Disco 3

Amazon.com

Just as the first Disco was a companion record to 1986’s Please, and Disco 2 followed 1994’s Very, Pet Shop Boys’ Disco 3 is meant to be an extension of the sound and feel of 2002’s Release. This time around, the Boys have given the record a kitchen-sink personality all its own that also includes lots of brand-new, electro-oriented material. “Time on My Hands” starts the record with a Miss Kittin-esque edge, culminating in the coy and completely irresistible “Try It (I’m in Love with a Married Man).” Midway through, the record turns into a straight club mix infusing versions of “Sexy Northerner,” “Home and Dry,” and “Here” with heavy thumps and distorted embellishments. Neil Tennant’s delicate piano version of “London” even provides a straight ballad for a pretty but incongruous coda. While Pet Shop Boys definitely know their way around a remix, the new material stands out, making one wish they’d kept going in what is obviously a fertile creative direction for their graceful and intelligent dance music. –Matthew Cooke