The Weekly Froth! - 20161202
- Published in Columns
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.
This starts out as something that you’ll be wanting to dance to, giving you the kick, the drum, and, a tad later, some of that bass to kick up that pace. Then, shortly after, the vocals, singing the title words, reminiscing about those good times when you Used to hold me so tight. And then, at 1:50, there comes la lady Houston, giving you some of that vocal prowess right there, letting you know who is the lady in our midst. Quickly in, the horns, giving her to work something off against. Then the verse, laying it out, laying it down, before coming back to the title words again, with Houston herself riffing up some magic as the backing singers mention again that there used to be a time where You used to hold me so tight. It’s just one of those beautiful disco mixes for a good night out on the dancefloor, and add those kind of vocals in there (and use them, like Dr. Packer does) and you know it’s all going to be quite all right.
Now, who can get enough of Prince, really? This one starts with a booming, slow bass, but the little guitar riff gives you the balance, with the drums kicking in at about the thirty second mark. Rayko rides those sounds for a while, occasionally crashing a cymbal, adding something else in, before smoothing it out until changing it up again at 1:40. And he does that a few times, keeping the bass at its core around which the rest give you a little bit of that slow down funk right up until all the deep sounds are booted out and the high pitched vocals of Prince come in, saying that he needs your lovin’, That’s all I’m living for. And then, obviously, it works up again for the rhythm section to barge in, with the bass and the drums giving you that dancing thing again to ride this one out.
Kauf starts this one oh so quiet, oh so still (kind of in keeping with the title then perhaps), bringing you something that, in a way, resembles bird sounds to me. Then the heavier, somewhat grainy deep instrumentation comes in, providing the canvas for all the lighter instruments to appear and shine on (white works better on black after all). At about the 1:20 mark you get some of that tropical vibe going, with the vocals coming in as well, singing that You forced me into the sun, with the vocals being a bit more slowed down, contrasting the instruments nicely in that. Those vocals get a bit of room to work, with just the smattering synths, after which the rhythm and tropical come back in for a bit, for some of that closed eye dancing with a drink in the hand.
They build up a bit of that wall of synth to start, but soon the drums break through it, giving you the dancing rhythm and the slightly detached male vocals. The other vocals, heavily worked, are a bit more immediate, a bit more punchy, giving you that different kind of feel. When the male vocals come in we get some extra percussion, making sure there is a clear thing to dance to there, a base of the track they are sure to not let up on. Although, for a few seconds, around 2:20, it’s just vocals, but quickly the bass is put in there, but it’s the only deep sound against the lighter vocals and instrumentation surrounding it. The band is releasing an EP late January, including this track, so that’s a 2017 thing already ready and rearing to go (with a pick-me-upper in terms of pace at 3:20 again to do the same to you when listening to this).
Someone’s musical taste, surely, one way or another, is influenced by their mum and dad (whether it stays and remains or heads fleeing out the door), and the Eagles are certainly something I remember from my growing up days. LNTG gives you all the high pitched marvels in that track, and boosts a bit of that bass in there, bit of that rhythm, especially at the two minute mark, where he runs with it, powered by the guitars as the beacons through which the ships pass. Then we really get into the track, with the verse, with the the plurality of guitars, and then the high pitched chorus again, doing the Oooooh, coming right behind you, swear I’m going to find you one of these nights. After which he quickly returns to the ruggedness of the verse. I mean, it’s not a nostalgic dancefloor thing, but it is a nostalgia thing, and LNTG makes it a dancefloor thing, and growing up listening to this track I’m sure getting a kick out of this (especially when that screaming guitar comes in at about 4:20).
Four seconds in you already hear the former Tower Of Power frontman working it, with one of the better voices this side of the atmosphere. In the mean time the bass is getting da rhythm right, with the little guitar riff coming in at the forty second mark to finish off that funk thing they’ve got going on. The ladies in the back also rear their heads not too long in, helping out the man in the middle who is taking a backseat to the rhythms of the night. He himself only returns after 2:30, yelping out some Ahh babies, but, with that voice, so that makes a difference probably. Alkalino then briefly dials it down before he gets all the bass and the drums running again with the girls in the back leading the way. Short but sassy funk number, with some drippings of Mr. Williams vocals as the icing on the cake.