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: ‘Empty Early Years And The Seed’ by Mano le Tough

It’s always good to have some of that Permanent Vacation deep house going on, and none better to get that delivered that Mano le Tough. He starts out with some dog sounds (?!) before opting for an irregular drum sound as the atmospheric, deep synth is already starting to  cover the track like a blanket. Love the horn-like, jazzy sounds that come in after the minute mark, which is roughly the moment where you’ve really gotten used to the drum rhythm. Surprisingly, there’s a really bare vocal that then enters, really vulnerable that one is. This is further enhanced by the almost angelic hymn the female vocals hum. At about the 2:45 he puts some sharp sounds in to contrast the vocals with, as if to indicate that not all is quite right in the realm in which this track plays out. There’s some droning and noise before he puts in the echoing synth and, a tad later, a bolstered version of the percussion. Then the juxtaposition again of on one hand the vocals, which are now having some echo as they take over the female vocals’ role, and the more grainy, darker sounds of the instrumentals. Lovely and haunting, this atmosphere packed track by Mano le Tough, who is readying a new album which I’m now looking forward to even more.

‘Standing Passengers’ by Chrissy

Let’s get some dancing done to an old Passengers tune, which is sampled here by Chrissy to get into a percussion groove. And surely, the start is all about the woodwork and the drums, with a steady beat under it to make sure that your body can move to something if you can’t quite keep up with the tom-toms (as in, everybody, surely). At 1:20 they slide into this bassy brassy sound with some nifty guitar work in the back, which is a nice change of pace. At the two minute mark you get some extra solo guitar in, and the warbly effects are also introduced, though in the mean time this one keeps on getting the groove out there. Just before the three minute mark we get the percussion back in there, which is a prelude to even more things entering the fold, like the horns. Which any track that pretends to be only a little bit funky should have in there. At that point we get a glimpse of all kinds of old school disco mayhem, though quickly it is turned back into a percussion fest as to not go all Sylvester on ya. Got to love the woodblock rhythm near the end, to make sure this one ends on a rhythmic note. Lovely track from the Razor-N-Tape label again.

‘The Trouble With Us’ by Marcus Marr & Chet Faker

This double header, featuring Marcus Marr and Chet Faker, doesn’t immediately go for the dancefloor. First they get the guitar in there, working together with the soulful vocals of Chet Faker. Only after that has been put in they go for the beat, only for a short while, as then the guitar and vocals combo comes back in (this time going for falsetto). After that we do get the rhythm back there again, going for that funky vibe, almost rubbing its shoulders with the R&B side of it all. Again, it is the guitar and vocals that follow next as he sings that he tries To clean up the mess, I don’t know where to start. After the first verse the beat re-enters for a moment, which then is dialled down in favor of the falsetto vocals, to then come back to get some of that funky flavour going on for the second time. It’s a fun pop romp from the lads, and it is really nice to see such a role for the guitar again, especially when combined with some of that funky style rhythm.

‘Off The Ground’ by Bit Funk feat. Shae Jacobs

Bit Funk start this one out with some sole piano, quickly moving to the vocals (interpersed with some female vocals that barely can get their way in). Soon enough the pace is upped, with some handclap sounds, some cymbals, then the drums, and the final touch is the beat and warpy synth to get it really into dancing mode. During this the vocals also do their part, delivering the lyrics ever faster to further indicate what the instruments were doing. At about 1:40 they strip the beat and drums, going for vocals and some softer percussion sounds, which are quickly helped out again by the cymbals, the fast-paced delivery of the vocals, before they get the beat back in to come back to the dancing mode. In the mean time Shae Jacobs is singing that he needs you right now to Get me off the ground, for some gig lovin’ no doubt. Hard hitting, fast paced track rubbing its shoulders with pop, especially as, at the end, they again go back to just piano and vocals to make the circle perfect and round again.

‘Whole Lotta Love’ (Luxxury Live Edit)

Lets get some of that 'Whole Lotta Love' in, as Luxxury share with us a live edit they did that starts out with the percussion, to then add a bit of that grainy rock vibe to it whilst making sure there’s all sorts of rhythm to make this a dancefloor thing. In the mean time we already hear the vocals saying that You need..., finishing that sentence as the percussion is dialled down in favor of a more clean beat that’s aided by that nice piece of guitar. Luxxury definitely makes sure they do put in that rock vibe, indicating that, make no mistake, the dancefloor and rhythm part is what is added here, not the other way around. At the 2:50 mark they dial it down again, letting the vocals and the guitar do all the work before the floor drum is added to give it some holding-on-to.  At 3:35 they go into real party mode, getting the groove going as the lads sing they want A whole lotta love (as one is prone to do). At 4:30 they shift from the chorus to some major guitar work, having the handclap sounds in the back providing the rhythm before the drums come in and they go back to the dancefloor again via some synths and the like. It’s a 7+ minute marriage between old school rock and some dancefloor fun, making this a lovely live edit to get partying to I reckon.

‘Redo’ by Adeline Michele (DJ Vas remix)

Adeline Michele’s single ‘Redo’ gets the remix treatment, and one of the people taking a stab at it is DJ Vas, who makes sure he gets the percussion in to form the main base next to the beat. Soon though you get this somewhat dark, wobbly synth sound in before the lightness of the original track enters at about the fifty second mark, having a bit of that guitar juxtaposing the DJ Vas dancefloor sounds. This is also roughly the point we start hearing the vocals for the first time, though first scattershot and not really singing anything quite yet. When the track settles into its main rhythm around 1:40 we also get the ladies in the back in to add some vocal prowess, and in the mean time DJ Vas keeps playing with the darker sounds versus the lighter ones, having one taking a backseat to the other and vice versa. At the 2:40 mark there’s a nice little shift by basically covering the main beat to get a different rhythm in there, also making it seem like it ups the pace and getting some momentum going. Something that adds to this feeling of the big mo’ is that he now uses some of the more powerful moments of Adeline Michele, getting some all-out soundbites in there. At 4:20 he slides it into another rhythm again, dialling it down a bit to slowly move towards the end. Another solid outing on the Deep and Disco label.