Formerly France's hottest superstar DJ,
Bob Sinclar has since been usurped by
David Guetta's recent onslaught of star-studded collaborations, a turn of events that appears to have inspired his ninth studio album,
Disco Crash. Having previously worked with
Sly & Robbie,
Martin Solveig, and
the Sugarhill Gang, the 42-year-old is no stranger to the idea of the odd hook-up, but the follow-up to 2010's Made in Jamaica is the first time he's assembled such an esteemed array of guests on one record. Unfortunately, despite its impressive roll call, its 12 tracks are unlikely to reap the same rewards as his fellow ever-present Frenchman.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor's cut-glass tones provide a much-needed touch of class on the charmingly titled nu-disco of "F**k with You"; the plucked pizzicato electro of "Put Your Handz Up" and the anthemic string-soaked finale, "Magic Fly," show glimpses of his recently neglected club roots; while the surprisingly restrained "The Network" is a convincing attempt at a minimal Chicago house pastiche. But far too often,
Sinclar descends into the kind of brainless novelty territory that seems more suited to a holiday camp disco than the super-clubs of Ibiza. "Tik Tok" is a cheap slice of synth-led dancehall that wastes
Sean Paul's bouncy charm on an uninspired
2 Unlimited sample; the ubiquitous
Pitbull and
Snoop Dogg sleepwalk their way through the derivative party-starting techno of "Rock the Boat" and generic trance-lite "Wild Thing," respectively; while the accordion-led ragga of "Me Not a Gangsta" continues his fascination with irritating nursery rhyme pop.
Disco Crash occasionally harks back to his earlier and more palatable DJ days, but on the whole, it's a formulaic bandwagon-jumping affair suggesting that
Sinclar is now content to play the fool. ~ Jon O'Brien