It Can Fly.

Busy busy busy. This is why the length between every post getting fairly long, but I'm working on it. All my current toils and troubles will be over soon (I hope). In light of this, today's post will have music so as not to stress you out too much. At least, no 'club bangers' that have been featuring more often than not lately.

Little Dragon - Blinking Pigs
Two parts Lykke Li. One part Santogold. Shake well and strain (it's a simple track) into your glass and you end up with this. That's a recipe for success.

Solid Gold - Matter Of Time
Solid Gold edge towards more of an airy pop song whilst keeping those disco tones in the core of it. This effortless delivery from the london duo will take you away to a kinder, less complicated place. Woo.

Hot Chip - Take It In
Return of the Chip! Their new album 'One Life Stand' will be out February 8th followed by a series of tour dates in the UK so grab your tickets, they'll sell like hot chips (haa). Take It In starts off brooding with gothic, industrial keys but flicks into a clear, crisp anthem that wouldn't sound out of place during the end credits of a movie from the '80s.

Ta, hope you like the tunes.

Woven From Fabric Of Win.

Today is Sunday. I'm sure you've got many better things to be getting along with so I'll keep it snappy. In fact, why don't you stick these on as you're doing whatever you're planning on doing this Sunday?

Saint Etienne - Spring (Air France Remix)
I haven't heard the original, but Air France definetely did a great job. Kicking back with this sublime remix may well make you blissfully happy. Take a deeper look into Air France's material for more dreamy, ambient jams; I highly recommend them.

Captain Planet - Lagos Speedway
I have had this song in my head all week, it's MASSIVELY catchy. As the man says himself, 'It’s a funky Afro-electro dancefloor killer that has been getting really good responses every time I play it'. 'Nuff said.

Joe & Will Ask? - Fabric Of Win

Joe & Will Ask? have dropped their usual sound on this one for a more conventional electro house sound whilst keeping their standard blips and bloops and it's pretty hot. A very, very danceable track with some tasty vocals for you when you really have to sing. Loving the synths and vocal syncopation.

Happy? Niice.

Uh Oh, I Did It Again.

Hello everyone. On the cards today is wonky music. Or two wonky, one electro. Or three electro; it's much easier to call it that. In today's genre-splicing music world in which we live. who has time for labelling it all?

James Pants - Thin Moon
The charming man you see in the picture above is releasing his latest album 'Seven Seals' on Stones Throw Records. You'll be able to get your mits on that December 8th. In short, his music sounds a bit like how he looks. This one's a smooth cosmic jam.

Hudson Mohawke - No One Could Ever
Hudson Mohawke's new album 'Butter' came out October 26th, and, if you're smart, you'll go and check it out. You can really hear the '90s hip-hop influences in this uptempo beat as it blissfully clatters away.

The XX - Crystalised (Rory Phillips Mix)
I'm sure I don't need to explain the original. Just the kinda disco, funkytown business this track needs to fill a floor. More hooks than........ Captain Hook? I can't think of anything witty.

I hope that temporarily satisfies you. Enjoy and support.

I'm A Business Man

I've got two weeks off! This means that I don't want to write that much and you don't want to read that much. There's been a fair amount of hype around these three; you might even say people have been raving about them. Ha ha ha.

But seriously, these three are fairly massive.

Crookers - Business Man (feat. Wiley & Thomas Jules) (Black Noise Means Business Remix)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)

Empire Of The Sun - We Are The People (Sub Focus Remix)

Club Music

Just earlier today, I was watching the charts on some music channels. It occured to me that most of them were made to be played in clubs. It occured to me that I liked this. Has club music always been this big? Maybe I've been living in a hole. Regardless, here is this evening's post, with just a few songs that are quite obviously hand-crafted to be banged out at loud volume for your listening/dancing/skanking pleasure:

Tomb Crew - Western Jam
You've heard the original three hundred times and, although that epic, warbling womp of a drop never seems to get boring, it's always nice for a change. Tomb Crew mix it up a bit, chopping it up and whacking a baltimore beat over the top. Funky stuff.

Cassius - Cassius 99 (Modek's 09 Rechop)

This is one of those songs I have had for a while but never really listened to; it popped up the other day and I was all like SKEEN. But yeah, it's a good old retro stylee choppy disco number. Credit to Parisian dance pioneers Cassius for laying out the incredibly catchy original.

Chromeo - Night by Night (Skream Remix)
You won't notice much of a difference unless you've got some kind of access to sub bass with this one. In the words of Chromeo's Dave 1: “I was confused when I first heard this: all of a sudden, our song sounded like a Bone Thugs record. That’s because I couldn’t hear Skream’s satanic sub-bass on my computer speakers. Then I switched systems and it made perfect sense. Play this loud and you’ll hear all the hypnotic qualities you’d expect from the grand wizard of UK dubstep.”

Well in.

Ed's Banging

You may or may not know that I have a soft spot for anything that is/sounds remotely like french electro (as many others do too, I'm sure). This movement was arguably pioneered by the 'Ed Banger' record label; most signed seem to be living off the fat wads of cash they made during the so-called electro glory days of '06 and '07 as there hasn't been too much activity from the crew lately. I believe Justice are occasionally being borrowed by clubs around the world to do DJ sets for lots and lots of money, chain smoking as they go.

As you can imagine I was mildly excited when I heard of a new video for 'Pop The Glock', the biggest and most well known track from Ed Banger's sexually active rapper chick Uffie. The video itself is.. questionable; a 'quirky' indie/hipster party/jam at Uffie's pad with random motion graphics sequences every here and there. Although it does kinda make me want to hang out with them.

The sheer average-ness of the video doesn't faze me as the song is good fun and it could mean the Ed Banger lot are making a comeback, perhaps not as big as they were in the 'glory days', but these things are cyclical, right?

And the relevant mpthreels:

Uffie - Pop The Glock (SebastiAn Remix)
True to his style, SebastiAn chops up the vocals and serves them back to us over a slower-than-usual, fuzzy, lo-fi beat resulting in this trudging electro jam.

Justice - Phantom Pt. II (Boyz Noise Remix)
I find you can never go wrong with remixe by/of Justice. Boyz Noise gives this banger more of an intense, techno edge, chopping and looping that electro distortion. I like his take on that distinctive string riff.

Donovan - Chord
A staple track for any french electro enthusiasts out there. I don't think there's any part of this that doesn't remind me of the Parisian electro scene. An effortlessly suave delivery from Donovan who is currently touring with Vitalic if you're interested in either of them - I'm sure it'd make for a great gig.

Have a nice day people.

Roundup Of Things I've Been Listening To Lately

Not the most creative title, but whatever, it's to-the point. You know, soon enough I am going to have to start posting one or two songs at a time. This means that my titles will sound a lot cooler and I can make a big point about a track and give you more information about it, unless you don't care and just want the music, which is also possible but tough!

On to today's main feature(s):

Chromeo - I Can't Tell You Why
New Chromeo! The funky electro duo lose none of their Fancy Footwork feel with this smooth track which, to me, sounding like it could have come from the softer side of Daft Punk's backcatalogue. If you don't like it at first, let it rest for a while and give it a listen later on, I guarantee it'll grow on you!

Electric Wire Hustle - They Don't Want
This Mauri outfit's twist on modern hip-hop has got me hooked. Electric Wire Hustle have captured a big city sound with this one that's been pretty scarce in music lately. Be prepared for a large portion of soul food.

Olive - You're Not Alone (Kill Light Remix)
I'm loving the airy, ebbing synths in the intro to this one. It soon develops into a kind of half-wobble bassline where it sounds like it's been chopped up and fed back to you in small doses.. but nowhere near as grimey as you might be imagining it. In fact, it's sounding like a bit of an anthem to me. Especially that chorus. Inspiring.

CRS - US Placers
CRS is composed of Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell Williams and Kanye West. US Placers samples The Eraser by Thom Yorke. Yes, it's as good as it sounds.

I'm very much enjoying these above tracks. I hope you do too.

Happiness

What do you do when you're happy? Do you sit down and think about all the little thing you really appreciate? Do you nod your head to some super smooth beats? Do you dance around the house naked? People express happiness in different ways. Today I am particularly happy as I just banged out some essay I've been putting off for ages and tomorrow it is Friday. Here is some music which may or may not make you feel happy, or maybe you'll listen to it when you're happy and smile.

Kidda - Under The Sun (Hervé's Ain't No Sunshine Remix)
This is the kinda thing you'll hear at a summer dance festival and it is simply euphoric! Everyone around you will take off their tops, put on some shades and grin like fools as they jump up and down to Herve's self-claimed brand of Ghetto Bass.

Filewile - Number One Kid
Or maybe you prefer some oddball, electro hip-hop? Pretty smooth with a bit of wonk to balance it out. May cause you to dance in that ridiculous, quirky, awkward, robotic style that the post-trendy kids are doing.

Cooly G - Love Dub
Even smoother than the aforementioned. Smoother than clouds and marshmellows. This 26 year old lady has been crowned the queen of 'funkstep'; the lovechild of funky house and dubstep. A suitable theme tune for the effortless suave out there.

Salem - Skullcrush
Happy in a very, very niche way. You might be able to extract some weird, melancholy pseudo-happiness/sad-happiness out of this slow, abstract, electro-goth fuzz. I've actually been getting into a bit of Salem lately, but they are very obscure and pretty scary.

And there we have it. 'Til next time!

Sunday Selection

Hey everyone, hope all is well. There's been some good stuff lately but I feel I've had to filter through it as not all of it's postworthy. Maybe it'll grow on me. There's new material from Chromeo and Midnight Juggernauts which will always be worth checking out, 'sides I'm sure it'll hit the airwaves and tv screens soon enough and I have other things to show you.

In the summer, I did an internship at a music publishing company in London. I heard there was this guy, Pete, who was a DJ and had 'the best music taste in the building' - naturally I was curious to meet this person. There was also this guy I saw walking around the offices all the time handing things out to people so I thought he was totally average. Turns out this was Pete, who also produces innovative, atmospheric dubstep (if you have to label it). So, I'm in the record store on Friday afternoon I get given the latest releases, amongst them 'Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo/Wet Look' and I'm told it's one of the best tunes around now. I'm gutted as I worked with him for a month and didn't meet him, but I'm pretty excited about his stuff. Here's the AA side, and I'm finding it hard to describe other than.. avant-garde.

Joy Orbison - Wet Look

So, elsewhere we have:

Fanfarlo - Luna
Not the newest of new tracks, but I like it anyway. Anyone remember Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah? Sounds a little like them mixed with The Magic Numbers. Good fun; I wasn't hot on this song at first but heard it on the Nike Store website the other day and was all like 'ooh, this is pretty cool'.

Bombay Bicycle Club - Magnet
The latest track from BBC's debut 'I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose'. As you would imagine, it's got a very catchy riff and those trademark wavering vocals from the lead singer, Jack. Funnily enough, Jack is also a DJ (and quite a good one, too) and the last minute and a half of this track transforms from teen indie rock to super-chilled-ambient-jam. I'm loving it.

Miike Snow - Black & Blue
Yes! More Miike Snow! This time, the latest single, which has already received the remix treatment from some big names, including Tiga and Caspa, but I'll let you guys find those for yourself. The track's got a cool, effortless energy about it that'll get you nodding your head sooner or later. Glitchy electronic beats mixed with some piano keys and an infectious chorus clearly makes for a damn good song. Good Job Miike Snow.

And we're done for the time being - enjoy the music.

Fresh!

I suppose I didn't really need to specifically title this post 'Fresh!', as (I like to think) most of the stuff I post is pretty fresh; it's like an unwritten law of writing a music blog. Let's get to the exciting bits:

Okay, most notably, in the slow and steady stream of new music releases, Julian Casablancas solo effort has popped up out of nowhere. After 2006's 'First Impressions Of Earth', The Strokes have taken a break until recently, where they've been said to be writing new material. Still, in these past few years there've been solo efforts from the band, including Nickel Eye, Albert Hammond Jr. and Little Joy. Most recently though, frontman Casablancas has stated plans to release his solo album, 'Phrazes For The Young' in the UK on October 19th. They've been keeping the whole thing on the down low but the first single's out and it's sounding very tasty. So, I imagine you've got an image of a classic Strokes riff with maybe a few quirks here and there as a result of Casablancas fine tuning. You're half right. There's the best parts of The Strokes layered with '80s, bold Mr. Hudson style synths. Sounds like REAL pop music to me. Have a listen:

Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension

Get ready for a tour people. Casablancas tells us he wants a 'series of over-the-top Disney style shows'.

In other news, Miike Snow are getting bigger and bigger, mixing, remixing and producing all over the shop. Here's the dark, buzzing, electro pop stomper (that's not a paradox, you'll see) off their forthcoming album 'Black & Blue':

Miike Snow - Plastic Jungle

And another band who I've found out about lately; The Clientele. These psychedelic, dream-popping brits have released many albums before (five, in fact), and their latest one, 'Bonfires on the Heath', promises to be 'denser' than the earlier work. This depth is more than apparent on their swirling, summer kickback of a new track, Harvest Time. 'Bonfires on the Heath' will be released on October 6th.

The Clientele - Harvest Time

And there's your basic round-up of things I've been listening to/things that will be out soon. Enjoy!

Sunday Selection

So, I was thinking nothing too heavy on the ears today. Today is the day of rest. There's no real theme to this one, just a selection of tunes I'm playing more than the others for whatever reason - I'm sure you'll like them too:

Miike Snow - Animal (Mark Ronson Remix)
I've heard swedish indie-pop guys Miike Snow are going to hit it big sooner or later. They've got a pretty good sound going on and Mark Ronson delivers us a reggae version of one of their newer tracks; quite a nostalgic track.

jj - Ecstacy
Now I don't know much about jj, but I think it's supposed to be more about the music than the image. Ecstacy is an amusing little jam with a spaced-out version of the beat from Lil' Wayne's 'lollipop'. Good fun to listen to, and really quite catchy.

The Do - Stay (Just A Little Bit More)

The Do actually have a little slash in the 'o' but that causes so much havoc and I can't really be bothered. This song falls in a category of 'cute' songs with a million others thanks to a girl singing about guys in a quirky fashion over an innocent serving of ukulele with a bit of whistling thrown in for good measure. I find you can never have too many of these.

A Selection Of Electronically Crafted Tunes

So, for the past few days I've been away at Reading Festival. It's made me realise that, although I loved many of the bands there, my musical taste is slowly shifting away from your typical Reading/Leeds Festival bands. I was planning on doing a post on the highlights of the festival, but I'm sure you would have heard half the content or even been there to see it yourself. In light of that, here's a few Not-So-Reading-Festival tracks that I've been all over lately:

Boys Noize - Ja!
A fairly new track from the Berlin-based techno pioneers. It's a lot smoother round the edges compared to their older material and you'll get more of an emotive feel than their previous electro distortion.

Joakim - Spiders
Joakim now performs as 'Joakim & The Disco' as his live band. Spiders is a mix of effortless synth work with some chanting vocals. I found it to be a bit of a grower - just wait for that guitar riff to come in; you'll appreciate more every time.

Instra:mental - Watching You
Watching You is Instra:mental's own IDM/Glitch flavour of Drum and Bass with those unique vocals, courtesy of d-Bridge. A particularly original track; so much so that I'm finding it hard to describe the feel even as I'm listening to it now - I guess you'll just have to listen to it yourself.

Flying Lotus - Tea Leaf Dancers
There's a load of critical acclaim surrounding Flying Lotus, but not the kind that sends musicians so commercial that they can't top the hype. Perhaps it's because he's crafted quite a niche brand of fuzzed out, wonky, hip-hop influenced electronic which I'm in love with right now. Tea Leaf Dancers mixes a slow, sleepy drum beat with ghostly, ebbing vocals and synths - beautiful and very, very cool.

This track also comes with a great video, which is what I think first caused me to check FlyLo out. Apologies for the quality, it was the only real video on YouTube:

Maybe some of the chaps above will play at Reading Festival in the future, but I think I'll check out Creamfields or Bestival next year.

Nostalgia

Here at So Culture, we love anything that has a remotely '80s disco style vibe which makes up a huge portion of the current Parisian music scene. Of course, when I say 'we', I mean 'I'. The revival of this sound has come in many different shapes and sizes, influencing a sizeable portion of today's musicians. On a broader scale, it's not hard to notice that electro has snuck it's way into the charts through the likes of Lady GaGa and Kanye West, who have taken a leaf out of this scene. For example, Kanye clearly soaked up a lot of french touch as his career progressed; videos directed by french elecro label Ed Banger's So Me, his track with Daft Punk and the electronic production heard on 808's & Heartbreak. Lady GaGa uses vintage synths more often than not and this is one of reason's I think she's become so successful; everyone's loving that sound. This post is about that sound in a more unadulterated form than from what you might hear on the charts.

Washed Out - Feel It All Around
This is one nostalgic, lo-fi heat haze of a disco dreamwave track. If this song were a day, it would be incredibly hot and humid. You'd be sleepily staring out the window in the back of a camper van as it rattles along a dusty, rural road.

Data - Aerius Light (Breakbot Remix)
Although Breakbot is not the most well-known, for me, he is a definitive character of the french touch scene. Because of this, it's no surprise that the label belonging to Busy P (otherwise known as Pedro Winter), 'Ed Banger', scouted out Breakbot and signed him. His music encompasses all of that which I associate with that retro funky electro sound; highly processed drums, old-school synths and catchy bass hooks with an all round choppy finish. This french electro remix of a french electro track is, unsurprisingly, no exception.

Delorean - Deli
Delorean craft -real- pop music. Deli captures a true holiday, summer-nights disco vibe with a guitar sound that's been missing in great pop music for the past 20 years.

Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (Yuksek Edit)
I think of Yuksek in a very similar way as Breakbot, especially his choice to take on this track which has reached legendary status in the world of the electro hipster. A modest but probably more accurate decision to label this rework as an edit as opposed remix, Yuksek gives that track a little more french electro oomph than before.

Also, I feel obliged to post the new Friendly Fires track as I now have a decent version of it - it's not live and it's not a radio rip! So in all it's tropical, tribal, shimmering and euphoric glory, I give you the indie electro pioneers' latest track:

Friendly Fires - Kiss Of Life

Although this isn't too closely related to the rest of today's post, if it was any better, it could send you into an epic disco seizure. That's also pretty fun I guess. Besides, Friendly Fires said themselves one day they're gonna live in Paris.

Ahh it feels good to get a post in that isn't all over the place and has some kind of direction. I hope you enjoyed reading.

New Metronomy & More Calvin Harris

'What's that? A new Metronomy EP, fabulous!' I hear you say, and quite right too. I like it. A lot. Their new sound differs slightly from that of their previous music and you'd expect that, not only because a band's sound should develop and mature, but because they've got a new band line up with one of the old members leaving. However, this transition's a gentle one, and fans of their off-kilter electro-pop before this EP won't be disappointed either. Production on the new EP sounds smoother than their older material; the oddball synths remain yet these tracks are now laced with futuristic, more subtle notes which I could imagine going well with staring at a starry night sky. Take a listen to two of the tracks off it below and I don't doubt you'll get a similar vibe:

Metronomy - Do The Right Thing

Metronomy - Not Made For Love



And of course, unless you've been living in a cave recently, you will have heard about Calvin Harris' latest album, 'Ready For The Weekend' hitting the shelves today. As is the case with many albums, it had already leaked onto the interwebs anyway so you may have heard some/all of it already. If not, well, you're in for a treat. I wasn't such a fan of his debut LP but from what I've heard of the Scotsman's sophomore effort makes me think it's something special. Calvin Harris effortlessly blends retro and modern styles for what seems to be eclectic, eccentric, electric second album that packs a whole lot of funk:

Calvin Harris - Stars Come Out

Calvin Harris - The Rain

And today we end on a fairly amusing note with Calvin Harris performing his single 'Ready For The Weekend' using ladies in lingerie covered in paint. Hmmm.

Sometimes I Feel Like Throwing My Hands Up In The Air

Let's skip the introduction and get straight to the meat again:

Pixie Lott - Mama Do (Linus Loves Radio Edit)
Soul siren Pixie Lott's hit Mama Do get's a club thump to it thanks to the likes of Linus. Really quite a talented edit - seems like more of an original than a remix. Abundance of catchy vocals and all manners of jittering, burbling electronic synths (this is a good thing).

Crystal Fighters - Xtatic Truth (Xtra Loud Mix)
This one featured on Kitsune 7, which I did a post on a while ago. You'd be hard pressed in an attempt to label this band yet this makes the track that whole lot fresher - it's great to hear something new, isn't it? Featuring jingling strings, crescendoing static synths and near-dark 8-bit-esque bass.

Florence & The Machine - Raise It Up (Jamie T's Lionheart Remix)

Jamie T's take removes some of the grandeur of the original but makes it up with an enchanting little sequence that sounds a little like an antique music box repeating itself. Overall, we've got a tune that's a little more driving than the original; a fairly simple yet effective edit.

Bonus Track:

Florence & The Machine - You Got The Love
If you haven't heart this, you're missing out. Miss Florence Welch's euphoric cover of Candi Station's hit boasts her emotive vocals amongst some great percussion, harp flicks and more. Very uplifting.

And that's a wrap! See you next post.

Lick The Fake Blood From Your Fingerrrr

I've been so busy lately so I won't be posting so frequently. Apologies but there's just too much to keep up with!

So, as I mentioned in my last post, Calvin Harris's new single 'Ready For The Weekend' (which I most certainly am now) received the remix treatment -already- from two pretty damn big names in club music - Fake Blood, who's identity was shrouded in mystery last time I heard, has he revealed it yet?.. and High Contrast, who has curly hair.

Calvin Harris - Ready For The Weekend (Fake Blood Remix)
Okay so, in my opinion, this one's the better of the two. It's just so much fun! Not a hell of a lot of the original has been kept in this remix mind you; sorry to disappoint if that's what you were hoping for. Some elements of the track remain but it seems almost as if it belongs to Fake Blood with Calvin Harris co-starring to raise the hype. You know what I mean? Sort of like when someone whacks a 'Where's my money?' into a song totally unnecessarily. Anyway, if you like thumping drums and bouncing bass, this is your thing. Oh and there's a cheeky little 'hands-in-the-air' trancey piano breakdown which everyone always loves, no matter how cheesy they get :) All in all, a very uplifting track.

Calvin Harris - Ready For The Weekend (High Contrast Remix)
After all my praise of Fake Blood's rendition, you might not be expecting this to be much good. It's still pretty good. At first, it seems as if we've lost the good times vibe of the original with the intro and the weird vocal tweaks but we're reassured as soon as the piano kicks in after being teased with that drum beat surfacing out of the depths. The first half of the track, in my opinion, is fairly mediocre. However, you'll (quite obviously) notice that halfway through, the driving bassline drops again and gathers a lot of more power. I found the momentum of this was satisfying enough to take me through the rest of the song without any qualms. Enjoyable.

Bonus Track:

Discovery - Osaka Loop Line

Introducing Discovery - one half is the keyboardist of Vampire Weekend, Rostam Batmanglij, the other being the lead singer of Ra Ra Riot, Wes Miles. Together, they make synth-abundant electro pop. Osaka Loop Line is my favourite off their new LP. We start off with deep, booming (yet not aggressive) synths with a dreamier, playful layer swirling about the track. Pair this with the sing-song vocals of Wes Miles and you've got a very addictive listen. Eventually, we progress into a glitchy breakdown and a melancholy conglomeration of various sounds to finish.

Wonderful, enjoy all your summers.

Kid British, Mr Hudson & Calvin Hazbags

Afternoon. You may have noticed there's been a fair amount of commercial music in my last few posts. It's not because I'm getting too lazy to search for the most indie-est bands on the globe, it's simply because there's been a stream of new releases, and now you will experience the audiovisual delights of a few of them below:



Kid British - Our House Is Dadless
Manchester-based hip-hop group Kid British's new single has a most british air about it, unsurprisingly. It's a good-times, sing-a-long tune partly due to the sampling of Madness but also because of the light-hearted, humourous verses. I'm not sure about you guys, but the video took me on a trip down memory lane when life was simpler. How nice was it to wake up on a saturday morning without bleary eyes and a headache? Just flicking on SM:TV live and eating a bowl of coco pops?



Calvin Harris - Ready For The Weekend
The scotsman's second release off the upcoming album (named 'Ready For The Weekend', incidentally) is a good few steps away from the club feel of 'I'm Not Alone' and for some it takes a while to get used to. The track's got a definitive air about it - it might be a bit too forward to call it the definitive pop sound of 2009, but it seems like a contender, what with most of pop being based around electronic equipment now.

If you were hoping for something to match the energy of 'I'm Not Alone', keep your eyes and ears peeled for remixes from Fake Blood and High Contrast, which I would post but I could only find radio rips. I'm always reluctant to post radio rips, they just seem so sloppy and corny when you've got a DJ talking about his mad night out when this beat got dropped and the club went mental; you understand what I'm getting at, I'll stop before this turns into a rant.

Mr. Hudson - Everything Is Broken (feat. Kid Cudi)
Mr. Hudson's second album, 'Straight, No Chaser' is out October 5th this year with executive production from Kanye West. The album aims to be less ornate and more direct, which is more than apparent in this track. We've got no intricate, fiddly little layers of anything and Mr. Hudson's vocal and instrumental style on this number lets us know that he understands the importance of simplicity. As he rightly explains about the album, "It's not trying to reinvent the wheel. It's straight, no chaser."

New New New! Lupe Fiasco! Wale! Dizzee Rascal!

Lately, there's been a lot of good music coming from the rap region of the musical spectrum. That's enough of an introduction today, it's too humid outside for small talk.

Lupe Fiasco - Shining Down (feat. Matthew Santos)

Lupe's hailed as one of the most intelligent lyricists in the game right now and it's more than apparent on this track from his 3rd studio release, 'We Are Lasers', due for release just after Christmas this year. That riff and those strings aim to hit deep; take a listen and decide for yourself.

Wale - New Soul (feat. Yael Naim)

You remember New Soul right? Well, if you don't, it's another cutesy, twee song used on a MacBook Air advert. Up and coming hipster hop man Wale dishes us a piping hot batch of clever, sentimental lyrics over an edit of the original. Absolutely loving the choir samples in the background. On second thoughts, scrap 'up and coming', Wale's already here.

Dizzee Rascal - Holiday (feat. Calvin Harris & Chrome)

This here is BIG. Chart topper material, but you'd expect that with this lot teaming up (Dance Wiv Me, anyone?) although we hear Calvin Harris' production's which has now matured into those trancey synths as with 'I'm Not Alone'. Even though 'Bonkers' is still all over the airwaves, Dizzee slings out his latest track just in time for the summer and it does not disappoint. 'Holiday' shouts SUMMER louder than anything I've heard in a good while. Oh and sorry but it's a radio rip - best I could get at the moment.

Anybody else excited for the summer now?

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.