- Having played through all four versions of "Disco Gnome" with pleasure a few times, it was odd to encounter that muzzy male R&B vocal hook—"We came here to party / Join together, everybody, let's celebrate (party goin' on) / It's a holiday (there's a party goin' on)" —in an earlier context, on "Holiday" by Naughty by Nature, from (yep) 19 Naughty 9. Somehow, that yearning vocal works a lot better summing up latter-day house hedonism than it did getting the block hot for some fading rap stars.
Italian-New York duo Holmar Filipsson and Greg Oreck—Thugfucker—clearly buffed the original version of "Disco Gnome" to a shine; the track is high gloss, shimmering lounge keyboards, the works, but it's merely warm and inviting when the vocal comes in and turns up the heat. Tomboy's remix is muscular late disco—big, simple bass, trance-like synths, drum-machine fills—with a couple slow-mo breakdown-buildups and the hook at low-level heat throughout.
The version by Italy's Tale of Us (Karm and Matteo Milleri) is spare, tough, no-nonsense house. When the filtered vocal refrain comes in over a big, sharp kick drum and menacing, clattering percussion, it's my favorite way of hearing it here. Finally, Argenis Brito brushes the hook sample past the usual gummy guitar flecks, bounding 4/4 pound and agreeably crackpot air.
Tracklist01. Disco Gnome
02. Disco Gnome (Tomboy Remix)
03. Disco Gnome (Argenis Brito Remix)
04. Disco Gnome (Tale Of Us Remix)