Mar 8 2010

Client’s Sarah Blackwood & William Orbit

SarahBlackwood

Acclaimed Electronica/Trance producer William Orbit dropped this track on his blog a couple of days ago, it’s a version of his track ‘White Night’ featuring vocals by none other than Sarah Blackwood, vocalist and frontwoman of ElectroPop heroines Client (and ex-of Dubstar).

The original’s a bit more bass heavy and ethereal, this is some sweet sounding, straight-up ElectoPop. Sarah’s vocals give the song a sense of sultry urgency that the original was lacking. Honestly, I think this deserves a single release!

♫ William Orbit (Feat. Sarah Blackwood Of Dubstar & Client) – White Night (Version) (zShare) (MediaFire)

‘White Night’ is originally from the album ‘My Oracle Lives Uptown’

William Orbit @ Beatport

William Orbit @ Juno

William Orbit @ 7Digital

William Orbit @ Amazon

Mar 3 2010

Esser’s ‘Headlock’ reMixed by Midnight Conspiracy

Esser’s ‘Headlock’ is getting on a bit now, but it was a good tune, so it’s nice to see it brought back to life by Chicago’s Midnight Conspiracy.

We previously featured their reMix of Chromeo’s ‘Night By Night’, this time it’s not the Dreamwave road they are travelling, oh no. Here, they treat us to some real deep dark Dubstep, and it works so well! Midnight Conspiracy lay down some throbbing subs to rival anything coming out of Bristol or LDN!

♫ Esser – Headlock (Midnight Conspiracy Dubstep reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

So we’ve had Dreamwave/Italo and Dubstep, pretty exited to hear what Midnight Conspiracy tackle next!

Esser @ Beatport

Esser @ 7Digital

Esser @ Amazon

Feb 27 2010

The Durutti Column Vs. Monarchy

Neon Gold’s SynthPop card up their sleeve, Monarchy, have dropped this wonderfully dark edit of Manchester Post-Punk legends The Durutti Column’s ‘My Country’.

The original is clearly recognisable here, but what is done works so well. The addition of the beat, strings and a sprinkling of synth work all combine to pull the song into the 21st century whilst loosing none of the atmosphere that made the original what it was.

♫ The Durutti Column – My Country (Monarchy reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

‘My Country’ is taken from the 1989 album ‘Vini Reilly’

The Durutti Column @ Beatport

The Durutti Column @ Juno

The Durutti Column @ 7Digital

The Durutti Column @ Amazon

Feb 26 2010

Substatic

I’ve been meaning to write about this band for a couple of months now, but things have been pretty disorganized here at electronic rumors towers since I relocated from Camden back to my home town of Bristol (after six years away). I will now remedy this!

Long time readers will remember in the early, less focused, days of ER that I used to harp on about how much I missed Bristol, so if there’s one thing I like better than discovering new talented Electro artists, it’s discovering new talented Electro artists from Bristol.

Enter Substatic!

Without wanting to sound like an idiot, or incredibly literal, this is what contemporary Electro would sound like if it was being made in Bristol…which it is…so it does.

I’ll try and make more sense now. Substatic have got the big dirty synths, 8-bit sounds and raw electronics of Electro but they couple that with a Breakbeat flavour and Drum & Bass basslines that adds a powerful driving force beyond your typical Electro fare. More Electro than your standard ‘Bristol beat’ act and more ‘Bristol beat’ than your standard Electro act, Substatic have carved out a unique slice of the Electro musical landscape for themselves which they supplement with live instrumentation, a splash of guitar and the inclusion of live violin, which you would think would send the music down a folksy road but instead it adds that little bit of orchestration which in turn adds drama to the songs.

I’ve not even mentioned Colleen’s vocals yet! Powerful, dramatic, sultry, seductive with a hint of danger, the perfect piece of the puzzle that ties everything together. Equally devastating on the dancefloor as in the headphones, Substatic’s dynamic and compelling take on Electro is sure to propel them to great heights.

I could have just said “Substatic are a live Electro band turned up to 11”! Check it out:

♫ Substatic – Triplet (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Substatic – Wild Horses (zShare) (MediaFire)

Having already played a few high profile shows and gained exposure on BBC 6Music (#saveBBC6music BTW!), Substatic are defiantly one to keep an eye on in 2010!

The band are constantly gigging up and down the UK (their next show is 27th March @ The Junction, Bristol) and their reMix of Leisure Allstars ‘How We Roll’ is available here:

Leisure Allstars ‘How We Roll’ (Inc. Substatic reMix) @ 7Digital

Leisure Allstars ‘How We Roll’ (Inc. Substatic reMix) @ Amazon

The band are planning to release their début EP in May, until then show them some MySpace love:

Substatic @ MySpace

Feb 26 2010

Wonderful Life Vs. Wonderful Life

It can’t just be me?

I can’t be the only one?

I find myself completely unable to hum/sing to myself this:

Without ending up humming/singing to myself this:

Black and white videos? Suits? Saxophone solos? Five letter bandnames? Songs called “Wonderful Life” that have the lyric “It’s a Wonderful Life” in the chorus? C’mon, are they trying to mess with my head?

But with all that in common they sound totally different, are totally different songs. Black’s 1987 Synth-Soul classic holds a lot of memories for me and as much as it has a place in my heart it has been really outdone by HURTS SynthPop powerhouse.

I do suggest you own both though!

HURTS @ Townsend Records

HURTS @ Amazon

Black @ 7Digital

Black @ Amazon

Jan 27 2010

Billie Ray Martin does Cabaret Voltaire

BillieRayMartin

OK, so Billie Ray Martin has a couple of new EPs/mini-albums coming out in the next couple of months. There are a couple of interesting angles to this story but one in particular that got my interest.

Billie Ray first came to my attention back in ‘80ish with her work with Electribe 101, since then she has amassed a large body of work including both Dance hits and more experimental electronic tracks For her latest EPs she is taking the pioneering step of releasing tracks officially through the Torrent site Mininova in the lead up to the official release.

What got me though, was the tracks themselves. Ms. Martin is dropping her reworkings of Cabaret Voltaire’s double A side ‘Just Fascination’/’Crackdown’, two of my favourite tracks by one of my favourite bands. So it was with some trepidation that I checked the tunes, and they are good! Not only are they reworking but ‘Crackdown’ features none other than Cab’s vocalist himself Stephen Mallinder.

Here we can present, for you, two reMixes of the tracks. ‘Just Fascination’ by Celebrity Murder Party who take a more semi-experimental approach turning the track into a danceable noisescape while ‘Crackdown’ is reMixed by David Harrow who’s Oicho mix is a deep, analog synth laden, dubby take on the track.

♫ Billie Ray Martin – Just Fascination (Celebrity Murder Party reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Billie Ray Martin – The Crackdown (Oicho reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

You can hear the original here on YouTube. The first EP is out 15th February on Disco Activisto

Billie Ray Martin @ Beatport

Billie Ray Martin @ Juno

Billie Ray Martin @ 7Digital

Billie Ray Martin @ Amazon

Jan 5 2010

Ali Love Harder

Ali Love was rockin’ us all in the last three months of 2009 with the single ‘Diminishing Returns’ and some huge reMixes of his track ‘Smoke & Mirrors’, now he’s back with this tune, ‘Love Harder’, which will be the next single out on Back Yard Recordings.

‘Love Harder’ is more minimal, Italo influenced ElectroPop with some sweet 80’s-esq vocals and nice Simmonds fills. Gonna’ be real interesting to hear the album when it hit the streets.

♫ Ali Love – Love Harder (Extended Version) (zShare) (MediaFire)

‘Love Harder’ drops soon and ‘Diminishing Returns’ is available now:

Dec 16 2009

electronic rumours mixtape: Pop-Fu 05

Here’s a Wednesday present for you, I knocked up this mix this week:

Track list:

Pop-Fu 05:

01 Fan Death – Reunited
02 Bertie Blackman – Black Cats (Calling In Sick reMix)
03 Performance – Reptile (Kiss In Cities reMix)
04 Ellie Goulding – Under The Sheets (Friends Electric reMix)
05 The Golden Filter – Solid Gold
06 CHEW LiPS – Seven
07 We Have Band – Honey Trap (Le Matos reMix)
08 Chromeo – Night By Night (Redial reMix)
09 Van She – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper (A B-LIVE Original) (Blue Öyster Cult Cover)
10 Marina And The Diamonds – Mowgli’s Road (Russ Chimes reMix)
11 Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream (Redial reMix)
12 College (Feat. Electric Youth) – She Never Came Back (Russ Chimes reMix)
13 Keenhouse – Deep In The Forest

Enjoy!

Dec 2 2009

CHEW LiPS; new non-album track!

It’s that time again, for one of the greatest UK Electro acts around, CHEW LiPS, to kindly give away another free track to coincide with the last of their regular club nights.

This time there’s a twist though, while previous giveaways have been taster of what to expect on their painfully anticipated for coming album, this tune ‘Rising Tide’ won’t be featured on the release and the band have put it up online for a limited time only.

The music here has got an almost Yazoo flavour which works perfectly with Tig’s vocals.

♫ CHEW LiPS – Rising Tide (zShare) (MediaFire)

As a bonus, here’s FC Kahuna’s reMix of last months free track ‘Slick’:

♫ CHEW LiPS – Slick (FC Kahuna reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

The album will be out at the start of next year preceded by the single ‘Seven’ in January.

Dec 2 2009

New Hot Chip track!

Ooo, it’s nearly ‘new Hot Chip album’ time!

8th February 2010 is the current release date for ‘One Life Stand’, Hot Chip’s fourth full studio album but the guys have decided to tease you all with this, the title track of the album.

‘One Life Stand’ is a brilliant title and the lyrics do it justice. The song is a mellow Dance-Rock sounding track which manages to come across full of genuine pathos while keeping the dancefloor happy.

♫ Hot Chip – One Life Stand (zShare) (MediaFire)

You don’t have to wait until February! Hot Chips precious four records are available now!