It's a melancholic tune but at least we can rejoice in the fact that The xx are making more music.
Showing posts with label electronic music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label electronic music. Show all posts
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
The xx - Angels
Arguably it's a bit samey to the stuff on their first album, but when the material's so undeniably lush and melodic who cares if it's samey. 'Angels' is a sparse track with more of the delicate vocals that we've come to expect from front girl Romy, the lyrics are uttered softly yet still retain a powerful poeticism as they drift over distant guitars.
It's a melancholic tune but at least we can rejoice in the fact that The xx are making more music.
It's a melancholic tune but at least we can rejoice in the fact that The xx are making more music.
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Hospitality @ Digital
Review first appeared in Brighton SOURCE mag
It seems every genre of EDM is getting prefixed by the ‘future’ tag – future house, future garage, future step. Alright, we may have made that last one up, but drum’n’bass is getting ushered into the corner with all the exciting new developments in dance music. Hospitality, however, is here to prove that it’s still alive and kick-drumming.
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| Photo by Zac Colbert |
Nu:Tone successfully warms up the crowd, as diamond geezers thrash about with their tops off and junglettes get treated to a bass heavy remix of Adele’s ‘Rolling In The Deep’, before headliners Sigma take to the decks. Their productions err on the side of soulful liquid blends but tonight’s set opts for the grittier edge of drum’n’bass, best illustrated when they drop DJ Hazard’s ‘Mr Happy’. Digital’s raving elite gets their jubilee skank on for all of England as the ear shattering sonics pulse throughout the club. The place is rammed, so it’s safe to say that d’n’b is far from flat-lining yet.
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| Photo by Zac Colbert |
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Dirtybird Records Showcase
Are you tired of moody dubstep? Is aggressive drum ‘n’ bass getting you down? Well Audio have the perfect night for you, a Dirtybird Records showcase. The label’s founder, Claude VonStroke, will be spinning his harmonious deep house and techno delights.
Then there’s Justin Martin whose mixes make us laugh as much they make us dance. This is a DJ with his tongue refreshingly in his cheek. With a label that denounces posers and places fun at the forefront of what they do, you know tonight will be pure dancefloor japery.
Then there’s Justin Martin whose mixes make us laugh as much they make us dance. This is a DJ with his tongue refreshingly in his cheek. With a label that denounces posers and places fun at the forefront of what they do, you know tonight will be pure dancefloor japery.
Thursday, 1 March 2012
TEED @ Digital
Originally written for that rag the Brighton SOURCE.
After the release of 'Household Goods' in 2010 and 'Trouble' last year, Orlando ‘Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs’ Higginbottom garnered the attention of Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw and was put on remix duty by commercial artists as well as underground, from Professor Green and Lady Gaga to The 2 Bears.
Tonight his soft voice sounds frail, drowning behind the easy going electro of 'Household Goods', but this is understandable, Brighton is the last leg of a sold out UK tour. TEED's notoriously elaborate head-dress of feathers, beads and tapestry bop to the beat, rhythmically rising and falling to the sunset synths of 'Trouble'. Digital's crowd push forward straining to see the DJ behind the barrier of keyboards, laptops, samplers and a drum machine, between which he’s constantly flitting.
The gracious 'Garden' has the 8 bit blips of Crystal Castles but without the screeching mania. It's warm and affectionate, ambling into our ears and gently coaxing us to dance. As one of his most recent releases it is perhaps also the most recognisable and the crowd begin to bounce with boundless vigour. They're packed so tightly towards the stage that they move as one, unified by necessity, arms pushed down to their sides or raised aloft, the sea of haircuts swell as lasers cut the smoke above them.
With his album set to drop in June we're treated to some new material. His latest tune 'Tapes & Money' has a luscious melody with a melancholy vocal and fast tempo. As with all his work he manages to create a harmonious sound from seemingly contrasting elements. As a producer of the future his bars are anything but Jurassic.
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| Photo by Zac Colbert |
After the release of 'Household Goods' in 2010 and 'Trouble' last year, Orlando ‘Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs’ Higginbottom garnered the attention of Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw and was put on remix duty by commercial artists as well as underground, from Professor Green and Lady Gaga to The 2 Bears.
Tonight his soft voice sounds frail, drowning behind the easy going electro of 'Household Goods', but this is understandable, Brighton is the last leg of a sold out UK tour. TEED's notoriously elaborate head-dress of feathers, beads and tapestry bop to the beat, rhythmically rising and falling to the sunset synths of 'Trouble'. Digital's crowd push forward straining to see the DJ behind the barrier of keyboards, laptops, samplers and a drum machine, between which he’s constantly flitting.
The gracious 'Garden' has the 8 bit blips of Crystal Castles but without the screeching mania. It's warm and affectionate, ambling into our ears and gently coaxing us to dance. As one of his most recent releases it is perhaps also the most recognisable and the crowd begin to bounce with boundless vigour. They're packed so tightly towards the stage that they move as one, unified by necessity, arms pushed down to their sides or raised aloft, the sea of haircuts swell as lasers cut the smoke above them.
With his album set to drop in June we're treated to some new material. His latest tune 'Tapes & Money' has a luscious melody with a melancholy vocal and fast tempo. As with all his work he manages to create a harmonious sound from seemingly contrasting elements. As a producer of the future his bars are anything but Jurassic.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Even @ The Tube
Review first appeared in the Brighton SOURCE, which has a sexy new website.
Typically, headlining DJs only get an hour or two to entertain you, but Even throws the rule book straight out the window. The philosophy behind this club night is to book one big act and let them loose on the decks for as long as they want. Last year Ben UFO had four hours playing to the sweaty heads filling The Tube and this month Appleblim’s getting similar treatment.
Tonight it’s Space Dimension Controller, whose psychedelic techy-house productions on his astral album – ‘The Pathway to Tiraquon 6’ – demonstrated a cosmic love for disco, funk and deep house, as does the first hour of his set tonight.
It culminates with Bob Sinclar’s controversial ‘Gym Tonic’ before dropping back down into some stomping techno that chugs along like a celestial locomotive. His own track ‘Usurper’ finds its way into the mix, the palatial soundscape indicative of the interstellar epicness of all his tunes, before Siedah Garrett’s ‘Do You Want It Right Now?’ tops the night off nicely.
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| Photo by James Kendall |
Tonight it’s Space Dimension Controller, whose psychedelic techy-house productions on his astral album – ‘The Pathway to Tiraquon 6’ – demonstrated a cosmic love for disco, funk and deep house, as does the first hour of his set tonight.
It culminates with Bob Sinclar’s controversial ‘Gym Tonic’ before dropping back down into some stomping techno that chugs along like a celestial locomotive. His own track ‘Usurper’ finds its way into the mix, the palatial soundscape indicative of the interstellar epicness of all his tunes, before Siedah Garrett’s ‘Do You Want It Right Now?’ tops the night off nicely.
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Bowski - Poppies EP
Bowski first drew my attention earlier this year with the excellent 'Hooves', which immediately gets your toes tapping via it's mischievious melodies, echoey techno bleeps and the "bom, bom bom" sounds sampled from his mates. Now he's got the tedious task of completing a degree out the way he's back with a new EP on Blood Music.
'Poppies' is a fantastic track, demonstrating Bowski's jaunty finesse with its bouncing beats and minimal techy bumps. It's got a breezy build up that breaks down into a tremoring sink hole wobble that wouldn't sound out of place on a dubstep track. But for me 'White Russian' is the best example of his post-club pre-coital micro house. It's got a warehouse ethic, lighthearted yet unyielding, his attention to detail is scarcely perceptable but is exactly what makes it so irresistible.
You can pick this up from Blood Music on December the 12th and then bump it out your iTunes rather than playing it from my shitty blog. LOVE.
'Poppies' is a fantastic track, demonstrating Bowski's jaunty finesse with its bouncing beats and minimal techy bumps. It's got a breezy build up that breaks down into a tremoring sink hole wobble that wouldn't sound out of place on a dubstep track. But for me 'White Russian' is the best example of his post-club pre-coital micro house. It's got a warehouse ethic, lighthearted yet unyielding, his attention to detail is scarcely perceptable but is exactly what makes it so irresistible.
Monday, 21 November 2011
Jack Beats - End of Love
They've been making bombastic bass driven fidget house for a while now and this tune is the epitome of everything they stand for. It's got a preposterously funky bassline following a beat that keeps you guessing, switching from dubstep to house and back again, while a Leonard Cohen sample toasts "to the end of love".
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