The Weekly Froth! - 20160729

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: ‘Heat You Up, Melt You Down’ by Shirley Lites (Juan Soto edit)

Juan Soto gives us the bass and the beat from almost the get go, making sure there is no mistaken about the disco & funk intentions for the dancefloor with this one. At the minute mark he picks it up a notch, going a bit R&B Outkast-like on us right there. In the mean time the bass is keeping it all working down there as, at 1:40, we for the first time here Shirley Lites, doing that disco thang. Juan Soto lets her work it, belting it out on two occasions, as he first adds some of that funky guitar at 2:20 before inviting her back in at the three minute mark. I love the funky vibe that runs through this, also thanks to the bass obviously, and then the contrast with the female vocals to give it some of that emotional punch. Also a free download by the way, if you are in the mood for some of that dancing (yeah).

‘What Do You Really Want’ by Luxxury

Luxxury goes for a summery slow jam, low burning little bass running underneath the high pitched vocals to dictate the pace along with the drum sound in the back. The vocals sing that Nothing is working without you (believe me, I tried) as it moves like an '80s romance flick soundtrack, even to the What do ya-ha-ha lines in the chorus. There is some fun synth work, and just before the three minute mark we get a nice little solo riff in, which a little while later gets accompanied by the synths and, shortly after, the vocals. The hashtags used in the SoundCloud link are #slowdisco and #yachtfunk, which are surprisingly accurate, one of those to bop your head to at a beach somewhere as the sun slowly is lowering its weary head.

‘Camille 2000’ by Fouk

Fouk gets going with some percussion sounds, at the 18 second mark adding the bass to bring in da funk. More percussion elements are added (even some understated cowbell so it seems), and in the background the female vocals seem to enter the fray slowly but surely, doing that diva Oooohh-hooo-hoo thing. First a full stop at 1:30 though, with the pace upping a bit afterwards as they enter some synths. Then another stop, and another change in sounds thereafter. I love the dial down at 3:40, that is really sweet, getting almost jazzy there. The female vocals, by the way, never really arrived, Fouk instead focussing on that instrumental downtempo funk feel they’re going for. The bass and the aerial synth sound both adding much to that, I reckon.

‘Call It Love’ by Sara Garvey

Sara Garvey is debuting with this downtempo, downtrodden electro track, putting the moody in there. The drum only comes in after around twenty seconds, before which she has already started singing, contrasting the clarity of the vocals nicely against the shimmering synths. Just before the minute mark the vocals are traded in for some deeper synths, only lasting for a few seconds before Garvey herself comes back in. At 1:40 there seems to be a tad of guitar there, which fits really well. That sound is pulled through a bit further on, as the track manages to keep that clear sound despite adding all the previous sounds together later on. She manages to set the tone well, and the clarity of the voice and how everything is minimally build around that is pretty well done I reckon.

‘Choreogragia’ by Youthfaire

The cymbals get some understated work at the start, then the cowbell comes in, before at the thirty second mark we get a piano sound that sounds like it is taken from piano class 101. Doing those notes, eh. Then, with the beat underneath it, suddenly it makes more sense, and then at 1:20 the bass is added and some of those disco vintage sounds really start making it sound like a burner for the dancefloor. And those core sounds keep on running and running as the track somehow manages to mix a sense of the mechanical with some more earthy tones. At 3:20 we get that piano in again, first almost by it lonesome, but then as part of the whole dancing machine that they’ve been building up. Bit of an offbeat dancer this, but all the more welcome.

‘Destroyer’ by Audion (FOLD’s Lean Tape Version)

This one starts as a track in a Berlin dance club, hitting the pads and the cymbals relentlessly, asking that underground crowd to work it like they’ve got a day off the next morning (and who now has that these days, eh?). At the minute mark we get some synths in, giving a slight reprieve from the menacing pace the rhythm sounds dictate, one which gets slightly changed at the 1:30 mark. After two minutes, a real rest, with the beat being shut out in favor of the synths and some pad work. At 2:30 though, it’s back again, in that relentless fashion we’ve come to understand from this track. It’s a real club thing that Matthew Dear has made under his Audion moniker, not pulling any punches, not holding anything back. There are some moments where he withdraws slightly, but just to load up a while later, like when he comes back at 3:55, giving you plenty to work with yet again (albeit on a slightly softer sound than before). As the track goes in, it does move to a more House sound. Apparently the relative softness in some stretches is thanks to FOLD, taking on remix duties of a track by a guy with an ear for music second to none as far as I’m concerned.