The Weekly Froth!

Track of the week: ‘Darkest Night’ by Moullinex (Kris Menace ‘nd PWNDTIAC Remix)

Moullinex released this totally delightful album last year, which naturally included this track. Kris Menace and PWNDTIAC take the dreamy side of the vocals and add an atmosphere that matches that, in essence ditching the synth-pop and making it something more mystique. I can totally see this being performed by a woman wearing a mask and a long cape or something. They do put in a bit of drums and synths, but this one is all about the atmosphere and how attuned the sounds are to the vocals. Really nice how they’ve done this, and it is a nice complement to the original, which sounds completely different, and hence fills a different “need”. Lovely new take on it, which, despite it being a remix, takes it kind of more away from the dancefloor then that it just puts an extra beat on it to make it more club ready.

‘A Thing From Above’ by Mano Le Tough

Mano Le Tough released his album Changing Days this week, so common marketing sense has it that this should be promoted with the release of a new track. This one has an amazingly long build-up, which spans for about two minutes before a very understated beat comes in. Not the killer dancefloor tune this one, really quite minimal I would say. The vocals you probably won’t be able to understand as they are put through the vocoder, giving it that space tinge, which gets additional aid from what sounds like lasers blasting their loads (or something that sounds less icky than that). The synth gives it this aerial quality as well, and that computer sound just before the three minute mark (and just before the beat gets some extra gravitas) is yet another piece of the space puzzle. Hence, probably, that title, eh? *cue epiphany* You do need some appreciation and like for these kind of sounds, for it are those sounds that make the song, not so much a dance beat or whatever. The very last part, it’s there where it opens up a bit, which I feel is a nice and fitting way to end this song.

‘Gold’ by Bondax (Moon Boots remix)

You immediately get treated to this deep thud of a beat, and that bass sound around the forty second mark puts down the vibe, especially when it essentially gets doubled/taken over by the synthesizer, which makes it sound lighter. After about 1:20 you get the vocals, which have a kind of oddity to it that fits the song up to that point. Though the synths probably already indicated this was going to happen, I’m still slightly surprised how quick they go from that first beat to something that is about as synth-pop as you can get. And, in essence, that is the identity of the track, a synth-pop affair with, again, some space elements thrown in there. The vocals give it its peculiarity, even though even those, during the choruses, sound pop smooth and radio ready. Too pop to be quirky, and for a pop track it has just enough idiosyncrasy to it to not completely blend into the masses.

‘Love is Gonna Lift You Up’ by Mighty Mouse (Sunset Dub)

Mighty Mouse races out of the gate with this dub, which after the thirty second point opens up a bit, and after about fifty seconds you get why they put the word “Sunset” in there. It surely doesn’t have that basement club vibe, it’s a bit more beach party I would think. And to be honest, that fits it, it is fun and sounds fun. It sounds like people should have a happy time on this together as the sun is setting, especially when beams of light hit around the 2:45 mark. Then there’s just drums and light synth keys for a moment, which really make for a tropical atmosphere for a second. For the first time we hear some vocals as well, for some reason calling out “fellas” (or at least that’s what I’m hearing, but do correct me in the comment section if you hear something different). After that it goes happy and dancey again. Definitely puts the fun in it, this one does.

‘Keep Her Happy’ by Phillip Wright (Ashley Beedle Heavy Disco Edit)

Lets put some disco in here, shall we? Ashley Beedle takes on this Phillip Wright tune, and from the horns that come in around twenty seconds on you immediately know this one was one of those boogie tunes. And those vocals perfectly fit in that era and that kind of sound. You basically hear those vinyl noise in there, which is just delightful. Wright is telling that all we have to do is keep her happy, and he does so against this lovely horn section which, for me, steals the show. If you want to love, don’t mess around indeed, putting that disco theme of love firmly in there. At 3:40 we get some instrumental and, I think, remix solos in there, after which soon those horns take over again and we’re back to the original sound. Which, in my opinion, is the best thing of this tune. So if you want some of that disco loving, here is one with that golden olden sound.

‘LGB’ by OOFT!

I love these contemporary sounding disco tunes that are just so easy to slide into any set due to that beat they’ve got. You can go to old school disco to more beat driven house from here on, and either direction is always fine by me. Next to that beat you’ve got the vocals saying that If you want me, I won’t play hard to get, which is just amazing fun on the dancefloor, surely. The only downside is that personally I would love the balance to be slightly more in favour of the vocals, because then it’s just so much more audible than it is now. As it is, the vocals get slightly drowned out by the music, which I always think is kind of a shame, as it kind of strips the vocals from that extra layer they normally bring. Whatever whatever though, the tune is easily danceable, has that nice disco vibe to it, and I love that part where they bring down the action slightly around the four minute mark to just go full throttle with that beat again afterwards. I always love playing stuff like this, so definitely one I’ll keep in mind to perhaps delight the dancers with.