The Weekly Froth!

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: ‘Odds Are Good’ by Anoraak

This is a track from a compilation disc curated by Eskimo Recordings revolving around the colour Orange. Just saying, in case you get that quintessential Orange-y vibe and don’t know why. I love this track. It starts with a bit of noise, but then it slides into this melancholic slow burner, throwing in so much atmosphere there with such ease. That combination of the slow beat and the synth is just lovely, and shortly after you get these detached-yet-warm vocals singing that he dreams that he falls for you. At this time there’s a quicker, lighter synth that has come in, which is the cue for the track to kind of move towards a sort of chorus with a more “band like” sound. As in, not just the beat and the synth, but as if an indie-rock band is playing the track. For the verses they move back to the slow beat and synth combo, with the vocals on top. The mixture of both is nice, and these two elements get tied together effectively by this dreamy feel, parts in thanks to the vocals as well. Just another good Anoraak tune, like they manage to do so regularly.

‘The Don’ by Michael The Lion

The always fabulous Razor ‘N Tape label comes with a Michael The Lion edits EP, giving you four tracks to do some dancing to. One of those is ‘The Don’, a take on the 1984 Magazine 60 song ‘Don Quichotte’. And if you, like me, love some of that cheesy, cheeky Italo Disco, than this will get you smiling whilst dancing (and vice versa). First you get some of that bass action going, that cheeky, Italian stallion bass for some over-the-top posturing, and Michael The Lion knows to ride that thing. If that sound doesn’t make you wish you have that kind of mustache and some weird, leathery cap on from those '80s vids, then I’m not sure what will (or if you’d want to, anyway). After about 1 1/2 minute you get some lighter sounds in there to increase the party vibe, and then you get those crazy vocals. First the male talking, asking if he can speak to Mr. Don Quichotte please, after which the girls reply "No no no no no signor", with Michael The Lion sliding in some guitar action before the girls start singing about Don Quichotte in a language I’m not fluent in (but, probably, you won’t gain much of an emotional impact from the lyrics if are. Just guessing). The rest of the track, again, still geared towards having fun on the dancefloor, and I’m a big believer in that theory (shocking and wild, I know, I know).

‘Shutters’ by Citizenn

Citizenn is inching towards releasing his debut record (out in June), and this is a nice taster off of that. It is packed with atmosphere, starting not with the beat, but with some vocals and surrounding sounds. After that some rhythm elements are brought in before moving towards the beat and a nice atmospheric synth. It is warm-yet-deep, especially when the bass comes in around the minute mark. At the 1:35 mark the beat is taken out for a brief moment, that moment introduced by one of those male “yeah’s” that you so often hear in house music. This moment, though, gets its gravitas from the female “vocals” and the kind of Eastern-sounding flute sound. After that, he picks up the pace a tad on the front side, but with the bass as its core the actual pace of the track stays grounded, with the deepness still giving it this atmosphere. And that feel of the track, deep-yet-warm, and with a hint of gravitas floating around, combined with the more exotic sounds makes it a track that is definitely intriguing me for a full album listen.

‘Words Gone’ by POPOF feat. Arno Joey (Jamie Jones remix)

I like that starting sound, this nice, deep bassy synth, that immediately sets the tone for this one. Then those vocals come in, which fit the sound in terms of production, and in the mean time the kick drum enters to get this one on the road and moving forward. After the minute mark the track doesn’t explode, instead it opts for this singular synth tone to be added, a bit later coming with a kind of fiddling piano underneath. At the 1:50 mark the starting sound gets sidelined for a moment, to give it this dancefloor feel a bit, though soon it comes back in to dictate the atmosphere. I like the variety, though I won’t lie and say that the track shines when that sound is there, so good thing that they don’t go prolonged lengths without it (aside from at the end, but you’ll just mix a new track in early, who’ll know?). It is the driving force behind the song, especially when combined with those lighter sounds that they sometimes bring in and which counterbalance the deeper sounds a bit. The track is created by Popof from Paris, who is gearing up to release an album. On remix duties there’s the always strong Jamie Jones, who again delivers here. Out on Hot Creations, a superb label.

 ‘1 2 3 4’ by Samantha Urbani

Samantha Urbani is a singer who is part of Blood Orange, with Dev Hynes at the helm. On this funky R&B tune Hynes is helping Urbani out a bit, though apparently from vocals to synths there’s a ton of Samantha herself in there as well. The track has a nice pace to it, also thanks to the bassline which keeps a nice little riff going in the background. But also the vocal delivery really puts a stamp on the track, mixing it up between verses and the chorus. At 2:12 there’s a nice instrumental intermezzo started, with plenty of nice flavours including some of that hand percussion. At 3:20 the instrumental passage is still going, but takes a turn into something a bit more darker, which is a nice switch in tone. It also is kind of fitting, as even though there’s a nice funk and dancey pace to this, it is Urbani’s punch-and-blow to cheaters, singing that “The cheater never wins”, adding that despite the “fun” (quotation marks mine, not quoting) you might be having, “The liar never knows love”. So honey, in the end, you’ll be a miserable old sod when you can’t get it up no more, and I ain’t there to love you. And how do you feel about cheaters dear viewers, post your reactions in the comments below, and don’t forget to like this video if you want to see more videos about love and other, nastier things.

 ‘Rugburn’ by Quell (Palace remix)

How about some of these party sounds? The Greek producer Quell gets it going on this one, with beats and even heftier beats from the get go (aided by Palace on remix duties). Just after the minute mark they strip the beat for a minute, giving us our first taste of the female vocals. After a quick soundbite from her, though, we immediately get back to the dancefloor vibe, with people able to jack it up on these quintessential house sounds. At about the 2:10 mark they opt for just the bass beat, with the one-line soundbites of the female vocals having being upped in frequency. The track has a few clearly identifiable elements, and they add or subtract them to keep some variety going. The clarity is it’s strength though, giving it a real clean feel for the dancefloor. At times a new element is added, sometimes to indicate a brief change of pace, but don’t expect anything too wacky for this clean-cut dance track. It’s being released on Waze & Odyssey’s label, and based on the tunes of those fella’s this track is right at home there.