Oct 4 2012

Little Boots covers Bronski Beat

little-boots

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.

Buy Little Boots’ music from:

Oct 4 2012

The Sweeps’ ‘Optimistic Melancholic’

The Sweeps

Emerald & Doreen are fast becoming the name to keep an eye of for retro ElectroPop and classic sounding Italo tracks. The newest addition to their catalogue is the new single from German Italo purists The Sweeps. Optimistic Melancholic comes crammed with reMixes from some of the hottest names, past and present and a Sci-Fi groove for every occasion.

Optimistic Melancholic is a brooding ElectroPop track, pitch perfect for a circa 1984 sound, that balances mysterious,  a vintage Disco beat and bassline, and duelling male and female vocals. A galactic Italo track, full of futuristic promise and nostalgic grooves, Optimistic Melancholic is retro Pop at it’s finest. The EP’s line-up of reMix talent is just as impressive. Italo godfather Flemming Dalum delivers a pacey, arpeggiator loaded mix that morphs the tune into a Moroder-dancefloor gem that guaranteed to hold the interest of all who hear it. It keeps the mood of the song, whilst raising the energy levels, making it ripe for any DJ set. Russian SynthWave up-and-comers Hot Hot Hawk take the track to deep, pulsating, retro soundtrack territory. Juggernaut basslines on rapid fire are tempered with shimmering synths and the original’s gentle vocal to create an exciting electronic opus. Elsewhere on the single you’ll fine work from  Go Nogo and Thomas Barrandon, Optimistic Melancholic as a whole is a quality electronic release, and goes to proove why emerald & Doreen are really delivering something exciting for fans of synthesizer music.

♫ The Sweeps – Optimistic Melancholic (Original 12 Inch Extended Version)

♫ The Sweeps – Optimistic Melancholic (Flemming Dalum reMix)

♫ The Sweeps – Optimistic Melancholic (Hot Hot Hawk reMix)

The Sweeps’ Optimistic Melancholic is out now.

Buy The Sweeps’ music from:

     

Oct 4 2012

Pati Yang’s ‘Hold Your Horses’ video

Pati Yang’s Hold Your Horses has finally got itself a video, the Scandinavian tinged Indie-ElectroPop track gets some suitably stark visuals.

It’s quite a typically Indie video, but luckily works well in this instance.

Hold Your Horses is out now.

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Oct 4 2012

Aeroplane reMixes Kimbra

kimbra

We’ve been supporting out second favourite voice from New Zeland, Kimbra, since day one, well, since her dodgy MySpace page anyway. So it was pretty satisfying this year when she blew up and scored a worldwide number one record in the form of Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know, even if we never want to hear that song ever again. We would have preferred Settle Down or Cameo Lover to have blown up, but he can have our fingers crossed her album Vows, will see a new level of awareness with a forthcoming reMix campaign, including this reMix of Two Way Street by non other than Aeroplane.

Well, what can you expect is going to happen here?, Two Way Street is a cool track, so give it to someone like Vito and magic is going to happen. This track is tight as hell, Aeroplane suitably teases the signatures of the track into a Housey Disco tune. Not too in-your-face, the reMix feels completely at ease with the vocal, folding a relaxed Disco beat and familiar, warm, synths into a huge chunk of chilled vocal gorgeousness.

♫ Kimbra – Two Way Street (Aeroplane reMix)

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Oct 4 2012

Strangers’ ‘Strangelove’ Mixtape

strangers_thumb

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.

Buy Strangers’ music from:

Oct 4 2012

Goin’ Old School: Electronic, Mantronix & Electribe 101

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

From 1989, Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr’s Electronic project, here’s featruing Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant with Getting Away With It….

Pretty much Mantronix’s best tune, 1987’s Who Is It? Here on The Tube, as there’s no video.

Here’s Electribe 101 & Bille Ray Martin’s 1988 début, Talking With Myself.

You can buy most of this  music from:

 

Oct 4 2012

NTEIBINT’s ‘Time’ EP

NTEIBINT

NTEIBINT’s Time EP, released late last month on Kitsuné Music, is the prefect call-back to the 2007/08 glory days of the pioneering French label. It;s that very specific mixture of organic Disco grooves, Indie-Electro sensibilities and Electro-House noise. This track could have quite easily been on Maison 3!

Time combines all those elements into one rolling French Electro tune that has got an instant classic feel to it, the EP comes loaded with reMixes from the likes of The Subs and Fabrizio Mommarella, and this edit from Kirsuné head honcho Gildas, who serves up the kind of dancefloor interpretation you’d expect. Increasing the ‘pump’ factor by 11, Gildas strips the track down to it’s body moving essentials and shines a spotlight (via a mirrorball) right on them, taking the track more in the Electro-House direction, Gildas doesn’t loose the Disco feel, but cranks up the un-ignorable hook until you are in it;s thrall.

♫ NTEIBINT – Time (Gildas Edit)

NTEIBINT’s Time is out now.

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Oct 2 2012

Future Screens

Future Screens

Future Screens are a Indie flavoured SynthPop outfit from Brooklyn (where else?) who don’t have many track out just yet, but the work they have made public shows a rich pallet of styles and a knack for catchy riffs and emotional tunes.

Here’s two of their best. Don’t Stop is very Brooklyn. It’s got that post-Chillwave combination of the raucous and raw, synth music done live, and hazy, introspective vocal delivery. Future Screens grasp this sound and hit the ground running, Don’t Stop would rock and Indie dancefloor with it’s raw drums and synth bass playing against an infectious melody and husky vocals. All My Daydreams has more of an Indie cool to it, as opposed to Don’t Stop’s jump up IndiePop. It’s a lush, electronic, wall of sound as a buzzing bassline and shuffling beat power the track along while reverby vocals and tides of synths crash against the track like waves. Future Screens are definitely a band we’ll be keeping an eye on in future.

♫ Future Screens – Don’t Stop

♫ Future Screens – All My Daydreams

Check out more from Future Screens on SoundCloud.

Oct 2 2012

HiFi Brown’s ‘My Own Nothing’

HiFi Brown

HiFi Brown is a German producer with a leaning toward big bassy Boogie and buzzing analog synths. He just released his début album, Cancer, which you can get a taste of right here with the lead track, My Own Nothing.

My Own Nothing is a deep grooved Disco monster. Equal parts Cosmic and Urban Boogie, My Own Nothing slinks along powered by an infectious bassline, repetitive and hypnotic, the bassline draws you into the track where you are treated to space-age, shimmering, synths flying left and right. HiFi Brown cuts right to the heard of the Funk and distils groove down to it’s purest form, ready to move your body and mind.

♫ HiFi Brown – My Own Nothing

HiFi Brown’s Cancer is out now.

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Oct 2 2012

Ren Riz’s ‘Goodbye’

ren-riz

Here’s a nice mid-week pick-you-up from one of Australia’s most underrated producers, Mr. Ren Riz. Long-time staple on these pages, Ren always delivers pounding Electro tracks that seems to have more soul than many of his contemporaries.

Goodbye is no exception, it’s a smooth mixture between solid dancefloor drums and quite laid back, emotional music. The track is based on the gradual build and layering of rich, warm synths and pulsating electronic bass with echoing snippets of processed vocals set amidst them. Around the four minute mark that building reaches it’s climax as the beat drops and powerful leads kick in, raising the energy of the track, but keeping the reflective mood going.

♫ Ren Riz – Goodbye

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