Single Review: Ziegler's House - Ben Rau

Ziegler's House is the latest release from London label Save You and it comes from Ben Rau, Berlin born Fuse resident who went against the flow, moving to London.

Ben Rau gives Ziegler's House a progressive sound that is balanced well with some smooth, adjusted vocals. There is a deep, techie bass line that bobs along throughout this track whilst lo-fi percussion and ambient synths give the track a raw feel. It's a cool, understated track and Rau is audibly keeping his cards to his chest, creating something minimal yet funky and well worth checking out.

The single is backed with a mix by Jordan Peak, who gives Zeigler's House a harder, minimal finish. Hard robotic keys and a bass line that hits like rubber bullets increase the pressure, with unforgiving drum loops adding to the track's darker tone.

​Ziegler's House is released on Monday through Save You. Preview it via the Soundcloud snippets below:

Listen to SYR023 Ben Rau - Ziegler's House feat. Jordan Peak rmx by Ben Rau | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.

Stream: She Burns - Joe Goddard feat. Mara Carlyle

Joe Goddard Feat. Mara Carlyle - She Burns is taken from Joe's forthcoming coming Taking Over EP, which is out later this year. Twitter: @GrecoRomanMusic / Facebook www.facebook.com/Greco.Roman www.greco-roman.co.uk

​Joe Goddard's Gabriel was pretty unstoppable it's it's Ballearic-tinged 90s garage vibes. Now it sounds like he's going to do it again, with his forthcoming Takeover EP, from which the above track is lifted.

It's one of Goddard's more horizontal tracks, though ​All I Know on the Gabriel EP was similarly laid back. I can't get enough of the cool Mediterranean sound of this - the EP is due later this year but for now you'll have to settle for just this one track. You can also stream the Gabriel EP via Spotify below:

Album Review: Hanging Gardens - Classixx

Duo Michael David and Tyler Blake were childhood friends but having both been involved with music they only started recording together in 2007, David having previously fronted a major-label signed band in school and Blake having studied at Berklee School of Music. A lot of time has passed since they started working together and since their 2009 breakthrough track 'I'll Get You' (which features here). Whilst there have been some high profile remixes (The Gossip, Major Lazer and their fantastic Phoenix mix, amongst others) it feels like this debut album has been a long time coming.

The fact that the label chose this week, a week in advance of Daft Punk's ridiculously hyped Random Access Memories launches (and the same week a free stream of that album is released on iTunes), is at best a misstep. Effectively our robotic French friends have sucked all of the air out of the room, the rest of the apartment and the house over the road.

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​Hanging Gardens - Classixx

Hopefully Hanging Gardens finds an audience all the same. Fans of their mixes and earlier releases will find and welcome a familiar sound - a warm disco-influenced house sound that references the very sounds Daft Punk popularised, whilst bringing a softness that is Classixx's own. With seemingly Olympics-referencing cover-art and an album title inspired by one of the seven wonders of the world this is an album that feels a little bit global and athletic - a celebration of effort and culture.

The title track opens the album with a big Fleetwood Mac sample, taken from their Tango In The Night track Seven Wonders (hence that album name). It's a luscious opening, full of arpeggiated melodies and big synths that lend the album a dramatic feel and conjure images of glorious tropical islands and deep blue swimming pools.

There are a combination of sounds on Hanging Gardens but the overall feel is electronic disco. Holding On is sunny French-touch influenced pop with an ambient effect applied to the vocals that adds to the lagoon-swimming atmosphere. There are also plenty of moments for the duo to show a more laid back, almost chill wave sound - the spectral chords and tuneful percussion of Long Lost, a collaboration with Active Child that sounds like tears cried over distant loves whilst on holiday, for example.

I'll Get You continues to shine even after several years, it's handclaps and glittering filtered chorus still incessantly catchy. The track's somewhat playful structure, which switches quickly from cool gentle breaks to a big drop at the chorus still speaks very much to the duo's style. It's refreshingly free of cynicism but also precludes it from being the big breakthrough track it sounds like it could be.

It's the tougher moments inspired by late nights dancing that are the most fun. Rhythm Santa Clara is a chunky rhythmic electro party - thick bass, hi-hats and vocal samples creating a tight, minimal track that melds into the 80s riffing flamenco celebration that is Dominos. All You're Waiting For, with vocals from Nancy Whang, feels like the most obvious single - it's a snappy and sassy party track full of polished melodies and assertive lyrics that sounds like a glammed-up modern disco take on Human League.

Hanging Gardens admittedly trails off a little in quality over the second half but overall it's a pleasurable modern disco record, albeit one that arrives just as Daft Punk have seemingly changed the game by looking more directly at the past to direct the future.

Hanging Gardens is out now on Innovative Leisure, available on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links]. Listen below via Spotify:​

EP Review: EP2 - Closer

Closer's catchily named EP2 follows on from (you guessed it) EP1 with a set of deep and atmospheric tech-house tracks. I'd not come across Closer prior to this release so haven't actually heard EP1 but this appears to be a pretty assured release for those that like their dance music swimming in melancholy, ambience and attitude.

Opening track What Have You Done To Us is relatively minimal - a soft, tubular-sounding bass line lending the track an early progressive-house feel while a dream-like male vocals come through that repeat the track's title. It's a moody, taught track but relatively tame in comparison to what comes...

The other original track, Change, is a significantly bigger track - the bass line drops shortly into the track and gives it a more upfront house sound. Crisp percussion and a snappy synth melody build whilst a soulful vocal protests at a lack of ability, or perhaps desire, to change. It feels like a protest dance record - one of those that plays up the difference and alienation of the dawn chasing nightclub crowd - but it's a pretty effective one. Change is catchy but understated, gritty and dark.

A dub of each track is included and gives the instrumentation a little more breathing space, but some additional mixes would have been welcome.

​EP2 is out now on CLSR on 20 May.

EP Review: Looking For Frost - My Favorite Robot

My Favorite Robot have managed to build up both a significant following for their musical output and a significant record label since starting in 2009. Back in the early days they shared office space with Jonny White and so it feels fitting that this new EP is coming it on White's No. 19 label, to be followed with an album on the label later in the year.

Looking For Frost is a slice of moody electro, full of spectral melodies and ambient pads. The track is glassy and withdrawn in its entrance, building to a stark electronic melody and a haunting vocal refrain, "sometimes I get the feeling something ain't right". Slow to build but with some heavy bass that kicks in halfway through, once the track gets going this bass propels it forward, creating a futuristic, alienated and robotic feeling atmosphere.

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​Looking For Frost - My Favorite Robot

Mixes come from the DFA's Juan Maclean and Mexico's Louie Fresco. Juan Maclean's been specialising in introducing humanity to robotic music for years and he does just that here - the looped vocal framed in glitchy sounds while Maclean tweaks a bass line that gives the track a more grounded feel. Trebly handclaps lend the track a hint of vintage whilst that distorted bass gives a heavy, funky feel that builds on the original effectively.

Louie Fresco has provided two mixes, a straight-up remix and a digital exclusive dub. The remix is short on vocals, has a slow build with a series of 80s effects, additional live percussion and some acid that gives the track a more intense edge. The dub removes even more of the vocal and puts the groove front and centre. Both are good but the Juan Maclean mix remains my pick.

Looking For Frost is out on No. 19 Music on 20 May.