Disco has long suffered the scorn of mostly white, heterosexual rock fans for supposedly being somehow "fake." So it feels like a sly act of reclamation when Hercules and Love Affair's club-friendly, self-titled debut opens with an androgynous alto singing, "Don't lie to me / Don't make it up." Hercules and Love Affair is Brooklyn DJ/producer Andy Butler, the latest act signed to DFA, the cult-beloved label best known for co-founder James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem. Fellow label chief Tim Goldsworthy produces, but where DFA made its name in dance-punk, Hercules and Love Affair opts to create a luxurious dance-music fantasy world bridging late-1970s New York disco, Chicago house and Detroit techno. The only thing "punk" about it is its indifference to idiotic stereotypes. Antony Hegarty (of the Mercury Prize-winning Antony & the Johnsons) lends his Nina Simone-like vibrato to the album, particularly on hypnotic first single "Blind," and fellow Brooklynites Kim Ann and Nomi add their own diva-ish touches. While the vocals occasionally recall male Hi-NRG singer Sylvester, the decadent strings sound like something you'd find on an old 12-inch from renowned disco label Salsoul. But the sumptuous electronic beats and jazzy brass of tracks like "Athene" or "This Is My Love" weave a spell that outshines any nostalgia. By the lithely funky finale "True False, Fake Real," Hercules and Love Affair has made it clear that there's nothing fake -- or guilty -- about pleasure.

-- Marc Hogan