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.

Where Are Your People? by We Have Band

‘I Can’t Stay’ by Ben Browning

Ben Browning is one of the lads of Cut Copy, and the sound kind of gives that away to be honest. It is perhaps less dance and more summery pop (which makes sense, for here it is cold, but I believe not so much in Australia). It still has that light, that fun element that Cut Copy has. But as I said, not as dancey, and more poppy and happy-go-lucky. It’s something that wouldn’t be out of line on the radio I imagine, and I see myself listening to this on a road trip with my buddies going from Melbourne to Sydney. Nice song, light-hearted, fun pop, nothing really wrong with it. Not likely to strike you deep down in your heart, or something you are going to desperately want to put on when in a certain emotional state. But hey, it’s pop, it’s catchy; sometimes that’s good enough really, innit?

Download Ben Browning I Can’t Stay

‘Getting Away with It’ by Electronic (Greg Wilson edit)

After having seen the film 24 Hour Party People for the first time last night (yeah, shame on me, really), what makes more sense then to listen to this edit of an Electronic (the band built around Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr) song by old hand Greg Wilson? It is a lengthy one, running close to twelve minutes, but the incessant drumming to start if off, I see the dancefloor rally around that. And don’t think that drumming is going to let up any time soon, so everyone has plenty of time  to warm up to it. Repetition really makes the world go round. At 2:40 those sounds come in which I connote to disco, really. The only problem for me are Sumner’s vocals, which just seem not to really deliver on the promise of the three plus minute build-up. Also, some of these lyrics, not quite Marr’s former colleague, is he? Not on this song anyhow. The instrumental side of it though, even aside from the drumming, it’s really pretty good. It has got this New Order vibe (duh) to it. Halfway through Wilson gets the strings out for what seems to be a closer, with beat/drums/rhythm all stripped. Then the piano takes over, but surely, after a good minute or so, Wilson returns to the drums and sees it all the way through to the end.

Electronic ‘Getting Away With It’ (greg wilson edit) by gregwilson

‘This is Not a Song’ by Islands

Nick Diamonds surely is a busy man, and now he is returning with his band Islands. Or rather, with a slow paced song that for some reason to me sounds a bit throwback. It feels like something that isn’t really being made anymore, especially that chorus just after the minute mark. That sound seems of long gone times. Which, to clarify, isn’t really a bad thing at all, for me at least. It has this nice swaying thing to it, with just the right amount of melancholy and sadness. And what is that instrument that comes in at 2:45? That too seems like something we haven’t really been hearing for a long time. Sounds a bit Asian to be honest. A nice effort, with this old school ballad sensibility. However, it does feel kind of long. The slow pace makes the four minute running time seem longer than it actually is, which isn’t really a positive thing, especially for repeat listens.

‘Bad Street’ by Twin Sister (Lindstrom & Prins Thomas remix)

Oh no, Lindstrom and Prins Thomas in da house! You know what you’re in for then, right? Love that sound combined with the bass thirty seconds in, that’s nice, and you know they are consistent lads and will roll with that for a while. Not a big fan of the vocals, and I find them surprisingly upfront and dominant in this remix. I do really like that thing with just the background vocals and the instruments that starts at 2:20 and which returns at certain times. The song is a bit slower paced than you might expect, but it has a nice groove to it, especially when they don’t put the emphasis on the vocals. That breakdown with just vocals and – what? timbales? I’m so bad at pointing out individual instruments… — is nice though, at about the five minute mark. And it adds some much needed variety, because for a remix at this pace, eight minutes is kind of pushing it. So good thing they have that break and get a bit spunky right after it.

Twin Sister – Bad Street (Lindstrom & Prins Thomas Remix) by DominoRecordCo

‘Reckless with Your Love’ by Azari & III (Tiga remix)

Oh no they didn’t. One of Azari & III’s hits of this year remixed by none other than Tiga. And you know he’s going to deliver. I always forget that, in terms of DJing, he’s into deeper stuff a bit (despite me having seen him spin records live), but it doesn’t take long for him to establish that with this remix. From the word go it has this deep house feel, but that does fit perfectly with the vocals from the two guys of Azari & III. And you know that any beat Tiga throws out there just feels sexy and, well, a bit naughty I guess. Tiga always provides something for the extravagant dancers to get down and dirty to. And it is really amazing how well these vocals fit on top of it. Bit straight forward perhaps,  but deep beats, good vocals, sexy vibe; it all adds up to a cracker for the dancefloor, especially if you have a crowd who doesn’t mind to get it on and get dirty a bit. I would love to drop this one, no doubt about it.

Azari & III – Reckless (With Your Love) [Tiga Remix] by PurplePR