So yeah, the debut album from Hercules and Love Affair, the New York-based dance collective and brainchild of Andy Butler, was released stateside this week and it’s amazing. Definitely believe the hype, but if for some reason you don’t, you can listen to the whole thing on Spinner. The New York Times even donated some ink to the group last weekend, and beyond providing a perfect summation of what the group is about, offers some insight on the musical pool from which they’ve emerged.

“Lately there has been a resurgence of interest in the oft-dismissed disco era. New books and countless reissues have reaffirmed modern dance music’s roots in disco culture, while labels like DFA Records, Environ Records and Italians Do It Better, and bands like Escort (from New York) and Million Dollar Orchestra (from Glasgow) have attempted to update the disco sound.”

The Hercules album, easily one of my favorite records of the year (a statement I feel confident making now that we’re six months in), has a lot in common with many of my favorites from last year as well. It’s in league with albums like LCD Soundsystem’s “Sound of Silver” and M.I.A.’s “Kala,” both of which are ferociously progressive dance records, though frequently look back towards the past and have no problem boldly proclaiming their roots. It’s a characteristic I’m sure will come to define many of the great records of our current decade.

HaLA played their first show last May at Studio B, and will be coming back around in August for a show at Webster Hall, for which tickets are still available.

Hercules and Love Affair tour dates below.


Jun 24 - Hove Festival Arendal, Aust-Agder
Jun 25 - Accelerator Stockholm, Södermanlands län
Jun 26 - Vega Copenhagen, Sjælland
Jun 27 - Glastonbury Fesitval Pilton, Southwest
Jun 28 - Olympic Fencing Arena Athens
Jul 2 - 5 Days Off @ Paradise Amsterdam, Noord-Holland
Jul 3 - O2 Wireless Festival Hyde Park London, London and South East
Jul 4 - Miles David Hall Montreux Jazz Festival
Jul 5 - Knebworth Park Knebworth, East
Jul 6 - Werchter Festival Werchter
Jul 10 - Alive Festival Lisbon, Lisboa
Jul 11 - Mattatoio Light Rome, Roma
Jul 12 - Notte Verde Turin
Jul 13 - Ferrara Sotto Le Stelle @ Piazza Castello Ferrara, Reggio Emilia
Jul 16 - Die Registratur Munich, Bayern
Jul 17 - Mobile Sessions @ Lido Berlin
Jul 18 - Melt Festival Near Berlin, Berlin
Jul 19 - Camp Bestival Dorset
Jul 23 - The Echo LA, California
Jul 25 - Casbah San Diego, California
Jul 26 - Mezzanine San Francisco, California
Aug 8 - The Fillmore at Irving Plaza New York, New York
Aug 14 - c/o pop festival @ Gloria Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Aug 15 - Ola Festival El Ejido, Almería
Aug 16 - Pukkelpop Festival Hasselt
Aug 20 - Q Club Zurich, Zurich
Aug 21 - Dampfzentrale Bern, Bern
Aug 23 - Devils Dyke East Sussex
Aug 24 - Creamfields Cheshire
Aug 27 - Übel & Gefährlich Hamburg, Hamburg
Aug 28 - Tavastia Helsinki
Aug 29 - Popoganda Festival Stockholm
Aug 30 - Electric Picnic Stradberry, Laois
Aug 31 - Rock en Seine Paris
Sep 4 - London Koko London, London and South East
Sep 6 - Bestival Isle Of Wight, Channel Islands