Weekly Column: The Froth!

Track of the week: ‘Dumb Disco Ideas’ by Holy Ghost!

Seriously though, this is epic. Has been stuck on repeat here, with that crazy clip by Ben Fries in the background. Holy Ghost! have this lovely mixture of disco fused with (synth) pop elements, which has already led to some amazing tunes (‘I Know, I Hear’ and ‘Jam for Jerry’ specifically, though that track with Michael McDonald was lovely as well). When these boys get it on, they are really awesome. This, is really awesome. Catchy, pacey, and with enough variety to get to the eight minute mark without a hitch. Moments with just drums and bass, moments with haaaa-haaaaa vocal lines, moments where the cowbell comes in: there’s enough hidden in here that will enchant you. In the middle you’ve got this total change-up as well. First you get some big drums, and after that you get this amazing new synth line after which the boys come in singing that you need to Work it off / and wait for another day. Just major tuneage from these guys, who were so kind to answer a view of our questions way back when their first album was hitting the shelves. So hit the archive for that one in wait for their sophomore record, which will come out later this year. They, by the way, also feature in that short doc about the DFA label, which I wrote a little something on a few weeks ago. So if you’re looking for even more to read, there you go.

‘Let’s Kiss’ by Mirage

One of those Italians Do It Better bands by Johnny Jewel. He’ll be touring with Chromatics and Glass Candy in the upcoming months, this is one of his other bands though. Still has got that typical vibe that label has (which makes the After Dark 2 record so cohesive. It’s a sort of sampler). The vocals are not chanteuse like, but instead it is one of those tracks with a heavily distorted male voice. It’s got this nice nighttime feel with the beat and those typical synths to go with it. That the label has such an authentic sound doesn’t mean that all these songs sound like each other though, that synth action after the “Just Like a Record Lady” chorus definitely puts its signature on this tune. I also really like the part before and after around 6:30, the pre part without the beat, which in the post part comes back again. The track is kind of out of the Romantic period, which does fit the vibe of the song. Meeting a girl, hitting it off, having to leave, with the only thing left to do is to say “I told my lady go and keep your man/ cause you ain’t never going to see me again”. If you like this track, definitely check out that After Dark 2 album, it’s jam packed with stuff like this.

‘Sum of Love’ by Jee Day

Jee Day is Dennis McNany, who has worked closely with some people we know from the DFA label. This is a track released on Beats in Space Records though, a name you might know from Tim Sweeney’s awesome radio show. ‘Sum of Love’ starts with kind of a harsh sound, but luckily that second sound that comes in is A) the most prominent one in the song, and B) pretty nifty. It does drown out the dreamy vocals though, which might be intentional as it does make them sound even more dreamy and out of reach. The vocals do seem to get more prominent though as the song goes on. Really one of those jams this that doesn’t really go up and down, but rather rolls and builds on steadily. I like the double vocals around the 3:40 mark, which is a nice touch on a track that does things subtly rather than crazily. As said, the vocals seem to get more up front with the passing of time, and near the end (supported by the secondary vocals) we actually hear them come out of their shell completely, even with some yelping. The synths by now are basically drowning the beat out, which makes the point where the synths are stripped away and where we go back to rhythm and beat only even nicer. Lovely track that subtly builds up to what it is near the end.

‘Waiting’ by Tristesse Contemporaine

I remember really liking some of Tristesse Contemporaine’s previous output, though I can’t quite recall sounding it like this. So either my memory is faulty or this is something new they’re trying. I just don’t quite remember this kind of spooky atmosphere that they’ve put in here, with the male vocals being quite deep in the verses and narrating the tale rather creepily. But maybe that is the intention, as apparently he’s waiting for Your ghost to call to come back and haunt him. So there’s that. In the choruses the vocals seem to go up a bit, which ties in with the synthesizers, which add some lighter and dreamier sounds than the beat, which is the most prominent thing in the verses. So that’s a nice juxtaposition right there. The video, as you might have figured out, is Andy Warhol eating a hamburger, which is taken from ’66 Scenes From America’. And what is more typically American than a complete icon eating a hamburger, as everyone eats those hamburgers/drinks Coca-Cola/etcetera. The song, by the way, is from theWoodwork EP, a new release by this band.

‘Spring Fever’ by The Legendary 1979 Orchestra

This one starts with primarily keys over a pretty big beat that weaves its way in and out at the start, which slightly threw me off a bit. Because that beat is so prominent, its very hard to not notice it starting and stopping. After the minute mark the beat is doubled by bongos (or another one of those percussion elements), which is really nice and kind of softens the hardness of the beat. In the mean time the keys keep going forward and you’re waiting for this thing to go off (and not just add occassional extra sounds in there). The track deliberatly builds up tension though, continuing with the start-stop rhythm of the beat even as it starts introducing the fragmented vocals. At about 3:20 you do get some strong extra sounds that could break this thing open, but even that is just used to double the on-and-off beat. Though this makes for an intriguing listen and for something different, it does kind of makes it too weird for the dancefloor. And I am the kind of guy who likes a smooth ride, so that it so often does that start/stop thing makes it kind of hard for me to really love this track.

‘If You Know Like I Know’ by Teddy Pendergrass (M&M snippet)

This is part of an edit by John Morales, who takes on the greatness of Teddy Pendergrass. Old school start here, after which he passes on the first opportunity to dive into the song or put in a beat, instead going for an organ and female vocals singing the title on repeat. After fifty seconds though, he comes in with the rhythm instruments to provide everyone with a chance to do some dancing. After you’ve put your body in action mister Pendergrass comes in with those strong vocals’ he’s got. Love that moment at 2:07, how smoothly he transitions from one instrumental sound to the next. Just after the third minute mark he puts some of the (rhythm) instruments on the backburner so that we can just enjoy the vocals for a minute, obviously bringing them back before the dancefloor crowd starts getting restless. Just a lovely edit using one of those strong voices that anyone with some interest in musical history knows.