🐣 TCTS — DO IT LIKE ME (ICY FEET) FEAT. SAGE THE GEMINI & KELIS (MELÉ REMIX)

TCTS's original 'Do It Again (Icy Feet)' is a brooding slice of funky house that features rapper Sage The Gemini and the lilting voice of Kelis aching in the almost taunting pseudo-hook "icy feet…"—but in this re-do the Manchester producer's track gets more than just a facelift: the cold synth syncopation and robust rigid beat, the dark aura, the digitised mechanical body of the track – as well as all its shuffling funk – gets new life injected into it, becoming a warm, organic, living-breathing track courtesy of Merseyside producer Melé. Snare rolls drop in and snake through lively rattlesome, carnivalesque percussion clatters between bars: it lives!

The serious slightly screwface nature of the TCTS track is, like a frown turned upside down, put on its head and has in this remix all but dissipated, with Melé adding a few cups of French touch-flavour impiousness, the bassline up-front and playful as it bounces through. Similarly the vocals get a slightly oddball treatment, warped and layered and twisted with atonal robotic pitch-shifting, taking the brazen almost cocky nature infused in the original vocals and making them less confrontational, more fun and trivial and leftfield as they repeat unrelenting, "I bet you can't do it like me…" Melé has birthed a yang to the yin concocted by TCTS, conceiving and delivering not just a light side, but a lighthearted side for his body-moving remix.

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• 🔔 'Do It Like Me (Icy Feet)' is available to download from various outlets now.

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☟ Melé Internet Presence ☟
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🐣 DUCK HOUSE — FLAW (CHRIS VERSAS 2K17 REMIX)

'Flaw' by Duck House. It's a nice song isn't it, a hazy portion of slo-house, a track like melting fog, like distilled summer feelings condensing on the inside of your mind. But then imagine this song faster and less melty and your conclusion will come closer to something like this wonderful remix from Hamburg musicmaker Chris Versas, a clear avenue of funky house, a cyclical trail that lets Duck House's original elements add to the summery veil hung over the legible pulse of this dance-destined reworking.

At once it's that bass, reminiscent of the original bassline, its syncopated rhythms, its rounded muted half-sharp flavour, running the show. From here the drums shuffle with pop-out swing replete with metallic hi-hat and tambourine jangle, offbeat handclap snare running along this etching this carving of rhythm. House, the glorious repetitions, the progressive feeling as different parts flow in and out—those sun-soaked vocals, the squeals of guitar, hovering clouds of ambient sound. And from around the 3-minute mark there is a crescendo of synth, a rising up whooshing and soaring into the sky, before the track settles back into its plain but poignant groove.

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• 🔔 You can find some more remixes by Chris Versas, as well as mixes, at his SoundCloud.

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☟ Chris Versas Internet Presence ☟
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🐣 TOFUBEATS — WHAT YOU GOT

Summoning funky house of the past and packaging it in the polish and pizzazz of present day production, Japanese DJ, producer and all-round musicmaker tofubeats offers up the interminable bodymover that is 'WHAT YOU GOT'. Thudding kicks bump the track along its way, accompanied by disco-flavoured percussion, a twanging synth playing its elastic melody before rich robust piano chords hop into the mix with a hop, adding to the addictive rhythm, and then the groove comes together when the popping bass slides in with a vroooom at 01:24. This is the buckle-up moment. It dances along, vocals sleek with subtle autotune, snippets of brass piling on the celebratory vibe—uplifting is an understatement.

About a third of the way through we have a break in the house rhythms when the track receives a trap-leaning enrichment with vocodered vocals from YOUNG JUJU from Tokyo crew KANDYTOWN, alive in a whirl of smooth plasma synths and pugilistic snare rolls. A veritable gift of variation before the groovesome jubilation continues, jumping and leaping till the end jam-packed with more triumphal brass, with splashy peals of electric guitar solo decorating, with layers of what sounds like everyone – mainly including singer-songwriter sugar me – lending their voice to this decidedly bustling brightly coloured party-you-never-wanna-leave atmosphere. The feeling is feel-good, as the video will illustrate.

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• 🔔 This track is the latest of a cluster that's been shared from the new tofubeats album, FANTASY CLUB (others being from last year 'OPEN YOUR HEART' and eponymous 'FANTASY CLUB' and this year in video form, 'SHOPPINGMALL' and then 'BABY'). You will be able to purchase the whole thing from iTunes or something when the time comes (24th May).

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☟ tofubeats Internet Presence ☟
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VENTUREX – DO YOU REMEMBER

Quite possibly the most fantastic song we've heard from VentureX ever, but then again there's ultracool this footwork-flavoured track (called 「フットワーク」 which actually says 'footwork') from a while ago, and also VX's recent album Together released via supra-chilled label/collective Stratford CT., which is a go-to thing for me recently; it's been warm, food & drink's been had outside, I stick this album on – it suits the mood. So I take it back. It's probably not the MOST fantastic song ever from this person, but still: it IS fantastic.

It's the initial seasoning that had me, that repeating bit of FX-laden synth and the spicy bongos, both setting the scene for a track that's like cool sour cream on top of heavily jalapeñoed nachos: it's rich, warm, zingy and fresh all the same time. Samples arrive for the most part in unintelligible mouth movements, until the song's final part where its title loops again and again in a tirade of casual longing (after some searching, I reckon the sample is from Tegan and Sara's 'I Was a Fool').

A detail that stands out: A clap gets some spotlight and reverbs out into the middle of nowhere, painting a picture of even more depth in this funky house themed feast, already thick with layered sounds and seemingly perfect sample placement.

Chords twinge in satisfying syncopation sounding like they've come from pianos made of space jelly, and there's also some wibbling percussion like some kind of intergalactic candy dropping in puddles of, um, mountain dew? I'm not sure anymore. All I know is that this song moves out of the trappings of future funk to deliver a deeper sound, a more thoughtful and considered funky house perhaps, but ultimately a sound destined for the dancefloor – and if not, then at least it might turn the space which it fills INTO a dancefloor. YEAH. "

As far as we know this is a random SC upload. There might be more to come, like an "album" or an "EP", but it's probable that this is just an upload, something that a lot of people are still trying to come to terms with; don't worry, it's only the unknowable future at the door, you don't have to answer it right now.

• Wow, turns out I wrote about VentureX almost exactly a year ago. So far, the only way has been up. Keeps making great great songs.
• I know I mentioned it already but soliously you should check out VentureX's album Together – you'll love it, probably.

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☟ VentureX Social Media Presence ☟
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BLUFRANK TR-808 & A BABE

It might just be me (but then again if ONE person does it then it's probably quite likely that another person or multiple people will also do the same thing) but I like a song title or artist name or whatever kind of thing that requires you to look further into what exactly it is. Being the innocent mind that I am, I had to google 'TR-808' – and what fun! It's short for The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, "one of the first programmable drum machines" (thanks Wikipedia) and "TR" is an acronym of "Transistor Rhythm". There may be some of you out there thinking, "omg what stupid is this guy! HA ha!!" but to others who were wondering what BLUFRANK's song title meant, there you go.

Hang on, wait—what? Who's BLUFRANK? Don't worry. BLUFRANK is a producer from Cairo, Egypt, who makes mostly house (to use a very general and very useful term) music. The stuff about the TR-808 refers to this song, titled 'TR-808 & A Babe' – I can only imagine or guess that this was a fun time. It has to have been, surely? Sorry for being male.

The track is a minimalist escapade of house music, complete with ticking hi-hats claps and gloriously subbed-out kicks which give the track a juicy bedrock that shakes your very brain. Slightly atonal synth chords dip in and out of earshot as long-horizon glittering synth melodies soar across the landscape of the track. It's filled with a cheeky funk from 2:00 for around a minute, taking a different theme and running with it, changing back to that liquid-like flow for the final third. It's simplistic stuff but it works exceedingly well, combining bassy kicks more typical in hip hop or even juke with a future-facing house beat. The retro sounds of the synth is an obvious love for BLUFRANK, who is "inspired by the 60's, 70's, 80's, Cairo nightlife, love, dance-floors, bars, summertime, beaches" as they say on their Facebook page.

It's nice to hear a different take on dance music, one not ultra-minimalist nor wholly experimental nor completely stuck in the 80s. And something from Cairo! Which is fun, because I've never heard anything from Egypt. Oh, by the way, BLUFRANK has a load of other really nice songs on his SoundCloud – two very good ones are 'MID(s)' and the very sunny 'Never Ending Summer'. Bye!

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MAURICE AYMARD & GUI BORATTO HOME

So much of life is hassle, but then again so much of that hassle is life. To live carefree doesn't mean a lack of hassle; it is a lack of perceived hassle. Where do we stand but in our own minds considering our to-do lists, taking hesitant steps towards our futures with our pasts reluctantly shrinking behind? It is all there. And this is the mire of a life too-considered, thought of too-deeply, where merely the weight of reality is unshakeable and burdensome. So, yeah. Music is medicine for the human condition. Music is distraction. Music sounds good. No matter what type you like. Sing-alongs, cry-alongs, dance-alongs - whatever. It's all important.

Sorry about that. Don't mind me. I've just been thinking too much. Luckily I've been doing it whilst I've been listening to music so it's kinda like it could've all happened in a dream or something. And right now I'm sitting on a very housey cloud (no I'm not "on drugs", I just have an imagination) and its the glorious repetition of this kind of music that is good for p much hypnotising you and calming you down. In a different scenario though, like at night in a club, that repetition serves the same purpose - inducing a trance-like state - but fits the situation, making you dance like crazy and not calming but creating euphoria.

What's been doing this to me, you ask? Why, it's 'Home' by Maurice Aymard & Gui Boratto (whom I wrote about in August). This is the lead single from Maurice Aymard's forthcoming debut album, Between Stars (on Aymard's own label, Galaktika), which is gonna be - if this song is anything to go by - a cool collection of Latin-spiced house tunes.

'Home' is a great collaboration between Venezualan Barcelona-based Aymard and Brazil's Boratto, who flew to Barcelona and went "straight from the airport to Aymard's studio for an intense 24-hour session". What I noticed first is that, despite being house/dance music, everything here sounds completely organic, home-grown; there are real instrument sounds here ranging from shakers and bongo drums to bass guitar (complete with actual plucking sound and fingers moving along the strings) and drums in general: cymbals lightly crashing and understated hi-hat shuffle.

An organ with liquid chorus plays out some delicious jazzy chords which evoke watching the manic pace cities at night with tired eyes. The bassline is dripping with groove. Synth sounds join the party (or what could be a guitar) with a really nice tremolo melody, twinned with delayed lead synth that sends retro shudders through the whole thing and high-pitched strings help give that urban sense of drama.

And if that wasn't enough for you, the single includes a remix of the song by Berlin-based English producer & DJ, Jay Shepheard.

He gives it a more electronic twist, turning into something closer to a club track, whilst retaining and somewhat enhancing, with beefed up string section especially, that dramatic nocturnal feel that the original exuded. He takes some of the original tremolo melodies and stretches them out with major delay. Jazzy piano chords are interspersed throughout alongside a female vocal sample. The bass is now synthetic, with an 80s-style 'wah' to it; staccato synth chords also rapid-fire across the board in the second half of the track. Dreamy soft synth and strings lead us out to a medley of percussion.

Please, if you enjoyed this, keep an ear out for more from Mr Aymard to come.

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OKADADA SHIMIN POOL

A blast of summer as we head into the depths of Autumn, September engulfing us like a galaxy-sized blob of soggy days and slowly browning trees. Yep, a blast of summer. I think a blast of summer is what's needed right now. So I'm kinda glad I'm a month late for writing about this particular tune. It is by Osaka-based producer (or as they say, "DJ/Trackmaker" - I like "trackmaker", I'll use that one day) Okadada or okadada or OKADADA and it is called 'Shimin Pool'.

Which is funny, because it's kind of a pun. "Shimin pool" sounds a bit like "swimming pool" but also "shimin" in Japanese means citizen or community so it's "community pool" - hoho. In addition, it comes from a recent-ish compilation CD by netlabel Maltine Records called 市民プールサイド - or Community Poolside. Puns an' that - fun, no? Anyway it's cool and it's damn summery and I think I need to emigrate someplace warmer.

聴く〜　(Listen〜)

It begins with a rather funky selection of percussion - bongos and whatnot - which is the base of all good dance-a-thon: a few drums and you're well away, am I right? It's a lush blanket of beats that is a great warm-up to the rest of the song. Some modulating synth chords come in and lightly lead us to the house beat that accompanies us for the rest of the song. House piano chords make an appearance too, their warm timbre screaming "beach", "party", and "summer" and "summer beach party" all at once. The tempo here is also perfect. Just right for chilling or moving - you decide!

The lead string-synth on this song drip with liquid sunshine, it's like dappled light by an actual poolside or beachside as palm trees wave gently above. With an old-school twist to it - those kinds of strings just seem to have that vibe y'know? The vocals are cool too, faraway like a floating-and-melting-at-the-same-time pistachio ice cream in amongst the summery sounds. Then there's this groovy bass breakdown - yeah! - bwing boong de-ding bom bom... You know how a bass sounds anyway. Real organic sounding electric bass that taps yer bones. Nice dynamic when the vocals come back in - and a lead synth screeches in for the final part of the song. All in all: a much-needed dose of nostalgic 90s-esque funky slo-house that takes me away to a sunnier place for four minutes.

You can download the album on which 'Shimin Pool' appears, 市民プールサイド - or Community Poolside, on Maltine Records' site.

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