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: ‘Higher Lovin’ by Rocco Raimundo feat. Stee Downes

No sign of a beat at the start, though after fifteen seconds we get some percussion in to get the rhythm going. At the thirty second mark we get both beat and bass, though the piano and all sorts of auxiliary sounds make sure to keep this one grounded. Stee Downes then comes in with the vocals, and I do always love that voice. It has this nice mix of rhythm and soul, singing about Higher Lovin’’ over lush instrumentals, definitely going for the love side of the House dancefloor instead of the lust. Just before the third minute mark they dial it down a bit, then the first batch of instrumentals comes back in, after which the rhythm side of it all returns. As said, the feel is that of hoping for love whilst doing a little dance, with a nice bassline that, combined with the fairly light set of instrumentals Rocco Raimundo uses, sets the tone and feel for this one. Apparently one of the remixes that is being done for this one is by Yam Who?, who are also quality as well, so not a shabby package to be had here, I reckon.

‘Big Black Coat’ by Junior Boys

A while ago Junior Boys released a cover, indicating that the synth-pop band was doing a Rip van Winkle and returning to the fray. The rhythm of this one indicates that they are not just returning where they’ve left off, putting on an almost dub-like beat and a dark, brooding atmosphere to go with the light vocals. Even those vocals have a sense of desperation to them, underscored by the jittery synth and the more deeper sounds. Just before the three minute mark they do get in some catchy club vibes though, and at the 3:40 mark the atmospheric synth is accompanied by a proper beat. More synth layers are added as the narration is put on the backburner for a while, as the pace and the franticness is dialled up and up, with the last four minutes definitely giving people a chance to dance a bit, even if the overlying feel is one of dark and deep minds more than of festivities. It is as if the almost romantic, yearning-for-love feel that an album like Begone Dull Care had has been experienced and turned bitter, leaving the question out there that if love is not the answer, what is? A question that might throw any mind into a frenzy every now and then. The lads are also going to be touring Europe in 2016, so loads to look forward to I reckon.

‘Darkstar’ by Morgan Geist

Morgan Geist is back making music under his own name, veering from the emotive house music of Storm Queen to a more tech heavy dance approach with ‘Darkstar’, part of a new EP called Megaprojects One. Geist always knows how to add some flavor even to a more minimal beat and percussion combo, like with the sound that comes in around the minute mark. From there on he keeps building, a floating synth, extra percussion, and just after the two minute mark he takes on the actual beat sound as well, adding some oomph to it. Thirty seconds later he slides that sound into a new feel altogether, and he mixes it up so nicely. At some points there’s the more minimal tech approach, which he then infuses with some extra sounds for more warmth and feel.  In the mean time, obviously, he makes sure that everything aids (definitely not detracts) from the dancefloor experience, putting this in the Berlin clubs after midnight. Just look at that bass note he puts in there in the last minute, for instance. Small touches like that, eh? Geist is one of those experienced guys out there knowing how to deliver, showing that with this one yet again.

‘Loud Places’ by Jamie XX (Mike Simonetti’s Dark Places Remix)

Obviously mister Jamie XX is a popular brand nowadays, and add to that the vocals of Romy and you already have a combo that will especially appease the popular dance public. Add Mike Simonetti though, and you get a boy like me excited as well. Simonetti is one of those guys of the Italians Do It Better label, doing everything from moody instrumentals to Whitney Houston edits. I love how that beat is in the mix, it  just takes care of that momentum. Add to that the juxtaposition of the almost military step percussion and Romy’s dreamy vocals, and you’ve got an ace first part of the track. After a short moment of just Romy’s vocals, Simonetti dives into the darker realms of the dance scene, keeping the percussion, but adding some of those deep, wobbly sounds in there to keep it all well below surface levels. Dark places indeed, Mr. Simonetti. So here, definitely, his qualities on the moody side of the spectrum come to the fore. Free download, by the way, for those not minding sliding in some of that deep house hypnosis.

‘Victim’ by Dinamo Azari

Dinamo Azari was one part of the producing duo calling themselves Azari & III. That project has died, but that hasn’t stopped Azari from teaming up with the two vocalists they enlisted back then to help out on this track off of his debut album. Those vocalists complement each other so well, the higher, soul pitched vocals of Starving-Yet-Full and the rhythmic, deep sounds of Fritz Helder, not to mention how fun they were when doing that stage thing they do. The Azari & III album was a mixture between some darker cuts and more all-out House live-it-up fests, and this is definitely more towards the darker side of the line. The percussion provides the rhythm, and there’s a nice bass there to help out. First we hear SYF sing, but the growling Helder soon comes in as well, talking us through the fact he isn’t our bitch. Just before the two minute mark he dials it all down for a short while, and I love the restraint with which he comes back, putting the atmosphere first there. Loved the live shows that Azari & III always put up, thought that album was a mixed bag (some of those songs though!), so curious to see what this album is going to end up like.

‘Bad Blood’ by Nao

Nao definitely has the vocals to make one dream away whilst walking the midnight city. Here, it is put on display in superb manner early on, with just some simmering synths to accompany them. They provide a nice background, and are never in the way of them. At the 45 second mark you get the electronical percussion sounds, getting that dubby beat going, and Nao turns it up a notch to make sure she is audible and that the emotion is put in there as well. She sings that you choose not to remember, making her believe that it is the bad, bad blood. at the 2:50 mark some of the instrumentals are stripped away, leaving only the drums and the vocals, though soon some of them return and she turns it up a notch for one last time. First single off of the debut album, and with people like Nao and Kelela out there representing, this kind of sparse, electronic music with that urban, midnight vibe is in good hands. Both of their vocals, in any case, are a delight.

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: ‘Nevermind’ by Leonard Cohen (PillowTalk Re-Rub)

How about we start with some of that bass, these lads must’ve thought. I also love that the second sound is this sort of amplified snapping-of-the-fingers. Leonard Cohen is doing his ultimate low voiced, spoken-word growl, which has something ominous about it. It gets balanced out a bit by the female vocals, though Cohen’s voice sure puts a stamp on this one. It goes lovely with that bass though, which keeps on rolling to make sure the boogie vibe is staying right there in the song. As said, PillowTalk makes sure there are some balancing elements, like the strings, like the female vocals, to make sure this one doesn’t slant too much over to the dark side (especially since, with Cohen’s vocals, you’re almost halfway there anyway, not to mention lines like “I could not kill, the way you kill”). I also like the cleanliness of the track. The bass and Cohen’s vocals are the mainstay, one taking care of the narrative, the other taking care of the boogie, and then there are a few elements thrown in there to take care of the balance, but which do not overcrowd it. A sweet combination it surely makes.

‘Combination’ by Woolfy vs. Projections

On the label of Permanent Vacation the people of Woolfy vs. Projections have a go at a slice of Deep House, which PV is kind of a quality stamp for. So here, too, it starts with a nice beat, but soon the rest of the percussion sounds come in, and that’s where the track starts to become fun. There’s this grainy, deep bass sound that gets thrown in there, just to be juxtaposed a little while later with a lighter synth sound. Around 1:40 there’s the space whirl, giving the track some atmosphere on top of the beat and that aforementioned bass. And so the guys add multiple instruments until they dial it down around 2:40, where they turn down the rhythm sounds for a moment, building up non-beat percussion elements up to the point where they slide the beat back in for the dancing crowd. There’s this nice change-up at around 3:45, where one synth sound is swapped for another, which does the trick in altering the tone somewhat. And these changes make sure the track doesn’t outstay it’s welcome, whilst in the mean time keeping the club side of it up so all y’all can do some dancing after midnight.

‘U Make Me Feel’ by Unique (Ilya Santana edit)

Around the mid Eighties there came Unique saying that she feels so good. And Ilya Santana recently felt good too, grabbing this one and putting his own spin on it. Which includes a kick, a nice bassline, and some high-pitched synthesizers to help out Unique, who comes in at about 1:10 to give it this emotional Eighties Funk & R&B slant. Then leave it to Santana to keep mixing all those aforementioned instruments and turn it into something that not only resembles the original, but even moreso resembles his own sound, which usually veers a bit towards the space disco side of the spectrum. This time, though, he freely twists that up a bit because of the main bass sound and the vocals, whilst also having some fun with those crazy synths in there. It’s got some nice Eighties flavour, a nice, funky bassline, and it exhumes some fun because it is, at times, a bit all over, as if someone was smiling when making this, transporting that to the dancefloor a bit with this Unique and Ilya Santana crossover.

‘In Infancy’ by Museum Of Love (Bottin remix)

Bottin really wastes no time laying down the feel of this one with some really specific sounds that he uses, this strumming guitar and this deep, bass like sound. Add another, more tingly, guitar sound, and you really have a particular feel out there which then gets trumped by the tropicana club feel after about forty seconds in, when the track starts to put in the rhythm sounds to give the audience some opportunity to do some dancing. Boy, those starting sounds had me blindsided there pretty good, as this tropical piano I had never seen coming. And it is that feel that really dominates the tone, so you get this cocktail-in-hand feel, but with some grit to it, to make sure no one is taking to the lounge chairs or anything. At about 2:40 the vocals come in, again giving a different flavor to the proceedings. After the vocals Bottin adds a bass to take over balancing duties, making sure the track never becomes just this or just that. At the five minute mark you get this lovely moment where the vocals go in chanting mode and you just have the bass, I really like that, and it is a nice set up for the final run of the track, which mood is a bit lighter again thanks to the guitar sound he throws in there.

‘The Bottle’ by Gil Scott Heron (Mike Simonetti 10:30 Bootleg)

How about a near 11 minute edit of a Gil Scott Heron track eh? One by Mike Simonetti no less, a sir who knows how to get people dancing in front of his DJ booth. With this one he is certain to put a nice bass in the background to make sure there’s something to hang your dance moves on, and other than that there’s loads of Gil Scott Heron and flutes and things. Really making sure that the rack is packed with plenty of vibes connected to the original. And yet, it is strangely party-ish, good natured, very let’s-be-dancing. Not in the least because of that quick bass in the back, which is dialed down around 3:30 where Simonetti lets the vocals and the percussion have a swing at it for a moment (or an afternoon, having a quite lengthy run up towards the moment the beat gets back in again, which is at about 5:24 after a percussion and rhythm solo of proper length). The bass rears its nose back in at about 6:10, and a good twenty seconds later you get the whole band back together, coming around again to this uplifting party feel that this track manages to exhume. Apparently Simonetti sometimes ends his sets with this and I, for one, would not be complaining if that would be bestowed upon to me.

‘Spirit Talkin’ by Dan Beaumont (Spencer Parker workmix)

The pace is set right from the start, going frantic with the beat and the additional percussion elements. So no slouching on this one, that’s for sure. Then again, the title already indicates that you should be working it, so nothing lied about that one there. Just after the minute mark you hear the first additional sound creeping up from behind the curtain of beats and percussion, and at 1:30 we start seeing where this is going. At about 2:10 we also hear the female vocals for the first time, indeed sounding like the Spirit is talking through her, giving it this gospel vibe that, somehow, goes nicely with the fast-paced beat that this track still has going on. A feel, by the way, which gets amplified by some additional piano Spencer Parker throws in there as well. And those two elements (vocals and piano) get their little moment in the sunshine around the halfway mark, where it becomes even more clear that it sure gets its inspiration from the Sunday morning sessions under the Lord’s guidance. After that little moment it also feels more and more like the beat is there to uplift, and not just to go at it hard. And because of how it turns from just hard clubbing at the start to this, it makes sure the track gives you a good nine minutes of feeling it.