Cosmonauts – April Top Ten = London’s most cosmic Disco double act, Cosmonauts, drop their favorite tracks of the month. Expect an hour of retro space-age grooves, deep synth Funk and the smoothest of House track. This mix has been workin’ our weekend!
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Lopez, or LPZ as they like to be known, are a Paraguayan trio continuing in that fine tradition of not being able to think of a band name so just dropping the vowels out of something. A tradition I think most people think it’s time to abandon. Name aside, they are releasing am EP on relatively new London House label Body Work next month and the title track is pretty damn special.
The other two tracks on the ‘1983’ EP are OK, ‘Snake & Butterfish’ is a hypnotically groovy, if a little uninspired, dark tribal Acid tune and ‘Mafia (Dub)’ is a nice dub flavoured Deep House track that unfortunately never seems to go anywhere. But ‘1983’ itself, is stratospherically above the rest of the EP, and worth the price of the EP alone. Mixing up a late night House vibe with B-Boy Electro sensibilities crates an intoxicating slice of dancefloor gold to loose yourself in but that keeps a poppin’ & lockin’ flavour. This should seriously be a staple of any DJs record box, drop just when the crowd is suitably warmed up and sit back and enjoy. Watch that low funky bassline and Sci-Fi synths do their work. “Funky Fresh for 1983”? Funky fresh for right now, I’d say.
♫ LPZ – 1983
LPZ’s ‘1983’ EP is out 14th May on Body Work.
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While new Little Boots reMixes are always welcome round these parts, nothing compares to the perfect Pop of the music of Ms. Hasketh herself. So though we’ve had to spend the last couple of weeks content with the robotic, pulsating, Tensnake reMix it was in anticipation of Saturday, Record Store Day 2012, when the original version finally dropped.
And it was worth the wait, alongside ‘Shake’ it’s proof enough the in her years gallivanting around the world Victoria lost none of her ElectroPop flair. ‘Every Night I Say A Prayer’, maybe even moreso than ‘Shake’, it the kind of big, swooping, catchy Pop we’d expect from Little Boots. Produced with Hercules & Love Affair’s Andy Butler the track opens it’s arms to a deep ‘90’s House bassline and bright piano hook, but never loses itself in either the ‘90’s nostalgia or the House, instead making both elements work for the track, rather than the other way around. in 2008 Little Boots was the future of ElectroPop, in 2011 she’s come back to kick everyone’s ass and show the world how forward thinking electronic Pop music should be done. Not sitting on her laurels, constantly thinking ahead.
♫ Little Boots – Every Night I Say A Prayer
The 12″ holds reMixes from Tensnake and Joe Smooth whilst the North American edition includes additional work from Nic Sarno, My Panda Shall Fly & D-man. Boots will be playing playing May 4th at XOYO with support from Ronika. Yes, we will be there.
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We had a look at the video for Rebeka’s new single ‘Stars’ earlier this week. The single is out today on Discotexas and hold a whole host to crazy reMixes. Quirky ElectroPop, on the whole, has been pretty quiet for a couple of years so we’re really diggin’ this resurgence in eclectic, interesting electronic Pop bands. Discotexas seems to be pretty into it too with more and more of their releases bringing a BedroomPop flavour to their Disco.
‘Stars’ is a great introduction to this Polish duo, (yes, Rebeka is a duo) is a classic DiscoPop track with a sultry cabaret quality and an extra helping of eastern European bizarreness. Fun and funky is a heady combination. The reMix package is, as you’d expect from Discotexas, top quality. Punks Jump Up, who after a couple of years being the coolest of the underground seem to be gaining momentum recently, bring their abrasive London Disco style to the track with building Acidic lines and a peak time vibe. Discotexas’ own Mirror People also deliver a slick as hell mix, working things a bit deeper with their Club Mix. Mirror People’s version retains the cabaret flow and presents it for the dark corners of seedy Electro clubs.
♫ Rebeka – Stars (Original Mix)
♫ Rebeka – Stars (Punks Jump Up reMix)
♫ Rebeka – Stars (Mirror People Club Mix)
‘Stars’ is released 20th April on Discotexas with reMixes from Punks Jump Up.
Check out more from Rebeka on SoundCloud.
Once again Manchester’s great Dreamwave hope Mr. Jules Schimmer takes on New York’s most underrated ElectroPop artist Aaron Alexis with this reMix of ‘In The Air’. Look, I’ll level with you, it will no doubt come as no shock to learn that we’ll be releasing something with Aaron later this year, and that something will also include work from Jules. So, there’s little chance of me remaining impartial here, I love both these guys, they floor me with everything they do.
That said, this new reMix of ‘In The Air’ sees Jules take a slightly different track from his usual huge ‘80’s sounding mixes and goes down a slightly Euphoric route. Mixing in a little Balearic sunrise vibe with a big piano line with Aarons soulful vocals results in a big rush of emotion and some hairs-standing-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck musical moments. Also, it sounds a lot like an undiscovered The Sound Of Arrows song, which is a compliment. With a bit of a push this could easily be and Ibiza hit this summer.
♫ Aaron Alexis – In The Air (Jules Schimmer reMix)
Check out more from Aaron Alexis on SoundCloud.
So after the preview we got of new of long awaited new Hot Chip material in the form of ‘Flutes’ the first proper single from their forthcoming ‘In Our Heads’ album has surfaced. On thing I can say for sure, Hot Chip are going to own festival season 2012.
It Hot Chip weird, you just gotta’ deal with it. You either like Hot Chip or you don’t, but their popularity would suggest that most people do ‘get it’. It’s been a while since Hot Chip had anything fresh out and it’s been a while since they were regularly playlisted here, so it takes a while to get back into a Hot Chip state of mind. But if you let yourself slip back into that feeling when you bought the last Hot Chip record, all those moons ago, you’ll soon realise how amazing ‘Night And Day’ is. Its’ got the nervous energy typical of Hot Chip tunes and a bassline that can be described as both creepy and insanely infectious. The bassline is so addictively funky I got a little concerned I might be a guinea pig in a government mind control experiment. This, coupled with Alexis trademark lament and vintage synth sounds is going to rule outdoor parties all summer. Peter Serafinowicz had directed the video again…I’m scared!
♫ Hot Chip – Night And Day
‘Night And Day’ is released 4th June on 12” and digital with reMixes from The 2 Bears (natch) and the B-Side, ‘Jelly Babies’.
Hot Chip’s new album, ‘In Our Heads’ is released 11th June.
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Goin’ Old School isn’t a trip down music memory lane, it’s a mugging in the dark alleyway of nostalgia:
Early Warp goodness from Richard H Kirk’s Sweet Exorcist moniker with some ace Bleep House in 1989’s ‘Testone’. Jarvis Cocker directed the video!
Try Squash Gang’s ‘I Want An Illusion’ from 1986 for some pure Euro Italo goodness.
Don’t ask me why Curiosity Killed The Cat’s 1986 hit ‘Down To Earth’ is here, I was just in the mood.
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Swedish purveyor of all things ElectroPop and Disco Johan Agebjörn’s ‘Casablanca Nights’ album was one of our top records of last year, a series of collaboration with some of the best electronic artists and SynthPop singers in the world and some cracking songs. Now two of those cracking songs are getting repackaged in some new and interesting ways.
First up, ‘Watch The World Go By ‘ is finally seeing the release of it’s reMix package. We’ve been waiting for it for a while since it was originally going to be released under the name Plexi Grace. Now, a change of label to Paper Bag Records and it’s back to plain old Johan Agebjörn & Le Prix and a whole host of awesome reMixes. You should all be intimately familiar with the, Lake Heartbeat featuring, slice of ElectroPop bliss by now, and if you’re not what have you been doing with the last year? The reMix package kicks off with German DJ Jam El Mar’s ‘Tripomatic Fairytale’ mix, and pulsating crossover between Nu-Disco and Deep House with some nice eclectic percussion. The track is basically an audio sunrise and sets up the EP perfectly. Along side a majestic workout by Young Galaxy and a couple of smooth reMixes from SynthPoppers Lindberg Palace (a name we haven’t heard for a while) you’ll find Nicolas Makelberge’s version which melds a few frantic elements and tempers them into a chilled Balearic retro Pop track. In addition to this release we also have 80’s Disco legend Alan Cook with an Agebjörn & Lovelock (Steve Moore) produced cover of ‘Casablanca Nights’ title track, and the three of them go full on Italo amazingness here. I cannot stress how good this track is, it’s not even 80’s Italo influenced, it just is pure 80’s Italo. The track’s tempo has been increased, the arpeggios fly and the both the music and vocals are majestic and shot through with that dramatic darkness that calls for a video shot in a dark, neon lit, alleyway that’s inexplicable full of smoke, but it;s in a studio anyway. Amazing Stuff.
♫ Alan Cook – Casablanca Nights (Original Mix) (Produced By Johan Agebjörn & Lovelock)
♫ Johan Agebjörn & Le Prix (Feat. Lake Heartbeat) – Watch The World Go By (Jam El Mar Tripomatic Fairytale reMix)
♫ Johan Agebjörn & Le Prix (Feat. Lake Heartbeat) – Watch The World Go By (Nicolas Makelberge reMix)
Alan Cook’s ‘Casablanca Nights’ is released 26th April on 12” and Download on Disco Evolution/Flashback Records. Paper Bag release ‘Watch The World Go By’ today!
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In support of Record Store Day 2012 (which you should all get on board with BTW) out ElectroPop princess Little Boots will be dropping a new 12” ‘Every Night I Say A Prayer’ accompanied by a free download this 21st April.
‘Every Night I Say A Prayer’ was put together with Andy Butler from Hercules & Love Affair and is an eipc slice of Pop that comes complete with this reMix from Tensnake, who takes things in a deep, hypnotic, direction. If you heard Boots’ last mix you will probably recognise that synth snare and rolling bassline as Victoria snuck it into the cunningly titled ‘Into The Future’ mixtape. Tensnake’s treatment of the track is an undulating Sci-Fi soundscape, retaining Boots’ Pop but taking it on a cosmic cruise to strange new paces. There’s a clash of analog warmth and abrasive sound in there that is at once comforting and slightly unsettling, like a journey to strange places with only Victoria’s voice to guide you. I love how Little Boots stays so Pop, but take so many risks with reMixes and extras. The total (and tiny) package.
♫ Little Boots – Every Night I Say A Prayer (Tensnake reMix)
The 12″ will also hold a reMix from Joe Smooth. Boots will be playing a special gig at Rough Trade East in London on Record Store Day, as well as a playing May 4th at XOYO with support from Ronika. Yes, we will be there.
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It’s been a while since we heard from New Your Bedroom Pop turned Indie-Electro jetsetter Penguin Prison, we figure he’s holed up in the studio somewhere working on his next album. If you find yourself desperate for some new PP then have no fear. Our favourite denizen of Belfast Figure Of 8 is here with one of his slick DancePop reMixes of ‘Fair Warning’.
It;s becoming more and more apparent, especially in the last couple of years, that the gulf between the producer as a guy with some music software and a few ideas and the producer as a guy with musical training, or at least latent ability and understanding of music theory, is getting wider and wider. Figure Of 8 firmly falls into the latter category with a string of reMixes that show off his talent like he’s taunting the less gifted. The track centres around some sweet piano and and the kind of early ‘90’s House synth bass that we’re fast associating with Figure Of 8 that give the track a classic Dance tune feel which kinda’ softens Chris Glover’s impassioned vocals and gives them more of a smooth flow. All-in-all another on of Figure Of 8’s almost timeless productions, a classic Dance sound with a classic Pop feel.
♫ Penguin Prison – Fair Warning (Figure of 8 reMix)
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electronic rumors 