Category: Dance

Avicii – Addicted To You

“How on earth Audra Mae doesn’t get joint credit on that song, I don’t know.”

Tim: More of the farmhouse music, you’re probably expecting; take a listen.

Tom: Ha. “Farm-house”. Well done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6xokv_0cyQ

Tom: Oh my stars that’s amazing. That’s just wonderful. How on earth Audra Mae doesn’t get joint credit on that song, I don’t know, because that’s just her song. I’ve thought beforethat it’s unfair that producers get very little credit compared to singers, but surely this is too far in the other direction.

Tim: Regarding the singer, I agree with you fully. Because, well, it’s a big yes to the farm, but weirdly, pretty much no house at all. I say weirdly because, well, Avicii’s pretty much the biggest dance producer out there right now and this has none of his trademarks – there’s no big dance post-chorus like there should be in, well, not just his music but in any dance track.

Tom: Don’t care. It’s wonderful. This style is something I didn’t realise I was looking for. Save the full-on dance versions for the clubs: this is just great to listen to.

Tim: See, I disagree – to be honest (and admittedly probably because it so contrasted with my expectations, as I do quite like that remix), I find it kind of just dull – just somewhat bland country-infused pop. Also a bit odd with the bit at the start where the singer sounds like she’s going in to Skyfall. Shame.

Tom: Get out. She pretty much does Skyfall, and it’s exactly what the song needs.

Klingande – Jubel

“Nearly every individual part of it is beautiful.”

Tim: Readers may remember that on Saturday we had a brass-infected track; here’s a dance tune that’s pretty much pure sax.

Tom: Ooh, now that sounds promising.

Tim: Klingande are a French duo, and while it got released four months ago I’ve heard it three times in the past 12 hours on Swedish radio, so it’s presumably still going strong.

Tom: Oh, I want to like that, because nearly every individual part of it is beautiful.

Tim: Nearly? Cause I like pretty much all of it. Admittedly there’s not much going on, really, either in the video or in the song; that’s fine, I suppose, but it does make the initial potentially dramatic, “save me” line somewhat less impressive. On the other hand, it’s a lovely sax melody and despite being short and repeated considerably I’m really not growing tired of it. Because it’s just quite lovely – the occasionally vocal, the twanging guitar, the piano keeping this together when nothing else is around.

Tom: Agreed – with one exception, one really notable, jarring exception, which is that phasing WER WER WER WER WER WER WER WER synth line that’s behind the sax.

Tim: Oh, that bit.

Tom: It’s loud, it’s grating, and the in-and-out of it is just too strong. It takes over absolutely everything and I can’t stop hearing just that.

Tim: I’ve got no problem with that. If I were being harsh I’d say it’s basically backing music, but it’s very enjoyable, pleasant and relaxing backing music, so I’m not going to be harsh. It’s great.

Tom: Dial down that synth, and I’d absolutely be with you. As it is… not so much.

Raqoon – Games

“That euphoric build turned into… well, audio mud.”

Tom: “Raqoon”? Crikey, they’re starting to scrape the barrel for names, aren’t they?

Tim: Not the best, is it? I once heard that if you listen to new music in the morning you’re a bit more likely to enjoy it, as your brain’s more receptive to new things. I don’t know if that’s true (the amount of tripe I’ve heard on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show would point away from that), but if it is it’d help me get a bit closer to finding out why I like this.

Tom: I actually let out an “ugh” of disappointment after that euphoric build turned into… well, audio mud.

Tim: It’s what heave dance fans call ‘dirty’. It’s all suited to air horns and dub step remixes. It is, in short, really not what I’d go for.

Tom: Skip that first verse and I might have been sold on it – the “proper” drop isn’t too bad, but that verse just kills it.

Tim: So why, then, do I find myself pushing play again once it’d finished? The voice isn’t anything special, and there could probably do to be a bit more of it. There’s no real melody to it, and the endless pounding drumbeats I admittedly do find a bit tedious towards the end.

Tom: I can’t imagine why: it sounds far away from your normal fare, and I won’t be listening again. Perhaps you’re just in a very good mood?

Tim: Maybe. Whatever the reason, I’ve just hit play for a third time. I guess there’s just no logic to art. Who’d have thought it?

Saturday Flashback: Calvin Harris – Merrymaking at My Place (Kissy Sell Out Remix)

“Better.”

Tom: You know those times when a remix just fixes a song? This is one of those times. Have a listen to the original first: I suspect you’ll be bored by the first minute. It’s the only Calvin Harris single not to make the Top 40.

Tim: Certainly sounds like more of an album track. And this is better, you say?

Tom: This, on the other hand, is brilliant. Or at least, I think it is. I know I’m generally a sucker for piano-backed dance tracks, but this stands out for me: it’s faster, it’s got more depth to it, and — crucially — there’s enough variety in the mix to keep Calvin Harris’ startlingly dull vocals from getting grating.

Tim: It’s definitely better, yes. I’d say that brilliant is pushing it, but really definitely better.

Tom: I enjoyed this enough that, when it went silent after four minutes, I found myself wishing that it went on a bit longer. And then it did. Brilliant.

Tim: All of it?

Tom: Not quite sure about the squelching noises after it came back, though.

Tim: There it is.

The Correspondents – Fear and Delight

“Surprisingly catchy.”

Tom: First single, released a little while ago, off the first proper album, due to be released soon.

A bit of background: the Correspondents have mostly been a live act only for the past couple of years, and I didn’t “get them” at first. You’ve got one madman vocalist who sings like he’s from the 1930s and dances like he’s from some sort of parallel universe; and you’ve got one beardy bloke running a sequencer and a laptop. And the result is…

Tom: …surprisingly catchy.

Tim: Fun. Sort of, in the same way as dansband – quite enjoyable for about five minutes, but quickly tiring and not something I’d want a whole album of.

Tom: It’s all a bit electro-swing, or alt-dance, or whatever you want to call it, rather than pop, of course: but it’s certainly got more mainstream appeal than a lot of the tracks they’ve put out before.

Tim: And they’ve certainly got a decent number of view on that video and some of their other that – not that that translates into sales or anything, but sill.

Tom: I don’t expect them to break into the charts, but considering they’re already winning festival awards and touring? They’re probably okay with that.

Avicii – Hey Brother

“It’s been quite the successful change.”

Tim: This is pretty much the least Avicii-sounding song he’s ever put out since he adopted that mantle. And it’s brilliant for it.

Tom: You say that, but this now sounds rather like what an Aviici track should be to me — or at least, what I’ve now come to associate with him. It’s been quite the successful change.

Tim: Right – Wake Me Up went someway to ditching the piano dance that he’d become almost synonymous with, and here it’s completely out of the window with not a keyboard in sight. It’s not entirely unrecognisable – the brass has filled in the gap, but otherwise a similar formula – but this will certainly go a long way to quietening the crowd that unimaginatively describe him as a one-trick pony. And that’s a very good thing.

Tom: Agreed. This is just a brilliant track, and while it’ll probably need a remix before it hits the Clubland ‘best of’, that’s not a complaint: I like this new Avicii.

Saturday Flashback: N-Force – All My Life

Tom: The track and video are from All Around The World Records. Tim, you know exactly what to expect here.

Tim: Certainly do – SteveAATW is often my go-to YouTube channel if I’m getting ready for a night out.

Tom: I reckon this track’s a cut above the normal generic-dance music, although I can’t really work out why.

Tim: Familiarity, perhaps? It took me a while to realise what it was a cover of, but then I placed it and realised that this is vastly superior to that R&B balls.

Tom: And I’ve got no reason for putting it here other than “well, this sounds good”. Because it does. Deal with it.

Tim: It so does.

C2C feat. Derek Martin – Happy

“A gospel song run through a turntable and a sequencer.”

Tom: Remember C2C?

Tim: Erm…

Tom: They’re the French turntablists I raved about a couple of weeks ago — and you were fairly nonplussed about — with ‘Down the Road‘.

Tim: Ah, yes, of course. What’s this then?

Tom: Well, here’s the next single: this has been out for ages in France, but the UK promotion’s just starting. Skip to 0:30 for the start of the track.

Tom: I don’t want to come on too strongly here, but this is my favourite track of the year so far.

Tim: Blimey.

Tom: It’s a gospel song run through a turntable and a sequencer; it’s like it taps straight into the musical-appreciation bits of my brain.

Tim: Hmm. Favourite track of the year, interesting. Not mine, but I certainly get what you like about it, because it really does have something of everything you need in a good get-up-and-go style track – it’s quickly movement, it’s got excitable vocals, nice squeaky-scratchy bits to think “ooh, that’s them, I like them”.

Tom: Frankly if this doesn’t want to make you dance like a loon — like a rather less professional version of the spectacular dancers in the video — I think there might be something wrong with you.

Tim: Well, it certainly passes the dancing in my chair test you presented last time, so that’s at least is one thing that’s not wrong with me. Good.

Axwell – Center of the Universe

“That’s not really as euphoric and spectacular, is it?”

Tom: So after the excellent Heart is King, what’s he up to next?

Tim: Now that’s a man who takes care when he’s crossing the road. And it’s an unusual off-licence that has a massive iMac purely for CCTV purposes, but never mind. The music.

Tom: Oh. Well, that’s not really as euphoric and spectacular, is it? In my head, it scarcely holds together as a track: it’s a piano loop, some vocals, and barely enough production to make it danceable.

Tim: I don’t know – you’re right, but, from the video, it seems that it’s not trying to be all that. If we’re talking about a guy who can be inspired to go out clubbing after hearing a few piano notes, it’s seems that a fairly quiet beat would suffice.

Tom: All the parts are there, but for me it just doesn’t hang together. Where other tracks have elicited all sorts of emotional reactions from me, this one just left me cold. That final chorus isn’t bad, I suppose, but I’d be waiting for the next track if this played on the dancefloor.

Tim: Yeah – artistically it may be justified, but it’s not hugely likely to do it for the masses unless you’re just relying on the name thing. Nice enough to listen to, though, for me anyway.

Duck Sauce – It’s You

“I quite liked it on first listen.”

Tom: You’ll remember Barbra Streisand, of course. You may even remember the earlier aNYway, which made it to number 22 in the UK. But their one single since then sunk without leaving a much of a trace. And the new one…

Tom: …ah, hell, it’ll probably do the same.

Tim: Yeah, about the same.

Tom: That’s a shame, because I quite liked it on first listen. I seem to be rather liking tracks — of any genre — that sample and remix old records, and this should play into this. However, there’s nothing to sustain the interest on a second run-through: it’s the house music equivalent of by-the-numbers bubblegum pop.

Tim: It’s good enough – it’ll go down alright in the middle of the dance floor, but I can’t imagine that many people liking it enough to create a demand for it. The video’s interesting, though – I wonder what the casting call was like. WANTED: person who can do weird things with his eyes and doesn’t mind getting drowned in foam.

Tom: Would I dance to it? Yeah. Just not that enthusiastically.