By Stef Siepel
January 18, 2013
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. … Continue Reading
John Talabot
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.
It is almost November, traditionally a time some of those these-are-my-favorites-lists start to pop up. With this column going on hiatus after this one, lets look back at some tracks that either were released this year or were released on an album this year that, in my opinion, deserve some love. … Continue Reading
Free Magic & JKriv - Headbands
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: ‘Headbands’ by Free Magic & JKriv
JKriv has made some excellent disco tunes already, so naturally I’m hoping for more of the same with this one. Immediatelly you get everything you’re hoping for: percussion, a tingling piano already laying the emotion in there, and the new instruments just keep building this lovelorn disco aesthetic. At 0:35 the beat comes in, so you know you can do a little dance to it as well. They show a bit of patience by not coming in with the vocals at directly the next opportunity, but after the minute mark there they are for the first time. A good half minute later the female vocals remind someone that they “can be the perfect combination”. I loved to hear that, not because I think its taken from some of Gertrude Stein’s best work, but because it lyrically fits with the atmosphere the sound was creating. After the female vocals have had their turn, some male vocals come in, talking about how he “really needs you”. After this first round of love making, they strip down the sounds and put the female vocals back in. Again, slight patience as they don’t bring the beat back at the first possible moment but drag it out a little bit longer (even throwing in some keys in there at the second option). Then, when the beat does come back, the female vocals are replaced by the male vocals telling her that it’s such a feeling, when she touches him. That vocal change was absolutely the right thing to do in my book. Just an ace disco song with all the trademark characteristics you want in there. … Continue Reading
78Edits - Think
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: ‘Think’ by 78Edits
If 78 Edits hit the spot, boy, watch out. And they hit the spot with this one. Good tunes, especially ones sans vocals like this is up to 3:30, in my opinion need to roll on and then somehow keep increasing momentum as they hit the dancefloor. And this one does exactly that. That lovely rolling beat and bass, those slight change ups until the two minute mark, and then the real hit with some additional sounds whilst keeping the base going; just a classic example of how to keep those dancing shoes dancing. Then the vocals come in as well, and they’re these classic funk vocals, and to emphasize that 78 Edits throw some vintage funk and disco sounds in there so you know for sure where it’s coming from. Then it gets to a nice percussion bit at 4:30, then a pause for dramatic effect, and under that pause the new beat cheekily slides in to get to 5:20 when they go full throttle again. I’d love to drop this in any set, any place, any time. My kind of dancefloor music this. … Continue Reading
Tropics - Popup Cinema
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: ‘Popup Cinema’ by Tropics
Last year British producer Chris Ward, aka Tropics, released his debut Parodia Flare, and this is a new track from his hand (seeing an EP release on the 5th of next month). It starts really atmospheric and, well, a bit slow really, with at one point the vocals coming in ever so British. Very fragile, which fits the track to that point. Then you get a little bit of percussion in there, but the real turn comes at 1:22 when the beat first appears. The piano still gives you that bit of a melancholic feeling, but now the pace is upped a bit as well. In the mean time, naturally, he continues to add sounds and altered vocals, and the latter sound like they’re trapped in a box and can’t get out. Then the clear vocals come in again in all their vulnerability. They get a bit of the spotlight on them as Tropics takes away the beat for a moment, and after that he first goes percussion before he lets the beat return again. I think it’s a really lovely track. Very delicate piece of work this, which still has a bit of pace because of the beat, and its high on atmosphere. Definitely ups the anticipation for his sophomore turn. … Continue Reading
James Ferraro - So N2U
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 N2U’ by James Ferraro
I love James Ferraro, especially that Night Dolls with Hairspray album he did. He had a fantastic ’80s teenage film vibe going on for that. The man is just amazing in taking sounds and making these lovely collages out of them, akin to what some of these pop art artists did. This is no exception. Here he takes on more the funk side of the ’80s. It’s so amazing to me that he can mix and match all these sounds, all these samples, and not get this muddled, hard to listen to mess. The track is smooth, but definitely not dull, with all these different elements and how he has placed them. I really think of this as similar to Pop Art collages/pastiches, where they take all these pop culture things we know, assemble it, and make it this easy-on-the-ear and very refined piece out of it – which I, for one, think is an amazing feat. … Continue Reading
Henry Saiz - 'Our Discovery' (Bostro Pesopeo 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: ‘Our Discovery’ by Henry Saiz (Bostro Pesopeo remix)
The start is pretty percussion heavy, which certainly gets the atmosphere going. It gives the song its own vibe, though I’m not sure how I’d ever dance to this (though, in that case, probably not that important to Bostro Pesopeo). It does give out a sense of urgency, one that keeps on building. Then there’s this drop down of the beat, and you get some inaudible vocals with loads of echo on them. After that the beat comes back, but it is accompanied by a rather ghostly keys sound. It all rather mixes into this dystopian vibe, up until the point where you get some lighter sounds at the three minute mark that suddenly find a way to infiltrate the beastly rest of the track. Very atmospheric, urgent remix with some nice change ups, definitely an intriguing listen this. … Continue Reading
Chairlift - Something
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 Belong in Your Arms’ by Chairlift (John Talabot & Pional 6.15 AMix)
I’ve always said about that John Talabot album (that amazing John Talabot album) that it is a bit of a walking-through-the-city-at-night album, and by the name of this remix, it seems I’m not too far off with that. It’s classy, nightly, and its got those Pional pianos in there which I really fancy. These two guys just know how to put some cachet into it all. Layered, complex, but completely fitting; it really manages to create this nocturnal atmosphere. I can’t quite recall the original, though I’m assuming it’s from Chairlift’s “recently” released album, but I’m pretty sure it does not quite sound like this. I imagine the original as slightly more sunny and synth-pop like, and the way these two guys manage to flip the mood is pretty cool. Love that sudden change at the three minute mark, that’s nice, and it lasts for about a minute before they put the other sounds back in. If you like something to listen to whilst commuting at night, this is another good one from Talabot & friends. … Continue Reading
Ilya Santana - A Piece Of Paradise
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: ‘A Piece of Paradise’ by Ilya Santana
Ilya Santana, aka the master of hypnotic balearic. Not always equally hardcore danceable, but you sure know he puts in the mood and that he can make this hypnotic ride out of it that has you shuffling and bobbing for its entire duration. This is, again, not a banger, but it’s a tune that rolls on with that beat, but especially with all those other sounds he weaves in there, like that bass and what almost sounds like a flute of some sorts. Hypnotism at its best, put some snakes in baskets in front of this and you’ve got them coming out and doing that Middle-Eastern market thing they do in no time. For me, this is the essence of balearic, where it just keeps rolling, where it’s got bags of flavour in it, and lovely hypnotic sounds you can close your eyes to and get swept away with. That sound he comes up with at 3:40 is just such a prime example of that. I also just love that continuity, how it flows on. If you like this sort of thing, Santana is where you can’t go wrong. Now, if y’all excuse me, I’m feeling like getting some vinyl of his out to play. … Continue Reading
Madrid - 'Sad Song' (Mickey Moonlight Rework)
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.
‘Sad Song’ by Madrid (Mickey Moonlight Rework)
The song starts out with a little piano ditty, but the real track starts a little while in when the instruments start setting a moody atmosphere and the vocals consequently match it. It’s a project by (former) members of CCS and Bonde de Role, two pretty well known bands I reckon. This I haven’t heard CCS do though (With the note that I’m not THAT familiar with their work outside of the singles). It’s all about the atmosphere, which really epitomizes sadness, or in any case something in decline, some sort of loss. They really manage to hit that out of the park. I also like the male and female vocals together. I think they complement each other perfectly, especially in the context of this song. A good duet, and I do honestly think it’s been a time since I’ve heard one of those. … Continue Reading
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