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I've been following London duo Funktionslust for a little while and covered their track Dots last year. A Different Street comes on like some glorious industrial wonky R&B wonder... Sage Redman's vocals slide around on a bed of clanging instrumentation creating an infectious combination of melody and mechanical rhythm.
A Different Street is lifted from their forthcoming EP of the same name, out on 27 April.
Nice electronic soul influenced piece from London based artists Peter Lyons. Leave Me combines bruised falsetto vocals with smooth synths and strings. A promising track from the former member of duo Peter & Kerry.
If you like Leave Me then I would also recommend checking out Lyons' cover of Rui Da Silva's Touch Me. Classy.
As announced in January, BlackPlastic.co.uk has once again featured in the panel of bloggers that judge the initial submissions of artists for the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition. Judging the competition is always tough - this year I had 153 bands to consider and whittling that down to just three is incredibly difficult, but I'm delighted to be able to confirm my final three choices.
In no particular order, my three choices:
1. Over My Soul - IISO
A very mysterious one, and sadly there is no public link, but you can get a sense of what they are about on their Facebook page. Anyway, trust me - subtle, emotive and sublime.
2. A Thousand Miles From Home - Aelius
Again, the track isn't public, but you can check out the band's last (self-titled) EP below. Like post-rock seen through the eyes of the lead character from Drive.
3. AMILLION - Black Gold Buffalo
Lush. R&B influenced pop that sounds like it was beamed into my ears from Mars. Expect more from these guys soon.
With Roisin Murphy About to unleash her new album Hairless Toys, the first since 2008's fantastic Overpowered, it feels like the perfect time for this new release on Crosstown Rebels.
Jealousy isn't featured on the new album - instead it is somewhat of a one-off tribute from Murphy to fans of deep house and disco. Cowritten and produced by DJ Parrot AKA The Crooked Man (formerly of Sweet Exorcist and All Seeing I), this is a bit of a meeting of minds for the two Sheffield legends. In Murphy's own words, "Parrot understands dancing music and he understands me. This is fast and furious; he says it's rollerdisco music. The backing track sounded so frantic, the lyric wasn't long coming to me, all I had to do was try to create a vocal as demented as the music!"
The track features in two forms, and I find it impossible to decide which is my favourite. The house mix is sinister and minimal, Murphy's vocal deranged and striking, the bass hook irresistible.
In comparison the disco mix plays like a pitched up Nile Rodgers production, packed with glamour, funk guitar riffs and strings. Murphy's vocal seems to taunt the listener with the insistent repetition of the track's title. My only complaint would be it could do with slowing down just a little... Like, what's the rush guys?
Still - Murphy demonstrates her continuing taste and Parrot demonstrates Sheffield's still got it... What's not to like?
I've been meaning to post this track from Bristol musician LTO for a few days but have only just really got around to it. There's a lush loose and flexible sound to Trabajar that you can't help but want to move to - it's gorgeously mechanical and yet also feels so alive. There's more than a hint of Autechre and Ricardo Villalobos to this...
Having first rose to attention as part of the Old Apparatus Collective in 2011, LTO is a solo project. Trabajar is taken from LTO's second solo release, the EP No Pasa Nada, which is due on Injazero Records soon. The titles Trabajar and No Pasa Nada are both Spanish verbs and the influence of LTO's journeys across South America is clear not just in the titles, but in the sound and atmosphere of this music. Trabajar is intricately planned and thrillingly alive. Love.