Mar 16 2016

[Audio] Jari Menari’s ‘Tiki Man’ EP

The Tiki Man EP is the latest release from London’s Musik Box label and it’s arguably their best, and most eclectic, to date. Musik Box is, of course, home to all things House, Disco and Boogie set up by renowned beat-mongering duo Punks Jump Up, now PJU; now on it’s sixth release after a string of rock solid, and slightly quirky, floorfillers.

Tiki Man is the product of Jari Menari; who are, in turn, one half of PJU teaming up with one half of Swiss Disco experimentalists In Flagranti. Which makes sense as they are both products of that early 2000s Indie-Dance boom.

In Flagranti have been knocking out woozy Disco epics since way back in 2002, largely on their own label but occasionally for the likes of Kitsuné, Phantasy and Gomma. Intergalactic Bubblegum and Business Acumen both hold a massive place in my heart as the soundtrack to my last few years living in London. Similarly Punks Jump Up have served up some of the finest Boogie-fuelled monsters of the last decade. From Dance To Our Disco to the Chromeo’s Dave1 featuring Mr. Overtime, via collaborations with Dubka and Earl Grey, a new PJU release is always something to get excited about. Particularly the basslines. Oh how I love me some PJU bassline!

The EP’s title track is an insane six minutes of half rapped/half chanted vocals over one of those basslines. A thick late-80s House groove, pure white glove stuff, accentuated with synth stabs and popping purcussion, Tiki Man has a Chicago House core with a particularly British twist. Tanz La Tête continues in a similar vein, upping the jacking element into a hypnotic symphony of rolling 909 purcussion and punchy Roland bass; tied together with looped vocal snatches, a pure vintage floorfiller.

There’s a slight EBM/Newbeat slant to Body Conscious with it’s reverb heavy synthetic industrial purcussion and undulating waves of effects rolling in and out of the track while I Want U (But I Want U 4 Myself) serves up an almost New York Indie-Disco flavour mixed with a little Detroit Electro and Chicago warehouse vibes. Live bass and organ set this one apart from the rest of the EP.

The TIki Man EP is an example of what can happen where people truly steeped in the history of dance music come together to experiment, the results are eclectic and left-field, but rock solidly classic House.

♫ Jari Menari – Tiki Man

♫ Jari Menari – Tanz La Tête

♫ Jari Menari – Body Conscious

♫ Jari Menari – I Want U (But I Want U 4 Myself)

Jari Menari’s Tiki Man EP is out now.

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Mar 15 2016

[Audio] Lindstrøm’s ‘Closing Shot’

Norwegian Cosmic Disco pioneer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm’s output can swing from the crowd-pleasing floorfillers to eclectic and freeform sonic experiments. You never know quite which you are going to get but you know what either way it will be musically exciting; and no doubt funky as all hell.

Closing Shot is the man’s new single, taken from a forthcoming EP set to drop 8th July on Lindstrøm’s own Feedility imprint. Closing Shot kicks off Lindstrøm’s 2016, after a super busy 2015 loaded with collaborations and reMixes (notably reMixes from Foals and Grizzly Bear and collabs with Todd Rundgren & Emil Nikolaisen), and see’s Hans-Peter getting his head down and serving up what he does best. Full on Cosmic Disco weirdness.

In the classic Lindstrøm vein, Closing Shot hits around the seven minute mark and is loaded with nice vintage synth hook set to a wobbly bass groove. The opening salvo of claps and chords set the tone for this return to the dancefloor, as with all Lindstrøm tunes; taking it’s time to ease you into it’s hypnotic flow. Gradually layering bright retro leads and spaced-out percussion over a commanding kick, Closing Shot builds it’s base until it’s final minute kicks in with a spine-tingling finale of sparkling arpeggios and syncopated synth stabs.

It’s a lovely, nostalgic and fun track aimed squarely at the dancefloor and one that bodes extremely well for the forthcoming album.

♫ Lindstrøm – Closing Shot

Lindstrøm’s Closing Shot is out now.

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Mar 14 2016

[Video] Ladyhawke’s ‘A Love Song’

There’s definitely a soft spot in my heart for New Zealand’s finest Indie-Electro export Pip Brown A.K.A Ladyhawke. Although her sophomore album, Anxiety, was a tad too Rocky for my tastes; her self-titled début (from way back in 2008) was the bomb. A slick and personal combination of funk-fuelled breezy ElectroPop with a dusting of New Wave layered over some truly catchy songs that spanned deeply heartfelt to party anthem. That album was in our headphones for a long time. And the reMixes, oh the reMixes! Modular really delivered, getting the top ‘Blog House’ producers of the day to work on the 12”s.

As mentioned, the second album was very good, just not-so-much my thing. A little too much emphasis on the guitars, a little less emphasis on the synths. There was some good songs in there, but the sound didn’t do much for me. So it was with a mixture of excitement and nervousness that I greeted the news that Pip was back with a third full length record.Titled Wild Things, the new album is due out on 3rd June via Polyvinyl and the first single from the LP is A Love Song. And it’s good.

A Love Song is upbeat and purely electronic, two things I wasn’t anticipating from Ladyhawke. The massive Pop chorus is unexpected, but not unwelcome ,making the synth bass heavy verses sound almost low-key in comparison as Pip quiet vocals deliver bittersweet lyrics over subtle beats and a slow build. Then the chorus happens; a big sing-a-long over huge sidechained leads. A Love Song has definitely got my attention again.

Check out the lyric video below. While I hate, hate, hate lyric videos, this one is kinda’ neat; featuring animation by Paul Robertson who Pip got in touch with after seeing his pixelated take on the Simpsons intro with it’s psychedelic couch gag.

Ladyhawke’s Wild Things is released 3rd June.

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Mar 11 2016

[Audio] Touch Tone’s ‘Taken By You’

Touch Tone has only gone and made an ElectroPop record, hasn’t he! Andrew Verner, one time Short Circuit Dreamwaver, has come on in leaps and bound since becoming Touch Tone. From his retro Robo-Pop beginnings through a Tropical House odyssey to this point. With a tune ready for the big time.

Andrew’s output has been solidly top quality for the past seven years since his Binary beginnings (has it really been seven years!). You can always rely on Touch Tone to drop something quintessentially electronic with heapings of synth funk in the bass department. Taken By You is no different. Well, it’s a little different.

Teaming up with vocalist Amanda Ply, Touch Tone serves up his most commercially viable offering to date. Seriously, this could quite easily chart. Built on a core of thick Synth Disco, the track layers up the big-room House elements and isn’t stingy with the coursing sweeps and chill-inducing hooks. This provides a fine backing for Amanda’s massive vocal performance, both epic and insanely catchy.

The track was released at the end of last month, so you can go and pick it up right now. I hope the weather is starting to get better wherever you are, ‘cos this is one for sunny days and free time. Without a care in the world, you’ll be humming this for hours afterward.

♫ Touch Tone (Feat. Amanda Ply) – Taken By You

Touch Tone’s Taken By You is out now.

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Mar 8 2016

[Video] Makala Cheung’s ‘Feel The Rush’

This is the new video from Bristolian dubby ElectroPop artist Makala Cheung. It’s been sat in my inbox for about a month now, which means I definitely missed the Chinese new year launch; but 2016 has been one of those year, and you know I’m not so focussed on ‘news’ anymore, so here we are. Better late than never.

Makala is creating some of the most interesting music around right now. Haunting and beautiful; her sound draws from both downtempo ElectroPop and oriental instrumentation to create something truly unique. Addin in Makala’s ethereal vocals just make the tunes all the more enigmatic.

Feel The Rush is a symphony of sparse Hip Hop beats, relentless synths and sparse strings whose shuffling patterns provide a broken soundtrack for Makala’s heartfelt lament.

The video is obviously inspired by Audition and is surprisingly lavish for a DIY artist, looking every bit as pro as it should. By taking it’s cues from Audition, it’s as creepy as it sounds and put a whole new haunting spin on the track itself.

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Mar 7 2016

[Audio] BeatLoaf’s ‘Texas Benchmark’

Y’know what we love about BeatLoaf? The Detroit based producer isn’t scared of making music. The man has got his groove, and it’s a groove seeped in the history of dance music, but he’s not afraid to experiment either, to think outside the musical box. While his tracks are unequivocally House floorfillers, he spices them up with hints of Detroit Techno, Electro, PowerNoise, Berlin sounds and SynthPop; all the time keeping things funky.

BeatLoaf has released a string of fresh single over the past few years, each one bringing new surprises to his robotic dancefloor sound, not least with last years mechanical monster Romantic, and this year he releases his latest robust beats in the forms of the intriguingly named Texas Benchmark; due out tomorrow.

Texas Benchmark bristles with shuffling electronic percussion and in terms of overall tone feels very much like a spiritual sibling to Romantic. Those slowly building beats and the occasional snatched of hollow synth bass before the riff fully drops are reminiscent of the tension that Romantic built. Texas Benchmark, however, has an almost playful, magical quality provided by effervescent and sparkling melodies that intertwine themselves throughout the track.

These shimmering and intoxicating hooks dance around your brain, taking control of the track. Weaving in and out of this techy House jam giving it a kinetic sense of narrative. Fat beats to take you on a journey. Toy-town synths telling the story.

Equally fit for headphones or dancefloor, Texas Benchmark is one to forget the world for seven minutes and let BeatLoaf do the driving.

The single is released 8th March via trill.wav

♫ BeatLoaf – Texas Benchmark

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Mar 4 2016

[Audio] Let Em Riot’s ‘Programme’ EP

Do I need a disclaimer at the beginning of an article about Let Em Riot? I mean, he has graced electronic rumors records with his SlashWave EP way back when and Alan is considered electronic rumors fam around these parts; so yeah, there may be bias. But look at it this way, I sunk my own hard earned cash and personal reputation (although that second one is pretty worthless!) into Let Em Riot, I was that convinced of how awesome they were. When did you last invest in an artist ‘cos you were so excited by them, huh? Exactly. So shut up and let me write.

And why did I invest in Let Em Riot? Well it’s simply because Alan Oakes is the single most talented singer/songwriter working in the SynthWave/RetroWave scene. Hands Down. In fact, he’s one of the most talented singer/songwriters working on ElectroPop or Indie-Electro, as a whole, today. Big words maybe, but just listen to one of his EPs, c’mon! I can’t even.

Speaking of EPs, Today sees the release of Let Em Riot’s latest EP on his Bandcamp page. The Programme EP is Let Em Riot’s fourth and, like the rest of his catalogue, see Alan exploring topics of love and loss to a soundtrack of sumptuous nostalgic synths. Dig in!

The EP kicks off with In Between. The thing with Let EM Riot songs is, no matter how melancholic they might be, they are always quite cheery and upbeat. You feel like even the tales of heartbreak have a happy ending somewhere. In Between dishes out the longing in spades between stabbing synth riffs and heavy duty drums (the drums are beefed up for this EP).

What sets Alan apart from some of his contemporaries is that, although he is making pure SynthPop, his songwriting and vocal style draws more from Indie and Alt-Rock than classic electronic music; and that’s a sweet combination. Rich synthesizer music and deeply emotional croon fit together perfectly. Saying that, though, I Don’t Want To Fake It is pure retro Pop. This tune could have easily charted in the mid-80s with it’s sparkling keys and fist-pumping earnest chorus. Kept fresh with just the tiniest injection of a Tropical groove. It.s even got some distant “Whoa-oh”s giving it a Nik Kershaw-goes-Tropical vibe.

Stranger Places’ Depeche Mode-esque post-Industrial rhythmic hammerfalls pin down this sweeping instrumental. It’s Sci-Fi soundscape ripe for cinematic visuals; Stranger Places is more nuanced and intricate than many of it’s peers, drawing as much from Jarre and the aforementioned Mode as it does from period soundtracks to delivers it’s melodic but tense package.

Want some unadulterated Let Em Riot? Upbeat beats, digital bass, heartfelt verses and big chant-a-long choruses, a nostalgic sheen? Well, Waiting For You has everything you need right here. This tune is the euphoric apex of the EP with relatable lyrics and some truly special synth riffing, this one’ll put a spring in your step.

The EP closes on Home Again, a beautiful, optimistic, heartfelt slice of ElectroPop. It’s raid fire bassline driving the track but never overtaking the considered delivery of the vocals, which seem to reign the machine gun synths in. Home Again brings to EP to it’s end but leaves a good taste in your ears.

See! That’s wasn’t to bias was it? Seriously though, if you like the three E’s, Electronics, Energy and Emotion in your music then you need to be at the very least investing Let Em Riot and you could do worst that starting with the Programme EP.