EP Review: (Who Knows) Where Love Goes - Last Magpie

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(Who Knows) Where Love Goes - Last Magpie​

(Who Knows) Where Love Goes - Last Magpie​

A lose and open-air funk number that rises its head here on Magpie's '(Who Knows) Where Love Goes'.

Heavy sun beats down on the title track's ambient house but it's the warm garage rhythms that capture the soul and ensure this track lodges itself in your brain. The lofty title track has just enough time to soak in, a tight bassline tapping out the all important melodies and a blissfully intimate bass. Things quickly accelerate following this gentle start however...

'Pilau Rice' quickly slips past, tightly grab the listener and pulling them forward into a sweaty, intimate play on words. As innocent as the lead in may have been this is no time for mere pleasantries, a bumping bass creating a crescendo bodies will struggle to ignore.

For every intense up-beat 'Pilau Rice' hits following track, 'Don't Know Why', embraces a corresponding drop. The pacing may be a little disconcerting when consumed in one sitting but it is difficult not to feel and subsequently embrace the amorous hot embrace played out on the closing two tracks of this release.

'Don't Know Why' is drenched is sweaty reverb and old school house atmosphere - particularly evident on the closing refrain. 'Club Whore' on the other hand is slower to build but bass the close and heavy bass is uncompromising in its approach.

If you have a feel for deep, heavy takes on soulful house and dubstep it is hard to resist this forthcoming release from Last Magpie - it's warm, familiar and sexy.  It is released through Hypercolour on 20 August, check it out on Soundcloud below:

Download: You'll Never Surf Again - Raymond Byron & The White Freighter

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​It's baking hot outside and I've just been enjoying this Raymond Byron and The White Freighter cover of Dan Reeder's 'You'll Never Surf Again'. It's a laid back but smokey folk record, the atmosphere thick with resignation. It's not too dissimilar from the original (check that out on Spotify here if you are a member) but it has just a little more sparkle in the treble and the sixties-inspired production.

​This is taken from the album Little Death Shaker, out next month on Asthmatic Kitty, and the press release describes the sound pretty well:

Stripped of all noise influences and focusing on straight-up songs, Little Death Shaker is a record evocative of late nights and dusty parking lots, long drives and boozy hookups. This is the work of a dude who’s spent his youth and young manhood on tour and it comes through in both the music and the lyrics.

​Check out 'You'll Never Surf Again' above in the Soundcloud player and if you like it be sure to grab the free download.

EP Review: Gone Ghost - Hand Plant

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​Following it's launch last month Disco Bloodbath recording released Gone Ghost, its sophomore single, last week on vinyl (the digital release drops on 21 August).

Hand Plant is a collaboration between one half of Disco Bloodbath (Ben Pistor) and one half of Maxxi Soundsystem (Sam Watts) and they aim to capture the spirit of:

Old and new synths, samples, berlin, aircraft, what happens in the early hours, ecstasy pads that make you rush...

A hand plant. In a pot. Of course.

​And to be honest this release pretty much nails it. It's a frigging wonderful rapture of electronic soul and technology - Pistor and Watts are dragging us on a dawn chase and it's an otherworldly experience. Spectral melodies and large synth work sews an analogue rush of endorphins and a injection of squelching acid on the title track.

Shorter but way more vicious, 'Arpy' has a utterly unforgiving rapid fire bass line that initially reminds me (yet again) of Adonis' 'No Way Back' but cosmic synthesisers ​end up carving the record in two. The subsequent crescendo of layered staccato keys and ping-pong (or should that be wiff waif?) rhythms are sure to leave you breathless.

Also featured is a storming acid remix of 'Gone Ghost' by Jamie Blanco​ - think early acid house complete with eighties synth-pop drums and a fair amount of echo. It calls to mind the classic 'Happy House' mix of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Paul Rutherford's 'Get Real' but here the drums feel tougher and here Blanco has combined it with the strongest melodic elements of the original to make something genuinely beautiful that transcends genre.

Check out the full ​version of 'Gone Ghost' in the YouTube player above but also listen to the all too short preview of Jamie Blanco's mix in the player below. It's way too good to pass up. Consider this one of my favourite things so far this year.

Gone Ghost is released through Disco Bloodbath Recordings - the vinyl release is out now and the digital release is due on 21 August.​

Design: Disform 2012 Signage by Dani Wolf

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Dani Wolf submitted these brilliant signage designs that he came up with for his final project at the Bezalel Academy of Design and Arts and they are absolutely fantastic. He put these together for alternative festival DISFORM 2012. In Dani's own words:​

The signage system of the alternative music festival DISFORM 2012 has two purposes: to direct the audience, informing where each area is located; and to enrich the whole experience of the festival itself, by creating an engaging dialogue between the signs and their surroundings.
The animation and the editing are directly affected by the live music performances, using OpenGL technology. The additional layer of information is dynamic and updated in real-time in order to help the audience of the festival.

I love these designs on several levels - they look absolutely great and have an amazing amount of dynamism in the way they move in time to the music, something that is perfect for a music festival. I also really appreciate the detail in the way the signs communicate additional contextual information, with text highlighting which bars or toilets are busy and which have more capacity. No-one enjoys the toilet queues at a festival so this seems like one of those really obviously but ingenious touches.​

Check out the video and gallery above to get a closer look.