If we suddenly fall..

Time for a dubstep post.

See, unfortunately, when I think of dubstep now, I just think of sweaty zombie-like figures ... dancing (..can you call that stuff dancing?) to basslines with ADHD. I like to call that stuff 'clubstep', for obvious reasons you understand. Sure, that can be a lot of fun at times but, if you're anything like me, you cannot deal with that kinda stuff on a day-to-day basis.

I'm sure you realise not all dubstep is like that (cue Burial and Zomby for example), but sometimes you might need a little reminder, as do I. So I decided to do a little post on dubstep that looks beyond a few repetetive womps and wamps.

White Lies - Death (Chase & Status Remix)
First off we have a big one. Chase & Status' production values is the icing on the cake of this epic original's epic remix, complete with driving bassline. To me, it seems like Death is getting the same kind of treatment from Chase & Status the way that In For The Kill was mixed by Skream and that is why I reckon it's gonna be a big one, musically and commercially.

The Heavy - How You Like Me Now? (Joker Radio Edit)
Joker's drops some heavy thwacks, assertive synths and static bass. The result of this mix is a powerful track that wouldn't sound out of place on a Gnarls Barkley album if they got angry with someone and made dubstep.

Imogen Heap - Hide And Seek (Enigma Remix)
I never thought I'd describe a track with a wobbling bassline as 'delicate', but then again, I never thought I'd hear a dubstep remix of Imogen Heap. Incredibly, Enigma manages to make this work with the soft production of the drums and wobble.

So there you go, it's not all cockney this, hammertime that.

The King Of Pop

Mourning someone's death is one thing, but I feel it's just as important (if not moreso) to celebrate one's life. It's undeniable that Michael Jackson firmly stamped his status as 'The King of Pop' whilst he was alive. He and his music was, and always will be, loved by many. To show the extent of his influence, I've picked two particularly different renditions of The Jackson Five's 'I Want You Back' to share with you:

Dre Skull - I Want You Back

KT Tunstall - I Want You Back

1958 - 2009

And I don't wanna die without shaking up a thing or two

Just a short post about some lovely, mellowing songs I had to share with you:

Devendra Banhart - Don't Look Back In Anger (Oasis Cover)
Beautiful acoustic cover of a classic (save the intro). Banhart delicately warbles over the quirky yet delicate plucks of his guitar that you could just melt to.





Wise, insightful, and very touching. The song's got a message I'm sure a lot of you can relate to which is probably why it hits deep. It's another of those 'sad in a happy way' songs. Here's the MP3:

Girls - Hellhole Ratrace

If that doesn't get to you, then I feel sorry for you :)

I'm a hustler. I'm a full moon.

Hello, it's been longer than usual since my last post but I've been busy, caught up with various stuff. So lately I've been working through the back catalogues of various fat cats in the music world to make myself more cultured, as pretentious as it sounds. One duo I've been looking at is Chemical Tom and Chemical Ed, otherwise and more commonly known as The Chemical Brothers. Similarly to Soulwax who we looked at last post, The Chemical Brothers are generally hailed as pioneers of electronic music. It's said they're an incredible experience live with massive screens projecting psychedelic images, zapping lasers and bright, flashy strobes all up in your grill.

So yes, that is what I have to say. Lets not beat around the bush though shall we?

The Chemical Brothers - The Boxer
I rediscovered this track about a week ago and fell in love with it. I've played it so much and I'm yet to rinse it. The beat just grips me and Tim Burgess delivers an insanely eargasmic slice of lyrical pizza on one of the most well constructed tracks I've ever heard. I can't fault it.

On the less commercial side of the fence, I've chosen two instrumental tracks with a similar style:

The Chemical Brothers - Saturate
An epic, pacing track off 'We Are The Night'. Synthesisers ebb and croak across the length of this track with a clattering drum beat. I can't quite place the feeling I get with this one, but it's humbling to listen to.

The Chemical Brothers - Surface To Air
The final track of 2005's 'Push The Button' is a 7 and a half minute long, progressive headphone listen. It gives you the feel of an exciting journey - something different and new. When I listen to it, those glittering, shimmering, chiming noises always bubble up a wide-eyed, innovative excitement inside of me, kinda like butterflies.

I hope I never ever ever ever rinse The Boxer. Oh and just in case if you were wondering, the snap is from the video shoot of 'Midnight Madness'; our goblin friend is taking a little break - great colour, don't you think?

I am a DJ. I am what I play.

Today, I thought it would be nice to allow you to take the opportunity and solidify your collection of electro music with one of the biggest names in the industry: Soulwax.

Soulwax are a Belgian duo who dabble in rock as much as they do electro. They've been around since '95 and they're headed by Steve and Dave Dawaele and they've had numerous members in the past. The Dawaele brothers also produce under the monikers of 2 Many Djs (just the Dawaeles), which you may well have heard of as they have done numerous mash-ups and remixes.

Anyway, I'm sure you've had enough of reading this boobah, here's the music:

David Bowie - Rebel Rebel (Soulwax Re-Edit)

It takes a lot of skill to remix classics like this, as I've said before. But Soulwax, classy as fuck, pull this off with finesse as usual, bringing it right into the 21st century.

Lords Of Acid - I Sit On Acid (Soulwax Remix)

Sexual in an obvious way. You'll find yourself humming this sooner or later.

Soulwax - Krack

One of the band's original tracks. This one's addictive - like crack, you might say. The band's got a lot of rock-orientated stuff too that you should check out, this is just one of many.

Here's something new from a duo named T.E.D.D. who make innovative club bangers. This one is a lot smoother than some of the stuff you hear floating around and reeks of nostalgia in the best way possible, check it out:

T.E.D.D. - Dreamin'

Niiiiiice, well, see you next time.

Pop-Hop?

Above we have one of a new wave of rappers, Wale, shopping for a pretty pair of new shoes.

Is it cool for rappers/hip-hoppers to rap over quirky hits nowadays? I'm sure it's been done before, but it seems since Kanye West reworked Daft Punk, I've been seeing a lot more artists sampling 'cool' songs. I guess, once he made 'Stronger', this was the transitional period where he started blogging, embraced the french electro scene, started thinking he was an artist, and turned freaky (Martin Luther King Jr?..)

What I'm saying is that, it seems these hip-hoppers are using trendy songs by trendy bands for trendy people for their samples, in hope that they'll eventually get big and into the charts. It's the same thing with grime - noticed how a load of grime artists have made it into the charts with tunes that have the grime factor turned down a notch? Wiley, Skepta, Chipmunk, Lethal Bizzle, Dizzee Rascal! How I could I forget Dizzee Rascal's collab with Armand Van Helden! Yeah sure you might call that grimey, but not in the same way. I'm not saying I dislike any of this stuff anyway, it's all good fun :)

But yeah, the grime --> electro/pop crossover is one thing, but now there's these new trendy, genre splicing rappers popping up all over the place. I've gotten quite into it, check out this new trend below:

Chiddy Bang - Kids (feat. MGMT)

Kanye West - Young Folks
Not in the same position as these other guys, but still good fun!

Wale - W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.

Chiddy Bang - Truth (feat. Passion Pit)
Chiddy Bang was pretty quick on this one, realising the endless amount of hype surrounding Passion Pit. Some are calling them this year's MGMT. I guess Chiddy Bang's got a theme running.

Wale - Chillin' (feat. Lady Gaga)
This doesn't use a chart hit as a backing track but it's still good. I thought Lady Gaga was too 'up there' to feature on this, but I guess she's a kind girl, or she's friends with Wale, or she just like the idea of this collaboration. Whatever, it's catchy.

Let's not forget Kid Cudi, he's my favourite out of all this lot, but I thought it'd be unfair to the others if I posted another one of his tracks - I'll do it some other time.

Chillout

The latest Ministry of Sound chillout album came out last year - I don't know how it slipped by me but I've gotten a hold of it now and it's full of flowing, weaving melodies and pretty little voices. Also, there's a healthy slice of french electro. It seems as Ministry of Sound clocked on to the fact that France is putting out some of the best electro out there right now as they've included songs by Sebastien Tellier, Fred Falke and other artists producing that retro, disco sound. Of course, if you don't like this kind of stuff (shame on you), there's tracks by Amy Winehouse, Feist and many more.

Anyway, below are some of the highlights of the album. Unfortunately, using the word 'highlights' makes it seem as if the compilation also comes with lowlights. This is not true. If someone gave me a metaphorical highlighter I would probably metaphorically highlight every track on it... ...

Back to the music:

Fred Falke - 9:09 PM At the Beach
The french house producer's become notorious for putting out some hot remixes recently. Here's one of his original tracks. There must be a song similar to this in Napolean Dynamite because every time this kicks in I picture him dancing with that girl in the disco.

Bag Raiders - Shooting stars
That tightly-wound retro synth riff may annoy you at first but it's infectuous and it'll stick in your head. Complete with looser, airy synths and cheesy vocals making it sound like a euphoric beat straight out of the '70s.

Lisa Mitchell - Neopolitan Dreams
Dreamy french disco aside, Lisa Mitchell is one of those mega-innocent, mega-cute sounding girls who should definetely feature on one of those trendy mobile phone adverts. You'll know exactly what I mean when you listen to this. It's unbelievably twee and I'm reluctant to call it a guilty pleasure because it's just a really lovely song.

The album is all mixed so apologies for other songs popping in at the beginning/end of the above. I hope you'll appreciate these tunes nevertheless.

This song is not on the chillout mix but both artists feature on it and I feel that's a good enough reason to unleash this super cool track upon you. Listen to it - you'll be flying down sunset boulevard in a a retro pink convertible with your aviators in no time:

Sebastien Tellier - Kilometer (Aeroplane Italo '84 Remix)

Female Vocalists II

Another Sunday, another post about girls crooning into their microphones, and I don't mean that in a bad way. No siree.

Recently, in an attempt to broaden my musical horizons, I've been listening to Natasha Khan (Bat For Lashes) and her passionate, mysterious music as I do my stuff about the house. It's great headphone music for when you're alone. I'm not going to lie - I did prefer the singer/songwriter's debut 'Fur and Gold' to her latest 'Two Suns', which was released earlier this year. To me, it seemed like Fur and Gold just seems more prominent, emotionwise, with tracks such as 'What's A Girl To Do' and 'Horse And I'. I trust you've heard these both as they are absolutely brilliant, as is the track below, which you may not have heard. Oh and just so you know, I still like her latest album, I just prefer the older stuff, but don't let me decide for you.

Bat For Lashes - Tahiti

So, elsewhere, we have:

Regina Spektor - Laughing With

The latest single from quirky vintage lady Regina Spektot's upcoming album 'Far' (expected release on June 23). Somewhat warming - strange considering the lyrics. I guess it's satirical.

Chairlift - Planet Health

You might remember their playful single 'Bruises' from an iPod advert but in this one, singer Caroline Polachek hits us with dreamy vocals on this pretty tune.

Mirah - Generosity

Last but by no means least. I don't know much about Mirah - but what I do know is that this song is beautiful. Similar to Bat For Lashes, but in some ways better.

Friday

Is it me, or does it really not seem like a Friday? I reckon those huge clouds outside have something to do with it. Not that I've got a problem with that or anything, I'm still half-asleep from that kip earlier - you know that sleepy/content feeling?

So yeah, I'm not going to write something long and in-depth because if you're in a similar mood you'd just rather listen to the tunes, which don't really follow any theme in particular, but nothing too raucous. Here's some music which has been popping up on my iTunes more often than not recently:

Miike Snow - Burial (DJ Mehdi Remix)

An uplifting yet laidback track that makes you feel pretty good. Loving the piano and vocals. I haven't heard the original but whatever DJ Mehdi's done to it, he's done it right.

Pilotpriest - Shuffle Bored

Apparently this guy's been floating around for a while but I've only just heard him, and I like. Starts off with lazy, cooing synths and develops into something that wouldn't sound out of place in an obscure '80s kid's tv show. That is.. if they ever played funky electro-pop in '80s kid's tv shows. I could imagine some cool dancing.

Meanwhile, I've been listening to indie duo Matt & Kim's new album 'Grand'. It's brimming with a youthful energy not too dissimilar from Los Campesinos! I recommend it, it's a fun listen - and in the video for 'Lessons Learned', they both get totally naked in Time's Square. Seems as if the whole album has got a zest for life, like the kinda guy that always has an adventurous glint in their eye and a cheeky grin on their face. Here I give you the two single releases off the latest album:

Matt & Kim - Daylight

Matt & Kim - Lessons Learned

That ended up a little longer than I thought it would. Guess I woke up a little.

Bouba

Hello. I hope all your exams are going well, or if you've done your exams then I hope you are enjoying your time off, or if you have not had exams or have any exams coming up then.. I hope you are doing alright too.

Anyway, I'm in a particularly mellow mood tonight - definetely a 'Bouba' mood. I found that word out the other day, it's pretty cool. There's this thing called the 'Bouba/Kiki' effect - basically it proves that humans can attribute certain qualities to certain shapes/sounds/etc. For example, which one of the shapes below would you call Bouba and which would you call Kiki?

It seems pretty obvious and it should be as almost 98% of tested people go for the same choices. It's clever and kinda shows why people use words such as 'smooth' and 'filthy' to describe music.

As you can tell I've got too much spare time on my hands right now - that is the mood I'm in, and that is the feel of the music I've handpicked for you right now:

Yacht - Psychic City
Youthful, and really quite catchy. These guys are playing a free instore gig at Pure Groove in London in July, check it out, these lot are hotly tipped.

Feist - Mushaboom (IAMXL Remix)
IAMXL gives this shoegazey, country-girl tune (featured on some T-Mobile advert I believe) an old-skool touch up.

Lykke Li - Everybody But Me

Cute and playful b-side from the Swedish indie-pop dame Lykke Li, who is currently writing her second album but 'insists it will be a long wait until it is finished for fans to hear.'