Facebook Slider

The Weekly Froth! - 20160916

  • 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.

Track of the Week: ‘RockMeLoveMe’ by Tiger & Woods

I love the loopin Louie’s that are Tiger & Woods, chaining all those loops together just right to get that whole dancefloor momentum going, giving it the hypnotic movement thing one can’t sit still to. Here, too, they get it going with this kind of spacey synth sound, which they, at one point, start riding, and not letting off. Which is, really, what we’ve come to expect. Especially as, continuously, things are added and subtracted, like the piano at the two minute mark, immediately changing the feel of the track a bit as the tone of the instrument is unlike other things that are making up the track at that point. There are also some vocals, not surprisingly repeating the same words over and over, which give it a nice funky vibe. With that and the piano it does get a funk tinge, which balances the inherently more mechanical feel of the way they build the track together. The piano is, naturally, not the only instrument that does it’s thing, with a clear and distinct percussion line moving through there as well to get that extra rhythm in. Apparently they are gearing up to release a new album, which is only something I can get excited about! As you quickly come to understand by the way, it is a preview, and the hammering home of it is really the only annoying thing about the stream of this track, but all the more reason to strengthen patience and just wait for the minty freshness of a newly released LP.

 

‘Tranquillo (Melt My Heart)’ by Carly Simon (Young Pulse edit)

This one starts out pretty minimal with a steady beat and just some synths to build mood. After that, a piano riff comes in, the vocals are already apparent in the background, and then the bass arrives to give a bit of boogie to it. Add the horns, a little guitar riff, and a minute in the track has fleshed out to a nice disco edit asking you to Melt my heart (why don’t ya?). At 1:40 a short break before all the rhythm elements return with, this time, Carly Simon singing the verse. It’s a real disco kind of tune here with all the horns and other disco touches, with Young Pulse doing all them things to make it just this sweet and smooth ride. At the four minute mark he even works the instruments a bit, though he always returns to the chorus and its horns. And that’s the way we like it, really, don’t we?

 

‘Mediator’ by AlunaGeorge

AlunaGeorge starts this one out with the orchestra, before breaking with the drum and her sweet vocals arriving on top, singing that she doesn’t think This is fixable. There’s a little guitar riff in this slow burning R&B track, that adds some synths when the chorus comes in, with AlunaGeorge upping the emotions a bit. After the chorus there is a short instrumental interlude, after which she continues to lay out her role as Mediator, upping the pace in delivery slightly as she asks to let Me talk to him, let me be your friend, he’s no good to you, he don’t need your help. It has this lovely, slow old school R&B vibe, with a bit of class and a bit of sass.

‘Building A Beginning’ by Jamie Lidell

My goodness, I remember seeing Jamie Lidell just after releasing ‘Multiply’, which skyrocketed him up in the popularity rankings. Soon, the soulful singer is coming back, with this being the opening track, a sad sounding soul turn that talks about Building a beginning (with you). It’s a slow burner, with the band in the back laying down the groundwork with the drum and that little guitar that lets out a short solo every now and again. It really sounds as one of those bands in a Jazz cafe doing their ditty, a bit of rhythm, a bit of straying and improvisation, as the singer croons on top of it, with plenty of oeeh-hoo’s, improv lines, and the like. Some old fashioned craftsmanship at work here. Lidell showcases his impeccable voice again here, and the band vibe gives it a nice vibe that probably announces the sound of the album pretty clearly I reckon.

‘Remember Red’ by Chris Malinchak

I was turning on a stream of a festival this weekend, and luckily dived in there just in time to witness the set of Chris Malinchak. The comments on SoundCloud confirm what I already was thinking, huge sampling by Madonna, and who can blame anyone for going that route? But, understated. The start, too, just a bit of that rhythm, some vibe sounds are used to get that dreamy, floaty thing going, but no hard beat, no punches. And just before the minute mark, a little bass that gives you the idea you’re being seduced at some beach in the Caribbean somewhere. The track has a lovely flow to it, some enticing Ahh-ha-ha-haas in the vocal background, luring you like the sirens just offshore. Near the end we get some spoken word, telling us to remember that these are Maybe the best of times. And certainly, when listening to this, good vibes all around.

 

‘Somebody’ by Whitney Houston (Rayko Super Disco Rework)

It is always a good time to get back to that ol’ Whitney Houston powerhouse, and really, what is a better dancefloor filler than a good edit of her amazing vocal turn in ‘I Wan’t To Dance with Somebody’? Rayko, over some hand percussion, first goes for Whitney repeating the Don’t you want to dance line, after which he moves her a bit to the background in favor of the percussion and rhythm, putting the emphasis on that instead of just throwing Houston’s vocal prowess out there. This change in balance gives it a refreshing feel, as the vocals don’t overpower the track, you are still steered by the rhythm percussion that Rayko provides in there (along with some of those synths), but it is still very much clearly THAT Whitney song which basically means you just have to dance (coppers will come out and arrest you for not doing it, ya know?). Rayko also chooses for the repetition in the vocals, picking up mostly the same words to repeat, and all other lines then Don’t you want to dance seem even more de-emphasized. Fun edit by a real master of it, with as source material just one of those darling things.

 

Read more...

The Weekly Froth - October #2

  • 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.

Track of the week: ‘Big Foot’ by Ilya Santana (Rayko remix)

These two people together can only be good news. Ilya Santana knows how to put the Space in Space Disco, and Rayko sure as hell knows how to put in the latter. So what you get is a nice drum rhythm, and when the synths come in after about forty seconds you get the space vibe no doubt. At 1:10 you get that fist-in-the-air-bump moment when there’s another rhythm element added to give it a nice little boost, and about half a minute later you get some extra synths to add some extra space to the atmosphere. What I love is that Rayko just builds to those change-ups. The music, very naturally, lets your brain know when he’s going to alter the song, so you get that sweet anticipation. At the three minute mark, that’s just a stretch that I just love. You have the drums, the more rhythmic synths, but also the atmospheric synths to make sure there’s plenty of that vibe in there. It certainly is plenty danceable, and it manages to be both catchy as well as hypnotic. I must say, this instrumental track actually kind of exceeded my expectations, no small feat considering these guys are really up there in my mind.

 

‘Vicious Love’ by Midnight Magic

Midnight Magic is about to release an EP, and this is the title track off of that. This one starts nice and boogie, with the deep bass being contrasted by the horns that come in. The diva vocals are certainly present again, including a bit of echo to give them even more of a range. It really starts out as a lovely slow jam, just dreamy and sad enough for the star crossed lovers with darts in their eyes. She sings that she can’t conceal it anymore, as after all, love is vicious, though it certainly is time to take a chance. It certainly is a track with a narrative and lots of vocals, and for me that’s never a bad thing, especially as there is enough variety in them between the chorus and the verses. In the mean time, the instrumentals are keeping it slow jam disco, with the bass there, but also plenty of auxiliary sounds to set the mood as the drums and bass set the pace. At about 3:50 they put in the big guns with the horns, which get some lovely play to end the track.

‘Desire’ by Years & Years

Years & Years are really working towards an ace debut. They’re touring with Sam Smith, but more importantly they’ve released two killer singles already with ‘Real’ and ‘Take Shelter’, which are really top notch. This is perhaps their most overt attempt to pop out, with the other two leaning perhaps more heavily on the R&B side of things. This one seems slightly more up-tempo, especially the quick rhythm part that comes at the start of the chorus, that screams big pop track maybe a bit too much. Still, like the other two, it’s got some great vocals (not to mention multiple vocal layers on top of each other), some interesting drums, and it still has a high catchiness factor. No, I’m not as enamoured with it as with the previous two (they seem to have a bit more “air” and “space” in them, if you know what I mean, not as foot-on-the-pedal as this one), then again, that album is still being played the first day it hits the shelves no doubt (and certainly hoping to see them live well before that). The energy and those vocals just have me hooked, what can I say?

 

‘Supernatural’ by AlunaGeorge

AlunaGeorge certainly made some waves last year with their album, and based on this track I would say deservedly so. I love the whole rhythm behind the track, it’s so darn catchy and it’s got such a good pace on it. I also love the different layers, they complement each other nicely, with the rhythm in the back, and then the sparser dum---dum----dum in front of it. The female vocals slide the song nicely into the chorus, where the pace picks up and where she sings that it is all so supernatural, and her more soulful vocals contrast nicely with the altered male vocals, which are made to sound more mechanical. It’s a lovely, catchy slice of electro pop, the kind that actually makes me curious about what a whole album would sound like.

‘Down From The Rafters’ by Hundred Waters (The Field remix)

I’ve seen The Field live a couple of times, so it’s no surprise to me what’s coming next. You’ll get plenty of chilled out atmosphere, with a real hypnotic backbone that keeps the track in place and that will keep you entranced whilst doing some of that eyes-to-the-floor shuffling. There are enough subtle changes to keep this from becoming monotone, from little additions to the percussion to changes in the atmospherical synths that certainly paint the landscape you’re meandering in within your mind. The looping of certain elements, he does that so effectively, especially with that higher percussion sound, which is amazing, and then those haunting synths that keep floating over the beat throughout the whole song. Certainly, if you allow it to do so, this is one that will take you by the hand and lead you to this alternate world somewhere.

 

‘Don’t Wanna Dance’ Deep & Disco rework

If something is named ‘Don’t Wanna Dance’, and behind that you see that it’s reworked by Deep & Disco, you can be pretty sure that they’re gonna make you, no matter what. The build-up is splendid, from the funky guitar to the drums to the bass they slide in after about forty seconds: that’s how to get the catchy wanna-move-vibe in there. After about a minute you get a little break, but slowly you hear the track come back in, and the horns announce the return to full volume. Later in the track you get these lovely ol’ school vocals, asking you how you’re gonna do it if you really don’t want to dance. I love that moment at 3:26, when those soulful vocals come through full throttle announcing his advice with an “I say people” yelp. The cherry on the cake is when the song slides into the familiar “get down on it” sequence, which is just this fabulous moment where the dancefloor will either recognize the reference or will recognize the fact that it is just a killa’ moment to keep dancing to. Again, just a lovely, funky, catchy rework with the right amount of attitude to pull it all off.

 

 

Read more...
Subscribe to this RSS feed