Jan 20 2012

Empire State Human’s new single

Empire State Human

Ireland’s Empire State Human (incidentally, the first act we interviewed on electronic rumors, all those years ago!) has released a brand new single this month, ‘December Rose’.

A beautiful, deep electronic ballad-with-a-beat, ‘December Rose’ not only features Aidan Casserly’s Kraftwerk inspired machine synthesizer patterns but some huge cinematic chord work that life the track into the relms of epic. Add to that a lilting, almost ‘90’s beach House, saxophone and you have an evocative slice of laid back SynthPop.

♫ Empire State Human – December Rose

‘December Rose’ is out now and taken from

Buy Empire State Human’s music from the forthcoming album, ‘The Art’, both on new label House Of Analouge.

Follow @electronicrumor

Jan 17 2012

Sébastien Tellier’s ‘Pépito Bleu’ video

Here is it! The full video for Sébastien Tellier long, long awaited new single ‘Pépito Bleu’, taken from his also long, long awaited forthcoming album ‘My God Is Blue’.

The track is pure Tellier SynthPop quirk and drama. Majestic and ridiculous and amazing. As for the Sanghon Kim & Mathieu Tonetti directed vide, well, just watch…

‘My God Is Blue’ is out soon on Record Makers.

Buy Sébastien Tellier’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Jan 17 2012

Goin’ Old School: Hashim, Wish Key & Depeche Mode

Kicking off with one of my all time favourite tracks Hashim’s ‘Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)’ from 1983. Often imitated, never bested. Such an influence.

Wish Key’s ‘Orient Express’ also from 1983. Italo, ElectroPop, Euro gold.

From 1981, Depeche Mode’s ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’. The track that started it all. No matter how many adverts you’ve heard it in the original is still awesome.

You can buy most of this music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Jan 16 2012

New Order edited by Mirror People

New Order

New Order’s ‘5 8 6 ’, form 1983, was a prime example of the bands early experiments with synths being at the forefront of their music. Having just discovered Disco many of the tracks on the ‘Power, Corruption & Lies’ album have a dance groove, but not all of them would stand up on todays dancefloors, including ‘5 8 6’…Mirror People thought he’d see to that.

Mirror People’s edit of ‘5 8 6’ gives the track a new burst of raw energy. Emphasising the kick and some of the synths, and adding a few stabs here and there, the changes are quite subtle, but make all the difference in the mix.

♫ New Order – 5 8 6 (Mirror People Edit)

‘5 8 6’ is taken from New Order’s 1983 album, ‘Power, Corruption & Lies’.

Buy New Order’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Jan 13 2012

Austra’s ‘Spellwork’ video

Here’s the long awaited video for Austra’s ‘Spellwork’.

I’m sure there’s probably something coherent going on in this Yelena Yemchuk directed clip, I think It’ll take a couple more watches to get though.

Buy Austra’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Jan 13 2012

RAC reMix Depeche Mode

DepecheMode

OK, so, Depeche Mode reMixes, particularly reMixes of ‘Enjoy The Silence’ are usually a sore point for us. ‘Silence’, as well as being one of the greatest songs ever written, is also one of the most reMixed and covered, and 99.9999% of the are shit. There’s barely a handful of reMixes of the track that are any good and only two covers that I can recall. So it’s actually high praise indeed when I say RAC’s rework of the tune doesn’t make me want to be violently ill.

RAC’s version has got a nice Disco groove going on. I’m not overly convinced by the horns but they do grow on you. With the synth bass and live feel to the drums they are on to a winner though. Is it better than the original? No, of course it isn’t. But it’s better than most reMixes out there.

♫ Depeche Mode – Enjoy The Silence (RAC Mix)

Buy Depeche Mode’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Jan 11 2012

Lola Dutronic covers Suicide’s ‘Keep Your Dreams’

I suppose if there was any of New York’s original ElectroPunks Suicide’s back catalogue that international Lounge SynthPopsters Lola Dutronic could cover it would be ‘Keep Your Dreams’.

LD’s version is a floaty Parisian Pop that sounds classy as always.

‘Keep Your Dreams’ is taken from the ‘New York Stories’ EP, out now.

Buy Lola Dutronic’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Dec 29 2011

The electronic rumors Awards: BEST SONG – electronic rumors’ top 20 songs of 2011!!!

2011 Best Song

So here we are.

After a year when the current wave of ElectroPop, Nu-Disco, SynthWave, Nu-Italo and Dreamwave all seemed to find a maturity, seemed to suddenly become a lot more confortable with themselves and their groove, we find ourselves with a nearly impossible job for picking the top twenty songs of the year, and a winner.

To those we missed, or forgot, we’re sorry. We’ll be beating ourselves up about it for weeks to come as some awesome track from January slides back into our brain, but it’s time to stop worrying and just go for it. So here it is.

And our top song of the year comes from She’s The Queen, it’s the lead track on their self-titled début EP and it’s one of the slickest ElectroPop tracks you’ll ever hear. Because, over the year just gone, I have grown to call She’s The Queen’s Drew and Emily friends I actively tried not to place them in the top spot. So concerned was I about bias that I sought out tracks that had more of an impact on me in 2011, anything that could reaffirm my sense of integrity and make me not give the number one place to mates. But I just couldn’t. Whether friends or not, there is no two ways about it, ‘Waiting Game’ is the track I have rocked to the most this year, the track I have been most impressed with, the track that is, without doubt, electronic rumors’ Best Song of 2011.

electronic rumors’ best song: 2011

01: She’s The Queen – Waiting Game

♫ She’s The Queen – Waiting Game

…and the rest of the list:

02: Vanbot – Make Me, Break Me

♫ Vanbot – Make Me, Break Me

03: M83 – Midnight City

♫ M83 – Midnight City

04: Cordova – Paradigm

♫ Cordova – Paradigm

05: MiGHty mOUse – Between The Pavement And The Stars

♫ MiGHty mOUse – Between The Pavement And The Stars

06: Queen Of Hearts – Shoot The Bullet

♫ Queen Of Hearts – Shoot The Bullet

07: Holy Ghost! – Wait & See

♫ Holy Ghost! – Wait & See

08: Ronika – Wiyoo

♫ Ronika – Wiyoo

09: The Magician (Feat. Jeppe) – I Don’t Know What To Do

♫ The Magician (Feat. Jeppe) – I Don’t Know What To Do

10: Monsieur Adi – Fire Fire Fire

♫ Monsieur Adi – Fire Fire Fire

11: Electric Youth – Coming Right Back To You

♫ Electric Youth – Coming Right Back To You

12: Peter & The Magician – Twist

♫ Peter & The Magician – Twist

13: Jordan F – Definitely Miami

♫ Jordan F – Definitely Miami

14: Short Circuit – How We Speak

♫ Short Circuit – How We Speak

15: Clancy – Panther

♫ Clancy – Panther

16: Substatic – Gold

♫ Substatic – Gold

17: LIGHTS – Toes

♫ LIGHTS – Toes

18: Bright Light Bright Light – Disco Moment

♫ Bright Light Bright Light – Disco Moment

19: Justice (Feat. Ali Love) – Civilisation

♫ Justice (Feat. Ali Love) – Civilisation

20: Xeno & Oaklander – The Staircase

♫ Xeno & Oaklander – The Staircase

As always, you should definitely pick up some of these songs, they are all highly recommended and most can be purchased here:

Follow @electronicrumor

Dec 29 2011

The electronic rumors Awards: HALL OF FAME – electronic rumors’ Hall Of Fame inductee 2011!!!

2011Hall Of Fame

This was a no-brainer really. Last year’s entry into our Hall Of Fame was a toss-up between Kraftwerk (who ended up being entered) and this band. The band that practically invented SynthPop and in their decades long career have never once wavered from the path of electronic Pop music.

If you are at all into synthesizer music with a Pop edge then everything you listen to owes a debt to The Human League. Sure, the building blocks were being put in place by numerous musical movements in Europe (including The League’s own electronic experimentalism as part of the late ‘70’s scene in Sheffield, from the moment founders Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh recruited Philip Oakey to sing over their avant-garde soundscapes) but it took the disassembling of The Human League Mk1, the inclusion of the schoolgirls Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall, and a new band with the legendary Martin Rushent on production to allow all the pieces of the SynthPop puzzle to fall into place and one of the greatest albums of all time, ‘Dare!’ to be released. I consider ‘Dare!’ to be the first proper, and deliberate, SynthPop record made. Oh, I know there was music that came in the couple of years before, but it all had airs and graces of being something else. Whether Gary Numan’s happy fluke, John Foxx’s dark avant-garde, or Ultravox trying something new, they were, although creating awesome music, just finding their footing. The Human League were a proper SynthPop band. Unashamedly synth. Unashamedly Pop .

And Phil, with Susan and Joanne ever at his side, has never lost sight of what he wanted to make. Electronic Pop music. Moving with the times through the late ‘80’s Electro Soul of the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced ‘Crash’, the Mid-‘90’s Pop-Trance of ‘Octopus’, to the current Electro sound of ‘Credo’ (on Wall Of Sound), The Human League have, while their early ‘80’s contemporaries morphed into AOR acts, always produced fresh electronic music. Their latest offerings roping in the likes of Aeroplane and Plastic Plates for reMix duties, another indication of the band’s continued relevance.

The music and career of The Human League inspire everything music related I do, most importantly this website. As far as I’m concerned that are the godfathers, the royal family, the Mr. Miyagis and the Yodas of ElectroPop, and deserve their place, no question, in the Hall Of Fame.

the human league

♫ The Human League – Love Action (I Believe In Love)

♫ The Human League – Empire State Human

♫ The Human League – Human

Buy The Human League’s music from:

Follow @electronicrumor

Dec 29 2011

The electronic rumors Awards: BEST ALBUM – electronic rumors’ top 20 albums of 2011!!!

2011Best Album

With fewer and fewer albums being released in favour of more cost-effective EPs and singles the Best Album category becomes harder and harder to preside over, luckily for us there were some choice cuts this year and some amazing records dropped.

The winner was very nearly going to be Mitch Murder‘s recently released ‘Current Events’. Which, to my mind, is the best SynthWave/Outrun/Dreamwave album ever made. However, the album that has kept us constantly rocking this year has to be Holy Ghost!’s self-titled début. Although I had loved the previous singles I really didn’t expect the album to be this damn good throughout, it was fresh, well written, and sounded like nothing else. It’s a record that is crammed full of potential singles and does an seriously good job of mixing up ElectroPop and New York Disco with a hint of Indie-Electro to make something that appeals to Indie Kids, SynthPopsters and Disco Heads alike.

electronic rumors’ best album: 2011

01: Holy Ghost! – Holy Ghost! (DFA)