Category Archives: Let’s Dance!

Switched On – Daphni: Cherry (Jialong)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Daphni is the alias under which Dan Snaith – also known as Caribou – lets loose and allows his musical instincts to run free in club-based music.

This is the third album he has made under this alias, and it is a no-nonsense affair of 14 tracks, wrapped up in 47 minutes. Initially Snaith was not thinking of an album, but found that the music he had been making with Daphni in mind had satisfying links and logic in their order – and so Cherry was born.

What’s the music like?

Liberating and colourful. With its roots in dance, this is an album that generates a good deal of positive, kinetic energy, becoming all about movement. Yet there are plenty of riffs and bright colours to hang on to as well, Snaith working plenty of material into his busy constructions.

The title track goes busily on its way, with a metallic glint to the percussion, Snaith employing some of the bright colours he sprinkles liberally through the album. Always There uses what feels like a twisted mariachi section, and cuts straight into the pinball synths of Crimson, which themselves blend in with a nice, piano-based loop.

Mania has some really nice spacey effects, while the urgent beats on Mona make a strong impression. Clavicle glints in the half light, while Cloudy is arguably the best of all, with a lovely, rippling piano cascaded over a clipped, glitchy beat.

Does it all work?

It does – and if anything it’s a shame Snaith doesn’t develop some of the shorter tracks. Falling especially would have made a good, clubby track, while the jagged Karplus could have been a springboard for something substantial.

Is it recommended?

Yes. This is the sound of an artist having fun in the studio, going where his instincts direct him to go, and coming up with something colourful and melodic that his fans will love.

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Let’s Dance – Various Artists: Watergate 28 mixed by Biesmans (Watergate Records)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

As the Watergate series continues its colourful journey, Belgian artist Biesmans steps up with a set made entirely of his own compositions.

He does not do this alone, working with a string of luminaries including Dusky, Mathew Jonson, Adana Twins, Kasper Bjørke, Shubostar and Mala Ika, to create a busy 80-minute mix.

What’s the music like?

This is a fine mix, make no mistake, and Biesmans wastes no time in heading for the centre of the house dancefloor. Much of the content is instrumental, but structured in such a way that the mix feels like one big piece.

Wistful entreaty let’s go on a holiday from 13:30. There are some nice, floaty big room moments at 16:04 and 21:09, then 24:39 with a reassuringly fat bass sound. Excellent 30:28 brings back memories of Let Me Show You. A big player at 51 minutes, 40 minutes excellent too. Gets a bit more old school around 61:30. 67 – 68 very good vocal from former riff from latter

Does it all work?

Pretty much. The beats may be of the solid four-to-the-floor variety, but Yamagucci is always at work within, creating interesting cross-rhythms and collections of mini hooks.

Is it recommended?

Yes, enthusiastically. Biesman hits the spot right from the start!

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Let’s Dance – Yamagucci: Baba Yoga (Maccabi House)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Baba Yoga is the first album from Israeli-Japanese producer Yamagucci, who has been making a name for himself through associations with the Diynamic, Disco Halal and Maccabi House labels. It is on the latter that his new long player is released, though given the circumstances around which it was made it is something of a miracle that it was completed at all.

Yamagucci began work on the album in Tel Aviv in 2020, but sustained severe injuries in a bike accident that meant he had to move back to his parents, all during the pandemic. Music and yoga were his coping mechanisms (hence the inspired album title!), and soon both were channelled into a creative vision, which Yamagucci calls ‘a recovery process for my body and soul’.

What’s the music like?

Omer Relex, the first track, is a sultry blend of soothing vocals, very deep beats and warm textures, within which fragments of melody operate. The mood is laid back but the beats bring energy too, establishing a springboard from which Manali Kofta benefits, Yamagucci upping the funk quotient. Adam Ten guests on his own label as part of Desert Fantasy, an atmospheric cut,

Pandemic whips up more energy, as though getting rid of a build up of angst with some noticeably quicker and more energetic beats. By contrast, Jim Jim, with Dor Danino, is stripped back, a disco-house beat given minimal scraps of bass and clips of noise but still creating a heat-soaked atmosphere nonetheless.

On occasion a smoky, dusty feel makes its way into the productions. Make Revolution, with its twisted robotic vocal, is a gritty example, blending deep house with more urban persuasions in a way similar to Lil Louis. Loco has a similar profile, with chunkier beats, while Follow The Hihat, with the vocals of Millero, goes lower still, playing with perspective rather effectively.

Does it all work?

Pretty much. The beats may be of the solid four-to-the-floor variety, but Yamagucci is always at work within, creating interesting cross-rhythms and collections of mini hooks.

Is it recommended?

It is – a strong 8-track collection that hangs together really well and creates evocative pictures. The darker the club and the warmer the climate, the more suited they are for Yamagucci’s productions. Recommended especially for deep house heads.

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You can hear clips from the album and purchase from the Traxsource website

Beyoncé’s Break My Soul – making house music all night long

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by Ben Hogwood

Last week we saw the return of Beyoncé with her first new music in three years – and as so often happens with artists of her standing and calibre, it didn’t take the direction everyone was anticipating:

In fact, Break My Soul is something of a history lesson in dance music, and could have been released at any time in the last 35 years. That is definitely not a criticism, as the music sounds fresh out of the studio, but in using a sample of classic house music the former Destiny’s Child singer has put the focus firmly on recent American music history.

The principal sample on Break My Soul is the Robin S classic Show Me Love, in its 1992 Stonebridge club mix form:

Several records have sampled it of late, including Craig David on My Heart’s Been Waiting For You (where he also namechecks the song in the lyrics) and Charli XCX’s Used To Show Me, both taking the main hook of the track for their inspiration. Beyoncé has been a bit more subtle, lifting just a short snippet from the middle of the riff.

Other records come to mind when hearing Break My Soul for the first time, over and above Show Me Love. Firstly, there are some very similar vocal techniques used in the early Chicago house classic Jack Your Body, the genre-defining track from Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley – which also happens to be in the same key:

Detroit, too, is not far off where influences are concerned. I was put in mind of this Gospel-flavoured treat from Terrence Parker a few years back:

There is no suggestion that Beyoncé, or her writers (principally Tricky Stewart and The-Dream) have copied any of these records, more an observation that they have respectfully mined a long-standing tradition of house music influence, using its heritage to create something that could only be a Beyoncé song.

It will be interesting to chart the direction of the album, as house music gains an ever-greater hold on this year’s new American music.

Let’s Dance – Various Artists: Back To Mine – Horse Meat Disco (Back To Mine)

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What’s the story?

Back To Mine have been running for 24 years now, and ever since Nick Warren curated the first release, with its strapline ‘a personal collection for after hours grooving’, the series has blossomed into a must-hear with every release. There was a pause in production of 11 years, between Krafty Kuts in 2008 and Nightmares On Wax in 2019, but since then the productions have been shown to be in rude health. This 32nd release turns to Horse Meat Disco for feelgood inspiration.

This is the quartet named after a partially obscured newspaper headline (‘Horse Meat Discovered In Salami!2) but that moniker perfectly supports what they do, somehow! Their brand of feelgood disco music began in a Chinatown basement in 2003 but since then has added an essential dimension to the London gay scene and now a long way beyond.

With founders Jim Stanton and James Hillard joined by Severino Panzetta and Luke Howard, the DJs have been on a roll ever since, expanding their musical outlook to music Hillard says you will get ‘if you love dancing and have an open mind’.

As with all Back To Mine releases, the music is available as a collection of unmixed tracks but also in an unbroken mix lasting just over an hour.

What’s the music like?

As you might expect from this source, extremely uplifting! All these grooves are effortless and given with a smile on their face, though some have quite far-reaching lyrics that speak to the heart as well as the dancing feet. God’s Greatest Gift To Man Is A Woman by Margie Lomax is one such example, a simple but really catchy groove repeating the essential strap line. Róisín Murphy’s Ancora Ancora Ancora is another, with a low slung beat that Severino & Nico de Ceglia work to perfection.     

Alien Alien feat Igino’s Perfidia has a relatively slow but effortless groove thanks to Panzetta and Ray Mang on the remix. Escape From New York’s Fire In My Heart is brilliant, with anthemic chorus over chunky keyboards, while if it’s a great, empowering piece of spoken word you’re after, look no further than Ona King, guest on Larry Heard’s brilliant Premonition Of Lost Love, in its Extended Adult Mix form. Catchy lyrics also turn up in GAME’s wonderful Gotta Take Your Love, with the unforgettable line “You turn me on just like a shower”.

Meanwhile Horse Meat Disco’s own Self Control, from their debut album, has the ultimate combination of twangy guitar, subterranean bass and deadpan spoken word. Messages From The Star by The RAH Band is arguably the pick of the bunch, with a heady guitar lines and a chorus you could put on repeat for hours. Most intriguing track award, however, goes to Marianne Faithfull’s Sex With Strangers, featuring Beck, which leaves a distinctive mark.

Does it all work?

Yes, completely – and it succeeds by bringing the whole feel of a live Horse Meat Disco into your living room or onto your headphones. The smiles, the dancing, the feeling of unity and togetherness – all are brought to life.

Is it recommended?

Enthusiastically. Horse Meat Disco are never knowingly undersold in the tunes department, to use a famous retail phrase, and they certainly deliver the goods here!

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