Category: Dance

Alesso feat. Michael Koma – Years

Piano dance has been huge this year, but it’s rarely been done this well.

Tim: I woke up to this last Thursday, and I thought it was great so I scribbled it down to listen to later. Then I remembered that I did the same thing with the latest JLS song, and realised I might be letting myself in for a fall. And then I listened to it and found there was nothing to worry about whatsoever. (But feel free to skip the first 30 seconds, and everything after 3:30.)

Tim: Piano dance has been huge this year – occasionally overly so – but it’s rarely been done this well. So often it’s seemed like producers thought, “Hey, that’s a decent synth line, let’s put a piano on it because everyone else is doing that,” but here it seems different – more like the piano has set the way and then everything else has been built around it. It’s a lovely melody that we hear on its own to start with, and then the pounding stuff happens, but then when the vocal comes in you realise “oh, so that’s what they were doing”, and I like that a lot.

Tom: It’s not entirely led by the piano either, which helps.

Tim: True – they’re not afraid to drop that a bit and let the synths carry the weight. But since I think I’m in danger of romanticising this a bit too much and becoming overly eloquent, I’ll move to say that the heavy pounding stuff on it is RIGHT GOOD and BANGING and AMAZING.

Tom: Can’t disagree with that.

Tim: The nerdy part of me also appreciates that it’s set at 128bpm, because it means if part of it ever does get boring we can relax in the knowledge that at every thirty second mark precisely something different will come along.*

*On a tangent, if you ever want to spoil your enjoyment of a fantastic dance track, I recommend counting the beats in Rank 1’s Airwave. Like clockwork, every 32 beats it shifts slightly, or something interesting happens, and every 64 it switches direction. The most literally formulaic track ever.)

Tom: Ha! You’re right – that’s exactly on the 30 second mark, each time. It’s as if they were writing music for schools TV.

Numera! – Varför Gör Du Det Med Honom

Speedy Swedish rap. Let’s do this.

Tim: Speedy Swedish rap. Let’s do this.

Tim: My brain has trouble processing this as rapping.

Tom: It’s doing the same thing that Example did in his earlier tracks – the cadence and meter suggest rapping, but it’s fully voiced and definitely has a pitch.

Tim: That’s partly it, yes, but it’s also because I’ve haven’t a clue what they’re on about (aside from the title meaning “Why Do You Do It With Him”) – my basic Swedish is nowhere near the level required to translate this.

Tom: Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t your basic Swedish about the level required to ask for a beer?

Tim: Not just that – I can ask for a vodka and coke as well. But regardless of my linguistic capabilities, it’s so quick that I had to listen to it a few times before I could even discern where the verses stop and where the chorus begins, and part of me feels I’m not quite capable of reviewing this to the extent that it deserves. I do like it, though, somewhat for the musical bits that are present, but mostly because I know I could dance very enthusiastically to it if it came on in a club.

Tom: In the end, for music like this, that’s what counts.

Tim: SORTED.

Saturday Flashback: DJ Sammy – Heaven

Arguably the defining song of the Eurotrance genre

Tim: I know we’ve had two “ten years ago” posts already this year, so sorry for the lack of originality, but we surely can’t not feature this, arguably the defining song of the Eurotrance genre, which a decade ago entered the UK chart right up at number 1. So sit back, try not to pay too much attention to the weird video that came with it, and enjoy it.

Tim: Vastly better than Bryan Adams’s version of the song, of course, but then cover versions rarely beat the originals, so that’s only to be expected.

Tom: Eh? That doesn’t make sense – the Bryan Adams version is from 1985…

Tim: Oh, God, you haven’t been brainwashed by his lot as well, have you? Look, follow the logic: in a lot of songs, it is entirely possible, from as early on as the first chorus, to see exactly where it’s going, yes? So therefore, by extrapolation, in the land of music it’s entirely possible to predict the future, and thus have a song being covered BEFORE the original was actually written, as happened here. DJ Sammy wrote the brilliant original, and Bryan Adams did a fairly dull cover of it seventeen years earlier. FLAWLESS LOGIC.

Tom: Right.

Tim: Now this has everything a decent dance track should have, and it should rightly be celebrated here and now.

Tom: Yep, there’s a reason that it’s still a standard – and still getting re-edited into new cash-in compilation CDs – ten years later. It’s one of the tracks that can tie most of a generation together: they’ll recognise it even if they don’t know where it’s from.

Tim: It’s also notable for being the song that gave birth to the idea of the Candlelight Remix; whether that’s a good thing or not is debatable, but it didn’t stop Cascada doing the same thing several years later. And actually, I’ve just listened to both of those and it was a brilliant idea, so well done to whoever did that. In fact, well to everybody involved in this, because it’s just brilliant all over.

Porter Robinson – Language

Stick with it: it kicks in beautifully.

Tom: I missed this when it came out in March. You might be tempted to dismiss it as another Aviici-alike when the melody line arrives, but stick with it: it kicks in beautifully.

Tim: I stuck with it, and it kicked in beautifully.

Tom: This is one of those tracks where I don’t have much to add: I’m talking about it not because I want to make a salient point, but because I just want to say this sounds amazing, listen to it. How about you?

Tim: Likewise, actually. I heard of him a while back but never actually bothered to invesigate his music, mostly because (and I’m slightly ashamed to admit this) of his name. I don’t why, but I assumed he be another Ed yawn Sheeran type person who wasn’t interesting, but as it turns out I couldn’t be more wrong.

Tom: As for the video: visually impressive, no idea what was going on.

Tim: My thoughts also. Naturally, my immediate thought was to check the YouTube comments for potential explanations, and apparently there are Illuminati signs all over this thing. (Really. There’s a lengthy conversation about it between INATRANC3 and tastycheese34.)

Example – Say Nothing

If this isn’t a corker, then something’s gone very wrong.

Tom: First single off the new album. Out shortly. If this isn’t a corker, then something’s gone very wrong.

Tom: Well, that will do nicely.

Tim: It’ll do…alright, yes.

Tom: Example’s always been a bit of a mystery to me: he’s an okay singer, he’s an okay rapper, but somehow the whole package works brilliantly. He just seems likeable, and the production on his tracks is so damned glossy and professional that I find them impossible to dislike. This is a man who knows how to make a pop record.

Tim: There, you’re not wrong. To be honest, there’s not a lot to say here – it’s a straight up pop-dance track that does everything just as it should, and doesn’t venture anywhere that it shouldn’t.

Tom: Should he be striving for more after four albums? Maybe: but if the fans like it, and he likes it, best of luck to him.

Tim: I can’t really add more than that: it hits all the right beats, it’s danceable, and it’s probably – and rightfully – going to be a big hit.

Tom: As for the post-apocalyptic entirely-blue video: while it’s very pretty, it does seem a bit low-budget and phoned-in.

Tim: I just like that he’s taking inspiration from Eiffel 65.

Tom: Shame, really, ‘cos the track’s brilliant.

Madeon – The City

“A fantastic dance tune.”

Tim: Every time I hear one of Madeon’s tracks I am astonished that he’s basically still a toddler. Well, eighteen, but still it’s bloody ridiculous.

Tom: I’ve said it before: we’re getting old, Tim.

Tim: Oh no, it’s not an age thing on my part – it’s just, 18. He’s incredibly (and annoyingly) talented.

Tim: It’s a bit lighter than Finale, which is good because it’s probably more radio-friendly and slightly more mainstream, but bad because I ended up quite liking the general in-your-facedness of that one in the end. But still, it’s still a fantastic dance tune, and very clearly shows off his claimed Daft Punk influences.*

*He’s also said he’s influenced by the Beatles; hopefully he won’t be vastly annoying 3 billion people fifty-odd years during the London 2064 opening ceremony.)

Tom: There is a lot of Daft Punk in this track, isn’t there? (I mean that in a good way.) But it’s all got that trademark Madeon synth sound – the particular combination of settings that no-one’s going to be able to use for years because they’ll just sound like him. That’s a high honour for any electronic music producer.

Tim: Not sure what to say about it, really, other than it makes me want to dance. A lot. And in a proper way, not in the way that Cartoon Heroes makes me want to dance. There are very few tracks I can say that about, so well done to him for that.

Tom: I could do some complaining about how much dynamic compression there is – how everything seems to dip in volume around each hit of the main drums – but that’d be churlish for such a wall-of-sound track.

Tim: On a final note, vocals come from Zak Waters, an American electropop singer who’s got a really rather quite good single of his own out right now, so you could check that out as well. Fun but disappointingly blurry video, there.

Saturday Flashback: Mark Brown feat. Sarah Cracknell – The Journey Continues

It’s lovely, isn’t it?

Tim: You’ve commented before about my apparent penchant for songs from adverts, be they for tea, fizzy drink or yogurt; now let’s add a 2007 bank advert to the list, because when the songs are this good, I don’t care.

Tom: AdBlock Plus, and a lack of actual TV, means I managed to somehow avoid this. Let’s have a listen.

Tim: Because face it: it’s lovely, isn’t it?

Tom: Not bad, certainly.

Tim: Three components to this, really. First, the instrumentation, which is just standard dance backing until you consider the quiet, simple and yet brilliant two-bar loop in the background.

Tom: Crikey, that is just two bars, isn’t it? There’s occasional changes, but other than that it barely changes. I hadn’t even noticed that until you pointed it out.

Tim: Then there’s the vocal, which talks first about raining, but then also about what we’re going to do about everything, which is quite a hefty and ambitious subject for a short dance tune to deal with when you think about it. Then of course, there’s the ah-ah-ah-ah-etc that everybody knows, which is instantly recognisable, calming and, well, beautiful almost.

Tom: Almost. If you’ve been introduced to this via that particular operatic vocal, and you’re expecting it, maybe it’s a bit better – going in cold, it does seem a bit out of place.

Tim: Well most people were introduced to it that way – they saw the advert, and that then got so well-known it was fleshed out a bit a few months on to make this, now generally referred to as ‘that song off that bank advert’. And advert or otherwise, this is wonderful, and you can’t deny it.

Tom: I’m not going to go so far as ‘wonderful’. ‘Nice’, I’ll grant you.

Tim: Oh, fair enough. BUT I’ve just thought of another advert with lovely music from about the same time, which you should watch. Here.

Tom: There’s something wrong with you.

Saturday Flashback: Adrian Lux feat. The Good Natured – Alive

“We should have featured him before.”

Tim: You may remember that back in March I described Adrian Lux as ‘a Swedish bloke who puts out some cracking dance tracks’, and said we should have featured him before. Well, this is from last November.

Tim: This dance tune is great; the singer admittedly not so much.

Tom: Ooh, now that’s where I disagree with you. The instrumentation didn’t work for me, but the vocals did.

Tim: Really? Because her Kate Nash style voice during the verses grates on me really rather a lot. When she starts singing for the chorus it gets okay, mind, and when she stops altogether the bit that Adrian does is brilliant. You don’t agree?

Tom: Well, it’s competent, certainly, but the favourite part for me is the build – its promise never really seems to turn into a decent chorus.

Tim: A vocal chorus, no, but the dance bit it’s got is great. I’m listening to it on repeat for that, and my god I wish she’d shut up and let him do his bit, so I’d love an instrumental.

Tom: But there’s nothing going on, instrument-wise, during those vocals. It’s be a bloody quiet instrumental.

Tim: Well, yes, obviously, because most dance-pop tracks don’t have much under the verses. I’ll rephrase it: what I’d like is a slightly restructured. instrumental with the choruses as they are and suitable material to fill in for her singing. That way there’d be no disappointing build – it would just be proper dance music at the level of the chorus.

And the level of that chorus is exactly why we should have featured him previously.

Swedish House Mafia – Don’t You Worry Child

“There just doesn’t seem to be…enough, really.”

Tim: Earlier this year Swedish House Mafia announced they would be splitting up. It’s no great surprise, especially since Axwell and Avicii have both been coming out with some great stuff of their own recently, and the other one may have been as well, although I can’t think who it is right now.

Tom: The “DJ Yella” of the group, then.

Tim: But they’re officially going their own ways as of now, with this being their final farewell.

Tim: And I really, really wish I could get more excited about it. Because there just doesn’t seem to be…enough, really.

Tom: Hang on. Ignoring Pete Tong’s branding dumped all over this video like a child let loose in the National Gallery with some crayons… what’s wrong? There’s a great vocal there, a brilliant melody, even the standard euphoric build you find in everything that might get played in a dance club since the mid-90s – and it builds into a brilliant dance track. What’s it missing?

Tim: Oh, you’re right, the vocal work is excellent, and unusually emotive for a straight dance track, and the main melody itself is fantastic. But my main issue is that there isn’t enough going on under the vocal, when it’s there.

Tom: Too much slow arms-waving-in-the-air, not enough bouncing-up-and-down? Admittedly, acoustic guitar breaks aren’t common in mainstream dance tracks.

Tim: The gentle piano melody might just keep me on the dance floor, but I think the quiet bits and the gentle build are just too lengthy to get me dancing throughout. And that annoys me, because I really want to dance to that fantastic melody.

Tom: There are going to be enough remixes of this, and enough competent DJs matching it with other tracks. Believe me, you’ll be able to dance to it.

Tim: Oh, I should think so. Bloody hope so, anyway.

Eric Turner vs Avicii – Dancing In My Head

Count The Typos! (Contains masterful but truly appalling pun.)

Tim: You may remember Eric Turner as the guy who added excessive inhalation to Written In The Stars a couple of years back.

Tom: Oh, but what a voice he had – if you ignore the inhalations, it sounded beautiful.

Tim: Now, he’s breathing less, but to compensate for losing that annoyance he’s got a whole new one. So let’s have a game of Count The Typos!

Tim: It doesn’t get off to a good start – a misspelling in the first line is hardly what you’re after – and then we have missing apostrophes, question marks in silly places, and all sorts of other stuff to irritate the pedants.

Tom: I actually switched to another tab – the bouncy hyperactive camera movements and graphics were a bit too much. I couldn’t properly listen to the music at the same time.

Tim: I quite liked that part of it, to be honest.

However, we’re not here to criticise that (not that that’s ever stopped us before, but anyway), we’re here to do the music. Which is good.

Tom: It is, although crikey, it does seem to go on a bit. The melody is something that a primary school kid could sing easily – perhaps a bit too simple, instead of soulful.

Tim: Simple, perhaps, but that does make it a catchy chorus with a great backing to it (though that was probably a given).

Tom: True. It sounds like Aviici’s regular style, and that’s a good thing. Eric Turner’s voice is lost among the instrumentation though.

Tim: The lyrics of said chorus work well as a slightly weird metaphor to the ex and proper instructions to the crowd in front of him when he’s doing this live, which is presumably the point. The only thing that I don’t like (well, why? wouldn’t we finish a positive review with a negative point) is the ‘cursed’ bit – if he let her go, as he tells us, then as far as I’m concerned he’s only got himself to blame. Foolish man.

Tom: You know what I’d like to see? A concert with Eric Turner, Frank Turner and Tina Turner singing together. I’m not sure why.

Tim: That would be interesting, but what I’d really like is a week of X Factor dedicated to those artists, because that way Bonnie Tyler could come on at the start and introduce it as the Turner Round.