Lifelike’s June mixtape

lifelike

Lifelike – Mixtape June 2012 = Here’s French Touch legend Lifelike’s latest mixtape. it’s full of filtered summery grooves, which is perfect timing seeing as (here in the UK) it has finally stopped raining. Bring on the sun!

Lifelike – Mixtape June 2012

The tracklist:

01. Pitchben – Soda (Lorenz Rode reMix)
02. Pitchben – Stand Up (Tiger & Woods reMix)
03. Scandal – Just Let Me Dance (Maxxi Soundsystem reMix)
04. Kris Menace & The Kiki Twins – We Are (PWNTIAC reMix)
05. Dionigi – Italo Girls 80 (Original Mix)
06. Sébastien Tellier – Cochon Ville (The Magician reMix)
07. Cabaret Voltaire – Easy Life (Original 1990 Mix).
08. Mason – The Kickoff (Original mix)
09. Brazen – Wishing Heart (Fonzerelli Big Hair reMix)
10. Van She – Idea Of Happiness (SebastiAn reMix)
11. Mr. Gonzo – Dance On You (Tagteam Terror reMix)
12. Mickey & Monarchy – Love For Sale (Safari reMix)
13. Popular Computer – Popheart (Lifelike reMix)
14. Bonar Bradberry – Loose Grip (Original Mix)
15. Sébastien Tellier – Cochon Ville (Original Mix)

Lifelike & Popular Computer’s ‘Getting High’ is out now.

Buy Lifelike’s music from:

Breakbot & Oliver

breakbot

We all got hold of the surprising B-side to French groover Breakbot’s new single a while back. Now we can check out the singles lead track which sees Breakbot back together with Irfane and sounding a bit more like the Breakbot we all know and love.

‘One Out Of Two’ is a gorgeous slice of late ‘70’s synthesizer Funk which, like the B-Side, Programme’ sees Breakbot working some interesting instrumentation into his tracks. It’s some seriously smooth, lazy Disco with a uplifting catchy chorus. Also it sounds like a wacky late ‘70’s sitcom theme. The standout of the single is easily the reMix from LA Oliver themed duo Oliver, who consistently blow us away with each new track. Here they bring a sexy late night vibe to the track with that mix of Disco and Dreamwave that Oliver do best. Wicked Disco licks and strings sit next to bouncy retro synths as Oliver work the vocal and make it even more catchy than the original.

♫ Breakbot (Feat. Irfane) – One Out Of Two (Oliver reMix)

♫ Breakbot (Feat. Irfane) – One Out Of Two

‘One Out Of Two’ is out today.

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TobTok drops in on Fear Of Tiger’s ‘The Guestlist’ this week

Tiger

Fear Of Tigers – The Guestlist 15/06/2012 = Swedish producer TobTok stops by ‘The Guestlist’ while Fear Of Tigers unleashes a particularly House and Disco driven collection of classics and new cuts. Have a good weekend!

Fear Of Tigers – The Guestlist 15/06/2012

Buy Fear Of Tigers’ music from:

Arc Neon

Arc Neon

Arc Neon is a relatively new UK producer who was previously part of London based Indie-Electro four peice Wolf And Yeti. With a new name and a new sound Arc Neon promises to deliver socially charged SynthWave with a melodic edge.

Arc Neon isn’t the first SynthWave artist to use ‘80’s news report samples for the basis for a track, but they way he does it certainly blends better than most. Running throughout ‘Beyond Our Control’ is an unsettling recap of some of the major disasters, both natural and man-made, that plagued North America and The World during the ‘80’s, this narrative both sits in a musically subtle place and adds an air of nervous tension to the track. This allows Arc Neon’s lush retro synths and attention to the importance of hooks and melody to shine, the melancholic rhythm section contracting with lead line full of optimism and the samples lending import to the whole track. Well be keeping out eye on Arc Neon in the future, he’s got an EP out soon.

♫ Arc Neon – Beyond Our Control

Arc Neon’s EP is out soon of Future City Records.

Check out more from Arc Neon on SoundCloud.

Ace Attack’s ‘reMixes’ EP

Ace Attack

We haven’t really heard from French producer Ace Attack in quite a while, but he’s just released a new EP, for free no less. And it just goes to prove that the man hasn’t been sitting on his laurels, he’s obviously been busy down in the studio and now it;s time for him to, as it says on the tin, come out of hiding.

The EP is basically a collection of reMixes, two of the tracks are billed as originals, but are based so strongly on existing tracks they might as well be reMixes too, in fact the EP is called ‘Ace Attack reMixes’. The lead track on the EP is ‘Out Of Hiding’, which is based on, or a reMix of, Pamela Stanley’s Italo/Hi-NRG classic ‘Coming Out Of Hiding’ from 1983. Ace Attack brings the track right up to date but keeps the retro flavour of the track. It’s a really good choice of vocal to use, realty period sounding and Ace Attacks works them for every drop of Italo goodness. While not actually doing much to the original track, Ace Attack certainly make it more friendly to contemporary dancefloors. The rest of the EP continues updating classic tracks, sometimes subtly in the case of ‘Running Back to You’, sometimes getting a complete makeover in the case of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’. Renaming reMixes as original tracks is a bit weird, but you can’t fault the music, top quality retro Electro & Disco. Pick up the EP and find out.

♫ Ace Attack – Out Of Hiding

♫ Ace Attack – Running Back To You

♫ Ace Attack – Thriller Show

You can download Ace Attack’s new EP for free here.

Check out more from Ace Attack on SoundCloud.

Starcadian

Earlier in the week, after his stunning Touch Tone reMix, we promised you a more in depth look at Brooklyn based producer Starcadian. And, now is as good a time as any, with the recent release of his new video making some waves. The track is called ‘Heˆrt’ and it’s a perfect example of Sarcadian’s lush retro synth work. Combining both the groovy and the emotional, his laid back beat and electric piano lament underpin a subtly vocoded galactic love song. Here we have a jaw-droppingly good mixture of SynthWave and Disco that has been pulled back into a ballad that really highlight Starcadian;s talents ad both songwriter and musician. The video too has been getting a bit of attention, and ‘80’as Sci-Fi extravaganza. Reminiscant of post-Star Wars straight-to-video movies, the clip captures the loneliness of deep space and melds with the tune as if they were always meant to be.

Hopefully, that’s whetted your appetite, for more Starcadian. And it should, the rest is just as good. Borrowing heavily fro ‘80’s movie soundtracks, Starcadian sets himself apart from the a lot of the SynthWave crowd in a few ways. His a lot more skilled in the Disco end of things, and he tends to be a lot more ‘song’ oriented. Take ‘Girls At Midnight’ what begins at the most haunting of VHS horror soundtracks effortlessly becomes one of the best Nu-Disco tinged ElectroPop tracks I’ve heard for a while, with some frantic playing in the crescendo. ‘Ronnie’ brings the vocoder back into focus for a slick slice of DiscoPop, whist keeping that retro SynthWave feel and injecting an added bit of Funk in the form of some jazzy electric piano before going all out of a seriously stratospheric synth solo. ‘Firat Kill’ sees a different side to Starcadian, for want of a better word is a full on Disco-House banger loaded with mashed up acapellas in ways that make them sound they should have always been there.

♫ Starcadian – Girls Of Midnight

♫ Starcadian – Ronnie

♫ Starcadian – First Kill

I seriously can’t recommend Starcadian enough.

Starcadian’s singles are out now.

Buy Starcadian’s music from:

Freak You reMixes Touch Tone

touch-tone

The world of the producer is very much like the cruellest corners of the animal kingdom. Producers stalk the plains, solitary and silent, hunting for stems. Occasionally stopping to sniff the air in the hope of catching the scent of an acapella vocal. A producer must work with stems at least once every two weeks to survive, in times of drought competition can be fierce, and when a new herd of stems is noticed many producers can fall upon it in a feeding frenzy. Actually, in the case of Touch Tone’s Home Away From Home’ we can see why, the vocal is spectacularly epic, it must be hard for a producer to resist the temptation.

On The Fruit Records main man Freak You, just couldn’t resist. And for that we are glad. He turns in this wonderful, lush, ‘90’s House mix complete with 909 drums, piano hook and and a piercing square wave lead that just screams ‘90’s Dance Pop. More than anything Freak You’s reMix is fun fun fun and conjures up the best of times dancing your ass off in the ‘90’s. Freak You;’s reMix will keep a smile on my face all day!

♫ Touch Tone – Home Away From Home (Freak You ‘DJ Tool’ reMix)

Touch Tone’s ‘Home Away From Home’ is out now on Binary.

Buy Touch Tone’s music from:

Touch Tone reMixed by Starcadian

touch-tone

I must be so predictable, hehe. Touch Tone dropped me an email introducing me to Brooklyn producer Starcadian who has just reMixed his new single ‘Home away From Home’, he said he thought Starcadian was right up my street, both musically and aesthetically, Sweet Raptor Jesus was he ever right.

I don’t want to to talk too much about Starcadian specifically right now, I’ve already decided he gets an article to himself later in the week, but let’s just easy you into the Starcadian groove with the aforementioned reMix.His reMix of ‘Home Away From Home’ is pretty much a melting pot of everything we think is awesome. It is, at it’s core, SynthWave, epic retro soundtrack stuff, but with more of a gritty vibe, a more (dare I say it, Brooklyn?) Lo-Fi productions style that accentuates the vintage sound and give the music warmth. It’s also got a bit more Funk than your average SynthWave with a dirty Moog tone to it. The end result is a danceable, dreamy electronic space-Disco odyssey. So, to recap; SynthWave, Lo-Fi grit, Moog Funk plus Touch Tone’s amazing, anthemic, song. I never stood a chance.

Touch Tone – Home Away From Home (Starcadian reMix)

Touch Tone’s ‘Home Away From Home’ is out now on Binary. We’ll be featuring more from Starcadian later in the week.

Buy Touch Tone’s music from:

Kavinsky & Tommy

Kavinsky

Despite a resurgence of interest in it after it’s prominence on the ‘Drive ‘soundtrack, Kavinsky’s ‘Nightcall’ is getting on a bit now, so I have to ask, “do we really need any more remixes of it, especially as when it was first released there was a remix competition?” Well SynthWave producer Tommy has answered that question, and surprisingly the answer is “yes!”.

The German SynthWave genius has created possibly the most beautiful reMix of this track we have ever heard. Subtly changing the lead riff and the progression in ways that, at times, make it feel like a brand new song. “A new lease of life” is a phrase that gets thrown around by people talking about reMixes all too often to the point where it becomes meaningless, but Tommy really does give ‘Nightcall’ a new lease of life. The track becomes slightly more uplifting musically, whist retaining the mid-tempo groove, a lot of the originals darkness is replaced with a more optimistic set of chords, which in turn seems to lift the amazing Lovefoxxx‘s vocals to an altogether poppier place. This track is the dawn to Kavinsky’s midnight.

Kavinsky (Feat. Lovefoxxx From CSS) – Nightcall (Tommy reMix)

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New single from Aminova

Aminova

It’s been ages since we last wrote about Cardiff based SynthWave producer Aminova, so with the release of his new double A-side single, ‘Body Double’/’Party Cops’ we thought now was the prefect time to revisit one of the UK’s most underrated producers.

‘Body Double’ is a piercing, driving slice of classic SynthWave. Drawing from both the Outrun and Italo end of things, Aminova crafts a tune that is both full of urgent dancefloor energy and rousing, emotional melodies. The way the lead lines switch from staccato riffs to rushing arpeggios and back again give the all too short track a real feeling for forward progression. the flip side, ‘Party Cops’ is definitely more on the Italo tip. With more of an ‘80’s Electro Funk groove ‘Party Cops’ is a call to dance. The bassline and arpeggios are actually quite reminiscent of mid-‘80’s electronic Soul, but layered with buzzsaw retro synth chords and an Italo beat the whole thing come across as a slightly chaotic, exciting, and again all too short, party starter. This sweet double A-Side single is available for free, you really can’t go wrong at that price, so what are you waiting for, go get it!

Aminova – Body Double

Aminova – Party Cops

‘Body Double’/’Party Cops’ is out now.

Buy Aminova’s music from: