Mar 30 2010

Gypsy And The Cat

GypsyAndTheCat

I’ve only just stumbled across Gypsy And The Cat, despite them being around for a while now. They have a track on the forthcoming Kitsuné Maison compilation which prompted me it dig a little deeper.

The Australian duo had a bit of blog attention last autumn with the track ‘Jona Vark’, a sweet, chilled, acoustic guitar/Dreamwave clash. Lazy comparisons to Empire Of The Sun seemed to have cropped up on most of the blogs who wrote about them but beyond the use of rich synths and acoustic guitar I think Gypsy And The Cat have a style all of their own.

Both that tune and ‘’Til Tomorrow’ are dreamy summertime Pop songs that show both depth of emotion and a cheeky sense of humour and some laidback soulful electronics.

♫ Gypsy And The Cat – Jona Vark (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Gypsy And The Cat – ‘Til Tomorrow (zShare) (MediaFire)

Gypsy And The Cat are planning to release their début album this year, hopefully in time for summer!

Gypsy And The Cat @ Amazon

Mar 27 2010

Sunday Girl, as mixed by Russ Chimes

SundayGirl

The tide of catchy female fronted ElectroPop continues to rise and washed up on the beach today is Sunday Girl. Coming from out of the blue (her MySpace is barely a month old) she’s already gearing up for her début release for which she’s bagged reMixes from Russ Chimes and Diplo!

Russ works his usual magic here, vastly improving on the original (which I found promising, but a little lacklustre) really bringing out something special in the vocals that wasn’t initially apparent and setting them over some serious Disco arpeggios and a sweet electric piano breakdown.

♫ Sunday Girl – Four Floors (Russ Chimes reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

‘Four Floors’ is released 20th March, until then:

Sunday Girl @ MySpace

Mar 25 2010

Florrie + Fred Falke

Florrie

Florrie, well, for a start she’s the in-house drummer for the production team responsible for pretty much all of the good ‘proper’ Pop music in the charts in the last decade, Xenomania. She’s also a singer/songwriter in her own right and is débuting classy Pop tune after Pop tune.

As with the last track to surface ‘Call 911’ this latest song, ‘Panic Attack’ has also been given the reMix treatment by none other than Fred Falke.

It’s a, frankly, infectious slice of electronic Pop that has a really strong (and obvious) Xenomania influence with seems to work well with Falke’s trademark bassline.

♫ Florrie – Panic Attack (Fred Falke Extended Mix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

You can hear some more from Florrie on her MySpace:

Florrie @ MySpace

Mar 23 2010

Now Robyn IS the robot!

Robyn03

The first ‘proper’ track from Robyn’s forthcoming album, ‘Body Talk’, has surfaced.

‘Fembot’ is a genius slice of Electro-Rap-R&B-Dancehall-Acid-Dub Pop. 303 basslines meet pop rap with a Robyn edge. With tracks produced by Diplo and Røyksopp it’s defiantly an album to get exited about.

♫ Robyn – Fembot (zShare) (MediaFire)

Robyn will be dropping her Automatic Booty Applications later in the year.

Robyn @ Beatport

Robyn @ 7Digital

Robyn @ Amazon

Mar 15 2010

Bright Light Bright Light

BrightLightBrightLight

Bright Light Bright Light (which I really hope is a Gremlins reference!) is the one-man project of Cardiff based Singer/Songwriter Rod Thomas who absolute passion to create well-crafted Pop music shines through the music from the first listen.

You can tell that Rod has spent a few years honing his craft as, for a DIY production, it’s pretty damn slick. It’s also timed brilliantly, this kind of ElectroPop with an emphasis on songwriting, an ElectroPop revolution of substance over style, is set to blow up this year and Bright Light Bright Light could well be at the head of the pack.

His latest track ‘A New Word To Say’ is a perfect example of this, it’s intelligent yet catchy, danceable yet thoughtful. Essentially it’s been written rather than produced, if you see what I mean? Which is always refreshing in electronic music.

Rod has roped in his friend James Yuill and fellow Cardiff ElectroPoppers Friends Electric (who’s reMix of Ellie Goulding’s ‘Under The Sheets’ we featured way back when) for reMix duties. James delivers a bright retro synth mix that actually sounds like it was fun to make while Friends Electric take it straight to the dancefloor in a French House stylee.

♫ Bright Light Bright Light – A New Word To Say (Radio Edit) (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Bright Light Bright Light – A New Word To Say (James Yuill reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Bright Light Bright Light – A New Word To Say (Friends Electric Got Love Mix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

Bright Light Bright Light have a few appearances lined up for the coming months, catch them if you can:

20th March – Sink The Pink [DJ Set], Resistance Gallery, London
03rd April – Sink The Pink [DJ Set], Vogue Fabrics, London
12th April – The Lexington, London
13th April – FLUX=RAD, Cardiff Arts Institute, Cardiff
15th April – Night & Day, Manchester
17th April – The Forum, London
24th April – Unit, Southampton
30th April – New Sound Wales Showcase, Chapter Arts, Cardiff

Rod also heads up Self Raising Records, so expect Bright Light Bright Light’s album soon, until them bestow some of that MySpace love of your on him:

Bright Light Bright Light @ 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

Feb 1 2010

Penguin Prison reMix Ellie Goulding

EllieGoulding04

Ellie Goulding’s ‘Starry Eyed’ appears to be taking the world by storm (the UK at least)! Make no mistake, this is a good thing The more Neon-Gold-knows-how-to-pick-‘em intelligent Electro tunes the better!

Of course, there is the inevitable flood of reMixes, but this one by Penguin Prison and Theophilus London stands head and shoulders above the crowd. PP is New York’s latest hip bedroom ElectroPopper who floored us all a few months back with his ‘A Funny thing’ and continues to keep us interested with a string of really good reMixes like an American Starsmith.

Check it out:

♫ Ellie Goulding (Feat. Theophilus London) – Starry Eyed (Penguin Prison reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

Ellie’s ‘Starry Eyed’ is out on 22nd February. It’s already doing well, help it along here:

Ellie Goulding @ Neon Gold

Ellie Goulding @ 7Digital

Ellie Goulding @ Amazon

Jan 20 2010

Ellie Goulding; ‘Starry Eyed’ video

Hey! Ellie Goulding has finally dropped a real video for ‘Starry Eyed’! The song’s been around for a while but it’s finally getting a single release.

So, here’s the clip:

‘Starry Eyed’ will be released on 22ng February, followed by Ellie’s album ‘Lights’ on 1st March

Ellie Goulding @ Neon Gold

Ellie Goulding @ Amazon

Jan 20 2010

Cutting Crew just died in Drop The Lime’s arms!

CuttingCrew

So, what happens when you mix prolific Electro artist and reMixer Drop The Lime with Cutting Crew’s 80’s power balled ‘(I Just) Dies In Your Arms)?

This does:

♫ Cutting Crew – (I Just) Died In Your Arms (Drop The Lime reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

All cut up vocals and warp bass, it’s got a real Breakdance feel but has an appropriately huge breakdown!

It’s getting late, I don’t think I can cope! 😉

Cutting Crew @ 7Digital

Cutting Crew @ Amazon

Jan 14 2010

The Human League sign with Wall Of Sound!!!

Big, exiting, news! Finally someone has snapped up The Human League!

It was announce this week that the League have signed a multi-album deal with Wall Of Sound! This is fantastic news, WoS are a cool label, Oakey and the girls will be in good company as the label is home to the likes of Shy Child, Soulwax, Røyksopp, Tiga, tEPr etc… Just thinking about that kind of production and reMix talent getting their hands on The League is damn exiting, as is the fact that we will now be getting new League material!

Mark Jones, head of WoS, (who has apparently been chasing The League for years) said this: “It’s an honour and inspiration to have them signed to Wall Of Sound. They say ‘never work with you heroes’…but fuck that for starters”. Nicely put! And from Oakey himself: “Emerging from a decade in which everyone seems to have spent their time looking backwards we are delighted to have the opportunity to march forwards once again and attempt to produce new and exciting music in a new and exciting partnership.” See, everyone’s exited!

Listen to their 1981 single ‘The Sound Of The Crowd’ in celebration!

♫ The Human League – The Sound Of The Crowd (zShare) (MediaFire)

Gonna’ be keeping a close eye on this!

The Human League @ Beatport

The Human League @ Juno

The Human League @ 7Digital

The Human League @ Amazon