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: ‘Free (From Social Narcotics)’ by VinylAddicted and Sleazy McQueen

VinylAddicted and Sleazy McQueen get the rhythm moving, first arriving with some all too familiar beats and drums, and then throwing in a deliriously delicious bass sound that will get the house a rockin’. The piano enters the fray too, giving you the light next to all the rhythm sounds. At the 1:50 mark we hear a male voice say Free, which is also the cue to go back to the bass and drum sounds that were running the campaign earlier. Then, more vocals, dialling down the volume on all the other sounds so they can be loudly heard exclaiming that, yessir, the most dangerous narcotics are the Social narcotics. In the mean time, this tune is moving like a motherflipper, giving you a lovely smooth rhythm base to keep you riding that horsey. The talking male vocals are a nice counterweight, adding a bit of gritty, a bit of an edge. I’d throw this in a set any time, really, such a smooth ride with plenty of momentum in there to have everyone gobbling it all up for the entire meal.

 ‘Fever’ by Roosevelt

Roosevelt gets the summery synths out, before moving to the steady beat a few minutes in. After that, even more summery synths, giving you that festival vibe. All those good vibrations are shared by the percussion sounds. Roosevelt takes it down just before the minute mark, as he puts the vocals in, giving it this more dreamy air. Funnily enough, the chorus is all about the instrumentals, and not even so much about Roosevelt singing Bring back the fever again. But it’s the uptick in pace and festive tones that really leave an imprint on it all. The song clocks in a little over the four minute mark, giving you a lovely slice of pop for the beach festivals this summer, even giving you a bit of that guitar at the end.

‘Sly’ by Polographia feat. Winston Surfshirt

I love that gentle guitar riff that comes in right at the start, at the same moment the band introduces the drum kick in the back. It’s got a bit of that dream gazer feel to it, though at the minute mark they give it a little bit of an oomph. The vocals remind me a bit of MGMT, singing that they want To funk. Some of the instrumentals give it a slight exotic vibe, whilst the bass and beat keep the song on the straight and narrow. When they dial it down they focus on the vocals, with some beach-y synth sounds in the back. I like the laidback feel of the track, all the while making sure the rhythm doesn’t let up or gets too loose. Naturally, you could’ve known that, if a track features someone called Surfshirt, you’re going to get that Dude kind of vibe going on, on a little bed of rhythm.

‘Don’t Play Games’ by Nite-Funk

I, personally, had loads of fun at the Dam-Funk gig at the Primavera Sound festival this year, and that Nite Jewel record is none too shabby either (definitely have a listen to that one if you haven’t yet). This track, though, goes a bit darker, a bit choppier, and a bit more night-time-in-the-back-alley, turning slightly away from their Soul, House, Synth-Pop type bands to a more dark R&B heavy turn. Especially thanks to the aggressive feel of the drums, contrasting nicely the more soft-spoken vocals by Nite Jewel, whose delivery follows the drum, rubbing some of its aggressiveness off on it. In the mean time there are some synths in the background, giving it a slight spacey feel, though it’s primarily the bass that is doing the works back there. I love the spunk that this track has, and it shows that sometimes when people come together they can really come up with stuff different from their own works.

‘Heavy Danse' by Tom Of Brooklyn

I love how it first gets the percussion going, and then the rhythm, giving you that African flavor with the drums. Then the female vocals come in, singing that they Like it, with the bass then providing some extra rhythm for good measure. Around the minute mark they dial that part down just a tad, just to come back with a little more oomph. Next to all the rhythm elements the percussion plays a big part in the feel of the track as well, not only there to guide the dancers’ motions. At one point other female vocals come in, singing the ooh-hoo-hooo lines even sans the rhythm, though quickly a deeper base drum enters the scene, after a little while accompanied by the whole percussion works. It’s a hypnotic rhythm tune, giving you all the percussion you can handle next to the core dance base that it keeps on handing you as well.

‘People On The High Line’ by New Order (LNTG Can’t Get Any Higher remix)

New Order’s people called Late Nite Tuff Guy asking if he could do a remix of ‘People On The High Line’, the new single by the iconic band. It takes LNTG about sixteen seconds to get the main beat in, adding the bass at about the half minute mark. This combines with the lighter percussion sounds, that are there from the get go and get more and more company from deeper rhythm sounds as time goes by. At about the minute mark we hear the vocals for the first time, courtesy of Elly Jackson of La Roux fame. At 1:40 LNTG ticks the track more to his signature sound, and at the two minute mark he goes for that festive dance feel that he always does so well. At 2:40 we go a bit piano house, letting the keys do most of the work on top of a minimal beat, with the deeper sounds (including the bass) coming back shortly after to accompany that piano sound (that will be ditched moments later). Like LNTG is prone to do, it’s super smooth, with a lovely rhythm, and if I have one minor thingamajig, then it’s the addition of the male vocals. I mean, I know it’s New Order, but this track would’ve been served better with just Elly’s vocals in my opinion. Other then that, lovely jam to do some dancing to for sure.

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: ‘Gold Rush’ by Miguel Campbell feat. Benjamin Diamond

This one gets the '80s R&B and club vibe going with that beat, the moanin’ and groanin’, and the synthesizer action. When the vocals come in the song really gets smooth, super catchy with the beat and the bass sound. So this one really makes sure to get it on. The vocals sing that they are In trouble, for, apparently, they’ve got a Crush again. At for example the 2:20 mark Miguel Campbell removes the percussion, getting piano and vocal performances only, after which the funky beat comes in again. Benjamin Diamond sings that It’s such a rush, really feeling the loving there I reckon. Late in the track you also hear a little bit of a riff in there, not up front, but just underneath the smooth top layers to just get a bit of that guitar action in. It’s a super smooth and catchy ride, and part of the new Miguel Campbell album that will be released, well, today I suppose.

‘By Your Side’ by NTEIBINT feat.

This one starts with some percussion, but soon the lush synths come in. At about the 25 second mark it settles down with a slower tempo beat, the synths slightly more to the background, and the detached vocals that become more rhythmic at what I assume is the chorus. They sing they’re Holding on, just for tonight. The combo between the rhythmic delivery and the percussion is pretty sweet, and the way it’s all mixed gives a nice hazy vibe. At certain moments NTEIBINT puts a break in, like at about 2:50, after which he first builds it up with vocals and synths before adding the actual percussion (though there is a slow, far away beat to be found in those moments as well). At about 3:30 the percussion, rhythm vocals, and nifty bassline return for a bit of that R&B vibe of rubbin’ and luvin’. A nice mellow groover to get sweet with your lover to.

‘Uptown Celebration’ by P-SOL

Gil Scott-Heron is one of those guys that always inspires people to do something, and here P-Sol take on some of his music to make a celebratory groover. The bassline works together with the percussion to lay down the ground layer, with the high pitched synths making sure that there’s some pace here and that the track, in tone, indeed has a somewhat celebratory feel to it. At about the 1:35 mark we get some nice, quick firing percussion there as well, with still the deep bass tones in to keep the balance right. When they’re  finally there they ride that sound for a while, until they strip most sounds and give the vocals a moment there. Slowly but surely the reinforcements come in, and when we hear the high synth sound we know the beat and bass aren’t too far away to get back to the main groove of this track. This is one side of a 2-part double-header by P-Sol doing the Gil Scott-Heron thing, which was released late last month.

‘The Lady In My Life’ by Alan Mooney

Alan Mooney puts on the breaks with this slow burner of a song. The bass sound is nice and lazy, and slowly more sounds attach themselves to that huffin’ and puffin’ train that is moving over the mountains of Switzerland at a benign pace. In the mean time there is percussion, there are vocals, and there are some other auxiliary sounds as well, though the big beat comes in at 1:35. And it gives time, but time doesn’t go fast around here. At about the 2:20 mark Mooney gets that beat out of there, though another percussion elements soon comes in to make sure that it does keep trotting forward until the beat comes back at about 3:10. In the mean time the vocals are chopped up, giving us one line at a time, with those lines being repeated and coming back seemingly randomly. It is especially the yearn of the female voice that stays with us. At about the five minute mark Mooney plays around a bit with the guitar, and when the vocals come in a bit louder that is the cue for the beat to start rearing its head again. A super sweet super slow burner, that is all about the vibe.

‘Love Will Keep Us Together’ by Captain & Tennille (Sleazy McQueen edit)

Sleazy McQueen leaves no moment untouched to get the percussion and beat in to turn this old Captain & Tennillle track into something for the club. At the thirty second mark we, for the first time, hear a semblance of vocals to go along with the guitar and, some seconds later, the bass. McQueen has, for the first minute, really deconstructed this one. But after the minute mark we get the bass, the piano, and also the vocals that we know so well. Singing, obviously, that Love, love will keep us together (until it’s going to tear us apart again, but that’s a story for another day). McQueen kind of mixes and matches the bass and the piano with the vocals, making sure it sounds nothing like the original, but still has all those characteristic elements of said song. Add to that a bucketload of auxiliary sounds and some extra percussion, and you’ve got a fun romp significantly removed to not be a smack-on-a-beat-and-there-it-is edit. And still with enough of the vocals, which is perhaps always the thing people can cling most to, and which is welcome if only to deliver the message that, Yes, love keeps us together. Add to that a bass that, especially in the second part of the track, grooves it forward, and you’ve got a nice and quirky little edit of a super classic track that, if not done right, always has the danger of cliche lurking there.

 ‘Love Is The Answer’ by Bob Sinclar & Dimitri From Paris feat. Byron Stingily (Club edit)

Lets get those funky drums rolling, along with a nice, steady beat. Soon enough though the piano and horns come in to turn those disco vibes on, with after the thirty second point it having all the marks of one of those fun, soulful funky tunes with all them all singing that Love is the answer. At the minute mark the main vocalist gets his turn, singing his stuff on top of the bass and drum combo as he sings that he Comes to one conclusion, which is the cue for the choir to come in to sing that, yes, Love is the answer (and don’t ya forget it!). In the mean time the lads make sure the pace is kept high, and the morale too, with the good vibes running all over on this dancefloor certainty. It’s just got all the hallmarks for that, with the rhythm delivering at breakneck speed, with the soulful vocals, and all the disco goodness with the horns and piano. There is the big stop at the 3:45 point, with first just the vocals, then a bit of guitar to mix with the piano, and then there’s a drum and piano combo where the piano is allowed to strut its stuff, first rhythmically, and then as a solo when the bass takes over the rhythm. After that, the horns, and the vocals, and we’re banging it all out again. Just one of those edits that can light up a club with its feel good demeanour and the pace to pull it all off.