Returners Week

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.)

Death By Music

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.