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The Weekly Froth!

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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:  ‘I Got Your Number’ by La Bionda (Rulefinns lravstor gitarist edit)

La Bionda is one of those groups that, in the '70s, was tagged with that label of Italo Disco (Pitchfork, fairly recently, did a nice little piece on the genre’s history, if you’ve got some time on a lazy Sunday afternoon). Now, Rulefinns must have thought, what if I make the guitar the hero of this one, and just add a shitload of that in? So, next to the synths, the drumbeat, and all the stringwork that give this one its dancefloor pace and its disco vibe, you have this electric guitar in there as well, just to roughen them up a bit, those disco dancers. A second before the three minute mark you get the high pitched vocals in there, saying that Aiiiiiii’ve got your numberr, so no surprise what you’ll be doing tonight then, eh? In the mean time, you’re still dancing, with that beat and all those disco sounds persuading your body to do some moving and grooving. Deliciously fast paced as well, and the contrast between that guitar and basically the rest of the song-- which is baby-skin-soft-- that is just a nice little example of brains at work.

 

‘From The Basement To The Roof’ by Club Cheval

This one starts slow and easy, with just some piano and female vocals. Soon enough though, the beat comes in, and slowly it reveals itself as a nice little club track with a little pizzazz, not in the least because of the rhythmic vocals and the way the beat unfolds itself. In the main line “running from the basement to the roof” there, too, is a sense of movement, which this track just breathes, exhales, and does all kinds of other things with. Club Cheval also knows when to dial it down for just a moment, making sure that the poppy beat doesn’t outstay its welcome. And they also make sure when to make it the track’s main sound and when to help it out a bit with other instruments as well. Also enjoyable is the way they kind of play with the vocals, for example making the last two words of a line seemingly coming from somewhere/someone/someplace/else/somehow. The track has a nice vibrancy to it, which is contained by the piano bits that bookmark this song from Club Cheval’s yet-to-be-released debut album.

 

‘Ember’ by WhoMadeWho

WhoMadeWho is one of my personal favorites. I just like the deep sound, this melancholic mood, but always with a little fun and dance mixed in there as well. This one starts with a slightly-deep-near-Western guitar line, followed by some percussion and then those lovely vocals, singing that If you feel like having fun, you can’t say no until you’ve done time with me. Followed by that nice and deep guitar line and the drums courtesy of Barfod, who keeps this one moving forward. Just after the two minute mark there is a vocals only moment (as in, really, just vocals. Honestly), and after that the lads ride it out instrumentally. This one will be the title track of their new EP, to be released in May, so that is something to look forward to as far as I’m concerned.

 

‘Long Train Running’ by The Doobie Brothers (Disco Syndicate Version)

How about some of that dad-rock guitar to start this one off, with a fairly well-known riff I’d say. Then add the bass, some bongo’s (?!), and then the vocals of the Doobie Brothers, as it is their track ‘Long Train Running’ that gets the edit treatment here. And it is really a version geared to the dancefloor, with loads of moments where the instrumentals get turned down, just to get all that rhythm back in there again for that momentum building that you need. It’s not just about the rhythm though, with plenty of guitar being available for consuming, and plenty of vocals to go around. Around 2:38 you get a change-up in guitar (and with that, in mood, as the guitars are here a-plenty), though after another moment of primarily vocals-sans-drums you get the main sound again. Tom Johnston was the man behind this track, and he’s responsible for both vocals and that lead guitar riff, so if you’re a fan of him in particular amongst all the other Doobie Brothers, then you’ll be over the moon with this one.

 

‘Glass Grinder’ by Antoni Maiovvi

I always like me some Antoni Maiovvi. Nothing says cult b-horror-flick quite as much as some of this man’s output. You get the atmospheric sounds right there from the start, then the tougher strumming of that guitar-like sound, and all this before the beat comes in. Because vibe is always what sells me on his stuff, but with the hard hitting beat he does make sure that he keeps driving this one forward and that one can dance to it as well, for those freaks doing that crazy dancing after midnight. In the mean time he keeps coming with all these sounds that just fit the bill, that make sure there is this consistency in terms of mood that is so important if you want to do something like this right. So it’s lovely and dark (I mean, the track is called ‘Glass Grinder’ after all), and when those human yelps are put in you can’t help but smile and go at it a little bit harder. There’s also plenty of variety in there, hitting the drum computers and the synths hard, though always coming back to the main beat and slasher synths. Can I also just say that I love that he puts his set-up below the SoundCloud track? I’m always interested in what creates these sounds.

 

‘Redo’ by Adeline Michele

On production duties here is JKriv, who has made some amazing (nu-)disco in the past few years, some of them for which Adeline Michele was on vocal duties for. So you know it’s going to have this catchy-yet-lovelorn vibe with some silky smooth vocals on top of them. You’ve got the bass and the drums dictating the rhythm, and some sweet synth and guitar to round it all off. That little guitar line in the chorus, that is a lovely thing right there. At about 2:30 you get a bridge build on some percussion, before the synth comes back in again and you get some of the drum rhythm elements returning as well. Michele sings that she cannot rewind or redo her life, and she really cuts loose after the three minute mark. The track, anyway, has a big role in mind for the vocals, which get a bit of help from some retro synths at the end. It is a lovely track, with a nice disco & '90s soul + R&B vibe. Released on JKriv’s delicious DeepandDisco label.

 

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