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.

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: ‘Playground’ by Starving Yet Full

Starving Yet Full was one of the two vocalists with the house unit Azari & III, which unfortunately has ceased to be. SYF is not done housing though, and he’s readying a solo album which, from the sounds of it, will include at least one out-and-out house cut. So you’ve got the cymbals, the beat, the bass, all those rhythm elements you need to get jacking too old school. SYF has a lovely voice, which is plenty of soulful and which balances the deeper rhythmic elements. Around the 2:30 mark there’s a break where they lose the rhythm sounds and let the synth play out a bit, a sound he continues even when the beat and all that gets back in. In the mean time SYF is singing that gravity “brings him right down”, so I’m assuming it isn’t all going smooth and easy for the narrator. At about the four minute mark he throws in a slightly deeper beat to really get into underground dance mode, and truly this is the kind of house track I love to hear in the club. It’s got a deepness to it, it’s easy to dance to, and the vocals on there are great. What’s more to want, really?

‘Mighty Bloody Real’ Joey Negro’s special dub mix

Joey Negro always knows what to do with disco, and here he takes the classic high energy track ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’ by the symbol of the gay disco movement Sylvester, and he makes it into a dub. As in, from the start, this one gets its high energy restrained a bit by the beat and the other percussion elements, which provide you with the dancing opportunity, as opposed to the original. That original bass sound comes in at about 45 seconds though, with the high synths shortly following as well. It’s definitely not an unrecognizable affair, though especially the percussion causes this one to still sound plenty of different (and how that bass is used as well). Probably, whatever you are going to do with this one, it’s going to set disco dancefloors alight (unless you really botch it up, that is), it’s just that kind of a track, really. Leave it in the hands of a master like Joey Negro, and it’s dancing until you drop. The more original elements come in, the more high energy it starts to feel, though he always returns to the bass and the percussion to keep this thing grounded just a tad. In the mean time we are halfway, and it still is primarily that bass and those very recognizable sounds of the original that we hear, and we’ve yet to be treated to those trademark vocals, which he is saving up probably. And yessir, at 4:30, there they are, to just provide that dancefloor with that extra punch of recognition. The original is one of those tracks which is just going to make any disco dancefloor happy in whichever form it is presented to them, and this one is a good addition to that whole bag of Sylvester sounds and edits.

‘Ain’t No Way’ by Opal (Horse Meat Disco edit)

The new Horse Meat Disco compilation is out (Volume IV y’all!), and that’s the best that queer disco has to offer. And yes, maybe disco is a bit gay by default, though the “gayness” part of it sure gets amplified with the lads from Horse Meat Disco behind the decks. So you’ve got all that sass and camp that you want to play it all up, and this is another example of that. It already starts with just vocals, with Brenda Watts yelling out that you need to get “your hands off of my man” as there is “no way I’m gonna give you up”. Add that disco bass in there, those trademark disco sounds, and you’re off rolling. Those vocals are so lovely 45” disco single, they’ve just got that whole old school '70s vibe in them. So you’ve got the bass to dance to, the synth to keep it all sounding light and fresh, and then the lads change it up after the two minute mark. They dial down everything except the vocals, and after that they get some deeper, faster synths in to ramp up the pace and the dancing a bit, and they throw in a bit of guitar for good measure. So they show they can even keep the crowd dancing and the disco vibe up without the vocals (and they also show they can play a bit with pace and slide into different disco modes in one track, which with a running time of 8+ minutes is a huge plus). Obviously the vocals come back for another go around, as you just need the girl telling these skanks to keep away from her man, whilst also telling her boy that there’s no way he’s going anywhere. Those boys just really know how to put the fun back on the dancefloor.

‘Be Brave, Clench Fists’ by Leon Vynehall

To start this one off you get some percussion sounds, though from underneath all that you already get some deep moodiness, which is quickly balanced out by a higher pitched sound. It definitely goes for mood at the start, with this slow piano coming in just before the minute mark. And, just before the beat, which starts to play at about one minute in and which cranks the pace up a bit. That beat is definitely in the realm of deep house, and that beat is not the thing that makes this one special (though it is necessary to keep this one moving forward, and we’ve all learned from Woody Allen that has to happen otherwise the thing dies). It’s definitely not an all out party track this one, as what makes you want to listen to this are the atmospheric elements that keep on appearing right on top of the beat. So it’s all about mood and doing a little dance with your eyes closed, though when the second rhythm element comes in to bolster that beat a bit there’s definitely a tick upwards in the danceability department. I really like the vibe and richness of this one, definitely one I’d be happy to be listening to on my headphones as well. That very very last part I could’ve done without, I have to admit.

‘Girls on Film’ by Duran Duran (Luxxury edit)

Luxxury prides themselves in the write-up that in this edit they’ve almost exclusively used bits from the original multitrack stems, though listening to the original you can already spot a few immediate problems for the disco/house dancefloor (and the cowbell like percussion isn’t one of them, obviously). So, first thing to do is slow the fucker down, and Luxxury does that right from the start, with the percussion and drums leading the way and keeping things more danceable and rhythmic than the original ever was. Still plenty of Duran Duran 80s vibes there though, with that guitar still in there, and the overall synth new wave vibe pretty much represented. With that, this edit revolves around the bass sound most of all probably, which for a dancefloor edit is the thing to do really. Maybe I would say at times it’s a bit too crowded with all kinds of sounds thrown in there, but with the bass doing its thing and with plenty of Duran Duran still blasting out of the speakers, it’s an enjoyable entree in a series of edits from these boys.

‘Sensify Me’ by Zimmer feat. KLP

I like how this starts, especially with the finger snapping in there. Lovely vibe they throw out there, and plenty of room for the female vocals to set the tone. After the beginnings you do get the bass in, though it stays a relatively low paced affair. In the mean time there’s plenty of richness going on in the background, from atmospheric synths to what seem like bongo’s to a more poppy synth line. The rhythmic layer is there with the bass, and on top of it all are the vocals. These two instruments get plenty of room, and then what gives this track its own flavour and its tone are all the things that happen in between those two main elements. It is tagged on Soundcloud as “horizontal disco” and “slow house”, and I’m not even sure what that means, though it’s definitely got slices of synth and pop in there as well, and a bit of sensuality with the way those vocals deliver the lines.