Brooklyn based, nine member ensemble Midnight Magic released their new LP, Walking The Midnight Streets, this November. The band describes themselves as, "the secret love children of Donna Summer and George Clinton serving up an orgasmic feast of funk, disco, electro and soul," and I am finding it difficult to come by a better explanation of their eclectic, retro-influenced dance jams.
This album contains songs with a lot of movement. New sounds come in and out and each song develops and transitions, never becoming stagnant on any one segment of music. It all starts with the first track, "Walking In The Midnight Streets." This song establishes right away that this collection of music is, with all of it's genre influences, primarily a dance record. It kicks in with a pulsing bass drum and looped vocals repeating "fire," with distant, added interjections of an Omnichord. This song takes time building momentum and doesn't really take off until about a minute and fifteen seconds in, where together enter a funky piano riff along with Tiffany Roth's soulful vocals reminiscent of Grace Slick.
Walking The Midnight Streets, continues in this fashion, opening many of it's track with an infectious beat. The song, "Red Rain," offers haunting vocals with nonsensical phrases such as, "Bright Blue High Noon." Roth harmonizes with her self and although we have heard a kind of depth and soulfullness to her voice in previous tracks, she is able to tone it down for the robotic detached vocal in this song. The lyrical direction of Midnight Magic is focused around creating rich and surreal imagery to go with the their sometimes galactic sounding instrumentation.
While the genre influences and retro stylings of this group are unmistakable, they still manage to keep everything sounding fresh. Their sound is not merely a rehashing of the late 1970's, but rather an expansion of this kind of musical tradition. What keeps their sound new is the unique tones and instrumental arrangements, where traditional sounds of horns are distorted and matched with electronic synths in a way that makes it difficult to pick out what is synthesized and what is not.
Dance music is repetitive for good reason, however, after the sixth track of Walking The Midnight Streets, a musical fatigue sets in as there is no real break from the upbeat. Songs begin to blend together and the music becomes better suited as something more quiet and background. Walking The Midnight Streets is a fun record that you might want to play at the next dance party you have with your friends. It got me moving and grooving and I will likely come back to some of its tracks when I want to cut loose.
Grade: B
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