Rebeka’s ‘Stars’ will be the next release on Discotexas. This Polish duo make eclectic ElectroPop the likes of which we are starting to see a resurgence of. And I’m quite looking forward to the summer of quirky DiscoPop.
Check out the video for their début, its a suitably glittery affair for the Mirror People produced tune. Balbina Bruszewska & Katarzyna Baraniewicz directed.
‘Stars’ is released 20th April on Discotexas with reMixes from Punks Jump Up.
Check out more from Rebeka on SoundCloud.
So, I think I have this subconscious belief that bloggers make shit producers. I know, I know, it’s completely unfounded. I don’t even know where it comes from (although to be honest, a lot of stuff I have heard from bloggers has been shit). I think it might be because I see them coming at making music from the wrong angle, writing about music and thinking ”I’ll have a go” rather than feeling the passion to create. However, as a big fan of rationality I do love being proved wrong and Big C, who maybe known to you as author of Big C’s Music, is having a mighty crack at making me look like a fool.
The Wheel Wells, Big C’s latest target for reMixing, are a Canadian duo with an Indie-Dance sound who’s ‘Morning Light’ you might already be familiar with, and if you’re not there a good chance you are about to. Big C’s ‘Beachhouse’ mix does exactly what it says on the tin, Tropical vibes abound with a laidback beach party Disco sound. The thing that stuck me the most about this mix is that from someone who up until about a week ago I didn’t really consider a ‘producer’ how polished it is. The mix could use a little punch, but on the whole it’s a balanced and slick mixdown, something that many new producers get terribly wrong, and that shows there’s latent talent in there. So yeah, Big C has made the jump from being ‘a blogger who does some productions’ to ‘a producer who sometimes blogs’ in my head, and me being a stubborn bastard that is a really hard jump to make.
♫ The Wheel Wells – Morning Light (Big C ‘Beachhouse’ reMix)
♫ The Wheel Wells – Morning Light (Big C reMix)
Check out more from The Wheel Wells on SoundCloud.
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)
Buy Penguin Prison’s music from:
OK, someone’s just massing with me now. It’s bad enough that track ten on Nite Jewel beautiful current album ‘One Second Of Love’ freaks me the hell out, it’s called ‘Clive’, which does my head in. But now they get Dntel to weird it up even further?
Dntel is, of course, Jimmy Tamborello who was one half of The Postal Service, who’s ‘Give Up’ was possible the best album of 2003 (whoa! was it that long ago?), so if they’re going to get anyone to twist up my namesake then I’m happy he’s the guy. The reMix is amazingly innovative, chopping up the vocals into new melodies to layer alongside his glitchy beats a wonderfully emotive synth sounds. Ramona Gonzalez take on a whole new beauty as an instrument, becoming part of the wall of dreamlike noise, kept in check with a steady dancefloor beat. And, yes, it does sound a little like the Postal Service.
♫ Nite Jewel – Clive (Dntel reMix)
Nite Jewel’s ‘One Second Of Love’ album is out now.
Buy Nite Jewel’s music from:
London Indie-Electropoppers Citizens! are on a roll right now. A couple of amazing singles, some high profile compilation appearances, and now it seems innovative and damn funky reMixes, have propelled them into the tastemakers consciousnesses to the point where success is pretty much guaranteed. I’m happy for them, maybe now they can afford those decent haircuts they’ve been after for so long.
And those fashionable barnets would be well deserved, these guys have got a really raw, almost live, electronic sound that, when they lend it to a reMix, makes for a unique, and raucous take on ElectroPop. Being lent this garage synth vibe are Welsh Chillwavey electronic noodlers Man Without Country, whose track ‘Puppets’ becomes something akin to Moroder through a distortion pedal at the hands of this hipster quintet. Citizens! are doing an amazing job of bringing a rough, garage quality back into the world of SynthPop, as they do on this reMix, and as the will probably do when they launch their new single in London 18th April with Men Without Country in tow.
♫ Man Without Country – Puppets (Citizens! reMix)
Citizens! and Men Without Country play the Ridgely Road Market Bar in London, 18th April.
Buy Man Without Country’s music from:
Aussie Indie-Electro rising starts Rüfüs’ ‘This Summer’ finally has gone and got itself a video, not sure what it’s been doing with it’s time before this that was so important though?
Alexander George directs this collection of youths-loosing-themselves-in-good-times-and-getting-a-bit-rowdy-in-slow-motion clip which, whilst being a tad unoriginal, actually looks really nice and works perfectly with the track.
Rüfüs’ EP that contains ‘This Summer’ is out now on Gigpiglet/Inertia .
Buy Rüfüs’ music from:
OK, you know when a band you really love change up their sound a little bit? and everytime they release a new track your heart stops a little bit because what if it’s shit? and you’ve got that tattoo and all! But then you have this endorphin rush as you realise they are only getting more and more awesome? Well, that’s what it’s like with me and Substatic. Except I haven’t got a Substatic tattoo. Yet.
The new two peice version, Substatic 2.0 if you will (which we won’t), are slowly tricking out their new material a track at a time as they find their footing with their new, more Funk laden, sound. And finding their footing should be an easy task, they are on very solid ground. ‘Midnight In Paradise’, their latest drop, is a glorious mixture of grooves. Underpinning the tune is a hint of B-Boy Electro (which long time readers will know is always the quickest way to my heart) layered with a nice digital slap bass. Colleen’s breathy vocals give the tune a sense of urgency while the electronics have both a retro feel and contemporary edge. You really can’t pigeonhole Substatic, and as someone who loves pigeonholes and finds artists claiming not to be pigeonholed pretentions (not that Substatic ever have), that irks me. They are ElectroPop, but beyond ElectroPop with an understanding of UK Bass music unheard of within that genre. But too Poppy (read: the songs are too good) to be Bass, or Dubstep, or Drum & Bass. To complex to be vocal House and too live to be Electronica (whatever that is). Too funky for Indie-Electro, too song led for Electro-House. They just write really good, emotional, songs, with a really good grasp of electronic music and a really good grasp of dancefloors. They’re just Substatic.
♫ Substatic – Midnight in Paradise
Substatic’s new EP should be out soon-ish.
Buy Substatic’s music from:
A couple of days ago we presented the video for London ElectroPop band Scarlet Soho’s comeback single ‘When The Light’s Go Out’. Time for a look at the whole EP.
The title, and lead, track is the prefect choice for Scarlet Soho to reclaim their rightful place amongst the best ElectroPop bands recording today. It’s an insanely catchy track the will stick in your head all day. Capturing the best of ‘80’s arrangements, especially in the epic vocal harmonisation, and full of lush synth sounds ‘When The Lights Go Out’ is Indie-tinged ElectroPop at it’s finest. There’s two other original tracks on the EP, the moody and enigmatic ‘What You Need’, another chunk of 80’s nostalgia wrapped up in contemporary presentation and ‘Retail Therapy’, a track with hints of Japan in it’s bass and vocals tinged with melancholy until the big ‘80’s Electro Soul chorus. Also included in the package is a reMix of the title track from Austrian avant-garde ElectroPop outfit Trouble Over Tokyo, who deliver a rolling, tribal, electronic soundscape. The single is definitely a welcome return for these guys, and one that leaves a good impression.
♫ Scarlet Soho – When The Lights Go Out (Radio Edit)
♫ Scarlet Soho – When The Lights Go Out (Tokyotron reMix By Trouble Over Tokyo)
‘When The Lights Go Out’ is released 21st May, you can pre-order here.
Buy Scarlet Soho’s music from:
Kimbra, Mark Foster from Foster The People & A-Trak have all done a track together. It’s something to do with shoes. Converse are doing this ‘3 artists, 1 song’ series, I’m not really sure what it’s all about and all the information about it seems to assume I already do. Apologies for not being up to date on the goings on in the world of music based shoe PR campaigns.
The track is very very very good though. Surprisingly for this kind of collaboration you can really hear each artists influence and the result is an Electro-edgy Pop track that rises above it’s ‘shoe promo’ origins.
You can download the track, and presumably buy shoes, here.
Well TEEEL is just a reMix machine these days. The past couple of week have seen him drop loads of new tune. Not that we’re complaining, especially with his latest, a mix of Ana Lola Roman’s ‘Telegram’.
Reimagining Ana Lola as some kind of dreamlike Italo Disco diva, this reMix. Rolling bass and rich synths wash over each other building to a sweeping chorus, the vocals in this track acting almost and another instrument, weaving in and out of the electronics. TEEEL has crafted the track to walk the thin line between dancefloor and soundscape, and has mastered both with skill.
♫ Ana Lola Roman – Telegram (TEEEL reMix)
Check out more from Ana Lola Roman on SoundCloud.
electronic rumors 