EP Review: Road Less Travelled - Tiedye

Tiedye first came to my attention when they remixed the excellent Feist featuring "I Feel Electric" by Rubies, a silky Balearic dream of a record that came out all the way back in 2008 but has stood the test of time. Road Less Travelled is the Swedish duo's first release for Gomma - it follows up on their debut, which came out (home of that Rubies release) Italians Do It Better last year, though I have to confess I missed that.

"Road Less Travelled" has a steely soulful disco-meets-west-coast sound that feels timely in this post-Random Access Memories world. It's a little more grizzled than I was expecting - distorted bass rubbing up against fuzzy clattering drums, a jazzy organ freak-out and echoey vocals… Nothing like the laid back noodly cosmic disco of the Rubies remix. It all sounds a little bit like Adam Freeland got his hands on some new material by Still Going: expect something that feels like disco fed on sunshine and ecstasy then wrapped in plastic. It's good, but you're not sure if you should really like it.

The label clearly thought the same thing because American duo Still Going actually provide one of the two remixes. It's a nighttime LA cruise of a record, dark buzzing synths saw through the vocals whilst the drums are pulled back just a notch to create a something deeper. It's still pretty pop but not anywhere near the daytime radio of the original. Sadly it doesn't quite hit the highs of Still Going's own material - the best bits are where the duo let the melodies of come through and the beat drops out, both at the bridge and at the track's close, to create something golden and dreamy. I can't help but suspect they are saving their best work for themselves, but it's been so long since we heard anything new it's hard not to be disappointed.

DJ Kaos & Sonns provides the other remix, which actually takes the middle slot on the release. It is a little tighter than both the original and Still Going's take - not as dark as the latter but restrained in comparison. There's a warm, jacking feel to this treatment with a heavenly synth that gradually fights its way through a baseline that bubbles with acidic charm. The vocal is used sparingly but Kaos & Sonns seem more interested in drum rolls and echo, and I can't say I blame them.

According to the press release Road Less Travelled is out now on Gomma. That's probably just the vinyl release - the digital release on Amazon.co.uk currently has a posted release date of 20 September [affiliate link]. Stream the DJ Kaos & Sonns Remix below:

Listen to TIEDYE - The Road Less Travelled (Dj Kaos & Sonns Remix) / Gomma Records by Alexandre | SONNS | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.

Stream / Download: Burn (Debian Blak Remix) - Ellie Goulding

More hotness from Debian Blak, whose remixes alway hit a sweet-spot, blending indie R&B fuzziness with pop chic. I was a big fan of Debian's mix of Aaliyah from earlier in the year and this remix of Ellie Goulding's "Burn" comes from a similar place. Goulding hasn't sounded this good in ages.

Stream and download below via Soundcloud and be sure to check out Debian Blak on Soundcloud. 

This is a bootleg remix of Ellie Goulding's - Burn, available as a free download. More info: https://www.facebook.com/debianblak @debianblak

EP Review: Hey! - The Emperor Machine

Following on from his rather filthy Like A Machine EP earlier in the year Andy Meecham is cued to drop this new release Hey! on Monday and if anything it only builds on the scuzzy sound of that last release.

This new EP precedes a return to DJing in 2014 and a planned full-length album and new live show. Michelle Bee is shaping up to be a key partner in the forthcoming plans for The Emperor Machine, lending vocals to not only "Hey!" but a number of tracks on the new album. Much like on "Like A Machine" the vocals here provide a dramatic sense of sultry humanity to the jacking robotic rhythms. An extended vocal and extended dub provide two flavours of the original, a track built around a stripped back 80s house inspired hook that borrows a little from Adonis' "No Way Back" and gives it a strutting punk-funk rhythm embellished with scratchy snatches of guitar and some heavily arpeggiated synths.

View fullsize

Hey! - The Emperor Machine

Three remixes come from Ewan Pearson. The first, the "Skronk Disco Mix", features sleazy jazzy brass getting rough with a some seriously elastic bass and clattering drum rolls. In combination with Michelle Bee's vocals it results in a heavily layered and busy track but the sax, played by a guest musician from The Rapture, gives this a real backstreet New York vibe that's intensely depraved and slightly psychotic. A "Skronk Dub" does it all again but without those vocals, and with such excellent production it's better for a modicum of restraint. The final remix is Pearson's "Dubstramental" and it's slightly tighter still, reigning in the disco flourishes of the "Skronk" but amping the dark psychedelic acid feel in their place.

Finally the EP also includes a second original track, "Mandy Mutron", which comes complete with a low slung bassline and greasy guitars. It's another track that will go down a treat in the more twisted establishments and it has me excited for the forthcoming album.

 Hey! is released through Southern Fried Records on Monday, available to pre-order on MP3 and 12" from Amazon.co.uk, though the latter is currently posting a later release date [affiliate links].

Album Review: Eskimo Recordings Presents The Pink Collection

Eskimo just recently turned 10 and celebrated with an anniversary box set but this new album, The Pink Collection, is the start of something new. The first in a series based around a variety of colours, The Pink Collection is predominantly focused around feelings in music and retains the same hazy melodic electronic sound throughout, with the tracks being specifically created for this release.

The album has a real Scandinavian sound with a number of electronic artists associated with that movement featuring, but it also features artists from around the globe. Australian three piece Holy Models open the album with the lolling and inviting tracking 'Swimming', featuring drenched male vocals and sun-baked grooves. Satin Jackets take up the batten with 'Olivia', a track full of the sort of easy-going-yet-catchy melodies that Röyksopp are famous for. Coincidently Made In Sane actually come from the same town as Röyksopp and their track, 'Flying Circuits' also retains a hint of their sound but applies it to a progressive synth piece that feels like they stole it from Jean Michel Jarre's songbook back in the eighties.

Martin Brodin does Italo gone Ballearic to much success o the sparkling and upbeat 'Lazise 1979' and ATTAR!'s 'The Fool', featuring Cherry, is enjoyable eighties synth-pop influenced house with a slight Stevie Nicks vibe. Unfortunately from here The Pink Collection starts to fall down… There is an imagination to some of the earlier tracks that feels lacking later on, and ultimately it's 78-minutes of music that sounds very similar throughout. The album turns into a pleasant diversion, but nothing on some of Eskimo's finest moments.

It's difficult not to feel that in focusing on original material Eskimo have ultimately compromised their ability to curate, sacrificing the control to select exactly the right song for the right moment. It is an album that suffers in exchange for the ability to sell something exclusive via digital platforms. It's telling that the tracks they have already announced as singles - those by Holy Models, Majestique, Brynjolfur and ATTAR! - are all comparatively strong, it's just a shame the album doesn't quite live up to the promise.

The Pink Collection is out on 2 September through Eskimo Recordings, preview on the Eskimo website and pre-order on CD from Amazon.co.uk.

EP Review: Pass It On - The Joy Boys

Pass It On is the debut release from The Joy Boys, a collaboration between long-term friends Raf Daddy (one half of The 2 Bears, along with Joe Goddard of Hot Chip) and Toby Young (aka bootleg producer youngTEE).

It's a typically chunky house production with plenty of ravey touches focused on the dancefloor, even more so than The 2 Bears. Opening with 'The Wake', the EP kicks things off with some carnival sounding brass and samba inspired shuffling drums. The track builds with a some intensity, throwing in laser blasts and vicious bass stabs, and comes off like a midnight spent losing yourself in Brazil.

The title track is a little slower to build but becomes a bit psychotic, vocal snippets applied as percussion and cut up synths providing what there is of a melody. An evil bassline and the chanted vocals create a dark, twisted track.

'Shake The Tip' has more Latin rhythms, a bouncy bass and some screeching synths, and it points the way to the EP's rave obsessed conclusion but feels a bit flat in comparison. 'Kitchen Sink' closes, and the title is doubtlessly a self-parody of the fact that the duo seem to throw about twice as many ideas at each track as the need to, and here probably even more... We have rave horns, whistles and a love of the grimey south-London sound that suits these guys so well.

This is undoubtedly little more than music to lose your shit to, but within that confine it's pretty classy. Keep your eyes peeled for a launch party in Peckham on 14 September.

Pass It On is out now on Southern Fried Records, available on MP3 from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link]. Preview via Soundcloud below:

For FREE MUSIC MONDAY today we have a brand new tune from The Joy Boys aka Raf Daddy (from The 2 Bears with Hot Chip's Joe Goddard) and Toby Young (better known as bootleg specialist youngTEE). Both hailing from South London, the pair have illustrious discographies to their names that span house, disco, funk, soul and plenty more besides.