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The Weekly Froth! - 20161216

  • 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: ‘Absence Of Rhythm’ by This Soft Machine

If ya like it rough, with that nice, strong bass pushing this one forward, then this one might just be for you. These main sounds get counterbalanced by some lighter, playful synth sounds, and provided with some extra rhythm through some of that percussion action. In the mean time there is a kind of rhythmic spoken word vocal, almost hoarse, saying that You gotta drop out when you feel it spin. Which, then, is followed by a batch of percussion, which lasts even when the bass and beat are tuned out before coming back for a bit of that dancing action. A short time later there’s again a stop and go moment, this time riddled with spacey synths, before that bass and cowbell return to get dat riddim right. Just released, so instantly possible to pick up.

 

‘Lost Your Mind’ by Zimmer feat. Fhin

This one starts lovely understated, and then the melancholic vocals come in, which, in tone, are helped out by the piano. A slow tick can be heard in the background, before a more playful rhythm takes over, which is aided and abetted by the guitar. These two things, the verse versus the more chorus like feel of the aforementioned rhythm and guitar, balance each other out nicely, with the vocals the glue that keeps it all together. The vocals which, by the way, get a moment in the spotlight around the three minute mark, where all the rhythm elements (including the drums) are stripped, and only when the bass sound comes in do we slowly start returning to the chorus like structure. This is a cut off of a new EP that will arrive in stores later this month, if one still is in the business of late Christmas gifts, keep an eye out for this one right here.

 

‘Voices’ by John Talabot

John Talabot is back out with a release on Permanent Vacation, again coming at you with a hypnotically deep track, working the rhythms and, later in the track, some amazing chopped up female vocals to counter the bass sounds that he has put in there. A transition like at around 4:54 is just so nice, just slightly altering the pitch, giving you just that change in pace to give it this feel of moving forward, instead of making it drown in repetitiveness. It gives you the good thing of looping, but not the negative effects. And he does these kind of things throughout the track, sometimes as subtle as an extra instrument that only can be heard in intervals, and sometimes he goes into a different direction with a bigger tug at the steering wheel. Talbot is one of the main men out there for this kind of music, and something like this just probes me to put that vinyl copy of Fin on and give it a whirl.

 

‘Another Night’ by JKriv feat. Adeline Michele (Thatmanmonkz remix)

Thatmanmonkz is at the reigns for this one, taking the JKriv disco tune and giving it some deep & underground vibes at the start, bringing it back up with the bouncy bass and the vocals, courtesy of Adeline Michele. She is saying that it’s Just another night without your love, before hitting the verse around 1:05 after a little line by the bass. It seems a bit sped up compared to the original, which really was a love lorn disco song, with this one having a bit more punch, a bit more of that club vibe. But still it’s with Michele’s vocals and that tale of love gone by, even though she is admitting that When it’s good, it’s soooo good. And that’s why she’s still going out there to live and fight another day. At 3:20, that’s the moment, that’s when Thatmanmonkz gets out a bit of that nasty deep bass, ending it’s reign with a vocal turn before everything comes back in again. If you haven’t listened to it yet, the man released a killer album this year, just sayin’.

 

‘Love Me Tonight’ by Fern Kinney (SanFranDisko Digital Mix)

How about some of that old school, getting the energy up with this glittery disco ball of a tune. First you get the beat setting the pace, and then the guitar riff, the bass, and, finally, the vocals. Those vocals, and the build-up that you are hearing right on through, it’s just one of those hands in the air disco things that is just a dancefloor filler with everyone singing along with the "Hooooold mee clooose" lines of the chorus. After which they dive into the guitar riff again before Fern Kinney comes back in, explaining in even more words the one thing that disco sometimes simply is about, namely finding that person to Love me tonight. One of those euphoric sounding disco songs with a dash of longing that would work as close out to the night as well. Just in case you were still working out your New Year’s set.

 

‘Winter In America’ by Gil Scott-Heron (Moullinex Edit)

Moullinex immediately brings the percussion in, giving us those lovely wooden sounds before putting the beat and click in after the half minute mark or so. In the mean time we hear the jazzy sounds to set the tone, anchoring this track’s mood to balance the smoothness of the boogie. At the 1:39, that boogie becomes a blues, as the rhythm is dialled all but out for Gil Scott-Heron’s poetry, singing that it is Winter in America. A declaration after which Moullinex returns with the rhythm alongside, a bit later on, a new main sound that rides on top of it. The jazzy vibes persists though, don’t you worry about a thing darling. At about 3:25 again the rhythm is switched off again, first for the instrumentals, then for another storytelling tale by Heron, indicating that Nobody is fighting ‘cause nobody knows what to say. And if you don’t know what to say, you just dance the blues away, and with the rhythm back in that’s a pretty appealing prospect all in all.

 

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The Weekly Froth!

  • 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:  ‘Possibilities’ by Flip ft. Elou Elan (C90s remix)

The C90s make sure no time is wasted in this remix, getting right into the nitty gritty of things with the beat and that percussion (cowbell?) sound that I totally like. Now, what I really love are not only the handclaps that join in, but that bass and vocals combo that they enter at about the 40 second mark. Those vocals are just ace, they’ve got a nice, full sound that complements that bassline ever so nicely. They keep adding a bit of that cowbell, and this one has got me dancing in no time. At about 1:30 there’s a little change-up, going for a chorus like approach in terms of vocals, and adding some synths in there as well to spice it all up a bit. At 2:17 they come back with another verse, this time with a bit more help from some synths, putting the bass a little bit on the backburner. The chorus sees an invite from Elou Elan, singing that there is a New dawn, filled to the brim with possibilities. And if you aren’t afraid of that, she says, extending her hand, then Come with me. Between the two choruses, she does a little “di-didi-di-te” bridge, and after that the C90s build it all up a bit again, just to make sure the last bit sees them in full party mode, also thanks to the piano they throw in there as well. Lovely track, ace vocals, and you get plenty of nice party sounds with the percussion, the bass, later on the piano, and so forth, with the ending doing a bit of that beat and cowbell so you can slide your next tune under there with ease.

 

‘On & On’ by This Soft Machine

Apparently everyone and their mothers helped out on this catchy, summer festival dancefloor tune by This Soft Machine. Dave Harrington, who we remember from Darkside, does some instrumentation, and the synths are courtesy of Dan Whitford of Cut Copy fame. The vocals, sultrily singing that "we’ve got it going on", are by Lorraine Nicholson. The percussion gives it this idea of dancing in the outdoors at some summer DJ party or another, though the vocals and auxiliary instruments do give it this at-night-getting-down feel. Around 2:30 you’ve got a bass synth and the vocals doing most of the work, before half a minute later the percussion and some of the other, more summery sounds come in. For the last one and a half minute or so, it kind of veers into this psych-out direction, switching the more summery and catchy vibes with a more gritty, grainy dance sound. Not too bad a debut I reckon, definitely put himself on the radar with this as far as I’m concerned.

 

‘Without You’ by John Talabot (Mistakes Are OK Midnight version)

Are mistakes okay at midnight? John Talabot seems to think so, and this man might know, as he sure is apt at making some stuff best suited for the wee morning hours. This, too, has this nice, midnight-in-the-city vibe to it, starting it off with primarily some percussion to get the rhythm going, with at about 1:20 putting the beat forward a bit more. There’s this lovely repetition, this looping of some lines that he always does so well, and which creates this really nice flow. But not only do these instrumental lines do that, but their pitch also creates this coherent feel, even as new instruments are being woven in and out of the track. So there’s always something new going on, whether it are auxiliary sounds that are being sidled in to add some extra atmosphere, or whether it is more a rhythm line to add another dancing possibility to the whole thing. I can’t help but feeling that some of the side sounds give it a little bit of this mysterious-feel-in-the-orient vibe, but I am fully aware that I might very well be the only one thinking that. At about 4:20 he dials down the beat and rhythm sounds a bit, leaving most of the work to be done for a little synth line, before he gets the bass sound in there again. Another welcome addition to the library of sounds that is John Talabot.

 

‘Saturday Love’ by Zimmer X Pallace

How about some collaboration eh? We always need good people working together. The combo here works on a little piece of house, with loads of celebratory piano in there, immediately giving it this sense of euphoria. Enter some handclaps, some high-pitched vocals, and then the beat, and the party will and can get started. It has a little bit more of that summer festival feel to it than midnight-at-the-club, so there’s no reason to not be dancing on the beaches this summer. There’s some serious momentum building going on, with them dialing down the beat sounds on multiple occassions in the short (4 min) running time to then burst the track wide open again. It’s a nice catchy piece for those pool parties with your friends and other sordid party people.

 

‘The Light’ by SBTRKT ft. Denai Moore (Xinobi remix)

I’m not sure I really have the need to listen to SBTRKT all times of the day, but Xinobi sure brings a smile to my face almost any time I’m listening to something from his hand. Now, Xinobi does love SBTRKT (so who am I, eh?) and tried his hand at a more clubby version for his DJ sets and for dancing at home in his pyjamas, or whatever. So here not so much the synthy catchiness of his own work, but a deeper, more beat heavy cut, though that gets contrasted by this floating flute-y sound that starts about a minute in. Then the beat is turned off, the aforementioned sound stays, and you get some of the vocals to step into the spotlight a bit. After that you already get some drums in before the actual rhythm beat takes over again. Though, not really, as they seem to be a bit further down in the mix, to make sure those vocals stay front and center. And certainly Xinobi makes sure they are not muffled by any of the other sounds. I like how he slides the beat back in at about 3:25, that’s a nice momentum builder right there, and after that you get a bit of a masterclass how you can bring a couple of extra sounds in there in an understated manner. After that you get a little bit of a freak-out bit near the end, going full-fledged party more for the final minute to end this all on a dancing note. Free download, by the way. Just saying.

 

‘Fooled Around’ by jackLNDN

I love the way this one starts, it’s got this soulful feel to it, especially when the vocals and the backing Ooohhh sounds come in. Then, after about half a minute, you get get the main percussion, the handclap-like sounds, and even more rhythm to keep this one moving forward, though never in a real dance club feel. After about 1:10, all those rhythms are subtracted from the track so you’ve got this lovely voice again for a minute, and then he slides all the drums&stuff back in underneath the vocals to give you the complete package. He’s definitely not married to the beats and sounds, so no marital favors as he turns them down after about half a minute again, letting some piano in for a minute to then build up to the vocals and drums combo for another go. He does this once more, so there is this continuous flow and structure, though he ramps it up slightly for the last time. The ending gives you a bit more catchy synth, taking this lovely tune to its close. It’s from his Summer Never Ends EP- Vol. 1, so if you like this, give that one a whirl.

 

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