#140 – The Rapture Release Remix EP

There was a time, long ago, when we used to put up some remixes on a Friday. In this spirit, here’s the new EP that The Rapture are releasing on the 17th January. It’s got versions of their song ‘Sail Away’ by Aeroplane, Cosmic Kids and Cut Copy. What with this being DFA, the remixes are very much of the ‘electronic’ variety and the whole EP will clock in at a little under 25 minutes, with the Aeroplane mix being fairly typical of his productions, which is to say soaring and epic and, most importantly, good. The Cosmic Kids remix is a stripped down version of the song, house-y and oddly reminiscent of Justin Timberlake’s ‘Lovestoned’ (not a bad thing I reckon). Finally Cut Copy’s mix is an epic eight minuter that’s classically ‘electro’ with a sunny wash. All are good, and there’s something for all fans of the DFA catalogue. More good news (if you live in the US) is that they’ve announced a few dates around the same time as their dates at Coachella, two of which have got Justice supporting. If you want to find out a little more about that then click here. Listen to the EP below the drop.

#124 – Holy Ghost’s ‘Hold My Breath’

#78 – Remix Roundup

I did one of these a couple of weeks ago and it seemed to go down fairly well. So here are another four remixes that have been getting some plays this week. Some of them are spanking new, others aren’t so new. Either way, they’re worth listening to.

This first one is a bit of Nicki Minaj. She is great, no two ways about it. Her flow is awesome and her lyrics leave little to the imagination. Her delivery reminds me of old school Lil’ Kim. At times innocent and at time dripping with innuendo. Back to what I said earlier… She’s great. This song is a remix of her sample/cover of The Big Pink’s Dominoes. The original is a poppy electronic/rap song which is better than your average stuff in the charts and this remix turns it into some really heavy electro. It’s been slowed down to a dub tempo and the bass on it is huge. If I was out I would enjoy hearing this!

Nicki Minaj – Dominoes (Distance Remix) [Buy]

The next song has gone all Balearic on us. That’s a fun word. Balearic. Anyway, the original features on Holy Ghost!’s spanking new album that garnered some pretty awesome reviews. The original is DFA through and through, with a little bit of Cut Copy’s brand of gaylectro thrown in there. The remix is lounged out and extended. It makes you want to be on a beach in Croatia or something, chilling out and watching the bikini-clad girls wander by. Or if you are a bikini-clad girl, then watch whatever it is that you watch. Either way, this is an enjoyable 5:23 of music.

Holy Ghost! – Wait & See (CFCF Remix) [Buy]

New Zealand’s The Naked And Famous are a band

#72 – YΔCHT

No, that’s not me shouting. It’s how they spell it. Although, you should listen to them. So maybe you should imagine me raising me voice a little while I’m talking about them. YΔCHT are Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans, with Robert “Bobby Birdman” Kieswetter and Jeffrey “Jerusalem” Brodsky joining them for the live shows. They make pretty cool electronic-based music that fits in rather wonderfully with the output of all their DFA labelmates. But they definitely don’t blend into the crowd; Claire’s vocals have yet to disappoint and some of the production quality on their output is really impressive. I’m a particular fan of how tracks like ‘Summer Song’ seem like they should be seven minute, LCD-esque epics yet they are done in half that. It’s a testament to the way the songs are written and put together that you get to the end of them and wonder what just happened and why it stopped.

#63 – Some New Stuff

Here’s a little collection of songs that are doing the rounds at the moments and that I like. First up we’ve got some Holy Ghost!, signed to one of the most consistently excellent labels, DFA. This is a new song from the band that’s floating about for free off the label’s Soundcloud as a bit of promo for their eponymous debut album which is due out on 25th April. For now, content yourselves with this…

Holy Ghost! – Wait & See [Buy]

Now we’ve got a song by emerging ‘Night Pop’ duo Alpines. I’m not so sure about the name of the genre they’re giving themselves (how many different ‘… Pop’ categories do we really need?!) but it’s a fairly big, bold song that’s well written and generally pretty enjoyable. In a dark way. So I guess ‘Night Pop’ probably isn’t too far off the mark. Anyway, I was sent it by the lovely people over at Track In The Box who send a track a day for free. All they want is your email address. Here’s the video for Alpine’s song ‘Ice & Arrows’.

#32 – Pieter Stoaling

Here’s a quick one for you. Was bouncing around on Twitter and came across this song by a guy called Piet (or Pieter) Stoaling. From the little I’ve been able to find out he’s a German tech producer who’s been at it for quite some time. According to Facebook and a couple of other blogs he also runs a night in Berlin called Soup Du Jour (check it out here.)

Anyway, here’s the song I’m on about…

It’s really good. A long, slow burning song that’s got a great driving bass that drops in around 1.30. File this guy next to Booka Shade and Gui Borrato, because off the back of this song, he’s that good. It actually sounds like something off the DFA roster. So much so that I’ve put up an LCD Soundsystem song that it reminds me of. And here that is.

LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great
Buy it here.

Remember to let us know what you think of the songs.