Single Review: Wasted My Time - Superpowerless

Superpowerless is 20 year old Oliver Hindle from Leeds and Wasted My Time comes as the winning track from Vodafone's Fast Track competition. Oliver himself describes Superpowerless' sound as "Game Boy-fueled adventure-core" and based on Chiptune debut single 'Wasted My Time' the influence is clear.

Inspired by the Postal Service to get into electronic music and subsequently Depeche Mode and .Adult amongst others the influences are pretty clear with 'Wasted My Time' coming across with the sweet 16 bit pop of the Jimmy Tamborello / Ben Gibbard side project but with a dash of tongue in cheek darkness.

The result, now re-recorded with producer and DJ Andy Chatterly (who has worked with Kanye West in the past, notably on 'Stronger') is quite enjoyable and features a new video directed by Luc Janin that draws on the videogame theme.

'Wasted My Time' is out on Vodafone Live on 23 March 2009 and Superpowerless play live on 24 March at the Old Blue Last in Shoreditch, London.

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Single Review: In For The Kill - La Roux

La Roux rose to fame recently following the appearance of the catchy 'Quicksand' on Kitsuné Maison Compilation 6 and since then they have been garnering significant attention, both of the blogger and mainstream variety.

Now on a major label (Polydor, part of Universal), 'In For The Kill' is the follow up to 'Quicksand' and, if we are brutally honest, it's kind of more of the same. It has the same simple Casio keyboard meets garage-beat sound only with a slightly catchier chorus. BlackPlastic hates to say it but the recent adulation heaped on this band smacks of a certain emperor's affection for nudey outfits in public... And yet they even seem to have made it onto the daytime radio playlists. An album full of this doesn't exactly excite.

What is worth checking out though is what Skream have done here on their 'Let's Get Ravey' mix. Giving the whole thing a dub-step rework gives that vocal more room to breath (even if the sound quality on said vocal seems off, at least on BlackPlastic's iTunes download) but what really takes this mix to the next level is the drum 'n' bass break that hits at the end. It's pure romanticism, a love letter to early nineties rave.

Available at Amazon.co.uk on CD or MP3

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Album Review: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix

In which Phoenix get a promotion from 'band BlackPlastic quite digs' to 'one of the most heart-warming band BlackPlastic knows', Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix feels like being 19 and on the verge of something great. It has the same yearning and neediness of fellow French band the Teenagers, just sans the selfishness and the irony. The result is an album that sounds like every night is prom-night and the best day of your life might (just might) be around the corner.

Where previous Phoenix albums maybe lacked a little cohesiveness Wolfgang... confidently delivers, with one sexy, polished, funky feeling running the full course of the album. It never strays as far as (the admittedly great, if slightly bonkers) 'Funky Squaredance' did on United and the result is a classic case of focus trumping variety - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix isn't trying to be a jack of all trades, it's busy enough being the best technicolor-disco-punk-funk album in years.

Which is not to say there is no variety - we've already discussed how great '1901' is but it's worth pointing out that 'Love Like a Sunset' is, in contrast, a beautifully slow-burning Balearic trip, a feeling that builds until it takes over. 'Lasso' is another contrast - blunt like the love you can't keep secret: effervescent and unstable and infectious and totally irresistible.

Phoenix have undoubtebly made the best album of their career so far. It's so damn enthusiastic it would be churlish to ignore it.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is out on 25 May 2009.

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Album Review: FabricLive 45 - Various mixed by A-Trak

After making his name winning the world DMC mixing chanpionships and then as Kanye West's tour DJ A-Trak has gradually taken a sideways step towards a much more dance orientated sound. FabricLive 45 reflects that, taking the eclecticism of Hip-Hop (and Turntabilism more specifically) an applying it to what is largely a house set.

The results are pretty solid, if not necessarily innovative. Except for a handful of through backs most of the tunes themselves are pretty current and generally good, with the notable exception of the auto-tuned 'I'm The Ish' by DJ Class which makes Kanye's last album look like Sign o' The Times it's so shit (appropriate given the lyrics) - not even good in an ironic sense.

Predictably Zombie Nation, Alex Gopher and Metronomy, whose 'Heartbreaker' gets a spooky remix courtesy of Diskjokke (when did that name ever sound like a good idea?), all deliver the goods. With a mix between the squealling electro Zombie Nation have become known for together with more straight up house (the lush Aeroplane mix of Friendly Fires' 'Paris') the result is a suitably varied set.

The main criticism of FabricLive 45 would have to be that such variation ends up in a set that could simply do with a little more direction. It represents a good snapshot of 'now' but is unlikely to keep you coming back in years to come. What's more, given that this is a set from a World DMC Champion the mixing is functional over mind-blowing: this isn't to say it's bad, just that it isn't a noticeable as one might expect.

Overall a solid mix, just don't expect a revolution.

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Album Review: It's Blitz! - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Some bands just seem to get it right - they don't fail to hit the mark on their first album despite an over-hyped début EP, they don't choke on album number two and they always manage to develop just enough to keep things interesting but not so much so as to lose what made them great.

Rush released following a leak online and some pesky pirates doing their thing (how does this stuff still catch labels off-guard?) the Yeah Yeah Yeahs return with their third album, out now on MP3 and at the beginning of April on CD.

Back with David Sitek on production duties, It's Blitz! manages to push the envelope in the right way. There is without doubt a development of the sound - things are, on the whole, a little softer and a touch more electronic - but it is the contrast that shines. The strings and delicate piano of 'Runaway' into the snappy funk of 'Dragon Queen'. The reveal of 'Dull Life' where Karen O. removes the mask and lets the anger shine and the beautifully tender 'Skeletons' with it's subtle wandering electronic melodies. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have never struggled to deliver truly astounding ballads (just revisit 'Maps') and there are several here.

It's Blitz is a short album yet it packs in all the ideas and ambition you would expect for a band that have left three years since their last full release. From the opening 'Zero', one of the best album openers in years, the quality doesn't let up. Yeah Yeah Yeahs have done it again.

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