Feel-good music is essential to my dance floor. If I don't see someone throwing their arms in the air and grinning like a Cheshire cat, I'm not doing my job. I've always thought of the dance floor as a place to escape for a little while and release some tension. The happier the music, the easier it is to let some steam out.
So what makes a song happy? Well, I could digress into technical babble about minor chords and syncopated beats, but let's not go there. There are a few things I listen for in new music when I'm trying to capture that 'happy groove'.
Disco beats always win. Although some of you may wince at the thought of disco, there is nothing like a tambourine and a healthy dose of hi-hats to brighten up any track. Disco also brought us those glorious quick-plucked bass lines. A 'boogie groove' is always happy. An excellent example is 'Love Hangover' by Diana Ross. Speed that up and you've got the modern disco beats the dance floor lives for.
Blues and jazz riffs using saxophones or flutes are always a plus. There is something in the way a screaming sax sounds that makes a lot of folks smile.
And speaking of screaming, hollering divas are essential to my play list. If she sings about love, loss, overcoming hard times, or even God, it's perfect. Powerful vocals always win.
Subliminal Soul has released a great feel-good track called 'Cabrio House' remixed by Dave Storm. With a diva hollering 'Can You Feel It?' and a rolling disco sound accented with sax riffs, this track is essential happy music for my 'floor.
A Latin flavored track called 'Yah Yah' by Soulmagic has also recently come out on the Soulfuric Deep label. Piano keys dance around an almost Spanish guitar line with spare vocals floating in and out of the track. It's blissfully happy music with a groove that doesn't quit. The lovely people at Soulfuric have even included the raw beats and the a cappella vocals to really trick out your dance floor...
With one of those grooves that you slip into during the early morning, a late night track has come to us on the apropos 3AM label. Alex Moran's 'New Fish To Fry' had me sold from the first jazzy beat. It's a break-beat groove infused with early 90's vocal stabs and those digitally-retro keyboards that everyone is loving right now. This is the kind of after hours music that you'll want to wind down your evening with.
Happily with you in 4/4,
Peter Mavrik
petermavrik@hotmail.com