The Weekly Froth!

Track Of The Week: ‘After You’ by Pulp

I absolutely love Pulp. I’ve got all of their albums, even the arguably rather crummy ones of the pre-90s, and I was ecstatic to hear they would be reuniting and slightly sad when the announcement came new material was unlikely. Luckily, sometimes old is new, and Pulp hit the vaults with James Murphy, who would produce this “leftover” bit from their previous band life. And it is in the vein of the kind of songs that I, personally, always thought to be my favorites (but weirdly never made it to any of the albums). Think ‘His ‘n Hers’, or ‘Sheffield Sex City’. It’s got this rather dancey, insistent base with the synths, drums and bass that keep the song rolling along until it’s very end, with a mean bit of guitar playing as the song reaches halfway and before the bass gets a minute to get the dancers going. Over all this Jarvis paints a rather harrowing image of being on the prowl, so to speak, mixing every day imagery like Tesco and 7-11 with the idea of yearning for a bit of nightly pleasure in not exactly the Gable-Leigh sense of the word. Just an amazing song, and it is kind of surprising that this was made in the 21st century, and not their heyday 1990s. Either way, it is great that it is now officially downloadable this week. 

‘No Time to Waste’ by Everyone

Everyone is a collaboration between Kindness and Joakim, both of whom have made an excellent album in the past two years. The musicality shines through the entire track, with some lovely drums in there that really put down the essence of the song. Sweet little piano in there as well to counterbalance the drumming, and it is a nice complement to the vocals of L’Traques. As said, the drums are basically the constant in this, and the piano and synth sounds give the track its atmosphere. I really liked the elegance on that Kindness album that was released last year, and I think you can definitely hear that back on this track as well, though it’s got slightly more punch to it than his sole tracks probably. It will be released on vinyl next month, so if you like this try and snag one up, it is the debut release on Crowdspacer.

‘Love is Space’ by The Juan MacLean

This is a cut from The Juan MacLean’s “performance” on Beat’s in Space, Tim Sweeney's radio show (which I thoroughly enjoy whenever I’m working behind my laptop or whatever), so that’s the talking at the start of this (Sweeney and MacLean). In the background you can already hear the track playing, you can already hear the first bass come in, then the first beat, and luckily after 2 1/2 minutes they still leave six minutes of sweetness for us to listen to without interruptions. The Juan MacLean is one of the main proponents of the DFA label, and if you haven’t witnessed the 22 minute live version of ‘Happy House’ you definitely still want to do that before a leg gives way and you aren't able to dance to it anymore. It’s been a long time since I saw them live (Jerry Fuchs was still behind the drums I believe), and since then they’ve been rather dormant, so it is good to see him coming out of that again with his space infused house sound. Lovely handclaps come in around the five minute mark to give something to hold on to whilst listening to these deformed sounds he puts on (which he rides, for my personal taste, a bit too long), and naturally he gets the beat to join the party there as well. Not as euphorically danceable as a ‘Happy House’ or ‘Feels So Good’, his DJ Kicks track from a few years ago, I find, especially that second half where he puts those “space” noises in and makes the sounds deeper. Still though, when he plays this live, I’m sure it’ll be tight and insane as always, and after that first half I’ll be dancing anyway.

‘Every Night’ by Lane 8

Lane 8 puts his Supremes cap on for this one, using samples from one of their songs for this dreamy tune that puts in this woodblock *tock* in such a prominent way that it got me wondering how long it’s been since I’ve heard that. I would say that, for me, it’s definitely got one of those late night vibes going on. That kind of song when you’ve put down the house all night long, you take to this for when the confetti comes down and you are sending the kids to ride off into the sunset. One of those things where you think "Ah, Diana Ross", you smile, do a little twirl to something not as frantic or definite club, and you thank your mates/girls/whatever for a lovely night out. The remix by Lane 8 makes sure it doesn’t become some sort of copy from a '70s sound, really making it clear that, despite the samples, this is a contemporary track by him. Definitely something that will elicit a smile from at least me when I hear it.

‘Gun Shy’ by Grizzly Bear (Lindstrom remix)

Lindstrom definitely isn’t afraid to remix outside of his own genres. The indie disco’s went berserk to that Franz Ferdinand remix he once did, and here he takes on Grizzly Bear, perhaps not the most obvious choice. No matter what the original material though, leave it to Lindstrom to get that thing rolling right on to the finish line. And that’s exactly what he does, making something that meanders towards the end. And though it is nice and catchy and merrily rolls along, for me perhaps it is a bit too much of the same for a tad too long. The definite highlight of this track comes when it is working up to the three minute mark where these disco sounds come in that give it this definite vibe that I really like. After that he puts in some Grizzly Bear vocals, which breaks up the dancing until he puts the piano back in. Though naturally this is a tactic commonly employed, here it kind of feels like he had to put Grizzly Bear in there, and the transition to the combination of “dancing sounds” with the vocals, I do not particularly fancy that one. Not my favorite from Lindstrom to be honest.

‘Urastar’ by Spiller (Bottin remix)

On the Soundcloud description it indicates that Bottin will be putting the Italo in this Urastar song. It would definitely fit the whispery-yet-strong vocals of Nina Miranda. That change-up that happens at 1:42, when Bottin puts in a bit more punch, that’s lovely. The synths are really working in this one, and the way the instruments are used in this kind of start-stop idea (as opposed to something more rolling along) and the vocals give this tune kind of a cheeky vibe. The track keeps going, never changing it up, but somehow that is alright here, at least for me. It probably takes a minute to get used to, then Bottin gives it slightly more oomph, and because of how the sound seems to nicely work together with those vocals - which in a way are kind of similar - this thing has got enough gas in the tank to ride it all out. Nice and cheeky, and if you know how to dance in that typical manner where you move your body the moment the song hits the note, then this is one you can showcase your ear for music to.