EP Review: Flash Of Light - Luca C & Brigante feat. Róisín Murphy

​It is hard not to have a big wobbly soft-spot for Róisín Murphy. She has been responsible for a number of great records over the years, both as part of Moloko and on her own, particularly excellent solo album Overpowered. A collaboration with Luca C & Brigante then was always going to be at least worth a listen, particularly on the back of the duo's recent run of EPs, a run which includes the brilliant Ali Love featuring 'Different Morals'.

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​Flash Of Light - Luca C & Brigante feat. Róisín Murphy

Murphy was apparently drawn to a collaboration after hearing Luca C & Brigante's production work, noting it's apocalyptic feeling, stating it was "as if I was listening to the sound of a party at the end of world". And it is that theme - of dancing through to the end, having one last chance to say goodbye - that this collaboration is based on.

The fact that the lyrics were inspired by the feeling Murphy took from hearing Luca C & Brigante's other productions shows. The atmosphere of this track, with its gentle, attentively programmed bass and fragile melody perfectly compliment the vocal. This is a record with heart and feeling running through its seam - it is typical of Róisín and she highlights the capabilities of her collaborators.

Diynamic label boss Solomun nudges things in a slightly deeper direction, layering some synth work and vocal edits to create a tasteful alternative version. Tale Of Us & Mind Against team up to make a harsher, tech-heavy version but it is unfortunately unsuccessful, lacking the sophistication of the original. The final remix comes courtesy of Blond:ish and is similarly tech-influenced and ultimately similarly unnecessary. Still, stick to the original and Solomun's versions and this is a package well worth grabbing.

​Flash Of Light is released through Southern Fried on 22 October, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on 12" and MP3 [affiliate links].

Check out a preview of the Solomun mix below:

EP Review: Neon EP - H.O.S.H.

​This latest EP from Diynamic comes on the back of a successful season in Ibiza this summer in the form of their Neon Night events. With that in mind it packs the Neon edge and kind of sugar-rush electronic disco you would expect.

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​Neon EP - H.O.S.H.

Opening track 'No-One' features Malonda on guest vocals and is a soulful workout of bumping bass and clattering synths, the vocals are so-so however - well delivered but paper-thin.

The other remaining original track here is what really justifies this release a place on these pages those. 'Woohoo' is a pulsating slab of irresistible funk. Low-end melodies and lots of reverb meet a falsetto vocal duet from Ost & Kjex. A warm juggernaut of a synth rumbles pleasantly through your guts before Ost & Kjex's slightly cheesy but infectious "Oooh, wee-ohhhh" chorus.

Two dubs feature on side two - the vocal-less version of 'No-One' out-shining the original while 'Woohoo' retains a considerable chunk of the vocal and therefore exhibits little change.

It's electronic pop more than anything, but sometimes you have to respect some well-done pop music.

Neon EP is released on Monday but you can grab it now on MP3 from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link]. Check out a preview of 'Woohoo' below:​

EP Review / Download: Shell - Ursa Minor (Little Bear)

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​Shell - Ursa Minor (Bear)

​Ursa Minor's new EP opens with the warm and featherlight title track 'Shell'. It's a dreamlike pop record with a slight Eastern influence and a rave sensibility. Vocalist Little Bear's vocals are slightly Björk like - similar to the worldly operatic vocals wrapped in lush electronics that made much of Début so good. It feels all too brief at a little over five-minutes but it is immediately worth this EP's ticket price.

Much of what remains is in juxtaposition to that opening song. 'Ha!' features thick, chunky bass and short, sharp drum beats. The vocals remain extravagent but the wobbly bass, 'Blue Monday'-esque drums and acid patterns are from an entirely different place.

'WTF Is Love' is similarly heavy and thick with acid whilst 'Wild Flowers' is closer to the EP's opening; whilst it is less dark it lacks the lightness and rave influences of 'Shell'. Ular Gray's Bearhouse Dub of 'Shell' rounds the EP out with a reduced, minimal take - deep basslines and cut up vocals transform the track into something nearing IDM. It retains the tracks core appeal but lacks the same immediacy.

Check out the dark Ular Gray ​mix of 'Shell' below via the Soundcloud stream - there is the option to download it too if you like what you here:

Shell is released on 1 October, you can pre-order it from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 here [affiliate link].​

EP Review: You Can Have More Happiness - Greg Sawyer

Given Greg Sawyer's list of commitments - resident DJ and writer for London's GetDownGood, PR and Editorial Manager at record label Defected and contributor to Resident Advisor - it's a wonder this EP even got made. Obviously he did find time however and so we have the pleasure that is his first release for Falk following releases on Kevin Yost's I! Records and Endemic Digital.

You Can Have More Happiness is a deep and contemplative house release made up of three tracks. Opener 'Let Me Sleep' is made from layers of chimes, seductive vocal snippets and warm pads - less forthcoming than the other tracks here it gradually builds to the climatic bridge, where much of the focus on the vocal work comes in before Sawyer drops the bass back into the mix.

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You Can Have More Happiness - Greg Sawyer​

'Can't Stay Alive' is a blues influenced electronic track, full of thick, fuzzy synths, warm bass and a tortured female vocal. It is more immediate than 'Let Me Sleep', the piano that centres in the bridge adding a strong emotional charge.

Final track 'Mine' is similarly bruised although this time it features a male vocal. A pulsing synth line is used to sympathetically frame the vocal to create a minimal and surprisingly delicate track.

You Can Have More Happiness is an apt title - this this is a deep, considered EP. Yet by embracing his dark side Greg Sawyer has made this a great release.

You Can Have More Happiness is released tomorrow on Falk, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link] or visit the Falk Store on Bandcamp.​ Check it out in the Soundcloud player below:

EP Review / Stream: Glass Cities - Mitch Murder

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​Glass Cities - Mitch Murder

​DhARMA's third release comes hot on the heals of my review of their debut one, Kelly Paven's excellent Alone In The Storm, and they seem to be a little determined to establish some form.

Mitch Murder's Glass Cities is an EP is eighties-inspired instrumental soft-rock and MOR electronics. Listening to this in the same week as Tony Scott's tragic suicide feels more than a little poignant. This whole EP sounds like it could be the soundtrack to Top Gun.

There are plenty of eighties synths then, but it also has the kind of heightened and headstrong emotion you would expect of an eighties Tony Scott movie. Several of the songs are cut through with samples of dialogues from films but it is the music that is largely left to do the talking.

Unusual as it is to hear 80s rock without vocals - the soundtrack is almost as reminiscent of a video game soundtrack as a movie one - but the melodies hold their own. The squealing guitar on 'Best Of The Best' dominates the first half of the track and the synths knock the remaining minutes out of the park. On 'Heading South' the vocal samples and motorbikes create more feeling than a vocal ever could - and anything more would be overkill.

In addition to the five original tracks there are also two remixes - one by Sylvester and the other Nite Sprite - and refreshly both embrace to atmosphere of the originals, sounding like products of the eighties themselves.

Glass Cities is released on 1 September through DhARMA. Stream it below via Soundcloud or pre-order it on Bandcamp:​