David Carretta’s previous album, 2004’s Kill Your Radio, was a half-successful attempt from the producer to creep out of DJ Hell’s overbearing shadow while severing ties with the electroclash scene. Yet anyone who has seen Carretta perform knows he’s less interested in strutting his suave stuff than tweaking knobs to maximize the in-yr-faceness of his music.

That said, Carretta has lately spent much of his time A&R-ing for his own label, Space Factory, promoting a blend of vocal pop and techno that people are generally calling “electro” these days. And, despite his best intentions, tracks on Rodeo Disco aren’t a great departure from “Lovely Toy” or even his defining electroclash moment, “Vicious Game,” as you’d expect. Female vocals from old friend Gigi Succès are overtly sultry, and vocoders seem to pop up just about everywhere else.

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The overwhelming theme, sound and decipherable lyrics all seem to either be about sex, dancing or space traveling. (Sometimes it’s all three at once, but aren’t these synonyms anyway?). It’s all very melodic, with sci-fi pads floating all over a 125 BPM tempo—a template borrowed wholesale from Moroder. Unfortunately, you’d have a hard time stating the differences between “Dance Machine” and “Disco Dance,” and the album neither has a higher or lower moment: Tracks aren’t technically mixed together. They’re simply juxtaposed one after the other with barely a slight micro-second pause, all but enhancing the overall feeling of seamlessness and sameness.

Carretta is no DJ Koze: He doesn’t care about covering new aural grounds—just perfecting his niche. Even so, you’d be hard pressed to name another contemporary techno producer that blends Italo disco’s poise and drama with EBM’s dynamics and confrontation as well as Carretta. So, at the end of the day, the covert art says it all: A woman is playfully riding Carretta’s moustache, much to his obvious delight. Listening to Rodeo Disco will, on a good day, make you feel like both.

01. Dance Machine
02. New Love
03. Love Lazer Dance Sex
04. Planet Research
05. Planetary Attraction
06. Dicso Dance
07. New Disco Beat
08. Sex On The Moon
09. Running The Planet
10. Good Bye Honey Moon

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