Apparently Seasfire have been compared to the Weeknd. Based on the track 'Falling' I can sort of see why, although they feel like a very different beast - much more subtle and without the same overt lewdness to the lyrics. This also feels much more like an evolution of dubstep (specifically a continuation of the James Blake take on it) than R&B.
Anyway - it's a lovely little track with lots of atmosphere and some lovely crunchy synth overlays. Check it out. You can hear more over at Seasfire's Soundcloud page.
Pool's 'Game Over' is a tribute to video games. You don't get enough of those in music in my opinion - who needs love when you've got a 20-hour-a-week Skyrim habit? Of course there could e some sort of clever analogue to love or getting drunk or something going on here but I'm going to plump for the assumption that this Hamburg three-piece just really dig their Donkey Kong.
It's a pretty awesomely catchy-pop record with a lovely bounce to the bass line and a slightly scratchy guitar rhythm. It also sounds quite a bit like Alphabetical-era Phoenix which basically means rather good.
'Don't Say My Name' is similar in style, if ever so slightly less infectious. The rhythm here is tight and fast, the overall feel being a great mixture of a live sound combined with a strong production.
The single also comes with two remixes, one of each track. Solomun takes the vocals from 'Game Over' and puts it on the top of a funky, loose proto-house bass line - either element is fine on it's own but the vocal and the melody just don't really gel for me. Stimming's remix of 'Don't Say My Name' is much better, reigning the track back into a disco-influenced dub that leaves behind almost all of the vocal.
Worth a listen. We like bookish indie euro kids.
Check out a previews of all four tracks below (the order is the original of 'Don't Say My Name', the Stimming mix, the original or 'Game Over' and then the Solomun mix):
BP x
Game Over is out on 2DIY4 on 30 January, you can order it now on Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [afffiliate link].
The world seems to have gone a bit R&B crazy recently, with indie kids swooning over the Weeknd's rich, slow and dark production style and warts and all lyrical style. I've never been much of a fan of the genre aside from the odd track with particularly robotic production (Aaliyah's 'Try Again', Brandy's 'What About Us?’) but something is definitely happening. Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy totally changed my perception of what he was capable of as an artist, the confessional lyrics laced with self-loathing made the album an uncomfortable one to listen to. It's a style Drake seems to have been running with - his last album Take Care is full of moody, slow tracks and his staggering hashtag-styled continuous rap bursts.
Ghost Mutt may not be caught up in the same rat hole of self-doubt as all of the above but Sweat Mode nevertheless points a way forward for R&B. This is a very brief EP at just 12 minutes but it features four short jams that play up the best thing about modern R&B: there's no need to hurry. These songs may be short but they aren't fast - you've just got four sensual workouts that meld vocal snatches with echoing bass and space. It's feels like a natural meeting point between electro, dub-step and R&B and I can't help but feel impressed.
Stream it above - it is definitely worth checking out and available as a pay what you want download from Donky Pitch (in other words free if you are tight).
I was a big fan of Sons & Daughters' Mirror! Mirror! album that came out last year and the band have just followed it up with their second batch of remixes, this time focused on 'Orion' (Optimo and Andy Blake have already had a go at 'Silver Spell').
Have a listen in the player above. The Wrong Island mix is pretty decent, spacey and a bit spooky with a massive synth build whilst the Umberto mix is unfortunately pretty forgettable. It's the Emporer Machine mix you should really check out though. Emporer Machine is actually Andy Meecham, one half of the under-rated Chicken Lips, and this mix really takes the original to another level - it retains the same aggresiveness but cuts it through with bubbling electronic bass. It's pretty special and frankly a lesson in good remixing, probably adding as much detail and effort as the original recording.
BP x
The Orion Remixes package is released on Domino on 20 February, you can pre-order is on 12" from Amazon.co.uk here [affiliate link].
Inevitably the end of year lists always uncover a few gems you'd some how missed and for 2011 it would appear that for me that gem was Machinedrum's Room(s). I'd not even heard of Machinedrum, or Travis Stewart to give him his proper name, before about a month ago but it would appear he is rather prolific. He has actually appeared twice on a number of 'best of 2011' lists as his other album release of the the year, as one half of Sepalcure, has also got a lot of love (I'm yet to get to it).
On first listen Room(s) reminded me of the spooky urban decay of Burial meets the experimental electronics of Gold Panda but after a few more listens and a bit more time it's clear there is much more going on here. To me Burial's music always felt a bit too much like a one trick pony - the chilling vocal samples and skittering garage beats were a great depiction of the darker side of urban sprawl but they feel very one-dimensional, oddly detracted from the alternative that is the abundance of human life and the warmth of the city.
Room(s) feels like a full representation of city life. It has moments of isolation, contemplation and melancholy but also takes in parties and people and life. 'She Died There' is dark and brooding but 'Come1' starts pure Chicago house, laced with soulful keys and 'Funky Drummer' vocal snatches, before disintegrating like a move to the exit via the cloakroom - the music becoming fainter and gentler. This is an album of genres being smashed together and manipulated to make something new, yet everything feels right. It's one album, every track here sounds like Machinedrum and yet they take in house, soul, electro, techno, dubstep...
Some albums sound like their time whilst some sound like the future. Somehow Room(s) feels like both - it's unmistakably now, but it also feels like a way forward.
BP x
Room(s) is out now, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].
Check out the Guardian's awesome classic interview with Van Halen's David Lee Roth, author of possibly the most insightful auto-biography I've ever read. Sample excerpt from the Guardian piece:
Van Halen won their first record contract in 1977, at a concert in Anaheim Stadium, when four hirsute figures – one with Roth’s flowing blonde mane – floated gently into the stadium by parachute. Van Halen were hiding in a van, dressed in parachute suits, and took the stage moments later. As a professional gambit, it set a certain tone which they have followed assiduously ever since. The stipulation in their performance contract that the promoter remove all brown Smarties in the bowl in their dressing-room (to ensure he has read the contract properly); Roth’s two black-belt midget bodyguards – such things, he suggests, are imperative for “overall ambience”.
Frankly if you aren't viewing your life as a circus show you probably aren't any good at being a rock star.
I've been wanting to have a site refresh and redesign for a while now and was feeling inspired last night and this morning (to the point I couldn't sleep) and the result is what you see before you now. The old design had become very tired in my eyes, probably due to me looking at it for about four years or something, and was largely tied to a template so I've thrown it out and started again.
It's a new year and so what better a time to make a fresh start. I've focused on reducing the dark heavy feeling of the site to make something that is much lighter and hopefully more enjoyable to read. The move away from a graphical masthead also means it's easier to tweak styles without it becoming a massive ordeal.
You may also notice the pink has gone - there is still some in the customised Soundcloud and YouTube embeds that have been posted in the past but the site's colours moving forwards will be mainly focused on whites and greys with the blue highlight used in the masthead.
I welcome comments - tell me if you like it, hate it or notice anything that you think could be improved.
Thanks for reading the blog over the years and here's to the future!
Let's kick of 2012 with some nice filtered French touch in the form of Yorkshireman Étranger's heady remix of 'I Must Be A Lover' by Guillemots. It has a lush little intro and a gorgeous disco chorus - listen and download below:
'I Must Be A Lover' is taken from the Guillemots' album Walk The River.
At the end of every year I tend to spend a bit of time contemplating how to suitably wrap things up. Sometimes it's a single post that just lists things that were particularly note-worthy, other years I have been much more formal and had a collection of top five lists. This year I feel like running with something a bit more free form so here is a list of my favourite songs from this year.
There are too many songs here to say something about all of them. I'll go into a bit of detail on a selection of the ones that meant the most to me and that will make the post long enough as it is. There is also a Spotify playlist that pulls all of these together to make it as easy as possible to have a listen. Nothing here is ordered based on 'best' - the playlist and this list were built to flow as well as is possible with such a diverse selection of music. Having said which, there was one song that stuck out for me more than any other this year... Read on to find out which...
'I Don't Want Love' - The Antlers The opening track from The Antlers' Burst Apart was a contender for song of the year for me. It's a beautifully exposed and fragile track and the decision to stick such a piece at the start of an album still amazes me because it is so easy to miss just how staggering it is. There aren't many bands that come close to Thom Yorke's brand of experimental melancholy, but The Antlers come close.
'Collapse' - Iceage Iceage's debut album was the kind of brash, rapid fire album that really encourages repeat listening, but it was the discordant melodies of 'Collapse' that I always longed for more of. This most surprising thing is how much is crammed into a two-minute record, from the frictional intro of the guitar to the closing bars at the end.
'Vomit' - Girls Girls' second album saw them continue to expand their sound but nothing on that album came close to the gospel ambition of this needy and emotional indie cut.
'I Can See Through You' - The Horrors
'Montana' - Youth Lagoon
'Come To The City' - The War On Drugs I said it all on the review last week but golly, does this flick my switches. It's difficult to judge something so close to a first listen but I'm confident that 'Come To The City' will stick out for years to come. The sound of a hand reaching out to pull you from the quick sand - an emotive wall of sound.
'Ice Cream' - Battles feat. Matias Aguayo When I saw Battles at Glastonbury the mechanical precision and strength of drummer John Stanier blew me away: this dude kicked the fucking doors off. Matias' vocals and percussion just took things to another level - this is math rock on spring break: sexy, wild and completely in control.
'Video Games' - Lana Del Rey Is she for real or faking? That question seemed to rumble around for months and yet everyone seems to have forgotten that real pop music is just a show anyway. I don't need to know her real name - Lana stole my heart as she laid a smack across my cheek with the line "It's you, it's you, it's all for you... Everything I do...". Sometimes popular music is best left with some mystery.
'Space Is Only Noise If You Can See' - Nicolas Jaar Still Jaar's best record and 2011’s most unhinged vocal by far. Try as you might, this makes no sense but the space groove bass line and wonky lyrics made Nicolas Jaar one of our most exciting producers. The fact that he hasn't felt the need to do anything even remotely similar since only compounds the magnificence of it. Grab a calculator and fix yourself.
'Stay' - Gunnar Bjerk
'What I've Lost' - Benoit & Sergio Everything Benoit & Sergio released this year was fantastic, but nothing came close to this track from side two of the Boy Trouble EP, a contemplative late night road trip through the old haunts with a new (potential) lover. If people ever tell you electronic music has no soul then play them this - a track full of heart and pain and a crucial hint of hopeful yearning.
'Lonely Days (Drop Out Orchestra Vocal Remix)' - Mario Basanov Mario's original was good but this shimmering sun baked disco remix is truly great. It's strength is that it simply hits that summery Ballearic vibe better than any other seven-minutes of music I heard this year. Throw in some excellent guitar work (more guitar solos on disco please!) and you've got something very vey good indeed.
'Basement L.O.V.E.' - Motor City Drum Ensemble MCDE's DJ Kicks blew every other mix CD released this year out of the water with it's fantastic mixture of soulful jazz and subterranean house music for the heads. This separate remix of the 'L.O.V.E.' cut released on that mix as an exclusive is a brilliant taster for that mix even if doesn't actually appear on it. Loose and airy, it feels like a slowed down summer's day spent dancing on Mediterranean tiles after a night with no sleep.
'Far Nearer' - Jamie xx 2010 saw the xx break into the mainstream but in 2011 Jamie proved the best is yet to come. As good as the xx's debut record is, in my opinion it can't hold a candle to this solo track. Sounds like Paul Simon kicking back on a dubstep rumbling tropical island; this is Kia Ora, Five Alive and Rubicon rolled into one.
'Banana Ripple' - Junior Boys As if Mario Basanov and Jamie's 'Far Nearer' weren't enough sun... 'Banana Ripple' easily takes my vote for song of the year. This unashamed summer disco dance track caps off an album of angst-ridden self-reflective electronic pop on It's All True like a glorious and carefree butterfly emerging from a self-absorbed chrysalis. 'Banana Ripple' is a song of three acts where each one is more fantastic than the last. The Hammond organ peaking towards the end never fails to give me goose bumps, and that is what music is about.
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 10:13AM 
My Hero: DLR
Check out the Guardian's awesome classic interview with Van Halen's David Lee Roth, author of possibly the most insightful auto-biography I've ever read. Sample excerpt from the Guardian piece:
Frankly if you aren't viewing your life as a circus show you probably aren't any good at being a rock star.
BP x