Album Review: Ciao! - Tiga

There is a lot of talk at present of an electroclash resurgence. A second wave. With new albums from DJ Hell, Kittin & The Hacker and Peaches it is perhaps easy to see why. What is strange though is that many of these acts have distanced themselves from this sound already - Miss Kittin's rather good I Com was a move into a purer techno sound and whilst the follow up Bat Box may have been a misguided move into goth it the techno sound of the former disc she is known for as a DJ. Hell's last album, NY Muscle, was an attempt to distance himself from the obvious trappings of the electroclash genre and Tiga's debut wasn't remotely close to electroclash anyway. The only track Tiga has done that could be labelled as such is his collaboration with Zyntherius on their cover of 'Sunglasses At Night'.

What's more it seems that some semi-amateur hacks (and BlackPlastic puts themselves into the category) seem content with using the 'resurgence of electroclash' as a tool to beat up on Tiga specifically. In their recent review of Peaches I Like Cream Fact magazine said Tiga's comeback was best off ignored.

Which is total, complete, pathetic horseshit. Horseshit because it reeks of lazy sideswiping - an off the cuff comment to pad a two paragraph review. So here's the deal: Tiga's debut, Sexor, was a great record. And Ciao! is better.

To call Ciao! electroclash is to exposure yourself as a knowledge-less pretender to the whole world. This isn't electroclash, it's definitely closer to techno than that. What's more it has ideas and songs and the production is always spotless.

Every track, whether it is the quirky and hard 'Mind Dimension', a revision of Tiga's own 'Move Your Body' but much better, or the anthemic tears-on-the-danefloor closer 'Love Don't Dance Here Anymore', delivers something a little different. The production work of a team consisting of Soulwax, James Murphy, Gozales, Jesper Dahlbäck and Jori Hulkkonen shines through but Tiga still makes this all his own.

How does it compare to Sexor? There's no contest. Ciao! is a noisier, more assertive album. 'What You Need' is grinding and distorted to the sassy quirkiness of 'Shoes'. There are also several house ballads - 'Turn The Night On' and 'Speak, Memory' for example - that manage to actually deliver. Ciao! Is an album with both more variety and consistency than Sexor.

Ciao! may not be redefining genres.  It may not be confounding expectations or giving wannabe hoxtonites something new no-one has heard of. But what it does do is consistently deliver ideas and deliver them well. If you are would rather snigger at the back because Tiga isn't the fashionable wünderkid he was once then so be it - BlackPlastic will be on the dancefloor having more fun.

Available now from Amazon.co.uk on CD , LP  and MP3 .

BP x

News: Free MP3 download to celebrate Animal Collective's next single

Animal Collective are releasing the next single from their rather glorious Merriweather Post Pavillion album on June 29.  The sunny psychedelia of 'Summertime Clothes' is undoubtably a highlight from an already pretty damn awesome album so if, for whatever reason, you are yet to check out the album then make sure you have a listen.  The band recently performed the song live on Letterman, check it out:

The single comes backed with a collection of remixes (one of which is by current retro whizz kid Zomby).  If you can't wait or just fancy a free download then the band's label Domino are giving away one of the mixes for free (well, in exchange for the usual personal data) over at the Domino website.  You'll get the Dam-Funk Remix there - is a warm, dubby affair - BlackPlastic has a temptation to feel that remixes of material this good are kind of pointless but this mix does a pretty good job of putting a nice spin on the original.

BP x

 

Single Review: Minor Riot - 10 Rapid

Having recently got props from Evil Nine and Streetlife DJs you might know what to expect from 10 Rapid, and you'd probably be right...

'Minor Riot' is a dirty little hand grenade of a track.  With horror movie synth strings and a lovely little bass line that builds and builds to the crescendo it's all quite reminiscent of Justice's 'Phantom', if with a little more subtlety.  It's also clearly been built for the dancefloor, with the kind of pacing that will slot right into the build-up of many a DJ's set.  The beauty of this kind of track is that it is pretty much genre-less, happy to slot right into a breaks set but just as happy within the kind of nasty house set that the likes of Adam Freeland now tends to make.

'Minor Riot' is out now over at Beatport.

Also worth checking out is 10 Rapid's mix of Caged Baby's track 'Forced'.  It's a nice, messy little track and there's a fantastic bassline that breaks through every now and then, sidelining the vocals before they gradually filter back in.  It's a catchy track and shows that 10 Rapid can work with vocals and definitely builds on the original.

Download 'Forced (10 Rapid Remix)' by Caged Baby on MP3 (right click, save as).

Check out more 10 Rapid at their MySpace.

BP x

 

News: Franz Ferdinand to re-release Blood

Some exciting news from Domino records - Franz Ferdinand are to re-release the dub version of Tonight, entitled Blood, on 1 June.

Originally packaged with the limited edition CD release of Franz Ferdinand's latest album, BlackPlastic's review of Tonight praised the dub version of the album for its experimental approach.  Given the disc was only available in limited quantities the re-release represents a great opportunity to pick up what is easily Franz Ferdinand's best material in years.  They have also added a couple of extra tracks to the original release and it will be available on LP and as a download for the first time.  It's well worth checking out so look out for it.

Franz Ferdinand also release their next single, 'Can't Stop Feeling', on July 6.  Again this represents a great opportunity to pick up something you may have missed before as it comes packaged with their cover version of LCD Soundsystem's 'All My Friends', which was originally included with LCD Soundsystem's release of their single for that track.

The band are also touring in October - check the website for more details.

BP x

MP3 / Single Review: Sound Reaction - Grum

Put quite simply: This. Shit. Is. Hotttt.

Grum's been knocking around for those in the know for a little bit now but this track seems destined to take him over the top and turn him into a bone fide success, particularly as he's been lapping up airplay from Pete Tong et al.

Grum describes 'Sound Reaction' as "big, fun, noisy, and designed for the dancefloor. A mixture of rave and electro with a hint of disco. I'm very into 80s new wave and italo and came across this sample...it all just grew from there really."

He'd pretty be right but let BlackPlastic distill this for you into one easy soundbite:

'Sound Reaction' is nasty funk with a killer Daft Punk style bassline for summer-time goodtimes.

Download 'Sound Reaction' - Grum on MP3 (right click, save as).

Also well worth checking out is the Phantom's Revenge remix.  It adds a lovely high-hat rhythmic edge and filters the bassline nicely.  The result is a little harder but just as fun.

Download 'Sound Reaction (Phantom's Revenge Remix)' by Grum on MP3 (right click, save as).

Both mixes feature a really nice, summer vibe - it's very reminiscent of Fred Falke and Van She Tech. BlackPlastic looks forward to hearing more.

Check out more from Grum on his MySpace.

BP x