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The Weekly Froth! - 20160722

  • Published in Columns

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: ‘Free (From Social Narcotics)’ by VinylAddicted and Sleazy McQueen

VinylAddicted and Sleazy McQueen get the rhythm moving, first arriving with some all too familiar beats and drums, and then throwing in a deliriously delicious bass sound that will get the house a rockin’. The piano enters the fray too, giving you the light next to all the rhythm sounds. At the 1:50 mark we hear a male voice say Free, which is also the cue to go back to the bass and drum sounds that were running the campaign earlier. Then, more vocals, dialling down the volume on all the other sounds so they can be loudly heard exclaiming that, yessir, the most dangerous narcotics are the Social narcotics. In the mean time, this tune is moving like a motherflipper, giving you a lovely smooth rhythm base to keep you riding that horsey. The talking male vocals are a nice counterweight, adding a bit of gritty, a bit of an edge. I’d throw this in a set any time, really, such a smooth ride with plenty of momentum in there to have everyone gobbling it all up for the entire meal.

 

 ‘Fever’ by Roosevelt

Roosevelt gets the summery synths out, before moving to the steady beat a few minutes in. After that, even more summery synths, giving you that festival vibe. All those good vibrations are shared by the percussion sounds. Roosevelt takes it down just before the minute mark, as he puts the vocals in, giving it this more dreamy air. Funnily enough, the chorus is all about the instrumentals, and not even so much about Roosevelt singing Bring back the fever again. But it’s the uptick in pace and festive tones that really leave an imprint on it all. The song clocks in a little over the four minute mark, giving you a lovely slice of pop for the beach festivals this summer, even giving you a bit of that guitar at the end.

 

‘Sly’ by Polographia feat. Winston Surfshirt

I love that gentle guitar riff that comes in right at the start, at the same moment the band introduces the drum kick in the back. It’s got a bit of that dream gazer feel to it, though at the minute mark they give it a little bit of an oomph. The vocals remind me a bit of MGMT, singing that they want To funk. Some of the instrumentals give it a slight exotic vibe, whilst the bass and beat keep the song on the straight and narrow. When they dial it down they focus on the vocals, with some beach-y synth sounds in the back. I like the laidback feel of the track, all the while making sure the rhythm doesn’t let up or gets too loose. Naturally, you could’ve known that, if a track features someone called Surfshirt, you’re going to get that Dude kind of vibe going on, on a little bed of rhythm.

 

‘Don’t Play Games’ by Nite-Funk

I, personally, had loads of fun at the Dam-Funk gig at the Primavera Sound festival this year, and that Nite Jewel record is none too shabby either (definitely have a listen to that one if you haven’t yet). This track, though, goes a bit darker, a bit choppier, and a bit more night-time-in-the-back-alley, turning slightly away from their Soul, House, Synth-Pop type bands to a more dark R&B heavy turn. Especially thanks to the aggressive feel of the drums, contrasting nicely the more soft-spoken vocals by Nite Jewel, whose delivery follows the drum, rubbing some of its aggressiveness off on it. In the mean time there are some synths in the background, giving it a slight spacey feel, though it’s primarily the bass that is doing the works back there. I love the spunk that this track has, and it shows that sometimes when people come together they can really come up with stuff different from their own works.

 

‘Heavy Danse' by Tom Of Brooklyn

I love how it first gets the percussion going, and then the rhythm, giving you that African flavor with the drums. Then the female vocals come in, singing that they Like it, with the bass then providing some extra rhythm for good measure. Around the minute mark they dial that part down just a tad, just to come back with a little more oomph. Next to all the rhythm elements the percussion plays a big part in the feel of the track as well, not only there to guide the dancers’ motions. At one point other female vocals come in, singing the ooh-hoo-hooo lines even sans the rhythm, though quickly a deeper base drum enters the scene, after a little while accompanied by the whole percussion works. It’s a hypnotic rhythm tune, giving you all the percussion you can handle next to the core dance base that it keeps on handing you as well.

 

‘People On The High Line’ by New Order (LNTG Can’t Get Any Higher remix)

New Order’s people called Late Nite Tuff Guy asking if he could do a remix of ‘People On The High Line’, the new single by the iconic band. It takes LNTG about sixteen seconds to get the main beat in, adding the bass at about the half minute mark. This combines with the lighter percussion sounds, that are there from the get go and get more and more company from deeper rhythm sounds as time goes by. At about the minute mark we hear the vocals for the first time, courtesy of Elly Jackson of La Roux fame. At 1:40 LNTG ticks the track more to his signature sound, and at the two minute mark he goes for that festive dance feel that he always does so well. At 2:40 we go a bit piano house, letting the keys do most of the work on top of a minimal beat, with the deeper sounds (including the bass) coming back shortly after to accompany that piano sound (that will be ditched moments later). Like LNTG is prone to do, it’s super smooth, with a lovely rhythm, and if I have one minor thingamajig, then it’s the addition of the male vocals. I mean, I know it’s New Order, but this track would’ve been served better with just Elly’s vocals in my opinion. Other then that, lovely jam to do some dancing to for sure.

 

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