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:  ‘Montgomery Clift’ by Ajello feat. Jyoti

This one starts lovely with that beat and those drums, that gets the shoulders swinging no doubt. Then you get this lovely synth sound in there, and you’re in party mode from the get go. Leave that to the Italians of Ajello, who know how to do this. After the minute mark you get both the bass in as well as the vocals, courtesy of Jyoti, though the synths keep the pace up as well. Add some light percussion in there too, and you know you can get freaky with this. After some more rhythmic delivery, at 2:10 the actual singing starts, giving it some nice diva disco element as well, singing that she thinks that she’s Done it again. It’s got this nice Italian-dance-it-better feel, with a bit of that attitude and fun. At about 3:20 you have basically this percussion-shoot-out with some bass groove thrown in there, with later a guitar coming up as well. And so they just throw it all in there like a big bowl of Jambalaya for that festive, colour-popping party feel. But they also know when to change the pace a bit, like they do at about 4:20, half a minute later coming back with primarily drums and percussion. It’s just this crazy mixture of all these things that somehow come together and that somehow all add to the party. Now, Montgomery Clift, for those not in the know, is one of those Hollywood actors who changed the face of masculinity around the James Dean era. Like James Dean he was method, like James Dean he was good friends with Elizabeth Taylor, and like James Dean he slept with men. Unlike Dean, he actually survived his car crash. And, just to return to the track, those whispery vocals in the seventh minute add just that little bit of cheekiness to it to round it all off.

‘So Good’ by Tuxedo (Dimitri In Paris remix)

I love me some Dimitri In Paris. The guy knows how to get the disco and funk in, and his edits are always build around dancing and fun. This one has got some soulful vocals by Mayer Hawthorne, who is one part of Tuxedo. The more hipperdy-hop vocals  are by Jack One, which give you some of that slick '90s feel. They sing that it all Feels so good to me, it’s where I want to be. The track is perhaps a bit less full-on disco than you’d normally encounter in a Dimitri in Paris set, veering more to the catchy pop side of the spectrum. Let me put it this way, it’s one of those things that I feel I’d could be hearing on primetime radio alongside all those major artists doing that funk-dance-pop thing in the past years. Also helped by the vocals, which are less 70s and more a nu/90sR&B hybrid. This track is enormously easy on the ear, and has got this sitting-at-the-beach-with-a-boombox-in-summer characteristic to it.

‘In Films’ by Chromatics

Chromatics are one of those bands that I just adore. All these tracks just have so much atmosphere, and an atmosphere that I tremendously love at that. This one has a nice, throbbing beat that keeps the pace up on this one (as much as it gets up on a Chromatics album), and of course you have these dreamy, lovelorn vocals that come in on top of it. Naturally, there are the synths that are so key to the Chromatics’ sound, and here some synth sounds also double as a vocals substitute (as in, when she stops singing, those synths come in). These have a nice, euphoric feel to them, kind of contrasting the voice a bit. Next to those, obviously, you’ve got the rhythm synths that double track the drums. This really sounds like a lead single to me. Because of the pace, the catchiness it kind of has, and the euphoric chorus synth that Johnny Jewel uses. New album coming, and everyone in the world’s stoked about that (at least, the part that knows of this band’s existence). Also, the following two things: A) Free download, and B) lyrics posted in the info section on SoundCloud.

‘Mouth’ by Ghost Culture (Shan & Gerd Janson club mix)

Let’s jack it up with this one, immediately starting out with those house sounds for those midnight-clubbin’-freaks. You’ve got the beat, the bass synth, and a lighter synth sound as the core sounds, on top of which the vocals come in after the one minute mark. The vocals are rhythmic and talky, providing even more structure to dance to. I love the beat on this one, and how it just kind of spurs the track at those moments where the vocals stop for a minute. The vocals sound a bit absent-minded, which lend a nice vibe to this track. I’m always a pretty big fan of Gerd Janson and his house sounds, and here, again, he shows along with Shan that he knows how to get that house sound in the club. It’s a four minute clip, but definitely something I’d be dancing to when played in it’s entirety in the discotheque.

‘X’ by TB (Italo Deviance Disco Version)

The start has quite the kick in it, and when the vocals come in you immediately hear this kind of space-like feel. Not long after you get the bass to go with the space, and this track is starting to warm up, building and building some momentum with those core sounds. After about 1:30 you get a bit of a rest, with the space sounds and vocals taking over, but at the 1:50 mark they come back with a vengeance, this time fronted by some punk-like vocal delivery as the beat returns. The narrative is about voices from outer space I do believe, and it gets this kind of '70s feel meets the Berlin underground clubs. Lots of black make-up and strobes, that’s what I’m seeing here. Naturally, this Italo Deviance Disco Version knows how to use a beat to get some dancing done, and that nifty bass (just listen around 4:30 for a good example of that) helps out a bit as well.

‘The Seed’ by The Revenge

The Revenge starts this one with a man saying “Here we go”, then applause, and in the mean time the beat and drums are moving it forward, though the real house sounds come in at about 35 seconds with that typical bass jack-it-up sound. There’s a certain deepness in the beat as well, which gets juxtaposed by some of the almost jazzy ditty lines that you can hear in the background to keep this one from becoming just a mechanical club thing. Just after the two minute mark you get a synth sound that slowly starts moving to the front, arriving there around 2:20 to become a major player in this one. Halfway through you get a voice saying “here we go”, though that is about the only vocal thing that is happening in this track. The Revenge almost always delivers a quality piece, and this one is another one of those with a nice, deep house sound with a few change-ups and a few auxiliary sounds in there that all make it worth your while.

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:  ‘Thinking About You’ by TCTS feat. Leo Kalyan

Lets jack it up with this one, as it immediately comes out of the gates full throttle with it’s dancing shoes on. Fast paced beat, nice synth riff, extra percussion, and quite the vocals from Leo Kalyan who says that oh my, she certainly got the best of him. In the mean time TCTS is working that thing, keeping the beat going and making sure that extra synths and percussion either add to the rhythm or the sense of pace. Kalyan, in the mean time, narrates his tale of woe, saying that You hit me like a hurricane. I love the rhythm in this one, it is so dancey and catchy, and he adds the synth at the exact right time to get some oomph going. That 2:40 backtrack moment is some nice little trickery (though I could’ve done without, to be honest) that then allows for the illusion of pace when all the main elements come back in. TCTS throws in some piano as well, and this is just one of those vocal house tracks that just does it for me. If you know my column, I’m a vocal house kind of guy, and this is right up my alley.

‘Gone Fishing’ by Roisin Murphy

How about some Roisin Murphy, eh? She is back, and will be releasing her new album Hairless Toys later this year. This track doesn’t see her in all smooth and belt-out pop mode, far from it. Actually, am I the only one thinking it a bit Bjork-y? With those more experimental percussion and auxiliary sounds, but also the way she uses her voice, way more whispery than I’ve ever heard before. And then, at about 1:30, she goes a pitch higher, and that’s just so beautiful right there. Murphy herself has said this song was inspired by the indeed quite inspiring documentary Paris Is Burning, which tells the story about the ballroom/vogue scene in NY in the '80s. “So beautifully dressed”, Murphy sings, after which she says “My mother’s mistake / my father’s heartbreak”. The tune itself is not so much inspired by the music these boys were vogueing to though, mind you. Murphy said the song is more of a Broadway soundtrack to that documentary, which I can kind of see, though a wicked Broadway show that would be. It’s more out there, I reckon, than just about anything on her Overpowered album, so it will be intriguing to see what kind of listen her Hairless Toys is going to become.

Edit Service 52 by Marvin & Guy

I’m A Cliche is back again with the next in their Edit Service, which is all free for you to download. This time it’s Marvin & Guy’s turn to set the dancefloor alight, and they come with a nice bassy synth sound to keep this track rolling, throwing a dash of funk on top of it all. About a minute in you get the kind of robotic vocals, and the auxiliary sounds take a turn for the futuristic as well. Which is, I think, in nice contrast with that distorted bass sound with that funky feel in it. There is an element of fun here, in the sound, in the vocals, in the mixing of all these different things, so as you’re grooving on the dancefloor (it is a slow burner, this one) you might find yourself with a little smile on your face as well. Something like that sequence from 3:25 though, that’s just brilliant, the way they use that bass sound, the added padding in terms of the percussion, and then the auxiliary sounds followed by the vocals: that build-up and flow is pretty awesome. A slice of fun for the boogie on the dancefloor, in Italian, no less.

‘Pleasure Principle’ by Janet Jackson (Classixx Recovery mix)

Now, you know you want to be dancing to Janet Jackson, don’t you? And she comes in at the eighteen second mark practically by her lonesome, just aided by some percussion and, later, some aerial synth sound. But at about 50 second in you already hear a bit of the funky synthesizer that’s going to give you that 80s dancefloor filler vibe, though the main dance element is the beat that comes in after the minute mark. Classixx make sure that it’s Janet’s show, with her vocals front and center in this one. The beat is a soft thud, there enough to dance to, but not enough to distract or take over in a danceclub anthem kind of way. A little bit later that synth gets a bit more prominent a role, but even that is subdued into this summer beach party kind of feel. It’s more a slice of soft synth-pop (more Zoot Woman than Cut Copy even) with Janet explaining the principle of pleasure. Oh I’m sorry, you needed something more than that?

‘Just Like You’ by Chromatics

Oh Chromatics, how I love thee. I still fondly remember that Glass Candy and Chromatics gig I went to a few years back, so awesome. Here, the vibe, again, exactly right in that cinematic kind of way, and then those vocals, so dreamy and melancholic and just a tad removed. Those backing vocals at about the 50 second mark, amazing, such a nice contrast with the main vocals. Again, you’ve got that Italians-Do-It-Better synth going on with that slow drum to give it some body and something to latch on to. This tale ends with a pathetic He looks just like you / He even loves like we used to...” on repeat, which is quite heart wrenching indeed. Again, no one does this kind of atmosphere better than Johnny Jewel and his Chromatics, with those beautiful synths working to perfection, and then that lazy beat and those vocals topping it all off like cherry on the best cake ever. New album Dear Tommy is gearing up for release, and I know for a fact that people are excited for that one.

‘Like A Thief In The Night’ Night Bandit (Superprince Edit)

Yeah baby, lets get that funk going. Superprince edit this ol’ Night Bandit play-that-funky-music Eighties tune. So you’ve got a beat in the background to keep it dancefloor friendly, you’ve got the funk-a-delic sounds going on from the original, and then those female vocalists come in singing that, Like a thief in the night, you took her lovin’ (oh, behave!). I mean, this is just that funky disco that I just love to hear on the dancefloor. It’s got all those characteristic elements, it’s got quite a bit of pace to it, and it’s got those female vocals that just belong in this genre. And, of course, it’s about love and loving and love making, and that’s what you want to hear about if you’re on a night about town. Just super fun, no weirdo sequences to halt the momentum, this one just keeps rolling out all the good stuff from that era in such a way we can dance to it in the discotheque on a Saturday-night-going-on-Sunday. Have fun kiddo’s!