Various Artists - Too Slow To Disco 3 / Various

Release Date:06/30/2017;Notes:Double LP version. How Do You Are? Recordings present Too Slow to Disco 3, another incredible collection of songs that gleam with the high definition gloss of big-studio, bigger-budget production. TSTD 3 is another excursion into those late 1970s west coast delusions of grandeur, but in the company of songs that are also brimming over with soul, wit, and passion. Killer tunes, penned and played by virtuosic instrumentalists, backroom gals and guys who were often also Grammy-winners in their own right. All the elements that have made Too Slow to Disco volumes one (HDYARE 001CD/LP, 2014) and two (HDYARE 002CD/LP, 2015), and The Ladies of edition (HDYARE 003CD/LP, 2016), so beloved are back for another round of near-danceable lushness. This smooth wave continues to ripple round today's music world too: Think of Thundercat's single with Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald (2017), or even The XX's sample of the Alessi Brothers' "Do You Feel It" (featured on TSTD 1) on "Say Something Loving" (2016). DJ Supermarkt has somehow prized open another box of obscure gems, selected and sequenced to bring out the mood of the era. Lyrically the focus remains on slightly difficult love affairs backed by grooves gentle enough to mix cocktails to. There's an accidental pop hit crossover from none-more-fusion jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour along with a dab of Christian funk from Archie Cavanaugh and his troupe. There's even a bizarrely funky and commercial sounding Grateful Dead laying down the chart-bothering beat of "Shakedown Street". Elsewhere Steely Dan's go-to sax man, Cornelius Bumpus makes an appearance with some angular funk (with his quartet), while Larry Carlton turns up the guitar-drenched white soul on "Where Did You Come From?". And the compilation goes beyond LA this time. The first non-English sung TSTD track comes in the shape of legendary Canadian songwriter Dwight Druick's slice of Montreal disco-funk. Then there's the groovesome Stars 'N' Bars from Sweden, and two acts from the UK, Vapour Trails and Billy Mernit. Also features: Bob Welch, Pratt & McClain, David Gates, Weldon Irvine, The Markley Band, Vapour Trails, The Fifth Avenue Band, Mark Capanni, Archie James Cavanaugh, Rob Mehl, and Jeremy Spencer Band.