Mar 28 2009

New Passion Pit!

PassionPit

I was very exited to see this, new new Passion Pit single, in the electronic rumors Inbox yesterday.

Passion Pit whipped up a hype storm last year with their track ‘Sleepyhead’ from the ‘Chunk Of Change’ EP, and well deserved too. ‘Chunk Of Change’ was a little slice of electronic heaven, adored by Indie fans and ElectroPoppers alike.

‘The Reeling’ is a little more polished than ‘Sleepyhead’, a little more focused with some fantastic Synth riffs and horns.

♫ Passion Pit – The Reeling (zShare) (MediaFire)

‘The Reeling’ is out on May 11th followed by their début album ‘Manners’ on May 18th.

Passion Pit @ Juno

Passion Pit @ 7Digital

Passion Pit @ Amazon

Mar 27 2009

Villians reMix Lykke Li

LykkeLi2

I was determined that I wasn’t going to blog this new reMix of Lykke Li’s ‘Little Bit’, the song had been reMixed to death and when I picked up this reMix, by Villains, over at NME’s Daily Download blog I really wasn’t going to post it…I wasn’t!

Then I listened to it!

It’s now my favourite reMix of my favourite Lykki Li tune, it features some of the most infections, funky, kickin’ synth bass I have ever heard!!!

‘Nuff said:

♫ Lykke Li – Little Bit (Villains reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

Check out Villains’ reMix of Bloc Party’s ‘Ares’ in our post here.

I can’t stop playing this shit!

Mar 25 2009

The Vault: Cabaret Voltaire

The Vault: The classics of Electronic Music. The influential and the groundbreaking. The pioneering and the music we grew up on…

CabaretVoltaire

I somehow always knew that electronic rumors’ first The Vault article was going to be about Cabaret Voltaire, it had to be really, not only are they highly influential to me, personally, but to every strain of electronic music.

From the early use of synthesizers and tape loops with punk ascetics to pioneering the early dance scene (via being emblazoned on Ferris Buelller’s bedroom wall!), Cabaret Voltaire have done it all…first!

Richard H. Kirk and Stephen Mallinder (initially along with Chris Watson) formed the Cabs in 1973 in Sheffield (ground zero for all things synth) as a way to experiment with sound creation and processing. Strongly influenced by the Dada art movement, they quickly became associated with the burgeoning Industrial scene.

The group’s first (proper) releases were on the legendary Rough Trade Records label and from the early, experimental noise-pop works to the 808 and 303 laden later records Kirk and Mallinder were always ahead of the pack, and, indeed, Kirk was instrumental in the early life of legendary experimental electronic stable Warp Records.

One of the first artists to really embrace using non-musical instruments or found sounds to create music, Cabaret Voltaire influenced all things Experimental & IDM, SynthPop & New Wave and later Bleep House & Dub heavy Techno.

Electronic music just wouldn’t be the same without Cabaret Voltaire.

Here we have a sampler of the Cab’s back catalogue, some obvious, some not. From 1979’s ‘Mix up’, ‘No Escape’ and from the seminal ‘Red Mecca’ (1981), ‘Spread The Virus’. Moving into a more ElectroPoppy area ‘Crackdown’ from ‘The Crackdown’ in 1983 and, probably Cabaret Voltaire’s biggest hit, 1984’s ‘Sensoria’ from the album ‘Micro-Phonies’. ‘I Want You’ comes from their last Rough Trade album ‘The Covenant, The Sword, And The Arm Of The Lord’ (1985) and showing it’s Bleep House influences ‘No Resistance’ is taken from 1991’s ‘Body And Soul’

♫ Cabaret Voltaire – No Escape (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Cabaret Voltaire – Spread The Virus (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Cabaret Voltaire – Crackdown (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Cabaret Voltaire – Sensoria (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Cabaret Voltaire – I Want You (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Cabaret Voltaire – No Resistance (zShare) (MediaFire)

Whether you’re into SynthPop or Experimental, Dub or Dance, Indie or Industrial, Cabaret Voltaire helped shape the music you love. Much of their back catalogue is still available including a few best of compilations:

Cabaret Voltaire @ Beatport

Cabaret Voltaire @ 7Digital

Cabaret Voltaire @ Amazon

Mar 21 2009

No shit, Sherlock!: Eskimo Disco – Japanese Girl

No shit, Sherlock!: A chance to enthuse about music from the last few years that pre-dates electronic rumors, this stuff has probably already been blogged to death years ago, but we need a chance to get how much we love it off our chests. We already love it, you already know and love it…and are probably bored of it, but we’re going to blog about it anyway…

EskimoDisco

Eskimo Disco, eh? A bit chameleonic. Sometime Indie band, sometime Electro band. The describe themselves as ‘”Party Music”, and that’s probably as good a description as any. From their début single ‘7-11’ each release held something new.

But we’re here to talk about ‘Japanese Girl’, their third single from 2007. ‘Japanese Girl’ is pretty close to being perfect. For me, personally, it’s got everything I’m looking for. It’s electronic. It’s SynthPop, but the live drums and analogue synths give it a raw edge. It’s Indie-electro without the need for jangly guitars. It’s got vocals you can sing along too and vocoded vocals. It’s catchy and it’s got Ooooo Ooooo’s!

What more do you want?

Oh yeah…

♫ Eskimo Disco – Japanese Girl (Radio Edit) (zShare) (MediaFire)

Whether you like ElectroPop, Electro-House and Indie-Electro, there’s something for everyone in this song and the single came with a reMix by none other than Fred Falke!

The singles and their album, ‘Robots And Laptop Dancers Make Good Friends’ are still available:

Eskimo Disco @ 7Digital

Eskimo Disco @ Amazon

Mar 21 2009

We Have Band cover Pet Shop Boys

WeHaveBand

London’s We Have Band continue to turn out interesting electronic music, this time they have covered Pet Shop Boys classic ‘West End Girls’.

For an oft-covered song they have done a bloody good job. Keeping a similar bass sound was a good idea, the opening three notes of the bassline are integral to the track and We Have Band have made the song their own whilst retaining that signature bass. The rest of the track is very well done, the band have managed to conjure the atmosphere of the original, something I don’t think any other cover I have heard has managed to do.

♫ We Have Band – West End Girls (Pet Shop Boys Cover) (zShare) (MediaFire)

What do you think?

We Have Band @ Beatport

We Have Band @ Amazon

Mar 18 2009

Alice In Videoland

AliceInVideoland

Sweden’s Alice In Videoland easily rank as one of my all time favourite bands, describing them isn’t easy as no-one is doing anything quite like them.

A lot of bands use the term Electro-Punk, but it seems to mean something different to each if them. If you ask me, the band that really deserves the title is AiV, Rather than just being some sort of shock-Electro or Minimal-Techno-with-funky-hairstyles act, they actually make Punk songs (well, Pop-Punk) with electronics. Take the best in female fronted Pop-Punk, from No Doubt all the way back to Blondie, give the band synths instead of guitars and you’re beginning to get the picture.

The music is as Danceable at it is pogo-able, noisy synths and frantic drums are cut through with poppy 80’s-esq lead lines and Toril’s sweet & sour vocals.

Their first album, 2003’s ‘Maiden Voyage’, was 10 tracks of absolutely perfectly crafted Electro-Pop-Punk. every time I hear it I always think that, if AiV were promoted more outside Scandinavia or their label had bigger distribution and marketing budget, this record would have been huge!

♫ Alice In Videoland – Got To Go (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Alice In Videoland – Lay Me Down (zShare) (MediaFIre)

Their 2005 follow up, ‘Outrageous!’, had a rawer, punkier sound whist retaining the Pop melodies and hooks. Again, this could have been a hugely popular record, with more exposure Alice In Videoland would have quickly been embraced by the Modular loving Indie-eEectro crowd.

♫ Alice In Videoland – Emily (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Alice In Videoland – Ladykiller (zShare) (MediaFire)

Their most recent album, ‘She’s A Machine!’ from last year, was quite a low key release. It saw a move toward a heavy electronics, almost EBM sound, displaying more club influences than previously.

♫ Alice In Videoland (Feat. Maja Ivarsson) – We Are Rebels (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Alice In Videoland – Weird Desire (zShare) (MediaFire)

Alice In Videoland have meshed Punk/Rock attitudes and songwriting with electronic music in a way that no one else has, and arguably more successfully. Unfortunately, the place AiV have had the most success is the EBM/Industrial scene, which is a musical ghetto and almost a death-mark when it comes to wider exposure. Alice In Videoland deserve better.

So…that’s the point of this post, hopefully some of you Electro kids will give these track a listen, believe me, you won’t regret it.

The band have some new material on the way, keep reading electronic rumors for news.

A fantastic live band, although the one time they visited the UK (back in 2004) seems like so long ago, all three of their albums come very, very highly recommended:

Alice In Videoland @ Alice In Videoland Store

Alice In Videoland @ Amazon

Mar 12 2009

Camden Crawl ‘09

CamdenCrawl

This year’s Camden Crawl is only just over a month away and, while many of my esteemed blogging peers the other side of the Atlantic are getting exited about SXSW, I get this lot on my doorstep…

Filthy Dukes, Kissy Sell Out, Frankmusik, Toddla T, Little Boots, CHEW LiPS, The Count & Sinden, Dan Black, Datarock, Marina And The Diamonds, Sportsday Megaphone, V.V. Brown, Drums Of Death, Heartbreak & The Whip…and a whole bunch of Indie bands too.

All over two days. All, literally, three minutes from my house!

Actually, this may be some kind of smug post…or it could be a recommendation, seriously, if you’re in the area this will be one hell of a weekend.

Tickets still available.

Tickets @ Camden Crawl

Mar 7 2009

More Build reMixes

Build

A while back, here, we blogged about London Indie-Electro producer Build’s reMix of Cut Copy’s ‘Hearts On Fire’, which we really liked. Build has been busy, he also has two more reMixes to share with the world Both are of Indie-Electro modern classics. ‘Feeling Better’ by French Indie/SynthPop mob The Teenagers and Ladyhawke’s oft-reMixed ‘Back Of The Van’, of which Build’s reMix more than holds it’s own!

♫ The Teenagers – Feeling Better (Build reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Ladyhawke – Back Of The Van (Build reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

If you like what you hear go give Build some MySpace lovin’:

Build @ MySpace

Mar 6 2009

G.L.O.V.E.S. ‘Changes’ Van She

VanShe

Over on the ModBlog, those nice people at Modular Recordings have been in a generous mood and given away the reMix of ‘Changes’ by Aussie Indie-Electro stars Van She that they had G.L.O.V.E.S. (one half of Damn Arms) do.

♫ Van She – Changes (G.L.O.V.E.S. reMix) (zShare) (MediaFIre)

The reMix has been knocking around since late last year but it’s worth posting anyway, it’s a Disco funker with some great synth noodling, as is this old gem, one of my favourite Van She tracks mixed by one of my favourite reMixers, Lifelike:

♫ Van She – Kelly (Lifelike reMix) (zShare) (MediaFIre)

There’s four of them, they gotta’ eat, y’know! Buy stuff:

Mar 5 2009

Another day, Another Ladyhawke reMix

ladyhawke51

Ladyhawke’s ‘Paris Is Burning’ is re-released this week, canine cover an’ all, so before you click on over to your favourite .mp3 emporium check this reMix Alex Metric has dropped turning ’Paris’ into a driving Electro growler.

♫ Ladyhawke – Paris is Burning (Alex Metric Mix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

For the last hour or so I have had the track on repeat, lovin’ that synth riff!

You can also grab yourself a chance to win exclusive Ladyhawke tour merchandise here.

‘Paris Is Burning’ is, as they say, in the shops now and comes highly recommended.

Ladyhawke @ Modular Store