Dance-music
pioneers the Pet Shop Boys had been getting away fromtheir roots during
the years leading up to 2002's "Release," amelodramatic mid-life
crisis that fairly abandoned nightclub-worthyrhythms.
But now the UK duo of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe revisits an oldtrick with
"Disco 3," a reworking of tracks from "Release" alongthe
lines of "Disco's" revamp of "Please" in 1986 and "Disco2's"
overhaul of "Very" in 1994.
Only now, given the calm nature of the original cuts, the remixesare far
more dramatic. Tennant and Lowe crank up the drum machines andgrind out
full-bodied dance takes on "Here" (a "PSB New ExtendedMix"),
"Home and Dry" (a "Blank & Jones Mix" that was previouslyoffered
on a bonus-disc accompaniment to "Release") and, mostpersuasively,
"London" (a gutsy "Thee Radika Blaklite Edit"version
remixed by Felix Da Housecat).
"Disco 3" also includes a number of new songs, beefy cuts such
asthe aggressively dark "Time on My Hands" (featuring Lowe's vocals
aswell as those of usual singer Tennant) and the restless and crackling"Positive
Role Model."
Meanwhile, the duo resurrects and finishes off the previouslyincomplete
1983 song, "If Looks Could Kill," an agitated slice ofelectro
that coincides with retro trends. And the pair wraps a blanketof warm electronica
around a rendition of another 1983 song, "Try It(I'm in Love With a
Married Man)."
"Disco 3" concludes with a piano-based version of "London"
thatserves as a reminder of the dullish rut the act was in last year - anda
reason to be grateful the duo has turned the beat around. |