Mar 27 2013

[Audio] Makeup And Vanity Set’s ‘Praxis’

OK, are you sitting down? This is going to get a bit confusing. Nashville based SynthWavers Makeup And Vanity Set are about to release a new EP, 7.25.2148, which is a prologue to two concept albums to be released in the coming months. In advance of the EP they released one of the tracks, Praxis, as a single with new track A Prologue as it’s B-side, but you get the full Praxis single featuring reMixes from Pilotpriest, Magic Sword and Sabrepulse if you by the CD version of the EP. Got it? Rather than give ourselves a headache we’re just going to look at the Praxis single and it’s reMixes single today, the one you get free when you buy the 7.25.2148 EP. It’s all good.

So then, Praxis? As well as being 7.25.2148’s standout track is a storming slice of synthetic futurism. Loaded with twisting synths and a pounding Italo beat, Makeup And Vanity Set conjure an enigmatic mood. Intertwining melodies and lead lines sparkle like starlight amidst the warm glow of the rich pads. it;s a track full of mystery and optimism that’s can still get you shaking on the dancefloor once it’s dominant riff kicks in. The best of soundtrack inspired SynthWave and up-all-night Italo in one tune. The amazing Pilotpriest delivers a suitable epic mix of the track. Wrapping Praxis in his trademark emotional electronic orchestration Pilotpriest takes the listener away to far off galaxies. Injecting the track with a little digital funk is Magic Sword, who’s reMix is a marching robot Disco tune is as unsettling as it is funky.. The 7.25.2148 EP itself is a magical synthesizer oddessy through different moods and soundscapes and, frankly, the Praxis reMix package with worth the price alone.

♫ Makeup And Vanity Set – Praxis

♫ Makeup And Vanity Set – Praxis (Pilotpriest reMix)

♫ Makeup And Vanity Set – Praxis (Magic Sword reMix)

The Praxis single is out now, the 7.25.2148 which the Praxis reMix package come free with is released 28th March digitally and on limited edition CD that also comes with all kinds of goodies.

Buy Makeup And Vanity Set’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Mar 27 2013

[MP3] Anoraak reMixes Trésors

French Dreamwave pioneer Anoraak never fail to impress and excite with their releases, with are too few and far between, as they do with this latest offering. It’s a reMix of fellow Frenchmen, SynthPop outfit Trésors, who released their début album last November on Modular. Vocally, it’s the perfect song for Anoraak to reMix, sitting with his dreamy synths like it was always supposed to be there.

Eschewing the original brooding dark synth vibe for a more optimistic, nostalgic take on the song, Anoraak brings out his best bright sounds and a thumping Disco beat. Taking you back to the heyday of Dreamwave, all those many three-or-four years ago, this reMix captures all the best Italo influenced elements of the genre. The driving arpeggiated bassline, the warm-glow keys, the track slowly building toward a dancefloor frenzy finale, this ones got everything. Anoraak’s mix features alongside Holy Strays, Bestial Mouths, Steve Moore, Blackmail on the official single package out in April.

♫ Trésors – Pleine Lune (Anoraak reMix)

♫ Trésors – Pleine Lune

Trésors’ Pleine Lune is released 1st April on Modular

Buy Trésors’ music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Mar 27 2013

[Video] Goin’ Old School: Fad Gadget & The Rock Steady Crew

Goin’ Old School isn’t a trip down music memory lane, it’s a mugging in the dark alleyway of nostalgia:

SynthPop pioneer and all-round electronic experimentalist, the late Fad Gadget’s 1980 single Ricky’s Hand.

And The Rock Steady Crew with their 1984 follow up to (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew (a track with one of the greatest synth riffs ever), Uprock.

You can buy most of this music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Mar 27 2013

[Audio] L’Equipe Du Son’s ‘Transmissions’

It’s been about a year since the release of Dutch SynthWave and Nu-disco producer L’Equipe Du Son released his début album, Supersonic. We’ve been writing about this guy for a while now and eagerly awaiting his second full length offering. Transmissions, his sophomore record sees L’Equipe Du Son taking a slightly harder route, injecting his laid back Boogie with some tough Electro elements and influences as wide ranging as Acid and House.

There’s nothing on Transmissions as overtly retro as Playground Rebels, instead we find fifteen tracks of synthesizer Funk with gritty dancefloor edge. The album is interspersed with skits and interludes that create a nice cohesion to the collection, but from the first proper track, Transmission 1 Le Rocker, with it’s cut-up Disco and grinding synth leads you get a sense of what you’re in for. Taking the rough Dirty Disco leads to an Acidic extreme whist keeping a huge French Touch groove going. This is swiftly followed by Supermarche, wich sees L’Equipe Du Son’s SynthWave roots shine though with warbling basslines, stabbing vintage chords and electro tom rolls. L’Equipe Du Son the proceeds to hit you with all the colours of the dance music rainbow. C’Est L’Equipe Son! is fairly standard Nu-disco, Beauty Is The Light delivers full-on Chicago House and Lesson 2 swings back to an explicit filtered house groove. But it’s when L’Equipe Du Son strays from the standard Disco path that this album rally shines. Little Maniacs is a gruff Disco tune with more than a spoonful of Industrial Techno while Love Connection is the albums concession to pure SynthWave, a rolling synthesizer epic, providing the album with some much needed soloing. The album closes on Transmission 2 Snowballing and Falling Down, two tracks that send off the record by returning it to it’s hard hitting beginnings as the synths get turned up to eleven for the finale. Transmissions is a solid release, a bit of a departure from the urban Boogie of Supersonic maybe, but storming enough for any dancefloor.

♫ L’Equipe Du Son – Supermarche

♫ L’Equipe Du Son – Little Maniacs

♫ L’Equipe Du Son – Transmission 1 Le Rocker

♫ L’Equipe Du Son – Love Connection

L’Equipe Du Son Transmissions is released this week on Silhouette Music.

Buy L’Equipe Du Son’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Mar 26 2013

[Audio] Chvrches Vs. Curxes

Yes, we’re sure there are jokes to be made about how no one involved in this article (us included actually) can spell, but we’re going to skip that and get straight to the music. Brighton ElectroPop duo Curxes are having an awesome week it seems, not only did they release their new single yesterday, but Monday also saw the eagerly awaited release of Glaswegian SynthPop heroes Chvrches’ Recover, which features a Curxes reMix to boot.

Huge, that’s one way to describe Curxes reMix of Recover. Cavernous. The track is like a cathedral of electronic excellence. Machine gun snyths and one of the most unexpectedly funky Industrial beats we’ve heard in a while threaten to drown Lauren’s vocals, but a perfect balance is struck. The track actually got a lot on common with old New Beat tunes and the second wave of EBM, but with much more of an understanding of what makes infectious Pop. Curxes have taken a completely different route with this song that the original, and very much made it their own.

♫ Chvrches – Recover (Curxes’ 1996 reMix)

Chvrches’ Recover is out now.

Buy Chvrches’ music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Mar 26 2013

[Audio] Wolf Saga’s ‘Reign At Night’

Wolf Saga is a Canadian artist whos been hovering around out radar for a while now. Producing some seriously epic ElectroPop with a mix of SynthWave, Chillwave and Indie-Electro flavours, Wolf Saga really knows his way around a synth. He’s just released a new single, Reign At Night with all the vocoding and soaring solos you could want in a track.

Reign At Night drops you into a moody, storm filled, soundscape, punctuated by a raindrop arpeggio before delivering a rich SynthPop track loaded with 80s references without actually being an 80s pastiche. Heavy chords and brooding vocals soon give way to a vocoded refrain and a blissful, sweeping synth solo that. Reign At Night is a truly encompassing experience that sucks you in and ever have a little Disco groove in there too. The sound of the future.

♫ Wolf Saga – Reign At Night

Check out more from Wolf Saga on SoundCloud.

Buy Wolf Saga’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Mar 26 2013

[Video] Chris Malinchak’s ‘So Good To Me’

Here’s the video for New Yorker Chris Malinchak’s dreamy new single, So Good To Me. Already Pete Tong’s ‘Essential New Tune’, this summer slice of electronic haze looks poised to do big things.

The video was premièred at the weekend by Ministry Of Sound TV and presents a youthful innocence that fits the track well. And Giraffes.

Chris Malinchak’s So Good To Me is released 5th May.

Buy Chris Malinchak’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Mar 26 2013

[MP3] Arcade High reMixed by Jordan F

Well, this is just a meeting of two SynthWave minds that we’ve been looking forward to for a while. Back in July last year, Pittsburgh producer Arcade High released his track On The Edge Of Summer, which closely followed his excellent The Art Of Youth album. Now, with summer approaching (hello UK, yes, this is sarcasm) a year later the mighty Jordan F has delivered his reworking of the tune. Time to get on the edge of summer once more.

Jordan smoothes out the spikey production of the original, give it more of a sunkissed feel. If the original heralded the warmer months from an urban rooftop, Jordan F’s reMix welcomes the sun from a prime position on a lounger by the pool. Loaded with lush, thick, synths and playful melodies, Jordan, never one to get complacent with his music, performs a brilliant tempo adjusted breakdown before launching into the track’s Disco’d out finale. Synthesizer bliss.

♫ Arcade High – On The Edge Of Summer (Jordan F reMix)

Buy Arcade High’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Mar 26 2013

[Video] Toro Y Moi’s ‘Never Matter’

The new single from Chillwave superstar Toro Y Moi is Never Matter, another cut taken from his excellent album, Anything In Return.

Here’s the video. The clip’s directed by Steve Daniels, who also directed the Still Sound video, and is full of dancing as flea-markets.

Toro Y Moi’s Anything In Return is out now.

Buy Toro Y Moi’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Mar 26 2013

[Audio] Say Lou Lou’s ‘Julian’

Constantly changing your name has got to play havoc with your SEO. Just ask Say Lou Lou, we’d just got used to not calling them Saint Lou Lou and sticking with SLL when they become Say Lou Lou, although to be fair, their previous label, Kitsuné Music have done a fair job of scrubbing the old name from existence. When we say the Australian/Swedish girls live a month or so ago they seemed confused themselves as to what they were called. At that show they played a track which we though would be perfect single material. that song was Julian, their new single. Pop points for us!

Julian is even better on record, than it is live, when you can hear the nuances of the track. Which is a good thing as Julian is pretty subtle, it’s a gorgeous, warm, slice of DreamPop, bathed in layers in intricate synths and the girls comforting vocals. Even more exciting is that the single package will come equipped with reMixes from Martin Dubka, Monsieur Adi. We can’t wait for those.