The new guard of dance albums this year was kind of weak, though there's a lot of joy to be taken in the records from Juliet and former 80s diva Tiffany. While Juliet's Stuart Price-produced record is sleek and smooth and cutting edge (shame on Virgin records for dropping her), Tiffany's record Dust off and Dance is a fun, retro-tinged collection that puts similar independently-done home studio dance efforts to shame. The new Madonna record is just lovely, a disco-balled confection that shows that La Ciccone is a tireless mistress of reinvention, dancefloor doyenne, and not afraid to call on Abba for some Swedish magic. This record is the perfect gift for that friend or family member who just isn't sure how they feel about dance music. But enough about the Madonna record, you can see my review here. In one of the other three biggest events of the gay year (besides Brokeback Mountain), Barbra Streisand was remixed by 'Junior Vasquez.' And it was good. Who'd have thought?
What am I looking forward to in 2006? Outkast have a new record in the next couple of weeks. I hear there's new Scissor Sisters stuff coming out. I'm always looking for productions and mixes by Gabriel and Dresden, Dezrok, Dave Audé, and Stuart Price/Les Rhythmes Digitales/Jacques LuCont/Paper Faces/Whatever he's calling himself now. Maybe someone will do real, finished versions of the lost Laura Branigan tracks. And any year that promises a reunited Stock Aitken Waterman production- well, damn, that's something to look forward to.
