Jul 16 2013

[Audio] St. Lucia’ ‘Elevate’

Here’s the new single from Brooklyn ElectroPopper St. Lucia. It’s been dropped to celebrate the announcement of Jean-Philip Grobler’s début album, to be titled When The Night, and it’s release date in October. If Elevate is anything to go be, this album could be something really special, just we didn’t have to wait until summer is over for such a summery record.

That’s what Elevate is, pure breezy summer anthem. a Tropically tinged slice of Indie-ElectroPop that can;t fail to put you in a good mood. With a solid Indie-Disco bass hook to revolve around, St. Lucia generously heaps on thick buzzing synths and swirling tones complimented with splashes of jangly guitar. Grobler’s vocals have never sounded so epic, so anthemic, as he belt out an optimistic opus that’ll stick in your head all day. Stick around for the horn section, everything goes crazy nostalgic then.

♫ St. Lucia – Elevate

Elevate is out now, St. Lucia’s début album When The Night is out 8th October via Neon Gold.

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Jul 16 2013

[Audio] Chvrches reMixed by Auntie Flo

So, we presume that Glaswegian producer Auntie Flo has added the final ‘ie’ after taking his name from Bod’s Aunt Flo to stop the BBC suing him or something. Either that or he has his own beloved Auntie Flo, seems a bit coincidental though. We are also completely discounting him taking his name from an American euphemism for the fairer sex’s ‘time of the month’, because, well, he’s from the UK and no-one says that here, it’s far to polite, when we slang it up, we slang it up right nice. Wherever he took his moniker from, he’s turned his attention to fellow Glaswegian ElectroPoppers Chvrches current single Gun and totally transforms the track into an emotional Deep House mesmerizer.

A completely involving reMix, Auntie Flo serves up an intoxicating swirl of warm tones and compelling beats. This is summery festival House as you want it to be. Deep and sub loaded, this is one to get lost in, and the added dusting of Lauren Mayberry’s strangely powerful vocals is just the icing on the cake. As the track glides into it’s organ fuelled finale you just want to be in a field with 20,000 other revellers.

♫ Chvrches – Gun (Auntie Flo reMix)

Chvrches Gun is out now. Their début full length record, titled, The Bones Of What You Believe, is released 23rd September.

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Jul 16 2013

[Audio] Mild Peril’s ‘Unknown Zones’ Vol’s 1 & 2

July had been a busy week for London based Italo synthesist Chris Flatline A.K.A. Mild Peril. With two releases, on different formats, in the space of a week, Mild Peril in on the approach vector to deliver the culmination of this particular phase of his Cosmic Italo journey. One limited edition, on Vivod Records, and one digital release should whet people appetites for of this lush, evocative, electronic soundtrack.

Firstly, there is the limited edition 12” release of Alpha Zone and Gamma Zone. Both to be found in their original form on the Unknown Zones, First Survey EP, here slightly reworked but no less fantastical. These two tracks are amongst Mild Peril’s best, robotic yet emotional, mysterious yet comforting, utilising machine beats, razor sharp lead lines and heady swirls of synthesizer sounds to create moods for your head and your feet. Owning these two tunes on vinyl is a pretty interesting prospect for the discerning Italo DJ. The second release, Unknown Zones Vol. 2, contains two new tunes, Outer Zone/Sigma Zone and Crisis In Gamma Zone, both built upon existing themes but honed through the last couple of years of releases and live shows into two epic electronic narratives. At around quarter of an hour each, there is much scope here for ushering the listener through a variety of moods that weave together to tell the tale of the whole. Haunting chimes and cascades of electronic warmth will give way to pulsating arpeggios and pulsating FM bass, and back again, as the voyage though Italo, Cosmic Disco and late 70s soundtrack vibes progresses. A definite recommendation for any lover of synthesizer music that should be seeing a physical release later in the year.

♫ Mild Peril – Alpha Zone

♫ Mild Peril – Crisis In Gamma Zone

Mild Peril’s Unknown Zones Vol. 1 and Unknown Zones Vol. 2 are both out now.

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Jul 12 2013

[Audio] Coloureds’ new single

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. This week Oxford based Disco terrorists and convicted synth abusers (seriously, they’re on the register) Coloureds release their new single, Pop Forlorn. It;s been a while since we heard anything from these guys and in the past few months the have spawned a new Coloured. Green now joins Blue and Yellow in their brutal Electro-House oddessy.

Pop Forlorn is at once relentless and funky. Terminator basses ride roughshod over a cacophony of synths that belies a solid groove in what is possibly Coloured’s tightest, and more dancefloor friendly, track to date. Cut-up samples battle it out with pulsating digital sounds to see who can make you move more, just give in to it. The B-side, Automate, is where things start to get really Coloureds-esque, as they bring out their trademark chainsaw synths and set about carving up Disco and putting it back together to create some kind of compelling, groovy Frankensteinian best. The release come backed with reMixes from Sshh! The Deaf Have AIDS, Kenji Run and Tiger Mendoza, of which Kenji Run;s is the standout. Pick this shit up and kick off your weekend in style.

♫ Coloureds – Automate

Coloureds Pop Forlorn is out today.

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Jul 12 2013

[Audio] frYars’ ‘Cool Like Me’

It’s been while since we’ve heard from London based Indie-ElectroPopper frYars (yup, we’re still writing it like that, believe), and with his new track, Cool Like Me which dropped this week, he’s taken on a decidedly Disco groove for the summer. A surprising poolside vibe for these hot weather days from a surprising source.

Loaded with wicked little Disco licks and sumptuous space-age vocoder action, Cool Like Me, has all the elements of a Tropical Disco floorfiller, but with added frYars Indie-Pop cool. With a tongue-in-cheek vocal set amidst Disco bass and swirling strings, this tune gets both Disco and Pip just right. Whether this is an indication of a shift in sound, or just a one off, we don’t know, but we would certainly welcome more summery, feel-good, tunes like this one in future.

♫ frYars – Cool Like Me

frYars’ Cool Like Me is out now.

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Jul 12 2013

[Audio] The Soft’s ‘Prana’

This new slice of atmospheric, left-field electronics from Suffolk outfit The Soft turns out to be surprisingly funky. Prana, their second single, dropped this week ahead of forthcoming release of their Uncanny Valley EP, both on Ceremony, and it’s a luscious mix of Chillwave, Minimal Synth and Deep House.

Imagine if the singer from some post-Punk band wandered into a German House producers studio mid-recording and started giving it some mic. Now imagine all of this was being committed to tape with a psychedelic stepped, reverb happy, Chillwave producer behind the mixing desk, and you’re halfway there. It’s all very stripped down but spacey, with a solid groove and an emotional lament from The Soft’s vocalist. If you want to get lost in something, you could do worse than this.

♫ The Soft – Prana

The Soft’s Prana is out now.

Check out more from The Soft on SoundCloud.

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Jul 11 2013

[Audio] ATTAR! reMixes Body Language’s ‘Well Absolutely’

On Tuesday we introduced you to Brooklyn Indie-DiscoPoppers Body Language’s new single, Well Absolutely. The single is out now and features a tasty reMix from Belgian analog groover ATTAR! who adds to our summer house trip with a slink little Chicago number.

Completely eschewing Disco, these days, for deep House vibes ATTARI! draws on bouncy, yet moody, synth bass and slowly evolving dark future tones to create smothing that bridges the gap between Chicago 1987 and Los Angeles 2019. Taking the length of the track to build up some dancefloor tension, ATTAR! uses warping lead lines to coax the dancer into a trance. Eerie rain soaked Cyberpunk atmospheres with a nostalgic dance groove? Yes please.

♫ Body Language – Well Absolutely (ATTAR! reMix)

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Jul 10 2013

[Audio] AlunaGeorge’s Bad Idea’

As London R&B ElectroPoppers AlunaGeorge race toward the release of their début album, Body Talk, we’re getting more and more eager for the record to drop, whist the weather is still good. In the meantime here’s Bad Idea, the B-side to the forthcoming re-release of the You Know You Like It single, to keep us going. Expect more future Soul and 90s flavoured introspective smoothness.

Bad Idea. It just sums up everything that makes AlunaGeorge such a special outfit. With a sound all of their own, like a dying robot, something spikey and electronic yet full of soul, they have taken the music world by storm in the past two years. George’s knack of mixing an experimental approach to electronic music with a keen knack for Pop arrangement and Aluna’s uniquely sweet voice and amusingly dark lyrics have not only made them stand out in a sea of music, but delivered something that is completely different from anything else out there. Bad Life is the proof, AlunaGeorge’s album is going to take 2013 by storm.

♫ AlunaGeorge – Bad Idea

AlunaGeorge’s Body Work album is out 29th July.

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Jul 9 2013

[Audio] Grum and Small Pyramids headline Glasgow Underground’s ‘Summer Of Love ’13’

One of the UK most dedicated, and forward thinking, House stables, Glasgow Underground (out of somewhere or other up north) are following on from their huge The Underground Sound Of Glasgow compilation from Optimo (which, bizarrely, kept me occupied recently for much of a massive coach trip to, coincidentally, Glasgow) with a new EP collecting some of their hot tips for the summer. This release goes big and deep with names like Ovr Kill and Mastercris alongside these two gems.

Grum jumps back onto our radar with this reMix of Kevin McKay’s 2011 club hit Body Talk. With this tune we’re treated to the next step in the evolution of Grum. From Dreamwave to Nu-Disco to Trance and now another step along his inevitable House path. Grum effortlessly weaves all the tricks he’s learnt along his music journey into a pretty unique sound that has it’s roots, and feet, in packed warehouses but it’s mind is at the beach. Here he whips McKay’s Olivia Newton John sampling bouncy House tune into a moody and futuristic electronic epic with an infectious mixture of bleepy House and Dubby effects. Another post-Dreamwaver experimenting with a little Dub in their House is Small Pyramids, who’s Don’t Do It To Me is a hypnotic Chicago track that creates a nice spacious sound, spreading out the sound a creating a groove for a soulful vocal. There six track on the whole release, and it;s definitely well worth checking out.

♫ Kevin McKay – Body Talk (Grum reMix)

♫ Small Pyramids – Don’t Do It To Me

Glasgow underground’s Summer Of Love ’13 is released 22nd July.

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Jul 5 2013

[Audio] alloapm’s ‘Wavepop’ EP

Tokyo DreamPop outfit alloapm are no strangers to these pages, always delivering something a little left-field and a little funky. The duo have just got on-board with London’s Heavy Disco label and this week release their new EP, Wavepop. It’s four tracks worth of psychedelic, freeform and surprisingly emotive, synthetic DiscoPop.

The EP’s tracks have all been kicking around in one form or another for a while this year, but collected and mastered here give a nice immersive alloapam experience. Kicking off with Talking To My Radio, a synth buzzing, vocal warbling, retro grooving slice of musical sunshine. Weaving some experimental arrangements, alloapm layer a variety of robotic sounds and stripped back synth melodies with heavily modulated vocals but keep everything tight and upbeat with a number of summery lead lines. Midnight Cake takes on more of a laid back vibe, complimenting alloapm’s electronics with a wicked muted Disco lick and some hazy, almost Chillwavey vocals and probably comes the closes to contemporary Disco on the EP. The EP’s closing track, Malibu Club, gets it’s 80s groove on from the opening bar. This is a proper retro Pop song, aspirational and infectiously danceable, it;s thick vintage digital synth sounds pulsate away providing the perfect backing for some vintage Electronic Soul vocals and (what is essentially) the spiritual successor to Madonna’s Holiday, or maybe Wham!’s Club Tropicana, only weirder. Lush 80s Pop. the EP also comes equipped with a reMix of Talking To My Radio from Abelard and is definitely worth picking up.