LadyDot Review: Musical Inspirations For Electro Swing Dancers (Part 1)
Dear Electro Swing Dancers! You know very well how much we enjoy watching you dance to the music we love and listen to every day. This can be seen from the many positive comments on our Facebook profile, the amount of reactions and the fact that more and more people want to learn to dance like you! To mark the occasion, I thought it would be a good idea to put together an article to provide you with plenty of musical inspiration, even though I have two left feet myself, haha! I’ve decided to put together the most danceable tracks and I’m very curious to see if you use this music for your new videos! I decided to divide this article into two parts. Today, I’m going to recommend songs by Parov Stelar and Caravan Palace, i.e. the artists whose songs you are most likely to dance to, and songs by producers who make music individually or as a duo. And next time, in Part 2, I’ll recommend the best Electro Swing bands’ dance tracks and ready-made playlists on Spotify.
My Favourite Songs To Dance To – Parov Stelar And Caravan Palace
I’ve noticed that you’re very keen to dance to the tunes of Parov Stelar (who I’ve interviewed and you can read it HERE!) and Caravan Palace, the biggest stars of Electro Swing. I’m glad that, like me, you love ‘Booty Swing’, ‘Catgroove’, ‘All Night’, ‘Libella Swing’, ‘Lone Digger’, ‘Black Betty’ and ‘Rock It for Me’. In fact, my adventure with Electro Swing music started with these songs. I will give you even more inspiration to dance to the songs of these two artists!
Parov Stelar… Well, I’ll always have a fondness for “Silent Shuffle”. That’s right, the shuffle! One is tempted to do a shuffle dance to this rather tranquil song that so wonderfully lulls and inspires! And do you know “Sally’s Dance”? The name itself suggests that you can dance, play and go wild to this song. Also worth noting is the ‘Clap Your Hands’ EP, from which comes the fantastic title track ‘Clap Your Hands’, for which Parov Stelar used samples from Glenn Miller’s timeless song ‘Doin’ the Jive’. So clap your hands and do the jive! I also recommend you one of my favourite tracks, ‘The Ride’, which I love to dance to myself. Although believe me you wouldn’t want to see it, haha!
Caravan Palace released their first album in 2008 and it was an amazingly danceable record with bangers such as ‘Dragons’, ‘Jolie Coquine’, ‘Suzy’ and ‘Brotherswing’. In addition to these, I think you would also dance great to ‘Dramophone’ and ‘Beatophone’ from the ‘Panic’ album. For me, “Mighty” and “Wonderland” are always the ones to get me going and I have to admit that they are my party favourites. When I play these tracks at a party, nobody can sit still.
My Favourite Tracks To Dance To – Electro Swing Producers And Duets
I also wanted to prove to you that it is not only Parov Stelar and Caravan Palace who have very danceable songs. It is also worth noting the songs of other Electro Swing producers that they have created just for you to dance to! It is impossible to list all the artists I love, but I will try to give you as much inspiration as possible.
I don’t need to introduce Wolfgang Lohr and his energetic, unique musical style to anyone. With my eyes I can see you dancing to ‘Twenties’, ‘Keep On Smilin’, ‘Friend Like Me’ and ‘Don’t Drink & Jive’ (created in collaboration with Glenn Gatsby. Ah, Glenn Gatsby has some very cool rhythmic and energetic songs too – ‘Posin’ or ‘I Wonder Where’, for example). I also came across a post on one of the groups on Reddit recently where one user was searching for an Electro Swing song, knowing only a snippet of the lyrics. It turned out to be a song by Wolfgang Lohr and Alanna Lyes – ‘Upside Down’. And I can guarantee that this song is very danceable!
Mentioning Wolfgang Lohr, I absolutely have to talk about his song ‘Magic Man’, which he produced with the duo Balduin and the great vocalist J Fitz. Firstly, this song is simply brilliant and I totally fell in love with it from the first listen. And secondly, it’s very rhythmic and you can have a great time to it. Balduin did another great song with Wolfgang Lohr – ‘Dizzy’. And besides that, for dancing I recommend you some other fantastic hits by the Balduin duo: “Wabababa”, “YATO”, “Melody”… Well, to quote that last song: “Listen to the rhythm, feel the melody…”. and let yourself dance while recording videos that we’re happy to publish on our social channels! 😊
My Favourite Tracks To Dance To – Electro Swing Producers And Duets
I always associate the work of New Zealand producer Odd Chap with incredible energy. So I’m sure you will discover inspiration in his tracks and dance to these diverse songs. That being said, I would probably have to dedicate an entire article to his songs if I wanted to list all the ones that are perfect for dancing. So I have chosen a few of my favourite songs that I find fantastic to dance to, and they are: “Day & Night”, “Timepiece Power” (it’s a banger!), “Out of My Mind”, “Let’s Start Again” (a remix of the Cut Capers track), “(Hey, Brother) What Have You Done?”.
When writing an article about musical inspiration for dancing, I absolutely have to mention Jamie Berry. His distinctive Electro Swing style will really excite anyone! I know you love dancing to ‘Delight’ and ‘Lost In The Rhythm’, but do you know songs like ‘Make Your Move’, ‘Shenanigans’ (just perfect for shuffle dancing!), ‘Guilty Pleasure’, ‘Make Me Believe’, ‘Sweet Rascal’? If not, be sure to listen to them and let your feet do the dancing!
Jamie Berry also produced a great single with PiSK (from Swingrowers) and Octavia Rose, namely ‘Morning Light’, but let me tell you about PiSK’s tracks in the second part of this article, which will be out in a few weeks. 😊
My Favourite Electro Swing Tracks That You May Not Know Yet
Dimaa… I cannot describe how much I love the musical work of this French Electro Swing producer. I even wrote an article about his tracks, which I still listen to very often (you can read it HERE). My dream is that he will eventually release some new songs, but in the meantime, I highly encourage you to listen to (and dance to, of course!) these tracks: “Make Me Enjoy !”, “Mister Fly”, “Gadget O Swing”, “Out of Time”, “0 O’clock”, “The Way of Life”, “Fausse Coupe”, “Magic Tree”.
I don’t know if you know these songs, but I’d love for you to appreciate them and maybe dance to them too… 😊I’m very curious to see if any of you use these inspirations, even though they are at the very end of the article: C2C – “Happy”, Ghost Toaster – “SUNNY SIDE UP”, Ginkgoa – “Boy Bounce”, Johnny Wright – “Big Bad Wolf”.
Remember, I check your social media feeds regularly and will be pleased to see that you have danced to the songs I have recommended to you. Keep an eye on our website, because we will soon be publishing part two of this article – with recommendations of Electro Swing bands’ songs and ready-made playlists!
Written & reviewed by LadyDot (Ja, Wizeruk) Date: 2023-11-20
Bio – LadyDot
Anna (LadyDot) was born in ’94, but always felt she came from the Golden Twenties. “Polka” in Polish means “girl from Poland”, so she’s “Polka in polka dots”. She loves vintage style and spontaneous travels around Europe. But her greatest love (apart from her husband) is of course music, especially Electro Swing, Funk, Swing Hop and French Electronic Music.
Anna works at a Polish music label, where she coordinates the physical production of CDs and vinyl records. Music is therefore not only her passion, but also her job!