The Weekly Froth! With Whomadewho, Nite Jewel and Chromatics

Whomadewho - Brighter

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: ‘Below the Cherry Moon’ by WhoMadeWho

WhoMadeWho will be releasing a new album this year, and I’ll be seeing them live in a few weeks and they’re magnificent while gigging, but sometimes the recorded output doesn’t quite match up to that. The previous single was ace though, and this again is tremendous. These vocals, goodness I love those, and musically they start out with this sad synth, and slowly the drums get in there to start propelling the song forward and to give it some pace. It never really becomes a fast paced track, but it is pacey enough to have people doing a little melancholic dance on the dancefloor. Both the music and the vocals really create an atmosphere, and those are aided by the lyrics, which do suggest some sort of dissatisfaction. Just a very good song, and as said, those vocals, I love those, such a weakness I have for them. … Continue Reading

The Weekly Froth! With Charlotte Gainsbourg, Frankie Rose and Storm Queen

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Paradisco

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: ‘Paradisco’ by Charlotte Gainsbourg (Joakim remix)

I loved (LOVED) that Joakim album last year – a proud addition to my vinyl collection, really like the aesthetic he works with. I seem to remember I actually liked Charlotte Gainsbourg’s ‘Paradisco’, and I know for sure that I, prior to listening, wasn’t at all certain how a Joakim version of this song would sound. But it sounds brilliant, actually, to be fair. Joakim put a needle and just injected this song with atmosphere whilst keeping a beat in there. I get the real urge to disconnectedly vogue on this. Eyes staring blankly into space whilst striking a pose, a pose, a pose, and another one. This is one of those things where I went Huh, really? when I saw it on paper and which just makes sense when listening to it. Awesomeness by Joakim, turning this Gainsbourg song into something completely different, putting it in its own aesthetic, and making it work. … Continue Reading

Hear new material from The-Dream, ‘Roc’

The-Dream - Roc

A few hours ago, R&B genius The-Dream posted a brand new track to his Radio Killa Records site – ‘Roc’ is available to stream there now and is, hopefully, the first taste of his long-delayed The Love IV: Diary Of A Mad Man. It’s his first new material since he released  a free album under his own name last year – the strong 1977. Head over to the The-Dream’s site to hear the song now.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Tim Westwood, he revealed that he’s made around $15 million from writing Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ so far. He also revealed (jokingly, we think) his motivations behind songwriting: “I’m just trying to pay the bills, man. I got child support bills, I got old wives’ bills, I got new wives’ bills. I’m working on my third wife, so I gotta pay those bills.” Fair enough.

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

Gang Colours previews debut albums with ‘Old Compton Bay’

Gang Colours

Gang Colours – aka Will Ozanne – is gearing up to release his debut album, The Keychain Collection, in February 2012 – as a bit of a preview, you can stream and download a track taken from the album below. It’s called ‘Old Compton Bay’ and showcases Gang Colours’ fondness for the rhythms of UKG and his skill behind a piano. James Blake comparisons would be lazy, so we ain’t going to bother – if you’re looking for some kind of pointers though, think of someone putting a UK spin on the standout bedroom projects that have crossed over in the US recently – Youth Lagoon, Arrange, and so on.

The Keychain Collection is out on Brownswood Recordings on February 27th – it’s the follow up to Gang Colours’ In Your Gut Like A Knife EP from last year. Give ‘Old Compton Bay’ a listen below. … 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

Woods offer a Christmas present in the form of a Vince Guaraldi cover

Woods

Lo-fi folk collective Woods have been feeling in the seasonal mood recently and have decided to give fans an early Christmas present in the form of a cover of ‘Christmas Time Is Here’ by Vince Guaraldi. If you wondered whether the festive season might cause Woods to deviate from their folky songwriting you’d be, er, wrong – it’s another porch singalong here, but it sounds as lovely as ever. There are no sleigh bells as far as we can make out. The band are touring the US this December. You can stream ‘Christmas Time Is Here’ below. … Continue Reading

Lana Del Rey announces new album and makes new single available to stream

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

At a time of year when there are always a gaggle of new bands and artists lining up to have a go at making 2012 their own, Lana Del Rey remains the most talked-about (in certain circles) act around. The Is She Real? debate has been thundering on for a while now – focusing on her biography and lips at different points though, tellingly, rarely her music – and we’re all a little closer to hearing a big chunk of new music from her. Del Rey will release her debut album, Born To Die, on January 30th 2012 through Polydor and she’ll release the title track as a single the week before, on Sunday 23rd. In the meantime, you can stream the single, and watch her hug some bloke in front of the American flag, below. … 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