Party Tracks of the Week!

Context - Small Town Lad Sentiments
#HipHop #House

Like Mike Skinner produced by Disclosure, Context's debut single "Small Town lad Sentiments" accompanies his london-boy bread-line dole-queue rap with a sleek and addictive deep house beat that contrasts his style so much that it couldn't be better suited.

Dorian Concept - Booth Thrust

#Wonky #2Step

Taking a typical Rustie-esque Glasgow sound, and yet hailing from Austria, Dorian Concept's bonkers "Booth Thrust" is short, sweet and confusing but it's jerky, hyperactive beats beg for a dance move to be named after this tune.

Dream McLean - Weatherman (Lynx Remix)

#Garage #2Step #Grime

Yet another huge single from Dream McLean, here getting the "what the fuck is going on!?" treatment from Lynx, with grimey hip hop beats giving way to a filthy beyond filthy drum and bass drop.

EXS - Sunshine (feat. Jason Jones)

It's not uncommon for drum & bass acts to revel in the summer months, with big commercial D&B anthems such as "Hot Right Now", "Out The Blue" and "Feel The Love" having gleefully soundtracked the last couple of festival summers, but rarely is a tune so blatant in its target audience, and indeed target season. UK electronic duo EXS team up with the gravelly voiced Jason Jones, another in a string of bluesy male vocalists to add to the Drum & Bass feature singer elite, to create something blissfully euphoric. Loosely channelling Bob Marley's famous "The sun is shining" refrain may seem like a cop-out chorus move, but any cynicism is lost midst the impossibly bright pads, breakneck beats and ethereal voice of Jason Jones, who goes through impressive runs as if he's training for a marathon.

FOR FANS OF: Rudimental, Sub Focus, DJ Fresh

Party Tracks of the Week!

M.I.A. - Bring The Noize
#Matangi #Bass #Electro

With artists like Azealia Banks, Natalia Kills and Wynter Gordon all trying their hand at gritty electro recently, M.I.A.'s triumphant return is the only one that is truly fierce, thrilling and with an effortless dancefloor pull that can't be tamed.



Kidnap Kid - So Close feat. Sinead Harnett (Club Mix)
#House #Bass

As beautiful as it is, there was always a dance anthem spirit in the original "So Close" that is finally unleashed with this rework, with a new ricocheting bassline and thicker beat doing wonders for the track's dancefloor appeal.



Sophie - Bipp
#Wonky #Bass #Techno

There was something slightly unhinged and unusual about Sophie's dance anthem "Nothing More To Say", but "Bipp" is full on mental institution. Taking the eerie pop sound of Grimes, giving it some Glasgow Wonky touches a-la TNGHT and then giving it some Robyn euro-80s sheen. And it's bloody addictive.

Daithi - Chameleon Life (feat. Rye)

It's hard to know quite what Irish indie dance beatmaker Daithi is going for with new single "Chameleon Life", but in attempting to tick so many boxes he manages to achieve appeal on an impressive number of levels. Seemingly flying the flag for cutesy indie/electropop before joyously morphing into a sparkling blast of sunny EDM, "Chameleon Life" paints with enough colour to please most fans of EDM, from the weird and quirky (Unicorn Kid, Fenech Soler) to the full on anthemic (Calvin Harris, Madeon), whilst managing to pander to fans of female fronted indie, courtesy of adorable singer Rye (Gossip, Icona Pop). But above all, its cheery carefree party vibe is predominantly what makes it's quite so infectious. Another bonafide Summer of '13 anthem without a doubt.

FOR FANS OF: Calvin Harris, Unicorn Kid, Fenech Soler

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Kelly Rowland - Talk A Good Game

For an artist last seen playing the clown on the UK X Factor 2 years ago (a role much better suited to actual clown Nicole Scherzinger), Kelly's recent single "Dirty Laundry" seemed to come from a much less mass-appealing place. An uncharacteristically cold but characteristically sparse production from The-Dream provided an empty canvas for Rowland to paint a brutally honest and squirmingly blunt account of her experiences of post-Destiny's Child life, particularly dealing with Beyoncé's rise to solo fame and simultaneously an abusive relationship. It was as refreshing as it was uncomfortable to listen to, and the first real sign of Kelly Rowland stepping out as a solo artist.

The subsequent album "Talk A Good Game" speaks even further volumes about the importance of fearlessness and self-expression as a solo artist, as opposed to the terrifyingly  shallow and money hungry US pop market Kelly has often associated with. "Talk A Good Game" takes less to nothing from the Guetta Dance or Schmaltzy R&B of her past and associates more with organic, soulful and gorgeous Post-R&B, and before you disregard this as a sad attempt at maintaining relevant, consider that Kelly has the songs to back up the choice. Not to mention the style suits her simmeringly sexy lower range down to a T.

It's not perfect, the album begins somewhat colourlessly with tracks like uninteresting first single "Kisses Down Low" and the anonymous electropop of opener "Freak", but it warms up considerably as "Dirty Laundry" ushers in a string of heartwrenchingly gorgeous tunes including the glorious Dreamgirls-sized "You Changed" featuring her old band mates, the fragile and ethereal Europop of "I Remember" and the seductive "Red Wine", which showcases a aching and emotional depth to Rowland's performance that the showy, worldwide brand Beyoncé could never quite perfect. And it comes from a long-standing personal struggle and insecurity that the most successful Destiny's Child member couldn't possibly relate to.

BEST TRACKS: Dirty Laundry, You've Changed, I Remember 
FOR FANS OF: Drake, The-Dream, Beyoncé

Party Tracks of the Week! (FREE DOWNLOADS)

Disclosure - You & Me (Baauer Remix)
#Trap #Rave #Garage

Baauer gets a bit more hyperactive on his mix of Disclosure's latest single, with an alarming onward charging stop-start kick and bass lick giving the track a giddy rave vibe, far from the slick garage of the original.



Calvin Harris - I Need Your Love (Louis La Roche Remix)
#Dance #NuDisco #Synth #FREEDOWNLOAD

One of Calvin's weaker collaborations, Louis La Roche brings new life to this by bringing it closer to the Synthswamped territory of featured singer Ellie Goulding. Download it for free from Soundcloud below.



Baauer - Slip
#Twerk #Trap

This tune has been frustratingly circulating for months with no sign of a release date, when it's got one of the most dizzyingly good drops I've heard in this whole crazy instrumental hip hop craze. Treat yourself if you've not heard it yet.

Betty Who - High Society (FREE DOWNLOAD)

Hailing from Australia, who seem to be doing pretty well for themselves economically whilst the rest of us weep into our Poundland Rice Krispies, it's no wonder Betty Who sounds so elated. But the dramatic synthpop Ms Who brings overseas is downright infectious, and "High Society" has the euphoric energy to make even the most dreary of us feel high on life. But in fact, it's the burbling basslines taken from Robyn's best shouts, hooks the size of China and a rally for us all to drink "Chardonnay through the day". It's a joyous slice of pop heaven that'll make any europop fan's heart skip a beat, and there's plenty more where that came from on her FREE "The Movement" EP, available to download on her website.

FOR FANS OF: Robyn, CHVRCHES, Florrie

Party Tracks of the Week!

Disclosure - Voices (feat. Sasha Keable)
#House #Garage #Settle

What with Settle delightfully managing the near impossible task of being an almost entirely perfect full-length dance record, highlight "Voices" is yet another luxurious garage house anthem in the vein of "You & Me" and "White Noise", a benchmark in funky basslines and earworm vocal hooks courtesy of the silkily voiced Sasha.



Disclosure - Defeated No More (feat. Ed Macfarlane)
#House #FriendlyFires #Settle

Something else a little experimental but brilliant from the Disclosure boys. Friendly Fires' Ed Macfarlane's performance on the slightly slower and lustrous "Defeated No More" is so distinct that the track feels like a full blown Friendly Fires collaboration. It's warm pulsating pads and tropical, soulful vibe meshes with the dance duo's deep house basslines and crisp beats like a match made in Ibiza heaven. For god's sake people, buy Settle!



Gents & Jawns - Holler
#Moombahton #Electro #Bass

Gent & Jawns are making quite a name for themselves in the tropical moombah/trap/bass scene for their grimy noises and face-scrunching drops, and at the drop of "Holler", the dubsteppy throb that ensues oozes with filth and just the right amount of groove to keep things addictive.



Pomrad - Pomslap
#Wonky #80s #NuFunk

More than just slightly bonkers, Pomrad's take on 80s funk has about 15 different sections, each one even more irresistably funky than the next, with slap basslines thwacking against hyperactive synth lines and stuttering pads.

Top 10 Songs of May 2013.

10. "Lost Hearts" - Last Days of 1984
Funky and addictive indiepop laced with a dark, obtuse atmosphere. Like Friendly Fires held hostage by The Knife.

9. "Intentions" - Gorgon City feat. Clean Bandit
Begins occupying a wistful Ibiza chillout space, as the gorgeous tones of Clean Bandit make their mark effortlessly, before dropping to a typically deep and hypnotic bass breakdown that is fast becoming Gorgon City's calling card.

8. "Modern Hearts" - The Knocks feat. St Lucia
Gloriously uplifting indie dance from these guilty pleasure connoisseurs with the lush St Lucia adding an irresistible 80s new wave vocal.

7. "Every Night I Say A Prayer" - Little Boots
Finally dropping her surprisingly brilliant second record in May, "Every Night I Say A Prayer" is its warm Italo-heart, with a subtly euphoric piano hook guiding proceedings onto timeless ground. Not bad for an act that many proclaimed very much left in BBC Sound of 2009.

6. "Warm Water" - Banks (prod. TEED)
The American Banks has a very British tinge to her warm, subtley aching voice, and Oxford dance prodigy TEED tones down the synthpop to create a shimmering and sparse post-R&B soundscape for Banks to vibe over. It feels like it's not just Banks herself on the verge of something great in the song, but also in her rise to success.

5. "My Name's Jake" - Jake Emlyn
Having dropped a demo version of "My Name's Jake" in 2012, the track was pretty game-changing even then, but  the version that closes his Scandinavian Alien mixtape is a whole new level of epic. A deliciously melodramatic new orchestral and choral first verse drops into a much harder beat than before, and this time when Jake sneers "I'm famous and nobody knows it yet" it doesn't quite fly; people are going to know very soon.

4. "Iran Air" - Hiatus feat. Shura
The organic and beautiful alter ego to Burial, London producer Hiatus, dropped his majestic debut record Parklands in May, and although hard to pick highlights from an album where subtlety and darkness come together perfectly on every track, when the magnificent viola loop drops on "Iran Air", all bets are off. Shura does what she does, but somehow it's her most spine-tingling performance on the record, on par with "Fortune's Fool".

3. "fallingforyou" - The 1975
How the shamefully underrated 1975 manage to occupy two polar musical spaces with ease continues to elude, as the groggy but heartbreaking dark ballad "fallingforyou" closes the same EP that the epic and hedonistic "The City" opens, much as "Me" did for "Chocolate" on their Music For Cars release. This gloriously bi-polar band continue to more than prove their complex and achingly human credibility.

2.  "Doin' It Right" - Daft Punk feat. Panda Bear
"Doin' It Right" is Random Access Memories' "Face to Face"; the dark horse of the album, one that begs multiple plays outside of the context of the record. Uncharacteristically sparse, the song is held together almost entirely by an irresistible vocodor hook and Panda Bear's performance. It's the most effective guest spot on the album, purely because the Animal Collective vocalist's delirious and euphoric vocal adds a human edge to an otherwise quirky and robotic record.

1. "Endorphins" - Sub Focus feat. Alex Clare
Sub Focus has come under minor scrutiny for his new commercial direction, particularly on the euro-dance rave vibe of new single "Endorphins", but there's no denying that the man knows how to simultaneously create a rave frenzy and tug on a heartstring at the same time. "Endorphins" is just as emotionally charged as last years phenomenal "Tidal Wave", with Alex Clare providing a singalong wet dream of a lead vocal. If there are more tracks in the vein of "Out The Blue", "Tidal Wave" and "Endorphins" on the way, Sub Focus' second record should indeed be named after the latter song. Wikipedia describes actual Endorphins as hormones released during feelings such as excitement, love and orgasm - so far in the last 12 months, Sub Focus has very nearly caused me all three.