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.

This seems to be a good moment to look back at some of the tracks that, at the start of 2015, rocked the Casbah.

Track of the Week: ‘Shelter Me’ by Sade (Late Nite Tuff Guy remix)

Sure, this was posted late December last year, but around the Holidays, so 2014 was about all but shut down by that time, eh? So I think we can still count this one for 2015, and anyway, do I really need reasons to post a super nice, super lush edit of a classic Sade track? Late Nite Tuff Guy knows what to do with it, keeping it soft and smooth, with a bit of percussion to help the tender beat out, but it are the synth sounds that lay down the mood of this one. And something like at 1:55, the transition to the bass, that’s lovely. Then some more percussion again, and soon, those impeccable vocals come in, with LNTG knowing that these are the star and giving them plenty of room. They say that they could see it in Your restless eyes, the truth that she was hiding and you could not disguise. LNTG knows when to add the piano in, appearing at all the right moments, as she is coming to the understanding that she needs A miracle to make you stay. A slow groover with exactly the right pace, mood, and amount of heartbreak. And when she yearningly says she wishes that You could shelter me, and LNTG brings in the horns, that’s the ball game folks.

‘The Man Inside Me’ by Thodoris Triantafillou feat. Nomi Ruiz

This track by Thodoris Triantafillou combines a strong back beat, atmospheric sounds, and the ever longing vocals of Nomi Ruiz. After the first batch of vocals you get a nifty synth sound, and when Ruiz goes to a higher pitch we see Triantafillou follow suit with sounds to match that. At one point the vocals get doubled near the end, providing even extra punch as she sings she is Left alone to fight another storm, not being sure why she still loves you. The track is off of an album that came out in January of this year, and it manages to superbly marry those vocals and melancholic lyrics with sounds that both keep this one moving forward, but also add to the feel of the track. Lovely song from the Greek and the former singer of Hercules and Love Affair.

‘Jolene’ by Dolly Parton (Todd Terje remix)

The thing the world was waiting for probably. One of the more gut wrenching country tracks of mainstay Dolly Parton gets the makeover treatment by the disco king Todd Terje to produce a lovely dancefloor killer. Everyone can now finally dance to the country guitar and the desperate vocals of Parton as she sings, nay, pleads, Jolene, please don’t take my man (and only just because you can, girl! What the heck!). The percussion underneath provides the dance rhythm, and the guitar is the thing that gives it both its vibe, its recognisable sound, and it helps along with the pacing as well. At the 2:30 mark the drums make way for a minute as, for the first time, the vocals come in, after which a happy, slappy bass starts to run along with the track. The combination is just magical, with Parton crooning that He talks about you in his sleep, whilst in the mean time the track keeping the dancing going.

‘Just Give Me Joy’ by Elvin Tibideaux

Way at the start of the year one of my favorite House labels, Let’s Play House, released this doozy by Elvin Tibideaux, who lets the bass get it on and who keeps the pace nice and high. After the minute mark we get a little guitar strumming as well in the background as, in the mean time, the speed is still up and away. At the 1:50 mark there’s a bit of room for a breather, but you know that, soon enough, it is going to come back in its full glory. One of those dancefloor speed freaks with deceptive depth with all the sounds that help out underneath the surface. And, you know, the bass, you gotta slap it people, and that certainly is what Tibideaux does here. Before the 3:30 mark it again takes it down a notch, but after that, Oh glory, there come the vocals! And the guitar is a bit more up front. The vocals are screaming it out, yelling that she needs You!, saying a minute later that she gets what she wants (and If I don’t get it, I don’t want it! You tell them girl). In the mean time the bass keeps this one rolling, only taking it down a minute when she insists that you Stay right there. LPH definitely a label you want to keep an eye on if you love this kind of thing (and who doesn’t, really, now).

‘Be Love’ by Natty Fensie (The Supermen Lovers remix)

In March The Supermen Lovers posted their edit of Natty Fensie’s ‘Be Love’, giving it the cheeky dancefloor treatment. It just has this lovely Lets have fun vibe written all over its face, with a lovely pace gotten through a variety of percussion and bass in most stretches, and in some there’s a little piano and guitar going on. Natty Fensie, in the mean time, is telling you to Give it, and the Supermen Lovers do, at 3:20 by going all out on the synth for example, with the bass providing the boogie underneath. It’s just a lovely fun romp, with enough pace to get down and flirty to on the dancefloor. And, at the end, even giving you a little surprise with some of that cosmic jivin’ guitar as it slows it down for its final minute or so.

‘All U Writers’ by !!!

!!! released an amazingly fun dance album with loads of catchy tunes to get all your dancing moves out, and this bass heavy little number they released at the very start of April, already laying down the groundwork for what was to come. The vocals turn deep at first, but then go up a notch as also the female vocals come in. The bass, meanwhile, is still doing all that ridin’, with some guitar strumming getting in there for good measure. And, at about 2:45, it is that guitar that gets a bit of working room before the bass comes back in to claim its domain and to get all the dancers dancing again. First, though, some vocals, some working up to the inevitable fall, and then, at 3:40, there it is, for all y’all to get that boogie on again. Nice and deep in terms of sound, yet surprisingly upbeat and fun in terms of feel, just one slice of the joy !!! brought with their latest LP outing.

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: ‘Grace’ by Bob Moses

Love the deep bass sound this one starts off with. This duo is signed to Domino Records, so that is nothing to sneeze at, really. After that deep bass sound you get some percussion in there to round out the rhythm part of it all, and then the synth comes in for the atmospherics. That synth lays the groundwork for the vocals, which are pretty deep and melancholic in the verses, and then get a bit of a boost with some less deep sounds in the chorus as he sings “why would you want to say I’m not the one you need”. By this time it kind of veers into more of a song than purely one for the dancefloor, though they make sure that (if they would play this live) you can still get some dancing done, even in the chorus. I do really like the melancholic feel to this one, which gets reinforced by that deep bass. They put plenty of other things in (like some guitar for instance) to not overload you with that deepness, especially during the choruses. Definitely a sound to watch.

‘Meet Me In The House Of Love’ by Cut Copy (Nile Delta remix)

Finally saw these lads live again when they played Primavera, and these boys sure know how to throw a party. Cut Copy have been veering more to the dancefloor, house side with their latest release, and these are all out dancey affairs. Nile Delta takes away some of the straightforward dance smoothness of the original, and throws in some extra sounds for the people in the club rather than at the gig. A transition to a percussion bit around 1:20, those moments are pretty nice additions (though I would be lying if I said I am equally enamoured with some other transitions in there). At 2:10 Nile Delta bring the track down a bit, strip the beat and go for just some synths. Then they build it up, both in terms of volume and by adding some percussion, after which they slide in a deeper rhythm sound and some vocals to start dancing to again. At this point they almost go a bit psychedelic with it, as said, taking some of the straightforward synth-house stuff off of the original. Definitely more instrument focussed this one.

‘I Never Thought I’d See The Day’ by Sade (L-Vis 1990 Sunrise Edit)

Everyone who had a working brain in the 1980s must know Sade, if only from that ‘Smooth Operator’ track. L-Vis 1990 takes a song from a later '80s album of theirs, the tragic ‘Never Thought I’d See The Day’, where she sings about a love that has gone. I love the bass that is working underneath it all, which gives it a bit of a deepness for the vocals and the synths to work over. Add some nice percussion and additional sounds, and you’ve got a nice complement going on there for the vocals. And blimey, Sade, she’s just got one of those voices, hasn’t she? Just one of those ones that sticks, and L-Vis 1990 isn’t throwing things on top of those vocals to make their presence felt. They know better than that, luckily. So the voice is still there in full force, you get some nice 80s piano in there, and then you also have the atmospheric synths, the deeper bass, and the bits of percussion to all add a little something something to it all. Add that easy listening sax on top of that (and as long as the percussion underneath keeps the track moving forward like it does after the three minute mark, then that sax is a good one to have in there), and you just have this lovely, low paced edit with the voice still as the centrepiece of it all.

‘Love Magnetic’ by Moullinex

I really like the guys from Moullinex, flying a bit under the radar I always think. They just make fun, synth-pop tunes with a dancey bend, and this one is no different. There’s a clear drum in there, but obviously the synths are really giving this one its boost and flavour. The vocals are singing that they can’t quite get this feeling out of their head, and whilst the drums are kicking on, the different synth sounds do quite a bit of the work here. From about the two minute mark there’s this big build up with the vocals continuously repeating the same line as the synth sound gets bigger and bigger, after which obviously this one goes back into full dancing-pop mode again. They constantly change up those synths, keeping the track fresh and fun enough to enjoy. If they’re playing this live, surely, the entire room should be dancing, no?

‘Whistle Time’ by Ooft!

Just the start alone makes me happy, with those cheerful party sounds and that guitar! After about twenty seconds not only are you happy, you can start dancing as well, with the bass sound, the cymbals, the beat, and the whole rhythm shebang you expect in a dancing tune. I am hoping for a return of those fresh sounds at the start, and slowly I already hear a bit of that vibe coming through the deeper dancing sounds again. At the two minute mark you get a nice change up for a minute, with the lighter piano that returns on occassion. At 2:45, that lighter piano gets a bit of help, shedding some more lightness in the deeper, darker base sounds of the track. The latter sounds get stripped away completely for a moment before, obviously, returning to get the whole club dancing again. It’s just a lovely dancing tune with plenty going for it, especially that contrast with the deep base sounds and the lighter auxiliary sounds, that really keeps the track alive for me. Wouldn’t even have minded for the track to go even lighter and more into disco mode, but the handclap sounds near the end are good enough for me.

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‘Nite After Nite’ by Music Go Music

This one starts really ominous with those wall of synths, after which almost everything gets stripped and there’s just vocals for a moment. Then the track slides into dancey pop territory, with a dash of '70s but also a dash of pop&disco to keep all kinds of people happy and moving their feet. I love those moments where they turn the pace up a notch, those moments are the ones that make me happy. Obviously, in order to be able to do that, you also need some downcast moments, and those work nicely too. The vocals are lovely, and the drum and the guitar keep things relatively on the down low but still give the track enough vibe to bridge the gap to the more up-tempo moments. They’ll be coming with a new album this year I believe, and if you like this '70s tinged dancing-in-the-forest-at-this-summer-festival kind of vibe, these guys are so your thing probably.