Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 06/02/06
Label: Different Records

Three years ago, Montreal DJ Tiga was perhaps the single hottest figure in the burgeoning electroclash scene, a cult star namechecked by everyone from Fischerspooner to, inevitably, Madonna. Had "Sexor" been released back then, its '80s synths, house beats and deadpan camp may well have sounded fresh and cutting edge. Unfortunately, the three indulgent years it took to make this record have seen dozens of rivals release records with similar influences, sometimes - as with Scissor Sisters and Goldfrapp - with more panache and heart.

A shame, because taken on its own merits, "Sexor" is one of the more diverting and consistent dance records of recent times, and certainly one of the most fun. Where most dance long players usually run out of steam at around track seven, "Sexor" still has surprises up its sleeve by "Brothers", the fourteenth and final track. Those three years may have stolen some of Tiga's momentum, but they have paid off in terms of quality. Only two tracks fail, the flat, uninspired hip hop of "Louder Than A Bomb" and a sluggish, pointless run through Nine Inch Nails' "Down In It" which presumably seemed a good idea after a certain quantity of narcotics.

Elsewhere, Tiga's bewildering array of influences (as well as Nine Inch Nails, "Sexor" manages to cover Altern-8, Talking Heads and Public Enemy) pay off in repeated and surprising ways. still sounds as funky and playful as it did when it dominated 2004's dance charts, while "You Gonna Want Me" is an irresistible disco strut, Tiga's Bernard Sumneresque tones sparking perfectly against a sexy, slinky vocal by Jake Shears. And the Soulwax-produced numbers, including the hypnotic "Good As Gold", make the listener wonder again why the Belgians have failed to record anything as good under their own name.

But it's on the aforementioned "Brothers" that "Sexor" reaches its peak, with a Balearic piano motif and a plunging bass-line underpinning a melody of anthemic simplicity. If the rest of the album sometimes has its tongue a little too far into its cheek, "Brothers" sounds utterly heartfelt and is all the better for it. It almost single-handedly makes the three year wait worth it.

    by Jaime Gill