Dec 28 2010

The electronic rumors awards: electronic rumors’ top 20 albums of 2010!!!

See, we told you we were going to tart up our end of year lists! Welcome to the electronic rumors awards!

I really have a love/hate relationship with these lists. On the one hand I love looking back at the very best music that was released in the past 12 months but I hate sifting them down to just 20. So I make a list, give it a couple of days to settle, see if there’s anything I missed or if I want to change my mind, to make sure I have ranked things ‘cos I loved them, not ‘cos it would be cool to say so, a couple of days to be happy with my listing. But I know the moment I post this I will remember some awesome music from January that I have forgot.

So I’ve just got to close my eyes, bite the bullet and commit. Here goes..

Starting with electronic rumors top 20 albums of the year, including our ‘best album’ award. Pretty happy with this list even though there is a lot left out. There are a couple of bodges in there (Futurecop!’s album is only available on import right now, it’s released domestically in 2011, but it’s SO awesome and I desperately wanted Parallels’, Minitel Rose’s and Anoraak’s albums to be included) but on the whole it is a fitting list of the records that rocked out worlds this year.

So, the winner is…

electronic rumors’ best album: 2011

01: CHEW LiPS – Unicorn (Family)

♫ CHEW LiPS – Play Together

…and the rest of the list:

02: LexiconDon – Pink + Blue (dubFrequency/Binary)

♫ LexiconDon – Boy Vs. Girl Pt. 1

03: Ellie Goulding – Lights (Polydor)

♫ Ellie Goulding – This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)

04: Chromeo – Business Casual (Atlantic Records)

♫ Chromeo – Night By Night

05: Fenech-Soler – Fenech-Soler (B-Unique Records)

♫ Fenech-Soler – Golden Sun

06: Futurecop! – It’s Forever, Kids (Cluster Sounds (Import))

♫ Futurecop! – TransFormers (Into The Future)

07: HURTS – Happiness (Major Label/RCA/Sony Music)

♫ HURTS – Sunday

08: Robyn – Body Talk (Body Talk Pt. 3) (Konichiwa Records/Island Records Group)

♫ Robyn – Hang With Me

09: Bag Raiders – Bag Raiders (Modular Recordings)

♫ Bag Raiders – Sunlight

10: Où Est Le Swimming Pool – The Golden Year (Fire And Manoeuvre)

♫ Où Est Le Swimming Pool – Answers

11: The Golden Filter – Völuspà (Brille Records/Dummy Records)

♫ The Golden Filter – Stardust

12: Goldfrapp – Head First (Mute Records Ltd.)

♫ Goldfrapp – I Wanna’ Life

13: Grum – Heartbeats (Heartbeats)

♫ Grum – Fashion

14: Michael Cassette – Temporarity (Anjunabeats)

♫ Michael Cassette – Shadows Movement

15: Freezepop – Imaginary Friends (The Archenemy Record Company)

♫ Freezepop – Doppelganger

16: Marina And The Diamonds – The Family Jewels (679 Recordings)

♫ Marina And The Diamonds – Shampain

17: Tesla Boy – Modern Thrills (Mullet)

♫ Tesla Boy – Electric Lady

18: Ali Love – Love Harder (Back Yard Recordings)

♫ Ali Love – Smoke & Mirrors

19: Shy Child – Liquid Love (Wall Of Sound)

♫ Shy Child – Open Up The Sky

20: Alice In Videoland – A Million Thoughts And They’re All About You (Artoffact Records)

♫ Alice In Videoland – Take Me With You

Honourable Mentions:
ceo – White Magic, Daft Punk – Tron: Legacy Soundtrack, Parallels – Visionaries, Minitel Rose – Atlantique, Miami Horror – Illumination, Anoraak – Wherever The Sun Sets, Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (II), Magnetic Man – Magnetic Man, Groove Armada – Black Light, Mighty Mouse – Song With No Words, OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) – History Of Modern, Broken Bells – Broken Bells

As always, you should defiantly pick up some of these albums, they are all highly recommended and most can be purchased here:

Beatport – Juno – 7Digital – Amazon

Dec 24 2010

Saint Etienne at X-Mas, ‘A Glimpse Of Stocking’

I have been saving this post for X-Mas eve!

Recently SynthPop legends Saint Etienne released a full-on X-Mas album, ‘A Glimpse Of Stocking’ containing 15 tracks of ElectroPop and Indie-Electro with varying degrees of X-Mas cheer and X-Mas depression. The album is already becoming a rarity, which is a pity as it should be everyone’s compulsory X-Mas day listening, Sarah’s vocals lend themselves perfectly to seasonal songs.

So, this X-Mas eve, check out these two tracks from the album. ‘Through The Winter’, a mid-tempo synth ditty reminiscent of mid-90’s Etienne and the deep dance groove of ‘No Cure For The Common Christmas’ and make sure you have a good one!

♫ Saint Etienne – Through The Winter

♫ Saint Etienne – No Cure For The Common Christmas

‘A Glimpse Of Stocking’ is completely sold out, but there’s still loads of Saint Etienne to check:

Saint Etienne @ Beatport

Saint Etienne @ Juno

Saint Etienne @ 7Digital

Saint Etienne @ Amazon

Dec 20 2010

Edwin Van Cleef reMixes the hell out of Nelly Furtado

The man Edwin Van Cleef is one of the UK’s best unsung talents and a guy who doesn’t release nearly enough tunes to keep us happy!

Lucky for us, then, he’s dropped this massive reMix of Nelly Furtado’s new single ‘The Night Is Young’ just in time for X-mas. From it’s bouncy bassline to it’s huge chords and 80’s-esq melody line, this is Nu-Disco done perfectly buy one of the guys who helped shape the sound.

Enjoy:

♫ Nelly Furtado – The Night Is Young (Edwin Van Cleef reMix)

‘The Night Is Young’ is out now.

Nelly Furtado @ Beatport

Nelly Furtado @ Juno

Nelly Furtado @ 7Digital

Nelly Furtado @ Amazon

‘

Dec 16 2010

Bright Light Bright Light covers the Twin Peaks theme

That right there is Sherilyn Fenn.

I’ll give you a moment…

OK then…why have I headed this post with a picture of Sherilyn Fenn? Well, I used to be pretty crazy about her back in the days when Twin Peaks was on the TV, ah those were the days…

So, kindly, Bright Light Bright Light have given me an excuse to whack Sherilyn on my blog as he’s only gone and covered the vocal version of the Twin Peaks theme tune. ‘Falling’ was originally released as a single by vocalist Julee Cruise and penned by the shows composer Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch and is surely one of those tunes that is embedded in the popular psyche.

Bright Light Bright Light’s cover is just as haunting as the original but ushers it into quite a contemporary SynthPop ballad that really shows off Rod’s vocal prowess.

♫ Bright Light Bright Light – Falling (Julee Cruise, Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch Cover)

Rod REALLY loves the 90’s!

Bright Light Bright Light’s ‘Love Part II’ is out now on PopJustice Hi-Fi.

Bright Light Bright Light @ Juno

Bright Light Bright Light @ Amazon

‘

Dec 14 2010

Icona Pop

Swedish Electro girls Icona Pop are giving their new single away for free!

First appearing on Kitsuné’s ‘Maison 10’ album with ‘Manners’ the duo’s new single ‘Still Don’t Know’ is a slice of noisy, post-The Ting Tings, ElectroPop. The heavy live drums and vintage synth sounds give the track a garage SynthPop feel with some raucous vocals tograb your attention. I can see Icona Pop getting pretty big next summer.

We shall see…

♫ Icona Pop – Still Don’t Know

Head on over to Icona Pop’s SoundCloud page to grab the single for free in high quality.

Icona Pop @ Beatport

Icona Pop @ Amazon

‘

Dec 7 2010

Frankmusik’s ‘The Fear Inside’ video

Frankmusik premiered the video for his forthcoming new single ‘The Fear Inside’ today. It’s a grainy, black & white, affair that sees Vincent Frank heading, well, somewhere, hot chick in tow. The silhouette shots in front the giant warehouse window are well 80’s!

Still lovin’ the sounds in this track!

‘The Fear Inside’ and Frankmusik’s new album, ‘Do It In The AM’ are due for release in 2011.

Frankmusik @ Juno

Frankmusik @ 7Digital

Frankmusik @ Amazon

Dec 4 2010

EarthMoonEarth reMix Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’

I don’t know much about Tennessee production duo EarthMoonEarth but the dropped this awesome reMix of Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’ in the electronic rumors inbox that I had to share with you peeps.

Their gift to Britney on her 29th Birthday the track is top quality ElectroPop. The Multi-layered mix is full of nuanced riffs and lead lines that seemingly weave in and out of each other. Oh, and it’s a badass dancefloor tune with some killer dirty synth work and a slight Disco flavour.

Give it a test drive!

♫ Britney Spears – Toxic (EarthMoonEarth reMix)

You can pick up the track in high quality for free at EarthMoonEarth’s Bandcamp page.

Britney Spears @ Beatport

Britney Spears @ Juno

Britney Spears @ 7Digital

Britney Spears @ Amazon

‘

Dec 2 2010

It’s HURTS and all their friends, playing in the snow!

Did you think we’d leave you without anything festive today after the deluge of X-mas tunes over the last two days?

Well, after dropping HURTS X-mas single on you two days ago we can now premiere the particularly X-massy video for it.

Just as the song is reminiscant of the ‘proper’ X-mas singles of the 80’s, the video, too, is quite an 80’s X-mas video.

So, as the chick from ‘Stay’, the crazy dancing lady, the mourners and the ballet dancer & her androgynous admirer say farewell to 2010 we have to wonder what characters HURTS have in store for us in 2011.

Look! The guys are even wearing red! Must be a special occasion.

The single is available as a free download from 14th December.

Nov 30 2010

HURTS X-mas record

This is HURTS X-mas single!

This is a proper X-mas single!

The likes of we haven’t heard since the 80’s this tune has got all the elements in place. The bells ringing out, the uplifting melancholy, the sleigh-bell hi-hats, the power drums in the chorus. It’s pure HURTS too, it’s like all HURTS’ career has been leading up to a full-on X-mas song!

♫ HURTS – All I Want For Christmas Is New Year’s Day

The single is released 14th December…for Free! That’s HURTS X-mas pressie to you!

Nov 29 2010

The return of White Town

Despite the popular notion that ‘Your Woman’ is White Town’s one and only song, the solo project of Jyoti Mishra has been steadily releasing music since 1990. Most recently via our friends at Ninthwave.

After some time off, though, he’s back with a new track that is a cute (if a little dark), Indie tinged, ElectroPop jam that sees Jyoti sounding somewhat Marc Almond. Soft Cell for the 21st century?

Take a look at the video.