Top 10 Tracks of March 2013.

10

"Ice.Moon"

SZA

GivePopAChance said...

"On new track "Ice.Moon", SZA's gentle, silky tones float over a thick bass drone and menacing trap beat... Equally suggestive and threatening, just like it should be." READ MORE.

9

"Yung Rapunxel"

Azealia Banks

GivePopAChance said...

"Yung Rapunxel" feels like Azealia Banks' true second single, her first real showstopper since she first dropped "212" about a year and a half ago." READ MORE.

8

"Lay Down in Swimming Pools"

MKS (Mutya Keisha Siobhan)

Although the original Sugababes line-up have flaunted clips of a somewhat lacklustre track called "Boys", this reinterpretation of Kendrick Lamar's modern classic "Swimming Pools" feels like the trio's proper, and indeed appropriate comeback. Bringing the Compton anthem to South London, Mutya's husky murmurs, Siobhan's haunting vibrato and Keisha's trademark vocal flourishes fit together better than ever, and the harmonies are spellbinding. 13 years down the line, it feels like the girls, young and ambitious when they began, now world-wise and seasoned, are only finally beginning their career together the way it was meant to be.

7

"We Can Be Ghosts Now" (feat. Shura)

Hiatus

GivePopAChance said...

"...(Shura) opens up her vocal chords just enough to let the gorgeous melody bounce charmingly against Hiatus' warm, glossy backdrop." READ MORE.

6

"Shallows"

Daughter

A fragile, haunting and very impressive debut record from London band Daughter dropped this month, one of the years best records of 2013 so far, one track stands out in particular, album closer "Shallows". Bringing to mind Explosions in the Sky, it has a tender, post-rock touch that eludes many similar acts (and there are many), and singer Elena's tender Romi-esque (xx) voice trembles with emotion but resides itself to defeat when she utters the words "if you leave" as the guitars melancholically arpeggiate her loss. It's a heartbreaking moment, and one that the song revolves around.

5

"Imagine It Was Us"

Jessie Ware

GivePopAChance said...

"...(Julio) Bashmore surrounds Jessie's warm tones with familiar warm synths and an almost european dance beat that ensures the track pushes every guilty pleasure button whilst still being utterly irresistible." READ MORE.

4

"Digital Lion"

James Blake & Brian Eno

GivePopAChance said...

"Eno can be heard in the shimmering, warm, 70s-flecked pads, but Blake's voice steals the show as it breaks through the fuzzy atmosphere like a ray of sunshine, rather than hiding his gorgeous jazzy croon beneath it." READ MORE.

3

"Borderline"

Classixx

GivePopAChance said...

"The new wave synth chords of "Borderline" pulse along purposefully through a typically gorgeous, balearic chord sequence, and the melt-in-your-mouth vocals of Jesse Kivel from the similarly sunny synthpop band Kisses float thoughtfully up into falsetto." READ MORE.

Also check out a more euphorically inclined remix courtesy of London producer lostchild.

2

"3 Days"

Rhye

Rhye's debut record "Woman" is so far my favourite record of 2013. A true frontrunner in the gradually growing 80s soul revival brought about by Julio Bashmore and Jessie Ware et al, Rhye's Mike Milosh (yes, that voice that drew so many comparisons to Sade comes from a man) has a voice that mesmerizes and warms, and the band's arrangements are, whilst on paper cheesy and dated, in reality tasteful and perfectly underplayed. 

"3 Days" comes out as a personal favourite from the record because their choice of arrangement, one they do not even attempt to recreate live (they slow it down to a jazzy shuffle), is one that ticks every cliched 80s chillout box, but comes out with something that suspends any comparison in our minds, and just sounds like Rhye. And that's the sign of a band with a fruitful and much coveted career ahead of them.

1

"Me"

The 1975

For a band so well known for their gutsy, anthemic singles, on their EPs, The 1975 paint from a much more varied palette. For those not willing to give themselves to the band, but only to their popular songs like "Sex" and "Chocolate", are shooting themselves in the feet. On their EPs, The 1975 prove themselves as a thoroughly complex, beautiful act. Their catalogue thus far is practically musically bipolar; the singles show them as rebels, hedonists and teenagers. And then there are songs like "Me".

"Me" is the band's darkest song, lyrically and musically. The words are apologetic, full of self-loathing and disturbingly blunt, but musically synths wail in the distance as bass rumbles quietly in the foreground. The music is beautiful, and every line ends with the shy, residing phrase "don't you mind", but the statements and confessions that precede are harsher. Singer Matthew Healy confesses he's "put you all through hell", "hurt your brother as well" and, most overwhelmingly, "I thought about killing myself". It's heartbreakingly confessional. If "The City", "Sex" and "Chocolate" are the party, "Me" is a hell of a comedown. I don't actually know which I'd prefer, both sound enticing to me.

Party Tracks of the Week!

Porter Robinson & Mat Zo - Easy

#EuphoricDance #ProgressiveHouse

After Porter Robinson's almighty "Language" tore it up in 2012, I predict his glorious collaboration with Mat Zo "Easy", will do the same for 2013. Like Daft Punk's "One More Time" but with an even bigger euphoric-drop payoff. 

Chloe Howl - Rumour (Unicorn Kid Remix)

#House #Rave #Chiptune

There's no mistaking a Unicorn Kid Remix, all 90s rave beats, Inner City pianos and occasional chiptune flourishes, and his bonkers but addictive remix of Chloe Howl's "Rumour" delivers on all accounts, like a Inner City's "Good Life" played through a Game Boy soundcard.

Shift K3y - WIggle With It

#Dubstep #Trap #2Step

Shift K3y's modern take on 2 Step takes from Dubstep and Trap, making it probably the coolest music on the planet. Thunderous brass hits and shimmering whining synth take centre stage before dropping to a gritty garage bass and then to a Skrillex-esque wall of synth, before the whole thing starts again. 

Chvrches - The Mother We Share (Miaoux Miaoux Remix)

Although this has been circulating for a few months now, I recently found this rarity - a remix of an already joyous song that manages to create something even more uplifting. The inexplicably spelt Chvrches' "The Mother We Share" is a already an infectious synthpop stomper, but Miaoux Miaoux's take lightens up proceedings with featherlight, bouncing synths and a much brighter chord progression.

FOR FANS OF: Little Boots, Passion Pit, Moon Boots

Jessie Ware - Imagine It Was Us

With the help of frequent collaborator Julio Bashmore, Jessie seems to have found a tasty way of staying true to the silky, soulful vibes of her debut record, whilst pleasing the underground dance community she identifies so fondly with. Performing the track frequently on tour this year, Jessie herself has introduced her new single "Imagine It Was Us" as being heavily influenced by Michael and Janet Jackson, and whilst the staccato vocal phrases and funky guitar line are straight from "Thriller" or "Control", Bashmore surrounds Jessie's warm tones with familiar warm synths and an almost european dance beat that ensures the track pushes every guilty pleasure button whilst still being utterly irresistible.

FOR FANS OF: Julio Bashmore, Janet Jackson, Tensnake

Party Tracks of the Week!

Diplo & GTA - Boy Oh Boy
#Dancehall #Moombahton #HipHop #FREEDOWNLOAD

Typically bonkers electronic dancehall from Diplo and his Mad Decent signing GTA, this Missy Elliott-sampling number begins with thunderous tribal dancehall that M.I.A. wouldn't turn her nose up at, before dissolving into brain-melting moombahton.



Misha B - Here's To Everything (Bimbo Jones Remix)
#Dance #Pop #House

A guilty pleasure party track for once. Misha B's relatively flaccid new single "Here's To Everything" suddenly soars euphorically under Bimbo Jones' watchful euro-dance eye. Best to forget the original and let this one tear up the dancefloors of gay clubs.



Major Lazer - Watch Out For This (Bumaye) (feat. Busy Signal, The Flexican & FS Green)
#Dancehall #Reggae #Moombahton 

It is a joy to have Major Lazer back on the scene, and with their dancehall-reggae-moombahton hybrid sound sounding fresher than ever. Party-loving, tropical and utterly rave-tastic, "Watch Out For This" lives up to its title.

Hiatus - We Can Be Ghosts Now (feat. Shura)

After their last spellbinding collaboration, the slight but striking "Fortune's Fool", it's a delight to hear London producer Hiatus team up with the haunting voice of Shura again. Whilst "...Fool" was a melancholic, longing track, "We Can Be Ghosts Now" picks up the pace, with an airy vibe and a gorgeous sense of peace and release.

A gently pulsating kick drum, and tinkling arpeggios bring to mind Jamie Woon's "Night Air" from a few years back, but if "Night Air" soundtracked the witching hour, "We Can Be Ghosts Now" is resolutely a dusky winter's afternoon, although it could easily translate to summer. Shura's voice is as fragile and heartbreaking as ever, but there is a certain majesty to her gutsy chorus vocal, which opens up her vocal chords just enough to let the gorgeous melody bounce charmingly against Hiatus' warm, glossy backdrop.

FOR FANS OF: Daughter, The xx, Jamie Woon

Party Tracks of the Week!

AlunaGeorge - Attracting Flies (Shift K3y Remix)
#2Step #Garage

AlunaGeorge's sultry anthem gets the full on UK garage treatment from Shift K3y, with popping kick drums and jittery synths, and the song seems catchier at this speedy tempo. And it's no secret that Aluna's squeaky clean voice is straight from the 1999-school of garage anyway, so she sounds right at home here.



Goldroom - Only You Can Show Me (feat. Mereki)
#NuDisco #House #Dance #Synthpop

The summery, nu disco that the LA producer brings rises like a midday sun into a ravey piano house number, laced with catchy, giggling synths and a sugar sweet Ibiza vocal courtesy of Mereki.



Justin Timberlake - Suit & Tie (Dillon Francis Remix)
#Trap #HipHop

Token trap track of the week! I may well be beginning to lose interest in the genre, but multi-talented Dillon Francis still brings a magnificent vocal mash-up at the drop of this addictive remix.

James Blake & Brian Eno - Digital Lion

In a year so far tame and occasionally disappointing with decent new releases, James Blake's "Overgrown" is set to be the crowning glory of music in early 2013. "Retrograde" was an instant classic, the sound of Blake's confidence as a singer and songwriter finally shining as bright as his innovation in electronica, and now his collaboration with Brian Eno, "Digital Lion", also from "Overgrown", emerges just as triumphant and impressive as "Retrograde" was. 

Eno can be heard in the shimmering, warm, 70s-flecked pads, but Blake's voice steals the show as it breaks through the fuzzy atmosphere like a ray of sunshine, rather than hiding his gorgeous jazzy croon beneath it. However, once the sub-shattering bass kicks in, and windy percussion begins to eat up the track, you know this is no mere vocal spot. Blake may be more confident in his tunefulness this time around, but he hasn't forgot how to make a dirty noise either.

FOR FANS OF: Boards of Canada, Four Tet, XXYYXX

Toddla T Sound - Worst Enemy

Toddla T Sound, as you might expect, is DJ Toddla T himself, joined by R&B and UK garage royalty Shola Ama, UK hip hop artist/producer Serocee and MC DRS. Their debut track, "Worst Enemy", is breathlessly sexy, and it showcases a superb, slick merging of talents. Shola Ama's vocal has matured since her garage days and her previously R&B-honed syrupy chirpings are replaced with an aching, whispery tone, constrasting DRS' dark and heavily processed MC verses, and the boys manage to create something approaching a post-R&B track, with hints of UK urban and Trap. Altogether it sounds like the beginning of something quite brilliant.

FOR FANS OF: Roses Gabor, Jhene Aiko, The Weeknd

Classixx - Borderline (feat. Kisses' Jesse Kivel)

A little bit nu disco, a little bit chillwave and a little bit house, the sunkissed, blissed out electronic music that Classixx have been making for years has managed to skip all the genre trends it could've fallen into, and it's for that reason everything they do sounds timeless. Their glorious remix of Phoenix's "Lizstomania" in 2009 is as stunning as it ever was today, and their original material, fairly scarce until the announcement of their debut album, is looking to be as long-life as their modern-day-classic remixes.

The new wave synth chords of "Borderline" pulse along purposefully through a typically gorgeous, balearic chord sequence, and the melt-in-your-mouth vocals of Jesse Kivel from the similarly sunny synthpop band Kisses float thoughtfully up into falsetto. It could indeed, by all means, burst into a huge dance anthem at any point, but it doesn't. The percussion never rises above a sparse kick drum pattern, some tastefully placed clicks and the occasionally tom drum roll, that hints at a beat that never kicks in. On first listen this baffles, but on subsequent listens, the perpetual build-up is actually comforting and rather beautiful.

Their long-awaited debut album, "Hanging Gardens", is due May 14th.

FOR FANS OF: Krystal Klear, Cut Copy, Toro Y Moi

Azealia Banks - Yung Rapunxel.

"Yung Rapunxel" feels like Azealia Banks' true second single, her first real showstopper since she first dropped "212" about a year and a half ago. It is miles less commercial than that track, but it is also miles more ambitious, and although it's taken 18 months, it makes sense to have taken that long, given the massive controversy that she has largely put herself through. Because "Yung Rapunxel" wouldn't exist without it.

It's worth remembering that "212" stopped the underground in its tracks because it was a crossover record that didn't sound like a crossover; it was already a great dance track thanks to Lazy Jay who produced it, but Azealia Banks turned it from that, into what simply was an Azealia Banks track. Sure the notorious and frequent use of the c-word probably helped hype it up, but what was really exciting was her sheer disregard for genre. She knew what beats she liked, and she knew how to spit over them. A rapper - yes; a hip hop artist - not really.

But whilst it was hard to categorize "212", it seemed totally unnecessary. It was a total mindblowing rave track, who wanted to ask questions? Through 2012, we saw Azealia Banks lean more towards certain genres, on her House-heavy "1991" EP and then regress a bit more into Hip Hop on her impressive "Fantasea" mixtape. 

But there was no denying she had placed the bar impossibly high for herself after the sheer effortlessness of her performance on "212". How many of us were quick to wonder who actually produced "212"? Not many. Yet how many of us were instantly aware of her collaborations with Diplo and Munchi? Her good taste in beats were beginning to overshadow her talent, simply because we were all expected a crazy flow on par with her breakthrough hit.

Well now we've got it. She hyped it up, boy did she hype it up, but now we see why. First off, she's chosen low profile producer Lil Internet to provide the beat, which is a vicious variant on his own "Rhinoceropolis Anthem". Hints of old school Prodigy and 90s hardcore rave (no housey pianos here), led by a Tyrannosaurs Rex stomp of a heavily distorted kick drum, as distant screams, thunderclaps and Araabmusik-esque euro-trance leads scuttle round. It's a mindfuck of a listen, and a totally perfect choice for the category-evading Banks.

But above all this, we finally have that epic follow-up performance from Azealia herself that we've been waiting for for 18 months. When a voice warns "Danger!" at the beginning of the track, it sets the tone quite accurately. On "212" she was playful, self-assured, cocky; on "Yung Rapunxel" the 18 months of hype, drama, endless "beef" have clearly turned into a more aggressive player in the game. In a way that was first hinted with her hastily-brought-out but delicious Angel-Haze response "No Problems", "Yung Rapunxel" showcases a genuinely threatening tone to Banks' verses.

Whilst she previously taunted "you do like to slumber don't you... I'ma ruin you c**t", she now seethes "Bitch nigga, you could get bent, remov-ed and spent" and "I'ma rip your n***as head off", not to mention the utterly arresting climax, where Azealia screams "What the fuck? Dare you ta, dare you ta! Brrrrp-brrrp-brrp-brrp!" Sure, she yelled a bit on "212", but here she genuinely sounds unhinged, and dare-I-say dangerous.

And maybe she is. She seems to repel high profile artists and producers left, right and center, seemingly on purpose, and maybe that's the point. The underground is where she feels most at home, and if you have any form of ego or sell-out tendency, beware, because Ms Banks will come for you. So you could say it's a blessing that the mainstream won't touch her right now. Many artists have tried to do it over the years, but maybe Azealia Banks really is the one who's going to represent the underground in a chart-music-blinded world. She certainly seems to have no desire to sell-out any time soon, and with a fanbase growing by the second, who says she needs to?

FOR FANS OF: Who the hell cares?

Party Tracks of the Week!

SpectraSoul - Away With Me (Feat. Tamara Blessa) (Kito Remix)

#Electro #Dubstep

One of the biggest tunes of the year, reviving the lagging corpse of dubstep no end, with a machine-gun synth bass and stop start beat pummelling through an earworm vocal loop. Resist at your peril.



Jakwob - Detox
#Trap #Dubstep

Branching out from ravey dubstep for a hot minute (or 3), Jakwob brings us a glorious, celebratory trap track, with a huge vocal sample and even huger beat.



Rustie - Slasherr
#Trap #Dubstep

Never one to disappoint, Rustie gives us his first taster of new material since his incredible "Glass Swords" album. Always one to surprise with his mixes, an alarmingly loud kick thuds menacingly through a pulsating razor sharp wall of brass synths.

SZA - Ice.Moon

Dark, eerie and seductive was the order of the day in 2011/2012 R&B, with many artists following in The Weeknd's and Drake's footsteps. Now finally it looks like the girls are taking over, and SZA has the potential to become a frontrunner. On new track "Ice.Moon", SZA's gentle, silky tones float over a thick bass drone and menacing trap beat, and on the mesmerizing chorus she borrows the "go, go, go" refrain from Delilah's "Go" and laces the sexual tension with an air of genuine menace, ending on the sneering "go to church if your scared". Equally suggestive and threatening, just like it should be.

FOR FANS OF: Delilah, Aaliyah, Lana Del Rey

Party Tracks of the Week!

Alison Valentine - Peanut Butter (Moon Boots Remix)
#NuDisco #Dance #FREEDOWNLOAD

An absolutely joyous synthpop/piano house hybrid from the ever reliable Moon Boots, as Alison Valentine's dreamy voice floats around the soundscape.

Savage Skulls & Douster - TRT

#Garage #Bass #House

Hints of 90s rave give way to a thunderous bassline. Savage Skulls' "Bass Kick" EP is a massive testament to modern garage and bass, and "TRT" is its old school heart.

DJ Snake - Bird Machine (feat. Alesia)

#Trap #HipHop #FREEDOWNLOAD

First heard on Flosstradamus' Banned 2 Mixtape, "Bird Machine" is hands down one of the most bizarre tracks to come out of the Trap craze, with one of the most surprising drops ever, a menacing kick chasing after eerie chopped up bird tweets, quite literally. Yet this is, somehow, ridiculously addictive.