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The Weekly Froth - June #2

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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: ‘Try To Talk To You’ by Hercules And Love Affair feat. John Grant (Morgan Geist remix)

This is multiple forms of talent right here. I love the guys from Hercules and Love Affair! Perhaps I loved the first and third albums the most (the latter one came out this year!), but that live line-up on the tour of the second album was friggin’ amazing and blew me out of the water. Guest singer on this one is John Grant, who I recently saw live in the pouring rain (see my Primavera Sound report for that), and the guy on remix duties is Morgan Geist. There are numerous things here that anchor this one in gay culture, both in terms of the content (the song is about the moment someone realizes he has AIDS) to the form, as it is house music in all its glory. So you’ve got the beat to jack to, the synths to get working on, and the emotional punch of the vocals and lyrics, which Geist keeps in there nicely. Geist, who also releases music as Storm Queen, is one of my fav guys out there, and here again he reminds me why. The build-up is nice, with enough “low” and “high” moments, plenty of vocals, but also moments to get a bit tribal to the music to. He makes a song that was already good on album (though there are some other killers on there) and makes it a seven minute club ride whilst keeping all that was good about it in the first place. The transitions from one section to the next are smooth, and near the end he strips the beat for the vocals to go at it one more time whilst giving any DJ the opportunity to already slip the next beat right on in there. Might be hearing this one in the clubs I reckon.

 

‘Luv Magic’ by Laurence Guy

Let’s Play House is just one of those labels that you know usually delivers the goods. This track is billed as a “slowmo edit”, and a good “lead” or “closer”, so lets just see about that (it is, either way, a free download, so you can try that one out for yourself). It starts with some synths and a bit of the ol’ tribal percussion, then the synths build up some noise which is the cue, obviously, for the beat to come in. Then you can hear the female vocals for the first time, talking (which is, I feel, less common for women in house to do than for men), and after that you get the tribal drums back in again. After the second round of vocals, you get a nice little guitar and some extra disco strings to go with them, after which again the drums take the front and the beat gets set aside a bit. That he plays with what the main rhythm is, is nice, and the best part is that you just can keep on dancing to it (also because I believe there’s still a bass in the background running along with the whole thing as a security net). I feel there’s also a bit of voodoo vibe going on in this one. I just love the percussion here, love how it oozes this hotnsweaty vibe, like you’re playing this in the swamps at umpteen degrees out there. It’s a nice groover for sure.

 

‘Giorgio’s Theme’ by Giorgio Moroder

Immediately from the get go you get those trademark synths out there, and you know that the man himself, Giorgio Moroder, is back in action. After the opening synth he puts in something near orchestral, seemingly sounding like he is conducting a whole blipping orchestra for this one. So it grows and gets bigger and bigger, and at one point he slides the beat in there, and then the drums, and this thing is off to the races. It’s got a real manic pace to it, and in the background you still hear the orchestral effects. You also have some points where he lets just his synths speak though (those, btw, are the points where live you’re going to get a shitload of applause, I’m pretty sure of that). Again, same structure, a build-up on epic scale, very cinematic in a way, after which obviously he puts the rhythm back in, this time with the drums and a little guitar riff. He adds some deeper piano sounds in there as well, and those contrast nicely with those higher synth sounds. At this point, we’re still only halfway, but it’s pretty clear what this track is. It’s got a bigness, boldness, an epic scale that’s almost cinematic in nature. Also, it is definitely designed for a big audience. Even the stripped down moments, they are short enough for everyone to get through without feeling the need to fetch some drinks. He’s playing some festivals I believe, and I’m sure they’ll be packed, and in terms of scope, this one will serve him well I think.

 

‘Hold Tight’ by Sinkane

Sinkane is back, and he’s brought an organ with him, and he lets that’s one off the leash at the start as he starts up that slow, nasty boogie of his. New Orleans voodoo I’m vibing. The contrast to those bold sounds and that bassline are definitely those high vocals, that plead “you want me, come get me, I’m waiting for you”, as the background vocals croon and croon little words and little lines. I love the slow, funky vibe this one has, and especially near the end it veers away a bit from the bolder sounds from the start and into a smoother funkiness. I saw this young man play live twice, and the first one was a bit hesitant and not a particularly memorable experience, but the second time was definitely a step up. If he adds more tracks like this to his repertoire, the next time will be even better no doubt.

 

‘Sweet Love’ by Samuel Jonathan Johnson (MadDisco extended edit)

This one, from the get go, has just all these disco vibes going on. From the vocals to just the sounds, it is all so very classic and genre. And who doesn’t love a bit of genre eh? Especially when there are some smooth vocals out there singing “Sweet love, that’s what the world needs!”. There’s plenty of that old guitar playing in here, coming for you from all sides of the aisle, and they all work perfectly together. Add the piano, a bit of bass as well, and obviously those smooth vocals with the positive message. There are some nice subtle transitions, though what makes this track so fun is that essentially, even if it all sounds so straightforward at times, there’s basically a whole jazz jam session going on with the guitars and piano and bass and stuff. Not sure how they managed to keep that so tight and easy on the ear, but they sure did. You can enjoy it as some nice little disco tune, but you can also try and enjoy some of the individual instruments and how they play together, which is a nice little bonus they throw out there as well.

 

‘Prisoner Of Your Love’ an Eric Dunks Duncan remix

This one starts out with the beat right up and ready to go, and it quickly gets some extra percussion and then some other sounds as well, to get some flavor into this one. After about a minute in you get the main sounds in there, which are relatively high in terms of tone, so definitely going for some good vibes for the dancefloor here. Especially when the almost Eastern sounding synth wall comes in. It all leads up to the moment the male vocals come in though, and they throw in some extra percussion to lead us to that. “The walls are closing in / I can’t find a way out / I’m a prisoner of your love”, they sing, first without a beat underneath them, but sure enough they come in for the second go around as you can’t let the dancefloor waiting for too long. After that you get some standard house rhythms which are nice, and in the background you have these drum rounds which fit in nicely. It is a nice one to be dancing to in the club, for sure. It’s just got all the things you need there, and the male vocals and the chorus just fit the club atmosphere. I really love the change-up at the four minute mark, and those kind of moments keep this one fresh enough to keep dancing to.

 

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