Human Error week: Visitor drop some science

visitor

This Friday (11th November) London’s 93 Feet East play’s host to one of the best ElectroPop line-ups of the year. Brought to us by Human Error, Friday’s event will see Fear Of Tigers, Visitor, The Sound Of Arrows and Queen Of Hearts share the stage in one amazing night of the best electronic music London has to offer. This week, to build your anticipation, electronic rumors will be talking to each of the four acts involved…

Visitor are the band that keeps us wanting, unlike many of their contemporaries this Australian born, London based duo have resisted the temptation to flood the internet with their latest productions. Choosing instead to release tracks and choice reMixes only when they are absolutely perfect. A year ago they released their first, and only to date, release, the ‘Los Felling’ single on Alan Braxe’s Vulture Music label. So good was it, and such an impact it made, that twelve months later we are still gagging for their forthcoming début album. On the basis of one release, a year ago. That’s quality music!

Their combination of classic SynthPop songwriting, contemporary dance production and and Indie sensibility has made their music, to date, exciting with a feel that is nostalgic, but at the same time fresh. We’re definitely looking forward to catching them live this Friday.

Anyhoo, enough of me waffling on, let’s see what Visitor have to say for themselves…

ER: So, what’s Visitor’s history, where did it come from and have you always been into making this sort of music?

V: We met in Australia in high school, and were involved in a series of bands until we formed Visitor as a way of embodying everything that we wanted to create.

ER: Who influenced you to make music of your own, and who influences you now?

V: There are a lot of influences, but the ones which would best help describe our sound would be:

Alan Braxe, Stuart Price, Röyksopp, M83, Lifelike.

♫ Visitor – Los Feeling

ER: How did Diamond Cut become involved?

V: He did a remix for a band we were both involved in, and it made us realise that that was what we really wanted to be doing.  He loved the idea, and we’ve been working together ever since.

ER: How does it work, working with someone the other side of the world and in a nearly opposite timezone?

V: We write the songs up until a point before we all collaborate on it. The final pass is done by DC where he adds his signature sound.    We all have a good understanding of what we’re trying to achieve, so somehow it all comes together.

♫ Visitor – Love (Club Edit)

ER: When’s the album coming out and what can we expect from it?

V: The album is written and we’re just dealing with the final stages of production and mixing now.  As soon as that’s done we’ll be ready for the world to hear it.  We’ve worked extremely hard to make it as amazing as it can possibly be.

ER: If you could support anyone live, living or dead, who would it be?

V: Queen.  Roxy Music. David Bowie.  Daft Punk.

♫ Monsieur Adi – Fire Fire Fire (Visitor reMix)

ER: So what’s in Visitor’s studio? Do you have a favourite bit of kit?

V: Mostly it’s just soft synths and samples on our laptop.  Apart from guitars and vocals.  DC has a lot of outboard stuff he uses. Due to the long distance nature of the project, it works a lot better being able to email each other whole projects without relying on hardware.

ER: If money was no object, what piece of studio gear would be your dream to own?

V: Akai MPC3000, E-mu SP-1200, Yamaha CS80.

♫ Amy Meredith – Young at Heart (Visitor reMix)

ER: How does Visitor’s live setup work?

V: It’s a very electronic set at the moment. It’s getting bigger every time we play.  Eventually it will be a full blown production, but for the moment people can expect an intimate and energetic set up.

ER: How Fridays show going to be? Who else are you most looking forward to seeing?

V: I can’t wait to see Ben.  Apparently he is hiring some sort of costume, which I think will top things off nicely.  If he doesn’t, I’ll be very disappointed.  We’re all joining together at the end of the night, so it’s definitely going to be something that hasn’t been seen before!

We’re especially excited about this show.

ER:. Does this see the start of Visitor playing live a lot more?

V: Absolutely.  We haven’t wanted to do anything but make a great album.  Now we feel like we’ve reached that point, we’re going to be playing a lot more.

ER: .Is Visitor a Cereal or a Full English Breakfast kinda’ act? Would your answer change the day after a show?

V: We don’t eat meat.  In fact, neither do Sound Of Arrows or Fear Of Tigers.  So…  It’d have to be cereal I guess.  Maybe a croissant?

Many thanks to Visitor for taking the time to chat to you lot.

Visitor will be playing as part of this Fridays phenomenal Human Error line up at 93 Feet East in London. Full details can be found here.

Human Error

Buy Visitor’s music from:

     

Fear Of Tigers’ reMix round up part II

tigers

Fear Of Tigers– The reMixes Part II = Following on from part I, here is Mr. Tigers second collection of reMixes, this time covering 2010-2011, and there’s some seriously huge tracks in here! his Ronika reMix is currently battling it out for the title of our favourite reMix of the year and his reMix of Ellie’s ‘Lights’ is easily the best out there. There’s some new treats in the mix too.

Fear Of Tigers – The reMixes Part II

The tracklist:

01. Vanbot – Lost Without You (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
02. Studio Killers – Ode To The Bouncer (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
03. Ronika – Only Only (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
04. Ellie Goulding – Lights (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
05. The Sound of Arrows – There Is Still Hope (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
06. Kylie Minogue – All The Lovers (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
07. Rosanna – Waterfall (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
08. Bright Light Bright Light – Disco Moment (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
09. Queen of Hearts – Where Are You Now? (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
10. Artist Unknown – Burn (Fear Of Tigers reMix)

Buy Fear Of Tigers’ music from:

047 ‘Keep It To Yourself’

047

047 are a Swedish duo in a classic ElectroPop style. They’ve just released their new single ‘Keep It To Yourself’.

This is pure SynthPop in that Sweedish tradition, sounding slightly like a more retro Universal Poplab ‘Keep It To Yourself’ with solid beats and a lush, full, synthetic sound characterised by the kinds of lilting melodies that the Scandinavians do best. Alongside you’ll find emotive and beautifully harmonised vocals.

♫ 047 (Feat. Gustaf Spetz) – Keep It To Yourself

‘Keep It To Yourself’ is out now in Killing Music.

Buy 047’s music from:

  

The Sound Of Arrows’ new video

The Sound Of Arrows’ new single, ‘Wonders’, the third from their début album ‘Voyage’ and the lead in track to the album’s release, has premiered in video form.

A pretty literal clip, a visual mix of nostalgia and, well, wonderment. I think The Sound Of Arrows just want you to appreciate stuff more.

The Sound Of Arrows ‘Voyage’ is released 7th November.

Buy The Sound Of Arrows’ music from:

Walter Sobcek’s November tape

Walter Sobcek

Walter Sobcek – The November Tape (Live from Raoul Rubenbauer´s Yacht) = The international jet-setting Dreamwave duo cook up a classic mixtape of dancefloor bliss.

Walter Sobcek – The November Tape  (Live from Raoul Rubenbauer´s Yacht)

The tracklist:

01. Jean Jacques Smoothie (Feat. Tara Busch) – 2People (DCup reMix)
02. Volta Bureau – Alley Cat (Original Mix)
03. Lifelike With Kris Menace – Discopolis
04. Housse De Racket – Roman (Oliver reMix)
05. The Magician (Feat. Jeppe) – I Don’t Know What To Do (Fabian reMix)
06. Miguel Campbell – Something Special (Original Mix)
07. Lovebirds (Feat. Stee Downes) – Want You In My Soul (Original Mix)
08. Aeroplane – Save Me Now (Original Mix)
09. Cherelle (Feat. Alexander O’Neal) – Saturday Love
10. Ready For The World – Oh Sheila
11. Azealia Banks – 212
12. Greenskeepers – Should I Sing Like This
13. Captain Sensible – Wot 2 35 (Kap10kurt Rework)
14. Justice – Newlands (The Blisters Boyz reMix)

Buy Walter Sobcek’s music from:

 

Goin’ Old School: Lime – Unexpected Lovers

Italo doesn’t get any more Poppy and European than Lime’s ‘Unexpected Lovers’ from 1985.

Buy Lime’s music from:

     

Arnaud Rebotini’s ‘Another Time, Another Place’ video

Here’s the video for Arnaud Rebotini’s stomping new ElectroPop track, ‘Another Time, Another Place’.

The ‘Another Time, Another Place’ EP is out 7th November.

Buy Arnaud Rebotini’s music from:

Human Error week: Queen Of Hearts; An interview with ElectroPop royalty

queenofhearts

This Friday (11th November) London’s 93 Feet East play’s host to one of the best ElectroPop line-ups of the year. Brought to us by Human Error, Friday’s event will see Fear Of Tigers, Visitor, The Sound Of Arrows and Queen Of Hearts share the stage in one amazing night of the best electronic music London has to offer. This week, to build your anticipation, electronic rumors will be talking to each of the four acts involved…

Does Queen Of Hearts really need an introduction? Go type the name into that little search box on the right and you’ll be presented with a document of one of the hardest working women in ElectroPop’s rocket-ride of the last six months. If there’s anybody we feature here on our little corner of the internet that I would put money on being huge, it’s Queen Of Hearts. Working with some of the best acts in the business, from Diamond Cut to The Sound Of Arrows to Monarchy with a voice full of passion and an edge to her lyrics, the Queen is our best hope for thoughtful, authentic (I hate to use the word ‘authentic’, but I really mean it here) ElectroPop to dominate the charts once more. And dominate the charts she will.

The Queen kindly took some time from being all regal and wotnot to let you in on a little of a monarch of SynthPop.

ER: So, Queen Of Hearts, where did it all begin What’s your background with music? How did you get into it, were you in other acts and was it always this style of music?

QOH: I’ve always been into ElectroPop. Growing up I was surrounded by a lot of Wham, The Human League, Howard Jones, Michael Jackson and Prince. I knew exactly the type of music I wanted to make and the kind of artist I wanted to be, so it was about finding the right people to work with and help develop my ideas and sound. I started working with Dreamtrak about a year ago, and Freestyle was the first track I ever wrote for the project. After that, things just grew quite organically, other producers came on board and Queen of Hearts was born.

ER. What influences you and your sound, not just musically?

QOH: I’ve always been influenced by strong women – icons; Grace Jones, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Bjork, Robyn. I think there’s nothing sexier than a woman with power and grace, and that plays a big part in everything I do, from the clothes I choose, to the way I perform and how I want to be portrayed.
Musically, I’m SynthPop through and through. My iPod has unhealthy amounts of Goldfrapp, Hurts, Empire of the Sun, Marina and the Diamonds, Frankmusik, Robyn, Yelle, to name a few.

♫ Queen Of Hearts – Where Are You Now? (Produced By Diamond Cut)

ER: You know when you first came out, with the 30 second video teaser etc…, I questioned your authenticity. But you soon won me over, not just with the music, but seeing you speak about ElectroPop with a real passion turned me around. I think my cynicism about new female ElectroPop artists comes from the fact that so many of them make an awesome first album then shrug off electronic music like they are relieving themselves of a embarrassment. Recently both La Roux and Ellie seem to be walking this road announcing Folk albums in the works. Make me feel like ElectroPop was just a stepping stone. With that in mind, what’s your second album going to be like? 😉

QOH: You’re forgiven. 😉
There’s no major label machine or hype powering what I do – the type of music I do often isn’t the most commercially viable, but I simply write music I would want to buy, play out loud and dance to on a night out. What’s the point otherwise?? If you don’t love what you do, how can you make others fall in love with it? Electro/Synth led music gives me goosebumps.
I don’t plan on radically switching styles at any point – I always think a second album should be about consolidating your sound and making it stronger, rather than reinventing yourself.

ER: Rewinding to the present, you must be so proud of your début EP (you should be!), how did it feel when it was finally released?

QOH: It’s great to finally have something out there. The support I’ve had this year is amazing and knowing that people are buying and more importantly liking it, is just amazing.
I’m really proud of all the songs, and I think each one tells a slightly different story and shows off a snippet of who I am, and what is to come.

♫ Queen Of Hearts – Shoot The Bullet (Produced By The Sound of Arrows)

ER: You’ve worked with some amazing production talent, do you find them or do they find you?

QOH: A bit of both really, some producers have contacted me, and others I’ve had to flutter my eyelashes at or give up a limb to get in their studios. Twitter for me, is the best networking tool. If you want to work with someone, give them a tweet and you never know, they just might say yes. I’ve been very lucky so far.

ER: Do you think we’ll see you trying you hand at the production side of things yourself in future

QOH: Never say never. I really admire producers, they spend hours and hours finding sounds, manipulating vocals, mixing levels. I’m not sure I have the patience for it, but I do find it fascinating.

♫ Queen Of Hearts – Black Star (Produced By Devils Gun)

ER: I’ve always felt the 3m30s Pop song can change your life, or at least define a time. Are there any songs that so totally define a time and place or changes your perspective completely?

QOH: I 100% agree! For some people it might be a smell or a certain place that brings back a memory, but for me, it’s always a song. I have a habit of playing an album on repeat for weeks and weeks, absorbing every lyric, every adlib, before moving onto the next. So, when I hear a track from an album I haven’t heard in years, it takes me right back to the very first time I heard it and I get tingles. It happens everytime.

ER: Any crazy rock ‘n’ roll stories from your adventures from giging as yet?

QOH: Team QOH like to party hard. What happens on tour, stays on tour.

ER: What’s the songwriting process for you, is it sitting at a piano or scribbling on the bus?

QOH: I have lots of bits of paper in my handbag with lyrics scribbled on them. Melodies come quite naturally, but sometimes writers block hits on the lyric front, so when an idea pops in, I grab a pen and run with it. I work with a set of producers who really understand my style and together we create instrumentals for me to build ideas on top of until we have a song, and ideally, a hit song. I’m quite a perfectionist.

♫ Queen Of Hearts – Freestyle (Produced By Dreamtrak)

ER: How does Queen Of hearts live setup work?

QOH: Depending on the size of the stage or the mood I’m in, it can be me just on stage, or with my dancers, or even with a full band, dancers and a kitchen sink thrown in for good measure. I like to mix things up and try and make each performance different from the last. For me, a show should be a show, I like to dress up and have some fun.

ER: How Fridays show going to be? Who else are you most looking forward to seeing?

QOH: I’m really looking forward to it, it’s exciting to be billed alongside bands I really like, and I think the whole night is going to be a lot of fun. I have a new song to premiere and some other bits up my sleeve, so I’m hoping it’ll be a great performance. I’m really looking forward to seeing The Sound of Arrows, as I haven’t had the chance to yet.

ER: Is The Queen a Cereal or a Full English Breakfast kinda’ gal? Would your answer change the day after a show?

QOH: You can’t go wrong with a good bowl of cereal. I’m partial to a Coco-Pop.

Queen Of Hearts will be playing as part of this Fridays phenomenal Human Error line up at 93 Feet East in London. Full details can be found here.

Human Error

Queen Of Hearts’ ‘The Arrival’ EP is out now.

Buy Queen Of Hearts’ music from:

Short Circuit’s ‘After Burner’

Short Circuit

The king of RoboPop™, Short Circuit, has just dropped a brand new free single.

‘After Burner’ is a companion peice, an epilogue to his ‘Late Night Drive’ EP and comes complete with three minute intro. After the intro slowly builds, layering lush synth sounds and building anticipation with a sense of urgency, the track proper feels as much a spiritual successor to ‘Let Go’ as it does to the ‘Late Night Drive’ EP. This is one of Short Circuit’s slickest productions to date, everything sits together nicely, the combination of growling bassline, 16-bit melodies and melodic vocoded vocals all achieving the right balance. ‘After Burner’ strikes a nice balance between the aggressive the romantic in it’s sound, which leads to a Poppy, catchy track with a underlying edge and drive.

Short Circuit – After Burner (Intro.)

Short Circuit – After Burner

Short Circuit’s ‘Late Night Drive’ EP, is out now on Binary Entertainment, you can download the whole ‘After Burner’ single from Short Circuit’s SoundCloud.

Buy Short Circuit’s music from:

   

Glass Candy’s ‘Warm In The Winter’ video

Today neo-Italo ElectroPop act Glass Candy unveiled the video for ‘Warm In The Winter’, which we’ve been waiting for a while.

Directed by Alberto Rossini, the videos vintage, grainy footage of GC on the west coast this summer forces a new nostalgia to go along with the incredibly catchy track. 

Buy Glass Candy’s music from: