The Weekly Froth!

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:  ‘Possibilities’ by Flip ft. Elou Elan (C90s remix)

The C90s make sure no time is wasted in this remix, getting right into the nitty gritty of things with the beat and that percussion (cowbell?) sound that I totally like. Now, what I really love are not only the handclaps that join in, but that bass and vocals combo that they enter at about the 40 second mark. Those vocals are just ace, they’ve got a nice, full sound that complements that bassline ever so nicely. They keep adding a bit of that cowbell, and this one has got me dancing in no time. At about 1:30 there’s a little change-up, going for a chorus like approach in terms of vocals, and adding some synths in there as well to spice it all up a bit. At 2:17 they come back with another verse, this time with a bit more help from some synths, putting the bass a little bit on the backburner. The chorus sees an invite from Elou Elan, singing that there is a New dawn, filled to the brim with possibilities. And if you aren’t afraid of that, she says, extending her hand, then Come with me. Between the two choruses, she does a little “di-didi-di-te” bridge, and after that the C90s build it all up a bit again, just to make sure the last bit sees them in full party mode, also thanks to the piano they throw in there as well. Lovely track, ace vocals, and you get plenty of nice party sounds with the percussion, the bass, later on the piano, and so forth, with the ending doing a bit of that beat and cowbell so you can slide your next tune under there with ease.

‘On & On’ by This Soft Machine

Apparently everyone and their mothers helped out on this catchy, summer festival dancefloor tune by This Soft Machine. Dave Harrington, who we remember from Darkside, does some instrumentation, and the synths are courtesy of Dan Whitford of Cut Copy fame. The vocals, sultrily singing that "we’ve got it going on", are by Lorraine Nicholson. The percussion gives it this idea of dancing in the outdoors at some summer DJ party or another, though the vocals and auxiliary instruments do give it this at-night-getting-down feel. Around 2:30 you’ve got a bass synth and the vocals doing most of the work, before half a minute later the percussion and some of the other, more summery sounds come in. For the last one and a half minute or so, it kind of veers into this psych-out direction, switching the more summery and catchy vibes with a more gritty, grainy dance sound. Not too bad a debut I reckon, definitely put himself on the radar with this as far as I’m concerned.

‘Without You’ by John Talabot (Mistakes Are OK Midnight version)

Are mistakes okay at midnight? John Talabot seems to think so, and this man might know, as he sure is apt at making some stuff best suited for the wee morning hours. This, too, has this nice, midnight-in-the-city vibe to it, starting it off with primarily some percussion to get the rhythm going, with at about 1:20 putting the beat forward a bit more. There’s this lovely repetition, this looping of some lines that he always does so well, and which creates this really nice flow. But not only do these instrumental lines do that, but their pitch also creates this coherent feel, even as new instruments are being woven in and out of the track. So there’s always something new going on, whether it are auxiliary sounds that are being sidled in to add some extra atmosphere, or whether it is more a rhythm line to add another dancing possibility to the whole thing. I can’t help but feeling that some of the side sounds give it a little bit of this mysterious-feel-in-the-orient vibe, but I am fully aware that I might very well be the only one thinking that. At about 4:20 he dials down the beat and rhythm sounds a bit, leaving most of the work to be done for a little synth line, before he gets the bass sound in there again. Another welcome addition to the library of sounds that is John Talabot.

‘Saturday Love’ by Zimmer X Pallace

How about some collaboration eh? We always need good people working together. The combo here works on a little piece of house, with loads of celebratory piano in there, immediately giving it this sense of euphoria. Enter some handclaps, some high-pitched vocals, and then the beat, and the party will and can get started. It has a little bit more of that summer festival feel to it than midnight-at-the-club, so there’s no reason to not be dancing on the beaches this summer. There’s some serious momentum building going on, with them dialing down the beat sounds on multiple occassions in the short (4 min) running time to then burst the track wide open again. It’s a nice catchy piece for those pool parties with your friends and other sordid party people.

‘The Light’ by SBTRKT ft. Denai Moore (Xinobi remix)

I’m not sure I really have the need to listen to SBTRKT all times of the day, but Xinobi sure brings a smile to my face almost any time I’m listening to something from his hand. Now, Xinobi does love SBTRKT (so who am I, eh?) and tried his hand at a more clubby version for his DJ sets and for dancing at home in his pyjamas, or whatever. So here not so much the synthy catchiness of his own work, but a deeper, more beat heavy cut, though that gets contrasted by this floating flute-y sound that starts about a minute in. Then the beat is turned off, the aforementioned sound stays, and you get some of the vocals to step into the spotlight a bit. After that you already get some drums in before the actual rhythm beat takes over again. Though, not really, as they seem to be a bit further down in the mix, to make sure those vocals stay front and center. And certainly Xinobi makes sure they are not muffled by any of the other sounds. I like how he slides the beat back in at about 3:25, that’s a nice momentum builder right there, and after that you get a bit of a masterclass how you can bring a couple of extra sounds in there in an understated manner. After that you get a little bit of a freak-out bit near the end, going full-fledged party more for the final minute to end this all on a dancing note. Free download, by the way. Just saying.

‘Fooled Around’ by jackLNDN

I love the way this one starts, it’s got this soulful feel to it, especially when the vocals and the backing Ooohhh sounds come in. Then, after about half a minute, you get get the main percussion, the handclap-like sounds, and even more rhythm to keep this one moving forward, though never in a real dance club feel. After about 1:10, all those rhythms are subtracted from the track so you’ve got this lovely voice again for a minute, and then he slides all the drums&stuff back in underneath the vocals to give you the complete package. He’s definitely not married to the beats and sounds, so no marital favors as he turns them down after about half a minute again, letting some piano in for a minute to then build up to the vocals and drums combo for another go. He does this once more, so there is this continuous flow and structure, though he ramps it up slightly for the last time. The ending gives you a bit more catchy synth, taking this lovely tune to its close. It’s from his Summer Never Ends EP- Vol. 1, so if you like this, give that one a whirl.