We love Claire

Have you ever gone après ski partying in Austria? If you haven’t yet, good for you. Avoid it at all costs. Fake your own death if necessary. For anyone with an even just slightly more discerning taste in music, it’s nothing less than torture. If I carried some super important and/or valuable information and somebody wanted to make sure that I spill the beans they could easily skip the waterboarding part, an hour of this would have me telling my tormentors whatever they want to hear.

There would be one condition, though. That they play the antidote immediately afterwards. Some timeless, classy and magnificently grooving Austrian dance music. If they come up with crappy choices or seem clueless, I’d just tell them to get a handful of Cheap Classics. Start with “Steaming Promises”. “Real Rebellion” and “Promises” will do some excellent healing after being exposed to musical imbecility. Proceed to a few of those ridiculously slick, slightly sleazy and mindlessly funny Louie Austen tracks.

If that doesn’t do the job, there’s always “Claire”. The kind of track that would never be out of place in any DJ bag. The kind of House tune that will even have people that haven’t seen a club from the inside for decades tapping their feet. The kind of track that will get you nods and thumbs up from people that have never heard it before.

The Deep House foundation is driving enough to keep it from just aimlessly pleasing, a touch of Jazz adds style without asking for too much, the funky guitar sample gives it character and coolness, a dose of Acid for some edge – “Claire” is an irresistible groover even a good thirty years after its conception. Fabulous.

Just in case your DJ bag is not yet equipped with this essential selection: the re-issue is still available. The three remix options may not be able to compete with the original – but they are far from superfluous. Patrick Pulsinger and Sam Irl add a Dub that deserves that categorization, Pulsinger’s solo rework speeds “Claire” up massively, and Erdem Tunakan gives it a little more punch, a few broken beats and loops for more density.

We gratefully say thank you and know: the original is what we’ll play. And when we rock the house at the old people’s home some sunny day it will still be in our bags, and it will still make folks nod and twinkle and raise their thumbs. Good choice, Mr. DJ.

Release for review:
iO – CLAIRE – CHEAP CLASSICS – CCC 001

Get the re-release on Bandcamp: Click
If sold out, try Discogs: Click