Jan 25 2011

Tareq

Greek ElectroPop artist Tareq recently dropped his début album, ‘Cocoon’, on Undo Records (home to Marsheaux) and is about to unleash his premier single from the album, ‘Cold’.

Tareq brings a little Vocal House flavour to the Modern SynthPop scene. As well as mixing in his retro influences he’s not adverse to adding some Disco bass or House pads into the traditional Modern SynthPop sound. While musically ‘Cold’ lives up to it’s name with layers of icy synths, the presence of a slap bass groove and Tareq’s emotive vocals warms things up a bit. The reMix package is quite impressive, the standout being d-tek’s Italo mix which is just begging for Club play as it mixes up an Italo bassline with layers of Nu-Disco synths.

♫ Tareq – Cold (d-tek Italo Mix)

If you want to check out how the Modern SynthPop scene is evolving the Tareq’s ‘Cold’ is recommended.

Tareq @ Beatport

Tareq @ 7Digital

Tareq @ Amazon

Dec 28 2010

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

Now it’s time for, probably, my favourite list. The meeting of two talents, when it works, is an amazing thing.

This was also, probably, the easiest of the lists to compile. Most of our favourite tunes this year have been reMixes. Our top slot was always a no-brainier, that track has a breakdown and build that still gives me goosebumps after the 300th listen.

It’s our favourite song of the year, the award goes to…

electronic rumors’ best reMix: 2011

01: Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed (Russ Chimes reMix)

♫ Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed (Russ Chimes reMix)

…and the rest of the list:

02: Chromeo (Feat. Elly Jackson From La Roux) – Hot Mess (12inch Mix)

♫ Chromeo (Feat. Elly Jackson From La Roux) – Hot Mess (12inch Mix)

03: Gemini Club – Ghost (Hey Champ! reMix)

♫ Gemini Club – Ghost (Hey Champ! reMix)

04: Yes Giantess – The Ruins (Fear Of Tigers reMix)

♫ Yes Giantess – The Ruins (Fear Of Tigers reMix)

05: Mark Ronson & The Business INTL (Feat. MNDR & Q-Tip) – Bang Bang Bang (Russ Chimes reMix)

♫ Mark Ronson & The Business INTL (Feat. MNDR & Q-Tip) – Bang Bang Bang (Russ Chimes reMix)

06: Robyn – Indestructible (A-Trak reMix)

♫ Robyn – Indestructible (A-Trak reMix)

07: Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls (Grum reMix)

♫ Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls (Grum reMix)

08: LexiconDon – Student Body (Build & Clancy reMix)

♫ LexiconDon – Student Body (Build & Clancy reMix)

09: Panda People – Sophisticated Girl (Ride The Universe reMix)

♫ Panda People – Sophisticated Girl (Ride The Universe reMix)

10: Vandroid – Master & Slave (Yuksek reMix)

♫ Vandroid – Master & Slave (Yuksek reMix)

11: Cassette Club – 4 Me (Beaumont reMix)

♫ Cassette Club – 4 Me (Beaumont reMix)

12: NightWaves – Sweet Carrie (Walter Sobcek reMix)

♫ NightWaves – Sweet Carrie (Walter Sobcek reMix)

13: Breakbot (Feat. Irfane) – Baby I’m Yours (Aeroplane reMix)

♫ Breakbot (Feat. Irfane) – Baby I’m Yours (Aeroplane reMix)

14: Oh Shit! & Night Drugs – Everybody Needs (Diamond Cut reMix)

♫ Oh Shit! & Night Drugs – Everybody Needs (Diamond Cut reMix)

15: Aeroplane – Superstar (The Krays reMix)

♫ Aeroplane – Superstar (The Krays reMix)

16: Super Mal – Rock The Night (Diamond Cut reMix)

♫ Super Mal – Rock The Night (Diamond Cut reMix)

17: Walter Sobcek – Je Me Souviens (Paul reMix)

♫ Walter Sobcek – Je Me Souviens (Paul reMix)

18: Visitor – Los Feeling (Alan Braxe reMix)

♫ Visitor – Los Feeling (Alan Braxe reMix)

19: Kelis – Acapella (Monarchy Urania Club Mix)

♫ Kelis – Acapella (Monarchy Urania Club Mix)

20: LIGHTS – Second Go (Echoes reMix)

♫ LIGHTS – Second Go (Echoes reMix)

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

Beatport – Juno – 7Digital – Amazon

Dec 28 2010

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

And so we move onto our song list, this was even harder than the album list! So we eventually ended up separating our ‘top tracks’ list into ‘top songs’ and top reMixes’ , which gave us the breathing room we needed.

Here’s the songs, the best song award might be surprising to some, but it’s an amazing song that got played to death here and with our original top track of 2011 moved over to the reMixes list this song took the top spot.

Without further ado, the winner is…

electronic rumors’ best song: 2011

01: Mark Ronson & The Business INTL (Feat. MNDR & Q-Tip) – Bang Bang Bang

♫ Mark Ronson & The Business INTL (Feat. MNDR & Q-Tip) – Bang Bang Bang

…and the rest of the list:

02: Robyn – Dancing On My Own

♫ Robyn – Dancing On My Own

03: Bag Raiders – Way Back Home

♫ Bag Raiders – Way Back Home

04: Substatic – Closer

♫ Substatic – Closer

05: Monarchy – The Phoenix Alive

♫ Monarchy – The Phoenix Alive

06: Fenech-Soler – Stop And Stare

♫ Fenech-Soler – Stop And Stare

07: Bright Light Bright Light – Love Part II

♫ Bright Light Bright Light – Love Part II

08: Russ Chimes – Never Look Back

♫ Russ Chimes – Never Look Back

09: HURTS – Wonderful Life

♫ HURTS – Wonderful Life

10: LexiconDon – Student Body

♫ LexiconDon – Student Body

11: Fan Death – Reunited

♫ Fan Death – Reunited

12: LIGHTS – My Boots

♫ LIGHTS – My Boots

13: Anoraak – Try Me

♫ Anoraak – Try Me

14: Kavinsky – Pacific Coast Highway

♫ Kavinsky – Pacific Coast Highway

15: StardonE – CT

♫ StardonE – CT

16: Echoes – Ice Cold

♫ Echoes – Ice Cold

17: Parallels – Ultralight

♫ Parallels – Ultralight

18: MNDR – Fade To Black

♫ MNDR – Fade To Black

19: Tesla Boy – Thinking Of You

♫ Tesla Boy – Thinking Of You

20: Kid Kasio – Not For Turning

♫ Kid Kasio – Not For Turning

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

Beatport – Juno – 7Digital – Amazon

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 24 2010

Depeche Mode ‘Tour Of The Universe’ competition winner!

Just a quick one to say congats to the lucky winner of our Depeche Mode ‘Tour Of The Universe’ DVD set competition.

Siouxzi Donnelly will find the deluxe DVD set and a limited edition numbered lithograph finding it’s way to her soon.

Look what she’s in for!

The rest of you can still pick up the DVD or Blu-Ray set of ‘Tour Of The Universe’ now:

Depeche Mode @ Beatport

Depeche Mode @ Juno

Depeche Mode @ 7Digital

Depeche Mode @ Amazon

Dec 24 2010

Creep reMixed by Soul Clap

Young Turks latest signing, Lauren Flax’s Creep are giving away the Soul Clap reMix of their début single ‘Days’.

This reMix doesn’t feature on the single, which features Romy from The XX on vocals, and brings a shilling beat and a bit of funk to the dark minimal original. I’m not going to call the original either Trip-Hop (‘cos it’s not) or Witch-House (‘cos that’s just a ridiculous term), it’s got more in common with Minimal Synth than anything else. Anyway, check the reMix for some dark 90’s electronic Funk.

♫ Creep (Feat. Romy Madeley-Croft From The XX) – Days (Soul Clap reMix)

‘Days’ is out now.

Creep @ Juno

Creep @ 7Digital

Creep @ Amazon

Dec 22 2010

Echoes’ Footprints in the snow

We’re hoping 2011 holds big things for London ElectroPop act Echoes, they’re one of a handful of new bands in the UK who have the talent to take next year by storm. I really think the post-Little Boots/La Roux, post-HURTS, world is ready for this kind of smoother SynthPop.

The guys, full of X-Mas cheer, have recorded a festive tune for this holiday season and it’s proper X-Mas SynthPop stuff. Rousing and uplifting in sound but with a strain of melancholy in the lyrics, it’s got all the elements that an ElectroPop track should have at X-Mas. Bell like synths, tom driven beats, 80’s bassline, and the footprints in the snow imagery is pure genius. This is the kind of X-Mas song we want to hear, the kind of X-Mas song we miss.

Enjoy.

♫ Echoes – Footprints

On a side note, I’m starting to wonder if the men of mystery have at least some kind of industry history or backing. Listening to the production on this track, either someone is throwing money at them or they really are that talented. Either way, they’ve giving you an X-Mas present, you are socially obliged to do the same, may I suggest a large helping of your Facebook love.

Echoes @ Facebook

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 15 2010

electronic rumours mixtape: Pop-Fu 08

Ho ho ho! Being full of X-mas cheer today I’ll dish out the pressies early!

Here’s the latest Pop-Fu mixtape, it’s so full of rad ElectroPop and Nu-Disco that it’s stuffed more than your X-mas turkey!

01 Daft Punk – The Game Has Changed
02 Anoraak – Crazy Eyes (Mr. Mæn reMix)
03 Douze – We Got The Love
04 Kid Kasio – Not For Turning
05 Michael Cassette – Shadows Movement
06 Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls (Grum reMix)
07 Aeroplane – Superstar (The Krays reMix)
08 Vandroid – Master & Slave (Yuksek reMix)
09 Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Household Goods
10 Panda People – Sophisticated Girl (Ride The Universe reMix)
11 Human Life – Wherever We Are (Grum reMix)
12 Short Circuit – Let Go (Popskarr reMix)
13 Super Mal – Rock The Night (Diamond Cut reMix)
14 Futurecop! – Venice Beach (4TrakZ reMix)
15 The Human League – Night People (Cerrone Club Mix)
16 OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) – Sister Marie Says (Monarchy Twin Galaxies reMix)

Don’t forget my mince pie and glass of port!

EDIT: Well, for the sake of less than 30 seconds of a Daft Punk track in a mix which is, arguably, promoting their music, Walt Disney Records/Universal Music’ have seen fit to kill Pop-Fu 08.Seems a bit pathetic singling this mix out for infringement when a simple search of SoundCloud would reveal (at this time ) at least six illegal uploads of the whole track, but who are we to question the insane logic of a major record label.So Pop-Fu 08 is dead (and, not that I’m that bothered, but the play stats and comments too), lovg live Pop-Fu 08 (Redux)!Yes, it’s the same mix with the offending track removed and a whopping great fade in! I suppose you could pretend the intro is not longer made up of a Daft Punk track but a recording of John Cage’s 4’33”!