Weekly Release Spotlight: Hercules and Love Affair

Posted on 6/30/2008

Hercules and Love Affair

Hercules and Love Affair

[Mute]

You might have heard Hercules and Love Affair, the project of New York DJ Andy Butler and friends, on Radio K for a few months now, but not until this past week have stateside K listeners had the privilege of picking up the self-titled debut in stores (you do still support your local record shops, right?). Why dance label DFA released the album in Europe long before allowing distribution powerhouse Mute to pick it up for American ears is unclear, but it justifiably gives reason to twice obsess over the newest collective of musicians (boasting both familiar voices and newcomers alike) boldly presenting a new era in club music. Especially when this second wave comes at a time when summer is officially in full swing, ready for blood-pumping music to match the warmth of our weather and blueness of our sky.

With unstoppable praise and everyone from Antony Hegarty of Antony & the Johnsons contributing vocals to Tyler Pope of !!! adding a bass efflorescence to Butler's redefinitions of house beats and melodies, it comes as a surprise that Hercules' greatest asset to the genre is its defiant intimacy in the face of modern day party playlist hoarders (and label mates) like LCD Soundsystem. Of course, anyone familiar with the work of Antony knows that his quaver could make a 100-piece orchestra sound like a personal melancholic heartbreak, and Pope mellows out his usual low end frenzy while preserving his relentless start-stop dedication to the instrument. Likewise, Butler never concerns his jams' cores with excess or magnitude. Acquiescing to the space between his keystrokes and hi-hat meditations, the songs breathe fully and easily, not sparse enough to be considered minimalist, but also never overly egotistical so that it would only be appreciable when listened to at ground-shaking volume.

Even confidently decreasing the beats-per-minute on the equally delicious "Iris" results in a danceable group number that could be just as comfortable as lullaby for one. Kim Ann Foxman, the vocalist for this song and others on the disc, shines as a worthy counterpart to Antony's tour de force performances that often demand the spotlight (such as on single "Blind," which is the audio equivalent of the saddest fireworks show ever, or on the quietly climbing instrumental bed of "Time Will"). And yet, even the dramatist inside Antony can be modest-ified on "This is My Love," which finds him calmly expressing while Butler's compositional talents take the reins, bursting out a horn section that swims and splashes through the song's latter half. Still blithely summery and certainly worthy of spending carefree time in the sun with a flock of friends, Butler has constructed a deeply moving dance record – one that does not need canonization to affect the listener, but it's inevitable because it already has.

Written by Chris Polley, Radio K volunteer and host of Now Like Photographs.