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Loving this tight disco mix from London DJ collective (and real world associates) Get Down Sounds. Check out the Get Down website for details on their gigs and to keep up with their latest musings on the world of funk, soul and breaks.
Blithe is the debut EP from Howson's Groove, due out next week on Chasing Unicorns, and it delivers a somewhat dizzy collection of London electronic sounds.
Opening with the gentle and breezy guitars of the title track there is an instantly infectious, dubby feel to this EP. With cyclical sub-bass and rattling drum loops it comes from the more experimental end of dubstep, the press release rightly calling out Mount Kimbie. The track even has some of the Eastern feel of that duo's work.
"Attempt" carries on down the same path with strings and a similarly Japanese feel to some of the melodies. There's a fuzzy analogue feel to the sound, with plenty of the crackle and pop layered on to give a suitable tactile feel. "I Wonder" is more robust, with square wave synths plastered across it's rumbling rhythms to create a lush feeling groove. The final original track, "Give Me", features some more electronic moments and a gently swaying, almost garage-like feel.
Two remixes round out the packages with London's Baunz giving "I Wonder" a warm US Garage style mix. Finally Admin's mix of "Give Me" is smothered with deep rumbling bassline whilst electronic patterns gently tweak above in the mid-range. It's a somewhat formidable conclusion to an exciting release from a promising young label.
Blithe is out on Monday through Chasing Unicorns, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link]. Preview via Soundcloud below:
I first covered My Dance Radio back when they released their first single "Art Of Rejection" in June... They are now on to single number three, "Love Like You Do", and I think it's their best yet.
This one is a bit less new romantic and 80s influenced but is still similarly melancholic and electronic... The Soundcloud page references Hot Chip and there is certainly an element of their sound on display here in this track. "Love Like You Do" has a soft melodic groove and syrupy love sick sound - it's so sweet it's almost too much, but I'm currently all over it.
Check it out and download it via Soundcloud below, or pay what you want for it on Bandcamp.
Museum of Love is the new collaborative project from LCD Soundsystem's Pat Mahoney and Juan Maclean member Dennis McNany, who also produces as Jee Day and runs Run-Roc Records. Dennis writes most of the music and Pat's on the vocals and the album, which features friends (are you excited? I'm excited!), is due in early 2014.
"Monotronic" is one of the most bewilderingly uplifting and record that has come out from the DFA stable in some time. It's a gently bubbling track - a little Krautrock, a little techno - with vocals of unexpected happiness that feels ever so slightly malevolent.
Angelic vocal choruses provide melodic lightness and Mahoney's falsetto is slightly delirious sounding and, frankly, it's kind of glorious... And then it suddenly stops. In its tracks. And you start wondering what the hell an album of this would sound like...
Monotronic is out now on DFA, you can grab it on MP3 from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link] or high quality MP3 or WAV from DFA. Listen via Soundcloud below:
A glorious bit of French touch courtesy of the (Yorkshire based!) L'Étranger here in the form of their gorgeous track "Falling For You". The track is available as a free download temporarily to celebrate a recent airing within Lazerdisk's recent guest mix for Diplo & Friends on Radio 1.
There's apparently a new EP in the works and we can expect a special guest, but in the meantime I'll be jacking this up on my headphones!