Tuesday, July 24, 2007

nu musik: Escort

"21st Century Disco Revival"

Love it or hate it, Disco was a cultural force in the mid to late 1970s. Now over 28 years after the unofficial Death of Disco, the genre is steadily making a comeback, be it with the punkier edge of DFA Records, the spacey Scandanavian groove of Feedelity, and lately, the classic retro stylings of Brooklyn-based Escort.

Formed in 2005 by Dan Balis, Eugene Cho, and Darius Maghen, Escort strives to recreate the fun-loving and dance-friendly vibe of the disco era. They achieve their goal by enlisting a small disco army to help them record the tracks they have written, complete with numerous background vocals, harmonious horn sections, and punchy string arrangements. While the music definitely has a modern twist, it wisely maintains a strong vintage disco feel. Escort performs live whenever they can, or more accurately whenever they can find a stage big enough to accommodate up to 15 musicians. (Their next scheduled date is for August 25, 2007, when they will be performing at the P.S.1 Summer Warm Up concert series).

After releasing four 12" vinyl singles on their own label, the group is busy working on their debut LP. Check out the B side from their 3rd single, and also an incredible, nostalgia-inducing Muppet video for their latest track below.

Escort - All That She Is (from Escort 003)

(Fresh new video for "All Through The Night", from Escort 004)

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