iamamiwhoami’s new video is out. I know you have questions. Is it icy Scandinavian experimental ElectroPop? Is the video pretty weird? Does it carry on from the last? Is it both musically and visually amazing? Do you know what’s going on in it?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No.
The ‘Good Worker’, ‘Drops, ‘Server’, and ‘Rascal’ singles are out now.
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The undisputed king of SynthWave, Mitch Murder, dropped another new track over the weekend, proving he’s still on top form, still an innovator and still light-years ahead of most of the pack in teams of musical ability and pure flair for, and understanding of, retro synth music.
Obviously for someone so influenced by electronic ‘80’s movie soundtracks this was bound to crop up sooner or later, but this is probably the most Vince DiCola-esque peice that I have ever heard Mr. Murder produce. Drawing from DiColoa’s trademark mixture of both arpeggiated & sliding digital slap bass and staccato orchestral hits with big powerful progressions, Mitch Murder adds this to his own repertoire of urgent vintage synth lines and Moroder grooves. The synth solo in the track is simply stunning, it takes synth shredding to a whole new level and lifts the track up to stratospheric heights. Mitch Murder had produced another huge slice of otherworldly, nostalgic, synthesizer brilliance, and with amazingly clean, subtle production highlighted just how much work the much of the SynthWave scene has to do to be on his level.
♫ Mitch Murder – Phobos Gun Run
Mitch Murder’s amazing ‘Current Events’ album is out now.
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Fun fact: I photobombed one of Caroline from Icona Pop’s photos at the weekend, she seemed quite impressed with my photobombing skills.
So here’s their new single ‘I Love It’. It’s rowdy, raucous and tons of fun. All screaming and chainsaw synths. It deserves to be huge. Fredrik Etoall directs the video.
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I think everyone in the world has been waiting for this one! Teasers of SebastiAn’s reMix of Van She new single ‘Idea Of Happiness’ has been making some big waves. The single isn’t out until later this month (unless you want to buy iTunes quality…in which case you can pick it up now, but being a discerning music fan I will presume you don’t buy from iTunes and would rather wait a few days for quality), so it surprising, but very welcome that Modular Recordings have decided to give away the track, I guess they knew people couldn’t wait.
And the track lives up to it’s preceding reputation. SebastiAn amps up the disjointed French Disco and applies it to the tune liberally. Gone are the big rave synths, to be replaced with a particular cinematic slice funky bass, wicked Disco licks and big strings. It’s actually quite a ‘classic banger’, if such a think can exist yet. It’s got all the right elements, in the right places, of the golden age of Ed Banger tunes, which seeing as it a reMix of Van She’s comeback tunes, is more than fitting and will definitely put a smile on your face. If you have missed French Disco experimentalists reMixing Australian, electronically leaning, IndiePop artists (it happened all the time in 2008!) then you will love this track. We do! (Classic Van She picture seemed appropriate).
♫ Van She – Idea Of Happiness (SebastiAn reMix)
The single is released properly 13th May and features additional reMixes from Jonti, Hervé, and What So Not. Van She’s new album will be out this 6th July on Modular Recordings.
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This week Toronto’s greatest SynthPop export Parallels, released their new EP, Time Will Crawl, as a pre-cursor to the release of their new album ‘XII’. We already checked out the new track ‘Moonlight Desires’, a cover of Canadian artist Gowen. Time for a peak at the rest of the EP.
‘Time Will Tell’, the lead track is am amazing slice of what ElectroPop that rest heavily on Italo roots. Like the best, epic, European ItaloPop in the mid ‘80’s, ‘Time Will Crawl’ flows along on bouncing digital bass and rich synth chords with Holly Dodson’s vocals proving to be both dramatic and uplifting, sweeping across the track taking it to new heights. A wash of stings over the Disco groove just makes it perfect. ‘Time Will Crawl’ really is a stunning track, probably the best thing I have heard from Parallels since ‘Ultralight’, and seeing as how I have loved everything they’ve done that’s really saying something. The final track on the EP is ‘Ritual Dancer’ is unmistakable Parallels and works the contrast between Holly’s sweet vocals and a hard beat and bassline to create a track that is both catchy and edgy. No-one does analog sounding ElectroPop like Parallels, they’ve been away far too long.
♫ Parallels – Time Will Crawl
♫ Parallels – Ritual Dancer
‘Time Will Crawl’ is out now, ‘XII’ is due out 26th June.
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A while back we got our first listen to one of the new tracks from London Indie-ElectroPop (now) two-peice CHEW LiPS on their ‘Mini Mixtape’, alongside the Um-Bongo music. Now the duo have released the entire track for our listening pleasure, and a taste of what’s to come.
‘Do You Chew?” is a initial look at a rawer, more gritty CHEW LiPS sound. Pulsating and sexy, the new track drops some of the Pop sheen the band had acquired by the time their début album ‘Unicorn’ had dropped and returns to the more live, garage ElectroPop sound of the first few demos. It’s actually not as moody as we had gathered from it’s mixtape appearance, in full it’s got a nice groove, with almost an old school Hip Hop swing, layered with buzzing and grinding synths and Tigs’ playful vocals. Definitely a welcome return for these guys, hopefully they’ll be going on the road soon so we can catch more of their legendary live shows.
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The worlds most interesting label, Cascine, always send us the best things, the most surprising too. They have a knack of putting some of the most talented acts in the world out of nowhere and making you go “Wow, where the fuck did this come from?”. The latest being Swedish outfit Ditt Inre whose music is beautiful and haunting with a splash of classic ElectroPop.
The Scandinavian duo are gearing up for the release of their début EP, ‘En Värld I Brand’, released later this month. It’s a six track collection of beautiful snowy landscapes make audio. Atmospheric and shot through with a strain of melancholy, but never tipping over into the downright depressing. These are optimistic songs, with an understated euphoria to be found witching the complex rhythms and lush synths (disclaimer: I don’t speak Sweedish, so they could be singing about Flying Monkeys™ for all my ignorant head knows, these suppositions are based on musical feeling alone). Whilst the whole EP is a stunning journey across tundral soundscapes that manages to be both icy and so warm at the same time the standout has to be ‘Månljus (Saknad)’, which coincidentally is the track Cascine has chosen to promo with. It’s a truly awe inspiring peice of ScaniPop. At once foreign and familiar, at once a lament and uplifting ‘Månljus (Saknad)’ has the ability to transport you to a more dreamlike, more romantic place.
♫ Ditt Inre – Månljus (Saknad)
Ditt Inre’s ‘En Värld I Brand’ is released 29th May on Cascine.
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Future Feelings is a Mexican producer who is mixing up a bit of vintage synthesizer Funk into his Nu-Disco sounds. He’s just released his ‘Odyssey’ EP and it seems like a must buy for anyone into analog Disco, Electro Boogie or Cosmic SynthWave sounds.
The ‘Odyssey’ EP is four tracks of space age future Funk. Future Feelings likes to mix things up in the studio, rocking classic synths from Moog, Roland and Oberheim into Ableton so his tracks retain a pure nostalgia and a warmness to their robotic grooves. ‘Drive’ is the standout on the EP, a wicked upbeat Nu-Disco track that combined late ‘70’s Disco with and Italo influence and some sweet B-Boy beats and vocoder. It’s got everything you need. The whole EP is a masterwork of analog Disco, with the deep funkin’ Moog basses and squelchy synths of early New York Disco meeting more driving European dance flavours and resulting in an exciting, retro, journey though neon and glitterball lit dancefloors. It also contains some of the bas bass playing and Herbie Hancock keys you’ll hear this side of Shook. The whole thing is wrapped up in a kinda’ SynthWave sheen, but is generally far groovier than SynthWave. Basically is like an attack of Disco robots from the future in about 1983. Yeah, that sounds about right.
♫ Future Feelings – Odyssey
♫ Future Feelings – Wicked
Future Feelings’ ‘Odyssey’ EP is out this week.
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So, I wasn’t going to write about out favourite synth weirdos Funerals’ new track for two reasons. Firstly because it is unmastered, and I’m sure the master will sound better and secondly because the said the unmetered stream would only be up for twenty Four hours. However, they have decided to leave the stream up due to an overwhelming positive response, and it sounds amazing even unmastered. So dive in!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the reason I love Funerals is because they sound a lot like early Warp records/Bleep House stuff mixed with a bit of Cabaret Voltaire, two sounds that are very close to my heart. And ‘Boo Sra’ doesn’t disappoint in either department. to be released as part of a split EP with Ritualz, ‘Boo Sra’ is a deep pulsating House track with enough moody tones and otherworldly atmospheres to keep the most hardcore Bleep House nostalgia hunter happy. A deep ‘90’s House vibe permeates the track and all those synthetic, alien, bleeps would make it the perfect fodder for a dark warehouse rave in the late ‘80’s/early ‘90’s, which makes it perfect fodder for me.
♫ Funerals – Boo Sra (Pre-Master Preview)
Funerals’ forthcoming split EP ‘Hypermotion’ is out 12th June.
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Here we have the new single from Justin Winks, A.K.A. Casio Social Club. This time not on his own (and pretty awesome) Mullet Records imprint but as part of the first in a series of double A-side released from Eskimo Recordings. CSC shares this release with Djuma Soundsystem Vs. Kolombo, who’s downtempo Disco has got a good groove, but unsurprisingly Casio steals the show.
Mr. Winks has been quietly dropping a sting of ace tunes recently, ‘Rock The Discotheque’ is still regularly played round electronic rumors towers. ‘Nordic Nights’, Casio Social Clubs contribution to the double A-side, is a nice pumping, but quite deep, dancefloor tune that draws on both Disco and House influences and wraps them up in Casio Social Clubs‘ nostalgic Electro Boogie. Riding on a deep synthetic bassline and bright, shimmering, chords ‘Nordic Nights’ does seem to capture a bit of a Scandinavian flavour alongside keeping it retro with big electro tom rolls and even bringing a beach part vibe with some Tropical percussion. Casio Social Club has dropped yet another track destined to move the dancefloor with his rolling retro sound.
♫ Casio Social Club – Nordic Nights
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electronic rumors 