Unclassics

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All Music Guide - Andy Kellman
A fascination with otherwise unsought electronic-disco singles of the mostly European persuasion turned into a cause for Morgan Geist, who took it upon himself to doggedly reissue a few of his barely known favorites on Environ. Leave it to him to pluck something like Purple Flash's "We Can Make It," an instrumental mini-anthem recorded several years too late -- and in the wrong country, namely Canada -- to factor into disco culture in the manner of an "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now." Roughly eight months after the third release in the Unclassics series, Geist makes the tracks the basis of this mix album, including several other oddities and curiosities, in effect creating ...
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Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - Andy Kellman
A fascination with otherwise unsought electronic-disco singles of the mostly European persuasion turned into a cause for Morgan Geist, who took it upon himself to doggedly reissue a few of his barely known favorites on Environ. Leave it to him to pluck something like Purple Flash's "We Can Make It," an instrumental mini-anthem recorded several years too late -- and in the wrong country, namely Canada -- to factor into disco culture in the manner of an "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now." Roughly eight months after the third release in the Unclassics series, Geist makes the tracks the basis of this mix album, including several other oddities and curiosities, in effect creating something of a successor to I-F's Mixed Up in The Hague -- a like-themed mix that the DJ/producer acknowledges in the liner notes. Though each track has separating characteristics, they share a couple key traits -- warm, cushiony machine beats and basslines that are consistently as melodic and pleasurable as the fluid electronic piano lines that twinkle, glow, and playfully jab atop it's no coincidence that all of that factors into a major part of the blueprint for Geist and Darshan Jesrani's Metro Area. The production level, in most cases taking cues from the likes of Giorgio Moroder and early synth pop, is impeccably clean, yet far from the point of sterility. Even when the tracks aren't particularly good, they're potentially charming, amusing, ridiculous, even flat-out absurd. The protagonist in the "Radio Edit" of Victor's "Go On Do It" -- produced in part by Alexander Robotnick -- believes effective foreplay involves an affable line like "C'mon little lady and spread them hams, gonna put it to you baby 'til you understand." Gaz Nevada's closing "Special Agent Man" one-ups the surreal scenarios within the average Was Not Was song: "When I'm working or washing my hair, you kill all my lovers on your new electric chair." Some of the best tracks, including the ones mentioned above, carry their fair share of gimmicks but would remain just fine without them. Margueritas' "Margherita" is one other example, on which a mariachi horn section is grafted, yet the central keyboard melody remains the far more memorable component of the track. Disco purists beware: if a set of heavily orchestrated Salsoul classics is like nibbling on gourmet chocolate, Unclassics is more like ingesting the colored sugar dust of a colossal pixy stick we're talking at least five feet in length and at least as many inches in diameter. There are enough piew-piew-piew zaps during these 55 minutes to wipe out a small nation of roller skaters. And, yes, the sequencing and mixing are both spectacular.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 10/26/2004
  • Label: Environ
  • UPC: 823780200329
  • Catalog Number: 3

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Untro (0:06)
  2. 2 Disco Special (4:53)
  3. 3 Pacific - Zodiac (3:48)
  4. 4 World Invaders (4:45)
  5. 5 Humanoid Beat (1:12)
  6. 6 Margherita (3:48)
  7. 7 Manshortage (4:45)
  8. 8 Go on Do It (4:51)
  9. 9 Baja Imperial (5:11)
  10. 10 Disco Train (5:57)
  11. 11 Orchestra Freedom Now (2:51)
  12. 12 We Can Make It (5:20)
  13. 13 Special Agent Man - Gaz Nevada (7:53)
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Album Credits

Performance Credits
Morgan Geist Primary Artist
Antonella Pepe Background Vocals
Gaz Nevada Track Performer
Victor Beard Vocals
Technical Credits
Frankie J Producer
Lewis A. Martineé Remixing
Francis Weyer Arranger, Composer
Morgan Geist Composer, Producer, Remixing
Maurizio Dami Arranger, Producer
Francisco Goya Producer
Marzio Benelli Arranger, Producer
Janis Lusens Producer
Victor Beard Arranger, Producer
Pino Massara Arranger, Composer, Producer
Pierre Perpall Arranger, Composer
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