Music

Since its inception in 1999, the New York label and production team A Touch Of Class has remained consciously and happily a fairly marginal concern. You might be vaguely aware of co-founders Oliver Stumm and Dominique Clausen being the first men to sign the Scissor Sisters. You may also remember The Ones’ über-camp 2001 hit ‘Flawless’, soundtrack to practically every fashion, makeover and interiors show  on TV since its release, which was an ATOC production. But, underneath the radar, they’ve been building up quite a head of steam with a portfolio of remixes and production credits to rival comparable contemporaries such as DFA. This sphere of influence was first showcased on their 2004 compilation, ‘A Touch Of Class Sucks’, which featured remixes and re-edits of tracks by the likes of ARE Weapons and MBO. This compilation documents the duo’s progress since then.

ATOC’s spare, dubbed-out disco and The Gossip’s pulsating and militant post-punk grooves are a predictably perfect fit and their mix of ‘Listen Up’, which opens proceedings, foregrounds Beth Ditto’s formidable soul diva charisma to fine effect. From then on, it’s state-of-the-art, subtly inventive and utterly tasteful boho floor-filling all the way with highlights including a rave-tastic take on Erasure’s ‘Don’t Say You Love Me’ and the bleeps and squelches of Secret Weapons’ ‘Bumps’. Although the variety of collaborators isn’t reflected by a similar variety of sounds, it’s still great stuff. Here’s to more of the same around about 2010.