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: ‘Wash My Chaka’ Jacques Renault’s Adesse Versions (Kon edit)

It is an edit of Jacques Renault (one of my favs) for Local Talk, which Kon thought he’d sprinkle some Chaka vocals over. No complaining here, as after thirty seconds this one gets into gear in style. There’s a lovely house feel to the dance stuff, and Chaka is strutting her stuff right on top over it, singing that she.loves.you. There’s a slight hold at about 1;45, but Renault really wastes no time keeping the energy up with this one, firmly asking the dancefloor people to keep working it as he just goes on. Those vocals, meanwhile, indeed do fit, giving it a high nrg vibe to go with dat house music. At 3:20, then, the beat gets drawn away for a moment, keeping a deep synth sound and some hi-hats before Chaka comes in singing that she thinks she met you Somewhere in my dreams, immediately signalling the return of the beat as well. It’s a dance dance dance thing, with the House music of Renault combined with the disco up vocals by Chaka, giving the dancers this goodie of a track.

‘Believer’ by Dam-Funk (Fingers Deep - Funk remix)

I love the cheeky way the percussion starts. so funky and sexy, it already tells you to huddle up and get down. At about the forty second mark the synths and piano come in, giving it some lounge vibes. It settles the track down a bit, and the lads ride that vibe for a long while. The first major new shift comes at 2:50, where some stabbing synths are introduced, which then get a deeper sound underneath. I love how the soft piano comes floating in at points, providing a nice contrast to the percussion elements that keep on moving down below. At about 5:20 the bass rolls in, giving a bit of that boogie to work up to the next time that piano arrives. Dam-Funk released an excellent album last year, I saw him give an entertaining trip through House music history at Primavera Sound this year, and then there are the tracks he made with Nite Jewel as well. So the man is keeping busy, and busy churning out quality stuff at that. Released by the !K7 label, which knows its good music.

‘Rescue’ (Rayko Boogie Summertime Dancer re-edit)

Rayko, from the get go, gets those summery sounds in for this disco boogie. Soon he adds the percussion and bass as well, and half a minute in it all collides for what really only can be described as good vibes. Then, after a minute, the vocals, lovely cutting through that harsher synth with that honey suckled sweetness. After the first chorus Rayko brings it down, stripping more and more instruments until you basically have a single percussion, the vocals, and a little guitar riff left. At 3:20 the boogie returns, replacing the vocals for a moment before they come back with the chorus line. Everything underneath keeps on rolling as the vocals draw out the plea to Saaaave me longer and longer, before the chorus girls start singing the title line of the track. Just a lovely disco edit, a task which is in safe hands with Rayko for sure.

‘You’re Gonna Love Me’ by B & The Family

Apparently, this is an actual track from the '80s, but never released. The B in the band is Brian Morgan, who recently remembered he had some tracks shelved somewhere and thought, lets give it a whirl. Et voila, here it is, a catchy soul number also thanks to the drums that strut their stuff nicely. Then, the old school R&B vocals, which are helped out by the girls in the back on occasion as she sings that Oeehh, you’re gonna love me. The bass makes sure to be in there to provide some of that base rhythm, and there’s also a bit of that guitar riffing going around (he is, after all, a guitar player, so yeah). But mostly this is a catchy R&B track ol’ style, giving you all those good vibes at that summer cook-out of your dreams.

‘Taking Libz’ by Patrick Topping

Patrick Topping makes sure the beat is understood by all, giving you the marching orders from the get go on this house tune. Then the bass comes in, though it’s the higher pitched sound that dictates this one before it makes way for other fast moving percussion strikes. At the 1:50 mark the beat is taken out for a moment, with the percussion and the frantic synth sounds keeping that punching going on. Then, some deep, male vocals come in to do some talking, though most attention will most likely go out to the return of that beat that immediately follows. Again, at 3:20, a bit of a rest for the beat, and the dancefloor, though there is still the dulled thud of the drum that keeps them hardcore dancers involved. And it is a fast hitting track specifically aimed at that, the 3AM drug infused going of the body, released on the always partying Hot Creations label.

‘Divina’ by Lane 8

Lane 8 starts this one out with a nice main sound which, as the synth atmospherics come in, change to a deeper, more insistent tone (going from an almost guitar sound to a more key heavy feel), basically preluding the beat that is sure to come in. And there it is, after the first minute mark, nice and deep to juxtapose the synths. And this way, a dance feel develops, going for that pandemonium-in-front-of-the-stage feel with this one. A bass sound is added to give it some more rhythm flavor as the drums keep hitting it. Until the third minute mark that is, where only the hi-hats survive to go with the riffing keys and the atmospheric floating sound, which is a bit deeper than the other remaining instruments to provide a nice canvas there. Though that one is an almost tranquil presence, the other sounds keep a certain restlessness in them, signifying that yes, there’s some more dancing to come. And sure enough, at the five minute mark, lets go dancing for one more round.

The sun is still blistering as Dam-Funk brings in da funk, brings in da noise. There’s a two tier set-up, one with the decks, another one with a small synth and a set of mics, and he alternately plays some records and plays some music. A constant there, they all are funky as heck, some on the disco side, others going all out house music. So we get the Detroit, the Chicago, the NY (Dam-Funk helpfully guides us through all that), and he’s sure not to forget to honour the late Prince, doing a couple of his songs.

So, in the sweltering heat, we are dancing. It’s real disco and real house, so it might be too slow for some who like dance music, but it’s my sweet spot, and evidently that of the people behind me as well. So at the front the people are swinging, singing, movin’ and grooving to the house beats and the disco divas. And to Dam-Funk, who, when he takes the reins, shows us the prowess of his own vocals, and who brings the wobbly with his synthesizer as well. A little bit of that Warehouse and Studio 54 in bright sunlight, but in the end, it’s the music that makes the dancing, and this set/show certainly delivers right there.

On that very same Pitchfork stage, just a little bit later, it’s Jenny Hval who does right what Holly Herndon, in my opinion, didn’t succeed at. Yes, it’s experimental, and it is perhaps closer to performance art than it is to music, until you hear the singing and the music, and then it’s a combination between both that downright works. She and her two companions all don wigs with long, blonde hair, and throughout the show they cut in it, use some of it as pubic hair, and rub it all over their arms before finally, for the last two songs, discarding them completely to unveil, for the first time, Hval without mask. Just to, for the last song, quickly throw on a cape for some dancing in unison with one of her partners on stage.

It’s not only that, clearly, she has something to say and, clearly, she isn’t afraid to get in there and get messy in order to convey her message. It’s also that her voice is absolutely beautiful, both in spoken word and singing, and that near the end she even goes for all out party with a nice, catchy beat and the aforementioned prolonged dance routine. And, when she takes off the grotesque mask that she’s been wearing all day, what she unveils is the beauty of womanhood underneath. Which, surely, can be decoded as some sort of symbolism in a performance that’s full of it.

Chairlift gives it the good ol’ dancing try with their set, mixing some of the older, more dreamier work with some of the new, more punchier singles. Personally, the dreamier work does it for me, and you can do a little dancing with your eyes closed on those ones (though at the risk of missing the entertaining and energetic lead singer). The audience, though, goes berserk especially for their single ‘Ch-ching’, which they save as last and which, for most out there, seems to be the right choice.

To end the festival we take a seat at the Ray Bans stage to see Julia Holter and band doing their thing. Her voice sounds good, and you can see these are the pros at work there, with the whole performance oozing with professionalism. Holter is just the latest strong female performer that performed at the festival this year, and she, too, gives the gathered crowd a reason for why they might join her in her European tour later on this summer.

After this seated show we take one more look at all of it all from the top end of the festival site. One more time, the city lights, one more time the throng of people, even though at that point we are seemingly by ourselves in the room upstairs. As the city is prone to do, we become voyeurs, witnesses to life or some sordid thing like it, disconnected yet surrounded by those that at least come close to being similar. Combine this mood with the perfectly eclectic soundtrack throughout all the three days, and it’s just the right darn place to be.