Disco Discharge Presents More Sin: Box of Sin 2 in Bloomington, MN

Two years on from
Disco Discharge Presents Box of Sin
, the
Disco Discharge
label returned with a sequel of similar scope and quality, another five-disc CD set preserving the music that soundtracked gay dancefloors in the U.K. throughout the 1980s. The selections were drawn from Record Mirror's assorted disco charts that surveyed DJs across the land. Although
Box of Sin 2
goes all the way back to
Jean Carn
's "Was That All It Was," a 1979
Philadelphia International
classic that achieved impact at the dawn of the '80s, the inclusions again favor the more electronic sounds of the middle and latter years of the decade. They roam through post-disco R&B, alternative dance, Hi-NRG, and house while touching upon other subgenres such as Italo disco, freestyle, and even Balearic. Little was strictly the domain of gay clubs, and in some cases --
Laura Branigan
's "Self Control,"
Exposé
's "Come Go with Me" -- these sounds traveled to the upper reaches of pop charts in the U.K., U.S., and elsewhere. As with the first box, this is more like a book that, ironically, fits neatly beside 7" singles despite the all-12" source material. The tracks are fully annotated with eye-popping accompanying graphics, and the discs are likewise themed with thoughtful sequencing.
Sylvester
is at home on the otherwise woman-powered first disc, present with the elegant,
Harvey Fuqua
-era "I Need You," situated between "Was That All It Was" and
Donna Summer
's "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)."
Joanne Daniëls
' rarely compiled Dutch nugget "After the Rainbow" leads the second disc with a bassline that owes much to
Summer
's "I Feel Love" (and a vocal performance that is not among the best here, however charming). Appropriately enough,
Bronski Beat
and
Marc Almond
's romping 11-minute cover version of "I Feel Love" is on the third disc, what also features extensions and remixes of tracks by the likes of
Visage
("The Anvil," the club-birthed group's most thrilling moment),
Pete Shelley
,
Blancmange
, and
Siouxsie and the Banshees
. Also,
Pet Shop Boys
relent by allowing the use of "Paninaro [Italian Remix]" and, on the house-centric fifth disc, "Heart [Disco Mix]," an ideal bridge from
Sueño Latino
's eponymous Balearic delight (based on
Manuel Göttsching
's proto-techno epic
E2-E4
) to
Malcolm McLaren
's "Deep in Vogue [Banjie Realness]." The placement of
Raquel Welch
beside
Lisa Stansfield
on disc four reflects that the DJs thrived on strange and amusing juxtapositions and cared not a wit about authenticity. Rightly so. ~ Andy Kellman