Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair
Critic Score
Based on 24 reviews
2008 Ratings: #8 / 806
Year End Rank: #18
User Score
Based on 178 ratings
2008 Rank: #94
Liked by 8 people
June 24, 2008 / Release Date
LP / Format
DFA, EMI / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Observer
The hipper-than-thou trappings mean people are talking about H&LA, but it is the record itself which is a deft delight.
100
musicOMH
Brooklyn scenester, classics polymath, DJ and producer Andrew Butler is on a one-man mission to raise up disco.
100
Resident Advisor
On top of showcasing one truly original voice on the present-day US dance scene and being the label’s most preeminent recent recruit, Hercules & Love Affair makes DFA’s past and future painfully clear: cheerfully unpredictable, brightly visionary, and still far away from losing its edge.
91
Pitchfork

DFA introduces Andrew Butler, a compelling new voice in American dance music. His debut album is a self-contained, self-assured set that runs vintage styles through a restless compositional imagination to create something joyfully, startlingly unique.

90
Drowned in Sound
This record is as on disco and early house's dick as much as Britpop was on The Beatles' and The Kinks'.
90
Prefix

Hercules & Love Affair is a testament to the great foresight and control is required in a disco producer to keep the track from lunging into an abyss of low-blow kitsch, and to be able to stimulate the ears and feet at the same time.

90
PopMatters
There is a dedication and an ardor in play that cannot be denied.
90
AllMusic
What really puts the album over the top as something else is not just its ideas-stuffed brevity (46 minutes in its original form), but its material not made explicitly for the club.
80
Slant Magazine

Hercules and Love Affair is relentlessly listenable (the group’s songs are too good to be classified as tributes), but it’s nevertheless defined by the inspirational pull of a golden age that’s gone.

80
Evening Standard
Whether on the dancefloor or the sofa, it sounds like one of the albums of the year.
80
Q Magazine
Hercules And Love Affair are at their best when they cut loose and damn the consequences.
80
Mojo
Hercules And Love Affair exist in that mighty unreal demimonde where dancing and art are not mutually exclusive.
80
Uncut
This is inventive harkening, not witless revivalism.
80
SPIN

DJ/producer Andrew Butler mixes the poetic Apollonian aspects of queer culture with the Dionysian party represented by left-field disco and hypnotic early house, and crafts an unsettling masterpiece that yearns and churns and ultimately pulls the rug from under your dancing feet.

80
DIY
When was the last time that you heard a mostly electronic record that made you feel, made you think and made you want to dance at the same time? This is no small achievement and done with apparent ease, simply ace.
80
NME

For now ... this is a very fine record. Not Herculean exactly, but certainly something that NME loves.

80
Under the Radar
By not reinventing the wheel, Hercules and Love Affair have surprised us with a great debut album.
80
No Ripcord
Though the overall impression is decidedly retro, it is moments like these that make this self-titled debut simultaneously modern and timeless.
75
A.V. Club
He knows when to kick disco into action and when to just kick back and listen.
70
Tiny Mix Tapes

As much joy as you can hear in Hercules and Love Affair, it’s impossible to separate the melancholy from the mix.

65
Coke Machine Glow
It’s 1980, honey. It’s always 1980 in here. Enjoy yourself; let yourself go.
60
The Guardian
While it lasts, Hercules and Love Affair sound as original and exotic as their backgrounds.
orangedroog65
98

Heard this for the first time about a year ago and was enamored by several tracks. Have revisited regularly to find a much higher level of consistency than I first thought. Weak links like Easy and True False/Fake Real do very little to detract from how good this album really is. It absolutely feels like one time lightning in a bottle and I’m so glad it exists. Growing into a personal favorite and suspect it could join my 100s in due time. Sorry my upcoming TLDR sums up the album totally ... read more

surlace
45

Every song has the same groove to it. EVERY. SONG. It's painfully average to boot.
This is like if Of Montreal didn't try, and Danny Elfman's long lost brother was the vocalist.
I was able to guess each song within the first few seconds.
Very unfortunate dance pop.

Houdanny
67

HUUUUGELY underrated in music spheres, the grooves on a bulk of these tracks are immaculate. It’s a shame that he’s never really released something that matches this, and that this continues to fly under so many radars.

Standout: Blind
Favs: Time Will, Hercules Theme, Raise me up, This is my love
Least fav: Easy

TheSoundOfMuzak
70

Having grown with this side of ANOHNI since young, I was amazed at how flexible her music styles could get after she debuted with Anthony and The Johnsons.

The Good: This album certainly has some Indietronic bangers that surpass a lot of what was being left out at the time, with some exceptions of bands like Hot Chip.

The Bad: Good songs don't make a good album necesarily. HLA can be so inconsistent after Blind ends that the magic dies faster than it took to foster.

Pro Tip: Listen only to ... read more

orangedroog65
98

Heard this for the first time about a year ago and was enamored by several tracks. Have revisited regularly to find a much higher level of consistency than I first thought. Weak links like Easy and True False/Fake Real do very little to detract from how good this album really is. It absolutely feels like one time lightning in a bottle and I’m so glad it exists. Growing into a personal favorite and suspect it could join my 100s in due time. Sorry my upcoming TLDR sums up the album totally ... read more

Ideekay
85

I think it would be hard for a disco lover to not enjoy this record. It's genre revivalism at its best, done very competently by an undeniably talented group of people. It's a record rooted in nostalgia and dancefloor melancholy but bursting with joy and energy at every corner. And although I've heard Hercules and Love Affair never topped this one, they certainly interested me enough to check out the rest of their catalog.

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Track List

1Time Will
4:34
82
2Hercules Theme
4:29
86
3You Belong
4:11
86
4Athene
3:59
79
5Blind
6:18
92
6Iris
4:15
69
7Easy
5:21
77
8This Is My Love
4:58
77
9Raise Me Up
3:51
84
10True False / Fake Real
4:32
70
Total Length: 46 minutes
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