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: ‘To Be Free’ Tim Zawada edit

Love that on-the-low-down Chicago bass that this one starts off with, like we’re riding the inner city streets ready for whatever the night brings. Then, the jazz saxophones, which come in after a bass and percussion combo laying down the rhythm. That combination comes back, before ditching the percussion and returning to the sounds that it all started out with. Then, at 1:45, the vocals, singing that We are the one, and that, yes, We’re going far. Then, the clear singular male voice, singing We gotta get away from here, before the bass lets us flow down the river that takes us once more. This time, after the three minute mark, the bass gets the guitar and the saxophone to go along, before diving into the hazy vocals again, thinking about flying away before there’s a little growl in the male voice, insisting they’re going to spread their wings. I mean, that bass, by golly, it’s so sexy, and then with all the helping elements like the sax, guitar, percussion, and then with the vocals coming in time and again; a lovely rhythm piece to get it on to here.

‘VV Violence’ by Jessy Lanza

Jessy Lanza starts this off with some sass, saying that she May say it to your face, but it doesn’t mean a thing (just so you know, hon). She keeps up with the rhythmic vocals, singing that You don’t even talk to me, this all the while there’s some quick firing percussion going on helped out by, around the 45 second mark, a deep, bass like thing. At the minute mark the thing moves to the electro-pop side of it all, upping the tempo, going up a pitch in the vocals, and doing the thing you can dance to before dialling it back with the slow bass sound. Later in the track there is a more dance interlude, where the focus moves to rhythm and beats, though later on the vocals do make their entry again. It is a nice combination of pop, more experimental electro, and dance, giving it an edgy but catchy feel that fits the Jeremy Greenspan produced album that she put out.

‘Beau Sovereign’ by Leon Vynehall

Leon Vynehall has someone whispering in our ear about Our love, which clearly is doing something or another to this person. In the mean time the percussion and, a bit later, the actual beat come in there, kicking this deep house tune by Mr. Vynehall into gear. Then we also get the synth in, providing us with some of that house vibed goodness for the dancefloor. Apparently, our love is all that she wants, putting the sex there where it belongs (namely, in House music). At the two minute mark the synths really start to build up, making no mistake that you should be jackin’ it up on this one. There are some nifty synth shifts in there, from the old house hands to some more atmospheric sounds for the track to slow it down to. However, there are always the drum and beat for the midnight people who want to dance, giving them all plenty of opportunity to do so on this nice deep house track with some vintage elements to take us way back down the alley once more.

‘Star Tripper’ by Breakbot

That’s as close to entering space as you can get really (without risking copyright infringement, that is), with Breakbot starting this one out the way you expect Star Tours in Disney to start out (or at least, to treat you to as the waiting room music). Surely, the first minute is more about the start of a cinematic space adventure than that it is about slow burning space disco, which with the drums and rhythm sounds it veers closer to the rest of the track. And it takes until the 2:40 mark to really get the catchy in, with the bass and sans the synthesizers that basically spell out Up, up, and away. One thing cannot be denied though, that they don’t know how to put theme in their music, and when they say ‘Star Tripper’, dear me, they mean it, giving this a nice, slow space burner to do some shuffling to underneath the starts at night.

‘Keep Moving On’ by Satin Jackets feat. IsaacO

This one starts by laying down the atmosphere, with the high pitched “ooooh-hoo-ooohs” mixed with the deeper, soulful vocals announcing that They will keep moving on. Those vocals are accompanied by the piano first, before slowly but surely other sounds start to arrive. It takes a while before we get to drum sounds of this, and when they do, they are idiosyncratic as opposed to a steady beat line. It helps the head nodding on this low-paced track, giving us the heartache and the yearning through the vocals and the piano, with the drums adding to the solemness. The high pitched backing vocals keep singing the title line, as the singular drum and all the accompanying atmospheric sounds ride this one to a fitting close.

‘Starr-Let’ Dr. Packer rework (Preview)

There comes the disco and funk, courtesy of the The Brooklyn, Bronx & Queens Band, who’s track ‘Starlet’ is reworked by Dr. Packer. From the start, there’s this amazing disco tempo that just has dancefloor written all over it. There’s a nice bass in the back there, providing the rhythm along with the drums, and you’ve got a plethora of vocals. Especially in the verses the bass and the vocals are the starlets (…) of the show, and of course it is all about love and dance and taking a chance. Just one of those funky disco reworks with plenty of good vibes, and all kinds of pace to make sure the dancefloor stays packed. At about 3:20 that pace is dialled down for a moment, though you can already hear it gear up again, though that’s asking a bit much for a preview. Though, before it fades out you hear the guitar riff again, all the rhythm elements being back, so you know they will be at it even after sundown.

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: ‘Rollergirl’ by JP Source

At about the thirty second mark basically what you kind of were expecting comes in, namely this deep bass that will lead this girl down the rollertrack. A bit gritty, a bit sleazy, and abruptly stopping for a moment at about 1:10 to build up the anticipation for the moment at 1:30 when that bass comes back, having brought some friends along. And the one entering at 1:40 is most welcome of all, nicely juxtaposing the deeper rhythm sounds. The vocals, slightly in the back of the mix, do this as well, so it is no wonder these two sounds are basically relieving each other of duty throughout. The vocals are being looped like a son-of-a-gun, and behind them JP Source does a good job of weaving some of the elements in and out to give you a slice of freshness throughout the long stretch of vocal loops. That’s what is so nice about the track, he seems to be able to find the right times to add or subtract especially the bigger instruments, which you can play with a bit as the looping of the vocals provide the consistency for the song. Around the five minute mark we get some extra disco sounds, with the vocals being cut loose a little bit, and with a mini slice of horns rearing their brassy heads. It is a nice, seven minute affair for a night out.

‘World Gone Crazy’ by The Reverend Cleve Freckleton & The Sinners (Greg Wilson & Peza Club Dub)

How about some of that gospel, eh? Let’s not forget that house music and the church are quite linked together, if only because one takes place Saturday night and all of them all needed to be back in the church choir again on Sunday morning. Greg Wilson and Peza first get the bass going, providing a perfect layer for some dancing. Add to that a bit of that strumming guitar, and you’ve got the two main ingredients to support those growling vocals, singing that The world, has gone, craaaiizzyyy. Naturally, there are a host of other instruments in there as well, as well as some auxiliary sounds, for instance one that sounds like coins falling down. The main attraction of this track though is the preacher and his choir doing their thing over both the bass as well as the electric guitar, providing the right core to link the Saturday midnight to the Sunday service.

‘Beggin For Thread’ by BANKS (Aeroplane remix)

I love the lightness this one starts out with, it is a good tone to balance out the rather heavy handed beat Aeroplane throws in there. The vocals are somewhere in the middle of that, with an air of dreaminess, and helping out in the middle ground are the synth-pop like synths that come in to help her out a bit. The delivery of the vocals, too, have this nice poppy edge, and especially in the beat-less part starting at about 1:25 Aeroplane builds this up as a summer jam. The beat, obviously, comes back in, just to make sure that even the most dimwitted person in the room gets cued in that, Yes, you’re here to dance. In the mean time, the female vocals say that, surely, you should have known what you were getting yourself in to. If you don’t mind the heaviness of the beat (and I’m not a fan of that per se), then the other elements make a lovely summer tune out of this, including some cheesy synth lines to really get that vibe going.

‘Half Full’ by B-Jam vs Enos

This one starts like a stroboscope going haywire, but after about 20 seconds you get a whole batch of soul loveliness in there as if you’re eating that sweet chicken by the bucketload. That is what makes this track intriguing, on one hand the soulful smoothness in the vocals, which gets contrasted by the more contemporary backing sounds, which have this loopy, fragmented electronical feel to them. Like a deconstructed soul/old school hip hop track, which features both the classical elements of those genres, but which has been taking to town and let themselves be measured up for a new jacket. I am always intrigued, in any kind of art form, by that combo, and in a sense most of the edits in this column are that in a mild version. Something like this widens the chasm between the two parts, which makes the classic sounds pop out more, really singling out those characteristics that causes us to listen to these things in the first place.

‘Take A Chance’ by Moullinex (Satin Jackets remix)

This one starts with a bit of percussion, the bass is quickly added, and then you get some of those synths and that bit of guitar as well, all culminating into this slow, lazy, summer jam kind of vibe. The summer is definitely put in by the percussion, and that guitar and those synths just give you that lazy, staring-over-the-water-while-the-sun-is-shining kind of feel. The vocals help out a bit with that as well, by the way. Just before the two minute mark you get this lovely little bass to do some shoulder and/or hip action to. The aforementioned vocals are nice and high, having a certain lightness to them which make them very easy on the ear as they are asking Won’t you take a chance? Love how Satin Jackets slides that guitar back in at about 3:50, and then have most of what’s around it stripped away to really get this on-the-beach-with-guitar vibe out there. Super sweet and easy on the ear remix of a track on Moullinex’s new album Elsewhere.

‘No Sleeep’ by Janet Jackson

Pop diva Janet Jackson is back, this time with the sultry ‘No Sleeep’. She starts by singing that you are missing her, and that she is missing you. And that when you guys finally meet, there’ll surely be little sleeping going on (you go for it, honey!). Despite the scene just illustrated, this is, like I said, more a low key, sultry affair instead of a power pop sex track. It has a nice R&B vibe, and they glossed it over with a bit of class, making it one of those old school love songs. Including a dash of organ, a subtle bass line, and a nice little kick drum to keep it moving forward a bit. Definitely a welcome return from la Jackson, and returns can always be soooo terrible, but this one surely isn’t that.