Factory Floor get lumped with words like industrial and grimy, bleak and difficult, but sexy? Yes, because with this, their debut release through DFA, they’ve taken the pulverising motorik of earlier work and refined into something that no longer sounds like two malfunctioning forklifts rutting violently against each other. An incessant arpeggio hammers throughout and Nik Colk’s ephemeral vocals, once angular and distraught, have grown into something haunting and powerful much like the band themselves, they seem more assured and ready, no longer relying on the features of the genres that spawned them to bolster their sound, here they deploy drum machine claps and overlapping synth lines with terrifying ease. Lying underneath it all is an amorphous wall of multi-layered percussion that recalls both Late of The Pier and 808’s era Kanye. Success still hasn’t found Factory Floor, but on the basis of Two Different Ways, it seems like they’re keen to find it for themselves.
Joe Goddard is a man with his fingers in many pies: vocalist/percussionist/synth man from off-beat electronic pop band Hot Chip; one half of house-inspired duo 2 Bears; remixer, producer, and solo artist. The latter’s latest offering is the title track of a joint- released, four track EP on DFA records and Goddard’s own Greco-Roman label. Featuring new songstress Valentina’s effortlessly beautiful vocals, this is a laidback and understated track. By this very nature this means that it is also a bit of a slow burner , but give it a couple of listens and the insistent, dance floor-ready drums and hypnotic melody will have you hooked. The track is apparently inspired by Goddard’s love of songs with a religious focus, and aims for "that gospel feeling" that such songs evoke, hence the name 'Gabriel', which is also a reference to the Roy Davis Jr song (Which is, in Joe’s words, "a garage classic")
It may drift by during listening, not unpleasantly I may add, sending you into a foot-tapping, head-nodding daze, but that hook will be on the brain long after it’s done. This song is further proof that Goddard really understands what he’s doing: he truly knows how to make clever, beautiful music. Oh, and it has a pretty trippy video too.
