The Weekly Froth! - 20160318

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: ‘Closing Shot’ by Lindstrom

You know that 8 1/2 minutes of Lindstrom is going to give you plenty of hypnotic dance rhythms to get up (and get down) to. Here, too, the main drumbeat is established right there and then, but those synths at the minute mark, that’s what the good stuff is made of. Also, additional percussion elements, just to make sure the body can join the mind in rapturous euphoria. Which, incidentally, seems to be what Lindstrom is going for, with the feel good sounds all out there. At the two minute mark he gets a bass sound in to help the percussion elements, and the main synth of before is traded in for something lighter and a tad more in the background. But if you could barely recall, well, it’s all coming back to you around the three minute mark. Not the exact same loop, but definitely something in the same realm in the sense it is a (combination of) lighter synth sound(s) eliciting the same feel as before, culminating in the moment at the four minute mark where the coronation takes place. So much to love here, not only in the stretches, but also in the moments, like those sounds that occasionally pop up from the 5:10 mark on, loveliness right there. Lindstrom already had nothing to prove, but if he did, then he just proved the man still has got plenty of game. And euphoric dancing ensues.

‘Action’ by Cassius feat. Cat Power & Mike D

How about some of that hipperdy-hop to get this started, though it is primarily the catchy percussion and the slapping bass that has this one moving. In the mean time it is Cat Power singing and Mike D talking, giving this one enough vocal prowess to hold their own against the rhythm part. Especially that, though, does nasty business here, giving you all you can handle with quick firing spurts looping around the place. At times, like just before the three minute mark, they throw the kitchen sink at ya with some horns, but after that it dives right back into the rhythm again. The track fades out because there’s also a nine minute version, which (I do hope) doesn’t get the same ending. But even if it  does, the nine minute version might just be something to look out for, because four minutes of this isn’t quite enough I’d say.

‘Filmed Message’ by Peza

Apparently, Peza had some stuff lying around that he decided to finish, resulting in this ominous synth vibed electro track with rap on top of it, singing that it is like a jungle sometimes, makes me wonder, how I keep from going under (Grandmaster Flash y’all). Add to that the Numan synths from his ‘Films’, and you’ve got this combo from Peza, to which he adds some percussion and rhythm to make sure this one keeps flowing forward. He knows how to let both sides come to the fore here, with both Grandmaster Flash’s lyrics being clear and audible, and in the mean time there are stretches where Numan’s synths come beaming through. And even in the vocal bits the feel is still very much present. Just before the four minute mark he throws some Upside down, boy you’re turning me in there, this while pumping up the synth action. After that he returns to Grandmaster Flash doing his thing again, though he keeps all of it all coming from all sides. Lovely, crazy mash-up where the fun isn’t forgotten.

‘Laid Back Love’ by Mike Woods

This one really starts at the twenty second mark, where the bass and drums come in. He strips the bass sound for a moment, just to let it come back in about half a minute later for the dancefloor to get funky to. After that, though, he does the same thing for a prolonged period of time, moving some synths in. At 2:20 the catchy really gets going, with some familiar sounds but the rhythm in place as well. At the three minute mark, BAM, the vocals, some Human League action telling you to just resign yourself to what you’re going through. And as they are loving our Love action, we get the familiar synths on a bed of bass, with the vocals definitely dominating the second part of this edit by Mike Woods. I remember seeing The Human League live a few years back, well fun, and this edit makes sure that you get the build-up to a good chunk of that ol’ faithful right there.

‘Touch’ by Shura (Four Tet remix)

Four Tet combines a droning sound with some light piano work to start this one out with, working well with that contrast there. After that he gets breezy with the fast-paced bass and the light percussion works he adds to counterbalance that. Then he enters the vocals, soft spoken but quick in delivery (sped up I reckon). She does have a lovely voice, and in this remix, too, it adds to the smoothness of the sounds Four Tet delivers here. At 2:30, how about taking it down to mainly piano and vocals, adding the bass a bit later to allow some people to get moving again. After that he moves to a double layered vocal construction, which actually works pretty well, and he always keeps balancing the lighter sound elements with the rhythm section. The pace is pretty quick, but funnily enough it is such a smooth and easy listen that kind of belies that. A well done remix of this ace Shura single.

‘Build Me A Bridge’ by Rayko

How about that nice little bass to get funky to? Add a drumbeat in there and some lighter sounds to balance it out, and you’ve got this nifty start in which the bass gets more prominent as the first minute moves on. After the minute mark two distinct sounds come in that give me flashbacks to Eighties pop perhaps even more so than those funky times the bass kind of alludes to. They sure add to the festive mood. After the two minute mark all these elements get turned down for a moment with Rayko going for some piano and vocal action, though he makes sure not to forget about what makes this track nice for the disco dancefloor. I love the bombast with which the backing vocals come in at about the 3:20 mark, that gives it some nice momentum building towards the return of those sounds that were introduced after a minute in. Still, it’s the bass that gives this track its backbone, its core, and he returns to that after the middle saw some boom with the vocals. The singular female voice does reappear though, wondering if You remember, remember at all (if he doesn’t he isn’t worth it honey!). I just love Rayko, he’s so good for just that disco dancefloor vibe with the love lost in here as well, putting out another lovely edit to dance to.