"Bamboo" is a wild electronic romp released on Grizzly this past June. Not much is known about the song's mysterious creator, Jon Giovanni, but if you're also a fan of Basement Jaxx, you'll soon be adding him to your list of artists to keep an eye on! Check out Grizzly here! Enjoy the official music video!
Here is a great minimal track, especially if you ever find yourself having a summer night minimal listening session, highly reccomended! If not, here is a good start to your new collection, but give it a listen here, first. "Evil Dub" is off Trentemøller's incredible must-have '06 debut album, The Last Resort. Anders Trentemøller is a Danish electronic musician from Copenhagen.
Today I noticed iTunes is promoting something called "DJ Playlists". Because of it's less than exciting theme, it probably would never have caught my attention if I hadn't seen the names of Diplo, David Guetta, Skrillex, and other popular, but more or less random DJs, one of them being a recent favorite, SBTRKT. So I took a listen to the clips of SBTRKT's 10 song selection and fell in love immediately. I haven't checked the others out and don't really plan to, but feel free. SBTRKT: DJ Playlist - August 2011 The mix includes: "The Lick" - Dark Sky "All Your Love" - Hudson Mohawke "Crystalfilm" - Little Dragon "Mozaik" - Zomby "U Don't Survive" - Machinedrum "Isolateur" - Mike Dehnert "Short Bus" - DFRNT "Unglued" - Objekt "Arnaud & Bernard" - Humanleft "Night Bird" - Nightwave It's a great mix of new funky electronic artists with a few I haven't heard of before. If you love garage and other artists like Falty DL, definitely check out this playlist hosted by iTunes! http://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/sbtrkt-dj-playlist-august/id457552535 Also worth checking out is SBTRKT's mix for Mary Anne Hobbs!
This past spring, a friend of mine told me about this incredibly heavy yet refreshingly tasteful remix of the famous R&B cover. After a bit of hunting, I found out that HNNY is based in Stockholm and this remix was released on Sweet Surprise. Unfortunately, I can't find any other info! I would love to hear more from HNNY. Listen here! (I know, there's nothing up to embed, sorry!)
I've always liked this remix and just came across it again the other day. It is unexpected in a strange way that you'll have to discover for yourself! I don't want to ruin the surprise. Grab a free download! Foreign Born are San Francisco-based producers Matt Popieluch and Lewis Pesacov. Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend) is a producer and multi-instrumentalist.
Balam Acab (Alec Koone) brings us down into an arena of dubstep that is just beginning to be explored, where heavy bass and 8 bit synth blips meets powerful, raw acoustic samples. In "Regret Making Mistakes" the orderly structure of electronic music harmonizes with the inexplicable beauty of natural sounds leaving the listener in a contemplative trance.
"Days" is a dark, shoegaze tune featuring vocals from The xx's Romy Madley Croft that has been transformed into a hypnotic house track by the Toronto producer-duo Azari & III. I took a listen to a bit of Creep's recent endeavors, but I think I prefer the remixes, in this case. This was a little surprising since I really enjoy Lauren Flax's "You've Changed (feat. Sia)".
Azari & III are Toronto producers Christian Farley, aka Dinamo Azari, and Alphonse Lanza, aka Alixander II, from Toronto, Canada, with feature vocals by Fritz Helder and Cedric Gasiada.
Here is a great median for people to gather around to celebrate electronic music, especially if you are interested in dubstep and/or darkwave. This is what I hope the future of newer genres like dubstep will have to contribute to the legacy of the electronic music world. This track features an R&B beat with an airiness sounding like a dainty Crystal Castles off in the distance.
This year's Camp was, like last year, an incredible live music experience to remember. I recognized less bands going in, but I am glad that they like to change the line-up enough to create a completely different, yet equally awesome experience. Since I confine this blog to music, I won't be reviewing anything about the festival aside from the amazing acts I got to see (in order of when I saw them):
Beats Antique - I only got to catch a small portion of this eclectic, tribal-influenced electronic band (and unfortunately missed their belly dancer). However, Beats Antique has a great live presence, which to me seems to stem from a smooth synchronization of live drum set and DJing. And the beats grooved really hard. They were a great start!
Rusko - I was so looking forward to seeing Rusko again this year, but his set was cancelled due to touring conflicts and someone else was DJing his stuff so I took off. SBTRKT - This was one of my favorite sets of the weekend. SBTRKT had a rocky start, but after one or two songs, he had obviously found his groove and so did I. The songs and his mixing style were wicked fresh and, to my surprise, more house to garage than dub. I guess I was only familiar with his dub stuff, but the elements from both were there and they worked together really well. The songs were deep and rich with refreshingly organic samples, especially in his beats. SBTRKT was an act that I was very grateful to see put on a good, live DJ performance. Mask and all. The Disco Biscuits - I still have no idea what to make of the experience of seeing the Disco Biscuits live even though I have seen them twice now. They're totally overwhelming to me after just three songs. But they are incredibly good at making epic electronic/rock/jam music with an equally epic light show to match. Skrillex - I did not have the highest expectations for Skrillex's live set, but I expected him to be at least better than most of the other, less popular, dubstep acts I have seen. What a let down! I did not expect Skrillex to be that lame live. I absolutely love his recorded stuff, but Skrillex is not anywhere near as good live. The reason why, I'd say, is he is pretty bad at mixing live. His use of effects was predictable to the point that it was irritating and his timing and effect choices actually took away from the songs he was using. Lotus - I stayed for this electro jam set very briefly because I had never heard Lotus before and decided to give it a try, but I couldn't get into it. They were too light and jammy for me. Break Science - finally had a chance to shine this year (at least compared to last year when Talib Kweli ruined their set). They shared a set with a miffed RJD2, who seemed to be upset instead of excited that he was sharing the stage with the lesser-known band. After a while, RJD2 did some of his songs by himself and then Break Science did the same. I actually thought that Break Science was much better but I prefer their fusion of dubstep with live breakbeats to RJD2's personal style. Plus, Break Science had a much more fun and exciting energy during their performance. Sometimes that's going to count more than being a really good DJ. Four Tet - was personally my favorite set at this year's Camp. I had never seen him live before and ever since I learned he was on the line-up, I was hoping that perhaps his set would match to some extent, the genius of his recorded material. I was blown away. I had no idea that Four Tet actually would be just as incredible live as he is with his own song writing and producing. Four Tet's mixing skills are by far the best I have witnessed live. The actual set contained all of the genres he works with in his recorded material and beyond. I couldn't believe the way he maneuvered his beats but I picked up on something that reminded me of Filastine's live set: both DJs would start at some point with a relatively slower beat (100-120 bpm) and push the tempo for awhile from song to song and make that insanely fast enough to layer a slower beat back on top. I love this style of mixing. Add on top of this some of the best on-the-spot effects manipulation around and you can be sure to have your mind blown. Shpongle - I had heard nothing but amazing things about Shpongle's live performances and I had been looking forward to seeing them for a long time. I am so glad that they lived up to their rep. They are a super stylized group and have a very particular sound. In fact, they reminded me of a lot of electronic groups of the 90s that I grew up listening to; everything from Enigma to Dido to Olive and all those old trip-hop bands, blending into the deep psychedelic atmosphere of their set. I thought the instrumentation of the group was pretty strange, but somehow it created an immense sound. Like most of the Main Stage acts, the had live instruments playing with electronic sampling (or DJing for the other acts). Every detail worked and their energy was contagious. But, even an hour and a half long set wasn't enough. I would love to see a longer performance; I bet that's the real way to get the most out of seeing Shpongle live. 12th Planet - I had seen 12th Planet live in NYC this past winter and his set was awesome so I had some particular expectations from his performance at Camp. Although his set wasn't as good as the last time, 12th Planet still rocked and had the whole tent dancing and going crazy, as he should. I am impressed by his selection of songs and his mixing is great. 12th Planet knows how to fucking party. He is one of my favorite dubstep DJs to see live. If you get the chance, don't miss it! Tobacco - I had some hopes about Tobacco but, their set was just ok. The energy was pretty low and the songs weren't really doing anything for me. Too bad! I do like their remixes and original recorded stuff but I don't know what was up with their live set that night. MSTRKRFT - MSTRKRFT had a great set. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, so I was pretty open and enjoyed taking it all in. They were pumping out high energy electro like mad and are undoubtedly pros at DJing, making for an exhilarating performance. Holy Ghost! - I can barely remember their set, but I remember that they were a lot of fun! They have an incredible sound and great vibe. They were one of my favorite bands to dance to! I was surprised that they had a DJing set instead of a live band, but they were still solid. Ghostland Observatory - was the surprise set of the weekend. I had never heard of them before and didn't know what to expect. As soon as I heard them from far away, I came over to check it out. I don't normally like male singers, but their singer's voice is incredible and the effects they use on it are perfect. Backing the vocals was the other half of the duo on drums and a sampler/synth. Although the music was great, it was really this guy's voice that made it all incredible. Ghostland Observatory is definitely a band I would love to see again. Special Disco Version - I expected this collaboration of master DJs to be much better! I came in expecting them to be DJing some songs I could really get into, but nothing really caught my interest. But I did enjoy this disco set anyway. Nadastrom - was great live. His set was incredibly upbeat and he DJ'd some really cool, danceable stuff. Nadastrom brought a lot of great elements to his mix including fidget, dancehall, and house and nailed pulling it off in his set. He was the largest set in the Mad Decent Tropical Tent portion of Camp and was a ton of fun. Death From Above 1979 - This was another band that I thought would be much better live. It consisted of two members; one on bass and synth and the lead singer who also played the drums. The songs sounded pretty similar and, again, they weren't to my taste and the energy could have been a bit higher. Nero - Is still the best live dubstep act I have ever seen. Like 12th Planet, I had also gone to see Nero live in NY this past winter, and it was by far the craziest electronic show I have been too. At Camp, it was just as crazy. The Grooveshark tent was packed to the point where people were still crowded around on the outside of the tent in all directions. Everyone inside was loving his set and losing it at every drop. Not too many new songs necessarily, but great ones anyway. If you appreciate really high energy dubstep, perfect set lists, and incredible mixing skills, find out where Nero is playing next, and go! Bassnectar - Who better to follow Nero than Bassnectar? Although his production skills and recorded material are not up to par with Nero, Bassnectar is an artist to go see live, like 12th Planet. Out of all the other dubstep artists I have seen live, Bassnectar is one who will take more risks in his original music and what he ends up doing with it while he's mixing. His method is completely different from anyone else's and I think that his refreshing spin on dubstep is just what the genre needs and also happens to make for a crazy Main Stage spectacle. Wolfgang Gartner - This was the last set I saw and I was so exhausted that I probably did not end up appreciating it as much as I could have. Style and set wise, however, I had somewhat different expectations from Wolfgang Gartner. But his set had incredible adrenaline-enduing energy, something that was just way over me by the last night!
Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that I will be heading to Camp Bisco again this year! And like last year, I will review each of the artists I'm able to see. Stay tuned and sorry for the break!
Today, Thievery Corporation relaesed their sixth studio album Culture of Fear on Eighteenth Street Lounge Music. Thievery Corporation has always kept their studio work at top notch and although the styles they have incorporated (or not incorporated) have shifted over the years, their songs are still strong and beautiful, musically and politically. This album sounds a bit darker and is full of classic dub. My personal favorite tracks so far are "Is It Over?", "Stargazer", and "Fragments". Listen to "Is It Over" below and check out the album on iTunes.
Thievery Corporation is D.C.'s internationally famous trip-hop DJ duo featuring Rob Garza and Eric Hilton who have been inspiring the global electronic music community since 1995.
You Don't Know is an excellent dubstep & garage EP released in '08 on Smokin Sessions by UK artist Synkro. The production quality is outstanding and super stylized. I appreciate artists who are stylized if I can feel an instant connection to whatever kind of effect they are trying to generate. In the case of this release, Synkro is showing his refreshingly tranquil approach to dubstep/garage. This is hard to pull off in a genre where often darker and heavier win out over clever sound engineering and musicality. So Synkro is an artist I already feel a good deal of respect towards. Check out the third track, "Get Down" off You Don't Know.
Today I would like to shamelessly promote my most recent release! DYR is my personal electronic project and this past month I have been fiddling and preparing a new remix of Björk's song "Hidden Place". I am very excited about this particular remix and had a lot of fun remolding the song to make something that will hopefully get the idea of submergence going on in your mind. This is my second mature release, the first being "Dekotora". Please download this remix for free via the various sites below. Any and all comments are greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
Submotion Orchestra, a seven piece project from Leeds, is one of the most interesting electronic music projects I have come across. "Finest Hour (Planas Remix)" came recommended to me through my Genius app in iTunes and I was immediately enchanted by this gorgeous, ambient dubstep remix. Submotion Orchestra is completely unique because they have mastered their own technique for performing live, jaw-dropping electronic music. Yes, actually live. With live instruments; something rare and quite difficult to pull off. The original version of "Finest Hour" is definitely more of a chillout, downtempo track. Check out the recorded and live versions for yourself below.
Now that you've taken that in, it's time to give Planas' remix a listen. Planas (Toby Davis) is, to say the least, not your average dubstep producer. In this remix, he was able to take an already elegant song and transform it into an equally beautiful and incredible dubstep experience. I am impressed by both of these artists and am excited to learn more about how they are going about transforming the world of electronic music so profoundly. Finest Hour (Planas remix) by Submotion Orchestra
Sugarpill is an artist I have been watching for a while now with great expectations. Not only has Sugarpill managed to deliver, he is also continuously pushing his work to be better than the last. Fans of The Weeknd, R&B in general, and dubstep (in its really upfront form) will find more than enough to love about this remix. Sugarpill joins the previous artists mentioned yesterday in hailing from LA. His original work as well as his remixes and sets have earned him a distinct place in the electronic scene, where his unique infusions of glitch-hop and dubstep have now come to flourish continuously. The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) has, in the span of a year, made an incredible impact in the modern world of R&B. His achingly sweet tenor is an unexpectedly powerful presence and (like Page in my last post) is beginning to be featured in a growing number of remixes across the electronic community. Did I mention it is a free download?! Grab it below! The Weeknd - Wicked Games (Sugarpill's Slippery Souldbass Remix) FREE DOWNLOAD by sugarpill
Finally, and just in time, comes a remix that is rejuvenating my summer, which had initially started off on a bad note. GoldRush has made some cool progressions here, spanning and infusing genres of electronic music you don't normally hear coming together. Influences of dubstep, pop, glitch-hop, more straight up ambient, and much more are all present in this must-listen track. It has the impact of a heavy tune with the intricacies of a lighter, minimal remix. I am also a big fan of that glissing synth sound (as heard in the remix by 813 posted back in February). I just hope it doesn't start to get over-used if it hasn't already.
To top all of this off, Mimi Page's vocals are absolutely to die for; they are pretty much what everyone wants to work with while remaining completely distinct. As you take in "Come What May", they will simultaneously lull and haunt you. My one problem: the male vocal sample at the end; I wish I could just pluck it out! But it's such a tiny part, it hardly matters. Be sure to check out her new LP Harmonious Heartbeats on Simplify and prepare to be dazzled. This is definitely staying at the top of my list all summer! Mimi Page is an independent singer/songwriter from LA, who seems to have just begun to take off in the electronic music. I would recommend her and the remixes associated with her to fans of Ellie Goulding and the remixes of her work. GoldRush is an emerging producer/DJ, also from LA, with a passionate spirit for creating beautiful bass music that blazes through his creations. Check out more on Soundcloud. This remix was found via, Less Than 3, my favorite source for new music!
Here is another great tune that slipped through the cracks and never got posted! I've been DJing this at parties at my college forever. Rusko is a mastermind when it comes to designing his unique sounds; you can hear that there is an effortless flair to his programming and it just flows oh so naturally. Rusko is an established figure in the world of dubstep and, as the ruler of the lighter side of this world, is the name in summer music. Rusko's work on Kotchy's "Sing What You Want" chugs along with an 8 bit sounding beat and his infamous and infectious skweee stylings. Kotchy is an electronic producer as well as singer and multi-instrumentalist from Brooklyn.
I usually like to credit my sources when I find a new song, but this time I wasn't sure how I happened upon "The Things You Say",but I'm glad I did. I am a big fan of many electro-house releases that came out around 2005-2006 and this track is a great example. With a focus on rich analogue sound, Cicada creates a thumping journey that has become a dance floor hit. But the thing that really hooked me was the irresistible vocals by Icelandic singer, Heidrun Bjornsdottir, that carried out the group's goal of collaborating with "someone with an interesting voice who didn't just belt it out".
Cicada is a UK electronic band that began receiving critics' attention in 2005 and has since continued to release plenty of singles and another full length album on Critical Mass Records, release tons of remixes and continue performing around the world.
I am certainly glad to be reviewing Jamie XX (of The XX) again. I honestly had not listened to too much from him until today when I learned about his newest release Far Nearer / Beat For, just a week ago. I picked up "Beat For" and am hugely impressed by his work and what he is doing to expand and strengthen the genre of dubstep. The level of sound engineering and design that went into this song are inspiring and engaging. This is something you must check out if you like electronic music.
Going back to some artists I found out about more recently, I wanted to make sure I posted this song by Sebastien Devaud (Agoria), a minimal electronic artist from France. "Les Violons Ivres" is a smooth and very moving track that ambitiously blends hypnotic synth with gorgeous strings. The entire song is a big, rewarding build up. Great for rainy summer days.
This is a great track to take in for fans of minimal electronica, ambient, dubstep, and any combination thereof. "Lengthening Shadows" is a Telefon Tel Aviv track off of DJ-Kicks: Apparat, Apparat's (Sascha Ring) 2010 mix for !K7.
Here is a brand new favorite found while browsing around for some new infused R&B. "Wildfire" features vocals by Yukimi Nagano from Swedish indie-electronic band, Little Dragon. London-based, SBTRKT has executed a quirky yet sexy combination of rhythm with a sharp synth hook to match sounding like a higher pitched dubstep bass riff. Look for his newest self-titled release coming out later this month on Young Turks.
I don't normally post straight up hip-hop or R&B songs, but this song is so incredibly dope I had to share it. Hailing from LA, Nipsey Hussle is lends a greatly appreciated, authentic voice to the scene and I join many in hoping he continues to make it to the top. So far, so good but he'll need to catch up with his releases.
Not only is this the sexiest song I have ever heard in my life, it is also a surprisingly awesome musical collaboration within the realm of electronic music. Róisín Murphy's voice is completely unique and when she belts in her higher range, it's like my favorite picture of female sexuality. In addition to Róisín's amazing vocals, a great combination of a stark trip-hop beat met with the synth stylings of Crookers has instantly made this song one of my favorites. Check out the drop at 0:30 in; they really kill it on this track. "Royal T" is off of Tons of Friends, the debut album of electro Italian duo, Crookers. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the album is like.
Róisín Murphy is an Irish singer and producer who gained fame as the lead singer of the notoriously brilliant and bizarre trip-hop group, Moloko.
Here's a great remix that contains all the dark sexiness of minimal techno with a dense and deep beat. The best part, though, is the synth that comes in around 2:11. It is the song, essentially and if you take listen you'll see why. If you also like super catchy music (and catchy never ever ever means bad), then give this remix a try. The original and the remix are really similar, but I prefer the remix because of the structure, sound choices, etc. Sorry it's finals week. If you need to skip ahead to know for sure that this tune is worth it, check out the drop at 6:09.
Claude VonStroke is a techno/house producer from Detroit and label owner of Dirtybird Records.
Stanton Warriors are the breakbeat duo Dominic Butler and Mark Yardley.
This spring I have gained a renewed interest in darker, minimal techno and have found many great albums, EPs and remixes by artists like Trentemøller, Minilogue, Apparat, Modeslektor, Moderat, Extrawelt, Telefon Tel Aviv, etc that I cannot wait to share. I'm going to try to spread them out but expect more into the summer!
"The Leopard (Extrawelt Remix)" has an absolutely beautiful introduction and immediately plummets into a hypnotic groove with added ambience much like that found in the works of Trentemøller. The original of "The Leopard" by Minilogue is much too minimal for my taste. Extrawelt adds much more to the mix and overall structure along with some nicer sounding instrument choices. Check out it below! And I encourage you to buy or hunt down the original to compare for yourself.
Extrawelt is a new project from German techno-trance duo Midi Miliz (Arne Schaffhausen and Wayan Raabe).
Minilogue are a Swedish Progressive House/Tech-House/Minimal Techno music project of Sebastian Mullaert and Marcus Henriksson.
I have no idea why I never posted this but two summers ago, this was my daily jam. It comes round every spring and summer continuously on my iPod as it should for anyone who is a fan of Belgian-Italian duo, Aeroplane's wondrous remixes. Light, fresh, crisp and completely sexy. In my opinion, the original, by Friendly Fires, doesn't even compare to this remix/cover. In Aeroplane's version, the fine ladies from Au Revoir Simone create a soft, feminine flair for what were macho lyrics about some dude being your prince charming or something. Add to this rework a really fun beat with a ridiculously catchy synth riff and you have your lite-summer-electro anthem.
Chances are if you have hung out with me when I'm DJing an after party, this has come on so hopefully it sounds familiar! This song by Glass Candy is my definition of cool. I first heard it on a setlist that Annie put online a few years ago. One of the reasons I especially like "Miss Broadway" is that it sounds pretty much timeless, afterall, it is a dreamy cover of the equally incredible disco song by Belle Epoque from '78. If you love Annie, The Chromatics, and similarly timeless sounding electronic acts, check this out as soon as you have time to relax and enjoy it.
Glass Candy are Ida No and Johnny Jewel, an American indie-electronic band from Portland, OR that formed back in '96.
Now check out the original! It's rare to find a cover and original that are so equally amazing!
This song is a monster, but unlike a lot of dubstep-related electronic music that is coming out of the US, Starkey keeps it completely fresh, making this an impressive balance between being simultaneously huge in sound and light in feel.
Once again, the makers of Appleseed have blown me away when I recently watched Vexille. Not only was the newer movie better than Appleseed, I was overjoyed when then intro credits began after some epic action and a totally new custom Basement Jaxx tune was playing and was overall more fitting than it had been in Appleseed! Especially because I had never heard the tune before. If you tend to like futuristic movies as well as futuristic music, this is a 100% better experience than Appleseed, I think. I would post it with the intro, but you really need to watch that action scene first so just go watch Vexille on Netflix.
Basement Jaxx is a duo from heaven bringing us the truth through music.
I sat on top of a hill in the afternoon, the sky was blue and I looked up and saw the moon and I thought it pretty much had embodied and was serenading this song, instruments and all, towards the Earth. "Sparks" is really quite different stylistically for Röyksopp, especially compared to other songs off Melody AM like "Remind Me", "Eple", "Poor Leno", etc. "Sparks" is more traditionally downtempo and carries a big sound for the Norwegian duo's debut album which was released 10 years ago!
The song has an awesome video however it cuts out the beautiful synth solo in the beginning (my favorite part of the song) so I have posted both versions for double enjoyment! Actually, it could be a synth but I'm not positive that it is...
