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.

M83 - Lower Your Eyelids To Die With The Sun

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!

Thursday Selection

Pretty much the same dealio as Sunday - there's nothing of particular interest that I wish to share to you. Kanye West makes a fool of himself.. Obama calls Kanye a jackass.. all in a week's work I suppose. Speaking of 'Ye, his new album will be called 'Good Ass Job', and I think he's dropped the autotune! Yay!

So, as I say, not much music news that I'm interested in. Here's some stuff I've been listening to as of late:

Jamie T - Chaka Demus (Toddla T Remix)
Not so much a remix as an edit. Nevertheless, Toddla T (that name is really cringy) delivers a pretty cool edit - keeps that jokey tone captured by the vocals whilst giving it some depth by messing around with the instrumental area.

Sleeping States - Gardens Of The South
So, I don't know much about Sleeping States other than they come from Bristol, and their new album, In The Gardens Of The North (thats right North), has received some critical acclaim worth checking them out over. This is slow, rolling indie folk with vocals smoother than butter.

Modest Mouse - Guilty Cocker Spaniel
Last but not least, I've got a track from Modest Mouse's latest EP: No One's First And Your Next. It's worth a listen, trust me :) This track's got an upbeat, zesty vibe until it progresses into some noisy cacophony near the end, whilst we've got some catchy riffwork the whole way through. A return to form, one might say.

Oh, and there's a song named King Rat that's been around for a while but Modest Mouse have put it on the EP. This video was directed by the late, great Heath Ledger and it's got a clever little message behind it. Check it out below:

That's all for today; hope you have lovely weekends.