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.

♫ Jupiter – One O Six

♫ Jupiter – Saké

♫ Jupiter – Starlighter

Jupiter’s début album ‘Juicy Lucy’ is released 5th June.

Buy Jupiter’s music from:

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May 10 2012

Queen Of Hearts’s ‘Neon’ video

after a string of classy videos, Queen Of Hearts has seriously outdone herself with her new one.

The clip for ‘Neon’, directed by Between Man and Beast, is pretty a stunning journey though light and shade. it;s moody and beautiful and awesome stuff.

Queen Of Heart’s ‘Neon’/’Tears In The Rain’ single is out 14th May. Out now is ‘electronic rumors Volume 1’ on which Queen Of Hearts features.

Buy Queen Of Hearts’ music from:

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May 10 2012

The return of Saar & Sky

Saar & Sky

A few years ago Saar & Sky were, briefly, one of the best Electro acts in London. A melting pot of Italo, SynthPop and the emerging Dreamwave and SynthWave styles with an energetic live show and some seriously catchy songs. Then distance divided this duo and Saar & Sky were no more. We all mourned. It was dark times.

So it was a pleasant surprise to find a new Saar & Sky EP incoming. Born of late night phonecalls this isn’t really a return for these guys, more of a decision that they had too many good songs on ice not to release them in some form or other. The result is the ‘Maria’ EP, a collection of five of their best unreleased tracks. Much of this you might already know, either from live or from their MySpace page (yes, it was that long ago), which make it doubly nice to now have the good quality studio recordings of these songs available. The great, and unique, thing about Saar & Sky was always their combination of styles. On the one had you have Logan Sky’s very Italo influenced Electro sounds, robotic grooves and big power stabs, and on the other there’s Saar soulful, almost R&B vocals. That combination of machine beats and smooth songs was way ahead of it’s time in terms of the surge of vocal Nu-Disco. The tracks on the EP, surprisingly, haven’t really dated much. ‘Maria’, the lead track is a rich, haunting slice of retro Pop, all dreamlike riffs and electro tom rolls alongside Saar’s impassioned vocals and sets the tone for the EP. Saar & Sky slide from the harder dance tracks like the insanely catchy ‘Confessions’ to to the more eclectic end of Italo found on tracks like ‘Falshback’ throughout the EP, never afraid to try something new within their vocal SynthWave framework. If this is the epilogue to Saar & Sky it’s a fitting tribute, kinda’ hoping it’s not though.

♫ Saar & Sky – Maria

Saar & Sky’s ‘Maria’ EP is released 15th May.

Buy Saar & Sky’s music from:

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May 10 2012

Pelifics, Miss Plug In & JD Samson

Pelifics

With the release of the second part of Sweedish synthmeister Pelifics two part ‘Lifetime’ EP series imminent Brilliantine are giving us out first listen to the second track off the EP. The first part featured the awesome Electric Youth and Human Life, and we’ve already been treated to the second part’s lead track, featuring AXXE, now it’s time for German Italo darling Miss Plug Inn and Le Tigre’s JD Samson to jump on board for some Smooth Euro DiscoPop and party Disco.

‘The Beach Tonight’ is a laid back combination of Italo and Beach Disco. With that slight streak of melancholy found in the best Italo and some spacy synths Pelifics conjures up a nice Mediterranean sunset track. Deep and warm digital bass and floaty arpeggios create a familiar, comfortable sound that draws you in and envelopes you. Miss Plug Inn’s Germanic vocal adds that touch of Euro class. ‘Spray-Painted Knuckles’ on the other hand is a rowdy, jump-up, Disco, the combination of Pelifics frictionless Disco and Samson’s rough and ready vocals make for a track that has groove, but balls too (girl-balls that is).

♫ Pelifics (Feat. Miss Plug Inn) – The Beach Tonight

♫ Pelifics (Feat. JD Samson) – Spray-Painted Knuckles

The ‘Lifetime Pt 1’ EP is out now with part 2 coming in later in April on Brilliantine.

Buy Pelifics’ music from:

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May 10 2012

St. Lucia’s new video

St. Lucia has dropped the new video for his track ‘Before The Dive’, from his self-titled début EP.

The clip was co-Directed by Elliot Sellers and Carlos Lopez Estrada, be warned, it get’s weird. Lovely looking, but weird.

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

Buy St. Lucia’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

May 10 2012

Grum reMixes Paper Crows

papercrows

So we know London based Dubby Dark Indie-ElectroPop duo Paper Crows have good taste in reMixers, you might remember their ‘Stand Alight’ single being reMixed by Monsieur Adi. Released this week was their ‘Changing Colours’ single featuring a new mix from none other than Grum. having been so quite for a while them three mixes released at once you have to wonder if someone is orchestrating things at castle Grum?

‘Changing Colours’ is a beautiful, Kate Bush-esque piano driven piece that the Scottish big room producer manages to keep the core feeling of, despite layering it think with his immense dancefloor sounds. There’s only so much happy that you can pour into a Gothtronica outfit so Grum rightly reins in his hands-in-the-air moments in favour for some deep, tribal, hypnotic dance grooves. As Grum’s leaning toward big classic Trance tracks continues, rolling tracks like this really do pick the best of what made those tunes great and works it for contemporary dancefloors.