Scottish DJ Calvin Harris jolts some 80’s DNA with electro beams and put some groove-ready AI into the machine. Sprinkling glamtastic vocals onto heavy disco-funk bass riffs and robotic tricks, Harris’ campy debut, I Created Disco, may be more for the dance floor in our minds. Loaded with ironic effects, the pace is made for feet made of lead, and arms bent in ninety-degree angles.
The sheer amount of old school technology that Harris uses is what makes I Created Disco so unique. Not one of the effects could’ve been invented two years before or after 1982. “Colours” is owned by a repeated Atari effect and gurgling bassline. “This Is the Industry” and “The Girls” employ lasers better than any Bond villain. “Acceptable in the 80s” is a glammed-out single with an magnetic rhythm. And nothing quite sums it all up like “Neon Rocks”.
The rest of I Created Disco takes this theme further with a full DJ set of cheeky, gluttonous mixes. “Vegas” is a dark-lit, but shimmering groove where Harris declares “I’ve got my drugs/And my stuff/And my pills” among other hedonistic trios. “Loves Souvenir” is the slow, sexy jam with slick underwater effects. “Electro Man” is the 00’s version of an 80’s video game soundtrack.
With his debut, Calvin Harris has made a digital club sound borne from the early digital revolution. Sci-fi effects drive a sly, care-free dance album that’s in both reverence and light of the early 80’s.
