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: ‘Peace’ by Kenton Slash Demon (Lone remix)

I like how this one starts with that deep synth riff, that then gets juxtaposed by the higher pitched pianos. Then, at 25 seconds, the beat, the bass sound that reminds me of something but I don’t know what (do tell in the comments if you do have it) giving it a bit of that funky, R&B feel. I love how that slower bass gets mixed with, alternately, the piano and the beat, the latter giving it a bit more punch. At 2:20 Lone almost goes full piano for a moment, before the beat comes in to help that out, moving a bit more to the dance side of it. At the three minute mark that bass comes back in to give it some attitude, which it does crazily effective. The mixture of these elements, and also knowing when to put them on, when to turn them down, and when to slow down the pace entirely, is what makes this track so good and great to listen to. After slowing it down the bass comes back one more time, before clearly working it down to a close at the five minute mark.

‘Since You’ve Gone’ by Loframes feat. Anoraak

Loframes start this one with rhythmic vocals, under which melancholic tones emerge. At the 18 second mark we get the drum and a little guitar riff, as the male voice sings that the doesn’t know How to feel at times, as, apparently, someone has left. Slowly a more rhythmic undercurrent is put in (as the original drum sound didn’t have that particular function), as the vocals go from higher pitched to a bit deeper voiced. At the 1:48 mark there are some catchy synths as the track builds towards a moment where they pick up the pace, in the mean time the singer sings that he wants to close his eyes. It’s a lovely track, catchy in the right places, a nice build-up, but also a tad melancholic, not forgetting the emotion already alluded to by the title. Loframes get a bit of help from Anoraak, who I rate highly always, so that’s a sign of quality right there.

 ‘Come Back Lover’ by Fresh Band (Alkalino rework)

Alkalino takes on the Fresh Band, and it is clear where Alkalino is heading from the twenty second mark on, putting that frenetic guitar riff in on top of that steady dancefloor beat. More percussion at the fifty second mark, so that there’s really no mistaken that, yes, this is for the dancefloor, with Alkalino keeping the pace up on this '80s tune. Just after the 1:30 mark we get a nifty bassline in there as well, giving you more to do that boogie to. This is balanced by the horns, first rearing their heads around the two minute mark or so. Three minutes in they go a bit piano on us as well, letting that celebrate some freedom, and thirty seconds later the vocals come in for the first time. And they are singing, nay, pleading, Come back, lover, come back. The vocals, at all times, keep that distant feel, with the instruments remaining the center of attention. Only late, after the six minute mark, we hear a more forceful, less edited vocal sing Come on baby, in a more urgent manner than before. In the mean time the bass keeps rolling, the drum keeps hitting, and the piano/horns/guitar keep providing us with all that goodness to have that dancefloor boogie going on.

‘Set Fire To Me’ by Willie Colon (SanFranDisko mix)

SanFranDisko immediately pumps this up, indicating dance dance dance from the get go. The pace is real high, getting a bit juxtaposed by the synth sound that comes at about 50 seconds in. At 1:10, the vocals for the first time, with at 1:20 Willie Colon entering the verse as he sings that You’re the one for me, take control of me. The percussion and the rhythm of the vocal give it a Caribbean slant for me. And the trumpet at 2:45 as well, which is real fun, because you don’t quite hear that kind of horn sound very often in there. In the mean time the vocals keep imploring to set fire on them as, at 3:35, the piano comes in, which then slides into a bit of funky rhythm with the bass and the percussion. SanFranDisko deliver again on a funky remix that, through its original, gives it a particular slant to get on the noise, get on the funk.

 ‘Chemical Love’ by Animal Feelings feat. Nomi Ruiz

Animal Feelings recently released an album, with this cut being a slowed down electronical track with a steady, low-paced beat on top of which the keys provide the feel for this song. Which is helped by the dreamy, wispy vocals of Nomi Ruiz, which at the minute mark get a moment sans the beat and with some backing vocals as she sings she Can’t resist it. Then Animal Feelings pick it up again, giving both a steady groundwork for Ruiz as well as some additional help with the synths in terms of evoking the right feel. At 2:20, again, the beat gets tuned out, with just the vocals and piano doing some work as, first, the synth is added to Ruiz’ vocals before everything else is added again. At the end, as Ruiz has clocked out, the drum gets a tad more forceful, though the piano balances it out again. A nice, dreamy track, helped in part by the Ruiz vocal turn.

‘Heads’ by Bob James (George Kelly mix)

George Kelly starts with the percussion and a bass underneath, before diving into the beat a little while later. At the 35 second mark we get some higher pitched sounds in, and at about the 50 second mark we get into funkier territory right there and then. He establishes a nice groove, mixing all the parts smoothly, giving you this understated disco vibe to be dancing to (look at, for example, the change-up happening at around 1:55). He throws in some solo piano to boot, giving you something to marvel at as well. By switching and tuning in and out all these sounds Kelly crafts a smooth disco ride from this 70s Bob James track, going all instrumental on us for us to sway a bit in the discotheque.

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: ‘Raised In The Ghetto’ by George Kelly

Like in the ghetto this one starts with no punches pulled (…) before sliding into the funky bass after fifteen seconds or so. Then a build-up, culminating into the beat pushing through and getting things rolling along with that slappin’-of-that-bass. At 1:20, the vocals, strong and female and singing that she was Born and raised in the ghetto, accounting for the feisty performance. Helping her out are the girls in the back, doing a dang-de-dang-de-dang little vocal line, up-tempo and making sure the attitude doesn’t drop when the leading lady isn’t doing her thing. In the mean time, the drums are still pounding, the bass still sounding, so the rhythm keeps it up and beyond for this one. A track off George Kelly’s The Big McGee EP, which was released last month. And if this track is anything to go by, well worth the pick up.

‘Find Our Love’ by Boney vs. London Fields ft. Joel Edwards

Joel Edwards starts this one jazzy, but after a full stop the beat comes in and you’ve got some of those dancing sounds to indicate this is festival fare. To contrast those, you get a bit of percussion, bit of sounds that make sure it veers quickly away from the everyday mundane. After another full stop you soon get some vocals, slick and smooth, singing that If you lose your way, we can run away, we can find our love. After that, some slick synths add the atmosphere, the piano adds a bit of funk, and you’ve got the beat and the deep synth for the rhythm. Second time the vocals come in, this time we know them, so no worries about keeping the rhythm part running underneath. A minute later that one still gets a moments of rest, with just the piano for a little while, and a low, soft beat running way in the back to make sure there’s some sort of backbone there. Then, everything including the vocals come back, still assuring us that, no matter what, We can find our love. Hopeful or delusional, anyone’s guess really, but that’s truth for quite a few emotional decisions in life I suppose.

‘Juicy Lucy’ by Loz Goddard (Razor-N-Tape Reserve)

From  Manchester we get a slice of disco by the hands of Loz Goddard. The label, Razor-N-Tape, is always a safe, reliable bet, and this is no different. Starts lovely, with some of those classic dancing sounds, and after the minute mark you get this strange, wobbly sound on top of the regular disco music that always manages to get people dance. There’s a reasonably firm beat in there (on occasion a tad irregular just to make sure you’re not getting too comfortably there), someone humming, some piano, horns, and the whole works. At times, like around 2:40, you have a little change-up in terms of pace, though there’s a full stop at about 3:10, where it’s just the wobbly sound and the piano sans any form of rhythm. Slowly Goddard starts to build that up though, with various new percussion sounds coming in. This first leads to a bit of nifty drumming at about 3:50, after which the rhythm come back in to ride it back out. It is this nice mixture of old school backdrop on the one hand, and some curveballs on the other, culminating in a nice piece of action from the Razor-N-Tape people again.

‘Neverwood (It’s Okay)’ by Slow Hands

I love the dreamy, almost fairytale start, with the uplifting, airy synth sounds, and with the soft hand percussion in there as well. The real rhythm starts at about 35 seconds, forming the canvas to not only that synth, but also the piano that runs through it. After that, a galloping rhythm changes that part up slightly, riding us towards the vocals, which are put smack in the middle of the mix and not on top of it. So it’s still very much the rhythm and the atmospheric synths that provide the main feel of the track. I love the bassline in there, giving it this nice bouncy feel. That is done really well, it gives you enough rhythm, but doesn’t punch you in the face with it, keeping it fairly breezy, putting plenty of air in the track, doing wonders for the feel they’re trying to give it. There are some moments in there where they change it up a little bit, though the main feel and most of the sounds run through it fairly consistently. It has this breezy nature that I just love, which is very well done I find.

‘Crime Cutz’ by Holy Ghost! (Eli Escobar remix)

Eli Escobar takes on the fairly recently revealed Holy Ghost! tune ‘Crime Cutz’, looking to turn it into a little dancefloor stomper. And from the get go, it is more geared towards a consistent dance vibe than the original was, with the multiple synth sounds working the room nicely over the main drum & beat sounds. At the 1:45 mark we get the vocals, high-pitched and echoing, leading us to a new synth line. Those layers, they are pretty awesome, and Eli Escobar makes sure there is also plenty of that rhythm-n-percussion in there for the dancefloor people. He dials those elements down around 2:40 though, with the chorus-like vocal turn accompanied by one synth turning into another, after which the drum sounds come back in again to provide you with that dancing line right there. I like the contrast between the higher pitched vocals and the deeper drum sounds, which Escobar highlights around 3:30 for a while. He then rides the percussion before going for a sparse beat, one synth, and the vocals repeating the same line until they don’t, which also is the cue for some new instruments to come in again. It really takes the lovely stuff from the original and channels it into a dancefloor tune, with plenty of variety and deft synth work to love it some more.

‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ by Roman Rauch

Apparently an edit he did a few years ago, revisited it, and now he has uploaded it again. He starts it out contrasting a deeper wobbly sound with a high-pitched original sound, then going for a deep beat on top of which the vocals sing the oh-so familiar story of love having left the premises, as it literally doesn’t live here anymore. Love the strings at 1:30, actually don’t remember them being so pronounced in the original, very nice touch there. In the mean time the deep beat, along with some other rhythm elements on occasion, chugs along slowly, with a percussion sound arriving at 2:30 as the vocals rear their heads again, repeating the core of the song, namely that You abandoned me, love don’t live here anymore. The more this one nears the end, the more the vocals come in, which isn’t a bad thing, with at 4:30 THAT moment where she breaks out a bit. It’s such a classic tune, and this is a nice re-touch, leaving the real emotions to the end, and giving some emphasis to the strings as the beat makes it trod along slow-yet-assuredly.