This Is Our Jam: Darkside (Nicolas Jaar & Dave Harrington), “A1”

How do you enjoy dance music that isn't actually made for dancing? That's a question that's been asked a lot lately, from James Blake's dubstep-in-name-only to Matthew Herbert's recent concept album, One Pig (literally about the life of a pig). The same goes for 21-year-old wunderkind Nicolas Jaar, who makes electronic music for headphones, lounges, and bedrooms — anywhere but the dance floor.

With Darkside, Jaar's new collaboration with guitarist Dave Harrington, the duo mine '70s funk and disco for a sound more organic (but no less strange) than Jaar's past efforts. On "A1," the duo give nods to bass music, disco, funk, and electropop, yet never settles into one genre specifically. Instead Darkside create a spacey groove that, against all odds, becomes infectious pop in its own right. It's not that "A1" is going to get you on the dance floor, but the suggestion of dance music is palpable. Sometimes a track's biggest succes is just getting your head bobbing. In that regard, "A1" succeeds in spades.