After he turned 70, French disco innovator
Marc Cerrone celebrated half-a-century in the music business with the release of
Cerrone by Cerrone, a continuously mixed set of reworked hits from throughout his storied career. He originally made updated versions of these songs for his DJ sets, keeping the essence of the songs intact but updating the production for contemporary dancefloors. This mix presents the retouched songs in action, blended with a few remixes by other producers, including previously released versions by
Dimitri from Paris and
Joey Negro. The majority of the tracks feature re-recorded vocals by
Brendan Reilly, who appeared on
Cerrone's 2016 dance-pop effort
Red Lips as well as albums by
Disclosure,
Basement Jaxx,
Duffy, and many others. The songs have largely held up, and the production mainly stays true to the classic '70s disco sound, seamlessly flowing into more of a disco-house style on several tracks.
Dimitri's lush remix of the sweet, saucy "Love in C Minor" is especially grand, and it segues into a strong version of "Je Suis Music." "The Impact," from
Cerrone's incredible 2020 space-disco voyage
DNA, is a more hypnotic diversion, and a bit of vocoderized lyrics from another song ("The Only One") helps thematically bond it with the rest of the album. "Striptease" is another dazzling, sequencer-heavy highlight. ~ Paul Simpson