Beaumont, the hardest working man in unsigned showbusiness, is back with another storming reMix, this time for Housse De Racket.
Featuring on the UK release of their ‘Forty Love’ album, which comes bundled with a bonus reMix CD, his version of ‘Dans L’Avion’ has all the elements we love about a Beaumont reMix. That smooth Nu-Disco he has become synonymous with subtly brushed with a bit of 8-bit chaos.
Christian Martin’s reMix of Chromeo’s current single is a weird beast, performing the seeming impossible takes of stripping the funk without loosing the vibe.
Pure deep Electro, the mix is still a late night, seductive, jam but the funk Guitar is replaces with techy, but smooth, synths. If you’re going to replace Chromeo’s funk with anything then that fat analog bass is a good call!
In the wake of Friday’s tragedy, the news that Charlie Haddon lead singer of Oú Est Le Swimming Pool, one of the UK’s most promising SynthPop acts, had taken his own life after the bands show at Belgium’s Pukkelpop festival, Vincent Frank A.K.A. Frankmusik has recorded a soulful piano tribute in the form of a cover of Oú Est Le Swimming Pool’s biggest hit ‘Dance The Way I Feel’.
The man had done some of the greatest ElectroPop reMixes of the past few year, for some of Pop’s hottest artists, he has also produced and co-written some of the greatest Pop tracks of the last couple of years.
He’s one of the UK most talented and inspired producers of electronic Pop and Nu-Disco music right now, so why has it taken Starsmith so long to release his solo material?
Who knows, he’s a busy guy, but it’s finally, nearly, here. His début, double A-side 12” of ‘Give Me A Break’/’Knuckleduster’
Annie Mac dropped ‘Give me A Break’ on her show last week. It’s a hell of a lot more Fucked up than I was expecting, bit of it almost filter-House funky with a big soul sample. Frankly, this tune is going to be huge! The flip side, @Knuckleduster’ is more along the lines of my expectations, and it’s a thoroughly awesome, pumping, Nu-Disco epic! Sweet!
LexiconDon have come on in leaps and bounds, production wise, but haven’t seem to have lost any of their raw energy.
This week finally sees the release of their début long player, ‘Pink + Blue’. An album I have been listening to for around a week now and I’m still impressed how they have managed to distil numerous slants of ElectroPop into one rad package. Firstly there is the vibe of early LexiconDon tracks. I always thought they had quite a British, almost post-punky element to their tracks, a raucous, live feel. The first tracks we heard from them, both included on this album, ‘SWMY (Staying With My Girl)’ and ‘Heart Attack’ are almost ElectroPunk tunes with chant along choruses, and yet the recent songs to come from the LexiconDon camp ‘December Sunset’ and ‘Student Body’ revealed a slicker, more mature sound. From the dreamily introspection of ‘December Sunset’ to the smoother Disco sound ‘Student Body’.
So where does the rest of the album sit? Are LexiconDon a gang of rowdy Electro troublemakers or sharp dancefloor lovers?
The answer, thankfully, is both! And that’s the most impressive thing about this record. It flows, so effortlessly, from high energy, buzzsaw synth laden, anthems to smooth late night SynthPop jams without seeming in any way jarring. Thanks, in part, to Alex Koons vocals and lyrics. The man is a story teller, weaving tales of everyday lives and loves that, at the same time, feel relatable yet exiting (kinda’ like, and I’m sure this is no accident, watching an 80’s teen movie). This is done in such a distinctive stylistic voice that, whether the songs are related or not, it feels like a complete narrative.
Musically, there is something for every Electro fan, from the noisy synths of ‘Hollywood Sound’ to the synthesizer Funk of ‘Student Body’ to the retro SynthPop of ‘Boy Vs. Girl Pt. 1’. And, of course, there is a healthy dose of Dreamwave in the mix, ‘Hot Love’ in particular has some awesome huge Dreamwave-esq 80’s chords.
Honestly (and this is in no way meant as a dis to the early LexiconDon tracks) I really liked ‘Heart Attack’ and ‘SWMY’ when they first came out, but I would have never expected an album this good, this varied, this slick, to come from the same band. LexiconDon’s ‘Pink + Blue’ is defiantly one of the albums of the year.
We knew there was a Soulwax reMix of Late Of The Pier’s ‘Best In The Class’ coming, and here it is! Released today as part of a Late Of The Pier reMix EP along with the Simon Bookish reMix of ‘Blueberry’.
Check the new video for the Soulwax reMix, it’s, frankly, pure Soulwax!
Bring on the chainsaw synths!
The reMix EP is out today on vinyl and 6th September digitally.
Paper Crows are a UK duo who incorporate elements of Dub, Trip-Hop, Electronica and Dubstep to create a haunting and atmospheric, yet soulful, sound.
Which, of course, is taken apart and put back together with strips of ElectroPop and Nu-Disco by the awesome Monsieur Adi for their forthcoming début single ‘Stand Alight’. Adi, who literally makes the track sound like a different song, manager to work the melancholic ballad into an upbeat floorfiller.
The second single from Aeroplane’s ‘We Can’t Fly’ album will be ‘Superstar’ and will feature a special version of the track with a little help from Chromeo!
Returning the favour for Aeroplane’s rad reMix of their ‘Don’t Turn The Lights On’, Chromeo drop the funk and some smooth vocals over the track. Seriously, the pairing of Aeroplane and Chromeo is awesome, and the track sounds like the three of them just jamming out.
Over at Amazon.co.uk they’re giving away the title track from HURTS, insanely eagerly anticipated, début album, ‘Happiness’. But if you can’t be bothered to go grab it you can have a listen to it right hear.
Having heard the whole album I would have to say it’s nothing short of stunning, practically encompassing every influence I’d want to hear on a record. It’s very 80’s. but never once does it feel like some kind of cheap retro sideshow, just genuinely harkening back to a time with a different style of songwriting.
The title track is a bombastic Pop epic, listen and watch the hairs on your arms stand up!
Cassette Jam are a couple of Northern producers who are about to drop a double A-side single from their forthcoming, self-titled, début album.
‘Speed Of Light’/’Hey Homo’ comes with mixes from Doorly and the mighty Filthy Dukes (who also had a hand in the album’s production). The Filthy Dukes dub of ‘Speed Of Light’ is an early 90’s House sounding cut that has that recognisable Filthy Dukes use of riffs in it. This is serious strobe lights, top of the night, stuff.