Oct 15 2012

Only You

When music is just thrust upon us with no introduction, it can be hard to muster up the enthusiasm to even listen to it, in the flood of promo material we receive every single day making yourself stand out is pretty important. But sometimes we have a little more time on our hands, or are just feeling intrepid, and dive on in to random track. This time around we are extremely glad we took the plunge with American retro Pop outfit Only You, who sole track, Secrets, is a pretty stunning début.

Secrets is an amazingly slick, and well produced, slab of 80s Pop. Changeling the best in mid-80s American SynthPop, it’s got that big production sheen that at the time you could only get from multi-million dollar 48 track studios, and even on todays technology still requires a hint of talent to recreate. the track is layered with rich vintage synth sounds, with multiple pads and lead lines weaving in and out of one another. It’s the vocal on Secrets that makes the track really shine, though. Not only is it lyrically a lot of fun, but the vocal performance is pitch perfect 80s Pop, right down to call-and-response backing vocals in the chorus. And the way the vocals play off against the sparking leads and bouncy post-Italo bassline make the song a fantastic slice of nostalgia. This is 80s Pop done properly.

♫ Only You – Secrets

Check out more from Only You on SoundCloud.

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Oct 12 2012

Queen Of Hearts’ ‘Warrior’

Queen Of Hearts is back with a brand new single, and that usually means we’ll be having a good weekend, and if we don’t at least we’ll have something to play on repeat. One again teaming up with Australian über producer Diamond Cut, the new track, Warrior, is quite a departure for both of them, DC especially, but it’s an experimentation that really works and makes for a nice hit of majesty in Queen Of hearts catalogue.

So, on Warrior, Diamond Cut brings the tribal and Queen Of hearts brings the drama. the result is a powerful, climactic five minutes. Introduced by a sparse piano line that rings, hunting, in the distance as the first signs of hammering percussion and a passionate vocal delivery from The Queen, who’s voice glides across the track like a siren’s call amidst the relentless arpeggios and militaristic pounding drums. The addition of edgy stings just heightens the cinematic feel of the track. We weren’t expecting something in this vein from The Queen’s next single, but it’s a pleasant surprise and merely extends her sonic pallet. We’ll be keeping en eye on that chunky guitar though (yes, we heard it DC!). Queen Of Hearts is off to the states for a handful of shows this week; you guys aren’t going to know what hit you!

♫ Queen Of Hearts – Warrior (Produced By Diamond Cut)

Queen Of Hearts’ Warrior is released on 2nd December.

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Oct 12 2012

Com Truise reMixes Sky Ferreira

American ex-ElectroPop waif turned “American singer, songwriter, model, and actress” (passable, but not really exceling at any one vocation) Sky Ferreira has a new EP out in November. The result of being tossed around from label to label, producer to producer, with no clear vision of her own, the Ghost EP, is the next chapter in her confusing, if occasionally musically pleasing, career. Of particular interest is the lead track, Red Lips and it’s workout by Brooklyn’s king of SynthWave, Mr. Com Truise.

Truise mixes in the Post-Punk guitar of the original with his own vintage synth sounds, which sometimes makes for unusual tones, but luckily doesn’t last long before descending into a full-on collision between the Sci-Fi sounds of Com Truise and the husky vocal of Ms. Ferreira. Com gets busy with rolling analog synth arpeggios and rapid fire and he drags Sky into his dark future world. It;s a strange combination, but one that end up working really well.

♫ Sky Ferreira – Red Lips (Com Truise reMix)

Sky Ferreira’s Ghost EP is released 16th November.

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Oct 10 2012

Goin’ Old School The KLF, S’Express & Bomb The Bass

Goin’ Old School isn’t a trip down music memory lane, it’s a mugging in the dark alleyway of nostalgia:

Some late ‘80’s UK dance today kicking off with the original 1989 version of 3:AM Eternal from The KLF.

And moving on to Mark Moore’s S’Express and the Acid Disco of Theme From S’Express from 1988.

Finally, Bomb The Bass with the ground-breaking Beat Dis from 1987 (The video features the US version of the track with the main sample changes for copyright reasons)

You can buy most of this music from:

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Oct 5 2012

Cassette Club drop EP of unreleased material

Cassette Club, one of London’s best Disco tinged ElectroPop acts, and one of the most underrated synth outfits in the country, have just released a free EP of unreleased and older material. Five tracks of some of the finest, most soulful electronic music around right now.

Some of this collection we’ve heard before, some is new to us, all of it sounds fresh as hell, despite the odd track being a few years old. We looked in on Talk to Me a few weeks ago, a slick DiscoPop number that serves as a addition to this EP which kicks off proper with Don’t Go, a resonate, smooth jam that immediately strikes as being head and shoulders above a good chunk of UK DiscoPop acts right now, an opinion only strengthened as the EP slides into the retro synth Funk of Living In A Video. Living In A Video is pure class late 80’s robotic R&B, ElectroPop with a powerful Disco injection, it could give Chromeo a run for their money. Number Seven has more of an 80’s Pop soul feel to it, with heavy synth overtones, like a meeting of The Human League and ABC with contemporary production. The EP plays out on Bodylights, a fantastic closer and probably the slickest groove on the EP, this is a one-hundred-percent late night jam. Silky smooth and Moog Funk fuelled , Bodylights will leave you wanting more. Cassette Club have just given you a full EP, for free, that beats most of what you have paid for this year, it;s all old stuff too, just imagine what a new album from them would be like. We can’t wait!

♫ Cassette Club – Living In A Video

♫ Cassette Club – Bodylights

You can download the whole Unreleased EP for free right here.

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Oct 5 2012

Russ Chimes reMixes Bastille

The sounds of London based ElelectroPopper Bastille are making some serious waves, majestic and dramatic, yet pretty introspective they are the perfect fit for this post-TEED world. However, things get really interesting when you add a little of Russ Chimes in the mix.

Flaws is Bastille’s signature tune, and it’s about to get re-released complete with reMix package. Headlining this is Mr. Chimes with a full-on Chicago House created from that dense production styles that we love about him so much. Rather than frantically throwing out whatever track they can knock together, every week, like most producers seem to have been bullied into doing these days, Chime’s tracks are few and far between. But you can see why, each tune is a labour of love, and obviously something that he has taken an immense amount of time and care over. The production alone, with so much going on, yet everything having room to breathe, must have taken ages. Let along the composition itself, a hyper House workout with an infectious bassline hook and complex intertwining melodies. just the right snatches of Bastille’s vocal have been used to give the track an anthemic quality. this one will be packing dancefloors for months to come.

♫ Bastille – Flaws (Russ Chimes reMix)

Flaws is out soon.

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Oct 5 2012

AlunaGeorge’s ‘Watching Over You’

It’s that time of year, that time when the one and only Annie Mac releases her yearly Presents compilation. 2012’s edition of the awesome collection will feature this exclusive track from electronic rumors faves, and Robo-R&B ElectroPoppers AlunaGeorge.

Watching Over You features exactly the kind of dreamy, glitchy beats and sultry vocals we’ve come to love from these two. The prefect laid back tune, George Reid bass heavy, shattered grooves always walks the fine line between tuneful R&B and glitchy experimental dance. Too far either way and it just wouldn’t work, but he manages to perfectly balance the eclectic and the melodic, while Aluna has exactly the right voice to compliment. Smooth and soulful enough to carry the weight of the tune, but quirky enough not to sound out of place amongst the blips and beeps. AlunaGeorge have found just the right recipe.

♫ AlunaGeorge – Watching Over You

Annie Mac Presents 2012 is released 8th October.

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Oct 4 2012

Little Boots covers Bronski Beat

When we got an email this morning, with the subject line declaring that Little Boots had covered a Bronski Beat track, a little voice in the back of my head was chanting ‘please be Hit That Perfect Beat, please be Hit That Perfect Beat’. It’s not. It’s Smalltown Boy. A bit more of an obvious choice, but no less exciting, and probably better suited to Victoria’s talents.

Because I have to say, right now, that Vicky sings Smalltown Boy better than Jimmy. That’s a terrible thing to say, I know, but it’s true. She completely makes this track her own, vocally, the track seems to have been written for her, and she really brings her A-game. Musically the track has been lifted into a huge ElectroPop missile aimed squarely at the dancefloor. Peppered with haunting piano, set amidst the Disco-House beats, this cover seems to miraculously play into all Little Boots strengths. Hit That Perfect Beat might not have, so things probably turned out for the best. If you missed it last week, here’s Boot’s reMix of Jupiter’s Juicy Lucy (Needs A Boogieman) too.

♫ Little Boots – Smalltown Boy (Bronski Beat cover)

Little Boots’ Smalltown Boy appears on Ministry Of Sound’s Uncovered Vol. 4, out now.

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Oct 4 2012

Strangers’ ‘Strangelove’ Mixtape

Strangers – Strangelove Mixtape = Fantastic London ElectroPop trio Stranger’s have put together a classic hour of golden SynthPop and Post-Punk drive with a sprinkling of Tropical Disco. Here’s what influenced the guys work and moves them right now.

♫ Strangers – Strangelove Mixtape

The tracklist:

01. The Rolling Stones – You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Intro.)
02. Crystal Castles (Feat. Robert Smith) – Not In Love
03. Depeche Mode – Enjoy The Silence
04. Alice Jemima – Safe/Pain (Strangers Cover)
05. The Cure – LullabyBuy
06. Azealia Banks – Slow Hands (Interpol Cover)
07. Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
08. Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream
09. Friendly Fires – Paris (Aeroplane reMix)
10. Michael Jackson – Billy Jean
11. David Bowie – Heroes

Strengers’ Safe/Pain single is out now.

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