Jan 21 2013

[Audio] Collins’ début album

Let’s talk about Collins. This guy first came to out attention back in September 20122 with his entry into Feat Of Tigers’ the Adventured Of Pippi Longstrump reMix competition. We highlighted his contribution as one of our favourites and since then have been following this Brazilian based Irish producer as he dropped a succession of class singles over the past two years. Well, that time has come, as it does in every musician’s career when they just have to bite the bullet and release an album. A declaration of intent, a manifesto. Collins’ Animal Magnetism lays down the law on why he’s different from the pack, and why is forward thinking attitude makes him one to watch.

Animal Magnetism opens with the dreamlike Heartbreaker, and there’s immediately something different goin on here. Whilst the track shares much of it’s DNA with Kavinsky’s Nightcall, it also let’s you know that the preceding album isn’t going to be your standard SynthWave. Listless, ominous vocoded vocals wash over the entire track and it sets a mood of eerie beauty that the rest of the release follows through with. Serenade continues in the same mysterious vein, albeit it with an EBM bassline and hushed female vocals the drag the track into 90s Elektro Industrial realms, a realm that isn’t entirely untouched by the tracks predecessor, The Sacred with it’s imposing robo vox. Fallen is a weird best, fifty percent laid back beach Disco, fifty percent a moody cover of Julee Cruise and Angelo Badalamenti’s Falling, it’s a take on an oft covered track that we hadn’t heard before. The album continues in this enigmatic style, punctuated by the likes of Italo monster If Looks Could Kill and the slightly ChipTune Coping Mechanism. Animal Magnetism is an impressive début collection, showing both a variety of moods from Collins, but also his ability to capture the darker side of life in rich, evocative music.

♫ Collins (Feat. Ana Gabriela Accioly) – Serenade

♫ Collins – If Looks Could Kill

♫ Collins – Coping Mechanism

♫ Collins – Fallen

Collins’ Animal Magnetism is out now, you can pick it up here. It;s available as a digital download, or as a limited edition cassette/video package.

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Jan 21 2013

[Audio] Mr. Pteez’s ‘Radio Vice’

Mr. Pteez, one of Russia most interesting, unsung talents, recently released a collection of his work to date. The Radio Vice album showcases this producers SynthWave skills, and his ability to slip from B-Boy Electro, to blissful retro soundtrack work with ease. There’s a track for every mood.

The albums title track get’s things going here. Pteez’s most straight-up SynthWave track to date, all shimmering chords and Italo basslines. Followed by new track, Street Is Watching, which brings us back to Pteez’s fusion of retro electro and B-Boy styles. Street Is Watching delivers everything we love about Pteez’s music, the Electro Boogie grooves mixed with an 80s soundtrack sheen is everything ‘needed to make us feel nostalgic. And the whole of Radio Vice doesn’t disappoint in this department, taking us on a journey through the inner-city 80s, urban vibes and aspirational moods in a head on collision. Highlights include on of our faves, When Night Falls, a lush, building, track which we’ve raved about before and the pure 80s dancefloor awesomeness of Workout ‘83, loaded with Electro Soul grooves and popping percussion. Mr. Pteez is definitely one of Russia’s top SynthWave talents, and with the recent explosion of Russian retro synth producers that’s no mean feat. If we had one criticism, it would be that Radio Vice sound unmastered, we’d love to hear these tracks after a workout be a professional mastering engineer. Oh how they would shine. Regardless, the Radio Vice album comes highly recommended from us.

♫ Mr. Pteez – Radio Vice

♫ Mr. Pteez – When Night Falls

♫ Mr. Pteez – Workout ‘83

♫ Mr. Pteez – Street Is Watching

Mr. Pteez’s Radio Vice is out now.

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Jan 18 2013

[Audio] Dublin Aunts rework Kool Bandits

French cheesy Disco outfit Kool Bandits are releasing a reMix package for their single of late last year, Gliding Over The City. Of particular note on the release is a reworked version from Australia’s Dublin Aunts, who inject the track with a lush tropical feel.

Dublin Aunts take a smooth Disco approach to the track. Laid back, but not slow, their reMix is a slick, sexy take on the track that’s aimed straight at late night dancefloors. With a sprinkling of Tropical vibes set amongst some Deep House grooves and airy Disco pads, their reMix slowly builds toward a selection of twisted funk riffs and on the whole delivers the prefect mirrorball experience.

♫ Kool Bandits – Gliding Over The City (Dublin Aunts Rework)

Kool Bandits’ Gliding Over The City reMixes are released 22nd February.

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Jan 18 2013

[Audio] Betamaxx’s ‘Interface’ album

Pittsburgh based SynthWave producer Betamaxx has just dropped his début album, Interface. We’ve been following Nick Morey tunes for a while now, and as far as the current crop of emerging SynthWave artists go, he’s up there with the best. He’s also not afraid to go off track either, injecting his work with sometimes surprising elements.

Interface kicks off with You Can’t Catch Me, a pseudo-Intro piece before launching into the album proper with Contra. Contra sets the tone for the record with its jackhammer Italo beats that play against bright pads and starlight leads. Betamaxx goes further down the path of melody with this release, each track, rather than a collection of layered arpeggios, delivers intertwining melodies, beautiful moods and a surprising array of influences. Of course, there’s your typical ‘80’s movie soundtrack inspired pieces like East Coast Summers and The Sure Thing, but there’s a smattering of Electro-Funk on Betamaxx’s ode to Yamaha’s DX7. DHHeaven and Nu-NRG of Silicon Dreams. On the whole what impresses the most about this album is the musicality of it, just check out Adrenaline Lust for some seriously deft fingered soloing. Not just for lovers of 80s revival music, but for all synth music fans, this album should definitely be investigated. If there’s one criticism I could apply to Betamaxx, it’s this, and to be honest this doesn’t just apply to Betamaxx, but the current SynthWave scene at large. Interface comes just four months after Betamaxx’s last album, Lost Formats. These two albums could have really been cherry picked and merged into one truly stunning piece of work. And that happens a lot on the SynthWave scene, people releasing albums of everything they do every five minutes. I guess the message is, you don’t need to release every single track you write, exercise extreme quality control and only release the best of your best, and give your releases time to breathe. One album a year is a lot for most artists. Right now the SynthWave scene is descending into a by producers for other producers mind-set, which is great fun and all very nerdy, but for the scene to gain the wider recognition it so badly deserves. Still, Betamaxx’s Interface is an excellent example of forward thinking SynthWave right now.

♫ Betamaxx – Contra

♫ Betamaxx – DXHeaven

♫ Betamaxx – East Coast Summers

♫ Betamaxx – Adrenaline Lust

Betamaxx’s Interface is out now.

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Jan 18 2013

[Audio] Marsheaux’s ‘Alone’

Greek ElectroPop queens Marsheaux have had one of the tracks from their forthcoming new album, Inhale, premièred on their label, Undo Records, soundcloud. Other than some demos of tracks which won;t be making the album, this is the first we’ve heard of the new material.

Alone, starts off worryingly nu-EBM, and for a brief second our hearts sank, but the track soon descends into a majestic Ladytron-esque verse followed by a lusciously epic-Pop chorus. Despite it’s reliance on a lacklustre arpeggio, Alone is a wonderfully charismatic track that sticks with you all day. Sweeping Pop songs suit Marsheaux well. It’s a fantastic song, only slightly marred by under-produced EBM beats, and bodes well for the new album. Also, we’d love to hear this reMixed.

♫ Marsheaux – Alone

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Jan 16 2013

[Audio] Little Boots & Maya Jane Coles & James Ford, oh my!

So, we’re breaking tons of rules here. Our own rules that is. Fist up, we’re posting clips of tracks, which is a massive no-no for us. Generally, anything under 3m00s will go straight in our Inbox trash, regardless of who delivers it. Secondly, we’re using an ugly as hell Juno player. As a rule we’ll only use content delivery systems we can at least a little bit hack to make it fit the site’s aesthetics, the Juno widget is an ugly beast that’s you can’t even resize, which really messes with our 500px format. However, this release is a) amazing and b) only available on vinyl. If it remains only on vinyl, this might be your only chance to hear it, so rule breaking ahoy! But it’s a one off, do not expect us to make a habit of it, so on your bike with your 1m45s clips!

And what’s caused all this ruckus then? It’s a 12”, released yesterday, by LB, and once you’ve heard the vocals you’ll be pretty confident as to what LB stands for. The track, Superstitious Heart, is a collaboration between Little Boots, Maya Jane Coles and Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford. The track was written by The Boots, Maya and Ford with Maya stepping up on production duties. Deep and Techy sounds abound, as you would expect for this line up. Musically Maya’s influence seems to stand out, but we can also hear The Boots indulging her well documented love of 90s House. The shuffling beat and rounded bass are beautiful and hypnotic, while The Boots opts for a suitably intimate performance. The track is backed up with another Deep House tune. On Whatever Sets You Free, The Boots teams up with London producer Baunz to drop some ethereal warehouse vibes. The 12” is rounded off with Dub version of both tracks. If the tracks ever hit some kind of new fangled internet streaming service we’ll bring you a closer look, but, if you’ve got decks, this needs to be on them.

♫ LB – Superstitious Heart/Whatever Sets You Free (Clips courtesy of Juno)

LB’s Superstitious Heart/Whatever Sets You Free 12” is out now.

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Jan 16 2013

[Audio] Garth Knight’s ‘88 MPH’

Glaswegian SynthWaver Garth Knight is back with another new single. We’ve begun to really look forward to Garth’s released in the past few months, he’s really showing himself to be a couple of steps ahead of the retro electro pack when it comes to the professional sound of his production.

His new one, 88 MPH, obviously an Outrun homage to Deloreans, is a pumping classic SynthWave tune. Driven by a slamming Italo backing, Knight lets the forward momentum of the track guide him down intricate musical roads. Layering sweet retro chords and intertwining synth melodies 88 MPH delivers a pedal-to-the-metal four minutes of nostalgic, electronic, goodness.

♫ Garth Knight – 88 MPH

88 MPH is out now.

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Jan 15 2013

[Audio] Final DJs’ ‘One Day In The Sun’

Released at the end of the month is the new single from Germany’s finest, Final DJs. This time round we are treated to a vocal track from these guys, enlisting the smooth tones of Stee Downes. The mere idea of Final DJs doing a vocal track is enough to get us excited, and the track doesn’t disappoint.

The single is titled One Day In The Sun, and it does exactly what it says on the tin. Final DJs have conjured up a laid back, summery, slice of synth love. Drawing on all their talents in Dreamwave, Nu-Disco and House, the guys have delivered a track that covers all those bases. The floaty synth pads of Dreamwave, the funky licks of Nu-Disco and a storming House undercurrent all work together prefect with Stee’s good-time vocals being the icing on the cake. It’s all about the endless summer.

♫ Final DJs (Feat. Stee Downes) – One Day In The Sun (Extended Mix)

Final DJs’ One Day In The Sun is released 28th January.

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Jan 15 2013

[Audio] Lindstrøm & Todd Terje

Well, this was bound to set the internet alight. Unless you’ve been living under a rock this week, you’ll already be aware of the new single from two of the standout producers of 2012. Lindstrøm and Todd Terje both owned last year when it comes to quirky, spacey Disco, and now the two Norwegians are together as one.

Lanzarote is the name of the single, which strikes a nice balance between the sunlit warmth of Disco and ice Scandinavian electronics. Clock in at over eight minutes, Lanzarote feels like a journey through frozen tundra wearing Bermuda shorts and shades. Typically Scandinavian piecing synths and vintage tones are all present, but tempered with a Tropical undercurrent, the end result is fun as hell. Diskjokke, who also had a hand in the original writing of Lanzarote delivers an even spacier reMix that hits just the right synthetic Disco notes.

♫ Lindstrøm & Todd Terje – Lanzarote

♫ Lindstrøm & Todd Terje – Lanzarote (Diskjokke reMix)

Lanzarote is out now on Todd Terje’s label, Olsen Records.

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Jan 14 2013

[Audio] Monsieur Adi & Aaron Alexis

Even more from Monsieur Adi now, with his new track, featuring the vocals of none other than Aaron Alexis. We heard word these two were working together a while back, but we didn’t know the track was already done. A nice surprise for the start of the week.

You is big, moody tune. Adi whips up a dark future soundscape, loaded with chainsaw synths and a steady machine beat. The most French Electro sounding track Adi has produced for quite a while, You shares some of it’s DNA with the likes of Kavinsky and Justice, in that slow, pounding, musical Electro vein. Aarons hazy vocals tempers all the ominous overtones, curling in and out of the track like smoke.