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If you head is full of Jerry Dammers Spatial AKA (as reviewed HERE) and you just finishes listening to Watergate 01 (the first in the Berlin club’s compilation series, for more see HERE), I tell you, you’re really going to be up for the Louie Vega produced Ananésworld. You can forget as this is closer to Bob Blank meets Grace Jones at the disco.

Now I love the opening track, Yoko Ono’s ‘Walking ON This Ice’ in its Disco Discharge way but even better is ‘Plastic People’, part reggae, part rock, post-ZE, post funk-dub evil - now if there’s ever a track to rock the Ministry of Sound, it’s this one. And it did, see HERE for the review of the album launch at MoS with Mr. Vega, Norman Jay and Gilles Peterson.

So two tracks in and if you were expecting some Elements of Life Latin retreads, you can forget it (for now at least). Even a check on the one of my favourite web sites list Rachael ‘Life, Love And Gossip’ Calladine as her top ‘Similar Artist’, well if that was the case, not anymore as she’s not playing by those rules.

‘Rock The Cradle’ is one for Third World-mother earth types (OK I’m biased as I’ve never liked Third World’s ‘clean’ reggae; especially after a late nite post disco relationship on the back of ‘90 Degrees In The Shade’ back in the day that left me with a trip to the hospital - I’ll spare you the details).

But as this is Louie Vega! Wow! If you thought that Bridgitte Fontaine’s ‘Fine Mouche’ (Peterson’s been playing the dOP mix, Bpitch Control’s Ellen Allien has been playing the original tango piano version), house Francophiles get ready for ‘Terra Longe’. Fantastic stuff with a violin solo to grace the tango ballrooms of Seth Lakeman’s repertoire. Classic! And ‘Bem Ma Mi’ is French pop-world that meets Charlie Gillett (RIP) and Mylène Farmer (brings back memories of the French Top 20 shows the used to do on Radio 5 before it became ‘Live’).

OK we’ve strayed a long way from the Spatial AKA but FLY’s global music is a broad church (even Sun Ra was partial to a bit of lounge!) And I bet he’d be happy to space-out to the disco-go-go ‘Bigger Than Life’ but that’s just a warm up (or should that be foreplay) for ‘My Sexy Way’ (more Prince/Shalamar than Edwin Starr musically and lyrically).

And about now you’re craving some obvious Louie Vega fingerprints, and the horn on ‘A New Born Day’ is it; we’re hearing Donald Byrd and we’re happy!

If Ananéselections was a mix of dance, reggae, rock, R&B soul, world and Caribbean influences, Ananésworld is more compact and wider all at the same time; can that make sense? Probably not, but don’t let the cover of this beautiful woman lull you into a false sense of comfort. This is more sensual and leftfield than what looks like a photo shoot for Monsoon ladies fashion chain store.

At the launch party, the PA got off to a sticky start with technical issues but with Louie Vega (obviously) and the seal of approval from Norman Jay MBE and DJ Gilles Peterson, you know they are not prepared to mess about. And whilst I’m not prepared to start splitting tracks into Norman or Gilles’ boxes, can you guess where a cover version of ‘Love To Love You Baby’ would sit best? Not only that, there’s funky guitar as if it’s a Jim Rockford sex scene soundtrack; Ananés sounds as sexy as Donna Summer and Roberto Cavalli is pure Italo Deep Throat! Let me tell you again and again, I love this - fans of Disco Discharge take note; MUST get it.

‘Stand In Line’ is a rocked out 80s disco-stylee that benefits from some massive drums, bass and organ (oh, err: stand in line) that you’d never get 30 years ago - Tal M. Klien is going to love this album. And just when you think that they can’t keep it up, ‘Let Me Love You’ proves you wrong, even if its more Euro-mainstream (and I’d admit ‘Let’s Get High’ is more Euro-Trash: which is OK for that type of sing-a-long in ya bikini -especially when WMC is on - but ‘Shake It’ is too ‘Do the Macarena’ for us FLY types than Dancehall; even with contributions from the Kasbah, Tony Touch and Mr. Vegas.

Strange that the best track, ‘One Dream’ that ends the album is the most ‘Louie Vega’ of the set (there’s even a big horn section solo - Spatial AKA Remix anyone?). This is the one she sang opening Super Bowl XLII pre game show but it’s all about the big Luisito Quintero percussion madness for us (Revisited or Original).

Even after listening to this for a while now, in some ways it’s all two much, with only a couple of duff ones out of the 15 tracks, this covers fans of dance, reggae, rock, soul and world music with one foot in 80s disco (fans of Pineapple Dance Studios start ordering now) to one foot in 2010s (blimey, that’s a long split), this album is full of dance grooves and at least one night of passion; Ananés is hot and I will definitely fancy a boogie oogie oogie with her this, and any other, week! Let’s get high with Anané!

Reviewed: Anané - Ananésworld (Nervous) Cat. No. NER20976 Release date: 5th April 2010
Tracklisting:
1. Walking On Thin Ice (4:37)
2. Plastic People (6:50)
3. Rock The Cradle (5:21)
4. Terra Longe (7:41)
5. Bem Ma Mi (6:06)
6. Reflections (Intertude) (0:51)
7. Bigger Than Life (4:10)
8. My Sexy Way (4:57)
9. A New Born Day (5:04)
10. Love To Love You Baby feat. Roberto Cavalli (5:54)
11. Standing In Live (3:16)
12. Let Me Love You (3:02)
13. Let’s Get High (Life Love Music) (3:52)
14. Shake It feat Mr. Vegas & Tony Touch (3:08)
15. One Dream (8:25)

Links:
www.myspace.com/ananevega
www.ananesworld.com
www.nerousnyc.com
Ananésworld Album Launch Party: Thursday 11th March, 2010
Venue: Ministry Of Sound, 103 Gaunt Street, London, SE1 6DP
Information: 0870 060 0010 Doors: 10pm - 4am Price: £10 in Advance/Door Ticket Outlets: ticketweb.co.uk Transport: Elephant & Castle (Bakerloo, Northern and National Rail) Ministry of Sound “Save Our Club” Petition www.ministryofsound.com/Petitions
www.myspace.com/ellenallien
mylene.net
mr-vegas.com
tonytouch.com
www.wmcon.com
www.nfl.com/superbowl/42