Pattycakes summer 25

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty


First song that came to mind when the gauntlet was laid down. Soon as it kicks the sun starts pouring out the speakers. Shabba's velvet voice floating above the toughness of the riddim . The interplay of both creating a tension that never resolves for the duration. It never let's up, like the Carribean sun relentlessly beating down, putting you in a sweet and sweaty daze. Summer in a nutshell. Bonus points for some of the best doppel booyakas committed to tape.
 
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pattycakes_

Can turn naughty


Agent K, aka Kaidi Tatham along with a cohort of west London bruk scene dons on some Airto and Flora (plus friends) after hours Brazilian villa jam session vibeage. Meditative and carefree in equal measure.
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty


Speaking of rhythmic interplay and hazy Brazilian jam sessions: Azymuth are pretty hard to beat. Like the Shabba track, you have opposing forces at work here. The sweetness of the harmony and melodies working against some fairly challenging rhythmic moves throwing you off course, only to bring you back to that syrupy groove-zone like you never left in the first place. The title translates to High Party so let your mind drift as applicable.
 

thirdform

pass the sick bucket


Agent K, aka Kaidi Tatham along with a cohort of west London bruk scene dons on some Airto and Flora (plus friends) after hours Brazilian villa jam session vibeage. Meditative and carefree in equal measure.

been waiting for someone to revive some of the more, ahem, connoisseur end of West London broken beat. I'd do it but I've been stereotyped as some kind of boorish, homophobic, gabba knucklehead, no idea why when the gabber/hardcore stuff I like is military intelligence, but hey ho.
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
Oh wait a minute, what's this?

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pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
Revive.

First instinct with this thread was to go with tunes that capture the madness of summer. The sensation of being sun-blasted and baked by sticky streets with relief found in cold beverages and big wedges of watermelon. Summer dresses and urban tension. Crazy drivers raging. Hazy heat wave days where you're relegated to the couch because you can't do fuck all apart from take a cold shower every 2 hours and wait til it lets up at night. Beaches overloaded with pasty families and dropped ice creams. Sand stuck to your skin. Sea salt in your hair. Grilled meat. Broken AC and a paltry fan that feels like it's making it worse. Out of your mind and loving it. Walking around at night in t-shirt and shorts. There's a magic to it. The submission it forces you into.

Looking at the 3 already posted I think I'm gonna try and alternate between the madness and release

So: this one still has some tension, but it's close to bursting and sweet sweet relief is right around the corner



The wind's in your sails and despite it all you're finally getting your shit together. You came through. Took the hits. Walking down some crowded city street with all manner of heaving madnesses pulsing, pushing, shoving at and around you but you're sailing through it. None of it touches you and it feels fucking great.
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty


If I ever had to pick an anthem, this would be it. No other tune quite manages to work a Super Mario power-up 🍄 style effect on me like this one. The message is clear and the groove drives it home, hard. The toughness of the beat, James D-Train's soaring vocals, Hubert Eaves' ever-infectious key work all stirring up to make a heady ass brew of ripping dancefloor energy. But, above all, it's the synth bass with all those adlibs that really drive me crazy. Especially at the 3 minute mark when it breaks down and slowly builds back up. The bassline evokes a panther lithely stalking through the jungle. Larry Levan used to have the Garage going nuts with this one. People acting out the lyrics. Some even crying. Francois K's dub elaborated on this section and teased it out for even longer.

Listen, I can't let nobody keep me from reachin' the top
Don't you give up for nothing
Keep on 'til you get by
Reach, reach, reach, you're almost there
If you have a goal, set it in your mind
Reach for it, say to yourself, "This will be mine"
K-E-E-P, pressin' O-N
Spells keep on, keep on pressin', my friend
Ain't no half steppin' you've got to keep on pressin

The delivery is otherworldly. You really believe it. Easy one of the greatest tunes ever.

Bonus live version:



Oh yeah, and this one would be filed under tension release
 
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pattycakes_

Can turn naughty


Some tunes you just need to hear the drum intro to recognize a song and know what's about to come. For me, this is one such tune. Aside from the odd fill to let us know something's about to happen, the drums do not deviate from their simple pattern for the duration. And it's that repetition of boom bap boom bap, in it's cooler-than-thou tempo, that provide an anchor for all the other elements to seductively lope and sway in between, giving it an irresistible swing for the listener to groove along to. The taking it's timeness of the groove, yet with an ever so subtle sense of urgency and anticipation. Little is left to the imagination of what might be at the end of the cross-town journey conjured by the lyrics here. The production is smooth and the parts are playing sweet and innocent but the snare manages to sneak a little roughness in there, just to let you know it isn't all going to be rainbows and rose petals.

Somehow the thread theme keeps mentally bringing me to NYC in summer, and this tune is another where I can see the tall buildings and feel that nighttime heat radiating from the flagstones. The city is tough, but there's passion to be found..


on certain rooftops.
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty


Turning the tempo knob even further down with this one. A slow-release capsule of epically proportioned jazz-funk. After another recognizable drum intro, the synth lets you know the dials are set out toward the cosmos and the undulating waves of molten honey-groove goodness let you know we're in no hurry. Space age soul in hi-def 70s gloss. Beautiful restraint at play here, holding way back. Makes for the most satisfying build of tension up to climax, of which there are several, and then the release back down to the core groove. A perfect set opener to lay out your intentions for a night of musical hanky panky.
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty


Dawn, the morning after the last two picks. Shagged out and still lightly buzzing, you roll a spliff and the sun, already warming up, beams through the cracks in the curtains making a pineapple top on the ceiling. The weed is kind and only melts you further together. Time has disappeared and all cares are gone. Outside, you can hear the city softly bustle. A few cars and a rubbish truck loading it's cargo. You wonder for a second about what music to put on and decide to hit shuffle. This comes on.
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty


Yet another drum intro that sets off the choon signal. A bunch of people who made the stuff being posted in the Chicago House thread will no doubt have danced to and been influenced by this one. Was a massive hit in the clubs in the States and much of Europe in the mid 80s. Who knows what he's singing, but it sounds like he means it, and that driving quarter note pulse makes this one a perfect bridge record from one vibe to another. Some time signature play and the contrast between the melodic sweetness and the thrust of that pulse make for compelling listening. Sounds so simple but there's all these little musical tricks going on. Classy stuff. On top of all that you have this mostly dry, quasi-rapping style that Tullio employs to hypnotic effect. Was that an Italian thing? Another tune I have lined up uses a similar technique. The whole tune feels like the end titles of one of those day-glo 80s comedies where everyone's doing a conga line around a pool in some holiday resort after the good has prevailed and the camera starts to zoom out and the credits begin to roll. Infectious joy.
 
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