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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: ‘The Man Inside You’ by Thodoris Triantafillou feat. Nomi Ruiz

Greek electro artist Thodoris Triantafillou is on the verge of releasing the first chapter of what is apparently going to be a trilogy of albums, and who better to help than Nomi Ruiz, who has helped out on some terrific tracks throughout the past few years. For this one, she’s definitely the right choice, with the music and the voice being such a perfect combination here. Thodoris has himself a lovely build-up in this track here, and Ruiz knows how to add to that in the vocal department, getting the timing and tone just right. All the instruments come in at exactly the right time, and I like the synths that are doing their thing underneath Nomi’s vocals. There’s a theatrical vibe to this, which maybe is there especially thanks to the way they work together to build up this momentum, especially during the latter part where the chorus is repeated several times. Definitely has me intrigued for the rest of the album.

‘Deceiver’ by Munk (Purple Disco Machine remix)

Sometimes you just kind of know that it’s going to be good. Munk’s piano-led house sensibilities combined with something that is called the Purple Disco Machine? That’s two of my fav worlds colliding it seems. I just love that rolling little bass at the start, that just basically says get those rollerblades on and be ready to look '80s fab. Slowly they come in with the beat, and just before the minute mark you get the first synth sounds. After the first minute you’ve got the beat and a deeper synth sound that do the work, and soon you get some muffled vocals in there that become more audible and audible with every loop that goes by, really opening up when they strip away the deeper synth in favor of some lighter keys. After that the piano really starts to come in, and that piano increases in volume, with its peak being the cue for some of the deeper rhythm elements to come back, too. And so you’ve got these sounds, but still the light piano as well, and the vocals start doing their thing again, coming from way down in the mix back to the forefront for the second time. At that point they dial back the beat for a reasonable lengthy time, as they don’t rush the build-up, giving us all kinds of sweet piano and vocal sounds along the way. It’s just one of those fun tracks to get some dancing done to, throwing some serious 80s shizzle in there around the 6:25 mark to make it all complete.

 

‘Used To Be Me’ by Casino Times

I just love the boys of Casino Times, they just bring the house right down to the dancefloor. This one starts with all kinds of bleepy sounds, and then you get that melancholic synth sound which comes in floating on the air. A deeper synth sound then starts to play, so they are definitely setting the scene here before the inevitable beat comes in. First, though, a lighter synth sound cuts through the deeper sounds, giving it this sense of light and hope instead of just the broodiness of the start. And whaddayaknow, there it is, the beat, and some added percussion to add punch to it. Then the boys quickly build this one up with all kinds of percussion and synth elements, reaching probably its peak between the four and five minute mark. What keeps this one high up there are these lovely high sounds, those work really well and give you that kind of epiphany feeling, that momentum that you just love to have on the dancefloor. Lots of patience in the build-up, but halfway through they flick the switch to the beat and it just keeps getting better from there.

 

‘Something About You’ by Hayden James

Oh heck yeah, lets about we just start with the vocals and the percussion and get the whole friggin’ party started, eh? Just love those soulful vocals that this one has, which work both in combination with the beat, but they also do the business when the rhythm elements are stripped and they need to carry the whole track. I like the variety in this short burst of a tune, with the second time they dial down the rhythm elements, that part is totally different than the first time they do that. Not only that, the way they get the track back in there is different as well, with some different sounds being thrown in there to function as the rhythm section. It does end with the old beat and percussion, which I like as it ties it all together pretty well. And as said, love the vocals as well, lots of emotion and soul in there.

 

‘King’ by Years & Years

These guys have been popping up on numerous Ones-To-Watch-in-2015 lists this year, so I’m feeling pretty chuffed I’ve already seen them live so that, if they do get so very big, I don’t have to cram myself in between way too many people in too big a venue. This track is a good example of why people have taken such a liking to them (better than ‘Desire’ ever did, in my opinion). It’s catchy, it has that nice bridge around the two minute mark, and you can do a little dance to it. The chorus is a bit too big in terms of sound for me personally, but I do love those vocals, again singing about love or something like it. I like the vocals, because they are both pretty powerful and fragile at the same time, and that’s a nifty combination as far as I’m concerned. So if you crave a slice of (synth)pop and are not too put off by a too-big-yo chorus sound, then this might just have you wobbling in your chair just as it did to me.

 

‘Renewal’ by Alkalino

The Alkalino SoundCloud page is just a treasure trove of all kinds of lovely edits and remixes that he puts on there, this time going for that old Gino Soccio synth sound with the classic ‘So Lonely’, which dates back from the '70s. Major piano action on this one, getting this lovely vibe in before the vocals enter to repeat the loneliness that is in the heart. In the mean time we’ve got the beat working underneath to keep this thing moving forward and on the dancefloor, and we’ve got this lovely piano jazz thing going on to lend it some extra flavor and goodness. It’s got this nice dreamy vibe going on, also thanks to the voice and the repetition of that title line combined with that jazzy piano and the inobtrusive rhythm part of the track. There is some nice, subtle variety, for example in the beat (around 4:30 I believe the transition kind of sets in), which makes this 6 minute affair definitely worth the listen to.

 

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