Alcazar

[Marcio**]

An Alcazar's web-page just says:



"Crying at Discoteque takes you right back to the glamorous disco of the 70's" and Crying at Discoteque & Bells of Alcazar are "pure disco" :o



So...Alcazar, a beautiful sweden trio formed in 1999, discovered the time machine :D



:)

[Videoskooter]

They're not bad. But looping "Spacer" from Sheila B. Devotion shall always be disco.

Considering this, we can also call Puff Daddy a disco-artist???

Perhaps it's positive that they bring the vintage vibes to a younger audience but do they now it's a classic?? :o

[discosavvy]

They're not bad. But looping "Spacer" from Sheila B. Devotion shall always be disco. Considering this, we can also call Puff Daddy a disco-artist???

No, but to be fair, Alcazar's song "Last Days of Disco" is disco and doesn't sample anything. It was recorded with lots of studio musicians, who are credited in their CD liner notes.

[Sami M]

and just take a peak at their official web site
www.alcazarworld.com

They proudly use the word disco!

[Marcio**]

They look the guys & girls of Beverly Hills, 90210 :P

[Sami M]

:D

Marcio:"They look the guys & girls of Beverly Hills"

Nej men, they just come from the lovely country of Sweden! They have huge gay following there and here and have become somewhat an institution...

[Marcio**]

OK, Sami M :)
Introducing the members of the band, let's do it :)


www.geocities.com/ggatesfan101/alcazar_band.html



:)

[Mario]

Hey Guys! How ironic that I read this post about Alcazar today just when I was cranking up: "Crying At The Discoteque" very loudly in my convertible this morning on my way to work! :lol: And my sentiments echoed the same...This song is ABSOLUTE 70s disco at it's best! It's like a song that walked right out of the 70s! It even has that "Star Wars-like" light beam sound in it! Another "recent" song that reminds me of a 70s song is: "Murder On The Dancefloor" by Sophie Ellis Bexter. If you close your eyes, you just might invision "Andrea True" singing this song! :D "It's murder on the dancefloor so you better not kill the groove..." :lol: :lol: "...you better not steal the moves..." :lol: I can understand how these lyrics would have been accepted back in the 70s...but in 2004??? Wow! :lol: Take Care, Guys...And Keep To The Beat!

[Paulo]

Hi Marcio

Alcazar`s 1st album was released here in Brazil. It`s called CASSINO.

ALCAZAR plays disco music... no matter if the drum track is sampled or electronic created, programmed on computer or on a digital keyboard and not played by humans.

The music is overtly commercial. And of course, there was much more interesting disco stuff in the past than Alcazar today. But that doesn`t mean they can`t exist. The album has good pop songs... although not the style of disco that I love.

Many of the tracks on the album are built upon samples of 70`s disco numbers, added to the production.

One of the best is their smash SEXUAL GUARANTEE. But try the import CD which has the 12 inch version retitled FU-TOURIST MIX. It`s very interesting because the producer kept only part of the original melody and changed the major chord sequence to a minor chord sequence. It worked and the result is better and less repetitive than the album version.

The album version contains a samples of CHIC`s My Forbiden Lover.

It seems they are releasing their second album with 2 or 3 tracks given to them by the PET SHOP BOYS.

[Sami M]

Well now, Alcazar threw a 30 minute playback session here, during a free open air concert by radio NRJ at the amusement park last Friday.

There were other performes too, rock or so, but I went there to watch Alcazar.

They sure were travolting beautifully throughout the show! It was disco, happening right then and there... Vey happy vibes!

I want more :D

[andibundy]

alcazar almost use samples in every song, some credited, some not.
it's like the house scene, taking old disco records and pitch up the speed a bit and give a harder drum pattern, thats the way it goes.

but hey, spacer by shela b devotion to me is better than crying at the discotheque. i dont uderstand the art of this song, they're really like the disco puffy.

sexual garantue, crying at the discoteque, this is the world we livin...to obvious, to simple...they jacked nile rodhers and bernard edwards tracks everytime, but without changing the formular.
i have more respect for house artists that use only portions of disco records to create something new and not only to re-record old well sold classics.

btw the producer is the ex army of lovers front man.

[galocha]

Sometimes using samples you can make a better song than the original. Sometimes you can make it worse.

I really like what Spiller did in 'If this ain't love' which took parts of 'Love is you' from Carrol Williams but rearranged in a different way and put a great melody on top.

On the other side, I really don't like what Alcazar did with 'Crying at the discoteque'. They left the base of 'Spacer' untouched, and the melody they added is so much weaker than the original. This is an example of lack of creativity.

[andibundy]

galocha

that is exactly what i was trying to explain.

[Sami M]

Well I could not care less about the creativity and other artistic values of music if it brings joy and gay athmosphere, positive feelings. To me that's all disco and other good music is all about.

[JussiK]

What Alcazar is doing and what is now called sampling is nothing new really, the concepts of detournement and creating from pastiches have been utilised by artists for decades. It is not what you do but how you do it and what you come up with. Recycling already existing material in a new fresh way for a distinct personal touch is very hard to do and Alcazar does it very well. They operate on Pierre&Gilles-inspired gay iconography and present a strong image of which music is just one part. Study popular culture, Warhol, Lichtenstein, P&G and be enlightened.

[neonlights]

I agree with galocha and JussiK... People can use sampling and still be original. If you can take part of an old track and and make it into something new and exciting, why not? With Alcazar, it was nice the first couple of times, it's getting a little tired now.. I think their new (or upcoming) single samples another Chic production (i think it's "Upside Down").. I'm beginning to think they might just pillage the entire Chic catalogue before they come up with a decent original song..

[Nano]

I heard this track for the first time recently, it's used in a little German movie called SEHNSUCHT (LONGING in English). Very good film, BTW, not disco related however. They dance to the song in one scene and the "Spacer" melody put on the "disco alert" in my mind, so I checked the credits.

I don't have a problem with sampling really. And I love when a disco tune is resurrected, as long as they pay the royalties. Cover versions, samples and even variations on the original songs are common since the old R&B scene at least. Of course some are more creative than others.