The Weekly Froth - September #3

The Weekly Froth! A weekly take on six tracks, most of which have recently popped up somewhere in the blogosphere. Bit of a mixed bag with a slight leaning towards house, disco, and remixes, but generally just anything that for some reason tickled the writer’s fancy.

Track of the week: ‘Mom and Dad’ by Xinobi

I love the Discotexas label, they’ve got this really nice sound to them, a nice brand of disco they’ve got going on. This track, by Xinobi, has a nice bass that gives this one its groove, and I like those kind of western-type guitar that gives it its vibe. The vocals are deliciously lush, and she sings she’s thinking about Going back. Especially the vocals also put this dreamy atmosphere into it, though before the 2:50 mark there is also this build-up of drums to make sure it doesn’t lose itself into that too much. I like how the song shifts from one section to the next, and I love the interplay of especially the bass, guitar, and vocals, though the drums are not to be dismissed either. I just really like the catchy bass on the one hand, and the fact that they’ve got the atmosphere down pat on the other. Add some strong vocals in there, and you’ve got another ace tune from the Discotexas label.

‘The Heartworm’ by Antoni Maiovvi

Antoni Maiovvi is the king of atmosphere. Of the dark, cool, sinister B-flick that all plays out in your head when his tracks are playing. Here, again, the wavery synths give you this blanket of atmosphere that fits his style so perfectly, and at 1:10 you have this strong, dark sound that comes in to juxtapose the light synth that at, up to that point, is the main sound. He also makes sure he puts in a strong drum and some quick percussion sounds next to all the atmosphere that he is pumping out of the synth machines, and that makes sure this track has got plenty of backbone to survive. That’s something that Maiovvi always does well, he is awesome at injecting a certain mood, but he also makes sure his track is on the go, and not just an exercise in atmospheric sounds. At about 3:35 he strips the percussion for a moment though, and he builds up multiple layers of synth before he gets this thing off and running again, even faster than before (and with some extra icy synth sounds to boot). The ending, especially, is danceable as all get out too.

‘Stay’ by The Black Madonna

‘Stay’ immediately gets the beat in there, though that one starts to move to the background more and more as the other sounds start to appear. It takes its time bursting open, with The Black Madonna deciding to add some instruments to the core sound first before slowly starting altering it at about 2:10. That altering doesn’t only include a change up in the rhythm part of the track, but it also means introducing the vocals, who repeat the same line over and over before they fade away again about a minute later. It is the start of a little pull back, with some light synths taking more prominence in favor of the beat part of the track. At 3:50 you get a bit of bass in there, with the beat still being held back until about 4:25, at which point it returns alongside the instruments that were introduced in the section before. The vocals are used in such a way that the track builds a bit of momentum off of them, and that contrasts nicely with the way the track ends, which is a long, looong wind down sans beat, bass, rhythm, or anything. It’s a nice slice of house that, because of the delicate way it flows from one section to another, has an interesting vibe. The ending, I could have done without.

‘Where Does this Disco’ by YACHT

YACHT is one of those bands that have just got this awesome blueprint for themselves, this like mission statement they try to stick to. One which includes catchy songs and having some fun with it, which sometimes belie their depth. This track, again, couldn’t have come from any other band. It’s got the catchy going on, starting with the bass-y synth sound, but certainly not ending there, with plenty of extra synths and the rhythmic voice of Claire L. Evans too. She is wondering where “this disco”, as it isn’t rock ‘n roll, and it isn’t disco. Though it certainly is closer affiliated to the latter than the former. Just before the second minute mark the vocals get turned down and you get a nice bridge with some catchy instrumentals, and the track does make sure it keeps the pace up and keeps the dancing going. It’s their first release on Downtown Records, and it kicks off a new batch of live dates, so hopefully it’s the first of a lot of new material.

 ‘Why Did I Say Goodbye’ by Tommy ’86 feat. Sally Shapiro (Betamaxx remix)

Earlier this year Tommy’86 and Sally Shapiro released a tune, and now it’s coming to you with all kinds of remixes, this being the Betamaxx version of it. Shapiro is well-known for her dreamy vocals and italo-disco sound, and that’s still in here as well with the synths and that typical vocal sound she always manages to lay on the track. The synth makes sure it keeps this illusion of pace, and the beat and bass make sure that they can cash in that pace on the dancefloor. Right down in the middle of the track Betamaxx dials it down a bit, though there’s still plenty of stuff in there to not really call this a break or anything. They take just enough things away so that when they put it back in there again you have this clear feeling that they are varying with the pace. And there are a couple of more instances where they do that, though a little bit more subtly. This works very well as this way there’s no lull in the track, but you do get that bit of kick when they turn the pace up again. That kind of build-up-without-the-break-down is a lovely structure for a four minute track like this. It keeps both the pace for the dancefloor and the wistful italo-disco sound the vocals almost automatically provide, which is a good combination I’d say.

 ‘Stern’ by Buzz Compass

Guns ablazing for the start of this one, immediately laying down that beat and that wall-o-synth behind it. Through that wall you get this very light, shimmery synth sound that makes for a nice contrast. Just after the one minute mark there’s a slight change-up with the cymbals and, especially, the bass coming in. The latter does a nice hide-and-seek game with that shiny synth sound, which provides for a nice interplay, with both instruments filling up the void the other is leaving behind. In the meantime, there’s plenty going on in the background, with sounds weaving in and out, like some extra percussion for instance. At 2:49 there’s another change-up, the beat leaving for a minute, and when it comes back it is a bit more broken up, not the neat dance beat of earlier. That one, though, comes back soon enough, bringing with it some extra rhythm sounds to up the pace a tad. There’s just plenty of variety in this one (even to the point that you can hear some female vocals on there at precariously rare times), though the core feel always remains. So whether it is the bass sound, the beat, or some synth sound that is propelling this one, and whether it are the female vocals, the shimmery synths or the more pulsating ones that add the atmosphere; it continuously keeps feeling as one whole, and it keeps on going going going, providing for a sweet track indeed.