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Errors reMix letthemusicplay
It’s always with some degree of trepidation that I approach email that mention Errors. When they are good, they are very good. Lush, moody ElectroPop that channels the best of Sheffield and Manchester in the ‘80’s, when they aren’t so good, it’s Indie dirge and contrived lyrics. Thankfully they normally fall into the latter category, but every new song is still a gamble. So let me put your mind at rest, their reMix of letthemusicplay’s forthcoming single is good. Relax.
‘All I Can Give You’ marks mysterious producer duo letthemusicplay’s third release and features the vocal stylings of Cardiff’s Until The Ribbon Breaks. Combined with Errors’ smokey Northern synth sounds it makes a track that revels in it’s melancholy, without going to far over to the dark side. Like the best Italo, Errors reMix darkness is shot thorough with a bolt of optimism, mostly played out through the driving arpeggios and work to counter the minor tones. Errors reMix of letthemusicplay instantly hits you with the best of early Yorkshire SynthPop, late ‘80’s Italo, Factory Records back catalogue and the tiniest touch of Disco in there for the dancefloors. Quite a feat, quite a reMix.
♫ letthemusicplay (Feat. U.T.R.B.) – All I Can Give You (Errors reMix)
Buy letthemusicplay’s music from:
Karin Park’s Restless’ video
Here’s the video for Karin Park’s “crazy good” single ‘Restless’, Yes, when we wrote about the track we called it “crazy good”, and we’re sticking with that. An amazing slice of ElectroPop.
The video was apparently shot in the church Karin lives in. Let’s just absorb that statement for a while while we watch the clip. She lives there!
The ‘Restless’ single is out via State Of The Eye Recordings on this week with her début album ‘Highwire Poetry’ coming 28th May.
Buy Karin Park’s music from:
tEPr reMixes Woodkid
This week saw the release of the new single from last years king of blog-hype, Woodkid, ‘Run Boy Run’. It’s a typically introspective slice of avant-Pop, the kind we have gotten used to from Woodkid in the past year, the man has a skill for crafting really thoughtful tracks, both musically and lyrically. Remember how huge ‘Iron’ was last year. While the internet is bound to get all excited about the fact that there is a SebastiAn reMix on the single, to be honest it’s kinda’ mediocre. The easy highlight of the bunch comes from one of our favourite producers, and one third of one of our favourite bands, Yelle, tEPr.
It’s not the first time tEPr and Woodkid have crossed paths. Woodkid, A.K.A. Yoann Lemoine, directed Yelle’s ‘Ce Jeu’ video in his other guise as video creator, so maybe this is him returning the favour. tEPr’s reMix of the track is a deep throbbing slice of Electro-esque House. Highlighting Woodkid’s intimate vocal style and ‘Run Boy Run’’s primal percussion, tEPr applies then to a rock solid robotic beat and some nice Chicago stabs creating an interesting contrast of machine music and Woodkid’s incredibly human song. Not quite as Disco as we’re used to from tEPr, but he’s got this House thing down. It’ll be interesting to see whether this style was adopted just for the rEMix of if we’ll see tEPr heading down this path in future.
♫ Woodkid – Run Boy Run (tEPr reMix)
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Mirana
Mirana is a new Swiss ElectroPop duo formed by the coming together of singer/songwriter Mirana and Anthony Hammer, who’s work you probably know as part of Dreamwave outfit Flashworx. The two are spurned on by a love of Italo and SynthPop and have developed a pretty authentic mid-80’s Italo sound.
They just let loose a bunch of demo tracks in anticipation of a couple of single followed by an album release later in the year. The highlights of the demos are ‘Dark Ride and ‘Don’t Forget’. ‘Dark Ride’ is a journey through European SynthPop, with a particularly classic sound that borrows a lot from German mid to late-’80’s EuroPop with a nice Flashworx sheen, the track is also a good introduction to Mirana’s voice, which reminds me a little of the likes of Dorine Hollier in that it has that certain Italo sound to it that is immediately associable with that era of electronic Pop music. This is prevalent even moreso in ‘Don’t Forget’, which takes an even greater Italo slant, which could actually be an undiscovered Euro gem from the late ‘80’s, albeit, again, with that slick Flashworx Dreamwave wash over it. We really enjoyed all the demo tracks Mirana sent us, they definitely have us eager to hear what the singles have in store for us.
♫ Mirana – Don’t Forget (Demo.)
Check out more from Mirana on SoundCloud.
The Penelopes’ ‘Charts April’ Mix
The Penelopes – Charts April 2012 = Despite the Shoegazey intro track, this month’s mix from ElectroPoppers The Penelopes is an awesome 32 mins of interesting, and unusually pretty bouncy, Poppy electronics. There’s just a hint of Disco thrown in for good measure too. Enjoy.
♫ The Penelopes – Charts April 2012
The tracklist:
01. Bushwalking – Visual Jam Doughnut
02. Dana Buoy – So Lucky
03. Peter Nilsson – Home Tonight
04. Lana Del Rey – Blue Jeans (RAC reMix)
05. Alex Metric – Anybody Else
06. Charlotte Gainsbourg – Anna (Moonlight Matters reMix)
07. Tanlines – All Of Me
08. Unicorn Kid – Pure Space
09. Korallreven – Sa Sa Samoa (Elite Gymnastics reMix)
The Penelopes’ ‘Sally In The Galaxy’ is out now on Pour Le Monde Records.
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Kool Bandits’ ‘Dancefloor Hold Up’
Way back, last month, we posted a track by French outfit Kool Bandits, then called ‘I Want You’ the track has now been renamed ‘Dancefloor Hold Up’ and has been given the full vocal treatment for it’s single release.
The vocal is actually quite weird, really self-referential. It kinda’ works, but I’m torn as to which version I prefer, this or the Instrumental version. The vocal version is definitely more of a commercial party starter. The track itself, as we said last time, is unashamedly poppy with it’s hook, with a dirty bassline and a big euphoric riff. But the vocals are maybe just a tad too cheese laden and meandering for our tastes. That said though, it’s still a really good track, and the single is definitely worth picking up, if mainly for the Instrumental and it’s insanely catchy hook. The instrumental version is the standout track here, but this vocal version is definitely going to get some play over the summer.
♫ Kool Bandits – Dancefloor Hold Up (Radio Edit)
♫ Kool Bandits – Dancefloor Hold Up (Instrumental Mix)
‘Dancefloor Hold Up’ is released 22nd June.
Check out more from Kool Bandits on SoundCloud.
‘We Are The Future’ launch party this weekend! With The C90s, Edwin Van Cleef, Fear Of Tigers, Futurecop! and ME!
Don’t forget, this Saturday is the launch party for awesome new SynthWave/Nu-Disco compilation We Are The Future’. Hosted by Lemonade at The Nest in Dalston, London it’s going to be an awesome night. Come and party ‘til the early hours with The C90s, Edwin Van Cleef, Fear Of Tigers (live), Futurecop! (live) and little old me spinning some glorious synth music (and maybe dropping in some previews of forthcoming electronic rumors releases!
Find all the details for the night right here.
Tesla Boy’s ‘Fantasy’
This week the new single by one of our favourite acts, Muscovite retro SynthPop act Tesla Boy is released . Hopefully this signposts the lead in to their new album, although their début full length record, Modern Thrills’ still get’s a hell of a lot of play around these parts, it’s definitely time for a new one.
Tesla Boy are one of a seriously tiny handful of bands who have successfully merged SynthWave, Nu-Disco and ElectroPop, in that they write proper Pop songs but I can think of few other vocal Pop artists who’s tracks sound like Nu-Disco tracks, or Dreamwave tracks. How they haven’t gain more attention if a mystery to me. ‘Fantasy’ is a smooth, perfectly Tesla Boy track. The deep funk synth bass is there playing against the choppy New Wave guitar, the Disco beat and vintage synth work. But the centrepiece of any Tesla Boy track is Anton’s trademark impassioned croon. This new track is just as catchy and warm as we’ve come to expect from Tesla Boy, who really are one of the best ElectroPop bands in the world today. Hopefully this years releases will seem them reaching the wider audience they deserve.
♫ Tesla Boy – Fantasy
‘Fantasy’ is out now on Gorby Regan Records with hints of a new EP on the horizon.
Buy Tesla Boy’s music from:
iamamiwhoami’s ‘Kill’
The next video from Jonna Lee’s iamamiwhoami has been released. ‘Kill’ maybe the most impressive of the ‘second album’ tracks to date.
Both the video and the track start off in a familiar place, it’s a pulsating ElectroPop track with a panoramic video. At the track progresses the song becomes rapidly more fatalistic and the video descends darker and darker until, oh hello!, we’re back in the iamamiwhoami uncomfortable place.
The ‘Good Worker’, ‘Drops, ‘Server’, ‘Rascal’ and ‘Kill’ singles are out now.
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Goin’ Old School: Kraftwerk, New Order & DEVO
Goin’ Old School isn’t a trip down music memory lane, it’s a mugging in the dark alleyway of nostalgia:
We’re breaking the ‘Goin’ Old School’ rules a little today by featuring tracks we’ve featured before and tracks that aren’t strictly ‘80’s, but in celebration if the late, great, Bob Moog’s birthday, here’s some of our favourite Moog tracks. Starting with Kraftwerk’s ‘Autobahn’ from 1975.
And we had to feature New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ again, from 1983. Moog Source anyone?
DEVO 1980 hit ’ Whip It’ is covered in MiniMoogs!
You can buy most of this music from:
