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: ‘When Did I Stop Loving You’ by Marvin Gaye (Valique edit)

Valique gets into that looping action for the start, though after half a minute he gets that bass going for some rhythm and funk, really getting that dancefloor feel working. At the 1:20 mark we get the vocals in, again doing the looping thing, letting the same line with the same instrumental parts doing their thing. Then, the bass again, and with a lovely vocal coming in, super soulful, super old school. Then those horns as well, at 2:20, which team up nicely with the layered vocals that are asking When did you stop loving me, when did I stop loving you. When there’s no vocals, there’s at least the bass to keep you occupied, giving it a nice, deep balance to the higher pitched Marvin Gaye voice. The track certainly has some heartache in it, as in, genuine heartache, with Gaye creating this track just after his divorce. From accusatory to self-reflective to just plain old sadness, the beauty of this edit is that Valique does manage to keep all that, but give it some of that extra lets-dance-the-blues-away kind of goodness. That’s what those edits are all about, no?

‘Hot Hot (Give it All You Got)' by Debbie Jacobs (Evil Smarty & SanFranDisko edit)

SanFranDisko and EvilSmarty start this edit off with that nice little guitar riff aided by the rhythm of that punchy drum that they keep behind it. At the 30 second mark you get a nice little bass in there as well, and one of the main things all the elements achieve is that it just sounds like there’s a party going on in here. At the minute mark the strings arrive, a bit later the horns get there as well, and soon enough Debbie Jacobs and her girls come in with, first, some  background vocals, but just before the two minute mark she herself enters the stage to do her disco thang. Still the guitar riff and the drums form the main backbone elements, with the strings and horns adding all that disco flavor. The lads play around with pace and tempo a bit, though the main thing is that they keep the core elements running, and they savor all the disco goodness that comes with it. At 3:50 they, for a short moment, bring it down a notch, going with primarily the early sounds of the guitar and drum, but mere seconds later it’s the strings and Debbie Jacobs that enter the equation again. Just a nice disco edit with a nifty little riff to give it just that tad bit extra.

‘Take It Slow’ by Luxxury

The SoundCloud tag says “slow burner”, and boy, is that evident at the start. Just has that slow groove that it gets going, with the percussion, that lovely little guitar riff that comes in, and the aerial vocals singing their little lines. At about 1:30, that slow burning vibe has taken a back seat though, with a new guitar riff, the bass, and a punchier beat giving it a bit more tempo and adding so much meat to the bones that this real slow groove feel from the start has subsided a bit. Not to say that the middle part isn’t enjoyable in its own right, with all these elements in the mid-pace range helping out the still floating vocals singing that you should be Taking it slow. At the four minute mark most rhythm elements are either stripped out or moved to the background, and instead you get a bit of that saxophone going on, with a nifty bassline moving it into the burn-n-crawl realm again. Soon, though, that is all build on and build up again, ending with a catchy little guitar riff to help you dance through the final minute.

‘I Love You More’ by Rene And Angela (Pools edit)

A short edit from Pools gives you a little bit of that Rene & Angela thing, primarily based on that deep bass sound, giving you that step-step-step action. Then the vocals come in, singing that, gosh, I love you, with Pools doing the old chop-n-go trick on them, looping and cutting the same parts, which primarily is noticeable with the vocals. The vocals come out lovely though, the bass sound gives it that nice little rhythm to do a bit of dancing to, and it gives a modern slant to that old soul duet. So if you don’t mind your tracks at radio edit length, this might be a nice snippet to be listening to.

‘Little Lies’ by Fleetwood Mac (Jean-Claude Gavri touch-up)

Never a bad moment to dial up that Fleetwood Mac love affair a bit, and Jean Claude Gavri starts this one off nice and understated with some lovely sounds, first rhythmic, than that floating sound we kind of remember from the original. Just so we know where we are heading. It takes a while for it to really dive headlong into it, having the patience to wait it out until about the 1:30 mark, when a big old 80s pop drum comes in to signal the arrival of the actual song, including the vocals, singing that she Couldn’t find a way, settling For one day to believe in you. And then, the chorus, including the lovely instrumentation, and the drums to also keep the song as a little dancefloor thing and to make sure it’s got pace enough to keep it moving forward in that context. No more broken hearts, she sings, saying that We’re better off apart, before heading back to the chorus. Jean Claude Gavri knows how to handle an edit like this, putting loads of that goodness in of the original (it ain’t called a touch-up for nothing, ya know), but still in such a way that you and y’all can keep it going on the dancefloor.

‘Crime Cutz’ by Holy Ghost!

The lads of Holy Ghost! are back in action with some new material, starting hauntingly enough, though soon getting back to their synthesizers doing their catchy thing. With that said, it definitely sounds like a departure from their more disco oriented Dynamics sound, which was super slick and smooth. This has parts of that clean disco-pop sound, like at about the two minute mark, but the guys also add the warpy and the immediate in there, with the vocals in the verses talky and almost anxious, though more traditional in the chorus. The lads know their ways around their instruments, and they’re trying to not only get the song out of there, but also the feel and vibe. As evident, for instance, with the interlude at about the four minute mark. Though, after the interlude, they do still come back to the catchy, to the dancey, but with a bit more grit than their super polished previous LP (which I loved, by the way). It’s intriguing for sure, and a definite teaser to see what that new EP is going to sound like, which we have to wait for until the 29th of April. Unfortunately no embed here, but you can click here to still hear the brand spanking new Holy Ghost!.

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 Want You’ by Marvin Gaye (DJ Snatch rework)

I love how this one starts, so easy on the ear with just that understated beat, some percussion, and that little smooth synth line. The pace is on the slower side of the dancefloor, but all the vibes more than make up for it. Just before the minute mark two good things come in, namely some horns, and we get our first little taster of the vocals. And who doesn’t want to hear some Marvin Gaye just about always? In the mean time DJ Snatch has upped the auxiliary sounds, getting some piano in there as well, so the track becomes more layered without it starting to sound convoluted. At about the three minute mark he kicks the track in a slightly higher gear, with Gaye at this point preaching as all get out, getting some emotions in there, for example at the four minute mark. Also love how the vocals are being played off of the horns, that’s nicely done. But Gaye is feeling it, singing that you shouldn’t Play with something that you should cherish for life (oh baby). Take that greener-pastures-people! This track keeps slow jamming it up for a good ten minutes, and as said, it’s got all the goods you want from a track like this. It’s got the horns, it’s got the vocals, it’s got multiple-yet-changing layers, but also there’s the percussion and the beat to give you something to nod your head to. Apparently based on an earlier edit by none other than Mr. John Morales, who knows how to do it right. Nice work out of the Get Down Edits corner yet again.

‘Call Girl’ by The Right Now (JKriv remix)

Wow, that dirty bass sound that comes in after a few seconds, so fitting. And does set the tone for a song called ‘Call Girl’, that’s for sure. Got to love that bit of sleaze. JKriv also adds some of that Caribbean percussion though, and a slightly melancholic sounding synth, just to make sure that it doesn’t go down that black hole of nightclubs and smokey back rooms completely. That synth line just before the second minute mark is quite a lovely thing, especially if you combine that with some of those horns like he does. In the mean time the base is still being formed by a bit of that bass and beat, just to make sure you can keep on shaking that boot-ey a tad. There’s this bit at the three minute mark where he uses predominantly deeper rhythm sounds, and the way he then slides this lighter, melancholic synth in, that’s pretty awesome right there. The female vocals fit that synth line in terms of tone, so they form a nice team to make sure the track doesn’t veer to one side too much. There are also some cameo performances in this track, some instruments that pop up for a little stint, and those are always a nice surprise, and fitting to boot. JKriv delivering some quality again, and as a Free Download too!

‘Jackie’ by Woolfy vs. Projections

The third album of these Permanent Vacation stalwarts is coming up in August, and here’s a slice to see just why you want to be eyeing that release. It starts with some synths, but soon they slide some beat and bass in there. Nice and deep, of course, because it is Permanent Vacation stuff, though it doesn’t veer into deep house too much by any means. Also thanks to the vocals, which narrate a tale of love lost, and the synths and auxiliary sounds they add, which are lighter than the deeper rhythm instruments used. Not that you cannot dance to this though, as the base is constant and keeps prodding along (sometimes together, sometimes bass and beat separately). Meanwhile the boys are pondering to leave everything and just walk away, and there’s this tinge of sadness in their vocals, which suits the way they set up the tone instrumentally just fine. At one point, the rhythm sounds are stripped away for a moment, with haunting synths forming the backdrop for the words My heart’s breaking. After that they make sure the track returns to dancing though, with all kinds of lovely layers that either help out with the rhythm or with the atmosphere they want to create. The bass, then, rides out this nice preview to their upcoming third LP.

‘Hold On’ by Roosevelt

This one starts off with a bit of that grainy, garage-y guitar sound, but you already hear the funky rhythm in there. No place to hide funk, no need for hiding it either. Not even in this track, with the dreamily blase-produced vocals. Don’t let that fool you though, as the rhythm of the guitar is nice and funky, and there are horns in there as well. Don’t think I won’t notice any of those good, disco vibed things! There’s even a kind of dancefloor-party-build-up just after the two minute mark, where he even adds a quite thuddy beat to it as he sings that you need to Hold on to your lover, as you need to Make it work. After that bridge he adds a light piano to add the fun in the party, ending it with a little boogie bass to make sure to remind you that, yes, this is secretly a dance track disguised as some of that attic-diy-dreampop music.

‘Hot As You Want’ by Lane 8 feat. Solomon Grey

Almost from the start I know I’m going to get a nice slice of summer, and Lane 8 definitely delivers in that department. There’s quite a pace-y beat there, with the vocals already doing their thing in the background, as multiple vocal layers overlap each other. After the minute mark you again have this thudding, euphoric beat to dance to on some rooftop as the sun is setting. The second go around sees the vocals, courtesy of Solomon Grey, in verse mode, being more up front in the mix. He’s singing about how you are all he needs, All he sees. In his mind, that is, as she is Far from here, so there’s this sadness in his voice. And we all know you got to dance the blues away, and that’s what Lane 8 makes sure you can do to this little party number, upping the beat and the pace at the right moments to give the dancers some momentum at points to get the hands up and the feet off (and on) the floor.

‘Now is Tomorrow’ (Superbreak Disco Edit)

How about the drums to start off this one? Add to that the percussion, and after thirty seconds the bass, and you’re boogying down your front lawn in no time. At about the fifty second mark the track starts to take the shape of the song, and you even get a first taster of the vocals, going “ooooh” in a nice, high pitched disco way. Soon there’s a bit of that ol’ disco guitar, some of those funky horns, and shortly after the first singing appears, saying that “tomorrow is now”, which apparently the horns then verify. I love the kind of chorus part, where the vocals rapid fire their way through the lines Gotta boogie, gotta do it, gotta say it, gotta do it right now (or close to that), after which the bass lays down a bit of that slow boogie style to give you the opportunity to do just that. At 3:30 you get some loveboat horns, some of that ol’ disco cheese that we all love, though on the whole this is primarily a boogilicious track to get funky to at whatever party you happen to be.