The Weekly Froth! With Midnight Magic & Tommie Sunshine, Chris Malinchak and Hercules & Love Affair

Midnight Magic and Tommie Sunshine - I Found Love

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 Found Love’ by Midnight Magic & Tommie Sunshine (Extended)

If you have been following this column at all then you know that I find Midnight Magic to be one of the most exciting young bands around. They’ve got the disco vibe, a lovely horn section, and strong female vocals. This time, add to that the production of Tommie Sunshine, and what you get is a seven minute synth and disco fest that doesn’t pull the punches. The horns are there, the vocals, and because of the beat and bass it is a bit easier for the dancefloor. I love that the pace goes up-and-piano in the chorus. Naturally, it’s disco, so it’s got to be about love, and about love it is. “Your love / takes me / higher”. There is like a trifecta here, where the base sound first gets additional help from the horns, and after the horns you get the piano chorus. Seven minutes of disco madness, executed excellently, though I can’t quite shake the feeling that the piano at the very start, I’ve heard that before, no?

‘If U Got It’ by Chris Malinchak

Boy, Chris is sure making the rounds, no? Malinchak has cranked up the production line and is releasing track after track, and they’re all nothing short of amazing. It’s got this minimal start, some strange (jungle?) noises in the background, but after half a minute, the song gets going with the keys, and when those honey sweet male vocals come in, that’s the ballgame. Those keys with that voice, then additional elements to sort of pace it up a bit; it’s all fabulously crafted really. I’m not a great fan of the kind of botched up female vocals that more or less “talk” over the song. But at 3:20, those male vocals come in again, and it’s bliss. Lovely laidback sounds, excellent for any summer party I reckon (and since I’m typing this with 35 degrees out, that’s context for you. Too bad it isn’t on demand like that).

‘The Dance’ by Billions and Billions

We know Mike Simonetti from his Italians Do It Better endeavours, but he’s opened up a new shop with the New Jersey label. Not only does he have something to do with the release of this song, apparently the music is him as well, with vocals and lyrics being the work of Monty Luke. This is definitely more House than Italo Disco. You’ve got the deep male vocals that talk over the track, the deep beat, but then you have that waff of Simonetti vibe with that lingering sound accompanying the beat. Other than that hypnotic vibe, it is really old school. The masculine talking voice, the ’80s beat; it could’ve been put on any compilation of Detroit House during that time. It’s been a while (and maybe I’ve been looking in all the wrong places) that I’ve heard a track so true to the original sounds. Probably, that is the crux to liking it or not. Do you want something contemporary, or don’t you mind going back like that to the point where it practically blends in? It’s got the vibe though, and it certainly makes a case for dancing.

‘In My Soul’ by Perecles

Perecles, looking at the image on the SoundCloud page, at one time must’ve been some sort of Greek warlord. I like the start, nice balance between the deeper beat and the lighter sound that accompanies it. It’s very catchy, love how the vocals get broken in, nice and slow (with an eight minute running time, you can take it easy). Naturally, what I’m hoping for is a big, bad release at one point, but — and let me get that cat out of the bag right now — it won’t come. At least I get the change-up after one and a half minutes where the beat gets stripped away. Obviously, that’s a ploy to get back to the beat again, and so they do. Still the vocals are muffled, so I guess what they want to use them for is simply as another layer of the sound. And for that, it works nicely. What I’m thinking though is, I wouldn’t have minded if they would’ve shaved about half a minute off of every section. It just seems to take a relatively long  time before something news comes in, and the change is never really as bold as so it would give it a fresh sound. In essence there’s nothing wrong with it really. Nice beat, they do change it up and introduce new elements, etcetera. To me, it just lacks a bit of zing and freshness, which is a horrible thing to say because it is so undefinable.

‘Linked In’ by The Barking Dogs (Marcus Worgull edit)

Track that was released on the Gomma label, and that got a Marcus Worgull edit no less. Love that playful start, with the repetition of that sound with, at one point, some percussion in between. I love that it kind of goes on just a little bit too long, without actually going on too long, if you know what I mean? Then another fun element as the transition. It is funny, I kind of get this computer vibe from it. Like something Atari-ish or something. Even the “beat” that comes in at two minutes in sounds like, I don’t know, a soapbell popping or something? Which, by far, is the most polite thing it reminds me of. This track is full of all these kinds of off-beat, fun elements, which makes it a surprising track to listen to. With that said, not sure if, aside for novelty purposes the first go around, I can think of any capacity in which I would listen to this again.

‘I Try To Talk To You’ by Hercules and Love Affair feat. John Grant (Hercules’ Tell All Remix)

Hercules and Love Affair is back to the drawing table with new guests, a new line-up, and, if I remember it correctly, a new album in the works for next year. I loved (LOVED) the Blue Songs album they came out with last year, and I loved the live show that supported that LP. Their previous two albums were very house and disco, yet their remixes (both under the monikers of Hercules, Andy Butler, or even Kim Ann Foxman) always seem to veer on the techno side of the spectre. To which this remix of a yet-to-be released track is no exception. I think I’d much prefer their original output normally, yet this track has plenty of things going for it. The vocals really fit the bill, and the track knows how to get deep on the dancefloor. The strip down around the four minute mark, I normally am a sucker for strip downs where the vocals take over, but this, for my liking, is a tad too long, and the vocals aren’t particularly suited for this kind of thing. Other than that, amazing deep house track by the Hercules crew, would surely get the people on the dancefloor going (or, well, me). It is just another one in a long line of ace things Butler & Co have produced.