KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * *
Have you ever stood in an art gallery, staring at a picture, while people crowd around you oohing and ahhing, declaring the artist a genius, meanwhile, all you can see are some colourful splotches?
Listening to New York-based DJ Andy Butler's latest project Hercules and Love Affair evokes a similar sensation. Since its release, Hercules and Love Affair has been hailed as one of the best albums of 2008. Impossible-to-impress critics have raved about the early disco-inspired house record, praising its originality and danceability.
Rather, it comes across as a mellow, almost melancholic album, the ideal backing for an intimate dinner party or pre-going out soundtrack.
Most of the album's 10 tracks clock in at just over four minutes, yet feel much longer. The exception to this is the intoxicating debut single, Blind, recorded prior to the rest of the album and already a clubland hit. Another is This Is My Love, an aural feast of wandering trumpets, strings and horns.
Label: DFA/EMI Records
Verdict: Smooth and sumptuous, this early disco-inspired house record doesn't quite live up to the global hype.
