Customer Reviews

Discosis

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had the distinct priviledge of living in Montreal at the time BV3 released Glee, their first album (I was even lucky enough to meet some of the bv3 folk). Not only did Glee completely embody the cool, weird, wacky, and generally brilliant culture of Montreal, but it was a musical tour-de-force and one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard (and I listen to a lot of music).

When I saw that bv3 released a new album, I scraped all the change out of my pocket and went to buy the CD. Was I ever in for a surprise during the first listen-through. Upon hearing the first few notes of "Astounded" (featuring the legendary Curtis Mayfield), I screamed "Oh my God! They've gone Disco! Or not. What is this funky latin rhythm?" Then I waited a few minutes. "Hmmm... It's world music (Montreal)" A few minutes later "What an incredible reagge song (Go Shoppin')" And so on...
As you can see, Discosis is yet another collection of different music styles and some incredible collaborations. Curtis Mayfield, the incredible Youssou N'dour, the reagge pioneer Eek-a-Mouse, DJ Dimitri from Paris, and the ever-so-cool Montreal rocker Jean Leloup (definitely worth checking out) all lend their immense musical talents to this fantastically eclectic collection of songs.

Music lovers of any genre, particularly those interested in exploring something new and brilliantly refreshing, need to get this CD immediately.

Bran Van 3000's 1998 album Glee was hailed by many to be a great pastiche of genres, and I'll give it that. There are a lot of different sounds piled in there, but the problem I had was that it felt like it was darker than it should have been. It's hard to explain it, but it sounded like there was a happy album wanting to get out there, but the band was feeling too bitter to let it fly, and there's a number of pointless interludes and boring songs thrown in there. Discosis, I was pleasantly surprised to hear, lets everything go. The six-minute opener dispelled any fears I had of more cumbersome rock and rapping. The Bran Van guys found some old vocal track that Curtis Mayfield recorded, but never used, and somehow got the rights to use it in their own song. So they made a whole song for the Curtis track! The music is just what you would expect when you think of the word "discosis." It's really dancey, has dramatic strings segments, is slickly produced, and it sounds like it's basically swirling all around you. The Bran Van girls is even back Curtis up on the chorus, "All I wanna do is love you / I just wanna take you there." And no less than four minutes into it, what sounds like a couple of Cuban guys take over the vocal duties in their own language, while someone goes absolutely wild on a flute solo. This is the song for the your party mix.

Although their first album sounded unbalanced at times, this one bearly misses a beat. The songs are packed together and even though their throw the genres around, the songs all have a similar type of sound to them. Also, as with the first album, they recycle vocal tracks using them on more than one track. So we actually get a preview of "Senegal" in "Montreal" and a reprise of the Cuban singers in "Discosis." It's a really effective way of making the album more cohesive. Oh, and if you noticed, there's a whole slew of special guests brimming with indie credentials. Bran Van 3000 has always been more like a collective than a band with people coming and going as they please, so this all fits in fine. Loop Me" is a sultry space-accented lounge kind of song, although I think it goes without saying that anything the Bran Van girls sing turns out sultry. Their voices are perfectly fit for an album like this, with of its tongue-in-cheek disco stylings. The "Loaded" and "Speed" combination is another in the natural progression of things idea. "Loaded" is sung by the girls and is basically about partying and drinking a lot. "Speed" is like the antithesis, a beautiful acoustic-turned-rock-turned-rap song from the same girl, except it looks like she needs someone to put some excitement in her life. ("So hold on / Take me with you! / Hold on / My soul is on!") She wants to ride someone's motorbike, and this other guy starts rapping and it turns into a sort of quasi-conversation. As the song moves along, the music seems to gradually build and speed up until at the end the guy is yelling "New Jersey girl! / We gonna ride around! / New Jersey girl / New Jersey sun!" It's really just a wonderful song.

Globe-hopping, genre-plundering, tongue-in-cheek and bringing it all back to the nightclub. It doesn't get any more cosmopolitan than Bran Van. Oh, yeah, and what's most amazing: They're Canadian.

I bought this CD after reading the reviews on this site and was even more impressed than I thought I would be. This album is truly a gem; it is incredibly well-done, original, and, best of all, it succeeds in being original.

The CD has 17 tracks and all of them are well done. Unlike most albums, it doesn't go downhill after the first few tracks. Every song is unique and different in its own right, and everything comes together well. My favourite songs would be Astounded, Loop Me, Speed and Love Cliche, though everything on the whole album is well done.

The only downside is that the vocal talents of BV3 pale in comparison James Di Salvio's songwriting skills. Most tracks have lead vocals doen by performers outside of the group, but the vocals that are done by the members of the group do seem to lack some liveliness. They are good, but not up there with the best.

Aside from that, though, this is an incredible album. It's definitely one of the best CDs that I have. Rarely do you find an attempt at creativity working out as well as this has.

I really thought nothing would beat Glee, or even come close to it. The first track, Astounded has a fantastic sound to it, and leads into Loop Me - another great track. I've listened to the whole album over and over again, and each time I hear something new, something excellent. The collaborations are amazing, obviously well selected for each piece. My favourite track has to be "More Shoppin" featuring Momus, and Canadian actress Liane Balaban. Very worthy of more than 5 stars, but unfortunately I'm limited. My only qualm was that the track entitled "Montreal" had such an influence from Youssou N'Dour, with parts sung in his native language. The guys from BV3 are native Montrealers, surely they could have sung more from the heart May I add, that BV3 have redesigned their website, and it now looks like a virtual album-sleeve. Well done gang!

The sophmore Bran Van 3000 CD, Discosis, is one of the most amazing things I have heard in a very long time. A mix of rap, reggae, rock, folk, pop and techno, the album is an outstanding work of art featuring many guest artists such as Curtis Mayfield. The diversity in music is amazing. Once you think you've got it all figured out as a rap album it swithces around and becomes a beautiful mix of reggae and techno. Bran Van's previous album, Glee, was of the same wonderful mix of music. Discosis has proved to be the next step in the mix tape style of music.

With an album as scattered as glee coming from apparently more of an unformed collective than a solid group I was expecting a big sophomore slump in discosis. I was too curious to resist the purchase and the album has been playing constantly since. The Curtis Mayfield track is a fantastic song and I wish had been more of a hit, the sexy crooning that is not afraid to be fancy is such a nice change of pace from all the soundalike gutteral voice rock bands howling around. Also it sets a nice tone that the rest of the album holds up except for one or two tracks (I am thinking "The answer" and "loaded" specifically) Overall this album is not a simple rehash of glee material, there are certainly more real songs here, and some stunning moments in "More Shopping" & "montreal" which ends in a chant that loops back again later in the album. Very impressive -

A welcome relief for those of us who wondered where BV3 would go after GLEE. This one will not disappoint. On first listen the songs are less approachable than the feel good tunes from the first albumn. And while I won't be giving this one away to all my friends and family it will certainly become one of the treasures in my collection.

At first I thought this music was very strange and didn't really enjoy it. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. Now I play it almost every day. It's kind of like Swingers. Nobody really likes it the first time they watch it but when you watch it again it's one of the funniest movies ever.

From the moment i heard "Drinking in LA", the somewhat popular single from their first album, Glee, I was hooked. That album was inventive, unique and had songs that ranged from acoustic to hip hop to hard rock. It was an album in the truest sense of the word - something that had to be enjoyed cover to cover.

Imagine my suprise earlier this year when i was browsing Amazon and found out that they had a second album!! Not released in the US, their follow up album (Discosis) was crippled by the demise of the Beastie Boys label Grand Royal, which they were signed to. Mike D even produced this album (Rick Rubin was originally slated to produce). While Discosis doesn't have the spontaneous, playful feel that Glee exuded, it makes up for that lack with slick songwriting, inventive uses of guest stars and some just downright fun songs (I dare you to listen to "Love Clicé" and NOT bob your head back and forth). It's truly a tragedy that this album was never released in the US. It's even more of a tragedy that Bran Van remains undiscovered by 99% of the general population. Buy their albums - I guarantee you'll find a new favorite song somewhere.

When my brother picked up this cd one day, I was doubting his choice as the only bran van 3000 i had heard before astounded was "drinking in L.A.", a funky tune I enjoyed but considered bran van's only hit.

A couple weeks later we were sitting around and he puts this cd on, saying its a great disc and a lot of fun to listen to. Well, by the end of the disc, I was simply amazed. What a masterful cd this is. So much bounce and energy with songs like "Go Shopping" and "Discosis" and songs that made me use my repeat function for the first time in a long time, such as "Predictable" and "Speed". From "Astounded" to "Rock Star", this CD is an event and a celebration of Bran Van's incredible talent.

A definte "must-have" for people who like music for how it makes you feel, not how it makes you look.