Grum(p)y

So, I've had a phenomenal amount of work lately, and because I've yet to do anything towards reducing it, I still have a phenomenal amount. Sucks to be me. However, I intend to have it all done by the 12th, so from that point on normal posting will resume.

Anyway, because it's been some time since I posted, I have a backlog of banging tracks and summer-type tunes to put up before they become too unfashionably old.

So, 5 tunes for today, varying from super-hype electro to acoustic-electronic fiddling, but all with the essential property of amazingness in common.

I have blogging powerhouse discodust to thank, as I so often do, for the first tune on my list: Ellie Goulding's cover of 'Black & Gold'. Now, 'Black & Gold' is obviously, like, soooo old now, but Goulding's cover adds some summer (this is a key word for today, I'm trying to destroy rain) freshness to it with a nice bit of clapping, some melodic acoustic strumming and an ... interesting singing voice. When I say interesting, I'm referring mostly to her accent, which is ...erm... unusual, and not her actual technique - she sings beautifully. But also weirdly. Anyway, the cover is very good, very chilled, and overall puts a very nice spin on the original. It's different - Goulding's style is fairly unique. She uses a combination of acoustic and soft synth elements (like a more laidback Friendly Fires, I guess, without the percussion) to create a sound which I imagine will get her all sorts of critical attention. Hopefully. The rest of her stuff is also worth checking out, for those who are interested.

Where to go from there? Let's go East, vaguely in the direction of Paris, where DatA hails from. Cheers to deathelectro for the heads up on this one. I imagine most people will know DatA either because of his tunes 'Aerius Light' or 'Rapture' (both laced with awesome), and his new track 'One In A Million' draws on both of those to make a very ear-friendly club banger. I've been listening mostly to the Club Remix, actually, because it's slightly more hardcore, and thats the one I've put below. However, the original, unadulterated version is there to see, for free, on his myspace. The video is pretty trendy, (some guy turns up to a house party in a wolf costume/ Partying ensues) and the song has all the elements of a good electro piece - funky bassline, bright synths, sing-along vocals, happy times.

Now it's dubstep time. Everyone loves dubstep! It's the new bandwagon. In an attempt to secure my seat upon it, allow me to point you in the direction of Caspa's 'I Remember' remix. It's good. I'm a huge fan of the original, and I was a little worried that Caspa wouldn't do it justice, but he keeps it fairly simple. And anyone who's heard the Caspa mix of 'Moments in Love' will know what I mean when I say 'simple' - he basically adds a cracking drum beat and a warbly dubstep bass, but it's a fairly decent take on a solid summer anthem. (Caspa and Rusko also did a fairly tasty mix of 'We Are I.E.' recently, which is worth checking out.)

To be honest, all the tracks above are solid, but they aren't quite summery enough for me. And what with clouds threatening to return again and make us all miserable, I need summer tunes. 'Something Good Can Work', by Two Door Cinema Club (you know they're cool, because they have 'club' in their name), is a step in the right direction. The guitar is nice and trebley (think Phoenix/Housse de Racket), with some lovely, chirpy wah-wah bits, the vocals aren't over-complicated, the drums patter along at a fairly decent and regular pace... they sample what sounds like a party halfway through... ... it starts with a bang...
I'm running out of descriptions, but basically it's very happy, very trendy indie.

But... still not summer enough. Friendly Fires were the sound track of last summer, alongside Vampire Weekend, so I feel like I should turn to them for help. Or rather, to Leeds-boy Grum's absoloutely incredible, super happy, super awesome electro remix of Friendly Fires 'Skeleton Boy'. I listened to the original 'Skeleton Boy' before Grum's version, and I couldn't help thinking that it lacked a funky 80's bass, a dance beat, and some shiny electro synths - I'm quite particular in what I want - so I was fairly happy when Grum came along and introduced all those elements. He starts it off all funky and cool, does wonders with the vocals, and then builds it slowly until the synths are ready to come in (after a classic, trance-style, reverbed breakdown, of course). The track has summer written all over it, in 50ft, flaming, neon-pink letters. I've listened to it every day for about 3 weeks.
Anyone who likes the track, and thinks that Grum might possibly be the best thing to happen to the English electro scene ever (or recently, depending on how hyperbolic you feel), should check out his myspace and tell him as much.

This post is too long! Why am I not working!?

Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy (GRUM Remix) Buy
DatA - One In A Million (Club Mix) Buy
Ellie Goulding - Black & Gold Myspace
Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work Buy
Deadmau5 - I Remember (Caspa Remix) Buy


After the 12th, some new shit off the 80Kidz album 'This Is My Shit' (ironically), and probably some Allure. Summer's coming!

Dubstep Madness

So I'm listening to Annie Mac, and she just played High Contrast's edit of Skream's 'Let's get ravey' 'In For The Kill' remix. Obviously, it was awesome, but it made me angry ... because it wasn't Last Japan's edit. I've been listening to Last Japan's edit all day (thanks to the kind people at NoisePorn who put it up) and it is quite literally f*cking sick.

Skream's original mix is obviously huge, but because I'm impatient I keep having to skip to the end so I can enjoy the most hardcore bit. Last Japan's edit just makes the whole thing hardcore, and increases the levels at all the right moments, introducing a posionous synth and a slightly more puncky snare to the mix. He preserves all the best bits of the original, and adds all the bits that were just missing (for me, at least).

It's huge!

La Roux - In For The Kill (Last Japan's (Skream) edit) Myspace

On a side note, both Annie Mac and Pete Tong tipped Surkin's remix of The Juan MacLean as destined for greatness. For those who are interested, I posted it here.

Some Traks

A-Trak recently produced Kid Cudi's 'Poke Her Face', a song of which I am not a fan - mostly because of the title, but also because of everything else about it.

However, seeing his name crop up again reminded me of all the good times. Like the time I heard his remix of Boys Noize 'Oh!', and the time I heard his remix of 'Idealistic' by Digitalism. He's a man of many talents, and remixing seems to be at the forefront of them - although he apparenlty also models (sometimes), is half of a record label, is half of Chromeo's brother, and is Kanye's current tour DJ, which explains his association with the aforementioned 'Poke Her Face' song (which Mr West features on.) But none of that is particularly important.

So, on to the songs... Both tracks show his flair for vocal sampling, and both are very solid tunes. His remix of 'Idealistic' is fast-paced, and it marries dancefloor-friendly wobbling bass with a grinding, distorted synth melody (for want of a better word) and a very tight snare, which is half-clap half-rimshot, and whole clubtastic. His Boys Noize remix uses the same kind of drum sounds, although the bass is slightly more punchy, and the hi-hat gets more of a say. Overall the song is less reverb-flooded and sharper, and the vocal sample and sirens give it a more aggressive feel.

Basically, they're both bangers. They've been out for a fairly long time, but for those who haven't heard them...

Digitalism - Idealistic (A-Trak Remix) Buy
Boys Noize - Oh! (A-Trak Remix) Buy

(His remix of Kanye's 'Stronger' is also one of my favourites, and one of the better mixes of that particular track. Well worth checking out.)

So this particular post has a broadly Japanese theme, although not one I expect to stick to with any kind of rigour.

I can't remember which blog recently brought Tommy February6 to my attention, but I'm fairly happy they did. TF6 is the alter-ego of Japanese singer Tomoko Kawase, who created the character in order to... well, I'm not really sure, it's probably some obscure Japanese reason. Tommy hijacks an 80's synth pop sound and wields it like a bright pink disco sword, and her videos and lyrics both ridicule and glorify the genre: revealing its formulaic style and the false innocence of it's stars, but embracing both at the same time. Which means its OK to listen to her brand of super-fun-teenage-sugary-love-pop because it's sort of like a political statement, innit? 'KISS ONE MORE TIME' (it's all in capital letters, because thats how young people like to live) is an upbeat, synthtastic pop romp. The lyrics (half-English/half-Japanese) make no sense, but they sound fairly good. You can kind of hum along. Anyway, if you secretly like Britney Spears and her ilk, I imagine you'll like TF6.

Perfume are pretty much exactly the same as Tommy February6, but they take it a bit more seriously, and they use Japanese more. The band is made up of three attractive girls from Hiroshima, and their production wizard, who hides in the background and makes their songs sound good. 'パーフェクトスター・パーフェクトスタイル' (Perfect Star/Perfect Style - you can hear them chanting it) is the happiest song EVER and is perfect for the summer, which is now here, whether the weather wants to admit it or not. It actually sounds like a bag full of brightly coloured sweets. And I highly reccomend it.

Their other stuff... not so great.

So... I ran out of Japanese pop groups, but I felt like I had to save the theme. 'Love Letter To Japan' is a track by The Bird and The Bee, who most people will know. I'm still not sure how I feel about The Bird, mostly because I'm not sure exactly what they are, or what they want to be. They are described as jazz-influenced electro-pop, which i suppose is fairly accurate, but it's a description that looks horribly avant-garde written down. Whatever...anyway, 'Love Letter To Japan' is a song that got realeased a while back, and which has a few more upbeat, electronic bits and bobs than their usual stuff. I'm not really sure how well Inara George's voice works on the track, it's a bit too airy and light for the chorus, but the song has some good moments - particularly the drop, which is cool. Check out 'Man' or 'Fucking Boyfriend' for some tracks that work a bit better, but which (unfortunately) don't have 'Japan' in the title.

Last up, someone I've posted about before - Neo Tokyo! Neo Tokyo is awesome. He isn't from Japan, unfortunately, but he hails from Wales, which is close enough. And he's obviously influenced by Japanese culture, considering the name. For those who are familiar with the whole Neo Tokyo movement in Japan, just think of Neo Tokyo's music sounding like that. For those of you who haven't, like me, just googled it - NT sounds like the future. He makes grimey electro bangers, which remind me a lot of Bag Raiders, but with more intensity. (Seeing as I compare everyone to Bag Raiders, that's probably not much help - but you can hit up his myspace for some free downloads of some of his mixes. They are very cool.) Cheers to the OhhCrapp blog for posting about NT originally.

Perfume - パーフェクトスター・パーフェクトスタイル Buy
Tommy February6 - KISS ONE MORE TIME Buy
The Bird and The Bee - Love Letter To Japan Buy
The Robot Disaster - Guitars Are Overrated (Neo Tokyo Remix) Buy NT*


*Links removed - for those who didn't get them, check out the myspaces and whatnots.

RePost: News And Reviews

RePost: So... I've taken down the track links in an effort to please those lords and masters of mine, Blogger Corp. Which might make you think - what's the point of this post?
Well... Fair enough.

But it took me ages to write, so I'm bloody well going to re-post it anyway.

Pet Shop Boys are awesome. That is what I, years later than everyone else, have finally realised. I got their new album Yes the other day, and despite the lead singer not being particularly gifted at either writing or singing, the record itself is pretty much awesome. The production is as tight as you could hope for, and brings together the best bits from pop, dance and (just about) electro, to form an LP that is consistently happy, upbeat and good. I'm not going to claim that they are amazing musicians or artists, but they make good music. In particular, try the track 'All Over The World'. The chorus is probably the worst on the whole album, but the beginning of the song is pricelessly feel-good, using some awesome strings and a (shock!) nice little vocal harmony to set up a pretty powerful drop, which unleashes some synthy melody bits and an epic head-nodder of a beat to push the track along. Great stuff, and fairly reflective of the best bits off the rest of the album - 'Love Etc' and 'Beautiful People' are also worth a listen.


Still Night, Still Light, however, is my favourite album of recent weeks. It's effortlessley beautiful, eerie and atmospheric.Au Revoir Simone are a trio, but the album sounds completely cohesive and well-balanced. The opener, 'Another Likely Story', is all strings and hi-hats, and echoey, ethereal piano. The vocals, as on every track, are gorgeous and airy - sounding almost like a choir in some places, but without losing a certain folk influenced charm. It's difficult to pick a single song from the album, as it's consistently well produced and well-written, but I've gone with 'Shadows'. The song sounds a little bit like the legitimate child of Saint Etienne and Imogen Heap (thats probably a complete misdirection, but I like coming up with these combinations, and the vocals have a similiar style and sound to them). Either way, it trundles along at a nice pace, it's fairly catchy, and the build to the chorus is lovely. Well worth a listen, and highly rated.


I've gone in a different direction with my next artist - Chris Joss, who has (hilariously) called his album Sticks. Joss, sticks, Joss-sticks... get it? Regardless of the punning, Sticks is a fairly good album. It's Lo-fi Funk, with occasional oriental Sitar influences, and random rocky guitar bits which are unquestionably Western. It's an interesting mix, although not interesting enough to make the album a complete winner. Instrumentals can get fairly boring most of the time, and as the album is predominantly instrumental, it suffers that problem throughout. 'Rififi Rococco' is probably the best song off the LP (it sounds almost purpose built for a car advert), it has some cool breakdowns and different funky bits: jazzy guitar and a few vocal exclamations ... even some nice flute action. Just enough variety to make it a consistently engaging listen. Worth a try if you've got a particular penchant for Lo-fi Funk, it's well paced and good-humoured, but not a must-have.


In all my excitement about the Filthy Dukes album, I neglected the recent Fischerspooner effort, Entertainment. To be honest, thats because it's simply not as good. 'The Best Revenge', 'We Are Electric' and 'Door Train Home' are my three top picks from the album, as they seem to have the most to them (the vocals on DTH are particularly cool, and there's some great slidey guitar bits). Out of those, 'The Best Revenge' - which most people will already know - is probably my favourite. It has that mix of playful and serious that the rest of the album seems to be striving for, and has some great individual moments - particularly the chorus, which makes use of horns and trumpets to good effect, accompanying the fuzzy synths and thumping drums nicely. A few of the songs go for that blend of real (I use that term nervously) instruments and computer-based effects and samples, but 'The Best Revenge' carries it off the most effectively as one sound. The reverbed, higher pitch vocals fit in nicely as well, but are quite common on electronic records these days.

I was going to do a full on review of Apple Jelly's Na Na Na Club here, but I've decided that the album doesn't really appeal to me that much. Of the whole LP, 'Desperado Junkie' is the only song I've listened to more than once. It's got some nice Thom Yorke-esque vocals on the chorus, and has a heavily modulated analogue bit over the verse which is pretty cool. It's a nice track, but not hugely impressive, and let down on the whole by the rest of the album.

For me, anyway, but what does that matter? I'll let you make your own mind up.

The Hitchcock Rules are a new band for me, discovered when i heard the opening burst of 'Miss Julie', which starts with that treble-rich guitar sound I like and some cool, story-teller lyrics ('I stole a fortune in Stockholm') before breaking into a nice melodic solo bit. Unfortunately, the chorus to the song lets it down a bit, being a bit too horribly American sounding for a Cornwall-based band. However, the rest of it is well worth listening to (especially the bridge that comes right after the chorus, funnily enough), so try their myspace. 'Faking It' - one of their singles, is available for download free of their website, and is also worth a listen. The guitar at the beginning sounds like a louder, electric version of that Wannadies song I posted the other day, which is interesting if not particularly relevant. (The guitar melody also sounds a lot like that Rogues song, 'Not So Pretty'). Again, the chorus is a bit out of place and cheesy compared to the rest of the song, which has some better lyrics and brings out the lead singers voice a bit more (he's fairly good, considering). Overall, there's a nice tone too both tracks, and they're a better than average indie/rock band. I expect they'll do fairly well this year - they're already lined up to play Beach Break Festival in the summer.

Pet Shop Boys - All Over The World Buy
Au Revoir Simone - Shadows Buy*
Chris Joss - Rififi Rococco Buy
Fischerspooner - The Best Revenge Buy*
Apple Jelly - Desperado Junkie Buy
The Hitchcock Rules - Faking It Buy

*Not direct track purchase links.

Surkinly Hot

It's a bright and glorious day in London. The April sunshine woke me up this morning with a big stick and said, 'It's April, Fool!'. And then it forced me to play Surkin's remix of 'One Day'. Basically, if a video was ever made for this song, it would feature people having a BBQ on the beach and drinking some deliciously intoxicating beverages. Like all Surkin's tunes, it has that bouncy vibe to it (accompanied by some straightforward piano chords and awesome string snippets on this particular song, and an awesomely summerish vocal work) which forces you to jump up and down in your seat. As well as reminding you how gay it is that you're in a seat, and not in Ibiza. Or some such party island. In truth, it's my favourite Surkin effort of recent times, reaching the level of 'Chrome Knight' and 'Next of Kin' in the way that some of his other stuff... hasn't. That sentence petered out towards the end. Anyway, download it.

Moving on. How about Kokuz, aye? Or This Is Kokuz to give them their full title. I am eternally grateful to that mysterious masked blogger, Pelski, for posting about this particular duo. They sound a little bit like a faster paced, more aggressive Surkin, although completely different, obviously. Scrap that. Their remix of 'Float My Boat' sounds like something of an Ibiza Annual. Very catchy, quite simple, but with some cool thrills and spills and breakdowns that make it pretty awesome. Their remix of 'Get Off' isn't much different, but you need to be able to feel the bass - tinny speakers won't do the track any kind of justice. Think Fake Blood vs. Aston Shuffle and you're probably on the right lines. Could be huge.

I've posted about Rogues before, but god damn it if I won't just post about them again. Or rather, about Wire and Example's remix of them. It's one that most people will have heard, but well worth another post because:
A) Example is awesome, I saw him last year and he's genuinely a good performer, unlike some rappers I could mention. (You know who you are, you b*stards).
B) This tune is awesome. The dubstep scene is going from strength to strength at the moment, and this particular gem is an absolute banger that sums up everything that's good about the scene. They've chucked out the original vocals for the most part, but when they do feature they have an eerie, wailing feel to them that suits the dark atmosphere of the track perfectly. Aside from that, the new vocals are pretty cool, but the emphasis is on the heavy bass, and a very powerful kick drum and snare - sounds a lot like 'Sensi Samurai', slightly simplified and perhaps more powerful for that.

I like it a lot.

The Juan MacLean - One Day (Surkin Remix) Buy
Sharooz - Get Off (Kokuz Re-Chop) Buy
Rogues - Not So Pretty (Wire & Example Remix) Buy

HC

Just a quick plug for this awesome new tune from Mr. High Contrast. It's a radio rip but it still sounds amazing. I love what he's done with the original sample, reminds me a little bit of 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'. Can't wait for the new album!