Released today, I present you Magna's brand new EP, Scar !
It starts with an intro that will remind you of Mr Oizo's weirdest creations, distorted notes, mashed up samples, high piano notes and most important of all, an ending that will make you know what's going to happen to your ears for the next 12 minutes.
Paranoia has been in my ears for about half a year now, I heard a LOT of versions, and this one is by far the most impressive one. Dark and crazy electro, with a touch of dubstep.
Do It Right will definitely catch your attention, that's exactly the kind of song you want, to hear when someone's Djing, powerful progression and amazing drops.
Thrust is by far the discoest (and my favorite) track on the EP, a bit more like his first tracks, I'm having trouble thinking about anything to say as I'm banging my head too hard, seriously, STRONG song.
Magna really worked hard on this EP, he achieved to go past his usual progression style to give songs that sound even more achieved than they usually do. The result is brilliant. He is more than ever a guy to follow.
Surkin finally releases his much much MUCH awaited new album, I would almost say debut album because Action Replay felt more like a big EP than a LP, anyway, that's not important.
The album is a sweet combination of 90's electro with vocals that will make you feel like you're listening to 80's pop. An exemple ?
The other good news is that the album is almost only filled with new tracks, the few exceptions are White Knight Two, Silver Island and Ultra Light, but it's understandable because well... White Knight Two might be one of the best track he ever produced and Silver Island and Ultra Light were the main titles of his two previous EPs.
So, what are those new tracks, and how do they feel you might ask, well, as usual Surkin likes oldschool sounds and proves it in I.N.Y.N (who uses the most overheard Wooh ! of all times, but in a cool way for once.), but he's not only about big beats, he also creates some smooth as hell tracks, Never Let Go proves it.
I can't think of Surkin without thinking of Bobmo, as their Udon / Work EP was a true bomb. Good news is, they worked together again on the LP and made two great tracks. I love the influence Bobmo has on those tracks, they are as good as his tracks Rock The or Control.
I really recommend this LP if you enjoy Surkin, he did really well here once again. Unlike Justice for example, he kept his style so no big surprise but a nicely done LP. The only thing that could have been better is if those two (I'm not counting the intro) "shorter than 2 minutes tracks" were a bit longer... Rock It diserves an extended mix !
I know the album will not be available until next week for americans, but when it is, grab it; you won't regret it, trust me. There is everything an album needs, bangers, smooth relaxing tracks and the most important thing of all, TALENT.
Because of his remixes of Shark Simple, Voodoo or Sha! Shtil! L-vis 1990 always stayed under my radar.
I will give you my top 7 (yeah, that's not usual, I'm an edgy guy) out of this 15 tracks long album. Why do I do that ? Because the album is not ground breaking, it has its moments but it also has a lot of downsides such as being a bit too generic sometimes.
The album is way too eclectic, it seems like L-vis does not really know what crowd he aims for so he makes a bit of everything, some electro pop, some hip hop influenced songs with a bit of jungle.
All in all, I was disappointed, a lot of tracks were pretty flat and weak in comparison to his remixes or a track like Compass. But the album has a few gems, like Forever You, Play It Cool or Cruisin' that will stay in my playlist for a while.
I would give it a 5 or a 6 out of 10, because it's not bad, but it's not good either, some songs are just not working.
It's that time of the month again, time to review (some of) the albums that came out !
The first is the obvious one, Justice - Audio Video Disco.
Let's get something straight before I start talking about the album. The Justice we know from Cross changed a lot, this album is pretty much nothing like their previous work even if we obviously recognize their style. "These guys are the new rock'n'roll" someone once said, well, they heard him.
Maybe it's Xavier's work on Jamaica's album or Gaspard's on Rubber, maybe they just did not want to make a Cross 2.0, maybe they simply wanted to do something they like even if it changes from their "usual" style.
Let's play some music now.
The album starts with Horsepower, a good progressive and powerful track to begin with. It keeps those dark synths Justice are known for but also has this retro rock feeling. Very enjoyable track if you ask me.
Next is Civilization, the track that made everyone know that Justice changed, it's the kind of song that grows on you, Ali Love's voice fits very well with the song. I would have prefered Jessy Chaton, singer from Fancy who gave voice to D.A.N.C.E. (If you don't know Fancy and enjoy 70's rock with a crazy singer, check them out).
What do we have now ? Ohio, the song starts in a strange way, and keeps growing in a weird way in my opinion. Not bad at all but a bit too slow and the melody is really not that good for a Justice track, I don't think the vocals are good either... My least favorite track on the album.
Canon (Primo) is an intro to Canon, not much to say, it's an intro you know.
Canon, now we're talking ! The kind of songs that screams play me louder, that's the new Justice I like, strong drums, good chords... the perfect mix of electro and rock, the downside might be the end of the song, a bit weak. I'm starting to wonder what it will look like to see them live now, will they be playing actual instruments ? Mainly after seeing the Audio Video Disco video.
On'n'On. That perfect song you bought the album for. It has everything Justice has to offer, even the flute (?) who could have ruin the mood feels good. And those lyrics... I don't know who's singing, it's not referenced anywhere that it features someone so it might be Gaspard or Xavier, but damn, I'd like to hear that voice more often.
Brianvision remembers me of Rubber OST a lot, that atmosphere, the whole retro feeling of the song is amazing, it would have been a perfect fit for Rubber... It works great here too anyway so that's not a bad thing.
Parade. Call me geek but it feels like a battle theme from Final Fantasy hooked up with Queen - We Will Rock You and The Beach Boys - God Only Knows. Mind blowing track.
New Lands continues what On'n'On began, the only downside I can find is that without knowing it's from Justice, I would probably not have guessed it. But once you accept the turn they have made, it's an awesome song too, that ending... oh well.
The album ends with two already known songs.
Helix, I love this song, but it has a strange feeling because I first heard it they day DJ Mehdi died so it's always a bit weird to listen to it, especially because I think the vocals sampled would match a lot of Mehdi songs. Anyway, great great song even if my judgement is a bit biased.
Audio, Video, Disco is still what it is, I know a lot of people who don't find it good at all, I for one think it's not as bad as a lot of people tend to say it is.
But wait, why is the track 10 minutes long ? Yup, unnamed bonus track at the end ! Lovely lovely bonus track.
Alright, time to give my opinion about the album itself. While almost every track is good, it does not (and I don't think anything will ever again) have the same power as Cross. Once you accept the fact that it will be more of a 70's rock meets electro album than a Cross 2.0 the album is good, great actually. Fans might be disappointed by it, it's understandable, but it's a good album, with well made tracks and no "old remixes from 2003 renamed to fit in the album".
I'd say good move Justice, everything turned out better than expected even if it lacks of something here and there sadly.
Hey there. Autumn is coming thick and fast and today, I've got some remixes I've been liking quite a lot lately.
I must admit I don't know much about Monarchy, only that when mixed with Holy Ghost! and a man named Dixon, it gives out one of the grooviest tracks I've heard in a long while. Makes me wanna pull a John Travolta on "Saturday Night Fever" all over my room.
Again, I don't know much about the artists in this next track, and whilst the intro has a fairly generic and overused sound, it morphs into a nice acoustic guitar and vocals, and it just builds up from there, making a nice club track.
Now for something slighlty older, courtesy of Goldfrapp, Metronomy and The Teenagers.
It's a pretty simple track, a drum beat, a couple of synths and vocals, but it works brilliantly.
By the way, anyone know what are The Teenagers up to nowadays? They seem to have vanished after their album release (much like Heads We Dance).
Going a bit darker now. Crystal Castles' most recent album was damn better than their first one, and one of the standout tracks was "Suffocation".
Memory Tapes decided to go back to the mid-80's and give the track a bit of a poppy groove, but maintaining the original's dark essence.
And finally, another oldie. I honestly can't believe how I haven't posted this one yet.
It's Russ Chimes at his very best. Lots of synths and lots of power on a track which has a 4-minute buildup to a brilliant synthline that doesn't let anyone down.
On a similarly Drum & Bass / Jazz note, here's another Warped entry. This time it's Ultravisitor, the last in the line of Squarepusher's frantic experimental stage that started with Go Plastic. Remember earlier this year where I said in my review of Bibio's Mind Bokeh that it was a bit all over the place in terms of sound? you ain't heard nothin' yet my friend, 'cos Ultravisitor is by far the least cohesive album I have ever heard. But it works, well yeah some of the tracks are pretty much full on abrasive noise, but it's all part of Squarepusher's grand send-off to the experimental style.
This album also has a bit of a gimmick where some of it was actually recorded live, and some of it just has crowd noises spliced in to make it seem live. I don't quite get the idea, but it sounds good so I'll let it slide. Anyway, onto the tracks: It starts innocently enough, with the titular track proving actually quite tame by Squarepusher standards. A far cry from what we'll hear later I assure you.
And to throw you completely off, Mr. Jenkinson throws a jazzy bass solo at you, just for kicks. It's a welcome return to the style that he explored on 1998's Music Is Rotted One Note and would again in 2009 with Solo Electric Bass 1
Again another Jazzy-esque bit that wouldn't be out of place on Music Is Rotted One Note, this one actually reminds me of the track My Sound from that record, and that is one of my all time favourites. This one goes down a treat.
One final guitar solo, not like anything he's done before, both on this album and previous this time. It's very nice in a not-Squarepusher way. It's the calm before the oncoming storm that should be coming riiiiight after this.
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Now. The time for Jazz is over. Those nice Guitar pieces you liked so much? They're gone. We're back in frantic Drum & Bass territory à la Go Plastic now. That doesn't stop it being brilliant though. My favourite bit is at 4:11, where the man himself starts spouting some distorted verses that work really well with the backing.
The Go Plastic-esque trend continues, a quiet intro filled with bleeps and boops leading to a cavalcade of sounds flying at you from all directions with spatterings of Bass Guitar later on. It's pretty much textbook Squarepusher for this era.
A return to the jazzy side of things, with a improv drum session leading nicely into familiar territory as heard on earlier tracks. A brief respite from the sound assault that came before it.
It's a similar story for this one, though just when you thought we were back in Jazz land in comes some actual Drum & Bass backing, this is pretty much the style the 'Pusher adopts for the next few albums after this, flowing electronics with a speedy Drum & Bass backing with splashes of Bass solos lathered over the top. It's probably my favourite of all his styles adopted throughout the years.
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As we come to the last few tracks of the album, we leave the experimental Drum & Bass behind for good. In it's place is the sequel to Tommib, an ambient number from Go Plastic. Like his mate Aphex Twin, 'Pusher is just as good at chilled out stuff as he is his usual repertoire. A well deserved break from all those breakbeats.
And wrapping the album up, one final guitar piece. No drums, no electronics, no speedy sampled breaks. Just Jenkison and his Guitar together for the last send-off. It's a fitting end, not just for the album but for his experimental work as a whole: it had it's patchy moments, but when it shined, it REALLY shined.
It's funny, this album isn't usually in my standard rotation because I always remember the ultra noise parts split with a few downtempo pieces, but looking through the tracks for ones to post I found it's pretty evenly balanced between the two. His experimental stuff isn't my favourite, that award goes to both the set of albums after this and his early works. Though saying that, it's aged a lot better than Go Plastic in terms of the more experimental stuff as in I find the stuff on here a lot easier to listen to. Next time we have a TON of Boards Of Canada stuff coming up, see you then.
Rearranged Into Plastic Membranes, -Claude Van Foxbat
Last week I got a package with a huge label on it that said "FROM THE NETHERLANDS". What was inside? nothing shady I promise you, it was a limited edition copy of Goldie's 1995 debut album Timeless in one of those old school bulky 2CD cases. So I get to talk about old school Drum & Bass instead of the new school Liquid Funk!
You might know of Goldie. Though you probably remember him as that guy with the gold teeth in that Bond film, Goldie was one of the artists that brought Drum & Bass and Jungle to the attention of mainstream audiences at the time. How did he do this? well he and Rob Playford (who would later go on to found the legendary Moving Shadow label) produced a ton of tracks that combine the breaks and basslines of Drum & Bass and crossed them with some pretty jazzy sounding elements and a general chill feel, the result was pretty spectacular, and very accessible to new listeners. I'm not gonna post a lot of it because it's a REALLY long album: 1 hour 43 minutes and 7 seconds start to finish and that's just the standard six track version, not the twelve tracker I got. The opening track itself accounts for 21 of those minutes, which means it clocks in at a beefy 48MB as a 320kbps MP3. Have it, and some of my other favourite slices from Timeless
A couple years later in 1998, a duo called the E-Z Rollers would do the same thing, but with a bigger emphasis on the Jazz elements and sounds and a much more upbeat tone than Timeless. It's surprisingly obscure compared to massive success Goldie's effort, but Weekend World just sounds like a success. It all works so well together and it's a shame for it to go so unnoticed. Do me a favour and give it a listen wouldya?
It's interesting to listen to the evolution of Drum & Bass between 1993 and now. I like both types almost equally, but the older stuff has a certain charm to it that just makes it great. That about wraps it up, there was meant to be another album in here: Even Angels Cast Shadows by Omni Trio, but in hindsight it probably doesn't fit in too well here - there's definitley some Jazzy influence for sure, but not as much as on other Movign Shadow records of the time like Flytronix's album for example. Still, I suggest you check it out though - and the Flytronix album too if you're looking for more like this too!
Hi guys.
Remember Alecks Awklr ?
If not, check out this interview and the album review of his first LP.
He recently sent me the songs from he's next EP, I thought I'd share some of them with you.
My favorite one would be Granted, love the atmosphere, the mix between violins and loud drums adds something moving to the vocals.
Leaving seems to be sampling Björk's voice, or at least it remember me of hers... very relaxing track.
Suburau could really sum up Aleck's style, very simple yet well worked pieces of music that progress together, creating something of its own in the end.
True is a little bomb, makes me think of Hudson Mohawke's style in a way, that's never a bad feeling.
The full EP will come out during November on his bandcamp page don't forget to check it out.
-Here
Last night I had the chance to watch The Glitch Mob perform live at Le Nouveau Casino. One of the best gig I intended so far.
The night beginned with Electrik Blast a french duo that would make anybody's head bang in half a minute, their mix was thrilling, way better than a lot of "party starters" I've seen that would simply throw tracks and that's it.
The set was a patchwork of great taste music, between hip hop, dubstep and jungle, adding a lot of beats to it, kind of like C2C. They included 3 new Rustie tracks that made everyone go crazy, no wonders why.
Next band was MC2, a glitch hop duet from the south of France.
I was not that convinced at first, then one of the two guys started climbing on the table, playing with a PC joystick and a PS2 controler, at this point most of the crowd went apeshit, me and my friends had to fight for 20 mins to get a decent spot to enjoy the Glitch Mob.
Then, those three cool guys came on stage, no big deal.
The live was simply amazing, one of thing that will hit right right away is how much fun they are having, ediT was smiling during the whole performance, playing with the crowd, who (unlike every crowd sadly) really know the songs, instantly started clapping during Make The World Stop and 7th Nation Army remix without any of the guys on stage having to ask for it.
I was really excited about The Glitch Mob live after seeing a few videos on youtube, the three of them would start grabbing drumsticks and add live drums to the music at some points, it gives a real energy to the tracks. Another addition they make during live is the vocal part, they add a lot of lyrics on some songs, probably samples but from songs I don't know so I can't tell if they were collab or simple samples, except at one point when they throwed Harder Better Faster Stronger's vocals.
Oh and one more thing... They gave us a little bonus, a brand new track they never played to anyone before, so here is a vid I took with my phone, the quality is obviously not great but you can still listen to it I think.
During the crowd shot Dj Missil came on stage and she started her set, we went back to the bar in the club to meet some people and listened to Electrik Blast were DJing.
After a 5am Nutella Crêpe, one hour of slow mo walk in the streets of Paris and two hours of train, here I am, still amazed by that night.
My opinion on The Glitch Mob live ? Powerful, entertaining and a lot of fun if the crowd is really into it.
So, I'm finally back. As you probably already know, I've been quite unwell for the past few months. I'm a little better now, but still not 100%. To make myself feel even more better I picked up some music stuffs, which is good news for you as well!
Kicking us off is Ladytron, who brought a house inspired brand of psuedo-electroclash to the synthpop revival scene of the early 2000's that I quite like with 604. It still sounds quite fresh for an 10 year old album, check this out.
It's not all house all the time though, 604 really shines when it's fully embracing the simple bleeps to create that undoubtebly Kraftwerk inspired sound. It's perhaps easier to hear the influence on other cuts, I just picked this one 'cos it's a favourite.
I finally got around to picking up The Knife's soundtrack to swedish indie flick Hannah Med H too, which I've posted a bit of already. It's short (just over a half hour) but all the tracks are brilliantly produced.
Now, this one is a bit of a wildcard. What happens when The Knife takes a stab at techno? well, this. A menacing sounding, frantic and cut up to hell track that lasts all of two minutes. It sort of reminds of of Aphex Twin's Digeridoo only more... European sounding, if that makes sense.
I really like the structure of this one, it's one of the longer tracks on the album, nothing is wasted and no element overstays it's welcome: everything feels very precise and calculated, from the opening beats to the breakdowns.
Sending us off is my favourite internet animator turned musician, Locust Toybox. His new album Noon dropped earlier this year and as far as I'm concerned it's his best yet, it's very refined and mostly sample based and doesn't have that sort of unfinished feel some of his earlier stuff did.
The first track I heard from Noon, the intro is good by itself, but the track really shines when that brilliantly executed sample at 1:26 drops. That was when I knew it'd a be a favourite of mine.
Finishing up with the first track, which sounds just a bit like something Mr. Scruff would make, but with hazy reverb infused vocals over the top. Could've probably been a summer track, but it's a bit late for that now isn't it?
And that be that, I apologise for not being around as much as I'd have liked to, but between going back to school and havin' brain problems, I kinda had a lot on my plate. BUT on a lighter note I have some other stuff planned so expect a semi-regular return to form for me!
It's now Surkin's turn to give us a little preview of his upcoming album : USA.
Surkin - USA (Album Teaser) by Marble Music
Sounds very promising... This fall is off to a good start !
-Here
Hey there, after the little medley from Justice album, I found a few more things you might enjoy.
Justice really is into oldschool guitars and vocals, I'm not the one who'll complain as long as they do it as nicely as on Newlands. Anyway, the song seems a bit unfinished, that wouldn't be surprising obviously, it's enjoyable anyway even if it feels that it's lacking something.
If you enjoyed Helix, Canon might do the trick for you. So far all those Justice songs are not bad (even Audio Video Disco finally grew on me and I found myself liking it when I was like 'bleh' at first, go figure.) but they feel like they are missing something, that little thing that made every tracks from Cross epic.
Don't get me wrong, they are decent electro tracks, but I expect more from Justice, especially when you see how great Cross and Planisphere were. So far it seems like they are holding themselves, weirdly.
Let's move to something different, and I'm not talking different from Justice, I'm talking different from everything. You guessed it, Mr Oizo ! From his upcoming album Stade 2, here is France 7
I would have hard times trying to explain how Rustie sounds. Electro, hip hop, aqua crunk, garage, jungle, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW, just shouting words that sound cool and might be appropriate..
Rustie is an artist I discovered, with Hudson Mohawke, two years ago during a Warp/Ed Banger party in Paris. Those two guys blew my mind.
So, what to expect from this album ? 13 tracks, 13 ways to bang your head, 13 synths, claps, drums and weird vocals to discovere how versatile Rustie is.
First song of the album is Glass Swords, it's more of an intro, but a damn good intro, a "how to use electric guitar in an electro song".
The next one is Flash Back, a lot of little sounds reminding the synths used by Hudson Mohawke, might be a little tribute, I don't know.
Surph, oh, just another regular Rustie track, wait no, it's amazing.
A song that really got me thinking is Hover Traps. You can hear those powerful Trance synths you hear all the time. Well, he took them to another level, simple as that.
City Star is another example of the things he's able to create. Hip Hop Electro at its finest.
Ultra Thizz, banger of the album.
All Nite sounds like he sampled the chorus of a 1996 summer hit, throwed it into acid, that would be the result.
It might not fit everyone's taste, because Rustie is pretty weird to listen to. Anyway, that album is ridiculously great, no wonder that guy is signed on Warp, they don't release half finished albums filled up with average tracks. Rustie took his time, and I'm glad he did because he came back with something that is even a bit above what he usually releases.
So that was the third album review of September.
Of course other albums came out during this month, but I don't really have enough time to buy/listen/write about everything and I don't enjoy making review of things I do not enjoy.
So yes, all three albums are amazing to me, because they are from artists I really digg, I might not really be objective about everything, but I tried !
One of the album I've been really waiting for, and the resultat is not disappointing.
For those who don't know BNN, they are four DJs, DMC world championship winner 2002. They each scratch on a turntable, each DJ having a part of the song to create, the result is impressive and eargasmic.
Their first album (Birdy Nam Nam) was funky and jazzy scratching masterpiece, the second one (Manual for Successful Rioting) was more clubby, with tracks produces by Justice or Yuksek.
Now comes their fird album.
It is produced by ony of my favorite producer, Para One, so I'm expecting a lot obviously.
I think there is two kind of songs in this album, BNN songs and Para One influenced songs.
The only downside I can see here, is that on most of the songs, you don't actually feel like you're listening to a BNN track, I'm not talking about oldschool BNN style, it's far gone now, but even the Manual for Successful Rioting style seems to be missing sometimes, I actually had to check if I wasn't on shuffle.
The album begins with a typical BNN song, you can recognize it in a few seconds.
Those two other tracks share that Birdy Nam Nam's awesomeness, Defiant Order is by far one of my favorite track from them the whole song is simply caviar.
Now let's take a look at "the other side" of the album, the strongly Para One influenced tracks, to keep this battle fair, I'll only put three songs, but let's say that on the out of the 11 tracks on the album, at least 6 could have been in here.
To sum up the album, I would say that it's not exactly what I was expecting. But that does not mean that it's bad, not at all.
I LOVE those distorded synths, the progression of most of the tracks is as good as usual, it's a real pleasure to listen to the whole album, you don't feel like there are "fill up songs" except for one maybe, Cadillac Dream, that is a bit repetitive on the vocal side and too chill, it kinda kills the mood.
Overall, great album, the Birdy Nam Nam and Para One combination worked like a charm, but again, you really need to enjoy Para One's style to enjoy this album in my opinion.
We stay in europe, but move a bit to the east : Germany.
Monkeytown has finally been released, and boy, the waiting was long.
I don't think that introducing Gernot and Szary is needed, right ? Founders of Monkeytown Records, they formed the band Moderat with Apparat, produced tracks for Puppetmastaz or TTC, they also are one of the favorite band of Thom Yorke himself.
One more time, they achieved to mix dark and creepy audio with mesmerizing drums, sometimes it feels like ambient, a few seconds later you realise you're listening to a 140bpm track.
That album contains a lot of featuring, Thom Yorke (Everything sounds better with Thom Yorke.) for two powerful ambient tracks.
You prefer the Hip Hop side of Modeselektor ? Busdriver and Miss Platnum are here, don't worry.
WARNING : Berlin might be the tune of the year.
But of course, Modeselektor wouldn't be Modeselektor without instrumental tracks that feel so complete that adding lyrics would ruin them. And here are three of the instrumental tracks.
In definitive, this album is a gem, a little masterpiece you expect from Modeselektor. Every track has its own universe, its own place.
There is no word I know to explain how great album is to me, 11/10.
