Sweet Dynamite

by Alex HendersonFrom the disco era to the 21st century, critics of dance music have often accused it of being mechanical and robotic. To be sure, this has been true of some producer-driven dance recordings, which might grab you with an infectious beat but are lacking in soul, warmth and vocal personality. However, a lot of dance music has been full of warmth and feeling, and Claudja Barry is a prime example. The singer's promising debut album, Sweet Dynamite, was a major hit in clubs, but all of the material holds up nicely away from the dance floor. None of the songs come across as mechanical or insincere, and Barry is as soulful on the haunting, European-flavored "Love for the Sake of Love" as she is on the exuberant "Why Must a Girl Like Me" and the gritty title song, which has as much to do with soul and funk as it does with Euro-disco. Though Barry's vocals are the album's main focus, she lays out on "Live a Little Bit," an infectious instrumental that successfully fuses Euro-disco with African pop and reggae. Produced by Jürgen S. Korduletsch, this promising debut went down in history as a true dance classic and is among Barry's most essential albums.