May 14 2012

Malibu B’s ‘Downtown’

malibu b

Hungary’s Malibu B has been going from strength to strength this year. With a string of awesome tracks and a storming single on Binalog Productions, this is one producer who a definitely getting better and better.

On his latest tune, ‘Downtown’ he brings a little ‘90’s flavour to his ‘80’s SynthWave sound. there is something so indicatively ‘90’s about the combination of synths and the breakbeat from The Soul Searchers’ ‘Ashley’s Roachclip’. Sure, it’s an ‘80’s Hip Hop beat, but use it with dreamy synths and the whole thing becomes hazy ‘90’s Pop. ‘Downtown uses the break at it’s core but gives us the kind of Yacht vibed nostalgic synths over to top that we are used to from Malibu B. The combination adds new, interesting, dimensions to the retro sound.

♫ Malibu B – Downtown

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May 11 2012

Synthesizer Zen

This week’s capsule of Synthesizer Zen, to carry you into the weekend, comes via Mr. Jean Michel Jarre, giving you a tour of his synth collection, those he took out of the Oxygen tour anyway

Video courtesy of YouTube user 9thenazeing.

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May 11 2012

Rusty Egan’s Exclusive Mix For electronic rumors

Rusty Egan

Rusty Egan – Exclusive Mix For electronic rumors = We are so honoured to present to you this exclusive mixtape for electronic rumors by none other than the legend Rusty Egan. Rusty was, of course, the DJ for the notorious Blitz Club where he essentially introduced electronic music to the UK music scene. Playing the likes of Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra and the emerging British Futurist, pre-SynthPop, music amongst artists like Bowie, he helped create the New Romantic movement and subsequently SynthPop and ElectroPop in the UK and Europe. Which basically led to every single thing we write about on this site. Oh, and he was a founder member of Visage. Influential enough for you? Right here he’s put together a storming collection of tracks for us proving, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that three decades later he still has his finger on the pulse of electronic music.

♫ Rusty Egan – Exclusive Mix For electronic rumors

The tracklist:

01. College (Feat. Electric Youth) – A Real Hero (Bear reMix)
02. Social Ambitions – Paris
03. Ultravox – Visions In Blue (Paul Boddy reMix)
04. Rusty Egan Presents Shock – R.E.R.B. (2010 Rusty Egan reMix)
05. Kraftwerk – The Robots (2009 Remaster)
06. Rusty Egan, Bottin & Justus Köhncke – Atzaro (Bounce Boosted)
07. VCMG – Single Blip
08. Spandau Ballet – Gold (Oak reMix)
09. Dr Kucho! – Chase (Original Mix)
10. Filthy Dukes – Messages (Rust Egan Mix)
11. Moby – Mistake (Unmastered)
12. Tenek – What Do You Want?
13. Villa Nah – Envelope
14. Unclubbed (Feat. Kim Wayman) – We Are The People
15. Ultravox – The Change

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May 11 2012

A.N.D.Y. & Vicente’s ‘Traffic’ EP

a-n-d-y

Today Discotexas release the long awaited début ep from Andy Faisca A.K.A. one half of Belgian analog Disco kings, Mustang A.K.A. A.N.D.Y.. Teaming up with fellow Belgian DJ Vicente (he of the BelgoDisco mixtapes) the duo have dropped the ‘Traffic’ EP containing two storming original tracks and work by a couple of our favourite producers.

‘Traffic’, the lead track is 21st Century Moroder gold. A.N.D.Y. and Vincente’s futuristic take on an Italo and Disco deathmatch, with Italo coming out slightly on top, the track powers long riding the wave of a smooth arpeggiated bassline. This is Sc-Fi Disco at it’s best full of pinpoint laser synths and cosmic sweeps, it;s a track that gently builds and builds upon itself until the finale is total Buck Rodgers bliss. ‘El Barrio’ provides the B-Side, and strangely the source for the reMixes. It’s a steady groover, more the deep analog Disco we’d expect from the ex-Mustang man. Dropping a kinda’ Tropical lead line over the top sets the tone but soon gives was to something a lot more Jarre-esque. ‘El Barrio’ is an emotional robot of a track, that rocks the beach part vibe, it just happens to be a beach on Titan. Our favourite Finnish production team, and rapidly becoming regulars on electronic rumors, Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver take up the reMix challenge turning ‘El Barrio’ into a slick Nu-Disco floorfiller. Keeping a bit of the Tropical vibe, but then going heavy on the synth bass and wicked Disco licks, give the track a whole new tone, and when the massive synth stab ‘chorus’ drops the floor will go crazy. Bringing up the rear is The Supermen Lovers, who drops pretty standard The Supermen Lovers fare, hypnotic French Disco, you know what you’re getting. We always knew A.N.D.Y.’s début would be pretty stunning, and he’s lived up to every expectation.

♫ A.N.D.Y. & Vicente – Traffic

♫ A.N.D.Y. & Vicente – El Barrio

♫ A.N.D.Y. & Vicente – El Barrio (Jay Lamar & Jesse Oliver reMix)

♫ A.N.D.Y. & Vicente – El Barrio (The Supermen Lovers reMix)

A.N.D.Y. & Vicente’s ‘Traffic’ EP is out today on Discotexas.

Buy A.N.D.Y.’s music from:

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May 11 2012

Bright Light Bright Light’s début album (& competition results)

bright light x2

So, we here at electronic rumors have been on-board with Welsh ElectroPop maestro Rod Thomas, A.K.A. Bright Light Bright Light, for a few years now. I think we first wrote about him back in early 2012 and have consistently followed his career ever since, so we are so happy for him that his début album his the stores (as we used to say) next month. ‘Make Me Believe In Hope’ work on two levels, both as a fresh new album and as a collection of Rod’s hits for long term fans.

About half of the records is the best of the past two years of Bright Light X2’s output, and it;s really nice to have them all collected together here. ‘A New Word To Say’ & ‘Cry At Films’, the tracks that introduced us to Rod’s works are present, the immense (and still our favourite) single ‘Love Part II’ is here alongside newer releases such as ‘Disco Moment’ and ‘Waiting For The Feeling’, and bundled together like this these tracks really show Rod’s decent into all things ‘90’s. Unashamedly a ‘90’s lover, Bright Light X2 has been slowly working a big ‘90’s dance sound into in songs and the progression from the almost Indie-Electro ‘New Word’ to pure 1996 DancePop of ‘Waiting’ is a an enjoyable ride. Whit a body of work together like this, it really is evident just how good a songwriter Rod is, I honestly think there are few people working as independent artists that can match his ability to pen a clean, catchy and emotionally resonant Pop song, and with his crisp SynthPop production, ‘Make Me Believe In Hope’ is a masterclass in how to make an electronic Pop album. So, how is the other half of the album, the new tracks? Well, the more than live up to the expectations raised by the singles. Rod revels in his love of the ‘90’s and you can just tell he’s having fun with the music, a rarity these days. The album’s opener ‘Immature’ is upbeat, infectious and epic, and sucks you straight into the record while the likes of ‘Feel It’ and ‘Moves’ are classic ElectroPop. There are even moments where Rod breaks the mould, like the ballad ‘Debris’, or ‘Grace’ with it’s shuffling industrial rhythms. ‘Make Me Believe In Hope’ is the kind of début album that people will take note of. SynthPop tends to be a genre outside of time anyway, but I can definitely see this being an album that will be listened to , and enjoyed, in 10 years time, or 20.

♫ Bright Light Bright Light – A New Word To Say

♫ Bright Light Bright Light – Love Part II

♫ Bright Light Bright Light – Disco Moment

♫ Bright Light Bright Light – Waiting For The Feeling

While we’re here, lets announce the lucky winners of our Bright Light Bright Light competition. These lucky folks have won guest list spaces for them and a +1 to the Bright Light X” album launch party in London.

Twitterers @benfromparis and @TheAndyEff take the prize.

Unlucky, don’t worry, you can go anyway, here are all the details.

Bright Light Bright Light’s début album, ‘Make Me Believe In Hope’ is released 4th June via The Blue Team.

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May 11 2012

Lightwaves reMixes St. Lucia

St. Lucia

With the recent flood of reMixes of New York Indie-ElectroPopper St. Lucia is a welcome light in the dark that comes from ex-Yes Giantess man Jan in his Lightwaves guise. Jan has been quietly pushing out some of the most stunning reMixes in the last year or and his work always makes up sit up and take notice. we’re always glad we do.

Lightwave’s take on St. Lucia’s ‘Closer Than This’ works the epic catchy chorus to it’s fullest and uses it to soar over the now familiar Lightwaves Big Room sound. It’s a party sound with a hint of the Balearic for pure summery vibe. Jan’s thick stabs and sparkling keys just make this such an uplifting tune. Like proper warm weather DancePop with a big club groove. Do you know what hot girls dance to? Well, I do…it’s this!

♫ St. Lucia – Closer Than This (Lightwaves reMix)

St. Lucia’s self-titled EP is out now.

Buy St. Lucia’s music from:

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May 11 2012

Anto Greekson

OK, let me just start by sating that, yes I am aware that is the single worst record cover ever made. It’s such a truly terrible peice of misguided marketing that I can’t even bring myself to show you the whole thing. A graphic design and artwork failure so bad that I very nearly didn’t listen to the music at all. But that would have been a mistake, because the music of Greek Swede Anto Greekson is really sublime at times.

Anto makes Electro tunes that swing between full-on bangers and sweet SynthWave tracks. As evidenced on his new EP ‘Fantasy’, his bangers are top quality, EBM tinged cacophonies of chainsaw synths and heavy bass that would kill in any hard Electro set. However, it;s his more melodic peices where Anto really shines. ‘Galaxy’ for example, drops a hard beat and rapid fire Italo basslines, but then layers it with some soaring synth leads that would easily be suited to some futuristic ‘80’s TV show. Still working the buzzsaw sounds, ‘galaxy’ is an altogether more musical offering. As is ‘Naked’, again still in-your-face Electro, but somehow less obnoxious as the more banger-oriented tracks, here there is flying shimmering synth sounds and a sense of melody to the distortion. ‘Streetlights’ is the other standout on the EP, the most Italo of the collection at times sounding, working bit-crunched sounds into a rolling groove and occasionally sounding a bit like Mille. All in all it;s a pretty good début, Anto needs a lot of work on his production (and a new graphic designer!) but this one shows a lot of potentiol, and we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on him.

♫ Anto Greekson – Galaxy

♫ Anto Greekson – Naked

♫ Anto Greekson – Streetlights

Anto Greekson’s ‘Fantasy’ EP is out now.

Buy Anto Greekson’s music from:

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May 11 2012

Follow Me’s ‘Aaliyah’

Follow Me

Follow Me is back with another slice of his smooth SynthWave sounds, this time he’s grabbed a handful of vocals samples and written a track for sunsets.

Grabbing bits of the top-line from Aaliyah’s ‘If Your Girl Only knew’, Follow Me craft a smooth, laid back track that builds up a chilled atmosphere with rounded synths and hollow percussion. This is being-on-a-rooftop-looking-over-the-city-at-night kinda’ track, if that makes sense, which it probably doesn’t. Suffice to say it conjures up an relaxed, night time, urban feel. Follow Me’s cinematic SynthWave works surprisingly well with in an R&B context, or at least takes the R&B context far enough out into it’s own retro synth arena that it seems to fit.

♫ Follow Me – Aaliyah

You can download the track from Follow Me’s Facebook page.

Check out more from Follow Me on SoundCloud.

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May 11 2012

Adamski’s ‘I Like It ‘ EP

adamski

Adamski has had a long and illustrious career. Instrumental in bringing dance music to the Pop masses when he, along with his Ensoniq SQ80, brought digital synths into Acid House (I had an SQ80, used to spend ages trying to copy Adamski!) and gave the world Seal (movie soundtracks would never be the same again). That was back in ‘89, and he’s been recording off and on ever since, sometimes as Adamski, and in recent times as Adam Sky.

But it took our friend Jerry Bouthier’s Continental Records to get him to don the Adamski hat once more for his forthcoming ‘I Like It’ EP, and it strangely sounds just like Adamski should! The lead track is a big Disco-tinged rave monster. It’s a definite London vibe, deep, hypnotic riffs and brain infecting synths work best on the capitals dark mysterious dancefloors. Places you can loose yourself in a track that takes in the last two decades of the producer’s career. ‘Wot Happened To You?’ is more straight-up Nu-Disco, still with a strong ‘90’s House vibe but more of a solid groove and slick Disco guitar snatches here and there. We first heard ATTAR!’s reMix of ‘I Like It’ on the last Aeroplane mixtape and it does an amazing job or reining the track in with a solid bassline and, naturally cowbell (the only thing the original track didn’t have). ATTAR!’s mix has such an epic lead line that’s pure euphoria inducing, there’s no way that this won;t kill on the dancefloor. Discotexas’ Mirror People smooth things out even more with their late ‘70’s Funk inspired Disco workout of ‘Wot Happened To You?’. moving you with the Disco and surprising you with some Rave keys. Holding the read is another mix of ‘Wot Happened To You?’ from French synth guru Blackjoy with a Disco sampling dark and moody Italo version that stands out from the pack in it’s pure difference to the rest, it’s an epic, cinematic track that is the perfect closer.

♫ Adamski – I Like It

♫ Adamski – Wot Happened To U?

♫ Adamski – I Like It (ATTAR! reMix)

♫ Adamski – Wot Happened To U? (Mirror People reMix)

♫ Adamski – Wot Happened To U? (Blackjoy reMix)

The ‘I Like It’ EP is released 28th May on Continental Records and includes a reMix from Blackjoy as well.

Buy Adamski’s music from:

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May 10 2012

Jupiter’s début album

Jupiter

OK, so we’ve had French ElectroPop duo Jupiter’s début album in our possession for a few weeks now, but have been held back from reviewing it due to, obviously, them wanting the ‘One O Six’ single pushed first. It’s been an agonising few weeks, as we’ve been dying to tell people how good the album really is. But hey, we’ve been waiting for it for three years, so what’s another couple of weeks.

And was the wait worth it? Hell yeah it was. Jupiter have been a staple on the lips of ElectroPop fans for a few years now, right from the early Anoraak reMix and their standout reMix of CHEW LiPS’ ‘Salt Air’, alongside their début ‘Starlighter’ single, they crashed onto the Electro scene and left us all eagerly awaiting a full length record. Last years ‘Saké’ teased us that things were starting to move faster toward the goal and now here we are, ‘Juicy Lucy’, Jupiter’s début album will be released next month, and it’s going to be the soundtrack to your summer.

The LP kicks off with the current single ‘One O Six’, Jupiter’s tribute the their favourite synth, which sets up the album perfectly with it’s jumping Funk bass, big retro synth stabs and quirky vocals, it’s a great choice for a single and a great primer to Jupiter’s sound. Amélie De Bosredon and Quarles Baseden are the only double act I know that can so seamlessly merge traditional SynthPop, Indie-Electro and ‘’70’s Funk and Disco. Sure, lots of artists draw from this pool of influenced but who other than Jupiter can have and Indie guitar lick, shiny Disco synths from space and a SynthPop lead line all working in harmony to this extent. The album flip from track to track, highlighting a different side to Jupiter’s sound with each new tune. From the Indie stylings of ‘Set The Course Of The Nile’ and ‘La Dynamo’ to the pure Disco sounds of ‘Elliot Uppercut’ and the title track ‘Juicy Lucy (Needs A Boogieman)’ and the deep Electro-House of ‘St. Petersborg’, Jupiter’s summer, good times, vibe is layered thickly over everything., and it’s that Jupirterness that makes the album so great. Amongst the retro Funk, the sweet synth riffs and the Vocoders is this energy, this life best exemplified by Amélie’s magical-pixie-dream-girl vocals and the album’s overarching bouncyness that is so unique to these two. ‘Juicy Lucy’ is a masterpiece of DiscoPop, complexly layered, intricate, electronic music that end up being simplistically catchy, and easily a contender for the album of the year. Buy this record and your summer will belong to Jupiter.