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: ‘Cost To Love’ by Rare Cuts

Lovely slow burning start here, getting into that looping business a bit, increasing it in volume slightly, setting the rhythm and pace immediately by repetition. And so they loop their way forward, sometimes hinting at changing it up, but then settling back down a bit again. That is, up until the 1:20 mark, where we get those lovely disco strings and sounds that also put some atmosphere in there. And, after two minutes, we get the vocals, those lovely ol’ disco vocals full of love yearning and the heart burning. Then the girls in the back start to help out a bit with the chorus, singing Rising, rising close to love, then adding that, oh boy, how that is costing her. In the mean time the loops are still churning as wheels to drive this one forward, with the disco strings and the old vocals giving it its heart. Lovely slow burner this one right here.

‘Love Train’ by PillowTalk & Soul Clap feat. Greg Paulus & Crew Love

The people of PillowTalk and Soul Clap get the party  started in here, first with a clear beat and some percussion help, and after that you get a nice little bass sound in there. That deeper sound gets juxtaposed by a nifty bit of piano playing, as in the mean time the percussion still gives it all the rhythm you need. After the minute mark we get the vocals, announcing that they Wake up every morning (ehrm…), but obviously in a specific sort of way. At the 1:40 mark the piano gets back as they hit the chorus, saying that they’re Riding on that love train, love train. So spreading the good vibes there, and the piano certainly helps with that. Shortly after, a moment of mostly just vocals, and then the bass comes back in to ride along with the percussion and beat, waiting for the vocals to come back in again. At the three minute mark we get some Caribbean horns in there to vary it up a bit, even more giving the feel that we’re there to party and love. There’s some nice interplay with deep and lighter sounds, there’s plenty of rhythm, and the vocals and piano finish it off nicely. Just a good vibes tune to get dancing to.

‘Little Bird’ by Annie Lennox (Du Tonc Rework)

Du Tonc gets it on the road with the deep sounds, getting the deep beat in which then gets juxtaposed with a slightly lighter woodwork percussion sound. The synths start to arrive, followed by a rapid-firing percussion sound, which pace gets juxtaposed by a deeper, mellower synth sound which brings some calmness to the proceedings. The beat and quick percussion then gets hold back a bit by some of the sounds on the foreground, including a slower, deep synth sound to move it a bit more into the pop realm. Shortly after, Annie Lennox walks in, singing that she wishes she was a little bird and could fly. After that Du Tonc gets into dance mode a bit, getting the electronics in there, but soon the more atmospheric, calmer sounds arrive back in to juxtapose all of that. Around the 3:45 mark Lennox gets back, and with her some more of those non-dance sounds. So there is a definite mix going on here of the beat, the rapid fire percussion—  in short all those dance sounds— with Lennox and the original song’s sounds on top of it all to get a little bit of both world’s goodness in there.

‘Keep The Fire Burning’ by Gwen McCrae (Joey Negro Feed The Flame remix)

Joey Negro put out an album that showcases some of his edits, like his versions of tunes by Grace Jones, Patti LaBelle, Thelma Houston and also including this old tune by Gwen McCrae. First he makes sure he gets the dancefloor going, but soon he gets the naughty in there by immediately entering McCrae asking you if You can feel it (and, oehmmm, it feels so good). Then she starts giving us some instructions on how to move to all of this, as Joey keeps the rhythm going in the back, only stopping for a moment when the girls in the back sing to us that we need to Keep the fire burning. After that demand the bass starts riding his ol’ horsey, and Gwen McRae starts singing on top of some of the original sounds, like a nifty little guitar riff. McRae sings that You need to give it all you got, and she certainly does, doing the works here as the disco strings calm us down in the mean time. It is just one of those ace disco edits giving you that dancing with the big love and big vocals that go with it. The SoundCloud is just a snippet, the entire track running over six minutes, so that means plenty to work with in that discotheque.

‘Girl On The Wire’ by Tweaks

Tweaks is gearing up to release their EP later this month, and with ‘Girl On The Wire’ they give another sample of their nocturnal sound (they’re even denoting the time there, 4 in the morning, there you go). First you get the more dreamy vocals, though that switches to a more immediate voice demanding to know, Girl, why are you keeping me up. There are some nifty sounds to help out there, a pretty sweet (what I believe to be a) guitar riff, and the drums have this nice, soft and deep sound. I love the layering of the vocals, that’s pretty nice right there, and the lighter sounds pierce through the blanket of the night nicely, to make it not too much of anything the same. If you like this kind of late-night-under-the-city-lights sound, that EP coming out might be worth giving a spin.

‘No More Talking’ by Tiger & Woods

I pretty much love the looping business that Tiger & Woods have set up, and they start this one out by looping a bit of that bass action that actually reminded me a bit of that ol’ The Jones Girls tune. It’s super funky, has got a bit of attitude to it, and Tiger & Woods give it this more modern, mechanical slant for that Berlin dancefloor. They also bring back the old times though, not only with that rhythmic thrust, but also when the old school disco vocals come in. These vocals are of the feminine variety, not one of those strong powerhouse kind of things, and that juxtaposes the looping of the beat and bass action nicely. The vocals, by the way, also being looped, with one line being repeated over and over (and over and on top of each other as well), after which that punchy bass comes in to set the dancefloor alight again. Tiger & Woods are so good at doing that, and I, for one, am glad they’re back in action again with this burner of a tune.

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: ‘Good Lovin’’ by PillowTalk

Love how PillowTalk starts this one of with those lovely vocals, this duet asking each other "to keep on loving me", as both he and she "really really need you baby". In the mean time PillowTalk gets a slow grooving bass sound in, on top of a bit of percussion. But it’s especially the bass providing the groove, leading the loving vocals to the right place. There’s also a smattering of keys there, providing the right atmosphere, adding some of that love duetting vibe right in there. The vocals, by the way, are Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, so these are none to shabby obviously, with PillowTalk really getting the warmth and the slow soul working, with a bit of that love jazz feel as well. If you weren’t feeling the love of 2016 yet, hopefully this helps out a bit, with Terrell ending the track by repeating that "life is so wonderful, with you here in my arms".

‘Get On Down’ by Martin Hayes

Obviously, when you name your track ‘Get On Down’, you’d better make sure that we can get on down. And from the start, a bucketload of all kinds of percussion, including some Latin vibed ones, wash over the dancefloor to get your hips a-shaking. At the one minute mark the percussion slides to the background a bit as we get some guitar and horn work for the dirty and the disco. At about the 2:15 mark we get even more of all that jazz, letting the air in and, at one point, even the vocals, as they shortly appear at 2:50 before the track walks back to the dirty funk feel with the sax giving it some air of respectability as the rest of the instruments drag it down and low to the underground club. Before the four minute mark though, it moves its way to the glitterbox dancefloor, with the disco prevailing for a minute. And that combination, of a bit of down and dirty, and a bit of chic, le freak, that makes it such a surprising listen and an EP worth watching when it will be released first thing next month.

‘One For The Money’ by The Whispers (Pied Piper Full Blooded Disco Regroove)

How about that boogie for the start, eh? Add some horns in there as well, a little drums to make sure there’s a bit of a rhythm backbone there, and some organ too, and we’re off to the races with this regroove of an old The Whispers tune. And they make sure to add everything, including a bit of screeching guitar as well, but they also know how to keep that thing rolling, with the bass doing the groundwork so that everything else can live off of it. This including a big break for the horn section at about 1:20, giving you a bit of that funk before the vocals come in, telling you to "get on down". The organ keeps delivering, the guitar does its little riff in there, and the Pied Piper makes sure that all that boogie keeps on leading you to the dancefloor with all the holiness from all those other instruments. The vocals are old school, with the main vocalist doing the whole church thing as the rest of the band makes sure to get in a word edgewise as well. And how about all of that for close to nine minutes, eh? Though at about the 4:40 mark they do bring it down for a minute, just letting the rhythm section go at it for a moment, with only a bit of the keys on top of it. Soon enough though, the party gets blazing again, and it is just one of those things to get that disco dancefloor working.

‘The Queen On Her Throne’ by JKriv

JKriv gets the beat down in there as the classic sounds of this sublime track fill the void alongside of it. Soon the percussion sounds come in as well, helping out in the rhythm department, as he dials down the other sounds just before the minute mark to get the bass in (and some other instruments too). The harsh beat has faded to the background a bit, with the percussion and bass providing a warmer canvas on top of which JKriv builds his empire with the sounds of the original tune, coming to fullness around 1:45 where he does everything except adding those triple vocals. Obviously, at 2:20, here comes the main vocalist, admitting that, yes, you are his Darling darling baby, and JKriv first adds a little instrumental piece in there, not getting quite to the chorus just yet. And he shows restraint, going through a few more rounds of the Darlin’ darlin’ bit, after which he first throws in a nice bit of percussion with a nice, deep tom drum sound, adding to the funky feel of the track. Lighter sounds soon arrive, working up towards, yes, the chorus, with the vocals upping the ante. This before the beat gets stripped, with the main vocals now getting the room for themselves. At the six minute mark, we get the boys in the back as well, adding their ooooh-hoo lines to the whole proceedings. Just a lovely rework, with plenty of vocal goodness, a nice funky and smooth rhythm line, and enough subtle variation to have some 8 minute long dancing fun.

‘Christmas Will Break Your Heart’ by LCD Soundsystem

First we hear some festive sounds with the bells, but soon James Murphy starts telling you that Christmas will break your heart, with a sad sod arrangement in the back as Murphy is complaining that "your body is getting old". The composition has some piano, some drums, and slowly and slowly more and more things are added, with at one point even the background choir joining Murphy, who, despite everything, admits that he will be "coming home to you". Like a New York, I Love You, this track is a slow tale of woe, where the inner voices and emotions battle from quiet desperation to quiet love. At the end, the anxiety comes out, with the instruments building up a little wall in the background as Murphy yelps out What if you’re done?, screaming it out in the crescendo, before the track settles down again with the snow bells and a slow, clean drum. Obviously, this was the start of what since has become a little comeback announcement of the band that, for a certain group of people, did probably define a certain era a bit. And it’s good to see that they come with these Seasonal greetings, without feeling the pressure to come back with the next hit, dance, anxiety fuelled tune right of the bat. We just like to get new stuff from this expert band, so pretty chuffed to have them back as far as I’m concerned.

‘Under A Silious Moonright’ by David Bowie (Dimitri From Tokyo remix)

Dimitri From Tokyo, years ago, got grooving with this funk track by Bowie in his Nile Rodgers period. Dimitri adds loads of percussion, but makes sure that guitar riff gets the whole spotlight at the minute mark, and he knows to ride the bass after that. Sure, Bowie’s vocals, too, are brought to the fore as the weapon they are, with the horns complementing the moments the vocals are silent. And at 1:50, the chorus, where the main rhythm is still there even though some things are stripped away to make sure that Bowie can sing that his love For you, will break my heart in two. And as he sings Trembles like a flooooo-wer, all the other instruments are, literally, being turned down, before that funky rhythm gets back in there with the percussion, the bass, and the horns providing plenty of atmosphere to help out the vocals. Dimitri From Tokyo goes a bit club with it, before Bowie gets a bit jazz with it as the horns come in, and then the funk can be found underneath it again. It’s just one of those things I’ve got on vinyl that just shows the far reaching hand of Bowie. From his Ziggy Stardust glam rock to the cold Berlin sounds to the whole Fame thing and the Nile Rodgers stuff to, eventually, his very last new album; he was just one of those artists that did so much, and with that, inspired so many. And, luckily, we’ll be able to love and listen to his records, the sounds he inspired, and even the dancefloor edits for eternity and beyond.