Relentless tribal drumming and icy synths about in the new single from Germany’s dark Indie-ElectroPoppers Sizarr.
It’s a suitably ‘Berlin’ video for the track, Boarding Time, all broken video effects and oppressive cityscapes.
Sizarr’s Boarding Time is out 19th August.
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We’d say New Your Disco duo The Knocks were a reasonable big name, I expect their reMixes don’t come cheap in any case. So if the like your song enough to do an unofficial reMix of it, that strikes us as quite a big deal. This is exactly what they’ve done with Icelandic Folk band Of Monsters & Men’s tune Little Talks.
Apparently this Indie Rock tune was, or is, huge and there’s loads of reMixes of it. Honestly it’s the first we’ve heard of either the band or the song, I guess we just don;t run in those circles. We gave the original a quite listen, a bit bland, not our cup of tea. Cutesy Folk just doesn’t float our boat. But The Knocks get to grips with the track in a supremely skilful manner. Eschewing faux quaintness for a solid New York Disco groove, sweeping cosmic synths and and 80’s synth stabs. The whole script flip of the track give the vocals a new lease of life. No longer listless they are now a catchy refrain. See what Disco does for you!
♫ Of Monsters & Men – Little Talks (The Knocks reMix)
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Passion Pit continue their quest of Indie-Electro world dominance with the third single from their acclaimed sophomore album Gossamer. The slo-mo jam Constant Conversations.
Dori Oskowitz directs this story that features Passion Pit’s Michael Angelakos, actor/director Peter Bogdonavich and the one and only Taryn Manning.
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The cream always rises to the top. In the 2008/2009 surge of ElectroPop acts surprisingly few actually ‘made it’, fewer still are still kicking around for the second album. From the moment we first heard London duo (then three peice) CHEW LiPS’ début record, Salt Air, it was obvious they were going to be big, and they were going to be around for a while.
Immediately snapped up by the hippest of hip label (at the time) Kitsuné Music for their first two singles set a precedent for mixing Indie sensibilities with grungy ElectroPop and infectious melodies that had been oft copied since. But their string of catchy singles and reputation for an intimate, energetic live show has always seen them ahead of the pack.
2010 saw the release of the début full length record, Unicorn. An instant hit, loaded with track that resonated with both Indie fans and Electro heads alike. The perfect example of how you can still do something unique with ElectroPop. Damn good songs too. Now, just in time, with memories of ‘10’s summer fading from people memories, CHEW LiPS are retuning. We’ve heard two single from the album so far, and a handful of tracks live, and with each new track we grow more excited for the album release.
Hot on the heels of this weeks première of the video for their amazing new single Hurricane, CHEW LiPS took some time to chat with us about their past, present and future:
ER: I have to get this out the way first. We’ve been writing about you guys since Kitsuné Music released ‘Solo’, and despite things relaxing in the font department I belligerently refuse to stop writing Chew Lips as CHEW LiPS. Doing it right or doing it wrong?
CL: Relax, the upper case / lower case thing feels a bit Nu-Rave nowadays…
(OK then, from now on we won’t…)
ER:. So how did the Chew Lips adventure begin? As a listener I always get the feeling that you all came from wildly different places and this Indie tinged grungy ElectroPop sound was something that was just spawned when you came together.
CL: That’s pretty much what happened. None of us we’re really into anything vaguely “dancey” at all, we were definitely from more of an indie background. Also, as we were a three piece then we couldn’t really make enough noise without using drum machines & synths, so we kind of slipped into this style. I think that’s where some of our early originality came from, the fact that we didn’t know anything about the instruments we were using meant we weren’t constrained by the rules.
ER: Coming together and then blowing up music blogoshpere so quickly, and being snapped up by one of the coolest record labels in the world at the time. How do you think that affected you? It must have been a hell of a lot of pressure, when most bands that early into their careers are still finding their feet?
CL: Not really, you kinda get used to everything that is happening to you as a band very quickly. We were lucky to have good management from early on, who took us away from everything & allowed us to take our time making a record. Luckily we never had to rush anything, we get to mess around & write a lot of songs before choosing what we think are the best ones. We did a lot of pretty awful gigs back then though, we’ve only recently found our feet live I think, the new drummer has helped massively.
♫ Chew Lips – Hurricane (Radio Edit)
ER: Fast forward to 2012. ‘Unicorn’ is a tough act to follow, it’s (in our opinion) one of the greatest albums of the 2000’s. How did you approach the new record? What has inspired it, both lyrically and musically.
CL: Thanks, that’s very nice to hear. We approached this one by trying to step up everything from the first album – the songwriting, the sounds, the production, the thought behind it, the lyrics, the whole package. Tigs was living in Paris during the writing & recording of this record so that totally influenced her lyrically. Musically it’s gone way deeper into the analog world I guess, with loads more proper old synths & drum machines, with some live drums too. Loads of harmonies & BV’s this time too, which is new for us.
ER: And how would you describe it’s sound? What’s it going to be called?
CL: It sounds massive I hope, tougher than before, more focused than before, possibly more open & emotional than before. We wanted it to be a bit more of a pop this time, with a lot more hip hop influenced beats rather than the 4/4 thing. We’re still not sure on the name yet though… We had a name for it all the way through which the label has now said is “too indie” so we’re now trying to find a new name for our baby.
ER: Now you’ve slimmed down to a two piece, has the way you write or record changed?
CL: Not so much really, we only really wrote stuff in the practice room very early on. We probably did more stuff over email this time round as Tigs was in gay Paris a lot & I was in London.
♫ Chew Lips – Solo
ER: So what’s in Chew Lips’ studio? Do you have a favourite bit of kit?
CL: Lots of old analog synths… I share a room in Shoreditch with a friend & between us we have a really nice setup. We have a Pro One, a Juno 6, a Prophet 5, an MS20, an SH101 and loads of crazy tape echos, spring reverbs & pedals. I like fun stuff you can get your hands on rather than plugins on the computer. Favourite thing at the moment is my Sequential Circuits DrumTraks an early 80’s drum machine, it sounds incredible on everything.
ER: If money was no object, what piece of studio gear would be your dream to own?
CL: Probably a MemoryMoog, we hired one for a few days whilst recording the album & it’s just amazing. Everytime you turn it on it’s worth recording as it’ll be doing something amazing & random. The sound of the Thom Yorke record basically.
ER: The first few times we saw you guys live it was all raucous and usually resulted in Tigs parading up and down the bar of whatever venue it was? What can we expect from Chew Lips live in 2012, more of the same?
CL: More of the same but she’ll probably be in tune this time & not so out of breath! We’ve worked really hard on the live set this time round & it’s definitely way better than it was before. A kick ass girl drummer really helps.
ER: Speaking of which, do you prefer recording or playing live?
CL: I like both, geeking around in the studio for months is really fun, but playing live is great, the feeling after a good show is amazing. I like travelling too so touring is great fun. We’ve been to some awesome places recently too, China, Russia, all over the place but Eastern Europe is the best.
♫ Chew Lips – Play Together
ER: Tell us one thing about Chew Lips you’ve never ever told anyone. 😉
CL: Erm, tough one… There’s nothing left to tell, there are no skeletons left in our closet.
ER: What’s on the cards for the rest of this year? Does the album have a release date yet? And festival appearances?
CL: More gigs, more festivals, Hurricane comes out Sept 3rd & I guess when the record comes out depends on how well that single does. It could be early next year for the album to be honest.
♫ Chew Lips – Salt Air
ER: Are Chew Lips a cereal or a Full English Breakfast kinda’ band? Would your answer change the day after a gig?
CL: Usually cereal for me (Bran Flakes) & for Tigs it would be either Porridge or eggs, she fucking loves eggs, we call her the Mongoose. The morning after a late night it’s definitely a fry up, usually at this amazing Italian place in Newington Green that we love. Would have to be served with coffee too, we’re obsessed with coffee, I worked out how much I spent last week on coffee & it was more than on food. How stupid is that?
ER: Thanks guys.
CL: Thanks!
♫ Chew Lips – Do You Chew?
Chew Lips awesome new single Hurricane is released 3rd September.
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Here is the video for New Zeeland’s finest Indie-electro export, Ladyhawke’s new single Blue Eyes.
It’s the best Ladyhawke’s best video since Dusk ‘Till Dawn and sees Pip on a good old fashioned psychedelic walkabout, directed by Jess Holzworth.
Blue Eyes is taken from Ladyhawke’s new album Anxiety, out now.
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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:
Power Italo first from Trans-X and Message On The Radio from 1986, it’s now all Living On Video y’know!
The the mighty Pop Will Eat Itself’s Def Con One from 1988.
And from 1988, Soul II Soul’s first release, the Rose Windross featuring Fairplay.
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CHEW LiPS’ new single, Hurricane, get’s the video treatment. The best of the new CHEW LiPS material so far deserved a clip. And it got one. That’s justice for you.
Set against some nice urban decay, the video the band mucking about it a warehouse, showing off what they do best. Perform.
Hurricane is released 3rd September
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Saint Lou Lou’s much hyped track Maybe You will be getting a proper release soon. None other than Kitsuné Music picked it up for release and have loaded the single with reMixes from Miami Horror’s drummer Good Night Keaton, CFCF, Oxford, Le Crayon, Pyramid. Phew!
Maybe You is a dreamy track. Glowing ElectroPop and sparse acoustic guitar seem to float around the speakers while these two Sweeden based Australian twin sisters’ gentle vocals swirl around the track with a grace and epic emotionality that’s rare to come across in such a chilled tune. This is Dream Pop at it;s finest, and I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s going to lend itself amazingly to some big reMixes, we heard the package and it really does!
♫ Saint Lou Lou – Maybe You
Saint Lou Lou ‘s Maybe You is released 27th August.
Check out more from Saint Lou Lou on SoundCloud.
After literally months and months of waiting we finally have our first taste of the forthcoming album from London based ElectroPop duo Visitor. Visitor first crashed onto the scene in 2010 with the stunning Los Feeling single and since then we have been eagerly awaiting more, but apart from a handful of reMixes and some energetic live shows we have been left wanting. News of their album surfaces occasionally but with the recently announced new double A-side single Coming Home/RNB we have some concrete new tunes.
RNB is our first full listen to what the new material holds, and it was well worth the wait. A blissful slice of ElectroPop with an epic, cinematic quality. Produced by one of the best in the game, Diamond Cut, Visitor’s unofficial third member, RNB sweeps you along with Lucas and Kyle’s dreamlike washes of undulating synths and shimmering leads and a soaring, impassioned vocal. reMixes on the single comes from Lifelike, Viceroy, FM Attack, Bestrack, SymbolOne, Vanguard, Easy D and more. We’re so glad Visitor are back in the game! Pull your finger out Vulture Music, release that album!
♫ Visitor – RNB
Visitor’s Coming Home/RNB is released soon.
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London gloomy ElectroPop duo Evokateur are about to release their new EP. Chime Hours is the follow up to the awesome Crow’s Wedding record. The new release joins the dots between Evokateur’s Gothy beginnings and their more Poppy recent output. Not only that, but there is a reMix by my friend and yours, the one and only, Mr. Fear Of Tigers.
Chime Hours kicks off with 1684, a swirling, lush tune that neatly sits in a place between robotic and ethereal. Hector laying down his usual beats, arpeggios and Industrial flourishes whist Sarah delivers an dramatic, gothic vocal. this opening track is actually pretty straight forward ElectroGoth, but Post, which follows, is a track with a lot more depth, both musically and vocally. There’s less pomp and more feeling in the vocal in Post, and the music is more surprising, more intelligent. The arrangement is actually quite Rocky, but the eclectic use of sounds and a quiet authenticity in Sara’s voice really lift this tune. White Horses, with all it’s EBM distortion and Glitchy, hides a powerful song underneath it’s Numanoid sheen. An infectious stom underpinning a really catchy tune. The cinematic lament of How Long plays out the EP, leaving room only for Fear Of Tigers’ reMix of White Horses. Is there anything Ben has touched that didn’t turn to gold? This time the Fear Of Tigers treat comes in the form of a Indie tinged Dreamwave tune that digs the song out of White Horses and lets it find it’s feet. Lifted by Fear Of Tigers rich layers of synth nostalgia the vocals are lifted to a whole new place. Ending the EP on a euphoric high. We kinda’ get the feeling that, right now, Evokateur is in danger of going from something quite special, to being another ElectroGoth band. And that’ll probably be the last we hear from them. It hasn’t quite happened yet, Chime Hours is a beautiful, immersive listening experience, and one we would recommend, but the warning signs are there. We have out fingers crossed that that doesn’t happen.
♫ Evokateur – White Horses
♫ Evokateur – White Horses (Fear Of Tigers Rmx)
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electronic rumors 