Lars Dales and Maarten Smeets — aka Detroit Swindle — have come out of nowhere in the last few years to sucker punch the house scene.
Their releases so far (on renowned labels like Dirt Crew, Freerange and Tsuba) have been heavily influenced by that good ol' Motown sound, so we asked them to list their five favourite Motown classics.
1. Detroit Spinners — ‘It’s A Shame’
This one is a classic for us. The amount of blues in the lyrics, combined with the super happy guitar lick is great. The percussion is solid on this one as well and the whole vibe of the track really represents this era of sad love songs that pack a good groove.
2. Stevie Wonder — ‘Higher Ground’
We really love this wonky pearl. The chord progression and its energy are very contagious, something we really want to do with our tracks as well. This whole track was played by Stevie himself. Hohner clavinet, drums and Moog.
3. Martha Reeves And The Vandellas — ‘Nowhere To Run’
This song was used in ‘Good Morning, Vietnam’ and stuck in our heads ever since. Apparently they used snow chains as percussion elements next to the signature Motown tambourine.
4. Marvin Gaye — ‘Inner City Blues’
Marvin has to be in this list. But rather than his usual suspects (which are undeniably good), we chose this track. There’s so much sadness in this track, the slow reverb conga’s really adds to the dreamy vibe, a perfect bassline that is placed perfectly and Marvin’s voice to top it all off. Gil Scott Heron did a great version as well, by the way.
5. Eddie Kendricks — ‘Hold On, My People’
This track is far from an average Motown track, but is one of his best productions, we believe. It’s more of a spoken word thing, but the ‘Hold on, my people’ background vox is super catchy.
Detroit Swindle play the following venues:
Friday 21 Feb — Shape (Perth)Sat 22 Feb — Leased @ Ivy -Day (Syd)
Sat 22 Feb — Bowler Bar - Night (Bris)
Fri 28 Feb — Circus (Melb)
