Is there anything better than the sound of an electric piano? Especially on the long summer nights. Good job then, here’s French ElectroPop sensation Jupiter performing their hit of last year, Saké on a Rhodes Mk. I. Everyone loves a Rhodes!
Jupiter’s début album ‘Juicy Lucy’ is out now, read out review here.
LA based boutique Electro label Opus Label are staying true to their word and releasing the next in their ‘Opus Label’ compilation series just a couple of months after the first. ‘Opus Label Two’ continues in their new tradition of delivering well thought out collections of some of the past few years best Indie-Electro, ElectroPop and Nu-Disco.
The line up for the new record is pretty stellar. More than a few electronic rumors alumni feature amongst the twelve tracks, including The Tapeaters’s awesome last single ‘Echo’, Metronomy’s ‘The Look’, Gypsy And the Cat’s modern Indie-Electro classic Jona Vark’, Jensen Sportag’s Everything Good’, The Whip’s comeback single, ‘Movement’, Jean Tonique reMix of Chateaubriand and Destronics’ ‘The Sunset’, Amtrac’s ‘Distant Heartbreak’, Opus head honchos Miguel Angel Jiménez and Jeremy Wineberg have done an amazing job curating this collection. There’s a definite summer vibe throughout with some of the chilled tunes from the last couple of years featured. As with ‘Opus Label One’ the package comes with a booklet featuring the work of a particular photographer, in the case of ‘Opus Label Two’ it’s Frenchman Yougo Jeberg who contributes his style to the packaging.
letthemusicplay are back, once again teaming up with Cardiff’s Until The Ribbon Breaks. The duo have released a new single, so soon after their ‘All I can Give You’ single. Only this time their new record is absolutely free. Check out ‘Don’t Weigh Me Down’ and it’s reMix.
We suspect that letthemusicplay are preparing themselves for festival season with these big, anthemic, hypnotic tracks. Acid riffs pile on high in a track that builds and builds while UTRB mantra floats repetitively on top, in a particularity Underworld-esque way. It’s a track to completely loose yourself in, both forward thinking and quite classic sounding, and one to drop when you’ve got the crowd nice and lubed up. letthemusicplay themselves have supplied the reMix, which brings a healthy dose of warp bass to the table. Both cut are very solid slices of classic Dance that can be fit in anywhere, but preferable in a field at 4am. Oh, and FYI, we couldn’t give a fuck who they are.
Dutch Disco guru Auxiliary Tha Masterfader is getting his not inconsiderable skills on again with a brand new reMix for Berlin based ElectroPop outfit UhOh. The track is an awesome combination of Sweet European SynthPop and Aux’s big retro grooves.
Aux’s mix of ‘Ride On’ bounces along as he gets to express his ElectroPop side. Less Disco than we’re used to from his work, the track still keeps that vintage Funk under all the think layers of lush synths. It’s a pretty cosmic track, from both UhOh’s floaty vocals to Aux’s Sci-Fi arpeggios, the lyrics, though, at all a bit watery. There’s boats and treasure and mermaids and stuff all up in there, not really sure what’s going on, but both UhOh and Aux have delivered a fantastic DiscoPop track that warrants many, many listens.
Mitch Murder, the master of all things SynthWave, dropped a new EP over the weekend. The amount of new material Mitch is treating us to is amazing, and all of is literally blows the cometition out of the water. The ‘MARS’ EP is Mitch Murder on fine soundtrack form. Hold on to your space boots, we’re in for a wild electronic Sc-Fi ride.
The ‘MARS’ EP is somewhat Mitch Murder’s tribute to the artist and designer of the future Mœbius, who passed away recently. A red planet themed journey through science fiction soundscapes in that way only Mitch Murder can. The man’s skill with a synthesizer is only matched by his production chops. ‘The Deimos Incident’ is good indicator of what the EP holds, it’s a moody atmospheric peice, ominous like the planet itself but shot through with the optimism of exploration. Mitch has totally nailed the reflective ‘80’s drums and dreamlike synths. ‘Valles Marineris Pursuit’ is a twisting, sparkling slice of synthesizer gold, much like it’s EP companion ‘Phobos Gun Run’ which we featured previously, it;s got a strong Vince DiCola flavour realty capturing the ‘80’s futuristic mood with it’s lush stabs and winding melodies. We can’t really stress enough how Mitch Murder is the cream of the Synthwave crop. Flawless production & musicianship to such a high level he leaves others in his dust. Go pick up this EP right now if you are at all into electronic music.
You can head over here for our waffle about Moonlight Matters and Gustraph’s new single, ‘Come For Me’. It’s a massive Pop track, with that twanging late ‘80’s digital bass and orchestral hits we love so much. The single is out today on Kitsuné Music, but if you’re just gagging to hear the reMix from London’s Punks Jump Up, well, you’re in luck aren’t you.
Punks Jump Up keep in touch with the late ‘80’s Pop ethos of the track but deconstruct the tune and reconstruct it in their own image. Awash with Electro Boogie, the reMix is a sweet mixture of House beats and B-Boy basslines. Punks Jump Up has also kept on working the orchestral hits, well, who wouldn’t? That would be just crazy. In keeping with the late ‘80’s vibe they’ve also added a little of their Acid tendencies with a burbling 303 hook running underneath that comes into it’s own on the big breakdown. As far as the reMixes go on the single, it’s definitely our favourite, a great addition to the package.
♫ Moonlight Matters (Feat. Gustraph) – Come For Me (Punks Jump Up Freestyle Mix)
Moonlight Matters’ ‘Come To Me’ EP is out now, with the Punks jump up reMix an iTunes exclusive.
The new single from LA Duo Poolside, ‘Slow Down’, is a laid back, dreamy, summer Dreamwave jam that just let you know not to worry, everything’s gonna’ be alright.
The video is suitably play into the Downtempo Disco groove with a surreal and carefree pool party directed by Shahana Khan.
Poolside’s new album, ‘Pacific Standard Time’, is out 9th July.
There’s always something pretty special about homebrew Synthesizers. there a love to them you don;t always find with mass produced kit.
That this instance, Paul Maddox heads up Vaco Loco, makers of unique electronic music devices and he’s a massive SynthWave and ‘80’s fan, so you know he builds kit he want’s to use. He’s just produced the Zira MonoSynth which currently uses the LowPass filter from the Korg Poly 800. It’s a dual digital oscillator, analog filter synth for a nice 80’s sound. Check out the demonstration video for a good overview of how this tiny beast sounds.
The Zira runs down as follows:
* Two oscillators, each with 48 wave forms, a sub oscillator and hard sync.
* Analogue LowPass 24dB/Oct filter. Zira uses the NJM2069AD (New old
Stock) chip found in the Korg Poly 800, DW6000, DW8000 and DSS-1 to
give a stunning warm and rich filter sound.
* The VCA is part of the NJM2069AD and is a low noise, high quality VCA.
* Two ADSRs, one for the VCF and one for the VCA.
* LFO with 4 waveforms, with delay, single shot mode and four routing
destinations.
* All parameters editable via MIDI CC.
* 64 Patch memories.
And if you want to know how the Zira sounds in the mix, here’s Depeche Mode’s ‘See You’, all on the Zira (save for the drums).
The Zira is £250 (assembled and in it’s case. So if you’re looking for an interesting new synth, and like supporting new synth makers, then Zira is definitely worth checking out.
So, you may be enjoying the new single from Hervé, ‘How Can I Live Without You? (Make It Right)’, featuring out girl, Madonna Of The Midlands™, Ronika. You may be enjoying it’s bass heave old school Rave vibe. But what if it’s just not bass heavy enough for you, if such a thing is even possible? Well, don’t worry yourself, Hervé has got you covered. The reMixes turn the bass heaviness up to 11.
Hervé sometime partner in crime Sinden is up first with a stomping tribal Rave mix that drops you into a deep hypnotic groove before smacking you in the face with that massive riff. Hervé, in his Death Rose Cult alter-ego, drops a truly massive reMix that straddles the line between rave and Dubstep by layering buzzsaw rough synth over a pumping beat. This is the one that’s gonna’ rip your face off on the dancefloor. Detboi serves up a future Garage mix complete with shuffling beats and warp bassline, not heard a full on Garage track in quite a while, Detboi delivers it flawlessly. These guys really need to stop being greedy with the bass or there will be no bass left for anyone else!
♫ Hervé (Feat. Ronika) – How Can I Live Without You? (Make It Right) (Make It Right) (Sinden reMix)