERIES
6 comments:
Where are all the comments?! This is fierce. I love space disco and I live in hope of some kind of revival. Dannii should sample this on her next club smash/chart mega-flop!
Hey Mike, glad you enjoyed it! Speaking of Dannii, it seems she's been referencing disco a lot recently.. Who knows, maybe she'll get to digging deeper than "More More More" and "He's The Greatest Dancer" one of these days haha..
I recently found this record as well (for only $1!) and was actually about to post about it on my blog when I found you had beaten me to it haha! Great find for sure!
I'm going to link to your blog - you should check mine out as well at http://minimaleffort.org
I love the Voyager II track, really fantastic. Thank you very much for posting this!
Brad - Thanks for linking me! I linked you as well - great stuff! :) Yeah, it's still one of my favourite finds of the year, even if I did pay considerably more than $1 for it haha..
Thomas - Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the comment! :)
I remember the utter astonishment when first of all I heard Daniel Vangarde was a pseudonym of one Daniel Bangalter and the father of
Thomas Bangalter!
The second moment of astonishment was when I realised some of my all time favourite disco/electronic artists such as Black Blood, Ottawan, Who's Who & Starbow were made by the same production team of Jean Kluger and Daniel Vangarde!
What I find strange is the fact that the 4 artists mentioned above produced very different music to each other and yet Kluger & Vangarde were the secret thread that ran through them all. Having said that, exactly what composes the secret thread is a mystery; is it the production, the arrangement, the sounds or something as vague as the 'vibe', that 'thing' that makes one track stand out from a thousand others?
However, one thing I do know for certain is that 'vibe' was definitely transmitted to Bangalter's son without a doubt as Daft Punk have produced some of the most interesting music over the last 14-15 years or so.
Great to hear the Starbow tracks in such 'clean' quality, my copy has more cracks and pops than music! Also as always I really appreciate how you take the time and effort to provide very readable and well constructed background narratives to your posts. I wish more music blogs took a leaf out of your book and grasp its quality not quantity. Speaking personally, I would rather visit a blog that posted once or twice a month, knowing the choice will be interesting and knowing there will be info about the history and background of the track...far more attractive than thirty odd posts a month with zero info on the track or if you are lucky a cut and paste job from Discogs!
All kudos to Disco Delivery for..well...delivering in such style!
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