Weekly Column - The Froth

Track of the week: ‘All Ya Gotta Do’ by John Camp feat. Mr. Reed

I just love how embedded pop culture is in, well, I guess everyone’s brain really. Because my mind immediately launched into this Sheryl Crow song that, lyrically, doesn’t even match (you know the one!). So go figure. Obviously, this is not that song (not even an edit of it!), but this is a rather housey affair by Mr. Camps. Starts with a nice bassline there, which is always lovely, especially accompanied by that handclap-like sound. After about 45 seconds it first, for a moment, comes with a beat, and then a soft and warm synth sound is layered over that. After a good 1 1/2 minutes Mr. Reed comes in with some lovely soulful vocals that say that all you got to do is undress, if I’m hearing that correctly. And no one minds, obviously, as long as we have a say in who exactly does the undressing. A little wall of synth is build up going to the three minute mark, and build further with some nice two-finger synth line that continues in an expanded and more advanced version as the rhythm section returns again. It’s a warm sounding track this, which is a feeling aided by the soulful vocals of Mr. Reed, though it are especially just the sounds that make it feel so. His debut solo release this, well worth supporting I reckon.

‘Nightdriving’ by Saint Petersburg Disco Spin Club (JKriv remix)

Starts with some percussion and some piano to kick it off. Kind of seems like that beat shouldn’t really be there though. Seems to be kind of in the way of the cymbals, synth, and piano action that is being used to build it all up. The beat is infused with some power after the minute mark, making the whole thing go a bit deeper into the house spectre. Talking about spectres (...), the vocals seem rather ghostly the way they are used here. However, even with the empowered beat and the flashes of haunted vocals thrown in there, it still is all keys this track for me. That really is the main element of it all. It is also the main constant, even when there is this twenty-second span in the middle where the deeper beat is stripped for a moment of lightness. For the remainder of the song JKriv will switch between the two, which gives it a bit of variety, and it is a nice way to juxtapose the two sounds. Next to the variety, this track has a steady deep beat, and some nice piano, even though on a few occassions I feel that the beat isn’t always mixed in well with some of the other elements, making it sound a bit uneven in spots for me.

‘When A Fire Starts to Burn’ by Disclosure

This thing starts with ATTITUDE! And it brings it home. Complete in your face start with those street sounding vocals, which are immediately backed up by a punchy and jumpy beat. To keep it all structured and to give those vocals and that punchiness a backbone it has this rather deep beat running in the background, which is helped out by some equally deep sounding synths. So on one hand its got elements of deep house to do some beat searching to, while in the mean time you also have this in yr face party element basically, which will please all the flatcap wearing people no doubt. I like the marriage though, and it’s always nice to have something with pezaz in there. A festival pleaser this, no doubt in my mind about that.

‘Barbarians’ by Escort

Is it wrong for me to like tracks that start with just vocals? There’s something about that I think that just barrels right into the room. I was rather disappointed by Escort when I saw them live a couple of years back as, aside from a fun rendition of ‘Ms Broadway’, it was a very safe live show. Which baffles me even more when hearing this funky lil’ number. The verses are really funky and all, and when the chorus comes they roll out some extra vocals and put in some African percussion to beef it all up. I like the part just after the second minute where they work to a nice high, followed by those drums and extra vocals doing the chorus again. If you like some contemporary funk, this is for you. It’s got the bass, the guitar lines, the horns, and the fun factor, which makes you wanna have a dance on the dancefloor and just cut loose. Restoration of faith, this, even though I still would have loved a bit more edge I guess. Maybe I’ve been watching the boys of Azari & III too much in recent years or something.

‘Dr. Crunch’ by KMFH

Kyle Hall goes full throttle with this one, no doubt about that (which suddenly makes me wonder if KMFH is Kyle Motherfuckin’ Hall, as in an exclamation like "KMFH is in the house, bitches!"). Really came bursting through my headset this, almost made me want to reach for the volume button despite me having listened to everything else at this sound level. This is one of those banging thingies that is made really for the dancefloor when all the people are in and ready to do that military march thing. There’s this one main beat in there which is just omnipresent. Loads of sounds, but that one just really keeps banging that. Nice little glitch action at about 2:30 as he just keeps the pace up, taking no prisoners. Really something for a sweaty club this, when the party has been going on already and the people are getting down. They though, as certainly I did, might pause for a moment when Hall gets a bit fancy after the three minute mark, suddenly changing the feel of the sound completely for a couple of seconds, doing that two or three times. Not sure this is home listening for me, but if you want to get something for that 3 AM slot when the people are already going at it full throttle, this is definitely one you could go too. Especially with that protruding beat he’s got in there right in the middle of that sound.

‘Under the Sun’ by Andew Clarke (Cyclist Gospel remix)

The star of this track is definitely not that generic beat that opens this thing. Luckily, there is Aretha Franklin to pick the whole thing up again, dragging this thing forward up to when the actual song starts. And suddenly, that awful beat from the start is forgiven and forgotten. Sounds really summery this, really uplifting. Not just Aretha, but the actual track as well. Just these light sounds that work to euphoria, rather than to some sort of underground club vibe. Aretha weaves in and out of the track, which by now is really about the piano accompanying that strong voice. He’s got a good knack for when to push the pace with a new instrument or sound, helping that feeling of momentum building. At 3:47 Cyclist gives it all to Aretha’s voice for a little moment, putting a slight deep beat under a church session to ride this one out. Could’ve done without the beats at the start and end (though the organ and church session I like), but the rest of that track is stellar indeed.