Category: Concert / Live

Rose Rouge – St Germain

Rose Rouge is a stone cold classic. No question. Iconic drums, iconic piano, iconic Marlena Shaw vocal sample. We know this.

But maybe, like me, you’ve always thought of it as a sunset record. A Café del Mar kind of number. It certainly does that job.

Recently though, I was at Giant Steps listening to a vinyl set by DJ Sotofett when he dropped it. And let me tell you, it absolutely went off.

Streaming the track, the horn section can blur into a single layer. But hearing the track on the incredible Giant Steps soundsystem pulled them apart in the most incredible way. The two horns trading blows at 3:50 section (trumpet played by Pascal Ohsé and tenor sax played by Edouard Labor) sounded nothing short of sensational.

Do yourself a favour: if you ever get the chance to hear Rose Rouge on a proper soundsystem, take it. You might discover that one of the definitive chill-out records of the 2000s is also a devastating club track.

Afterthought – Tame Impala

Tame Impala have released their new album, Deadbeat; their long-awaited follow-up to The Slow Rush. Inspired by the Australian ‘bush doof’ (outdoor rave) scene, Kevin Parker has reimagined his sound for the dancefloor. While this sounds like an exciting prospect, in general, the release underwhelms – in particular, singles End of Summer, Loser and Dracula are all relatively quickly forgotten.

That said, tucked away as the penultimate track on the album, Afterthought gives a hint of what the album could have been. It fuses Parker’s song-writing strengths with a catchy, melodic baseline. It’s just a shame that this approach appears to have been afterthought…

If you enjoyed that, I’m playing a set at Stokey Karaoke on 29th November where I’ll be leaning into an indie electro vibe. Expect Tame Impala, La Roux, TEED and more. Get in touch for details.

Walking on a Dream (TEED Remix) – Empire of the Sun

17 years on from its original release, Empire of the Sun have released a remix package of their biggest track, Walking on a Dream. The TEED version caught my attention, but the EP takes you on a tour of various genres (and levels of quality) with Wiz Khalifa, Axwell and Kaskade getting in on the act, amongst others.

If you enjoyed that, I’m playing a set at Stokey Karaoke on 29th November where I’ll be leaning into an indie electro vibe. Expect Tame Impala, La Roux, TEED and more. Get in touch for details.

TEED’s new album is Always With Me is out 5th December. I’ve been enjoying the singles so far (especially Desire and The Echo). It’s very much worth checking out what Orlando has to offer, as always. New name, same quality.

Otherside & Blackoak – Maribou State

One of the first posts I wrote on this site was on the release of Kingdoms in Colour. That was way back in 2018 – the last time electronic duo Maribou State released an album. So it is pretty exciting that they are back with a new album, Hallucinating Love, which will be released on 31st January 2025. The process has been a long one in part due to a serious illness suffered by one of the duo. Chris Davids has required brain surgery due to a rare condition called a Chiari malformation. That they are now releasing new music and announcing live dates is great news for the band and their fans.

7 years is a mighty long time in music, but from the sounds of the first two singles it may have been worth the wait. Both Blackoak and Otherside are unmistakably Maribou State, once again featuring Holly Walker’s beautiful vocals. Excitingly, Andreya Triana is a featured artist on a yet to be released track, which feels like another match made in heaven.

Tickets for their Valentine’s Day gig at Ally Pally go on sale this Friday.

My Noise is Nothing – Lord of the Isles

This is a really special album. My Noise is Nothing is the second collaboration between poet and spoken word performer Ellen Renton, and producer Lord of the Isles. You can read my thoughts on their first release Whities 029 from 2020 here.

For this release they have re-located their unique alchemy. Lord of the Isles creates a set of beguiling, luscious soundscapes – over these Ellen Renton delivers her thought-provoking, evocative, yearnful verse. The music and her voice intertwine with a harmonic give-and-take that is hard to describe. The result is the kind of album you can play again and again.

If you are lucky, you may be able to grab a ticket to see them perform live. They touch down in London at Kings Place on 21st March.

Hollywood (Jacques Lu Cont’s Thin White Duck Remix) – Madonna

A couple of week’s ago I had the absolute pleasure of being at the opening night of Madonna’s Celebration Tour. Production levels were off the charts. If you get the chance to go to one of the remaining legs, I can’t stress enough that you should make it happen. The show made the most of her insanely rich back-catalogue with hit after hit. She’s an amazing performer, and it was an amazing show.

For today’s track we are rewinding to 2003, and a grinding, nasty remix of Hollywood by Jacques le Cont (aka Les Rythmes Digitales, real name Stuart Price). The speed is lifted and the drones are amplified, giving the track a new, dark energy. Interestingly, this was the version of the track that Madonna performed during the MTV Video Awards. After this remix, Price went onto work as a producer on Confessions of a Dancefloor amongst other collaborations with Madonna.

Bonus track: it wasn’t easy to pick, but this was my highlight from the show.

Jai Paul

Something a bit different today: a video feature on the re-emergence of Jai Paul on the excellent Resident Advisor youtube. They put it out in the run-up to his first ever live show, at Coachella. Apparently his performance didn’t quite live up to the hype, but you best believe he has more to offer the world.

More Jai? You can find his remix of Jungle Drum here and Do You Love Her Now / He here.