Facebook Slider

The Weekly Froth! - 20160527

  • Published in Columns

 

The Weekly Froth! A weekly take on six tracks (five this week), 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: ‘Save Their Souls’ by Bohannon (Poolside edit)

Poolside start this edit with a slow moving beat and some higher pitched percussion to keep the balance right. After that, some lovely, deep atmospheric sounds to get that feel right on in there. Especially that horn-like sound that blows in from way underneath is lovely. Then, at the minute mark, the vocals, almost chanting Save their souls. After that the track moves into the groove, anchored by a nice little guitar riff, and it brings that funk with them. The way those vocals are used, and that being balanced by those deep rhythm and atmospheric sounds; it gets the hypnotic beat of the African jungle right in there. And then, the Jazzy horns, giving it that NY slant. It’s really a tremendous track this one, the '70s done right I reckon, and put out there so that we, too, can do some grooving to Mr. Bohannon himself.

 

 ‘It’s The Being In Love’ by Michael Jackson (Late Nite Tuff Guy edit)

I actually just got this one on vinyl, a release from the Midnight Riot label (though the edit itself isn’t that new I believe). As we have come to expect from LNTG he brings the smooth disco edit, first giving you the beat, and then the synths and the chopped up vocals, which break out of the loop at exactly the one minute mark to say that it Is the being in love. LNTG does use the whole loop thing with this one, and after the first part is over he slides in a second part that comes from underneath to then take over with the It’s the falling in love that’s making me hot (You go for it, you!), then diving into a similar loop with a little guitar riff, the beat and drums, and the vocals doing part of the sentence before bookending it with a complete lyric. Around the three minute mark he breaks out of the loop, with the new vocals appearing on the scene and doing a whole verse worth of that sexy. Then, in unison, double layers of vocals, and then back to it with, this time around, the horns as well. It’s just another lovely, smooth, clean edit by LNTG, exactly the way I like them (hence, the vinyl acquisition ya know).

 

‘Firecracker’ by Todd Terje & The Olsens (radio edit)

Todd Terje is at it again, upping the pace and the weirdness with this firecracker (…) of a tune, definitely going all out in terms of those sounds that are not overused by any other artists. Which makes it a peculiar sounding one indeed. He doesn’t throw every convention overboard though, giving us some nice bass action at 1:20 for instance. There’s always a groove underneath the oriental to make sure to keep it at least as grounded as he wants it to be, which is just enough for those who actually want to dance to it in any case. Love some of the switches, those are nice, and there is a fun-ness and a tempo to the track that will get anyone out of their sleep-induced days at the midnight club. Though to say I’ll be listening to this track on repeat, it might be too far out for that button right there.

 

‘I Feel Numb’ by Classixx feat. A. Frankel

Classixx team up with A. Frankel from Holy Ghost! to get the dancefloor going with some throwback synth-pop. A steady drumline is given, when the vocals come in for the first time a bass is added in the background, and next to that there is plenty of synth action until the actual singing starts. The upbeat demeanour, apparently, belies trouble, as he will Take you by the arm, saying you need to slow down, as he feels numb. Again, the vocals without the synths, which then get added later in the verse. The chorus sees a padded vocal line, some backing vocals, and a little rhythm synth chugging along. Just before the three minute mark the bass and beat are dropped in favor of just the vocals, and obviously the boys then slowly build it back up for the dancers on the dancefloor. And all them all get a lovely slice of catchy synth-pop to do some dancing to, including the instrumental outro where we even get some cowbell to do that little shimmy to.

‘Not Coming Down’ by Cleopold

I love how, from the get go, the slow pace is created, and then (equally from the get go) the soulful vocals come in. And those vocals are up, front, and center, especially during the verses. The chorus sees a bit more punch from the instrumentals, especially the bass and percussion, and it even includes backing vocals. From that point on the pace is slightly upped, giving it a bit more of a pop feel, with the bass providing some funk & rhythm. Before the two minute mark the track comes down (…) a bit, with just the vocals. Slowly Cleopold adds some percussion, and obviously a short while later the catchy starts again. It’s a track from their debut EP, called Altitude & Oxygen, so if you fancy this soulful-yet-poppy turn, be sure to have a listen to that one.

Read more...

Radio Birdman, The Dome, Tufnell Park, London

  • Published in Live

It’s not often that you get the chance to see rock and roll legends playing a venue as small as the Tufnell Park Dome. As such, the announcement that the London leg of the 2015 Radio Birdman tour would be stopping here wasn’t something I was going to miss despite the pre-ordained result of a Wednesday morning hangover and a warm Tuesday night found me sitting on the tube clutching a cold beer on the way to north London. For once my timekeeping is on point enough to catch the opener, a high octane blast of punk rock 'n' roll from the brilliantly named Michael Jackson. A four piece with a sound easily big enough to fill the room (the crowd was yet to fill out that much), their no frills garage sound is clearly underpinned by a strong musical ability.

Johnny Throttle are another 2000s era band bringing a revival sound to the fore, but while Michael Jackson were clearly weaned on a diet of The Stooges these guys have looked closer to home for inspiration – a set of '70s style punk rock contains both hits and misses, but with some undeniably catchy hooks. I can’t quite tell if the singer’s Mick Jagger meets Bez approach is tongue in cheek, but I’ve smoked too much to be worried by this too much and, with hindsight, can only assume that it is.

With the headliners soon to hit the stage, the room is busier but by no means filled up – a sign of how underrated the Australian proto-punks have always been. Looking at the crowd confirms that I’m one of the younger people in the room, while an attempted crew round up before the gig had been met with blank looks and questions of ‘Who?’ It clearly doesn’t affect the band themselves who, despite the questions surrounding the non-inclusion of original guitarist Chris Masuak, launch into their set with supreme confidence. They power through a good chunk of both Radios Appear and Living Eyes in a lengthy show which ably showcases their surf/garage/rock 'n' roll sound. Songs like ‘Murder City Nights’ and ‘Do The Pop’ are as vital sounding as they must have been in 1977, while ‘Breaks My Heart’ and ‘Hand Of Law’ highlight how well the current line up works together. ‘Man With Golden Helmet’, a Doors-influenced slice of psychedelia which I have always had a tendency to skip when wanting some hype to go skateboarding or for a night out, sounds incredible in a live environment with a fuzz of South London chronic still intruding at the edges of my consciousness. It shows the band’s range and songwriting maturity, a natural talent which made even the fastest race to the finish stand out. Talking of which, the classic ‘New Race’ sounds just as good as it ever has. This was a killer show, those who don’t know should go educate themselves on the band and hope they get the chance to catch them again!

Read more...
Subscribe to this RSS feed