Watch: Gold Zebra “Love, French, Better” (exclusive)

27 Aug 2013 — Tonje Thilesen

After wrapping up their first European tour this summer, the up-and-coming Montréal duo Gold Zebra are set to release their debut LP this fall — expectantly a luscious addition to the latest releases of fellow Canadian noir pop ensambles, Austra, Terror Bird and Sally Dige, to mention a few. "Love, French, Better" was originally released in 2011, however recently featured as movie soundtrack in The Canyons, giving it a prominent space on the upcoming full-lenght on Montréal label Visage Musique. Watch the visuals for "Love, French, Better" below, directed by Emilie Serri.

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Alligator Indian “PUF//FIN”

27 Aug 2013 — Henry Schiller

Alligator Indian’s “PUF//FIN” is like a Justin Timberlake cover of an Oingo Boingo song that I didn’t know I wanted to hear until I heard it and fell in love with it. The third track off of the trio's upcoming More Songs About Animals and TV EP, “PUF//FIN” is a gooey piece of maudlin dance pop. Alligator Indian trade in the video game fight song insistence of earlier single “Corpsing” for some head-in-the-toilet immersive trance, but "PUF//FIN" maintains "Corpsing"'s oozy graveyard atmosphere. With lyrics about devouring insects delivered in deadpan tenor, Alligator Indian may come off to some as more of a Mighty Boosh ripoff than a serious pop trio, but their goofy presentation delightfully masks some seriously intelligent compositions.

More Songs About Animals and TV is out September 17 on Bleeding Gold Records.

 

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Le1f “Damn Son”

23 Aug 2013 — Andrew Wagner

“Damn Son” is Le1f at his best: forward-thinking production, clever rhymes, and just a touch of egocentricism (“damn I’m the bomb”) all mixed together into one addictive track. The track is the first single from his upcoming Tree House mixtape (his second for 2013). Produced by Shy Guy, “Damn Son” is built around the ubiquitous “damn son, where’d you find this” dance music sample, which, in Le1f’s hands, is anything but played out. There is, sadly, no music video yet, but given Le1f’s incredible music video history, let’s hope for one soon.

Stream and download “Damn Son” below. Download Tree House on September 10th.

 

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Felicita “Climb Up Eh”

23 Aug 2013 — Henning Lahmann

Been a while since we last came across new material by London-based artist Felicita, and a massive banger like this one is even more of a true surprise. "Climb Up Eh" is simply brilliant, a modern, forward-thinking piece of intricate beat making, absurd and irritating and infective all at once. While the beats are dope by themselves, those layered and confusingly manipulated vocals by Chlo are what makes "Climb Up Eh" truly outstanding. Absolutely irresistible tune, this should be a smash hit. Video following next month. Check it out:

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Dean Blunt “King James”

23 Aug 2013 — Henning Lahmann

Our cherished friends over at Tiny Mix Tapes are to Dean Blunt what Jay Carney is to Obama: the first to make sense of the mess he's done, and then struggling to explain it to the world. So whenever there's a new Hype Williams-related YouTube piece in my inbox when I wake up in the morning, the protocol requires me to head over to TMT first to look for answers. You're virtually never disappointed, cause while new material reaches me via mail, the folks over there must have some sort of Dean Blunt Google Alert sent directly to their iWatch prototypes or something. Or it's just that magical thing called time zones. Who knows, really.

So anyway, below there's a new track by Dean Blunt. It's called "King James". It's very Dean Blunt, which should be self-explanatory by now. Also, it's early. The time, not the track. Even better still, it comes as part of a whole new DB work, a 10-track, 24-minute EP called Stone Island, released in Russia (?), and available for download here, here, or here.

Press briefing is over. Carry on.

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Watch: Young Braised “Murakami”

22 Aug 2013 — Henning Lahmann

Launched only a few months ago, Vancouver-based cassette imprint 1080p has already made a significant impression on the underground on both sides of the Atlantic (and given the founder's origin we assume on both sides of the Pacific, too). After a string of releases soundly situated on the fringes of deranged electronics, the label is truly stepping up its game with the forthcoming tape by Pacific Northwest cloud rap entrepreneur Young Braised. The Vancouver-based artist – real name Jaymes Bowman – assumedly has his roots in Christian rap, which makes a slowly unfolding, uneasy and strangely menacing track like "Murakami" only more noteworthy. Bowman's style is, of course, almost offensively baked, the distorted beats rumble along irresolutely, and that dominating vocal sample is pushed to virtually pesky levels. Which is, don't get me wrong, all we'd ever asked for: clouds galore. Seriously digging this.

Watch the video for "Murakami" below, made by Strawberry Jacuzzi (nice) aka the rapper's brother.

The Japanese Tendencies tape is out September 3. Mastered by Tanner Matt of the Aquarian Foundation. Edition of 100, watch this space.

 

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One Circle “Flight to Forever”

22 Aug 2013 — Henning Lahmann

One Circle is the collaboratve venture of Italian producers A:RA, Editions Mego alumnus Lorenzo Senni, and Vaghe Stelle, whose Out Of Body EP on Danse Noire has been one of this year's most delightful surprises in solidly leftfield electronic music. The three have come together to create Flight to Forever, a six-track, half-hour work that blends rugged, dysfunctional techno explorations and off-kilter ambient patterns, a rather bold and challenging outing which in all its subtle sophistication will sure leave its mark on the experimentally minded dancefloors of 2013. Listen to the title track and EP opener below, an excellent piece that revolves around arpeggiated synth lines and obstructionist rhythm constructions.

Flight to Forever is out September 9 via London's left_blank.

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