Summer's High Heights

That horse is well up for scuba diving.

French three-piece Pony Pony Run Run might also like scuba diving, but that is irrelevant. What is relevant is their happy summer sound, and their incredibly catchy new single 'Hey You' in particular. I can't really put my finger on exactly what it is about this track that makes me like it so much - it could be the nonsense lyrics, it could be the fairly straightforward dance-type beat, it could be the mellow, rising synths, it could be...
Well, all those things. I'll just say that it's the song as a whole that inspires me. Although it might also just be the way he says 'aaye you' on the chorus. Anyway, listen to it. And watch the video.

Before I started listening to 'Hey You', I spent most of the week listening to the new Classixx tune - 'I'll Get You' - which is pretty much certain to be one of the tracks of the summer. You can catch a preview of that here. Anyway, the amazingness of that particular song prompted a bit of Classixx searchmania, and I cropped up (amongst a lot of good stuff) with their remix of Shiny Toy Guns' 'Starts With One' (thanks to Ohh Crapp). The mix is pretty epic, and I especially like what they've done with the vocals - nice bit of mildly distorted reverb and some good cutting. Apart from that, the synth is huge and fuzzy and there are enough changes and chops to keep it interesting. Banging club tune.

Three words that I wouldn't shy away from applying to my last song.

Because Pilotpriest's remix of Lioness is also a banging club tune (see?), though it starts off in the guise of a smooth electro ballad. The first 4 minutes are super chilled, laced with shiny stabs and a funky bass riff, and the chilled softness of those minutes doesn't really prepare you for what happens after, when it gets all bangeriffic and intense. The last three minutes sound like a sudden'Waters of Nazareth' takeover, a kind of Boyz Noize meets Bag Raiders remix that is... uhh... bangeriffic and intense. Worth a listen.

The Weekend is here!

Pony Pony Run Run - Hey You Buy
Shiny Toy Guns - Starts With One (Classixx Remix) Buy
Lioness - You're My Heart (Pilotpriest Remix) Buy

Rockwell

First up today is 'You Cant Cool', off Rockwell D's new 'Burning Up' EP. I got sent this a while back, but I haven't had a chance to post it until now - which is mildly gutting, as it's now on general release anyway. But ho hum. Anyway, I've been playing this track about three times a day. Particularly when I've been feeling tired and in need of my game face, because when it drops it feels like being shot with a Red Bull launcher. Genres now confuse me, because there are too many of them, but I'm going to go with describing it as House music. (Although it might be more accurate to call it banging House music). Whatever it is, its pretty dramatic. The bass is laced with electro-type distortion, but it still has the kind of hollow harmonics you'd associate with a standard club base, so you can feel it slapping your brain and your stomach at the same time. If you're going to play it, play it loud.

Anyway, that massive and hyperbolic plug has put me in the mood for some more house(y) tunes. 'Give My Love A Try', remixed by Leon Du Star, is a bit more chilled out and floaty, but it still pushes along at quite a nice pace. Feels very much like a holiday tune: not too much to it, but enough to help you kick back with a cocktail and relax. ESTO!'s remix of 'Saturated Phat Impact' has a pretty similar vibe to it, although it's half as long and a bit more punchy. The basic difference is that ESTO! has gone for horns where Leon went for strings, and sliced the vocals where Leon stretches them.

And there's also the massive difference of them being remixes of completely seperate tracks, obviously.

But they're both solid mixes, and worth a listen.


Anyway... having trailed off rather rapidly in my discussion of house music, how about a more elc - oh, wait, shit. Is this house as well? Does it even matter? Isn't genrification just holding back the music industry, restricting creativity, and pidgeonholing artists so that the corporate execs can stay in their comfort zones, the bastards? Shock - horror - no one cares and - probably not. It's probably just a way of conveniently labelling music so that everyone can enjoy it and get what they want.

As long as I'm getting tunes as good as CCENTURIESS remix of 'Do The Criminal' it probably doesn't matter either way... This is a track I've been playing a lot alongside that GRUM remix of Skeleton boy, because they have a mildly similar feel, and they're both very good remixes of quite decent indie tracks. The Golden Girls track, however, is probably slightly less decent than the Friendly Fires one, so I have to say well done to CCENTURIESS for doing a bang-up job. So "Well done CCENTURIESS (for doing a bang-up job)". I'm not going to pretend I know anything about them/him/she, because they/he/she are/is very enigmatic (phew). But I will say that this remix is very tasty. The bassline is lovely and funky (especially at the start), and the electric piano bits are very Stardust sounding. Overall it has a very happy sound and I award it 1,000 points. With a few minus points for the annoying car noises they stuck in halfway through, which always scare the crap out of me when I'm crossing the road.

Just realised the spell cheek function on my firefox has failed. Hopefully my amazinged English skills have saved me from any embarrasing mistakes!


Rockwell D - You Cant Cool Buy
Hugo Van Dyck - Give My Love A Try (Leon Du Star Remix) Buy LDS
The Phantom's Revenge - Saturated Phat Impact (ESTO! Remix) Myspace*
Golden Girls - Do The Criminal (CCENTURIESS Remix) Buy

*Check out his mix of 'Just Dance' - awesomeness.

Frozen

(I'm finally back in blogging action after a week which has pretty much destroyed me, but I haven't slept properly for the last three days so you'll have to forgive me if this post is a little bit disjointed. And I've been sitting on these tracks for a while now, meaning that everyone else has posted them long ago, but I refuse to let that phase me.)

First up, continuing the summer-sound theme that I've been pushing so hard, are the 80kidz. Or more specifically, 'Miss Mars' by the 80kidz. I've posted about these Japanese wonder boys before, but this track goes one better for me. I got their album a while ago, and its very sharp - quite hardcore for the most part (distortion, high tempo, fidgety bits). It's also very purchasable and very previewable, courtesy of itunes and their myspace respectively. 'Miss Mars' is a bit different from the majority of their album, but it's probably my favourite. The synth on it sounds like an electric guitar/video game hybrid, and the classic little electric piano bit underneath is... um...classic. Overall, it bubbles along at a nice little pace, and it sounds very sunny. Recommended.

Speaking of bubbles, the next track is 'Champagne' by Allure, another electro-pop hero from Paris. Around 2:42 is the highlight of the song, and I won't spoil it for you, but basically he throughs in some champagne SFX (sorry, it sounds awesome though!). Overall it's a pretty chilled production, with a nice snare/clap drum pattern that gives it a bit of a funk, and some lovely phaser action. All laid over the top of some very cool synthed-up riffs.

Moving on from those two gems, my love affair with all things GRUM continues. This time, Mr Calling in Sick from Australia (another good electro breeding ground) lends his flavour to 'Runaway'. I don't really know how to describe this song, other than to say that it couldn't be any better and it is huge. Pretty much what you would expect from such an awesome collaboration. Great clubby piano bit, awesome game-boy/Danger-style synth, epic vocals, thumping drums... it's a classic.

Obviously, it's going to be hard to top such an enthusiastic plug. So I won't try. But the next track is still worth some attention, and some positive adjectives.

Galactik Knights are a duo (I believe) out of Japan, France, United States. Which just goes to show that Myspace can be a very unhelpful resource some times. Ho hum. Whatever, or whoever, they are, they make banging music. Their remix of T-Pain's 'Freeze' (which they are giving away FREE on their myspace, with various other remixes) is very cool. It still has that pop-R'n'B flavour, which I actually quite like, but with all kinds of electro-house bits and bobs over the top that make it trendy and alternative. So it's OK to listen to it. They've kept the vocals pretty much intact - I guess there was enough vocoder over the top already - but they've souped up the synth bits and given the drums a bit more punch. They've also taken off that horrible whiny saw-sounding bit from the original chorus. Overall, its a lot more danceable, and the sound is a lot bigger. Highly recommended for anyone who like the original, or who doesn't like the original and wishes it was a whole let better.

Also, I got sent a track about a week ago that is absolutely banging. But i'll post it tomorrow because I'm too lazy to do it now. Have a good day.

80kidz - Miss Mars (Myspace Preview)* Buy
GRUM - Runaway (Calling In Sick Remix) Buy Grum Myspace
Allure - Champagne Myspace!
T-Pain feat. Chris Brown - Freeze (Galactik Knights Remix) Myspace!**

*Original link removed. Sorry!
**Download link on their myspace, along with some other cool shit.