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: ‘Nevermind’ by Leonard Cohen (PillowTalk Re-Rub)

How about we start with some of that bass, these lads must’ve thought. I also love that the second sound is this sort of amplified snapping-of-the-fingers. Leonard Cohen is doing his ultimate low voiced, spoken-word growl, which has something ominous about it. It gets balanced out a bit by the female vocals, though Cohen’s voice sure puts a stamp on this one. It goes lovely with that bass though, which keeps on rolling to make sure the boogie vibe is staying right there in the song. As said, PillowTalk makes sure there are some balancing elements, like the strings, like the female vocals, to make sure this one doesn’t slant too much over to the dark side (especially since, with Cohen’s vocals, you’re almost halfway there anyway, not to mention lines like “I could not kill, the way you kill”). I also like the cleanliness of the track. The bass and Cohen’s vocals are the mainstay, one taking care of the narrative, the other taking care of the boogie, and then there are a few elements thrown in there to take care of the balance, but which do not overcrowd it. A sweet combination it surely makes.

‘Combination’ by Woolfy vs. Projections

On the label of Permanent Vacation the people of Woolfy vs. Projections have a go at a slice of Deep House, which PV is kind of a quality stamp for. So here, too, it starts with a nice beat, but soon the rest of the percussion sounds come in, and that’s where the track starts to become fun. There’s this grainy, deep bass sound that gets thrown in there, just to be juxtaposed a little while later with a lighter synth sound. Around 1:40 there’s the space whirl, giving the track some atmosphere on top of the beat and that aforementioned bass. And so the guys add multiple instruments until they dial it down around 2:40, where they turn down the rhythm sounds for a moment, building up non-beat percussion elements up to the point where they slide the beat back in for the dancing crowd. There’s this nice change-up at around 3:45, where one synth sound is swapped for another, which does the trick in altering the tone somewhat. And these changes make sure the track doesn’t outstay it’s welcome, whilst in the mean time keeping the club side of it up so all y’all can do some dancing after midnight.

‘U Make Me Feel’ by Unique (Ilya Santana edit)

Around the mid Eighties there came Unique saying that she feels so good. And Ilya Santana recently felt good too, grabbing this one and putting his own spin on it. Which includes a kick, a nice bassline, and some high-pitched synthesizers to help out Unique, who comes in at about 1:10 to give it this emotional Eighties Funk & R&B slant. Then leave it to Santana to keep mixing all those aforementioned instruments and turn it into something that not only resembles the original, but even moreso resembles his own sound, which usually veers a bit towards the space disco side of the spectrum. This time, though, he freely twists that up a bit because of the main bass sound and the vocals, whilst also having some fun with those crazy synths in there. It’s got some nice Eighties flavour, a nice, funky bassline, and it exhumes some fun because it is, at times, a bit all over, as if someone was smiling when making this, transporting that to the dancefloor a bit with this Unique and Ilya Santana crossover.

‘In Infancy’ by Museum Of Love (Bottin remix)

Bottin really wastes no time laying down the feel of this one with some really specific sounds that he uses, this strumming guitar and this deep, bass like sound. Add another, more tingly, guitar sound, and you really have a particular feel out there which then gets trumped by the tropicana club feel after about forty seconds in, when the track starts to put in the rhythm sounds to give the audience some opportunity to do some dancing. Boy, those starting sounds had me blindsided there pretty good, as this tropical piano I had never seen coming. And it is that feel that really dominates the tone, so you get this cocktail-in-hand feel, but with some grit to it, to make sure no one is taking to the lounge chairs or anything. At about 2:40 the vocals come in, again giving a different flavor to the proceedings. After the vocals Bottin adds a bass to take over balancing duties, making sure the track never becomes just this or just that. At the five minute mark you get this lovely moment where the vocals go in chanting mode and you just have the bass, I really like that, and it is a nice set up for the final run of the track, which mood is a bit lighter again thanks to the guitar sound he throws in there.

‘The Bottle’ by Gil Scott Heron (Mike Simonetti 10:30 Bootleg)

How about a near 11 minute edit of a Gil Scott Heron track eh? One by Mike Simonetti no less, a sir who knows how to get people dancing in front of his DJ booth. With this one he is certain to put a nice bass in the background to make sure there’s something to hang your dance moves on, and other than that there’s loads of Gil Scott Heron and flutes and things. Really making sure that the rack is packed with plenty of vibes connected to the original. And yet, it is strangely party-ish, good natured, very let’s-be-dancing. Not in the least because of that quick bass in the back, which is dialed down around 3:30 where Simonetti lets the vocals and the percussion have a swing at it for a moment (or an afternoon, having a quite lengthy run up towards the moment the beat gets back in again, which is at about 5:24 after a percussion and rhythm solo of proper length). The bass rears its nose back in at about 6:10, and a good twenty seconds later you get the whole band back together, coming around again to this uplifting party feel that this track manages to exhume. Apparently Simonetti sometimes ends his sets with this and I, for one, would not be complaining if that would be bestowed upon to me.

‘Spirit Talkin’ by Dan Beaumont (Spencer Parker workmix)

The pace is set right from the start, going frantic with the beat and the additional percussion elements. So no slouching on this one, that’s for sure. Then again, the title already indicates that you should be working it, so nothing lied about that one there. Just after the minute mark you hear the first additional sound creeping up from behind the curtain of beats and percussion, and at 1:30 we start seeing where this is going. At about 2:10 we also hear the female vocals for the first time, indeed sounding like the Spirit is talking through her, giving it this gospel vibe that, somehow, goes nicely with the fast-paced beat that this track still has going on. A feel, by the way, which gets amplified by some additional piano Spencer Parker throws in there as well. And those two elements (vocals and piano) get their little moment in the sunshine around the halfway mark, where it becomes even more clear that it sure gets its inspiration from the Sunday morning sessions under the Lord’s guidance. After that little moment it also feels more and more like the beat is there to uplift, and not just to go at it hard. And because of how it turns from just hard clubbing at the start to this, it makes sure the track gives you a good nine minutes of feeling it.

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: ‘Stop’ by Nicholas feat. Madafi Pierre

Nicholas knows how to do a bit of that house thing, and here he gets the rhythm going with a nice, dulled out beat, a slightly less dulled-out synth, and then a clear sounding percussion; all to get the Detroit on. Then you get these lovely senses-being-dulled vocals, pleading to Stop stop stop playing with my heart. Nicholas turns the cymbals on to give the track a bit of a kick, and they really light up the Christmas tree because it is a pretty clear sound compared to the beat. The vocals also do some spoken word, which is a nice bit of variety, and it always lends this bit of gravitas I find. It really says, All right, listen up, let me tell you something. He dials down the sound a bit around the three minute mark, obviously coming back in with all the rhythm & house sounds shortly after to get the dancing going again. If you, for instance, just look at the sounds at 4:22, this delicious combination of that beat, the more up-front percussion, and this auxiliary sound that so delicately weaves its way through the two rhythm aspects. Then, shortly after, the spoken word again, then the singing comes back, and you’ve got the cymbals delivering the punch again. It’s a super nice bit of house music from the man who has so consistently been churning these out in the past few years.

‘Why’ by Tim K & Honey Dijon feat. Nomi Ruiz

A team consisting of Tim K, Honey Dijon and vocalist Nomi Ruiz take on the old Nile Rodgers track ‘Why’. So you know there’s a little guitar riff in there, along with some almost Jamaica influenced percussion. After about a minute in the vocals come in, first with a la-di-da-di-da, then wondering Why does your love hurt so much, a lyric which fits right in the Ruiz oeuvre. At 1:40 the percussion stops for a moment, and then it’s just a piano and vocals combo, which brings in a nice bit of variety. I like how one of the instruments basically doubles Ruiz’ her vocal line of la-di-da-di-da, and everything does seem to gel really well. It’s got a nice, laidback atmosphere to it through all the wondering of the way love works (and other assorted mysteries of life). As the track draws to its close you get a bit where the bass gets a moment in the spotlight, which is a nice way to draw this one to its ending. Lovely cover from this team of musicians.

‘Talk System’ by Jacques Renault

I’m a complete sucker for Jacques Renault’s dancing tunes, so always looking forward to new work from this guy. The synths come in at about the thirty second mark, the vocals say a thing or two, and in the mean time you just feel he’s building up to the beat, which comes in just after a minute with a kind of military step rhythm. There are like three different layers of rhythm at work there, which is pretty awesome. The speedier, lighter one, the more bass-like sound, and just a regular ol’ beat to take time. Just before the three minute mark he dials most of that down, letting the vocals go on for a slight bit before all that rhythm goodness comes back in again. Which gets an additional kick around 3:28 to make sure that all those lovely dancers get this little jolt of energy again to keep on working it. Renault just knows how to keep that house feel in there, later on the track going for a prolonged stop of the rhythm sounds to then dial it back up one more time with that little bit more pazazz, ending it with that military step percussion. Just some of that good ol’ house music, y’all.

‘Heartbreak Reputation’ by Zimmer ft. Polina

Zimmer is readying his new release, the EP Coming Of Age, which will be out later this month. I love how he starts with those vocals, so dreamy and sweet, and then you slowly get the synths under there. Though it is the percussion element that dictates the (slow) pace at first, which nicely complements the vocals. The synths build and build though, and after about a minute you get the beat & synth combo for a slow synth-pop jam, accompanied by the vocals. After basically a vocal-led chorus the synths come in with a nice hop in their step, with a positive, feel-good vibe, which gets some extra flavour from the aaaaahhh-ing female voice which is a nice bit of extra to have in there. One of those summerday tracks, which is good listening in the heatwave that is happening as I’m writing this one at the moment. Maybe going to see him in a couple of weeks when he’s playing Buiten Westen in Amsterdam, something which I hope will fit in our rigerous schedule of dancing, shimmying, and all-out working it.

‘Coule’Ba’ by Analog Players Society (JKriv version)

JKriv takes on the Analog Players Society’s ‘Coule’Ba’, throwing in some of his strutting guitar play in there to go with all the percussion, beat, and African vocals they’ve already got going there. As well as a nice bass synth to add some of that boogie rhythm to it all. The vocals, though obviously not understanding a word of it, have a nice immediacy to the delivery, and I like how JKriv sometimes stops the proceedings for a bit of that guitar riff goodness, to then slide it back to the boogie again. Which sees the addition of some new instruments in the second go around, including a piano and some less identifiable sounds. Throughout the whole song the immediate vocals put a stamp on things, and the percussion and assorted accompaniments that weave in and out make sure there’s a little boogie there as well. As always, JKriv manages to mesh everything together nicely, so it is all sounding nice and smooth, bringing this little boogie-of-a-tune together nicely.

‘Is This It’ by Kenny Loggins (KB’s SChrebergarten Edit)

This time it is Kim Brown’s turn to get some of that lovely old stuff out there on the dancefloor, bringing the classic Kenny Loggins’ song ‘This Is It’ to a discotheque near you. She carefully builds up to the beat, which jumps in there at about thirty seconds with a nice, soft percussion vibe to it. On top of that there’s the original sound on loop, with just after a minute another one of those sounds which is used as a tease, as she doesn’t quite go to vocals just yet, instead turning back to the rhythm aspects to let all of them people dance some more. And she is in no hurry to get there, too, even doing a bit of playing around with that guitar riff before she turns to Loggins at 2:30. Now that she’s there though, she lets him go at it, with the vocals clear and up front in the mix, doing the whole first verse before she goes back to the guitar loop and rhythm beat combo to dance to. And it is like the chocolate equivalent of the dancefloor, just nice and tasty and filled with a flavor everyone knows. Plus, there are just some of those guys like Loggins, like Michael McDonald, that are just shoe-ins for a disco treatment like this. McDonald who, by the way, rears his head a bit later for the ultimate recognition moment when the chorus is used. The kind of thing I always love, and done in a nice, patient, catchy manner, but with the cheesy chorus pay-off at the end with Loggins doing the works. Which, for me, is a good thing, just to make that clear. Who doesn’t like a repeat of the chorus after having been patient for a good five minutes or so?

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: ‘Rollergirl’ by JP Source

At about the thirty second mark basically what you kind of were expecting comes in, namely this deep bass that will lead this girl down the rollertrack. A bit gritty, a bit sleazy, and abruptly stopping for a moment at about 1:10 to build up the anticipation for the moment at 1:30 when that bass comes back, having brought some friends along. And the one entering at 1:40 is most welcome of all, nicely juxtaposing the deeper rhythm sounds. The vocals, slightly in the back of the mix, do this as well, so it is no wonder these two sounds are basically relieving each other of duty throughout. The vocals are being looped like a son-of-a-gun, and behind them JP Source does a good job of weaving some of the elements in and out to give you a slice of freshness throughout the long stretch of vocal loops. That’s what is so nice about the track, he seems to be able to find the right times to add or subtract especially the bigger instruments, which you can play with a bit as the looping of the vocals provide the consistency for the song. Around the five minute mark we get some extra disco sounds, with the vocals being cut loose a little bit, and with a mini slice of horns rearing their brassy heads. It is a nice, seven minute affair for a night out.

‘World Gone Crazy’ by The Reverend Cleve Freckleton & The Sinners (Greg Wilson & Peza Club Dub)

How about some of that gospel, eh? Let’s not forget that house music and the church are quite linked together, if only because one takes place Saturday night and all of them all needed to be back in the church choir again on Sunday morning. Greg Wilson and Peza first get the bass going, providing a perfect layer for some dancing. Add to that a bit of that strumming guitar, and you’ve got the two main ingredients to support those growling vocals, singing that The world, has gone, craaaiizzyyy. Naturally, there are a host of other instruments in there as well, as well as some auxiliary sounds, for instance one that sounds like coins falling down. The main attraction of this track though is the preacher and his choir doing their thing over both the bass as well as the electric guitar, providing the right core to link the Saturday midnight to the Sunday service.

‘Beggin For Thread’ by BANKS (Aeroplane remix)

I love the lightness this one starts out with, it is a good tone to balance out the rather heavy handed beat Aeroplane throws in there. The vocals are somewhere in the middle of that, with an air of dreaminess, and helping out in the middle ground are the synth-pop like synths that come in to help her out a bit. The delivery of the vocals, too, have this nice poppy edge, and especially in the beat-less part starting at about 1:25 Aeroplane builds this up as a summer jam. The beat, obviously, comes back in, just to make sure that even the most dimwitted person in the room gets cued in that, Yes, you’re here to dance. In the mean time, the female vocals say that, surely, you should have known what you were getting yourself in to. If you don’t mind the heaviness of the beat (and I’m not a fan of that per se), then the other elements make a lovely summer tune out of this, including some cheesy synth lines to really get that vibe going.

‘Half Full’ by B-Jam vs Enos

This one starts like a stroboscope going haywire, but after about 20 seconds you get a whole batch of soul loveliness in there as if you’re eating that sweet chicken by the bucketload. That is what makes this track intriguing, on one hand the soulful smoothness in the vocals, which gets contrasted by the more contemporary backing sounds, which have this loopy, fragmented electronical feel to them. Like a deconstructed soul/old school hip hop track, which features both the classical elements of those genres, but which has been taking to town and let themselves be measured up for a new jacket. I am always intrigued, in any kind of art form, by that combo, and in a sense most of the edits in this column are that in a mild version. Something like this widens the chasm between the two parts, which makes the classic sounds pop out more, really singling out those characteristics that causes us to listen to these things in the first place.

‘Take A Chance’ by Moullinex (Satin Jackets remix)

This one starts with a bit of percussion, the bass is quickly added, and then you get some of those synths and that bit of guitar as well, all culminating into this slow, lazy, summer jam kind of vibe. The summer is definitely put in by the percussion, and that guitar and those synths just give you that lazy, staring-over-the-water-while-the-sun-is-shining kind of feel. The vocals help out a bit with that as well, by the way. Just before the two minute mark you get this lovely little bass to do some shoulder and/or hip action to. The aforementioned vocals are nice and high, having a certain lightness to them which make them very easy on the ear as they are asking Won’t you take a chance? Love how Satin Jackets slides that guitar back in at about 3:50, and then have most of what’s around it stripped away to really get this on-the-beach-with-guitar vibe out there. Super sweet and easy on the ear remix of a track on Moullinex’s new album Elsewhere.

‘No Sleeep’ by Janet Jackson

Pop diva Janet Jackson is back, this time with the sultry ‘No Sleeep’. She starts by singing that you are missing her, and that she is missing you. And that when you guys finally meet, there’ll surely be little sleeping going on (you go for it, honey!). Despite the scene just illustrated, this is, like I said, more a low key, sultry affair instead of a power pop sex track. It has a nice R&B vibe, and they glossed it over with a bit of class, making it one of those old school love songs. Including a dash of organ, a subtle bass line, and a nice little kick drum to keep it moving forward a bit. Definitely a welcome return from la Jackson, and returns can always be soooo terrible, but this one surely isn’t that.

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: ‘Calling Card’ by The Galleria

Morgan Geist knows how to mix danceability with some emotive vocals, and here he does so as The Galleria, which takes it’s cue more from '80s pop than the house or disco music that he has emulated as part of his other monikers. So here you’ve got some iconic synthesizer sounds, using the ticks, bleeps, and percussion hits well alongside the throwback sounds that one remembers from radios or discotheques past. Jessy Lanza is on vocal duties, putting in some emotion with her rhythmic delivery. At about four minutes in we get this bell solo (!), which then is followed by a more bass-synth line as he goes for an instrumental passage for the dancefloor, with Lanza doing some “oh-ho, yeah”s to get some sexy in there as well to end the track. I love a lot of Geist’s stuff (those Storm Queen singles are especially superb), and he knows how to mix dance with the vocal outings he gets from his leading men and women. This is more on the catchy and pop side, a nice supplement to his oeuvre I reckon.

‘Escape’ by Zimmer feat. Emilie Adams

Emilie Adams wastes no time entering the scene here, immediately putting her dreamy, far-off stamp on this undoubtedly catchy track by Zimmer (because, you know, that’s just what he does). So no wonder that you get this elegant beat and synth combo after just a few moments, which he halts at about the forty second mark to go just piano to help out his singer here for a moment. Just for that extra emotional touch. Soon the percussion elements come back in, with the guy obviously working his way back to, in this case, a new beat. And the occassional touch of horns, which is always a good addition (they’re horns, what do you want from me?). Again, he takes his foot off the pedal for a moment, but that beat is quick to come back, though this time it seems he combines the two different ones he’s already used to give us the full monty that he has been leading up to the whole track. It’s a track of his new, upcoming EP, one that will be an enjoyable listen no doubt.

‘The Formula’ by Eli Escobar

Eli Escobar seems to have recently put his whole album Up All Night on his soundcloud, so if you missed listening to it on release, here’s a way to preview it no strings attached. This track, ‘The Formula’, starts with some of those club sounds. Far away music, people talking, and other assorted sounds associated with a night out. The music, though, creeps to the front of the mix with a nice bit of piano house arriving first, with a soft percussion line still being a bit shy and taking a back seat at the start. The vocals then really come in again, repeating the line I’ve got something for you, which in the club can only mean one thing, really, can’t it? In the mean time the piano has been integrated into the more percussion based rhythm sounds, with a jazzy saxophone putting this in a smoking bar in NY before it takes you to town a short while later when the rhythm takes you out and wants to do some serious dancing with you. Doesn’t mean the saxophone can’t be there, cause by this point everyone wants to join the party in this catchy little number. Loads of atmosphere, super smooth, and loads of fun: if you’re working at home and you’re looking for something to stream to get your energy up a bit, his soundcloud is where it’s at.

‘Lucia’ by Ishinohana (John Talabot Sunset edit)

John Talabot is the master of atmosphere combined with deep beats, and here, from the get go, he shows you why. He starts with a nice, deep, bit African sounding percussion. Some extra hand percussion comes in, soon being combined with these lovely secondary sounds to really give you the feeling you’re watching the sun set over the plains and all that jazz. He adds a little bass sound in there too, and a lighter rhythmic percussion, though it is that guitar that really puts this one in the place where it needs to be. He is super in terms of building his tracks up, and here, too, the subtle transitions, the subtle changes in volume, the subtraction or addition of certain sounds; it’s all done with an expert ear. At 2:50, for instance, there’s little left in terms of rhythm sounds, but just over the three minute mark they come back in without overpowering the main instrument at all. Keeps you out there in sunglasses riding around the out-of-town roads, just because it feels like that’s what you gotta do listening to this one.

‘Fear the Night’ by Luke Million feat. Jesse Davidson

I’m more prone to fear mornings than nights, to be honest, but Luke Million certainly gets those italo synths blasting as if they’re doing a sci-fi soundtrack with the hero vs. baddies sequence coming up. Jesse Davidson puts in a rhythmic vocal turn, saying that You’ve got the right, to fear the night, a line followed by a nice, bordering-on-cheesy piano line from Million, with the synths and beat combo still hammering this one onto the dancefloor. At about the second minute mark Million comes with a new synth line, which is pretty catchy and awesome, as Davidson mentions that You’ve said that you’d never be unfaithful to me (Ha! We all know that was a lie!), so there’s a bit of an emotional thingy going on, which we dance away on the synths and cheesy-piano-chorus, turning it up a bit with a sort of male back-up choir near the end. As always, dancing the blues away on a catchy-little-tune like this one beats out dancing the blues away on a tearjerkingly-serious-affair, so don’t mind if I do it right here, right now.

‘You Got the Love’ by Candi Staton (Dr. Packer rework)

The bass gets this one rolling out of the gates, with some percussion and synths helping out after the initial few seconds. These sounds become more prominent as this one closes in on the coming of the vocals, which we all know at one point or another will arrive with a vengeance. First we get a few rounds of building up the instrumental structure of the track, with Dr. Packer adding sound for sound before dialling it all down a bit for some muted bass and vocals. Which he is wise enough to turn up quickly again, as he knows that, now we’ve heard it, we want it. It’s one of those tunes that everyone who has ever been on a dancefloor knows, with that big, all-out vocal turn by Candi Staton, exclaiming that Your love is real, and she does feel sometimes like putting her hands up in the air in praise of that. In the mean time the bass keeps rolling to provide that base for dancing, and at that point you just have to make sure you’re not in her way, because she is barreling through this ode to true love. Some subdued horns and a dash of piano can be heard as well, and this is just one of those feel good edits you can throw out there for just about every crowd. As, Lord knows, we all need a bit of that Staton real love every once in a while.