Nov 24 2015

[Audio] mighty mOUse reMixes Air Zaïre’s ‘Love ’94’

Cosmic cruiser mighty mOUse is back with a brand new reMix. The UK’s Disco don has been concentrating more on his own releases recently, with the likes of Luna and Dusk slaying it, and a hectic touring schedule. Couple that with his work in superduo Du Tonc and it’s no wonder he hasn’t had time to reMix for a while. The reMix silence has just broken, however, with this new work for Air Zaïre’s Love ‘94.

Air Zaïre has been bubbling away for a while now, not making massive waves but getting on all the right mixtapes with the likes of Tensnake and Goldroom rocking his jams,. The Brooklyn based producer has teamed up with AIMES’ Wonder Stories label for this latest release. Love ‘94 features Daniela Cabrera on vocals and some smooth and carefree summery piano vibes to be put on hold until the weather is better.

mighty mOUse cooks up a tasty treat with this one. A piano fuelled House track with comforting Tropical overtones. Switching between a gloriously relaxed piano hook and a similar riff played out on squelchy, almost Acidic, synths is a nice way to keep the groove sounding fresh as mighty mOUse weaves it in and out of a symphony of island percussion and pleasing pads. Tied together with a joyous rubbery bassline, this reMix is pure top-down feel good vibes, using just a hint of the original’s vocals to keep the hazy mood going. Top stuff to keep you warm this winter.

♫ Air Zaïre (Feat. Daniela) – Love ‘94 (mighty mOUse reMix)

Air Zaïre’s Love ‘94 is out now

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Nov 23 2015

[Audio] Rex The Dog’s ‘You Are A Blade’ EP

We’re big fans of Rex The Dog around these parts. He’s like this nexus point of everything we hold dear; SynthPop, Disco, Electro, Italo, vintage drum machines and analog synths. There’s nothing glossy or overproduced about Rex’s music, this is the raw sound of electronic music. Groove leaden and intricate. Robotic drum machines ticking and undulating modular arpeggios.

Arpeggios that, these days, come from an increasing number of had-made modular components born of the time between 2013’s Do You Feel What Feel?, and Sicko from earlier this year, not being wasted. The more human side of the dup, Jake Williams, having spent 2014 and 2014 taking electronics classes to learn to build rack modules exactly how he wanted them.

Once on the way to building his new colossus Jake and Rex (the canine contingent part of Rex The Dog) returned to releasing, and returned to their original label Kompakt, to drop Sicko on us a few moths ago and are now following that up with another three tracks of organized electronic chaos in the form of the You Are a Blade EP.

The EP’s title track is an atmospheric slice of Sci-Fi Electro. You Are A Blade could easily soundtrack a dystopian future with its; gruelling Techno bassline and array of ethereal lead lines. Sweeping over an old School Electro beat, layers of analog warbling paint a neon soaked picture loaded with mystery and intrigue. But don’t worry, it’s a full on dancefloor beast too, and when it hits it’s peak around the seven minute mark you will be compelled to dance. Musik Hypnotises, the first of the flip-sides is an analog squelching excursion in nostalgic grooves. This is proper Electro, B-Boy style, with added 303-esque riffs. It brings to mind some of the darker Electro and Acid experiments of Juan Atkins. If you like Post-Kraftwerk robot beats and burbling Acid hook then this one is for you. Intoxicating and imposing. The EP completes itself with Iain Bank homage Wasp Factory whose spiky modular synth patterns complement the title perfectly. A powerhouse Techno track with unrelenting layers of intertwining hooks that was no doubt the result of Jake jamming with his modular set-up. You Are A Blade is one for the synth aficionados as well as those who love losing themselves in deep electronic soundscapes on the dancefloor.

♫ Rex The Dog – You Are A Blade (Radio Rip)

Rex The Dog’s You Are A Blade is out now.

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Nov 9 2015

[Audio] Kate Boy’s ‘One’ album

Those fine folk at Fiction Records must have read my big blog rant, or at least have some common sense, as they sent over the promo of Scandinavian ElectroPop heroes (and now slimmed down from trio to duo) Kate Boy’s début long player in enough time for us to spend a while with it and actually write a review to post in release week! It makes a change from the ‘here’s a new album that’s out tomorrow; can you post about it now?’ attitude of most. Ironically, although we’ve had a week or so with this album; this is one record that we could have safely said, on the first day we got it, was fucking awesome.

But we’ve been waiting for Kate Boy’s album for a long time now; and considering half the album is either songs we already loved from their string of amazing singles, or songs we already loved (and surprisingly knew all the words to) from their string of amazing live shows; us loving One was to be expected. It would have been very hard for Kate Boy to mess this one up.

Speaking of live; we hate to talk about Kate Boy without mentioning just how flippin’ good they are. Easily one of the (arguable the) best live ElectroPop acts around right now. Their live shows are energetic, engaging and as musicians the are unbelievably tight. More than that, though, Australian born Kate Akhurst herself has got a hell of a voice on her. If you get the chance to catch them, do yourself a favour….

It been a few year’s road to the album release. First causing a stir back in 2012 with Northern Lights, Kate Boy immediately became music blog darlings. We fell instantly in love with their mixture of Nitzer Ebb-esque post-Industrial percussive synths and warm, anthemic Indie-Electro vocals (with a hint of R&B) and while some outlets haven’t stuck around for the ride we think they’ve raised the bar with each release since.

Most of those releases are featured on One; kicking off with the album’s recently released lead single, Midnight Sun; a track that is perfectly placed as the first thing you hear. Midnight Sun sums up Kate Boy to a tea, driven by relentless big attack bass synths and hammerfall drums that underpin and array of icy, but somehow comforting, keys alongside Kate’s powerhouse vocals. This is Kate Boy’s perfect combination of aggressive and compelling with bubbly and inviting. Midnight Sun leads into the aforementioned Northern Lights, the more low-key affair that hooked us in the first place. A woozy bassed, stuttering anthem that still sends tingles down the spine. Lion For Real is a track that, despite being presented her on record for the first time, is a track well known to Kate Boy fans. A live favourite (the first of many), Lion For Real is an odd metaphor, but a sweeping anthem that works as a prime example of Kate’s vocal range; gliding from moody crooning in the verses to epic call-to-arms bellowing for the chorus. Human Engine, again, is a live staple that gets it’s first studio recording outing here. One of our personal live highlights, Human Engine wears wears it’s industrial influences in it’s sleeve underneath the passionate lament that is Ms. Akhurst at her most vocally expressive. At the end of side one Kate Boy give you a breather from all the abrasive euphoria with the darkly beautiful Burn, which makes for a nice palate cleanser before the track that is, for the most part, the peak of their live show. Higher, Akhurst’s equality anthem usually sees her at her most interactive with the audience, and that is recreated here with the reproduction of that optimistic energy and inclusive mantra amid a sea of rapid fire synths and wobbly bass.

If we had to pick, we would probably say that Self Control was our favourite Kate Boy track. It’s the closest they get to actually funky, thanks to an infectious and fluid bassline that give the song the most organic groove on the album. When I Was Young is, for the most part, our choice pick of the brand new tracks on One, we were unsurprised, then, to hear that it will be the band’s next single (due out in January). Easing in with a rumbling Acidic synth line, Kate growls her vocals over a selection of nostalgic sounds before When I Was Young launches into Kate Bush-esque rhythmic battle cry that stands out on side two as a personal and intoxicating opus. The Way We Are, another acclaimed single from 2013, brings some welcome familiarity; showcasing Kate Boy at their most Industrial with some melodic sampling that would have made Art Of Noise proud. This is paired side-by-side with Open Fire, Kate Boy’s other factory-floor-funk single from 2014 and it’s big sing-a-long chorus. The Album closes on Run As One, a slow grinding song which feels both introspective and, in the choruses, and epic closer with Kate’s vocals taking on a Post-Punk anger.

The bonus track on the extended version of One are In Your Eyes, from the Northern Lights EP, an epic tune that felt missed on the album proper (but, we guess, there isn’t room for everything) and the incredibly uplifting, yet quite biting, Temporary Gold. A tune which sounds weirdly like an Industrial Marina And The Diamonds, covering the same ground for topics too.

So there it is. We feel like we’ve been waiting years for the album’s release (mainly because we have) and not one second of it disappointed. Which, apart from being amazing, was a massive relief. Needless to say Kate Boy’s one comes so, so, so highly recommended. As does seeing them live if you can; that’s where the real Kate Boy experience shines the most.

♫ Kate Boy – Self Control

♫ Kate Boy – Midnight Sun

♫ Kate Boy – Open Fire

Kate Boy’s One is out now.

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Oct 28 2015

[Audio] Pat Lok’s ‘Your Lips’

If your want soulful House of Funkified Disco and you’re in North America you had best be going to Mr. Pat Lok. The Vancouverite (is that a word?) is one of the most consistently amazing producer working in this genre right now. Whether he’s getting smooth and soulful, or getting the party started, Pat Lok always delivers.

He’s gearing up for the release of his second single this year, which we think (taking into account reMixes and whatnot) is a good release schedule. Steady and regular without oversaturation. Pat Lok keeps them wanting more.

The maestro has teamed up with fellow Canadian Electro Soul trio Dirty Radio for his new single, Your Lips. The single follows on from his smooth House collaboration with singer/songwriter Desirée Dawson, the well received All In My Head, from the beginning of this year and by the sound if it, will be doing the same kind of damage.

Your Lips serves up an easy groove. Dirty Radio’s Shaddy’s vocals are a smooth as silk here as he croons over Lok’s analog fuelled groove. Lok eases off of the attack on the synths he uses in this one to give to track a lazy groove; the hooks here have no urgency, they are content to flow with the tide of the tune. Carried along by the laid-back beats, the tune is all about giving room to the vocals, so they can do their thing and weave their sultry and smoky atmosphere throughout.

♫ Pat Lok (Feat. Dirty Radio) – Your Lips

Pat Lok’s Your Lips is released 13th November.

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Oct 26 2015

[Audio] Kickstarter Lovestarrs’ new album and EPs

UK band Lovestarrs are the Rocky Balboa of the SynthPop world. They keep getting knocked down, and keep getting back up again. Sarah Mackintosh rose to critical acclaim as The Good Natured; starting with her Grandma’s old Yamaha keyboard and ending up as one of Britain’s most hotly tipped Indie-Electro acts. Juggling moody lyrics and a Gothy aesthetic with catchy and rousing ElectroPop tunes, The Good Natured were one of the more interesting and unique acts in a saturated mid-2000’s scene.

The the setbacks begun. Signing to Parlophone seemed like a good thing at the time with the backing of another EP and the announcement of the forthcoming album, to be titled Prism. A good thing short-lived though with the news, after a period of quiet, that The Good Natured had been dropped from the major and had spent the previous few month trying to secure the rights to the Prism masters; to no avail. The album was buried, and The Good Natured died.

In our opinion, this is the biggest dick move a major label can pull. We’ve seen it happen before and we’ll see it happen again. We don’t understand why, if you’re dropping an artist, you can’t just let them release their recordings. Sure, you’ve paid for them; so let them release them themselves and take a cut (surely that way at least you get something back for the recordings you paid for rather than nothing at all). It makes no sense to us and largely just comes across as spiteful.

Anyhoo, you can’t keep a good act down; and with almost a middle finger to the music industry, Sarah came bursting back on our radar as the bombastic Lovestarrs. Backed by her brother Hamish, Sarah’s new output was buoyant and optimistic. Pink replaced back and exuberance replaced gloom; and their début single, Get Your Sexy On, was a party fuelling manifesto proclaiming that Lovestarrs was a different beast to The Good Natured, keeping the lush SynthPop textures but washing them in a lavish, colourful nostalgia (epitomised by 80s Love Song, one of our top tunes of 2014).

Now staunchly DIY (and who can blame them) despite working with indie label Defdisco, Lovestarrs have set up a Kickstarter campaign to cover the release of their next two EPs and début album. The plan is to pay for the releases themselves, and licence them to Defdisco. The desire to pay for, and own, their own records is completely understandable coming from a band who had the last album they recorded held hostage. It’s one of the worthier Kickstarter campaigns we’ve come across. These guys deserve to own their own music, we can imagine how heartbreaking it was to record your début album and then have it disappeared by gangsters.

Lovestarrs are serious about this too; one of the rewards (in exchange for a shit ton of money!) is Sarah’s Grandma’s aforementioned Yamaha keyboard!

The duo have been releasing teasers of what to expect from the releases, you will hopefully find it in your heart it help out with, on their SoundCloud page in the past couple of weeks. From the chant-a-long fun of WTF to the robotic rabble-rousing of Frank Sinatra the album sounds like it’ll be wearing it’s 80s influences on it’s sleeve. Tracks like Somebody Like You sound classic Sarah Macintosh (whether The Good Natured or Lovestarrs) while the likes of Good Girls sound like the will bring something new, and more contemporary, to the table.

Just do it. Go and contribute. Lovestarrs deserve this and, goddammit, we want this album released.

♫ Lovestarrs – WTF (Demo.) (Snippet)

♫ Lovestarrs – Frank Sinatra (Demo.) (Snippet)

♫ Lovestarrs – Somebody Like You (Demo.) (Snippet)

♫ Lovestarrs – Good Girls (Demo.) (Snippet)

Get on board with Lovestarrs’ Kickstarter campaign here.

Buy Lovestarrs’ music from:

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Oct 20 2015

[Audio] Bit Funk’s ‘Off The Ground’

Brooklyn based groover and all-round nice guy Bit Funk is kinda’ considered somewhat the ‘producer’s producer’. Alongside being a big chunk of the Nu-Disco scene’s go to mastering engineer Bit Funk makes the kind of tune that make other producers say “damn”.

He’s been around for a while too, first coming to prominence around 2009 and since then racking up some top reMix and production credits, with some pretty big names, but his own original releases have been far too rare; the last one must have been 2013’s Soul Satisfaction, the man’s gruelling touring schedule must be something to do with that.Thankfully, for us, though when the man does release a new original tune it’s generally something to be excited about as he mashed genres and brings the funk.

His latest offering is Off The Ground; a track for which he has enlisted the help of UK R&B vocalist Shea Jacobs to inject a little Pop flavour. It was released last week on Universal and looks set to be a slow burner that does big things.

Leading immediately with a soft piano hook and Jacob’s soulful vocals, Off The Ground pulls no punches in letting you in on what to expect. Uplifting and euphoric, with a warm comfortable groove, Off The Ground is effortlessly classy, breezing through with it’s dancefloor focused blend of Disco and Deep House. At it’s heart a Pop tune, Off The Ground comes complete with a catchy chorus and a heartfelt refrain, but works that around an array of modern club techniques, most noticeably a stonkin’ UK Deep House bass drop that pulls the track into a more Disco friendly Gorgon City type territory. Big, summery, anthemic stuff that you’re bound to be hearing more of in the coming months.

♫ Bit Funk (Feat. Shea Jacobs) – Off The Ground

Bit Funk’s Off The Ground is out now.

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Oct 12 2015

[Audio] MNDR’s ‘Kimono’

Has it really been three years since the release of MNDR’s Feed Me Diamonds? It really doesn’t seem that long since Amanda Warner and Peter Wade pushed the boundaries of Electronic Pop music with what is still one of our favourite albums of the last ten years. Following on from a handful of singles and EPs that left us slathering for a long player, Feed Me Diamonds didn’t disappoint. Delivering on the previous release’s promise of intricately crafted, left-field SynthPop tunes, Feed Me Diamonds neatly melded knob tweaking experimental sounds and abrasive with catchy Pop hooks.

Warner and co have been pretty quiet since that 2012 release, she’s been writing and producing behind the scenes for the likes of Charli XCX, Clean Bandit and SOPHIE. There have been a few collaborative records out, but none that really grabbed us much, to the point that we feared for future MNDR tracks. But that fear seems to have been unfounded as MNDR unveils her first original track since the album, and it’s good.

Still with WonderSound Records, MNDR released Kimono over the weekend and is our first taste of what might be to come from MNDR’s sophomore LP. Amanda is still in the process of writing and producing the new album, in-between similar duties for other artists, but we should have more news about the forthcoming record soon.

Hitting the ground running with some spiky, modulated beats Kimono makes a few more nods toward the dancefloor than much of MNDR’s previous output. Not that past releases haven’t been dancefloor friendly, but Kimono’s angular digital bass and nostalgic claps make for a slightly Italo, robotic Disco groove. Amanda taken on a hushed tone for her vocal delivery in the verses this time, with a more recognisable holler in the chorus. There’s an enticing enigma to Kimono, a warm and inviting mystery that is unusual to MNDR’s music, a certain smoothness that’s a welcome addition to Amanda’s arsenal. Dare we say Balearic?, in mood if not in sound. All-in-all a pretty amazing tune, and one that once again as stoked out interest in MNDR’s second album.

♫ MNDR – Kimono

MNDR’s Kimono is out now.

Buy MNDR’s music from:

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Oct 7 2015

[Audio] Keep Shelly In Athens’ ‘Silent Rain’

Keep Shelly In Athens? Keep us on our toes more like. Amirite? we honestly weren’t sure, or indeed confident, about the future of the Greek chiller cabinet ElectroPoppers when the voice of KSiA, Sarah P, departed the duo to follow her own musical path. When her final track with the outfit, Old Time Glory, dropped we we’re slightly pessimistic that this was the last we’d hear of the group. So often, even with the best intentions to carry on, a bad breakup can spell the end of even the most committed musicians; and even when the music keeps flowing, sometimes it’s just not the same.

With a change of line-up, new singer Myrtha, replaces Sarah P and a new label; the baton being passed from purveyors of good taste Cascine (who released Keep Shelly In Athens début official full lengther At Home) to L.A. based tastemakers Friends Of Friends, there could quite easily be a confusion of direction. It could feel like a whole new band, and as Keep Shelly In Athens unleash some brand new material it’s time to find out if they are still a band we dig.

So it was with some trepidation that we met the recent news of Keep Shelly In Athens sophomore (proper) album, titled Now I’m Ready and due out later this month, and it’s lead single, Fractals. If we’re honest, we were on the fence with Fractals, it was very guitar heavy and very shoegazy; it was nice enough but we missed the waves of hazy synths that made us love KSiA. The album’s second single though, Silent Rain, is more up our street.

We can’t help but feel like Silent Rain is Keep Shelly In Athens with a Post-Punk injection. It’s that The Sisters Of Mercy bassline, chugging away amid a sea of lush Dreamwave style synths, that gives the track a mid-80s Indie urgency. This is more of a ‘live’ sounding KSiA than we have been used to, Even Myrtha’s vocals, as they flit from Shoegaze ethereal to early Indie chants, add to the synthesized floppy haired nostalgia. This whole record could go either way, it could be an exciting excursion in electronic soundscapes that draws it’s influences from the wealth of independent records released in the last three decades, or it could be a Goth-Rock record with a few synths here and there. Silent Rain, thankfully, makes us think it will be the former. If the whole album is filled with similar moments of vintage leaning beauty then we will be happy.

Think Electric Youth meets March Violets meets early Lush meets mid-70s Jean Michel-Jarre. If you can.

♫ Keep Shelly In Athens – Silent Rain

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Oct 5 2015

[Audio] Soulwax reMixes Hot Chip’s ‘Huarache Lights’

Soulwax have reMixed Hot Chip.

We could pretty much just end the article there really. That initial sentence have got everything you need to know in it, but we made a big deal about writing more and whatnot so strap in; words to follow.

It’s not the first time this awesomeness has happened of course, the Belgian live dance music dominators reworked Hot Chips Ready For The Floor back in 2008, now a classic track. Although having been quite, to the point of retirement, in recent years when it comes to original material, Soulwax/2 Many DJs have been knocking it out of the park recently on the reMix front and with their plethora of side-projects (Klanken, Radio Soulwax,the Deewee label, Despacio nights), so it makes sense that they would return to their Chippy chums for this killer mix.

Hot Chip’s Huarache Lights comes from the Indie-ElectroPop experimentalists sixth studio album, Why Make Sense?, released earlier this year. This particular exclusive reMix is taken from the forthcoming deluxe edition of that album, dropping later this month. The new album collection will also feature Hot Chip’s live favourite cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing In the Dark.

Pushing the tune’s synths to the point of distortion, Soulwax deliver a reMix that tires, and reasonably successfully succeeds, in capturing their live ‘lightning in a bottle’. The beats are a hypnotic expanse of vintage drum machines, ushered along with one of their trademark EBM-lite juggernaut basslines, gruff enough to be powerful, but emotive enough to carry the song. Spikey and immediate, the synth riffs tower over the track, like a repeated mantra. The all perfectly contrasts with Alexis’ soft spoken vocals, which takes this abundance of sparse and abrasive electronic and brings them together in a song. Top stuff.

♫ Hot Chip – Huarache Lights (Soulwax reMix)

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Sep 30 2015

[Audio] Maya Jane Coles reMixes Nimmo’s ‘Dilute This’

Nimmo And The Gaunttlets are now just Nimmo, although the gauntlets appear to still be around. Confusing, right? We thought Sarah Nimmo might have gone solo, but nope the gang’s all there, Reva Gauntlett is still around. This crew are one of the best live outfits in the UK right now. We’ve been lucky enough to catch them a few times and they have an odd introspection onstage that, rather than alienating a crowd, seems to draw the crowd in and their high energy, upbeat Indie-Electro anthems definitely keep an audience rocking.

Their intense, but fun, ElectroPop seems like a pretty good match for the reMixing talents of Maya Jane Coles, who we’ve made no secret of the fact that we think she is one of the best producers of the last decade. Coming from Bristol we do have a soft spot for our electronic music being bassy and mysterious and Maya superbly wraps that Sci-Fi Dubbyness into infectious House tunes in a way that is just intoxicating; and when she weaves vocals through her tracks the results are right up our street.

Nimmo’s infectious and edgy ElectroPop single Dilute This was released late last month and has been swiftly followed up with a small collection of reMixes featuring Maya’s track, a mix from David Mayer and an Extended version from Nimmo themselves, the Nimmo Night Edit.

MJC’s reMix keeps that enigmatic vibe while introducing the track to a nice peak-time House flavour. Maya’s undulating and shifting beats keep things steady without loosing it’s little Garage skipping. Cole’s premiére talent is her user of atmospheric sounds and pads to create unique grooves. Many people can utilise moody tones to create an ambience, but MJC builds those soundscape layers into something darkly funky. Here that deep and intoxicating pallet turns the sections of Nimmo’s vocals that Maya chose to use from energetic IndiePop hollers to smokey and haunting croons. The perfect lazy afternoon listening that would work equally as well rocking an enchanted dancefloor.