Finding the Rhythm

Despite being a DJ, I often (actually, I almost always) find out about new music the same way everyone else does—somebody tells me about it, or I happen to stumble upon it on a download site like Beatport. One track that was released in 2006 but that just got my attention is one from Candy Coated Chaos titled Take Me Home Tonight.

This girl trio from Jersey sort of reminds me of Exposé, the 80s girl trio, in that: 1. You take a trio of young ladies. 2. You doll them up to make them look as sexy as possible in promo photos. 3. You match them up with the right producers. 4. You pick the right songs. 5. Success follows.

While I don’t know if these girls will make it all the way to #5 on that list, they seem to have the first four steps covered.

Take Me Home Tonight is, of course, the classic Eddie Money song (also, like Exposé, from the 80s, where seemingly all the good remake fodder comes from these days). And theirs is a very interesting take on the song, I have to say. It has the great electric guitar sounds I’ve blogged about recently, so there’s a little taste of a rock edge. And the girls are effected-up enough in the mix sufficiently to disguise whatever talent shortcomings they may or may not have. Producers Fayden and Jadion did an admirable job bracketing the girls’ vocals with a catchy groove, that, after remixing by San Antonio’s Dan Matthews and Sam Michaels (Klubjumpers) shines with a somewhat classic Miami-esque sound.

In any event, of the songs recently to catch my attention, this one is a fave, and apt to be part of my sets for awhile to come.

One of the advantages of DJ’ing in Second Life is that it’s radio-like, as I’ve said before. I talk about the music (probably to excess), promoting the artists, and encouraging people to actually buy the music (what a novel concept, that). But I have to say, whether it’s the record labels, legal issues, or a combination of those, the industry doesn’t always make it very easy.

I recently received a DJ promo of a song ostensibly by über-DJ Matt Darey entitled Beautiful Day. Originally released back in December, it’s apparently getting a promotional push by whatever record company is behind it. That’s all well and good, but even Darey’s own web site doesn’t credit the song to him.

The promo is credited as:  Matt Darey - Beautiful Day (Sunburst Mix)

Darey’s site credits it (mix unknown) as:  Sunburst feat. Antoine and Marcia Juell - Beautiful Day

So, what’s the deal? Did Matt record it and Sunburst mixed it, or vice-versa? Apparently the latter is the accurate credit for the song, although at this point, I don’t actually know. But between Matt’s web site, and Juell’s web site, I’m reasonably certain that my promo copy is crediting the wrong artist—and failing completely to credit the fabulous vocal work done by Antoine and Juell.

Why is this even a problem, you might ask? Who really cares? Maybe not a lot of music enthusiasts care, but if I were the original artist,  Antoine (one half the dance duo “Second Sun”), or Marcia Juell, it probably would matter to me to get noticed for the work I’ve done. It’s also hard to buy music when you can’t find the right track, and I have to believe that’s an issue for music enthusiasts and artists alike.

As I mentioned a moment ago, of particular note with the Darey song is the absence of any credit at all on the promo copy to the vocalists.  The dance genre is unique in that the “artist” and the “vocalist(s)” are ordinarily quite independent from one another. (More accurately, we might say the “producer” and the “vocalist” actually.) In my view, both deserve to share the spotlight and get the credit they deserve, so that fans of the music can actively look for more from that producer, and the fans of the vocalist can look for more of that voice. Andrea Britton and Tiff Lacey, for example, have distinctive voices, have worked with multiple producers, are extremely talented individuals, and frankly deserve their own fans. If the vocalist isn’t credited at all, how are we supposed to know? And to the industry: How are we supposed to find and buy more of their music?

Alas, this sort of outright miscrediting, confusing crediting and/or lack of crediting is hardly uncommon. A much more prevalent example of it is when artists have different names in different locales, generally for legal reasons, but occasionally for other ones. For example, Hoxton Whores out of the UK is named The Hoxtons in the US, and the only reason is ostensibly to avoid rubbing the wrong way Americans’ puritan sensibilities.  Shapeshifters, also out of the UK, is known as Shape:UK in the US for legal reasons. And as I mentioned before, the song 9 to 5 is credited to New Emotion in the UK, and Fabulous DJs in the US for completely unclear reasons. (And couldn’t they come-up with something better than “Fabulous DJs?”)

Certainly naming conflicts and trademark issues are hardly new, and are understandable. But when songs are miscredited or confusingly credited or lack proper credit, nobody really wins. And those of us who are actively helping to promote music most definitely have a harder time doing our job.

One of the things I enjoy about the dance music genre is that it doesn’t seem to take itself all that seriously. Look no farther than the cover of Pure Imagination, essentially a jazz standard style of song from the original Willy Wonka movie that was covered by DJ Ford out of Atlanta in 2006. Not only does it demonstrate that you can turn about any song into a dance cut, it shows that it actually can be done with some level of finesse.

I was simultaneously excited and disappointed, however, when I received a promo of a cover of the old Dolly Parton song 9 to 5 as sung by Sally Jacks, and produced by New Emotion (in the UK), credited instead to Fabulous DJs in the USA. The original version was released to coincide with the movie 9 to 5 in which Parton starred, in case you’re unaware, and was a hit single at the time, and somewhat typical, I suppose, of pop songs from the era.

The New Emotion/Sally Jacks cover is faithful to the original—and in my view, is excessively so. Jacks doesn’t break any new ground, opting instead to emulate Parton end-to-end. And the arrangement and production offer little other than tacking a dance beat on to a synthetic redux of the original.

It’s pretty widely understood that many dance covers start life as a MIDI file of the original song. These things float pretty freely around the Internet, as they did on BBSs before that. Who creates them is anyone’s guess; I suppose there are some folks who have nothing better to do that sit down with a GM interface and a keyboard and replicate arrangements.

But what separates the wheat from the chaff in this area is just how much chopping you do, and to what extent you do instrument and patch remapping (as well as how well you do it). On one extreme, you end-up with Ford’s Pure Imagination, which is inventive, fresh and interesting. And on the other extreme, you end-up with New Emotion/Sally Jacks, which is so familiar as to be boring and tiresome after just a few plays. It’s really the difference between something that’s substantive, and something that’s possessive of little more than novelty value.

Cover songs are tricky, no doubt. You do, in fact, have to be loyal enough to the original to engage the listener. But you can’t simply run a beat under the same old, same old and expect successful results. It doesn’t work, and your audience will start yawning the second time they hear it.

With 9 to 5, that’s sort of unfortunate. Despite the fact that the original is pop pap in the extreme, in the hands of the right producer, the outcome could have been so much more.

One of my favorite releases from last year was Destination, written and performed by Jacinta Brondgeest (who perhaps for obvious reasons goes by her first name only). It was a catchy tune with a cool groove that founds its way into nearly every gig I played for several months.

Jacinta is back this year with a new dance single entitled Can’t Keep It a Secret, which she co-wrote with producer Tony Moran. While I’ve only heard one of the mixes so far, it’s another strong new track from an obviously very talented artist.

I’ll leave the details of her bio to her own web site, but one of the things I really dig about Jacinta is the face that she actually writes her own music. So many so-called “dance artists” are really just vocalists who lend their voice to the works of others. (Notably, Ultra Naté comes to mind, not that I dislike her or think she’s untalented—nothing could be farther from the truth. But she’s a singer, and only a singer.) Singing is a genuine talent, no doubt. But the ability to belt-out a tune in a capable manner, and write the lyrics, and write the music, and perform the music… Well, it’s a rare combination, especially in the world of dance music.

Now admittedly, Can’t Keep It a Secret is a collaboration with a famous producer, so perhaps I’m contracting myself here. But you can really hear the influences and commonalities between this new track and her older songs (which you can sample on her web site as well), and she and Moran—in whatever balance—really pulled it off with this one.

There’s a definite trend in dance music lately with rock influences, and I find it pretty interesting and fresh, actually.

Of course, it started with the obvious: Dance remixes of popular alt rock like The Killers, Coldplay, etc. That’s been happening for years now to good effect. But while those are alt rock songs, and the original flavor has been retained, most of the mixes are distinctly stronger in dance feel than rock feel.

I probably first noticed this with the Redanka mix of Meck’s Feels Like Home. Meck, the alias of UK DJ Craig Dimech, apparently had a huge UK smash dance hit with Thunder in My Heart, a song I must confess I haven’t heard. But Feels Like Home certainly got my attention, and in no small part due to the fact that it grafts a dance beat onto an otherwise very rock-like composition, arrangement and production. Frankly, it’s one of the freshest sounding dance tracks I’ve heard in a long time.

CAPP Records out of California are working on a new compilation for summer release, to be titled Bounce. One of the songs on the new compilation is a cover of the Cranberries song Zombie from Andrew Spencer and the Vamp Rockerz. CAPP provided me with an advance copy of the song-in-progress, and I’ve even played it a few times during my gigs. The song was received quite well, but it takes the concept of rock and dance blends to a new level.

The radio edit of the track begins with a 100% rock sound. In fact, the casual listener would think it’s the original version of the Cranberries’ own song. But not far in, there’s a clever and catchy transition from rock to a thumpy, irregular kick drum that then levels out into the usual four-on-the-floor dance beat. At that point, it’s classic dance cover material. Finally, at the end, it’s back to the rock roots again.

I’ve not heard the true dance remixes yet, and I have a hard time envisaging how the producers will retain that feel in a version of the song intended for beat matching, but I hope they can pull it off, because the radio version leaves my musical ear totally off-kilter and confused—in a very pleasing way indeed.

Time will tell if this new approach from Meck, Andrew Spencer / CAPP Records and others persists. But from where I sit, it’s a fresh, grab-your-crotch-and-get-your-attention take on club dance music.