Her Dark Materials: Sequins

The end is nigh. But what an end. 

That's what apocalypse preachers never tell you. Yeah, we're all going to go down in a blaze of fire and pain but nobody tells you what the soundtrack to the end of the world is going to be. 

If this is it, it might just be worth it. 

The final installment of the materials set is here. Our last material is sequins. Usually only allowed on New Year's Eve and representing celebration in its highest form. They are flashy, dramatic and ideal to dance in moving around strobe lights. 

What better music for it to represent than groovy disco house? There is no better music. Hands down the best subgenre of electronic music. It never fails to make you feel happy, it never fails to make you want to dance and it never fails to make you dive deep into the world of sampled 70's disco. 

One final time, let's do this. No shuffling, for the life of me, and no skipping tunes, for the life of you. 

Track one. We're due a warm-up first, so Give Me Your Love by Outunder is precisely that. It's slow and sultry and it's meant to get you in the mood. There's something in this song that I love about this genre and it's that it has a stop at the middle and it includes spoken vocals taken out of films, songs, poems or in this case, stand-up comedy. The djs usually manage to blend in this element perfectly with the organic beat that's the spine of the song. In this case, it's also combined with a series of moans that significantly makes it all hotter. The song never really picks up the pace but that's not what we want yet anyway. Open your ears, and gather your bearings, we're going on a sexy apocalyptic ride. 

Whistleblower by Rhode & Brown (the Hodini rework) picks up the pace a little. You can't sit still with this one. It keeps adding layers to the song with an actual whistle being one of them. The clear jazzy piano sequence works very well with the deep reverbed bassline and that's what holds the whole track together. There are no significant vocals in this one which is a fresh change since the rest of the list will rely heavily on them. Pantoufle by Georges follows in the same line as the previous track only it has a fantastic guitar riff holding the rest of the song up. 

For Electric Drama by Lovers, the sampled original music takes center stage and has a lot of weight in the track. There is a piece made up of sampled string instruments and some horn charts that fully open up the world of disco. The tune starts off quite slow so you might feel a slight comedown from Pantoufle but it has a fantastic build-up and reaches a good peak around minute 5. 

The Groovy Thing by Jamie Trench is a rough and funky rise in energy for the list and For You, I'm Sure by Tuesday Brunch has the same effect only with lighter punch to it. These two tracks are the signal that we're on a steady climb to reach our first point of climax.

I caught my hips doing a little dance while I was sat at my desk while listening to All Night by Art of Tones, so that must mean we're close. Similar to climbing Mount Everest and for a second the clouds disappear and you can see its peak. The looped bassline reminds me vaguely of Music Sounds Better With You by Stardust and overall it has a very Daft Punk feel to it. This means nothing other than those two artists had heavy disco influences when making their music. 

Ten points to whoever can tell me what song is sampled in Partylife by Stefano Ritteri. I've heard it before. Trillions of times. And I have the original stashed somewhere in my Spotify but I can't friggin put my finger on the title or artist of it. Anyway. The track keeps the steady groove going as it greets you with "welcome to the 70s". There is an abrupt stop around minute 4 that genuinely had me thinking something had happened to the computer, but it breaks magnificently seconds later. I think at that point I said out loud "youuu dog, you" while I shook my index finger at the screen.  

Our first almighty high comes at Peter Brown's Troubles (the Richard Earnshaw Remix). It has it all, a quick bit, groovy basslines, a looped piano sequence and screaming soulful vocals.  Completely feelgood with its intervals in energy so within the song we find pauses and splurges of vigour. 

Watashi No Sukinahito by Boku Wa takes us to the Japanese disco scene and keeps the tempo going. There is a full dancefloor and neon lights of pink and blue bouncing off every single sequin. 

Call it House by Never Dull is the start of a slight comedown. Nevertheless, it's potentially my favourite song on the list. That guitar riff with the broken backing vocals work too well in my ears. An ode to house music and an ode to funk. Despite the track not being as lively as the previous ones, it will still have you moving around in your chair unconsciously. It will do so in a slightly sexier and cooler way.

The next subsection is still house music obviously but it gradually gives the electronic less of an importance and it starts to sound a lot more like standard disco or funk music. More powerful vocals, more strings working together and those keyboards that are always at the foundation of the tracks. This mood is encapsulated perfectly by Voodoo? by L'Imperatrice (the Lazywax remix).

I flipped this around with Humans by Night Tapes (the Franc Moody remix), electronic sounds come back into the scene big time and the bassline has an artificial feel to it. The original song is so sweet, ethereal and soft that the remix sounds like a completely different track. It has no resemblance at all. They're both equally enjoyable. 

And since it's the end of the end, I decided to go out with a massive bang. I had trouble deciding what to finish off with so like in The Lord of the Rings, I decided to have multiple endings. The end of the end starts at My Body Moves by Robbie Rivera and Elizabeth Gandolfo (the Soul Speech remix). We have the vocals and that looped piano driving everyone nuts in a good way. It has a little more electronic beats than what I'm used to enjoying in this type of house music but it works very well regardless. 

Experience by Sum Bloke is the heart of the subgenre. It has it all, There's a sax solo that's lost somewhere in the middle just before it drops and the first time I heard it, I literally spiraled out of control. I think I said, "Well now you're just showing off". Ex.Quisite. 

Shift by Phil Fuldner doesn't even let you rest. Even for a second. The curious thing about this one is that it has all the similar elements as the rest of the tunes on the list but the vocals are clearly taken out of somewhere within the reggae scene. So it has a little bit of an edge in that sense but still respects the mood of the selection. 

End your lists properly because it will be the last thing everyone will listen and it's how it makes them feel is that they'll remember. I said I wanted to go out with a bang. And I did. But There Must Be Something by Freiboitar doesn't start off that way. It has a little jazz workings that it builds up on. A sweet high-key piano that coexists with an almost bothersome noise. All of this with the sampled soulful vocals of Friday Saturday & Sunday-There Must Be Something. It's not the bang I thought I wanted but it's definitely the one I needed.

All good things come to an end and that is a good thing in itself.

I will not be posting soon. (that way if I do it's just a pleasant surprise for myself)