Download: Mix for the Big Chill - In Flagranti

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Another weekend approaches and it being summer it tends to mean they'll be yet another festival. Yet this weekend it happens to be the Big Chill, and those who know know that the Big Chill is a little bit special. This year it is being headlined by Talking Heads' David Byrne, Orbital and Basement Jaxx but there are plenty move acts worth checking out, from Friendly Fires to Lindstrøm (live) to the Horse Meat Disco DJs.

Amongst all of this In Flagranti are playing this year and to get you in the mood we have a nice chilled mix they have put together available for download. Check the tracklist:

1. Africa Talks to You - Sly & the Family Stone - edit
2. Lost In The City - Plastique De Reve
3. Some Disco edit by In Flagranti
4. Tanya Hyde - Herr Wunderbar - edit
5. Space Art - Welcome To Love
6. Project Sandro - Blazer
7. Pleasure Dome long version - Frankie goes to Hollywood
8. Voyage - Souvenirs - edit
9. Asphalt JungleE - Freakin' Time
10. Passengers - Hot Lea - edit
11. The Z.A.C.K edit
12. Bombers - Get Dancing - edit
13. Bizzy & Co - edit
14. Gargot - Choco tech
15. Low Dose Virility - In Flagranti
16. Yes Maam (All Nite Long) (Trentemøller Remix) - Visti & Meyland
17. The Foot Therapy EP - Untitled B2
18. Ednah Holt & Starluv - edit19. I'll Never Forget - Dexter Wansel - edit

Download In Flagranti's Big Chill Mix [right click, save as].

The Big Chill kicks off on Thursday and runs until Sunday. For more information head to the Big Chill website.  You can no longer buy tickets online but they are still available to buy at the event on the day.

BP x

Album Review: He Was King - Felix Da Housecat

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Long time BP readers will probably be aware of the BlackPlastic love affair with Felix, dating back to his glorious Kittenz and Thee Glitz album. Last album, 2007's Virgo Blaktro & The Movie Disco failed to live up to the expectations set by both Kittenz and its follow up Davin Dazzle and the Neon Fever - fast forward to 2009 and new album He Was King is set to drop in a few weeks following little fanfare.

Part of the fun of an album getting released from one of your favourite artists is in the anticipation. As such it is actually almost disappointing that felix's new album is already here but one thing is clear - He Was King is a return to form following Virgo.

Opener 'We All Wanna Be Prince' splices together lines from Prince records to create a love letter to everyone's favourite purple king of pop and from the off Felix is revisiting the best parts of his own catalogue. Not since Devin Dazzle's glorious 'Ready 2 Wear' has Felix created something as gorgeous as this album's opener.

And whilst the album opens on a pure pop moment there are some dance-floor gems too, recalling the dark 'Strobe' from Virgo and some of Felix's earlier, pre-Kittenz albums. 'Kick Drum', all empty-space, distortion and repetitive vocals, is a dubby love letter to the dancefloor and those girls that get lost on it. More than anything though it is 'Elvi$' that will provide He Was King its lasting dancefloor hit - a tweaking acid epic that would slot right into to many DJs sets to provide a suitable climax... It's long, wonky and just a bit nasty.

The highlights probably come in the form of the pop-couplet formed by 'Do We Move Your World' and 'We'. Not connected except for in their proximity to each other in the album's flow and the fact they both aim for a similar melodic sound, they are the tracks on this album that are most reminiscent of Felix's Kittenz era. 'Do We Move Your World' builds nicely to a hook before blasting off the launch pad whilst 'We' is pure-synthesized joy - sassy and cool, sleazy and honest, it is Felix at his best.

He Was King may not top either Kittenz and Thee Glitz or Devin Dazzle but it certainly comes close to equalling them. There are moments here that easily stand-up with the best on either of those albums, all He Was King lacks is the overriding sense of experimentation those albums boasted.

BP x

He Was King is released on Nettwerk on 24 August, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD and MP3 [affiliate links].

Album Review: Two Dancers - Wild Beasts

BlackPlastic has listened to the Wild Beasts' new album Two Dancers many, many times already and yet is still a little at odds with what to think. Listening to this album is a bit like trying to make love to fish - it's difficult to get a purchase on what you like about it but once you have reached its climax it generally feels like it was worth the effort.

Singer Hayden Thorpe's falsetto vocals do occasionally stray a little close to pretentious pomp but for every slight miss-step (the ponderous 'When I'm Sleepy') there are moments of sheer fantasy - the tenor intro to 'All The Kings Men' followed by a superb lead vocal delivery.

Wild Beasts also have a wonderfully delicate sound at times - as the gentle muted guitar of album opener 'The Fun Powder Plot' comes in it captures a tremendous amount of feeling before a single word is even laid down. And despite having a sound that at times feels a little self-consciously arty there are still hooks you can get behind, as on lead single 'Hooting & Howling'.

What Wild Beasts have created in Two Dancers is an album of magnificent depth. It may occasionally boil over but when it delivers it manages to evoke the curious feeling of what it is to be a you Britain in our age. This is an album that undoubtedly looks forward yet at the same time it could only exist given Britain's musical heritage.

BP x

Two Dancers is released on 3 August on Domino, available for pre-order at Amazon.co.uk on CD and LP [affiliate links].

Video: How to get a blogger's attention 101

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BlackPlastic gets a lot of emails and messages from up & coming artists who want us to check out their music. BlackPlastic always tries to check out said artists but it isn't very often they stand out quite like this:

Loebeat are British pop trio Dicey, Lula and Ramdaq.  You can check out their music on MySpace.  Or alternatively just watch the video above again, ponder what it all means and try and figure out if BlackPlastic just discovered the future of pop music.

No, we don't know either.

Loebeat's MySpace.

BP x

Video: You Saved My Life - Cass McCombs

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BlackPlastic fully admits that it knows jack about Cass McCombs and further admits that we haven't had time to go digging around either.  What we DO know however:

 

  1. This song is pretty Goddamn beautiful, similar in feel if not genre to year's startling fragile Bon Iver.
  2. The video to this song is directed by Eric Fensler, and like the song it is strangely affecting.
  3. 'You Saved My Life' is taken from Cass McCombs' album Catacombs, which is out on Domino on CD, LP (with MP3 code) and MP3 now.