Category: Electronic

Don’t Lose – Elder Island

New music from Bristolian three-piece Elder Island! Their music is tough to describe, so I’ll leave it to them: “raw electronic pop with a soulful house, indie persuasion”. Can’t say fairer than that.

If you are new to the band, check out Elder Island, their first EP release from 2014 for a taster.

These guys sound great in your headphones, and even better live. They embark on a UK tour in early November (including a sold out gig at Village Underground). If you can’t get your hands on tickets for that, they’ll be back in London in February at new Hackney venue EartH (tickets on DICE).

Two Bar House Music & Chord Stuff, Vol. 3 – Frits Wentink

Okay, so I’m pretty sure this guy is a visionary. If you aren’t familiar, Frits Wentink makes his very own peculiar brand of dusty, wonky electronic music. His latest release on WOLF Music Recordings is a little more dancefloor-ready than his previous stuff but hasn’t lost any of its bizarre charm.

Lucky for us, he’s playing an EP launch party at The Waiting Room in Stokey in two weeks time. It’s a small venue and tickets are going for a fiver(!!) so I’d recommend haste https://www.residentadvisor.net/events/1155551

If you haven’t heard his only full-length release, Rarely Pure, Never Simple from 2015, get to know.

Cuidado, Peligro, Eclipse – Agar Agar

mmm… chuck some ominous, siren-like vocals over a cheeky LCD-style synthy bassline and you have yourself a sexy, brooding, sweltering number that’ll fire you through a Tuesday. Or any day for that matter. Enjoy.

Like what you hear? You can catch the French duo live at the Village Underground in late October. It’s a steal at just over a tenner. Their track Prettiest Virgin from the same album is another beaut.

http://www.villageunderground.co.uk/events/agar-agar/

P.S. This is how the duo describe their artistic influences: “Clara comes from a family of apes so her influence is pretty varied, like trees, bananas, dried fruit, and Armand quite likes paintings but not their frames.” Genius.

Murmurations – Simian Mobile Disco

Every Sunday I am going to bring you something a little more downtempo to ease you back into the world.

Everyone has heard of Simian Mobile Disco. But no-one has heard Simian Mobile Disco sound like this. They have collaborated with all-female vocalist group Deep Throat Choir to put together this eerie, magical album. Sometimes soothing, sometimes unnerving, it is adventurous, super original and a really rewarding listen.

In particular, watch out for Caught in a Wave and Defender – the two highlights.

Innervisions @ Royal Albert Hall

Tonight I’m headed to a pretty exciting event. For about 6 hours German Electronic music label Innervisions will be taking over one of the most famous homes of classical music in the UK for a live show. Details are pretty scarce, but with production support from LWE and a line-up including some of the label’s biggest names (and founders Dixon & Ame) it’s all set to be a pretty special gig. Last time I checked there were a few tickets available too.

A handful of my favourite tracks from people on the line-up:

Huge uplifting Afro-house from Henrik Schwarz (I could have picked any number of his jams though tbh)

 

An Emotional, goosebumpy house remix from Matthew Herbert

 

Finally, Howling & Ame combining for some more heart-string tugging house back from 2012

Acidfun

It would be wrong of me to do too many posts without posting about my genre of the moment, acid house. Get into it with a playlist I created here. My highlight is Secrets & Lies by Fort Romeau – featuring a haunting sample and really nice depth.

I’ll keep it updated with new acid tracks I come across, so give it a follow.

As a bonus, here is Emo, the track from 2016 that got things going for me. It’s not available on Spotify due to an apparent dispute about the original track name (Emotinium) between the artist Roy of the Ravers, and Ceephax Acid Crew

 

Felix – Tom Demac

Tom Demac rarely gets it wrong. He has been churning out huge club tracks over the last decade*. His latest single in collaboration with Real Lies, White Flowers, is surprisingly low-grade for a producer of his quality.

Fortunately, it is redeemed by the B-Side, Felix; a brooding, deep number, it is reminiscent of the recently deceased Trevino’s club hit Backtracking – and this can only be a good thing.

*Try Critical Distance, Rain of Colour, It Grows Again, Linda’s Theme, Smoke Stained Ivories & The Shuttle Awaits if he is new to you. Joy awaits