Day 09 - A song that you can dance to
I'm not the world's more elegant man, so while dancing is not something that comes naturally to me I do really enjoy myself when I do. I know that when I've been miserable dancing the blues away (preferably shirtless with a load of beary mates) is the perfect antidote.
So what kind of track makes me want to dance?
1) A strong beat. It actually doesn't have to be a square 4/4, there are some wonderfully danceable songs that switch time sigs without you noticing or are 12/8 rather than 4/4, or even have polyrhythmic sections, but it needs to have a rhythmic core to it.
2) Strong bass. In a club tracks without decent bass just die on their arse. When the bass and the percussion fuse at the centre of the track you have something magical that just makes you want to dance. This isn't confined to electronic music either - the best rock bands and all funk bands know that this is key. Even bands like The Smiths, that you maybe wouldn't think of as being very danceable, totally understood that the bass was part of the rhythmic core of the band.
3) Melody. It doesn't *have* to be a vocal but I generally speaking lose interest in tracks without any melody at all. I can't think of anything duller than a night of indistinguishable trance tracks. I think this is one of the reasons why a lot of hip-hop leaves me cold, its only when there is a melodic element to the rapping (interesting speech intonations) that rap starts to appeal to me. Singing doesn't even have to be good (hell - I love New Order, so good singing really is optional) but it gives me an emotional connection to the track.
So, a few tracks that have made me just get up and dance when I've heard them in a club in the last year or so.
Goldfrapp: Train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHnYe5Nj0F0
Little Boots: Remedy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McdqerXrwXE&ob=av2e
David Bowie: Queen Bitch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbDbQc3QdXU
So what kind of track makes me want to dance?
1) A strong beat. It actually doesn't have to be a square 4/4, there are some wonderfully danceable songs that switch time sigs without you noticing or are 12/8 rather than 4/4, or even have polyrhythmic sections, but it needs to have a rhythmic core to it.
2) Strong bass. In a club tracks without decent bass just die on their arse. When the bass and the percussion fuse at the centre of the track you have something magical that just makes you want to dance. This isn't confined to electronic music either - the best rock bands and all funk bands know that this is key. Even bands like The Smiths, that you maybe wouldn't think of as being very danceable, totally understood that the bass was part of the rhythmic core of the band.
3) Melody. It doesn't *have* to be a vocal but I generally speaking lose interest in tracks without any melody at all. I can't think of anything duller than a night of indistinguishable trance tracks. I think this is one of the reasons why a lot of hip-hop leaves me cold, its only when there is a melodic element to the rapping (interesting speech intonations) that rap starts to appeal to me. Singing doesn't even have to be good (hell - I love New Order, so good singing really is optional) but it gives me an emotional connection to the track.
So, a few tracks that have made me just get up and dance when I've heard them in a club in the last year or so.
Goldfrapp: Train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHnYe5Nj0F0
Little Boots: Remedy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McdqerXrwXE&ob=av2e
David Bowie: Queen Bitch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbDbQc3QdXU