The Weekly Froth! With Box Codax, The Sound Of Arrows and Keep Shelley In Athens

Box Codax

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: ‘Dawning’ by Box Codax

This song is by Nick McCarthy’s side project and forms one side of a split with artist Martin Creed. I must say, I quite fancy this. If you are expecting anything like Franz Ferdinand, you might want to expel those thoughts before you listen to this, for you will be sorely disappointed. It has this Nouvelle Vague ’50s vibe for me, though it has a hint of Franz Ferdinand’s slower work in it as well, especially in its diction and timing. The song starts with some really high vocals, which in essence is the chorus. The verses are a bit lower in that regard. I love the soft melancholy that the song embodies. The last thirty seconds, I lost a bit of focus there despite it only runs for four minutes or thereabouts. Aside from that, a terribly good song if you are up for it. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With JKriv and Lou Teti, Colin Stetson and King Krule

JKriv

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: ‘Elisco’ by JKriv & Lou Teti

JKriv, let me tell ya, I don’t know anything about him except that he makes killer music. Earlier this year he released an awesome slice of disco with Adeline called ‘Another Night’, which is an amazing track. This too, it is just flawless. Same heart aching theme with this lovely disco aesthetic on there, this swaying late at night vibe it’s got to it. “I like the way you love better”, she sings, indicating that at the moment there’s some fighting going on and the main persona is yearning for that time when they were getting it on instead of getting on each other. If you can’t see all these lovelorn creatures dancing to this around 3am then I don’t know what will bring that image in your head. There’s a great flow and a consistent feel to it, and keeping ‘Another Night’ in mind JKriv is really hitting some home runs in the yearning disco department. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With Joakim, Florence and the Machine and Ron Basejam

Joakim - Nothing Gold

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: ‘Nothing Gold’ by Joakim

Fucking tune, seriously. It is not often that I start with a swear word, but hot damn, the Tiger Sushi man has delivered gold, regardless of what the title says. Those hits of piano, lovely. The first words are “My love is gone”, and the music just complements that melancholic vibe perfectly. Joakim has said in interviews this album is about not being young anymore, and instead being in a place where you can’t do all that stuff young people do, but you are not quite ready for that pipe smoking, rocking chair thing yet. “Is it forever?”, he wonders about the love being gone. The track is layered perfectly, different things coming over and going under each other to enhance that feeling. And at 3:50 he strikes a few blows as well. Do listen to this, major track, and there’s an album out there that goes with it. One of the better tracks of the year so far for my money. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With Paradis, Canyons and Zola Jesus

Paradis - Parfait Tirage

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: ‘Parfait Tirage’ by Paradis

A new band from France, being introduced in Beats in Space by I think Tim Sweeney actually. From the get go, this has my attention. Just a very nice beat, very hypnotic, love those vocal sounds. Then those whispery French vocals come in (let the Americans boom, let the French whisper), and they flow perfectly along with the music. There is enough variety, enough elements coming in and then leaving again, to keep it fresh throughout its running time (you always make me happy with handclaps). Just a totally awesome track. Love the vibe of it as well, would love to hear this being played as closer to a set on a summery night, you know. If this is their first release then we’ve got something new to look forward to, because this is stellar. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With The Juan MacLean, Class Actress and Los Campesinos

Juan MacLean

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: ‘Everybody Get Close’ by The Juan MacLean

I do love The Juan MacLean, I really do. Their live version of ‘Happy House’ is just the most awesome thing ever. For this, The Juan MacLean get the vocoder out and  they pull some nostalgic futuristic sounds (follow?) out of the bag. The Juan MacLean has always been very futuristic and space oriented, and this even seems to take that a step further. It’s a bit like two androids fucking to be honest, for between all the robotic vibes there is also this sensual groove going on. This is a track that you can be grinding on in the club, something you can get down and dirty to. I love that sometimes he speeds it up, so that from the getting low suddenly you feel your body propelled to get dancing again. It is just another stellar track by The Juan MacLean. Not a house anthem like ‘Happy House’ or ‘Feel So Good’, which were these very dancey ten minute things. This is a bit slower, a bit more sexual than danceable perhaps. And as I type this, suddenly I understand the lure of the title. There’s a duh moment for ya. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With CANT, Glass Candy and Justice

CANT

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: ‘The Edge’ by CANT

I love the start of this. I mean, if you don’t think (relative) silence can work for you, take a look at the very beginning right here. Just a tinge of cymbals between the knocks, and some soft sounds swerve around it. It’s got this universal start to it, something you can imagine people play on the radio, but then in a good way – this song does not feel commercial, yet I think it could have a strong appeal to a lot of people. It doesn’t feel convoluted or insincere or “made”. I think I lambasted an earlier track of CANT (he from Grizzly Bear), or at least didn’t like it as much as other people did, but this is good stuff. Love how he builds up the intensity of delivery from 2:30, but not by screaming his emotions or anything. Instead, he uses a waver in his voice to increase intensity, showing how you can do such a thing in a subtle way instead of going all symphonic rock or something. Really good track, definitely has made me curious about that stream of the album that has just been released. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With Midnight Magic, Flight Facilities and Try To Find Me

Midnight Magic

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: ‘Heat’ by Midnight Magic

So if you call your track ‘Heat’ I am expecting a sultry disco affair that sizzles the fuck out of here. Good combination of bass and horns, so classic this. Midnight Magic consists of some former Hercules and Love Affair members and a girl with a good set of lungs on her, so they know how to funk the place up. As some readers may know I love Jacques Renault, and his remix of Midnight Magic’s song ‘Beam Me Up’ was absolutely amazing. This song, I don’t know what to say except it ticks all my boxes. Disco vibe, bass, good diva-ish vocals, horns; it’s just got it going on. Love that it changes it up a bit around 4:20 or so, because otherwise you get in trouble with too long a running time, but this sidesteps that nicely. I’m not a fan of botching up vocals like they do near the end though, there must be more respectful ways to get some variety going. Personally instead of that I would’ve let her belt it out over just the bass or just the horns or something, and then go full throttle one more time. Nitpicking, nitpicking, I know, this is a great track. And did you know you can download the EP for free (as in, legally)? Now that’s a worthwhile way to pass five otherwise dreadfully dull minutes, no? … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With Mr Intl, Glasser and Cassius

Mr Intl

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: ‘Give it to Me’ by Mr. Intl

Andy Butler (aka he of Hercules and Love Affair) and Jason Kendig dish out some late house on Butler’s new label. The sound in the beginning seems quite stark, quite hard. I was actually surprised when suddenly these deep, soulful vocals came in. Very clear start as well. The instruments for the first 30 seconds are very distinguishable. After that this typical house sound comes in that you hear on all these compilations and stuff. I love when the vocals go “give it to me / give it to you”. Now, it might not be the lyrical statement of the year, but on a dance floor with all the cute kids, a thing like that should funk the place up. Just after three minutes the bass gets going, which sounds a bit softer than what could be heard at the start, which is a nice change of pace. Not sure about those sounds at about 4:30, which my ear connotes more with zombies mauling something or other than whatever it is supposed to be. Other than that, you know, just a stellar execution of a house tune. Something you can drop on the dance floor with ease and it works. Not the most innovative thing in the world, but good execution and giving all the DJs something new that simply gets people going is vital as well. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With The Babel Orchestra, 40 Thieves and Feist

The Babel Orchestra

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: ‘Babelicious’ by The Babel Orchestra

This one sure rolls through nicely I would say. It’s a completely instrumental track that starts with a simple beat. Obviously, that is expanded upon as the song progresses. The first sound that comes in after the beat forms a good core in combination with the beat itself, and together they propel this song forward. Naturally, sometimes it deviates from it for a few moments, but like any good song in this genre it always comes back to that golden basis. This is a fairly new band, but one of them is responsible for the Lullabies in the Dark project with Vito de Luca (also known as the remaining guy from Aeroplane). Releases from Lullabies in the Dark were done by the Permanent Vacation label, which includes artists like Wolfram, Kathy Diamond, 40 Thieves, Sally Shapiro, John Talabot, and they’ve also released stuff by Ilya Santana, Azari & III, Tensnake, etcetera. And that is also kind of the aesthetic that clings to this track. Really good one this, and I believe it is their first “original” song, so there’s something to look forward to. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth – with 78 Edits, Joe Goddard and Cut Copy

Joe Goddard

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: ‘Let Me Down Easy’ by 78 Edits

Pure disco this one. Starts old school disco with the instrumentals, and then after a minute it gets going with a few horns to announce the coming of the vocals and the slow bass groove. “Let me down easy / you say your love for me is gone”, she sings. Very composed in the beginning, but slowly she is going to let the emotions free and she goes all out. This is so pure, so nice. She really owns this song, with she being Bettye Lavette. The original is kind of more Motown soul mixed with a country vibe. So what they of 78 Edits do very well is giving it a disco bass and beat to make it suitable for the dancefloor. But it never, ever tries to outshine Bettye, as it is almost an ode to her vocals. Smooth, emotional vocal disco, and on the slow paced side of what you can do on the dancefloor (Between 100 and 110 bpm I reckon). Mighty fine edit this one. … Continue Reading