The Weekly Froth! With Jan Ken Po, Eli Escobar and New Build

Jan Ken Po - Unlimited Man

By Stef Siepel

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.

‘Colour Wheel’ by Jan Ken Po (Max Essa)

No he didn’t! Max Essa just released an album as Jan Ken Po, putting the bass lines at the center of attention and providing an album that keeps on rolling and rolling on. This is the album closer, and it is simply spectacular. It has a major bass line – like all the other songs on the album – that really keeps the song going, and this is mixed with sounds I connote to genre films. Some clever use of guitar and piano to give it a good vibe and to add some variety to the song (which you also get via that strip away of the bass at around 2:30, after which you get a build-up with the natural conclusion of the return of the bassline at around 3:30). In the mean time, all those extra sounds never conflict with the main sound, and thats ace. Such continuity, such flow: first surprise album of the year in what will hopefully be an ace 2012. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With John Talabot, The Rapture and Roxy Music

John Talabot - Fin

By Stef Siepel

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: ‘So Will Be Now…’ by John Talabot feat. Pional

Love the start with those vocals, and love how quickly he adds to it with the fingersnapping and a beat. Really gets it all going (and gets me going at that). This track is off of John Talabot’s new album, and he gets a bit of help here from Pional. Really like those echoey sounds that are thrown in there, and the kind of deeper beat that comes in after a minute or so. It all fits so well together, and it just keeps on rolling. After two+ minutes he dials it down for a moment, with the fingersnapping being one of the few sounds audible next to the vocals. That’s ace. After three minutes it delves in a bit deeper, and quickly the beat returns again. Nearing the end it gets some different sounds going eliciting different moods. Seriously, if this wasn’t on my to-watch-list before, it sure is now. Just an amazing track that keeps on giving and giving. All the sounds work really well together, and I love that voice and how it meshes so well with the rest of the song. February 2012, watch out for this album. … Continue Reading

Casiokids – Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen

Casiokids - Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen

First of all, go see Casiokids live. They are the epitome of fun. It is a quirky bunch, and they are having fun being that, and they really exhume that feeling of “funness” to the audience. Not to mention that they have already released some catchy, lovely songs like ‘Finn Bikkjen’, ‘En Vill Hest’, and ‘Fot I Hose’ (they are one of those Scandinavian bands, by the way – where tuneful, easy-on-the-ear songs are grown in back gardens or plucked from trees or available from order at an online grocery shop). Plus, live they are always more fun and the songs always have a bit more punch than their recorded output, especially if one consumes it as an album. So you already kind of know where I’m going with my view on Casiokids’ latest release called Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With Whomadewho, Matthew Dear and Nite Jewel

Whomadewho - Inside World

By Stef Siepel

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. After this will be a slight Holiday break, but don’t worry, come January we’ll be back with this one in a hurry. Happy holidays everybody and have a little fun, do a little dance, and get down tonight.

Track of the week: ‘Inside World’ by WhoMadeWho

WhoMadeWho are going to follow up Knee Deep with a new album next year, and if this is any indication it is going to be awesome. First the rougher sounds, the volume up, and then born out of that this great rhythm comes along with those fabulous vocals. I really love their vocals, I’ve always believed that one of the band’s strengths, and they do have an ear for finding that catchy rhythm and going with it. It is a short one at 3:37, and it fluently rolls right on through to the end. I think this is an amazing track by the lads, who are positively genius in a live setting. Recorded, I find them to be hit and miss a bit, but when they hit, they hit it out of the park, and this to me is a good example of that. So can’t wait for that new album, if only because that means they’ll be doing the rounds again and you can’t miss that opportunity. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With We Have Band, Ben Browning and Azari & III

We Have Band - Where Are Your People?

By Stef Siepel

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: ‘Where are Your People?’ by We Have Band

We Have Band are really setting up their run for their sophomore album. They already released a track earlier this year, which I was kind of lukewarm about I guess, and this is their second try to wow their fans and to expand their base. Love the vocals by Darren, that’s really cool. It kind of has the same anxiety of their debut, but a bit slower paced I guess in terms of the music itself. I made a point in my review of their debut about using circular imagery quite often (knowingly or not), and it’s back again in this song as well. I like the change-up at 2:20, that’s nice, and the instrumental side that ensues is something I think we haven’t heard yet from the band. I certainly like it more than that other song they released, and it sheds a light in terms of where they are going with the new album. Something a bit more varied in sound, perhaps a bit more mature, slightly slower paced, but with the same feel to it in terms of what it exhumes. And I think the latter is important. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With YACHT, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Tensnake

YACHT - I Walked Alone (Jacques Renault Remix)

By Stef Siepel

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: ‘I Walked Alone’ by YACHT (Jacques Renault remix)

No way. If you had to pick about any song from the YACHT album that seemed least likely to be turned into a disco mix, this would be it. The original is a slower paced affair, and the potential of catchiness is certainly higher in a few of the other songs (which are, themselves, already catchy). But here comes Jacques Renault, the disco wizard of the East, and he puts on that bass at 20 seconds and we’re off to the tracks. Or rather, the dancefloor. From that point on it’s boogie woogie time and nothing can stop it anymore. 1:20 it puts on the keys and you start to hear the original coming through, and after a while the vocals come in as well. But don’t think, Oh vocals, now he has to slow it down, for the original is slower paced. Nuh-uh. You can keep on dancing, no cheap cop-outs to be seen here. Renault is a master in funking every track up and making it dancey and disco, and this is no exception. Fab remix. Those background vocals are also genius by the way, totally fit the remix. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With Sleazy McQueen, 2 Bears and Junior Boys

Sleazy McQueen - Reconnect EP

By Stef Siepel

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: ‘We Need to Reconnect’ by Sleazy McQueen feat. Anne Montone

I just love the name, Sleazy McQueen. Not only that, I love the edits and the songs he puts out. Really old school sounds that, and they just flow nicely. Here it’s set up old school with one instrument being introduced at a time. None of that business you get in other songs, but clear sounds, clear lines, and with them coming in one after another you get enough time to acquaint yourself with them. Naturally, the song really gets going at 1:20 with the piano coming in, then you know it is time to get on the dancefloor. I would’ve liked the vocals to do a bit more than they do, especially for variety’s sake because at one point it does feel like the merry went round one too many a time, but still, one I would happily go on the dancefloor for. … Continue Reading

Azari & III, Amsterdam, Trouw

Azari & III

By Stef Siepel

November 20, 2011

The woodwork squeaks and out come the freaks. With freaks, naturally being used as a term of endearment in this case. Wearing a t-shirt might just mean you are terribly underdressed when Azari & III come to town. Boys on heels, girls with half-shaven heads, and suddenly a small group in new wave black hits the scene. When the boys come on and hit the crowd with ‘Manic’, ‘Reckless With Your Love’, or some of the other album hits people are using the sparse room they have in the sold-out Amsterdam venue Trouw to strut their stuff. So plenty of people working it, and the two singers of Azari & III lead by example. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With Leo Zero, CANT and Joakim

Leo Zero

By Stef Siepel

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: ‘Down the Drain’ by Leo Zero

Leo Zero is back with a new track, and I love those boogie-woogie drums at the start there. Some talky vocals that I for some reason find to fit the track pretty well. Done bad, this kind of thing will sound like a bad rap song, but this kind of takes me into a 90s hip-hop/house vibe. Not the music itself though, that is a bit more spacey and reverby before it gets a bit cleaner again and the drums come back in. Don’t expect a corker of a track, it is rather subdued, but I like that in this case. It’s a bit mid-to-slow paced. He really gets a vibe going on this one. It is just a good combination of that kind of grainy sound, those drums, and those vocals, and it really meshes well. In the mean time Leo Zero makes sure it doesn’t get boring, despite it never going all out, by just constantly changing it up a bit and introducing new elements that just fit the flow of the music. Really nicely crafted this one, major kudos to Leo Zero for that. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With Casino Times, Lou Teti and Kasso

Scucci Manucci EP

By Stef Siepel

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: ‘That’s the Truth’ by Casino Times

On a Scucci Manucci EP this is a track called ‘That’s the Truth’ by Casino Times. Now, I don’t know what the original is (And usually I’m pretty apt at finding that out one way or the other), so if you know drop a comment in the comment box. It’s got me hooked as soon as the first, deep “Oh-hoo” vocal lines come in. That in addition to some of the other sounds, which all have a bit of a deeper shade to them, really make for a very nice vibe. It’s really got this amazing atmosphere going on, a real 3AM track this is I reckon. Can’t picture myself anywhere but in a club at night getting absorbed by the music. After four minutes (on the dot) the vocals actually start singing, and that voice just fits the rest of the song so well. Definitely check this one out. … Continue Reading