Synthesizer

Tigerlips

2010-10-07T15:13:00.002+01:00

It's sunny outside! Time for a tune with a similar bit of sparkle - Tigerlips have been putting out some great stuff lately. This one's called 'alright' and it's definitely alright with me. Great stuff - dance chords, vocal stabs, big drums... more please.

alright by TIGERLIPS

Aston

2010-09-25T19:15:00.001+01:00

Unbelievable. Guaranteed to be absolutely huge.
Well, it kind of already is.

Aston Shuffle - Your Love by TheAstonShuffle

The Big Screen

2010-08-30T13:33:00.002+01:00

Well, I may be 4 months late with these, but here are two absolute gems from newcomer Screendeath. Fake Blood has been dropping 'Packback' all summer and tearing raves apart with it, and 'If It Isn't' is a tasty bit of dance magic as well. Both due for a release sometime in the near future. I wait with baited breath.

Packback (Preview) by screendeath

If It Isn't (Preview) by screendeath

Ghosts

2010-08-22T19:38:00.004+01:00

Nice little disco-house number from one of this years top new kids on the block. The original's a classic as well. Got to love that bassline!

James Talk & Ridney - Forever (Ghosts Of Venice Remix) by Ghosts Of Venice

Manaré

2010-08-17T19:44:00.000+01:00

Intense dancefloor 'riddim' from Manaré here. Not sure what kind of genre this really fits into but think Joe And Will Ask? and you're probably on the right lines. Not to everyone's taste and not the kind of thing I usually post but... well. Who cares? It's a tune. See what you think.

Blitzkrieg Riddim (Original Mix) by Manaré

Monsieur!

2010-08-04T00:00:00.001+01:00

Niiicceee remix. Deserves the extra letters just for remixing Soul II Soul. All the electro goodness you'd expect from le Monsieur. Doesn't skimp on the synth.
Soul II Soul - Back To Life (Monsieur Adi Remix) by monsieuradi

R3SET

2010-07-29T23:16:00.005+01:00

HUGE tune from the two Europeans. One for people who like their electro grinding and loud.

R3SET- Hot Shot by R3SET

Returners Week

2010-01-25T15:50:00.008Z

It's been a long time, hasn't it? I've been on a bit of a dubstep fuelled journey the last few months, and I thought that rather than filling this blog with Lung and Roqqert tunes, I'd just wait for some electro bangers to crop up.

Luckily, 2010 has provided in a BIG way. Not only do we have Danger's new album cropping up, and a few tasty remixes and, ahem, tasters floating around courtesy of his generous nature, we've also got Miss Goulding making all kinds of power moves (finally), and a bunch of previously banging electro heads getting their act back together and bringing the NOIZZEEEE...
Oh, and Russ Chimes is responsible for possibly the best remix of Ellie Goulding to date. It's all over the blogosphere, for very good reason.
So I have returned from my dubstep exile to revel in new electronic goodies. Happy days pour moi.

Anyway, nobody goes on a blog for the writing, so here's my three favourite tunes of the last... I don't know, 3 months or whatever it is since I got off my arse and did a blog-a-log. Get in.

This first one was huge a couple months back, and I've still not got bored of it - full on bass-powered electro. Great remix of an already classic tune. Most producers can't improve on Daft Punk's brilliance, but Algeronics turns it into something really special. One for the dancefloors!

Daft Punk - Digital Love (Algeronics Remix)

Actually, you know what, here's a cheeky bonus - another top remix of a Daft Punk track (who would have thought it was possible?). This one comes from that man Cassian - formerly CSK OK - and is a bit more funked up and disco-ish. Still banging though.

Daft Punk - High Life (Cassian's Bootleg)

Just a quick diversion - if you haven't checked out electro-mastermind Phonat's album (ST) yet, then get involved. It's all chopped up beats with big rhythmic drums and grimey/flashy synths. It's all very good. There's a few tracks floating about here. As usual.

But to finish up the tracks bit - how about this one from left-field. Never heard of Renegade before, but he dished out promos 'Pilot' and 'Convict' recently and they are both massive. Danger/Redial fans should definitely take note, that French Electro just keeps getting better, although this time it's thanks to the Swedes.

Renegade - Pilot

Big shouts to Aeroplane's remix of the Doves, and to pretty much anything Bestrack has ever produced. Would have stuck them on the list but I had to stop somewhere.

But...just because I love dubstep.
The two best tunes of the past month or so, for me, come from two Cardiff based boys - Lung. and Tolerance. Tolerance's 'Chamber of Secrets' comes a close second only to 'Afterlife' for sheer bassed-out bliss filled floaty light awesomeness. x10000. Think Phaeleh and L-Wiz an you're probably on the right lines. Or going in circles, if you don't know who they are.

Big love guys, x.
Enjoy.

(NB: The majority of my old links are down. I made an executive decision to free up some space, make my files more manageable, etc. If you really want a copy of something I've posted before, just leave me a comment/send me an email and I'll see if I can sort you out. Cheers.)

2009-09-09T13:37:00.002+01:00

I currently don't have any tunes that I'm that hype about.

Apart from the following two bangers:

Justin Faust's remix of 'With You', which is a lot more intense and dance-powered than his usual mellow stuff. Having said that, it's not too noisy. Faust blends the nice soft side of his music with a pacier funked-up bass and pounding drum pattern to create a sexy little dance song. Noice with an extra 'o'.
Then you have The Aston Shuffle, who I've loved since that awesome Grafton Primary remix, with a tasty new tune. Stabby synths and souped up 80s bits and bobs are laced all over 'Do You Want More', but it retains quite a sharp and bangerrific edge to go with the bounciness.

And while we're on the subject of bangers - how good is that Villains remix of 'She Wolf'?
Very good.

Probably almost as good as that DatA remix of La Roux I keep banging on about.

Bestrack - With You (Justin Faust) Buy
The Aston Shuffle - Do You Want More (feat. DAnimal Kingdom)[AS Remix] Buy
La Roux - I'm Not Your Toy (DatA Remix) Buy DatA

Indielicious

2009-09-01T14:19:00.001+01:00

Indiieeee.

I haven't posted any indie/alternative stuff in a while. Probably because nobody wants it and if they did they'd be over at PTST getting it from someone who actually knows their stuff.

But whatever. I feel like I have to post a bit of Mew just because they're so bloody awesome. 'Repeater Beater' is still my indie tune of the summer, and possibly will be for every summer ever. Out of all their tracks it's the one where I think the light vocals sit most comfortably. Plus the drumming is superb (hence the track name?).

I also feel like being a bit poppy. Former Child Stars is a terrible name, but don't judge a band by it's shit name. Judge it by it's brand of catchy, trebletastic indie-pop. Even if you don't like 'Safe In Silence', you'll probably be singing the chorus for most of the week - it is ridiculously infectious.

Mew - Repeaterbeater Buy

Former Child Stars - Safe in Silence (Radio Edit) Buy

*DL links removed by request

Nothing

2009-08-26T11:15:00.000+01:00

It's been a busy old time for me, hence the lack of posts. Maybe I should just write less crap? Could be an idea.

Anyway, I've done a lot of travelling recently. Mostly on trains and tubes and the like. There's something about trains that makes me want to listen to liquid drum and bass. Hence the first track on today's post - Nu:Tone's awesome 'Jet Stream'. Nu Tone hails from the Hospital Records camp, so you know he's sicker than a cider hangover. In a good way. 'Jet Stream' is as much of a beast as a liquid funk tune can be, and is highly recommended for anyone who likes High Contrast/Blame.

And if you don't like them, then WTF?!.

I should probably post some electro, seeing as that's nominally the genre I go for. I really want to stick up Steve Aoki's mix of 'Gladiator' because it is nutsssssssss with 9 s's, and would go nicely with the whole crazy electro Jack Beats/Kry Wolf vibe I've been on recently. But... it's already on the Hype Machine's popular list so there doesn't seem much point. For anyone who hasn't heard it, grab it from Danger Danger.

The only other electro I've really been listening to recently is DatA's impeccable La Roux edit, but everyone's already heard that as well. It's like every blog in the world is out to get me and post all my tracks before I can. Conspiracy.

Oh well, here's a bunch of my old favourites to go with the Nu:Tone track. The Nacey track is huge, bouncy house (same breed as 'Anyway' by Duck Sauce). The Burns tune is more of the same, and was knocking around getting some hype a few weeks ago. 'Mind Control 09' is a huge dubstep track that deserves it's own individual post. 501 will literally fuck with your mind.

Have a good week. I know I will.

Roll on Reading!

Nu:Tone - Jet Stream Buy

Nacey - Lose Your Love Myspace

Burns - Heartbeats (Extended mix) Buy

501 - Mind Control 2009 Buy

Youtubesteak

2009-08-23T19:07:00.000+01:00

I've been watching shit on youtube. Best video of the week = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4OyrzO4N8s. Lol.

Apart from that... There's one video called 'Horrific AK 47 Accident', which has nearly 2 million views. The actual thing is just some loser kid called 'Joe' twatting around with a toy AK, which I'll admit was a bit of a relief because I was expecting some kind of... horrific accident. In fact, I kind of wanted to see a horrific accident.
Apparently, the majority of those millions of viewers also wanted to see one. Some people actually really, really, wanted to see a horrific accident. One guy was so upset he couldn't see one that he complained:

This is shit, what the fuck. go die in a hole you stupid bitch fucker.

He wasn't alone in that sentiment. A lot of people seemed to feel like their time has been wasted, and also that 'wtf?'.

UrNotHardBody: Fuck You! Wasting Time!

Time that could have been better spent watching real, quality accidents take place.

Amongst all that kind of understandable shit in the comments section, you also get two people arguing about Obama, a long discussion on the merits (or not) of Joe's hair colour, and someone claiming: HEY!!! I am an Australian and I DON'T CARE!!!!..... without really explaining why they felt the need to clarify that.?
People on youtube are abnormal.

But also hilarious. Like that chav who kicked down a wall and got his leg crushed, before bleating out 'help me'. The comments on that vid are genuinely hilarious - i.e. 'wall FTW ' and 'Mr. Gorvachav....Tear down this wall! '. A few people seem to be debating whether or not to show some chav-love: one guy goes for 'unlucky mate' before rounding his comment off with: 'i guess doing stupid things like that CAN be funny. hahaha owned', which probably doesn't ease the blow. Funnyclatflap12 is a bit more genuinely sympathetic, opting for: 'that is manky but funny. he deserved it although if he lost his leg that is bad. look at the way it crushes his leg at 0.12'
I love the way he has isolated the exact time the chav gets his leg crushed.

Someone else just set the video to Benny Hill's theme tune, which is even more hilarious. MadSkills9407 sums it up with:

'I like how he kicks to the beat'

LOL.
There's a bunch of other shit that has been set to the Benny Hill music as well. This TV advert rework is possibly the most hilarious.

Good times.

Anyway, here's some sick tunes to go with the viewing:

Bungle - 25th Floor (DJ Marky & Bungle VIP) Buy

Grafton Primary - All Stars (Aston Shuffle Remix) Buy***

Deadmau5 - Ghosts 'n' Stuff (Nero Edit) Myspace**

Mucky

2009-08-19T19:28:00.000+01:00

Speaking of large things... how about some delicious, high-cholesterol beats? Specifically, Jack Beats. Mr Beats has obviously been knocking about for a bit and he's a big favourite with certain blogs, but I'll admit I'm not a massive fan. 'Get Down', though, is impossible to ignore. It's got a more house-style structure to it than his other stuff, and his trademark wobble is combined with a grinding mono-synth which gives the whole song a rough, aggressive edge. The youtube comments pretty much sum it up - 'this is fuckin NUTS!!!!!!!!!! '. If you haven't heard/got it already then it's a must grab. (He's also put out a solid La Roux remix that's well worth checking out.)

It's kind of hard to follow 'Get Down' with anything that's similarly crazyily hype, but 'Mucky' by Kry Wolf comes pretty close. It kicks off with one of the bounciest drum patterns I've ever heard and then brings in a huge, filthy, deep, fuzzed out bassline punch that sounds like 'Flat Eric' on electro-infused crack/a rubber duck taking an amplified shit. I played it on the tube this morning and nearly ruptured my face/seizured. It's deep. Another must have.

Also, Calvin Harris' album leaked the other day, to mixed reviews. Personally I think he got the singles spot on. The rest of the album isn't bad but nothing really jumps out. I could happily listen to it, but I don't think I'd remember much of it after. Either way, apparently all people are buying at the moment is singles so I guess it doesn't really matter how good the album is.

In other news, Deadmau5 has finally put a radio edit of 'Ghosts 'n' Stuff' together and is getting some airplay. I prefer the original mix, without the corny vocal bit over the top, but it's still a bit of a tune so fair play to the geezer.

Last up, one more tune. This one is some deep, grimy dubstep from Calibre - a tune called 'Tenopause'. So far all I've heard is a radio rip from Hatcha and Mala's b2b on Kiss, which is more low quality than Paris Hilton's home videos. But despite the quality the track appears to be a piece of pure fucking mentalness. I won't call it minimal, because that's bound just to put people off, but it's not the usual jump-up. The best way to describe it is as basically one rip-roaring bass sound with some freaky ghost noises over the top. And some drums. Banging.

If you're looking for any other huge dubstep tunes than hit up Rossi B and Luca and check out Enemy (or the Tallinn Evil remix) on their page. The other tunes are pretty obese as well. Looking forward to some more releases from them.

That's all, folks.

Jack Beats - Get Down Buy

Kry Wolf - Mucky Myspace

Calibre - Tenopause Myspace

Chin Up

2009-08-14T16:52:00.006+01:00

I'm going to kick off today with an older track. Loose Shus are electro-types with a heavily eighties influenced sound. 'Threesome' is my favourite song from them, and one I've suddenly picked up and started playing again. As long as you don't take it to seriously, it's awesome. Anyone who likes the intros to old cartoons (I'm thinking Bucky O'Hare/Ghostbusters, but with a lot more production value and less epic stadium rock guitar bits) should grab it - like Danger on happy juice.

Speaking of happiness, SMD's new album found it's way into my itunes yesterday. I thought it would be awesome, but they've gone in strong for that minimal sound of theirs (you'll know what I mean if you've heard the singles) which I'm not such a fan of. 'It's The Beat'/'Hustler' are more my kind of thing, but there's not much of that sound on the new record. For me, they should leave the minimal to Style Of Eye, Major Notes, Lazy Jay and the rest and get back on the heavier electro vibe.
So, not going to post anything from SMD today anyway.

Blame dropped a remix for Example's new tune a week or two back, along with everyone else whose any good at the moment, and obviously I have to post it. Good old Blame. If you've heard his 'Shark in the Water' mix then you'll already know how good he is. His take on 'Watch The Sun Come Up' is more of the same. Definitely a huge summer tune, nice to see liquid drum 'n' bass getting a bit more attention at the moment.

GRUM + Edwin Van Cleef = incredible. I've blogged enough times about Grum for everyone to be well aware of how highly I rate the Leeds boy. I rate Mr. Van Cleef almost equally highly, so I was pretty excited to see him given the remixing honours for Grum's new production 'Heartbeats'. Have yet to hear the original, but if Cleef's effort is anything to go by, it's going to be huge. As for the remix - epic, fast, and very very nice indeed. A great blend of electro-house. Very similar to 'Overtaken' and possibly even a bit better. Thanks to these guys for the original post.

I was planning on sticking up some filthy, bass-tastic dubstep but I now feel like I'm in too good a mood. So last up is a remix by FCKN (your guess is as good as mine) which got some attention here and there. The original is by The Bloody Beetroots, who I still can't decide if I like or not. However, I definitely like FCKN's version - very cheerful, bouncy electro house, with a little bit of lo-fi feel distortion splayed over the top to please the more hardcore.

Have a good weekend people.

Loose Shus - Threesome Buy
Example - Watch The Sun Come Up (Blame Edit) Myspace
Grum - Heartbeats (Edwin Van Cleef Remix) Myspace
The Bloody Beetroots - House No.84 (FCKN Remix) Myspace

Karatay Partay

2009-08-07T13:33:00.005+01:00

"I know Karate, I know Ju-jitsu,

I drive like a gangster when I'm coming to see you
I know Karate, I've got some mojo,
and holding hands ain't something I do,
Thats true."

Greatest lyrics ever written. You can hear them in all their funky, 80s-influenced goodness on 'Karate' by Kennedy. I've had the tune for a few weeks and despite its ridiculous nature, the track is incredibly catchy. Infectious, like a tastier version of swine flu.

Why not enjoy it with a nice cool glass of 'Panther', freshly remixed by Zeds Dead. The bassy, distorted synths layered over this one make it a bit of an interesting counterpoint to 'Karate', as does the fat mono bassline and d'n'b influenced drums. I'm not sure if the tune is dubstep or electro, or some kind of new and wonderful hybrid, but its pretty sick anyway. More of a cheeky gut punch than a karate chop.

I feel like I should be posting that new Blame remix of Example as well, but probably enough bloggers have covered that. Those who want to can find it here. Blame at his euphoric best.

Have a good one.

Kennedy - Karate Buy
Barletta - Panther (ZEDS DEAD Remix) Myspace

Howard You Like It

2009-08-05T18:19:00.005+01:00

Classixx established themselves (arguably) as the sound of Summer '09 a while back, by releasing a whole bag of awesome mixes of stuff and making the blogging world wet themselves collectively in excitement. A few month' back, a video of their single(?) 'I'll Get You' sprang up on youtube, Radio 1 got all excited about it, so did I, and since then I've been waiting to grab a decent copy of the track. Which I now have. Aeroplane played it when I saw them on Saturday and pretty much made my day, despite all the rain and ketted-up nutters. The chorus of the song, for those who don't know it, goes 'Do you like bass, do you, do you like bass?' which I think should pretty much sell it to any doubters.

Listening to Classixx has put me in a pretty chilled type of mood, which probably explains why I chose the next song. The Time And Space Machine remix of Bastila's 'Ghosts' sound like a track that has been custom-made for a MoS 'Chillout' compilation. The guitars are heavily reverbed, trebley and wah-wahed up to the hilt, giving them a very relaxed, floaty feel. Signal Hill-esque, but with some sampled old-school hip hop drums and a deep, funky bassline thrown over the top to give it a nice bit of rhythm. A good one for watching the sunset.

Next up is a Lifelike remix, courtesy of Hyperbole. So far I've heard 3 different mixes of Killa Kela's 'Everyday', and I reckon Lifelike's is the best of the three. He basically takes the insanely catchy chorus on the original, turns it up, and loops it for the best part of six minutes. In a good way - kind of like his 'Cross The Dancefloor' remix. It sounds epic, very summery, and good for dancing or barbequing. Obviously that sounds like a bit of a contradiction, but I think it just depends how loud you play it. Probably the best remix I've heard from Lifelike in a long time, but well worth the wait.

Last, but definitely not least, is another one from my new favourites Y A L L. Following up on my last post, I've been searching everywhere for some more tunes from these guys' back catalogue. Their remix of the classic 'At Night' is the pick of the bunch, just edging their La Roux edit off the top spot. Massive kicks and snares, fuzzy sub bass snippets, and (standard) party synth stabs make up a very powerful track - think Sidechains, Grum, etc. A must-have for the electro rave-up animals.

Classixx - I'll Get You (Feat. Jeppe) Buy
Bastila - Ghosts (The Time And Space Machine 'Summer of Love' Remix) RCRD LBL
Killa Kela - Everyday (Lifelike Remix) Myspace
Shakedown - At Night (Y A L L Mix) Web

Flash

2009-08-04T12:31:00.005+01:00

I've been on holiday, which is my excuse for the short sabbatical. But now I'm back, with an ipod overflowing with tasty tunes. (Huzzah!). Anyway...

I don't know who St Andrew are, but I know that I've spent the whole morning trying to find out. Apparently he is some guy called Andrew Swanson, he has studied film, some other boring stuff... and he makes nice tunes. 'Cosmic Terror' is his calling card and despite spending most of today listening to his stuff I can't think of anything better to post up. Its a punchy piece of laidback electro, very much in the mould of Nosaj Thing and Flying Lotus but with a bit more action - bigger synths, glittery electro shizzle plastered all over it, some great vocal work, etc. Well worth a listen for anyone who's a fan of the aforementioned two producers, or a fan of electronic stuff in general.

I've been waiting for a good quality copy of this next tune for a good month or so now. And here it is. The Chase & Status remix of Nneka's 'Heartbeat'. This is quite possibly the most obviously commercially-viable crowd-pleaser ever produced by anyone in the history of history (thats probably why they've labelled it so self-consciously) but... f*ck it. Because it is amazing. (In before underground people banging on about how they've sold out. It sounds good to me and thats all that maters).
The thing about crowd-pleasers is that they are pleasing, after all. Big guitars, big bass, massive snares, good times.
Expect this one to be going off everywhere. If it isn't already.

Speaking of commercial stuff, La Roux is very popular at the moment. It seems like anyone who's anyone, or noone (but wants to be someone), is remixing her tracks. 'Bulletproof' is the most recent single, and it's attracted everyone from Foamo to Tepr, but my favourite mix so far comes from the Barcelona duo Y A L L. It's attracted a lot of notice since they entered it for her remix competition by virtue of being brilliant. The Barcelona boys have thrown a load of electro stabs and synths on the song, with a bit of strings (a la Justice/MSTRKRFT/Neo Tokyo) and it sounds awesome. Very dancey, bouncy and cheerful. All the things the original was, multiplied by the power of electro. Definitely a must have.

Last up, how about some feel-good indie? I've posted about Two Door Cinema Club before but I feel like they deserve another mention. The band come from NI and they make very happy summer tunes. 'Undercover Martyn' is their first single and 'tis very nice indeed. You can see the video here if thats the kind of thing you're in to, or just give the track a listen. It's very sing-along, they change the pace up nicely, the guitars are all trebley and rifftastic. Think Delorean, Mew, a less-french Housse de Racket/Phoenix. Indie-pop stuff, basically. There are probably some much better comparisons out there, I just wanted to list bands I like. Ho hum. Check 'em out, they could be the sound of our 'barbeque' summer.

More tomorrow.

St Andrew - Cosmic Terror Buy
Nneka - Heartbeat (Chase & Status 'We Just Bought A Guitar' Remix) Buy C&S
La Roux - Bulletproof (Y A L L Remix) Myspace
Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn Buy

The Heat

2009-07-21T13:26:00.006+01:00

I got the MSTRKRFT album a few month' back and I thought 'Oh, the new MSTRKRFT album. This is pretty good.' Since then I've pretty much ignored it. Mainly because there was too much rapping on the songs and I'm not really keen on that with my dance music. I like beats and nonsense vocal snatches and cuts, not big long verses about why (insert rapper here) is so awesome and rich.
(Not that I'm hating on rap, I just don't think it works too well over electro.)
Anyway, long story short, I've started listening to it again. The reason for that is Wolfgang Hartner's remix of 'Heartbreaker', which was my favourite tune of the week up until yesterday when I heard 'Calypso'. The original version was probably my favourite track from the album, but Gartner takes it to a new level. The addition of a much more powerful bass kick sets it off nicely, and the crazy, wobbly, electro blips and fuzzed out vocals turns this into an absolute classic dancefloor filler. It's in the same sort of vein as Chris Lake's remix of 'Oh My God', for anyone who's heard that.
In case I haven't sold this enough: it is f%@£!*g incredible and you must download it. It makes my brain shit gold.*

I don't want to get stuck in a rut or anything, but I'm going to post another Alex Metric tune. And another Treasure Fingers one. At the same time!!!!
I hope that won't blow your mind too much.
Anyway, this is an older mix that Mr. Fingers did for Mr. Metric, and it is pretty much everything you would expect. Funky bouncy bassline, decorative spacey synths, dance-friendly reverbed vocals and a clubtastic beat. Probably my favourite effort from Treasure Fingers so far actually, loving it. (The original is called 'In Your Machine'.)

I don't know if anyone's seen the new Transformers film? I haven't, but thanks to Datsik & Excision I have now heard it. Seriously. I may be a bit late with this one, but 'Calypso' is literally one of the grimiest dubstep (or is it wobble now?) tunes I've ever heard. If robots went out for a massive lash-up and started raving their rusty metal tits off, they'd be doing it to this tune. The bassline is literally like the sound of something industrial throwing up, and the tune is filled with weird metallic stabs and effects that are out of this world. Heavy. Highly highly recommended to anyone who doesn't know it.

The next tune is one from the ever on-point RubADubDub blog, but it isn't (strangely enough) a dubstep cut. It is, in fact, a bit of intense drum and bass, courtesy of Spor. I could pretend that I know loads about Spor and his tune, but to be honest all I know (and all I need to know) is that 'Aztec' is a banger and I love it. If Formula 1 cars had fat soundsytems, this is the kind of intense, fast-paced shit they'd be playing.

Enjoy

MSTRKRFT (Feat. John Legend) - Heartbreaker (Wolfgang Gartner Remix)** Buy
Alex Metric - In Your Machine (Treasure Fingers Remix) Buy
Excision & Datsik - Calypso Buy
Spor*** - Aztec Buy

*Slight overhype.
**You can DL from there easy enough, they don't appreciate re-hosting. Check out the other free tracks - some of them are pretty good.
***Call me late, but apparently Feed Me is Spor's house/electro productions moniker. I now love him 10x more. Legend.

Brown Noise

2009-07-06T12:22:00.007+01:00

So I was listening to 'Rock the Casbah' on youtube this morning and I happened to skim through the comments bit underneath the vid, which is where I came across this:

"yeah buddy i listen to fucking music that would make any high school preppy guido bitch shit her pants. sorry i dont have a narrow mind when it comes to music"

And it gave me epic lulz + wtfs.

But it also made me think. Not in a deep way like 'why are some people so stupid and hateful that they find themselves needing to post those comments oh the woes of the world and the youth of today ...etc', but in a 'lol imagine if a tune could make you shit your pants' kind of way. Now obviously there is the mythical 'Brown Note':

The brown note is an infrasound frequency that is said to cause humans to lose control of their bowels due to resonance.

But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking more about tunes that are so frucking banging they might actually cause you to shit yourself in pure joy. I mean, I've been in clubs where the bassline has been so deep I felt like I might just go right there on the dancefloor, but I've never actually done it.

Maybe one day I will.*

Until then, I'll make do with listening to bangers. These tracks (probably) won't induce bowel-loosening euphoria, but they are pretty sick. First up is the Sidechains remix of Booty Luv's 'Say It'. I've already posted Diamond Cut's take on this song, but the Sidechains mix is a bit lighter and more club friendly (synths, funky bassline, fade outs etc). Its the kind of song that has earned them their place on the bill at Ibiza, and is worth a listen. Those who like it a bit more hardcore and bassy should check out Nero's pretty stellar remix instead. Bufi's 'Homeless Hero' sounds almost exactly the same as Bag Raider's 'Fun Punch' to me, but that is no bad thing. Any fans of Fun Punch or BR should probably check it out. As for Moonbootica, yes, their name is ridiculous and takes far too long to say, but their music is pretty sharp. Very sharp, some would say. Anyway, Freeland is obviously a fan, because Moonbootica got drafted in to remix the new single 'Do You'. Joker and High Rankin were given the same honour, and their remixes are full of dubsteppy goodness, but I've gone for Moonbootica's mix instead. This is mainly because I like them, but their version is pretty good - full of grinding distorted-guitar type synths and a nice bassline stab that promotes headnodding in a big way.

As for Classixx, they probably need no introduction. Cold Act Ill is a tune they released a while back (which is my way of saying I have no idea when) and has had a fair bit of attention from blogs - including Gottadancedirty, which is where I got it from. It is very very awesome and very euphoric - huge beat, great vocal sampling, big, smooth, clubby synth chords ... like a mix between Justice, Fred Falke, Moulinex and Deadmau5. Hopefully thats enough name drops to make everyone download it, and to make everyone so confused that they'll have no idea what it should sound like, letting me get away with that terrible, terrible description.
If any of these tunes make you shit your pants, it'll be this one.

Booty Luv - Say It (Sidechains Remix) BuySC
Bufi - Homeless Hero Buy
Freeland - Do You (Moonbootica Remix) Buy
Classixx - Cold Act Ill (Extended Mix) Buy

*Lol?

Banananananas

2009-06-25T19:33:00.008+01:00

Anyone that has been on Hype Machine in the last week or so will have picked up on Sammy Bananas' (who?) exemplary remix of Passion Pit's single 'The Reeling'. A few current big names have done mixes for the track already (Calvin Harris, Miike Snow, Burns), but for me this remix stands out as the most effective, and the most intriguingly different from the original (although Burns' version is pretty different, I don't think it works quite as well). Mr Bananas puts a very housey/tranceish feel on it (I'm thinking Eric Prydz/ WPAHP/ Deadmau5 stlye here), slowing the pace down and lowering the pitch a fair bit. The result is a great remix, if not a classic original track - it stands out more for what he's done to the original than for it's own greatness (but it is pretty effing great). Well worth a listen.

The Aspirins For My Children got a bit of attention for their (his - is it just Mr Barker?) remix of Marina and The Diamonds, and they deserve a bit more - particularly for this more recent effort: a bang tidy mix of Frankmusik's 'Confusion Girl'. Don Diablo has already lent his talented hands to this particular track, but I think the Aspirins mix just edges it for me, by virtue of being a bit more punchy and dancey (and therefore more suited to my high-impact and intense lifestyle). Frankmusik's stuff is occasionally a bit messy and fast so I like the way Aspirins have slowed it down and drawn out/sliced up the vocals a bit more. Plus the piano stabs make it a more epic and head-noddy (if that's any kind of real term or phrase). (Credit goes to We Like It Indie for putting it up originally).

Ah...remixes. They definitely make life a little better. Metric's 'Collect Call', off their new album is a good song - all Bat For Lashes type atmosphere and mildly haunting vocals, slow builds, reverbed, echoing guitary bits, etc. Tom Wrecks version, however, is all haunting vocals, atmosphere and steadily pounding drums. Which I like. He certainly doesn't 'wreck' the original ... a-ha ... a-ha ... lol? (Ignore that). It's got a bit more dynamism to it - the kind of track you listen to while driving at night: You don't want to fall asleep, but you don't want a rip-roaring electro banger doing your head in. It's nice. Like a chilled out Tiesto/David Aussi vibe with more vocals and less synthed-up chord progressions.

I have to thank the awesome Rub-A-Dub-Dubbb blog for this last one: Nero's 'Act Like You Know'. It's an absolute screamer, and a bit more intensely raw in some parts than his much-hyped (and sick) remix of the Streets - it sounds a bit more like his mix for Boy Crisis. There's also a tasty little house breakdown about halfway through - a more direct lift from his original mix - which uses that classic 'Show Me Love' dance sound without directly sampling the over-killed melody. Then it jumps back into crazy scratched up Rusko-style synths (a little bit darker sounding than Rusko, I should point out) and powerful bass punches. Insane, and highly recommended (although the vocal does get mildly repetitive).

Passion Pit - The Reeling ( Sammy Bananas' Big Choon Mix) FG
Frankmusik - Confusion Girl (The Aspirins For My Children Remix) Theirspace
Metric - Collect Call (Tom Wrecks Remix) Hisspace*
Nero - Act Like You Know (Dubstep Mix) Buy

*Like a few other artists, he's giving away some of his remixes free on myspace. Well worth getting hold of!

Pandamonium

2009-06-23T19:02:00.006+01:00

Other than that awesome picture, this post has nothing to do with pandas. Sorry.

Anyway, I was flicking through my itunes today and I realised that the only thing more fun than that panda is Frankmusik's remix of 'Did You Wrong'. (Thats an awful link, sorry again.) The Clik Clik are quite a fun little band on their own, and the original version of the track is cheerful enough, but Mr. Frankmusik takes it and pumps it full of electro candy. The end result sounds like a sugar crazed madman attacking a 5-year olds keyboard. In a good way. It comes across a bit noisy and fast-paced initially, but if you stick with it it's actually a pretty cool tune. One from last year, but worth a listen for those who aren't familiar with it.

I've been a fan of Damn Arms since I heard their Cut Copy remix. Which, come to think of it, can't have been that long ago. Either way, I've yet to hear a bad tune from out of their camp, and the SexWax remix of 'Destination' is no exception. The original two-parter is quite a chilled out number, but SexWax (who gives away the tune free with a bunch of other cool mixes on his myspace) makes it a bit more epic. Everything is a bit more reverbed and fuzzed up (distorted), making the song a bit more filthy and club-friendly without losing too much of the original vibe. It's very good, and not too complicated.

Last up is 'In Anima Vili', by Just A Band. I glossed over this tune completely when I first got it, but returned to it by complete chance the other day. I have now managed to decide that it's flipping awesome. 'Burn It Out' was a banger, and 'In Anima Vili' is no exception. I'm pretty sure it actually says 'bang' just as it drops (about 50 secs in). Which is probably reason enough in itself to have a listen. Apart from that, it's got a massive bass kick to it, and all kinds of spaced-out synths flickering over the top. Plus it's got that Justice-style staccato piano stab all over the bass that sounds amazing.

It's been bloody sunny so far this week, I feel like I should have saved up some of my summer tunes. Ah well...

Damn Arms - Destination (SexWax Remix) Myspace*
Just A Band - In Anima Vili Buy
The Clik Clik - Did You Wrong (Frankmusik Remix) Buy

*The Daft Punk mix on his player is well worth checking out.

Soothers

2009-06-02T14:52:00.008+01:00

Gutted.

I have no way of linking that picture to this post. So I'm just going to crack on as if its relevance is obvious.

The first song of today, then, comes from the camp of the unbelievably hot, and very talented, Marina and the Diamonds. I'm a big fan of the original song, 'I am not a Robot', so I wasn't really convinced with Starsmith's revamp when I first heard it. The tune starts pretty slowly, and the vocals seem a bit slapped together initially. However, Starsmith has actually given the track quite a summery spin and I've decided it's definitely worth a listen. It kind of has a more 'robot' feel - all floaty A-ux style synths with a hint of Aeroplane to the beat. Pretty laidback. Also, he has an Ellie Goulding track on his myspace, which makes me think that maybe he produces her incredible music, or is involved in some way?* Top marks if he is.

I haven't posted any indie for a while, so I feel like the time has come. I nabbed a copy of the new Signal Hill album More After We're Gone the other day, and its incredible. I was going to post something off it, but then I got Cascade's new EP The Pieces Of The World and listened to 'Midnight Sun'. Both bands are well in to their treble-led, soft, summery instrumentals, and 'Midnight Sun' is quite possibly the best of the bunch. It surges along at a fairly gentle pace, and is laced with sunny guitar chords and riffs that capture the summer moment perfectly. I'm pretty much in love with the song, and I spent most of yesterday listening to it whilst doing as many summer activities as possible (BBQing, Swimming, being hot, etc.) It was awesome. You can also get a free download of their single 'The Hypnotizer' here.

Time for a third genre now. Because although I thought that soft indie might be the quintissential sound for the season, I'm now thinking ... liquid drum 'n' bass. Amirite? Specifically, the brand that High Contrast and, more recently, Chase 'n' Status and Blame have been putting out. I thought Blame's remix for the new 'Show Me Love' EP was awesomeness, and he's recently been sought out by VV Brown to provide a mix for her new single 'Shark in The Water'. I love it. The vocals are perfect, and the track is filled with triumphant trumpet fills and blasts that make it excitingly epic. It's a must-have for anyone who likes Blame's other work, and it actually makes me want to hear more VV Brown, despite the fact that I've been trying ignore all the hype surrounding her since the start of the year.

Last up, I thought I'd bring back a classic from two summer' ago. The Hook 'n' Sling remix of 'Coup D'etat', which probably shouldn't need an introduction. It was on the Ibiza Annual of 2007, and it has a deliciously inordinate amount of bounce and catchingess to it, making it (probably) one of my favourite house tracks of all time. Enjoy, I hear the cold front is coming back.

Gutted.

Marina and The Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot (Starsmith's '24 Carat' Remix) Buy
Cascade - Midnight Sun Myspace
VV Brown - Shark In The Water (Blame Remix) Myspace BuyBlame

Bonus:
Bass Kleph - Coup D'etat (Hook 'n' Sling Remix) Buy

*Turns out they're some duo called Goldsmith? Exciting stuff.

Summer's High Heights

2009-05-29T17:20:00.007+01:00

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

2009-05-15T16:16:00.005+01:00

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

2009-05-13T17:36:00.000+01:00

(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.

Grum(p)y

2009-04-27T17:13:00.006+01:00

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

2009-04-17T21:11:00.004+01:00

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

2009-04-14T14:37:00.006+01:00

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.)

2009-04-09T10:07:00.002+01:00

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

2009-04-03T13:13:00.002+01:00

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

2009-04-01T14:54:00.006+01:00

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

2009-04-01T11:43:00.001+01:00

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!

Villainous Riots Broke One's Lips

2009-03-30T22:15:00.005+01:00

I noticed the Villains recent remix of Lykke Li is top of Hype Machine today. Which isn't particularly surprising, considering the two names involved on the track, and the awesomeness of the track itself. But seeing the 'Little Bit' remix reminded me of another gem - the Villains distortion heavy power remix of 'Ares'. I'm fond of this song mostly because of the way they've sampled Kele Okereke ... his occasional plea for the audience to 'get fucked up' is pretty cool, and the chopping and slicing off the vocals over the whole track is artfully done. The Villains give it a tempo and force that suit the lyrics perfectly, and the original track (which was maybe one of the worst on Intimacy - too much of an Art Brut copy in places) pales in comparison to the remix. Out with the snare rolls, in with the pounding rave drums.

Another amazing remix team of some renown are the duo LA Riots. I'm a bit of a fan of chopping and cutting vocals (can you tell?), and although the 'Ares' remix has a fair bit, LA Riots offer a bit of a masterclass in it on their remix of 'Love & War'. In fact, the whole remix is something of a masterclass, and is my favourite from them, just topping their mixes of 'Switchblade' and 'Trouble in Daylight'. They manage to combine quite trebley, almost R&Bish, vocals and sparkly piano bits with distorted siren-sounding synths, a grinding electro melody and a funked-up, but fairly heavy, clubby drum pattern. Overall its a recipe for success, and all condensed into about 3 minutes so you don't get bored. They just walk up, punch you in the ear, and walk off.

(LA Riots and Villains actually teamed up a while ago to do a remix of Hot Chip which is fairly good, but not as class as their individual stuff. )

These last two songs won't be news to anyone who's particularly clued up on the blog circuit, but they're still worth posting because ... because I really like them. So nyah.

First up - Broke One's partyriffic remix of 'Exterior'. Anyone who's a fan of Justice or Breakbot/Pnau, and would like to see what their children would sound like, should probably check out this one. It starts off all mellow electric piano chords and hand claps, and then brings in a tasty bit of robo-voice action. After that some distinctly Cross sounding strings and a bit of a crunchy electro synth, thats a bit like a (very) watered down version of 'Waters of Nazareth', join the party. All together, they make a lovely blend of hard and soft electro sounds, and the track moves along at quite a gentle (can I say this?) groove pace. I like it. His remix of Elke's 'Blue Dream Lover' has a similiar style to it - quite funky and chilled. (The end of that mix has a great little 80's sounding solo on it, just before the last chorus).

Chew Lips were on BBC6 Music the other day, which makes me think they must be the new big thing. But what makes me care about their new status is the fact that they've been remixed by Tepr, whose incredible mix of 'Ce Jeu' I posted a while back (mentioning that - Tepr is actually part of Yelle's band, I think). His take on 'Solo' goes in a slightly different direction. It's still pretty housey, but more Fakebeat/Popof-ish than Chris Lake or Deadmau5-ish. Those comparisons are possibly (probably) terrible. Either way, it's an awesome song. To be fair, the original is fairly good, but Tepr manages to bulk it up and give it a bit more presence, dancefloor-wise.

Actually, I've listened to the original all the way through and decided I really like that as well.

Just to round off, I wanted to mention Redial, who I posted about a while back. Blogger, in their infinite wisdom, took exception to that particular post and have since removed it for 'offences'. Of what kind, I couldn't say, but they possibly pertain to my single-handed and wanton destruction of the music industry by virtue of reckless promotions and reviews. Sad times.
Anyway, a friend of mine introduced me to Redial a few weeks ago, and now I recommend him to you. He is awesome, and anyone who is a fan of Danger or Designer Drugs, as I am, should probably go to his myspace right now.

Bloc Party - Ares (Villains Remix) Buy Villains
Photek - Love & War (LA Riots Remix) Buy
The Nerd Follia - Exterior (Broke One Remix) Buy Broke One
Chew Lips - Solo (Tepr Remix) Buy

Wild Things

2009-03-29T21:59:00.006+01:00

New post on the way soon, but for now:

Looks amazing! I've been searching my shelves for that book for ages. Great idea to use the Arcade Fire song as well. Congratz to whoever picked that. A nice bit of epic Alt-rock, but with that touching twang lent to it by the lyrics that suits it perfectly to the film. The change to the more upbeat/intense section is awesome as well, very child-like (I almost said 'childish' there, but that would probably be a bit of a disservice.)

I've been listening to Funeral all day.

Arcade Fire - Wake Up Buy

Dream On

2009-03-20T13:46:00.008Z

I walked home tonight, and all I could smell on the way back was delicious barbecue smokiness, which tells me - ignoring the calender - that it is officially summer.

There are a few songs that say summer to me almost instantly - 'Love Shy', 'Summer Jam', 'Long Hot Summer'... all the obvious ones. But I've recently gone through a spate of unearthing equally sunny pop gems from my happily mainstream-oriented youth.

Leading the pack, is The Wannadies classic 'You And Me Song', which just managed to top 'Dancing In The Moonlight' when I was deciding what to post. I'm still quite surprised that a band with such a depressing name could have produced such a happy song, but I'm certainly not dissapointed. Declarations of ever-lasting love are very summer, as are epic, crashing, uptempo choruses - especially preceeded by quite mellow verses. The You And Me Song meets all those requirements, and rounds the whole thing off with a little electric drum pattern, which sounds like its been through a million compressers and bitcrushers. Awesome. In a formulaic, poppy kind of way.

'Don't Fight It' - from The Panics - is less generally positive, but when the horns and the drums drop at the same time it becomes almost heroic, and has just enough of that summer vibe. The ending is particularly nice, with the vocals becoming almost R&B'ish and very melodic. Overall the song is a fairly average indie-rock number, but there's just enough of a wait between the incredible bits to make them seem even better when they come - it's catchy, laid-back and well produced.

Tahiti 80 are about as French and as 90's as it's possible for any indie/pop band to be. Most of their songs sound like a condensed form of almost gay happiness, delivered by an emphasis on trebley guitar bits and simple, regular drum patterns, overlayed at times by slightly more distorted guitars and cheerful, staccato, piano chords. Once again, these guys aren't incredibly musically talented - the guitarist is no Erik Mongrain - but they have a style which is difficult to dislike. 'Dream On' sums it up.

From Monument To Masses are a different kettle of fish, and 'Defeaning' isn't quite a summer song, although the guitar is quite reverbed and jazzy at times.

In reality, though, it's not actually summer anyway, so I guess that's OK.

The track starts off almost like an Aeroplane song, with DJ Shadow on the drums (I've already made it sound too good, I think, but I'll push on), and becomes progressively more and more rocky towards the end. It ends up almost like grunge, actually, but up till that point the song's fairly chilled so don't be put off. The guitar at the beginning is pretty special, very Lemon Jelly sounding (as is the initial drop), and it's a pretty cool song overall - nice and experimental.

The Wannadies - You And Me Song Buy
The Panics - Don't Fight It Buy
Tahiti 80 - Dream On Buy
From Monument To Masses - Defeaning Buy

Midnight

2009-03-19T23:42:00.004Z

Need something to help you sleep?

One man getting a lot of press recently is Deadmau5 - due mostly to his much publicized remix of 'I'm Not Alone', which is fairly good, but not one of his best. If anyone's interested, look up his vocal remix of 'I Remember', or the more bangerific and popular 'Ghosts 'N' Stuff', for a proper taste. They are probably my two personal favourites.

However, sometimes even listening to those bad boys is too much effort, and only synth-addled, highly-reverbed piano can send me off into that euphoric state of music induced drowsiness that I love so much.

This particular remix provides the above in pretty much ideal quantities.

Night.

Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar (Deadmau5 Remix)* Buy

*The new link should let you preview the track before you download. I was going to embed a player but... it proved to be a bother; have to make do with this for the time being :-(.

Filthy Dukes Nonsense

2009-03-18T15:10:00.007Z

My last post was quite lazily brief, mainly because I was caught up in all the excitement of that incredible new Phoenix album. Recently though, I've begun to tire off listening to their marvellous brand of French indie on repeat, and I've moved on to pastures new for the time being. I got my hands on Nonsense In The Dark - the new Filthy Dukes album - the other day, and it's definitely my favourite electro/club record of the year so far. Fist of God was good, but a bit too hip-hop oriented for my liking; FD manage to get the balance right where MSTRKRFT couldn't.

The album starts with that over-played single of recent weeks, 'This Rhythm', which is a fairly solid place to start, but it then progresses on to one of the highlights of the album almost immediately - 'Elevator' - which has some of the best vocal work on the whole LP. It's a nice kind of electro-indie jam, with a weird ethereal vibe. Definitely a new favourite of mine. 'What Happens Next' comes in after that, another quality track, bringing a nice bit of happy bounciness. The vocals start off slightly whiny, but the chorus has got a cool sing-a-long style to it which is instantly appealing. 'Tupac Robot Club Rock', which comes midway through the album, is EPIC. Although I think I still prefer their own remix version of it.

As a whole, it's a pretty solid debut (I only gave one track less than 4 stars, but that might just be because I love FD), and it ranges nicely from club bangers - to use a Westwoodism - to bouncy indie and electro: sometimes on the same song. There's also a nice handful of instrumental tracks, like 'Twenty Six Hundred', which comes across as fairly soft electro compared to some of their stuff, but still has a nice drive to it, and 'Somewhere At Sea', which is a beautifully chilled out piano-ballad type song.

Overall, it's well worth getting - Filthy Dukes are doing a lot for the London Electro scene.

Filthy Dukes - What Happens Next Buy
Filthy Dukes - Tupac Robot Club Rock Buy

PHOENIX

2009-03-12T10:58:00.002Z

YES! I HAVE THE NEW ALBUM. HOORAY FOR ME. HOORAY FOR PHOENIX!

It's awesome.

Phoenix - 1901 (Immuzikation Remix)

Dubble Helping

2009-03-10T23:11:00.005Z

I've just hit a massive backlog of work that should keep me occupied for the next two months or so, but I'll endeavour to keep the blog going just to remind people I'm still alive.

A quick couple of dub/dubstep tracks for today then (hence the clever pun in the post title). First up... The Widdler is someone I came across recently on the Data Sapiens blog, and his track 'Sensi Samurai' is the first thing I've listened to every morning since Saturday. (It actually gave me a slight headache this morning, but in a good way. Because it is immense.) Like all the best songs, it samples a martial arts film (a la the mighty Wu Tang Clan), and uses it to fuel a track that feels like a full-frontal ninja beatdown. Atmospherically, it's sinister and spooky, and very japanese. And if you turn it up high enough, that atmosphere is filled with a huge bass sound which takes it to intense new levels. It's almost High Rankinish, but slightly less demonic.

As for my second song of the day (night, really): it's experimental, if nothing else. The other day, I randomly came across a group called Jah Wobble and The Chinese Dub Orchestra, who are all about fusing traditional Eastern and oriental sounds with modern Western influences and dub/dubstep. In many ways, 'L1' parallels 'Sensi Samurai' in terms of concept, although the execution is less club-oriented. The actual result is fairly good, mostly because I've always had an abiding affection for Japanese sounds (some of the electro coming from Japan at the moment is awesome), but also because of the drums - which seem fairly DJ Shadow inspired, and which set the track off nicely and give it enough pace and variety to keep it interesting. Worth a listen, although most of their stuff is less successful - the concept becomes a little exhausted and forced at times.

The Widdler - Sensi Samurai Buy
Jah Wobble and The Chinese Dub Orchestra - L1 Buy

Take It Easy

2009-03-08T13:42:00.003Z

Ok, so first up today is a personal friend of mine - Nottingham-based, Devonshire-born student Mr. Tom Dove. I don't want to say too much about him, because I'll probably struggle, even more than usual, not to be overtly hyperbolic. But basically...Tom's awesome. He's just put together a new demo, setting himself up as an independent singer-songwriter in the mould of Damien Rice or Bon Iver -although he doesn't sound particularly similar to either. In fact, comparisons are hard to make... maybe Matthew Gair mixed with Andy McKee? Plus a bit of Damien Rice thrown in?

Who knows...

Anyway, I have (completely without his permission), uploaded the three songs he's recorded so far - links below. 'Phone Calls' starts beautifully - the guitar part is probably my favourite off the EP (although the ending to Ariel is particularly nice) - and although the lyrics get a little bit twee in parts, Tom sings with enough conviction to carry them off most of the time. Like all the tracks, it's worth waiting till the end of it, when he really starts to build and get strumming like a beast. The end of the chorus to 'Last Orders' is awesome - the way it drops back into the verse is a nice touch, and really brings out the guitar. 'Ariel' is slightly softer (not that any of the songs are aggressive as such) and around 2:20 it hits possibly the highest point of the EP - jump to that if you're not convinced by anything else.

And if you are convinced, Tom'll probably be playing open mics and so on around Nottingham so get down there and show some support, or give him some Myspace hugs and kisses.

I mentioned in my last post that I went to see Gaslight Anthem the other night. Before the gig, I had only heard their second album, which gave me a slightly warped perspective on them - good as it is. Happily, I've managed to get my hands on the first album since then, and I thought it might be good form to post one of the softer acoustic tracks off it, partly because it sounded particularly good live and partly because it means this post has a well-formed running 'acoustic' theme. Hooray. 'The Navasink Banks' should give you an idea of their versitility, and while it's fairly average as far as such songs go, its got some lovely atmospheric electric bits over the top which make it stand out for me a bit.

Gaslight are a punk band who occasionally go a bit soft (which I love), and the same could probably be said of heavy metal group Dream Theater. Obviously the fact that I just called them heavy metal will put off most people, but 'Hollow Years' is probably closer to Coldplay than Judas Priest. (Although when I say that, I'm definitely not comparing them to either band, just illustrating a point.) To be succint: the guitar is quite nice -with a bit of a Spanish vibe - the drums are chilled and not overbearing, but his voice isn't the strongest... Altogether the song is pretty easy listening and shows a nice variety of style from a metal outfit. Skip to about 3:30 in to hear the best of it.

And finally, 'Little Baby Pines' by SUNBEARS! - whose album is called Dream Happy Dreams. A great album title, which pretty much sums them up for me. They sound kind of like a cross between Phoenix and Death Cab For Cutie - happy but fairly quiet. Dreamy, I suppose. Little Baby Pines is one of my favourite songs of the moment, and has been all the better for the few rays of sun we've been getting this week in England. Of the last three tracks I'm posting, it's the one I'd most highly recommend - as I would their album.

Cheers.

Tom Dove - Ariel
Tom Dove - Phone Calls
Tom Dove - Last Orders Myspace

The Gaslight Anthem - The Navasink Banks Buy
Dream Theater - Hollow Years Buy
SUNBEARS! - Little Baby Pines Buy

Drop, Listen, Bounce

2009-03-04T17:47:00.015Z

I saw Frank Turner and The Gaslight Anthem last night, and they were both incredible. So much so that they seem to have satisfied my hunger for punk/rock/indie music temporarily, and pushed me back towards pulsating electronica again. Which is probably a good thing.

First up, then, some cracking stuff from Etienne dé Crecy. Namely, the first tune of his Myspace: 'Welcome'. To be honest, the main reason I liked this tune originally is because it starts off with that incredibly threatening alarm, sampled from Goldeneye (I think). But the song eventually builds up to a point, about 4:30 in, where it turns into an incredible, fierce, driving piece of french electro. Without wanting to scare anyone off, it sounds like ideal music for a brutal and aggressive murder - aside from a particularly cool dance breakdown in the middle.

Next is my second favourite tune of recent weeks - George Lenton's remix of 'Weekend Wars'. MGMT are best known for their catchy electro-pop-indie hybrid awesomeness, but Lenton manages to turn them into something altogether more sinister (in a good way). His remix is a powerful piece of dubstep madness: all heavy bass and slow, epic drums. Sort of like Skream's mix of La Roux but with a lot more going on (although I'm not suggesting it's better). The vocals are made a lot more haunting and interesting, and there's still enough of the original track to remind you what a banging remix it is.

Speaking of banging (in both senses of the word, when you consider the song title), I want to talk about my recent favourite: Primecuts' remix of 'Hit That Gash'. Because it is amazing. Now I obviously say that pretty frequently, but this time I feel justified. The first beat of the song is like a sonic boom, and it stays at the same level throughout. Play it loud. (Big shout to Pelski for posting it).

And last, but not least, is 'Bounce Up', off Kyle Watson's Fresh & Bouncy EP. Watson's sound is like a combo of funky house, techno and dubstep, and it gives you pretty much whats promised in the EP's title - bounce. The lead track sounds a bit like something by Dubbel Dutch or, maybe more accurately, Fakebeat - but with a thumping rhythm and some slightly more polished production. 'Right Now' - off the same EP - is slightly more tech house, and gets more laid back towards the end, but is equally funky and worth getting hold of.

Enjoy.

Etienne dé Crecy - Welcome Myspace
MGMT - Weekend Wars (George Lenton Remix) Myspace
Foreign Beggars - Hit That Gash (DJ Primecuts Re-Rub) Buy
Kyle Watson - Bounce Up Buy

No Joke

2009-03-01T17:14:00.007Z

I've posted about Joker before on this blog, although that post is now lost to the annals of history, and I have ignored him since. However, thanks in chief to the ever-reliable Pelski, he now makes a dramatic return. 'Stuck in the System' pretty much defines epicness for me. It's huge - the snare is as crisp and punchy as you could want, and the bass is so grimy and modulating it scares me. On top of it all, Joker throws on some classic strings, horns and weird synthy sci-fi bits and pieces which take the track to another level. A level of incredibleness.

Who needs vocals?

I realise that sounds like me being my usual hyperbolic self, but it's definitely an essential tune for anyone who likes dubstep, hip-hop, or electro. And speaking of electro, I was browsing Myspace music the other day and came across a Swedish/Japanese electro kid called Fujasaki. Most of the tunes on his myspace are fairly good, but his Cruise Control verison of 'What I Look Like' particularly caught my attention. Now, I'll confess that I have no idea what the phrase cruise control has to do with anything, but it definitely means good things. The tune has a pretty classic Bag Raiders' type vibe, using the same kind of piano sounds and biting synths, with a few good tempo changes and builds. I've had it on repeat for at least three days. So it must be quite good.

During the same myspace trawl, I came across DJ Falcon, whom i confess I should probably already have heard of. But whatever, I got there in the end. Anyone who likes standard house (I'm thinking Armand Van Helden, Eric Prydz, maybe Louis La Roche) will probably like his take on the classic 'So Much Love To Give' (it doesn't sound all that much different at all really), which features Daft Punk's Bangalter. It gets a little repetitive, quite possibly a lot repetitive in some peoples eyes, but its pretty standard rave material: piano refrains, heavily reverbed breakdown sections, long bass notes and a crotch-thrusting drumbeat. Worth a listen for anyone who calls themself a 'clubber', or who secretly thinks they might be one.

Finally, I came across 'Emergency Broadcast System', who are intesely difficult to google but are worth the effort of looking up if you're into atmospheric, dark intensity followed by pacey beats. EBS are Rob Dougan-ish, but with a less classical, more straightforward electronic vibe. They're essentially what he would be if he was a Romanian vampire who enjoyed trips to the beach. At night. Good soundtrack stuff, with a slightly hallucinogenic feel.

Joker - Stuck In The System Buy
Fujasaki - What I Look Like (Cruise Control version) Buy Website
DJ Falcon - So Much Love To Give (Feat. Bangalter) Myspace
Emergency Broadcast System - Wolfdrone Buy

Indiecision

2009-02-25T18:47:00.007Z

Marina and the Diamonds is great. I first heard 'Obsessions' a few weeks back and thought 'awesome'. Then 'Mowgli's Road' turned up in my inbox and I thought the same thought again, with a vengeance. The other two tracks on her myspace are equally good. Turns out she's signed to the same label as Passion Pit, so that might give you an idea of the popular, sing-along quality of her music - although she is much less electronic and can sing a whole lot better. I'm sure she'll be huge. Check out electrorash for a bit more info... and for tuneage.

But as for who I think should be huge: Malajube! I've posted about them before, but suddenly realised just now (during a Marina and the Diamonds inspired indie-listening phase) that my personal favourite of theirs, 'Dragon de Glace', has yet to grace my page. A terrible oversight. The song starts beautifully, with a simple but gorgeous bit of acoustic guitar work, and then the breathy french vocals come in, rubbing the beauty of their language in my english face. The build at the end is also incredible, and well worth waiting for.

I got Fanfarlo's album recently, and while it's not particularly outstanding, it is pretty solid all the way through. 'Fire Escape' (below) and 'I'm A Pilot' are the most attention grabbing tracks. They've got a pretty cheerful sound, kept from overt popishness by occasional trumpet solos, and by a slightly melanchonic singer (in terms of sound, not necessarily lyrics). Employing a similar kind of upbeat, head-nodding drum pattern is the Pains of Being Pure at Heart song 'A Teenager in Love'. In fact, both bands sound vaguely similar, although Pains are a bit more melodic and acoustic in general.

In fact, they're not that similar when you get right down to it. Because if you're getting down to it, why would you be mentally comparing bands?

Aha, aha...

Finishing up are the Rogues, already remixed by Feed Me - which has pretty much sold them to me - who are probably the most obviously 'indie'. 'Not So Pretty' is almost impossible not to sing along to, and has a nice little riffy guitar bit and some solid, danceable drumming.

My next post will probably be a bit more electro and dubsteppy (I don't know if anyone's got the Primecuts remix of 'Hit That Gash', but it's huge), but I was feeling in a pretty indie/alternative mood after listening to those new Phoenix and Doves singles for an entire day - can't wait for the respective albums. Anyway, enjoy. Four decent songs from four decent bands.

Malajube - Dragon de Glace Buy
Fanfarlo - Fire Escape Buy
The Pains Of Being Pure at Heart - A Teenager in Love Buy
Rogues - Not So Pretty Buy

Just realised my 'Feed Me' post got pulled. Twice I think. Maybe third time lucky?

Rogues - Not So Pretty (Feed Me Remix) Buy

Speaking of posts being pulled, my 'Power to The People' post was also removed. Sigh. Another casualty with that cruel mistress that is the Blogger hegemony. Of the tracks that were on there, Mansion - 'Body' and the Jimmy2sox remix of 'We Are The People' are the ones worth looking up.

The Dance Off (pt. 2)

2009-02-23T16:20:00.009Z

So, in the last post I was pitting classic garage against more recent electro bangers in a kind of disco fight to the death, and in this post I'm... doing exactly the same. Which doesn't say much for my powers of imagination.

Good old Lonyo, good old Sunship. (I should say, I've no idea if it's actually a Sunship mix of the song, or if he produced it, or if he had anything to do with it at all, but I might as well put his name to it because he's quite possibly one of the hardest-working and most-consistent garage DJ's ever. And he deserves the love of the people. In particular the garage girls.) This piece of old school awesomeness is one of my favourite summer tracks, and it's not sexist: it's appreciative. Probably. Either way, it is a classic.

As is the SFA song 'Flowers', which is why I refuse to post it. There can't be anyone from my generation who hasn't heard that song. But one of their less known tracks is '8 Days A Week', and it follows pretty much the same brilliant formula. Which is a good thing in my book.

Competing with the two classics (I might be stretching the applicability of that word a bit, excuse the hyperbole) I have already mentioned, are two recent releases that have caught my attention. Neo Tokyo's 'Because You Left' and the Culture Prophet remix of 'RAR'. The Neo Tokyo track sounds a bit like an old Gameboy theme song which has mated with a funky vocal sample it met on the internet - a sound which I actually quite like. It's worth a listen.

As for the Culture Prophet remix... it starts epic and just gets more so. Then it gets chilled out. Then it gets epic again. It's almost as if the song is so awesome they had to give you breathing spaces in the middle of it so you can keep dancing. (I've got slightly hyperbolic again there, but it is a cool song.)

Love it.

On a side note - Apparently garage music was influenced by that hero of mine: Todd Edwards. Which means I don't have to feel like a chav for listening to it. Because Todd Edwards is an awesome and respected house DJ (despite all his songs sounding strangely similar), and if you don't believe me you can look below.

Lonyo - Garage Girls (Sunship Mix) Buy
Neo Tokyo - Because You Left Myspace
Sweet Female Attitude - 8 Days A Week Buy I apologize for the quality on this one, it's difficult to get hold of a decent version.
Romulus & Remus - RAR (Culture Prophet Remix) Myspace

Bassline Bonus (recommended)
Artful Dodger - One More Chance Myspace

Todd Edwards Bonus
Appaloosa - The Day (We Fell In Love)(Todd Edwards Liturgical Mix) Buy

The Dance Off (pt. 1)

2009-02-23T14:56:00.006Z

Sometimes, albeit it very rarely, I sit down and I listen to some banging electro and I think: "This banging electro that I've sat down to listen to isn't really doing it for me". And by that I don't mean 'doing it for me' in any kind of sexual sense, because that would sound a bit gay and weird. In fact, I'd be pretty surprised if anyone thought that was what I meant.

So that's two sentences wasted.

Any way, when I have these particular moments of lost faith, I find myself turning to another genre. Which is usually garage. Because to be honest, old school garage has its moments. And when it has them, it has them big time. 'Love Shy' is quite possibly one of my favourite tunes of all time - not, obviously, because it is some kind of fantastic original musical accomplishment, but because it just sounds happy. It sounds like the producer just bounced up and down on his keyboard when he made it. It sounds like they were on E, and somehow injected that E into the actual song. Quite probably, most people won't have the emotional attachment I have to garage. And for that reason, I've stuck Kristine Blond's old classic next to Mr Miyagi's more recent dance remix of 'Up In The Blue', which is also awesome, and is less sickeningly commercial and pop. But I know which one would make me dance if I heard it at a funeral.

Neither, because that would be sick... But 'Love Shy' would make me want to dance.

Old Mr Dodger and Craig David were once the very essence and lifeblood of the garage scene, bringing it to the mainstream with more success than almost anyone else. 'Woman Trouble' is my particular favourite of their many collaborations, mostly because 'Rewind' is so overplayed, and I reckon it trumps the Gooseflesh remix of 'Taken Away' for sheer euphoric danceability any day of the week. Although the Gooseflesh remix is definitely a pretty handy tune, and one of my recent favourites - I'm sorry to say I ignored it for a few weeks after I first got it, alas. But I am now repenting by playing it about 5 times in the last half hour.

You can make your own minds up about which you prefer - but I know which songs will stick with me for a good few years to come.

(The garage songs, in case I haven't been clear).

Kristine Blond - Love Shy Buy
Jake OH - Up In The Blue (Mr Miyagi Remix) Buy
Artful Dodger feat. Craig David - Woman Trouble Buy
Digitalism - Taken Away (Gooseflesh Remix) Myspace* awesome

*Apologies if mediafire is being a bit funny, they've definitely got some server issues at the moment.

The Lonely Island

2009-02-21T12:09:00.006Z

They're on a boat.

Got Incredibad this morning. All the singles are pretty hilarious, the rest of the album is less consistent. The concept wears a little thin over time, although the execution of it is pretty sharp - The beat for 'I'm On A Boat' is flipping awesome.

Where can I buy one of those T-Pain top hats!?

The Lonely Island - Dick In A Box (Feat. Justin Timberlake) Explicit Buy

Death By Music

2009-02-17T21:07:00.008Z

Skream's Lets Get Ravey mix of La Roux, Kissy Sell Out's DataRock remix, '1000 Cigarettes' off MSTRKRFT's new album... the whole of MSTRKRFT's new album (I picked it up on promo last week and it is awesome)...

It's difficult to tell what I love more - so to avoid the problem of choosing between them I'm going to post some other, unrelated songs instead. Which hopefully won't seem like a total cop-out, considering that most of the tracks I've just mentioned are readily available all over the net anyway, and considering also that the tracks I am just about to mention (and post, obviously) are completely immense.
High Rankin is someone I've been listening too pretty much non-stop since ...oh, friday, when I heard one of his tunes on Annie Mac's Radio 1 show (god bless her). Anyway, apart from the insane bounciness of 'Bubble and Squeak', featured on the show, Mr Rankin brings a particularly demonic and aggressive form of dubstep to the table. 'No Money For Guns' samples what sounds suspiciously like a distorted scream, as well as the phrase given in the song's title, and combines both with unusually heavy and crashing, almost rock-ish, drums and the (now-compulsory) stomach-punching bass we've all come to know and appreciate as the whole point of good dubstep. 'Sulfur Tears' does pretty much exactly the same, in a slightly more intense - if that's possible - way, and with different samples (naturally). Both songs demand a skanking related response.

The (kind of) hilariously named Nosaj Thing uses samples in a similarly eerie way, but there all similarities end. Between him and High Rankin at least. And obviously ecluding the one similarity I've just mentioned.

Ahem.

'Coat of Arms' is a really cool tune, I'm pretty sure Pete Tong played it just before Annie Mac took over, and provides a more chilled vibe. If you think Flying Lotus with added synth and a less funk-type beat than you're probably on the right track.* Lots of reverb and a general feeling of being in slow-motion are the key to Nosaj Thing's success.

'Maybes' by Mount Kimbie, taken from a 4-song EP of the same title, is also quite heavily reverbed, although the drums are kept crisp and the tempo is increased slightly - without leaving the general genre of relaxing electronoic tunes. The samples are handed beautifully, the keyboard (sounds like a Rhodes) is quietly epic, and the song as a whole has a gorgeous Caribbean/African vibe which for some reason makes me thing of the monsoon season. Although, of course, England doesn't have a monsoon season. Unless you count the whole year as a season. Regardless, it's a great song and a great EP - heavily atmospheric and just interesting enough to avoid the almost derogatory label of 'easy-listening'. (Although it is easy to listen to).

Finally, I had to put up some electro just because I love it. Russ Chimes is as good an ambassador for the scene as anyone, and 'She's Got The Heat' is a synth-tastic, upbeat track that has pretty much everything I would want in an electro song, apart from some truly epic Designer Drugs style vocals (a shame). Like Bag Raiders on crack. Hooray for Mr Chimes: he's doing good things for London.

Shockingly, I've put up no remixes at all. I'll have to sort that out next time I post.

(Can't wait for the new SMD album, especially after MSTRKRFT's reassuringly strong recent release.)

High Rankin - No Money For Guns (Preview) Myspace
High Rankin - Sulfur Tears Buy
Nosaj Thing - Coat of Arms Buy
Mount Kimbie - Maybes Buy
Russ Chimes - She's Got The Heat Myspace

*Nosaj has actually done a remix of Lotus's 'Camel' which is worth getting hold of.

Gutted

2009-02-10T20:53:00.007Z

Gutted. My 'Feed Me Bangers' post has been savagely and abruptly removed. I suspect it was either to do with the Lady GaGa remix or the Muse one.

Bastards.

As always, I will persevere. For anyone who missed the tracks, they were:
Lady GaGa - Just Dance (Feat. Colby O'Donis)(Matt Price Remix) Muse - Knights of Cydonia (Feed Me Remix) Ghostland Observatory - Club Soda Foamo - Everything Cool Kap10Kurt - Mission Complete (SymbolOne Remix) Boy 8-Bit - Fog Bank (Jack Beats Remix)

And they are all still highly recommended. (And easily available elsewhere, hopefully).
I also highly recommend you head over to hyperbole for the full Danger remix of 'Walking On A Dream' which has finally dropped. Look for the CSK OK tunes on there as well. Because, as I've said before, they are bangers.

As for music on this blog, this post includes a mix of new (to me, at least) and old tunes. Both 80Kidz and A-ux have been fairly recently ushered into the loving arms of my iTunes collection, and I felt it was high time to spread the love. Much like a bitter and devious student spreading an STD. Apart from these tracks are in no way similar to STD's.

The 80Kidz song is a Bag Raiders-ish track with a bit more grit. It's not as cheerfully Japanese as I would like (a more Perfume-ish sound would be ideal), but it's still pretty hardcore. No distracting vocals - just straightforward rises and falls, piano breakdowns, gut-punching/face-slapping drums, and strings doing whatever the opposite of a breakdown is.

A-ux provides a smooth, come-down vibe, with enough tempo to keep you interested. I've been trying to think of acts to compare him(?) to, but I don't want to cloud anyone's preconceptions. And it's difficult to pin-point anyway; the track would be equally at home on a Chilled Ibiza compilation or a Ministry of Sound one. Probably.

I don't have a hand in either compilation so couldn't say for sure.

Basically, listen to 'Journey to New Hope'. It's cool.

As for the other two tracks... I'm assuming they need very little introduction. The Punks Jump Up remix of 'Breaking it Up' is a classic: It really brings the song to life, and is unashamedly bright and cheerful. (I definitely do behave like the aforementioned Punks whenever I hear it drop.) The Kitsuné/DATA track is another old favourite, simple yet effective, and I highly recommend you get it if you don't have it already.

80Kidz - Life Begins at Eighty Buy
A-ux - Journey to New Hope Myspace
Lykke Li - Breaking it up (Punks Jump Up Remix) Buy
DatA - Aerius Light (Kitsuné DJ Friendly Edit) Buy (Original)

(Thanks to Resonator for the A-ux tune I nicked, and to Discodust for the old Lykke Li favourite.)

Racket Hearing

2009-02-06T13:27:00.005Z

There are all sorts of songs I'm desperate to post at the moment - the Boys Noize remix of 'Happy Up Here', the Starters remix of 'Thunderstruck Man', the CSK OK remix of 'Shooting Stars' ... but I've decided to change it up a bit. The Boys Noize and Starters tunes are all over Hype Machine at the moment, and I don't want to look like I follow the crowd. Because I'm just so incredibly eclectic and original. Like all bloggers.

As for CSK OK, I heard about him for the first time the other day on the ever-reliable hyperbole blogspot. He's pretty much my new favourite producer, sounding a bit like a more laid-back Danger. (A cross between Danger and The Twelves maybe? Not that I want to raise expectations too high.) I highly recommend that anyone with the slightest interest in electro checks out his myspace - there's a list on it of all the blogs he affiliates with and gives tunes to. Naturally, I don't appear on said list.

Sad face.

Anyway, I'm not going to post anything from him, as it's all ready available elsewhere, and well worth taking the time to find - look for his 'Final Punch' Reprise, the remix of 'Shooting Stars' and the 'Houston' remix.

It's probably time to talk about what I'm actually posting. First up... Housse de Racket, who's name I cleverly punned 'pon in the title, are a cheerful little French indie band - falling somewhere between Phoenix, Mystery Jets, Sebastien Tellier and The Beatles. Obviously, I don't mean that in terms of quality (although they are awesome), but in terms of their kind of sound. Their first album, Forty Love, was a rock opera about two tennis players fighting over a girl/man called Gwendoline (probably a girl). The lyrics might well be as hilarious as the general concept, but I wouldn't know because - quite refreshingly for a French band - it's all sung in French. In fact, the general style is about as French as you could want, and they've produced some very good songs, namely: 'Sur Le Papier' (see below), 'Oh Yeah' and 'Synthetiseur', all of which I highly reccomend. The rest of the album is pretty solid as well. 'Sur Le Papier' and 'Oh Yeah' are nice, cheerful indie jaunts, and 'Synthetiseur' is a bit more electric and powerful (think 'Eye of the Tiger'). Definitely worth a listen.

'Ursuline', by Malajube (who hail from Montréal), is equally French - in terms of lyrics at least. Or so I believe, though to be honest the vocals are so covered in distortion and sound it's difficult to make out if they are talking in any language at all. It sounds nice anyway. Overall the song is nicely balanced between highs and lows. Malajube are a bit more rocky than Housse de Racket, but equally good at song-writing. The drums are nice and powerful, with crashing cymbals and the like, but don't get in the way. In fact, there's a nice selection of instruments (I think a harmonica even creeps in at one point), and the whole song feels like a kind of musical journey.

Basically, I really like it. Their other stuff is good too, try 'Porté Disparu' if you want to hear more. Or try their myspace.
The Weakerthans are pretty cool. Everyone knows this. In fact, there is very little I could say about them that would be interesting or illuminating at all. Overall, they're pretty consistent and you either like them or you don't.
Vague, I know...

'Everything Must Go!' is a pretty cool song, if you ignore the exclamation mark in the title. The chord progression is melodic, pleasant, laid back. The drums are chilled (some tight snare work there), and the vocals float over the top in a kind of Death Cab-ish style.

Finally, I've linked some Chad VanGaalen. Now, Mr VanGaalen is by no means one of my favourite artists, but 'Rabid Bits of Time' is a beautiful song. Just listen to the way he sings 'You've been dead for years'. Great stuff. Bon Iver probably do the genre a bit better, but 'Rabid' is definitely a very good song, with the same kind of emotional power. (Slightly depressing.)

Housse de Racket - Sur le Papier Buy
Malajube - Ursuline Buy
The Weakerthans - Everything Must Go! Buy
Chad VanGaalen - Rabid Bits of Time Buy

Ready For The Weekend

2009-01-30T14:16:00.004Z

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool are going to be big in 2009. Or so I believe. 'Dance The Way I Feel' (which I think is their first single?) is a great song - pretty simple, but still powerful and catchy. 'Jackson's Last Stand' (I apologise for the quality of the sample by the way) is equally good, although it's garnered less attention. Both songs follow pretty much the same formula: deep, rumbling, distorted bass; well-pitched, epic choruses and stacatto synth melodies. But it's a good formula. Their stuff is easy to sing along to (if you're into that kind of thing), and easy to nod your head to.

But not to nod off to.

I'm pretty sure I've posted about WPAHP, buy Blogger obviously got their knickers in a twist about it. Nevertheless, I will persevere and try again. WPAHP don't seem to be on wikipedia, so obviously I know nothing about him(?) except what appears on his myspace. However, I do know that his(?) brand of trance/dance is exactly what I need whenever I get bored of listening to that new Calvin Harris track. He's(?) done all kinds of incredible remixes - most noticeably of Coldplay, Radiohead and Daft Punk, but his own stuff is just as emphatically good. The track I've linked isn't necessarily typical, it's a bit more laid-back... but it is still particularly euphoric (I'm a bit hung up on that word atm) and brilliant. All the tunes I have from WPAHP on my itunes are 4 or 5 stars, so I'm basically in love. Anyone who's interested should definitely check out the 'Wings of Love' mix on his myspace (see link below).

I've wanted to post a CFCF track for a while now, ever since I got their remix of 'D.A.N.C.E' which stood out for me as the most original (although not necessarily the best). CFCF are another group (or person) that I know nothing about, other than that I like their music. But for the purposes of this blog the music is all that matters. 'Crystal Mines', below, is kind of Crystal Castles, although only in the vaguest sense of the comparison. In fact, it's not anything like Crystal Castles really - other than the fact that 'Crystal' is in the title of both. Which is probably why I made the comparison. I digress. The track is pretty awesome: not in a banger sense, but in a robot-movie-sense (think Bladerunner). Worth a listen, as is most of their stuff.

Finally, I've left a little something for the ravers. Santiago & Bushido's new effort reminds me a little bit of Style of Eye, although a lot fiercer and more powerful, if less hypnotic. It's kind of dubsteppy-electro (I think I probably describe far too many songs like that) with a nice bass kick and a great bit of distorted-vocoder sounding action over the top.

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Jackson's Last Stand Myspace
We Plants Are Happy Plants - Sailing In A Dream Boat Myspace
CFCF - Crystal Mines Buy
Santiago & Bushido - Second Nature (Original Mix) Buy

Euphoric

2009-01-29T13:58:00.005Z

Madcon made a bit of an impact with their single 'Beggin' (which used that awesome Pilooski edit of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons), but I wrote them off fairly quickly, assuming they would be a bit of a one-hit wonder.

Whoops.

Although they might not be the best rappers in the world by any means, they definitely know good production when they hear it. The sexy electric guitar in '2000'n AA' is pretty much one of the best used samples I've heard in a long time. The drums are also great, really funky, and it's all mixed in with some horn stabs and a few electronic sounds. It sounds very smooth. And the lyrics aren't all bad, though they seem a bit aggressive for the track. (The way he sings 'we Madcon' sounds awesome as well). 'Liar' and 'The Sweetest Drug' are done in the same kind of style and are worth a listen as well. I think 'Liar' is quite possibly on a few BBC playlists... You can count that as a good thing or not depending on personal preference.

But it can't be all commercial hip-hop on this blog. In fact it hardly ever is. Because that would be no fun. So I turn to commercial dance instead - meaning the new Calvin Harris track in particular. I can't be the only person who spent the last week searching for a non-tagged version of the song, or one that wasn't horribly distorted by (non)virtue of being a radio-rip. Alas, I can't find one. To make do, I've listened to my less than ideal versions of the song about 50 times a day. I love the new direction he's gone in, moving from a 'disco' revival to some good, old-fashioned, mainstream house - possibly because he's trying to jump on the hype surrounding 'Pjanoo' and 'Infinity '08'. Not that I'm cynical. Regardless, 'I'm Not Alone' is a great song, it builds up nicely and it's about as euphoric as you could possibly want. Can't wait to hear it on a night out.

I won't put up the song, because it's on his myspace and all over the web anyway. I've put up an old remix of 'Dance Wiv Me' by Shazam instead, because it's pretty much amazing.

Sticking with the trance theme, I've linked an old Lifelike tune as well. I'm pretty sure he doesn't need any introduction or any hyping. Which is good, because I've already written far more than necessary.

Also, Damn Arms are quality. They've been getting a lot of attention recently, courtesy of their new EP. Their remix of 'Far Away' is one of my favourites, and I think I may have linked it before. Nevertheless, it's worth a second mention. The grainy electric piano in particular sounds fucking brilliant, and the treatment of the vocals is perfect.

Madcon - 2000'n AA Buy
Cut Copy - Far Away (Damn Arms Remix) Buy
Geyster - Under The Fuse Of Love (Lifelike Remix) Buy
Dizzee Rascal (feat. Calvin Harris and Chrome) - Dance Wiv Me (Shazam Remix) Buy

Sweet Selection

2009-01-28T16:36:00.005Z

So, Blogger pulled my Chew Fu post. Gutted. Because it was amazing. However, I have more amazing things. Things that will no doubt get equally rough treatment. Ho hum.

Yuksek has been making waves all over Hype Machine with his new album 'Away From The Sea' (don't excuse the pun), and rightly so. It sounds seariously amazing. It's made a splash. It's definitely quite different from some of his stuff I heard some time last year, but is more up my street (clashing synthy stabs, repetitive vocals, powerful drums etc). Minus the short burst from Amanda Blank, 'Extraball' is probably my favourite of the moment. Very solid.

In other news (well, 'olds' really) David E. Sugar brings a bit of his funky, softer sound to the Klaxons, breathing a bit of fresh life into 'Golden Skans' - which I was a fan of anyway. Despite its uncool popularity. The mix sounds a bit like that song from the car advert with that robot. You know the one I mean.

Hopefully.

I love M83. A couple of their remixes from last year have been getting all kinds of attention on 2008 song lists and so on, and their album has snatched a few top ten lists as well. 'Don't Save Us From The Flames' is a classic - anthemic and powerful, with some nice, yearning vocals. I've had it on repeat pretty much all week because it makes me feel like a hero. (By the way, it's off Before The Dawn Heals Us, not Saturdays = Youth which is their latest album. Both are amazing.)

By rude request, I've also posted that 'Peach' remix. And to re-underline what I've already said: Sidechains are awesome.

Have a good week.

Yuksek - Extraball Album
Klaxons - Golden Skans (David E. Sugar Remix) Myspace
M83 - Don't Save Us From The Flames Buy
Louis La Roche - Peach (Sidechains Remix) Myspace

Sidechains are Awesome

2009-01-22T22:08:00.006Z

Epic. As if the original wasn't good enough. Check out the Sidechains remix of Louis La Roche's Peach as well. Equally bangeriffic.

Heads We Dance - The Human Touch (Sidechains Remix) Buy Original

Cheers to blousesydney for the heads up.

Not Mundane

2009-01-19T23:09:00.004Z

Considering the Black Ghosts had one of the biggest tunes of '08 with 'Anyway You Chose To Give It', I definitely haven't given them enough attention. Recently, I've been flicking through a few of their tracks and 'Some Way Through This' caught my attention - mainly because of the dubsteppy bassline, mixed cleverly with (slightly) Thom-Yorke-esque vocals, and some nice operatic strings. It's definitely one of those songs that you have to play loud to really appreciate. But I did play it loud. And I really appreciate it. Black Ghosts rule.

Moving on ... I was listening to Chris Lake's remix of 'Oh My God' the other day and I was struck my how disgustingly brilliant he is as a producer. I almost (well, actually did) wet myself when I found out that he and the ever-impressive and multi-talented Deadmau5 had teamed up on a couple of tracks. Below are the results. The 'Faxing Berlin' tune is pretty standard trance, something to listen to when you're too drunk for lyrics. But still a banger. 'I Thought Inside Out' - which is the actual co-production - is immense. The drop happens exactly on 2 minutes and it's fucking HUGE. You can feel the bass punching its way through your guts until it smacks you in the face. Another one that has to be played loud.

Moving on (again), Treasure Fingers blesses an already blessed Romanthony track with his own considerable talents. The mix uses the kind of funky clap rhythm that you usually only get at a retro breakdance contest, and brings the bass and bongos to match it. It's pretty chilled, but pretty cool at the same time.

Last of all, but definitely not least, is Style of Eye's 'The Prophet'. I've only recently become aware of the Eye, courtesy of Pelski, but I intend to make up for lost time. It's the kind of music that makes you feel like you must be on drugs, or having a bad panic attack - in the best kind of way possible. I would label it minimalist techno but I think that would put most people off... to be honest, I listened to the track first time and got really annoyed because nothing seemed to happen. It was definitely too minimal. Then I listened to it again and I have literally ended up with it on repeat. It's like magic. 'Girls' is just as good, and slightly less random. I highly reccomend checking both songs out. They'll grow on you, like some kind of glowing, fantastical musical cancer.

The Black Ghosts - Some Way Through This Buy
Deadmau5 - Faxing Berlin (Chris Lake Remix) Buy
Chris Lake and Deadmau5 - I Thought Inside Out Buy
Romanthony - Curious (Treasure Fingers Remix) Buy
Style of Eye - The Prophet (Original Mix) Buy

Chromeo Weekend

2009-01-17T12:46:00.006Z

My brother recently reminded me what an awesome album 'Fancy Footwork' was and is. I recently gave it another listen and I've spent most of the past few days in some kind of Chromeo world. All I can say is:

"Chromeo, oooOoOoo"

'She's in Control' is also an amazing album (alliteration). And, Surkin is awesome. So hooray for Chromeo and Surkin. Enjoy.

Chromeo - You're So Gangsta Buy
Chromeo - Needy Girl Buy

Surkin - Chrome Knight (feat. Chromeo) Buy

Out With The Old

2009-01-15T20:37:00.009Z

OK, so F***uck a top 10. My top 3 albums of 2008:

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

This album came out around January, and I refused to listen to it until December for reasons I have forgotten. Anyway, I eventually took notice of the hype (about 10 months after it died down) and spent the whole of Christmas listening to it.
And Christmas came early. Because it's probably the 2nd (see below) happiest album I've ever listened to. The combination of vibrant string progressions (that sound like they're from an old children's film) and playful pianos (that sound as if they would be more at home in the circus) with upbeat, exotic sounding drums is something quite special. Somehow all the elements are pulled together and gently hammered into a sound that isn't the slightest bit ridiculous. Apart from the lyrics which are sometimes... random to say the least

"the ground beneath their feet, is a nautically mapped sheet/ as thin as paper wallets, slips away from you"

"why would you lie/
'bout how much coal you have"

What? ?
I don't know what. But they are amazing, anyway. And definitely deserve a top 3 finish despite being absent for 90% of the year. My recommendations: 'Walcott', 'Campus' & 'Oxford Comma'

Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

I hated FR the first time I heard 'Head Rolls Off', mostly because they are (at times) almost aggressively Scottish. But Scotland is producing a lot of good bands at the moment - see We Were Promised Jetpacks for another promising example - so I've had to get used to it. Frightened Rabbit are quite simply fucking amazing. Their song-writing ability is unbelievable - the lyrics throughout the album are some of this century's best.

"Are you a masochist?
You love a modern leper on his last leg,
And you're not ill, and I'm not dead,
So doesn't that make us, a perfect pair?"

Need I say more? Quite possibly, but their album pretty much does the talking, and has been in pretty much everyones' Top 10 and Top 20 lists across the indie/alternative blogosphere. Deservedly so. They mesh a particularly lamenting, Scottish sound with anthemic choruses and brash, gripping lyrics - all in all, producing one of the best album's of 2008. Without question.
I reccommend - 'Keep Yourself Warm', 'Modern Leper' & 'Fast Blood'.

Mystery Jets - Twenty One

OK, so I'm not going to suggest that the Mystery Jets are the most original band ever, or the most challenging lyrically, or the most excitingly alternative and new. Because, probably, none of those things are true. But their album literally makes me so happy its unreasonable. Almost every song has a chorus that is slightly catchier than the other, without any song being too disgustingly 'pop'. It's pretty much indie at its finest (for me, before anyone gets upset), and is unashamedly upbeat. Like a less gay, annoying Alphabeat. And Alphabeat are already pretty good. Also, lyrically the album isn't bad - 'Flakes' and 'Veiled in Grey' have some of my favourite phrases and lyrics ever, and capture a tone that is slightly darker and deeper than the rest of the album. Overall, its very nicely balanced, very intelligently done, and excellently produced by Erol Alkan. Well done that man. I could probably bang on about it all day but anyone who likes them already doesn't need to read it, and anyone who doesn't won't want to. Ho hum.

"If I'm wrong,
then dust me off and put me in my place
but drop a bombshell
you blow me away without even a trace"

It's the way he sings it. And he can sing. I've seen them live.

They were fucking AWESOME. Recommended - everything, with the possible exception of Umbrellahead, for being unnecessarily badly recorded and wasting some good lyrics.
Happy 2008

BTW, I like all these bands too much to go giving away their best stuff. But it's all on hype machine anyway. So happy hunting. ;-)

And the more exciting bit, my Best Remixes. Because I love remixes.
I'll let them do the talking:

SymbolOne - Love Juice (Danger Remix) Buy - Quite possibly my favourite remix in the history of music. Nothing else is this incredibly epic. Can't wait to get a copy of his Empire of the Sun remix.
IAMX - Spit it Out (Designer Drugs Remix) - Sounds like an electro Rocky theme. Incredibly.
Cut Copy - Lights and Music (Boyz Noise 'Happy Birthday' Remix) Buy - Much more chilled out than the last two. Still amazing. Makes me feel sad and want to dance at the same time.
Bag Raiders - Fun Punch (Calling In Sick Remix) Myspace - Bag Raiders can provide banging remixes, or bangers to remix. Calling in Sick provides the latter, god bless him. Her? Them?
The Tough Alliance - Neo Violence (SHAZAM Remix) Buy - Again, slightly more chilled, but has an incredible dance vibe to it. The vocals are managed perfectly, and the drums and piano push the song along at a pretty much perfect speed.

Obviously, I could bang out a list of about 200 remixes I love, but I won't bore you with it. None of them are particularly original choices.

Here's hoping that 2009 brings more of the same.

BONUS
Private - My Secret Lover Buy

Summer

2009-01-09T13:26:00.006Z

In the (continued) absence of my end-of-year summary, I've gone for a few fill-in tracks that sound a bit summery. Because it is f*cking cold, and there's no denying that.

Deadmau5 is an old favourite of mine, and 'I Remember' is an absolute classic. The two minute trancey vocal breakdown in the middle of the song is like an injection of pure E. The overall sound is as simple and chilled as a G&T on a summer afternoon. Or, for the less gay man (and less feminine woman), a nice cool Corona. You've got to love how flexible he is as a producer.

I've spent about an hour looking for David Aussi tracks online. He captures the French House sound perfectly, and replaces Francois Dubois as my new house fetish. Air France is probably one of my favourite tracks of 2008. Skyscrapa is similarly euphoric.

As for the garage track - who doesn't love a bit of old-school dance garage in the summer? (The answer is 'nobody'.)

Deadmau5 feat. Kaskade - I Remember (Original Vocal Mix) Buy
About feat. Cameron - Let The Music Take Control Buy
David Aussi - Air France (Original Mix) Buy

Prequel

2009-01-06T23:33:00.009Z

2008 has ended. 2009 has begun.

Which is pretty much as expected. But what else can be expected? The unexpected?

Probably not.

But in terms of music... well... I expect that Coconut Records and Air France will get a bit more notice from the media at large, and start to prosper even more greatly in the blogosphere. The Script will hopefully die. Or just quit, I'm not bothered either way. Frightened Rabbit's rise to fame will no doubt deservedly continue, as will The Hold Steady's, and My Morning Jacket's - perhaps slightly less deservedly considering how unbelievably (frighteningly) good the Rabbit are... but nevertheless...

I suppose I could use this post to sum up my favourite songs/albums/bands from '08 and make some predicitions on gems for '09 but I think I'll save that for a special day when I have nothing but a hangover to deal with. In the meanwhile, some musical news:

Kris Menace is now masquerading as 'Jaunt', but hes managing to be as consistently awesome as ever so fair play I guess. The Twelves have started releasing pretty average tunes by their standards (the recent couple of tracks they did with Cicada were a crushing disappointment, I won't bother posting them). Designer Drugs have continued to be amazing, although in a slightly different (more bassy) way, as have Fake Blood (see below). Bag Raiders are still great. Hooray.

...

Also, I think that rambling nonsense has filled up enough space to warrant me posting all these amazing songs. Hooray again.

Coconut Records - Nighttiming Buy
UNKLE - Restless (Fake Blood Remix) Buy
The Black Ghosts - Lets Get Physical Buy
Modjo - What I Mean (The Crayon/Aloud Remix) Awesome

How did I miss this one?
Bag Raiders - Nil By Mouth (Knightlife Remix)

Five For Friday

2008-12-05T17:24:00.005Z

With another weekend of big spending and even bigger partying coming up, I thought it was about time to post some suitably big tunes. 'Pixelated', from my new favourite Phonat (teaming up with Super Mal), is your standard party vibe - all flashy synth work and hard-hitting bass drum - with some tasty vocal chops and a funky bassline. (It goes a bit funny at one point, but the production team bring it back under control in good order). Bit of a tune. Moulinex provides a more soft and consitent sound, and his remix of College's 'Fantasy Park' is probably one of my favourite songs of the moment. A pretty revealing achievment, considering I only got hold of it about ten minutes ago. The weird vox-synth pattern sucked me in immediately. (His remix of Tellier's Kilometer is also none too shabby.)

Slightly more hardcore is Modeselektor's dubsteppy version of 'Blazin'. I've pretty much included it purely out of a hunger for powerful dubstep bangers, but it is suitably strong in the bass department, and pleasantly violent. Does get a bit repetitive though.

But still worth getting hold of.

And last, but not least, is Kavinsky's remix of 'Roche'. Where Moulinex uses funky, almost pornographic bass (and actually pornographic vocal samples) to capture the essential Sebastien Tellier 'sexed-up' vibe, Kavinsky goes for a more subtle approach - slowing the whole thing down and bringing out the vocals nicely. The strings give it an almost cinematic atmosphere and it's pretty much the perfect song for napping to. (In a good way.) I'm definitely off Kavinsky-hunting after this post.

Super Mal & Phonat - Pixelated Buy
College Feat. Anoraak - Fantasy Park (Moulinex Remix) Buy*
Ghislain Poirier - Blazin' (Modeselektor Remix) Buy

And a couple of bonus Tellier remixes for more of a laid-back weekend:
Sebastien Tellier - Kilometer (Moulinex Remix) Buy
Sebastien Tellier - Roche (Kavinsky Remix) Myspace

*With regards to the Moulinex 'Buy' links, I haven't been able to find purchasable mp3's of the promos I've put up. However, he's got some good stuff on beatport and itunes, so I've sent you in their direction.

Hangover

2008-11-30T13:28:00.006Z

Everyone loves High Contrast. And everyone loves Kanye West. And I love unbelievably bad quality bootleg rips.
I can't remember who I nicked this particular bit of magic from, but god bless them. It's off a London Elektricity essential mix, as far as I can tell, and it may or may not be Mr. High Contrast. But either way it is a HUGE bit of tasty liquid D'n'B.

For those who aren't into that kind of thing, though, I've also been listening to a bit of Arctic Urgency as well. The vocals on their remix of 'I Wish I Was A Polar Bear' are a bit funny, which is pretty much a given as the song is about polar bears, but the rest of the track is undeniably ... good. The Damn Arms remix of 'Far Away' is pretty decent too, Cut Copy have inspired a few good remixes with that particular song.

I've thrown in Phonat's remix of 'Fire' for good measure. It puts a spring in your step.

Actually I've just listened to it again. What a tune.

The Young Punx - Fire (Phonat Remix) Buy
Kanye West - Flashing Lights (High Contrast Remix) Buy
Ted & Francis - I Wish I Was A Polar Bear (Arctic Urgency) Buy
Cut Copy - Far Away (Damn Arms Remix) Buy

What Comes Before Part B?

2008-11-23T13:13:00.006Z

Obviously I haven't posted in a while, mostly courtesy of an essay deadline that saw me sitting at my desk around 5 in the morning wired on coffee and hearing voices. Good times.

Anyway, I was on a Part A bus last night sipping a few cocktails and wrapping people in cling film and it suddenly occurred to me that my afternoon was missing one thing.
Incredible electro bangers and cheerful electro pop.
Feeling surprisingly refreshed and alert this morning, I decided to compile a playlist which would ensure my bus journeys would never be so lacking in tuneage again.

Private got the ball rolling with their enjoyable, 80's retro sounding pop jaunt 'We've Got Some Breaking Up To Do'. The chorus is literally amazing, as are the funky synth stabs. I decided that the only way to take it up a notch after that was to return to my old favourite's: The Bag Raiders. There have been a lot of 'Far Away' remixes flying around the web lately but their effort is definitely a cut above, bringing the epic party sound they've perfected to another level.
Moving on, Leeds lads Heads We Dance provide a more hard-bitten, grinding bit of electro power with their recent single 'The Human Touch' - cheerfully doing their bit for the English scene. 'Ninja Gaiden' is similarly rough-edged, with all the distortion you would expect from a Calling In Sick track. And just to round it off, i threw in a bit of Toxic Avenger madness which is so incredibly fast-paced and pounding it would probably make any bus driver in the world start doing doughnuts and screaming abuse out of the window. Amazing.

Private - We've Got Some Breaking Up To Do Buy
Heads We Dance - The Human Touch Web
Cut Copy - Far Away (Bag Raiders Remix) Buy
ART WHIPLASH - Party, Sex and Bullshit (The Toxic Avenger Remix) Myspace
Calling In Sick - Ninja Gaiden Myspace

2008-11-08T18:18:00.004Z

I mentioned TEPR's remix of Yelle's 'Ce Jeu' in my last post. And having spent all day listening to while supposed to be doing work, I thought it might provide a nice distraction for other people. Also, it doesn't seem to be on hype machine - which either means this post is going to be removed by blogger in a matter of seconds, or that It's an exceedingly lucky spot on my part. Anyway, the remix is surprisingly house, rather than straightforward raw electro. As you might expect, or even hope for. But I'm always open to a bit of classic dance and TEPR has nailed the good old piano chord progression, the breakdown into fuzzy base and the ever-popular weird distortion sound that really makes a good club track.

Slightly less consistently incredible is the Bang Gang Deejays remix of 'Drugs In My Body'. Their use of the vocals is pretty lazy, and at times annoyingly distorted. Having said that, when it drops into the funky bass pattern and shiny, crystal clear snyths its a pretty pleasant club tune. Definitely worth a listen.

If you're a fan of the art of distortion and grinding, chopped up vocals though, give the We Are Terrorists take on 'Ironical Sexism' a listen. It's got a bit of a rock sound, although it's still comfortably electronic and pretty powerful. Not bad fighting music. It's the kind of track that makes you feel like you should be smashing stuff up and shouting along to the words like some kind of rave-crazed nutter.

And if that's too hardcore then I've also posted Citizen Cope's 'Sideways'. This song has literally picked me up and laid me quietly to rest every single night of the past week, mumbling softly along to the lyrics. Definitely highly recommended for anyone who hasn't already heard it. And thanks to Scrubs for alerting me to an old favourite.

Yelle - Ce Jeu (TEPR's Club Remix) Buy
Thieves Like Us - Drugs In My Body (Bang Gang Deejays Remix) Buy
Revolte - Ironical Sexism (We Are Terrorists Remix) Myspace
Citizen Cope - Sideways Buy

TEPR Eff

2008-11-07T21:44:00.005Z

I've been listening to some flipping HUGE tunes lately, courtesy mostly of two producers. First up is London boy Bill Eff, competing with the French electro crowd and not coming off to bad at all. Fittingly, his remix of Yelle's 'Ce Jeu' is the best I've heard, thanks most to it's simplicity and epic use of reverb. A lot better than The Twelves attempt, which is usually saying something. Although in this case it isn't because their version wasn't particularly spectacular at all. As well as that, I've had Eff's tune 'Hate You' on repeat. It carries strong overtones of a kind of 'Flat Beat' tune, but a little more dubsteppy and with a few more levels. You can imagine it influencing a drug-related burst of paranoia. (Which is a good thing).

As well as Eff, I've been listening to the ever-popular TEPR. No idea what it stands for, or where TEPR is from. And I've put zero effort into finding out because as far as I'm concerned his remixes tell you all you need to know. Which is that he's pretty good. His version of Ironik's 'I Wanna Be Your Man' is kind of excitingly rectro in its use of sliced-up chipmunky vocals, but the real banger is his old remix of 'Dangerseekers' (which has already done the rounds on the blogosphere, but I thought I'd revive it in the interests of good music). It's a pretty straightforward track - some good old synth stab rhythms and a thumping dance beat. Plus a bit of harmless fidget here and there. Well done, Mr (Mrs?) TEPR.*

And also, Calvin Harris's remix of See The Light may start off as slightly annoying and ridiculous - but for some reason I played it 5 times in a row today. It cheered me up. Great use of vocals and nicely playful with the melody. Definitely a good one so I thought I'd throw it in.

Bill Eff - Hate You (See Below)
Yelle - Ce Jeu (Bill Eff Remix) Myspace
Kap10Kurt - Dangerseekers (TEPR Remix) Buy
Ironik - I Wanna Be Your Man (TEPR Remix) Myspace
The Hours - See The Lights (Calvin Harris Remix) Myspace

*By the way, just checked the French (apparently) producers myspace and there is an incredible remix of Ce Jeu on there. Very clubby, and competition for Bill Eff's.

Tune In

2008-11-02T14:05:00.010Z

So, basically, I need lunch. I'm thinking ... less talk, more music.

Classic old school head-banging jazzy Hip-hop. The kind of thing cool indie kids wearing straight-peaks listen to.

A Tribe Called Quest - Keeping It Moving Buy

Powerful, grinding, thumping Dubstep. Painful unless you're in one of those moods when you just want to shock out and stab things in time to music. F*cking awesome.

Bassnectar - Heads Up Myspace

Popular on good old Hypemachine. Interesting, bouncy remix of a Justice banger. Electro 4 life and so on. Nice bit of a break from the norm by Breakbot as well.

Justice - Let There Be Light (Breakbot Remix) Myspace

And also ... because you can't really have enough banging electro anthems:

Deadmau5 - Ghosts 'n' Stuff Myspace

Ditto:

Midnight Juggernauts - Road To Recovery (Miami Horror Remix) Myspace

Have a good week.

Work Not In Progress

2008-10-25T16:04:00.005+01:00

I’ve got an essay due soon, so I thought it was high time I wrote a blog. (Fault the logic).
And speaking of blogs, for some reason my posts keep disappearing. If I had the time and the inclination, I might try and find out why. But seeing as I don't have the inclination, I'll just have to live with it.

Anyways, I was off raiding the intranets for tuneage this morning and I stumbled on Ekleroshock records myspace. Seeing as they are currently looking after the almighty Danger and the only slightly less amazing DatA I thought it would be worth looking into their other artists. The apparently insane Crunc Tesla has a kind of interesting dubsteppy electro thing going on, but it isn’t really interesting enough for me to waste more than a sentence on. More promising is the work of Leonard De Leonard (so good he named himself twice). The remix of ‘Bad Girls Need Love Too’ is a bit of a banger, although it feels a bit too fast and there’s not really enough variety. Still, you can get about 30 seconds of good stuff from it.

Starskee’s ‘This Time’ also started fairly promisingly, and I thought I was on a bit of a roll, but around 18 seconds a more than slightly annoying vocal sample crops up, the funky synths disappear for a while, and the song never really recovers. The first 18 are worth a listen… but if you’re looking for something a bit better Starskee-wise, then try Danger’s remix of ‘My Way’ (which I won’t bother posting, because it’s all over the place anyway). I slagged off the remix before, but having listened to the original I can see that Danger has actually done a fairly good job. It’s a grower.

So yeah, really my raid wasn’t that successful at all. DatA’s ‘Rapture II’ provides a bit of a pleasing contrast to ‘Rapture’, and I like the whole funky electro/hip-hop vibe, but his remixes are a bit more exciting. Nothing else really caught my eye (ear?). In fact, the only new electro song I’ve had much time for is the Damage remix of Grum’s ‘Go Back’, which is nicely epic. Although not really amazing.

All in all, I’m posting a bunch of tracks that I don’t have that much time for – although I’ll be keeping an eye on the artists in case they turn out something truly amazing. I feel like I need to provide something a bit more special though, so I’m including one of my favourite ever remixes: Boys Noize version of ‘Lights and Music’. I could evaluate the song but it wouldn’t be a particularly critical evaluation, as I basically love everything about it.

Cut Copy - Lights And Music (Boys Noize Happy Birthday Remix) Buy
GRUM – Go Back (Damage Remix) Myspace
DatA - Rapture Pt.II Buy
The Toxic Avenger - Bad Girls Need Love Too (Leonard De Leonard Remix) Buy
Starskee – This Time Myspace

Streets Ahead

2008-10-19T13:11:00.007+01:00

If you don't like The Streets, then look away now. Because you are a bellend.

Recently saw the mighty Mike Skinner. And it was incredible. He played pretty much the whole of his first album, which just goes to show that he knows good music - even if his 3rd album was pretty poor ('Never Went To Church' was the only one he bothered doing from that, and he mixed it in with a tasty little cover of 'Daddy's Gone' by Glasvegas).
So anyway, I'm going with a Streets theme for the post but I didn't want to put up too much of his actual stuff.

Because that would be theft. And theft is wrong.
Sometimes.

So it's mostly remixes.
More importantly, I have to say that Skinner is immense live. There was one chav in front of me who refused to show any kind of emotion, but I know he was loving it. He thought it was Burberrylicious. He definitely liked the, unfortunately brief, cover of 'Pjanoo' Mike's pianist cooked up. And yes, I can call him Mike. We're basically friends.

Seriously though, I highly recommend getting a ticket for his next gig.
Enjoy.

The Streets - Pranging Out (Skepta's Grimey Vocal Mix) Buy
The Streets - Weak Become Heroes (Royksopp's Memory Lane Mix) Buy
The Streets - It's Too Late (High Contrast Remix) Buy
The Streets - Blinded By The Lights Buy

And some banging, dancey electro for the anti-Streets brigade.

Mansion - Body Myspace

Goody Bag

2008-10-10T14:17:00.010+01:00

I just found out that if you enter the name of this blog and the exact details of my last post into google, this site comes up top of the search (!). Amazing. I can feel the intraweb hooking its shiny metal claws into me.

Moving on... every time I've loaded up iTunes this week I've made a beeline for 'Shooting Stars'. I'm pretty sure that its the greatest song ever made. Or pretty close. It's the only tune currently competing with Designer Drugs' stuff for playtime on my computer, anyway. Or at least it was, until I finally managed to find The Twelves remix of 'Rich Girls' this morning (Thank you Hype Machine).

I think the amount of bangers coming from those electro stalwarts is just about making up for my dissapointment with Danger's latest offering, his remix of 'My Way' not being quite as inspired (and banging) as most of his other work.

Also ... because life can't be all hardcore bangers ... I've been a bit keen on Lo-Fi-Fnk. 'Want U' is a surprisingly good cure for a hangover. And TV On The Radio might be horrifically commercial (in blogging terms at least), but 'Staring at the Sun' is an amazing song. And its about sex. I think. I hope.

Bag Raiders - Shooting Stars Myspace
TV On The Radio - Staring At The Sun Buy
The Virgins - Rich Girls (The Twelves Remix) Buy
Lo-Fi-Fnk - Want U Myspace
IAMX - Spit It Out (Designer Drugs Remix) Myspace

Bangers & Lash

2008-09-29T20:24:00.009+01:00

Karl Marx always supported the idea of share & share alike, and so i share my musical adventures with you... Poor connection? yeah... gutted. See below.

If there's one thing I like more than getting hammered, it's listening to electro bangers while I do so. This past week has been a healthy one with respect to pre-lashing, and there's about 4 or 5 tunes I've been listening to in order to get happily drunk.

Needless to say, Pjanoo is one of them (forgive me, I'm a student), but that needs no posting here. I saw High Contrast live the other night and he dropped his remix of Pjanoo (which is fucking awesome), so I feel like I'm allowed to like the tune.

Slightly more unknown, although not by much, I'm sure, is Kris Menace's remix of Heartbreaker. It's pretty much the best anthem of the moment. I don't really want to say much more than that, nor do I need to. It's literally incredible. One of those tunes you put on just before you head out, perfect preparation for a cheesey trance night.

Moving on, Designer Drugs are a recent, i'll admit, discovery of mine. And a happy one. Basically, they are like ecstacy and crack in music form. I've included two of their best remixes below. The FLOU tune is full of crashing, dramatic synths and a grinding, angry bassline which accentuates the slightly aggressive vocals. The thumping bass drums and clap-ish (is that a word?) snare set the tune off nicely.
Second from them is their remix of a Mariah Carey song. I have no love for that particular pop princess, but I have a lot of love for what DD have done to her song, turning it into a bit of a rave anthem (i'm partial to that word), which is just harsh enough to offset her vocal sample. It's a bit more of the ecstasy, and less of the crack, but it's still pretty good.

Last, but not least, is the Calling in Sick remix of Bag Raiders' classic 'Fun Punch'. CIS have given it a mix that reeks of Justice influence on electro, but not in a bad way. A few synthed-up guitar solo's, some string chords and the typical electro-funk bassline make this one into another banger. As overused as that word is (particularly by me), there's no other way to describe it. Except maybe anthem, but I've used that one a good few times already.

Whatever, it's amazing.

Metronomy - Heartbreaker (Kris Menace Remix) Buy
FLOU - Les gens pour ce qu'ils sont (DESIGNER DRUGS Remix) (?)
Mariah Carey - I'll Be Lovin U Long Time (DESIGNER DRUGS Remix) (?)
Bag Raiders - Fun Punch (Calling In Sick) Buy

Designer Drugs - Myspace

(?) As per usual, those without 'buy' links are to be considered promotional material. Basically, I can't find anywhere to pay for them, so they must be. That's what I'll tell them in court.

Blog Me Tender

2008-09-15T13:11:00.011+01:00

So I though I'd take a break from the electro bangers and listen to some alternative/indie stuff over the weekend. First up, I was skimming through Micky Green's debut album, White T-Shirt. The lead single 'Oh !', is an above-average pop release, which strolls along pleasantly enough - using a deep synth and some powerful piano stabs to give it a bouncy, slightly dark, rhythm. The only other stand-out song, for me at least, is the album's namesake 'White T-Shirt'. The track starts with just some simple, beautifully gentle, backing vocals and a slow soul click supporting Green's floaty, melodius singing. It softly rises to a climax, with a smooth bass thump and some relaxed drumming coming in over time to lend some support, before it finishes with about 5 seconds of funky guitar and heavily reverbed drums. Overall, it's pleasant, mellow and captivating in it's simplicity. I can't really say much for the lyrics, though.

I discovered delphic. about three days ago, when I was searching for The Streets' hidden tracks on myspace. The hidden track itself, Never Give In, was a bit of a non-event. Surprisingly though, delphic. himself was a bit of revelation. All the songs on his page were good, but I highly recommend the powerful electro/rock anthem 'Submission'. Light, rhythmic, almost dancey synths and strings are married to some heavy guitar chords and banging drums. The result is nothing short of epic. The man's vocals also display impressive range and pitch (probably computer aided, but who cares?), and they are just powerful and anthemic enough to match the tempo and atmosphere of the song. Pretty bloody good.

Last but not least, London indie rockers' Captain caught my attention. The band have yet to make a real splash on the commercial market, but they seem to be heading in the right direction. On 'Keep An Open Mind', Rik Flynn's almost aggressive vocals are accompanied by some powerful drumming, heavily manipulated guitar and energetic, if plodding, piano chords. The track rebounds vibrantly between the loud, and particularly catchy (if pretty meaningless), chorus into mellow piano riffs and soaring strings, giving it a nice balance between light and dark. It's a pretty handy attempt at some good old indie-pop, don't let that desctiprion put you off, and probably the band's most commercially viable release. (But it's still ok to blog about them, because they're not mainstream yet.)

Oh yeah, and here's a banger from The Touch. I didn't take that much of a break, obviously.

The Touch - Le Night Dominator Buy
Captain - Keep An Open Mind Buy
Micky Green - White T-Shirt Buy
delphic. - Submission Watch*

*As far as I can ascertain, there's nowhere you can buy delphic.'s material. However, if you're interested in seeing him, he's performing at the Manchester 'Night & Day Cafe' on the 29th November. The amazing Islands are performing at the same place, on Wednesday 24th September - I'd highly recommend them as well.

Space, Time & Matter

2008-09-12T13:07:00.007+01:00

The scientists of earth are truly a mad race. Refusing to bow to media uproar or public indifference, they've gone ahead and created a Doomsday Machine. Even Dan Brown couldn't change their minds, despite pointing out that the Large Hadron Collider will create 'dangerous antimatter' (possibly to be used as a weapon against the Vatican). The fools!

I am, of course, talking about the recent activation of a large particle accelerator, hidden under the Swiss mountains in an Evil Death Bunker (probably). It's been all over the news, just after the stories on Big Brother and Our Boys In Iraq.

Interestingly, 02 have decided to use this example of science gone mad to boost their new venture - South East London's Matter club night. (They haven't really, but I have employed my prodigious skill with the English language to link particle's and matter together. Hence creating a link between these two completely unrelated topics.) The club will feature both a 'Live' night (usually Fridays), and a 'Club' night (Saturdays). So far, the upcoming lineups look more than impressive. Justice present their 'A Cross The Universe' venture on the 25th of October, and are bringing Electro heavyweight DJ Mehdi along for the party. It should be a good one. Prior to that, hardcore electro favourite OCELOT performs alongside Mylo on the 26th September. They've also managed to bring together Deadmau5, Pnau and Chris Lake on the 2nd of October (a night that would probably turn me into a raving nutter, fueled only by his passion for more electro). My personal favourites - the Mystery Jets - are also performing there in October. Along with various others, who i can't be bothered to list - although Riton deserves a special mention. For more info, see This Is Not London (it actually is London, but whatever).

Anyway, don't ask me why I'm promoting the 02. I guess I just love encouraging corporate bodies to horribly commercialise my favourite artists. Ciao.

We Are Scientists - Chick Lit (Danger TV Remix) Buy
Mystery Jets - The Boy Who Ran Away (Riton Re-Dub) Buy
Ocelot - Our Time (Tom Neville Remix) Buy
DJ Mehdi - Signatune (Thomas Bangalter Edit) Buy
Mark Ronson feat Lily Allen - Oh My God (Chris Lake Edit) Buy

Justice - Myspace