Today we introduce a new recurring feature called Hit City Record Club, in which our artists and friends tell us about one album that’s had a significant impact on their lives.
Here, one of our favorite Los Angeles DJs, producers, and Far Away head honcho Cooper Saver details how Cut Copy’s In Ghost Colours changed his life. In so doing, Cooper tells a familiar story with his own unique distinctions — channeling a formative age while explaining how that album helped define his musical taste and sense of self, as well as nudge him to get a fake ID and sneak into dance clubs. As he says, “I owe this record a lot.”
The year was 2008 and everyone was wearing headbands and colorful American Apparel zip-up hoodies. I was in high school and the cool kids were into heavy, grinding, banging electro. But that didn't really speak to me.
I thought typical dance music was lame and generally sounded like clashing chainsaws. But with the help of a couple older, more tasteful friends, and the introduction to the DFA catalogue, my feelings toward dance music began to change. "OK I think I like this stuff, and it's fine," I remember thinking as I realized disco surrounded everything I was starting to get into at the time.
The most significant release of this era for me is In Ghost Colours by Cut Copy. I hadn't heard anything like it and on first listen, it really struck me. This album still sends shivers down my spine today.
In this record I hear influences spanning from Daft Punk to Fleetwood Mac channelled into glistening highs and haunting melancholy. Front to back, In Ghost Colours tells a story and the euphoric transitions between each song are genius builds of tension and dramatic release.
My favorite moment is how "Voices In Quartz" trails into "Hearts On Fire" in such a glorious yet subtle way. Cut Copy's attention to detail and texture in moments like this makes this album a classic.
"Lights & Music" became a staple in my first DJ sets that summer and opened my mind to a side of club music I didn't know existed. For me, this was a gateway album that has stood the test of time, and when I close my eyes I can still almost feel that first teenage heartbreak or smell the cheap beer I spilled all over my LCD Soundsystem tee. It takes me back and it also pushes me forward.
It's rare that the heaviest of nostalgia can be taken so seriously upon revisitation, but I think it's the dance punk aesthetic that'll forever keep me a fanboy. I remember exactly where I was sitting in my room when I first listened to this record. I remember listening to it on repeat while driving my parent's car to get into clubs with my fake ID and dance to DJs that I wouldn't have discovered without it — from there came my obsessions with house, techno, disco, and a whole lot more. I owe this record a lot.
