Jacques Renault - Marylin's Gold

Jacques Renault
Marilyn’s Gold
HAND OF GOD

Jacques Renault is a disco fiend. First gaining noticeable ground with Marcos Cabral as the duo Runaway, the group has cranked out a number of takes on disco on labels like DFA, I’m a Cliché, Mule Musiq, as well as on their own label, On The Prowl. Renault has been quite busy under his own name as well, with his remix of Midnight Magic’s Beam Me Up on Permanent Vacation ranking on a number of Best of 2010 lists, and rightly so. The song jams on a catchy piano line and the disco-diva vocals of Tiffany Roth and just oozes classic 70s dance music. Renault doesn’t stray far from this winning formula on his latest release on Hand of God Records, which apparently is distributed by label-of-the-moment Rush Hour.

Marilyn’s Gold kicks off with a tribal beat, evoking the likes of Manu Dibango, before launching into a funky bass-line and classic hand claps. Being a New Yorker, it seems Renault’s influences can be traced to the early Garage days of New York, where underground disco ruled the clubs and preceded the eventual development of House music. Mariyln’s Gold sounds like it could fit in at any Larry Levan party during that time, save for maybe the lack of catchy disco vocals, replaced here by sensual whispers and they occasional party holler. It’s a catchy number, but isn’t one that’s going to have you wishing the Paradise Garage still existed.

The flip slide Pleasure goes for a straight up classic disco-house vibe, almost a chronical evolution of the release’s counterpart. The soulful vocal sample gives the song a breath of life as it chugs along to the deep bass drum like a funky freight train. It’s quite remarkable how fitting Renault’s production is against the era of music he so clearly loves. Whether or not that is the result of great sampling is relatively moot, as Renault’s release continue to be fun, infectious, and creative in every way.

Justin Peczkowski 

Tracklist: Jacques Renault - Marilyn's Gold
01. Marilyn's Gold
02. Pleasure