NEW MUSIC: Tanika - Bad 4 U

For anyone looking for a trashy new pop thrill, look no further than Tanika, and her explosive debut single "Bad 4 U". It bears similarities to Rita Ora's breakthrough single "RIP" in a number of ways, except Tanika takes all the risks that Rita should have when she released her lukewarm debut.

"RIP" revealed nothing more about Rita Ora than her sense of superiority over who she used to be (not especially insightful, but when you've got Jay-Z behind you, you're going to be a star). With "Bad 4 U", Tanika wears her shortcomings openly, and proudly, on her sleeve. Unafraid of treading on toes, Tanika yelps "I'm only gonna fuck with your life, I'm bad for you" on the powerhouse chorus, and her delivery turns a potentially dated dubstep throb into something fresh and exhilarating.

Mixing the youthful charm of Rita Ora, the seductive nastiness of Rihanna and the quirky credibility of Natalia Kills, Tanika might be bad for you, but eventually you won't be able to avoid her.

Her debut EP Fucking With My Heart, is out now on iTunes.

FOR FANS OF: Rita Ora, Rihanna, Natalia Kills

- Joe Copplestone, 30.04.14

NEW MUSIC: Allie X - Catch

Canadian electropop singer Allie X has a corker of a debut single. "Catch" is the best song CHVRCHES never wrote, with a contorted Charli XCX-esque melody and biting chorus. There is always space for more mid-tempo electropop singers for UK bloggers to rave about and to give semi-crowded gigs to 17 year old girls and 27 year old gay men at XOYO in Shoreditch, so let's see what you got next, Ms X!

FOR FANS OF: CHVRCHES, Charli XCX, Say Lou Lou

- Joe Copplestone, 18.02.14

NEW MUSIC: Rubee Rayne - Breathe

Rubee Rayne is an anomaly. To look at her tough-nut Brixton image (the girl's from Berkshire btw) you'd picture another Amplify Dot or Ms Dynamite - and there'd be nothing wrong with that. But new single "Breathe" is a pleasant surprise. It's less UK grime, and more US post-R&B, with Rayne's woozy slurred vocals and the lazy ambient synths on "Breathe" (courtesy of quirky UK producer El-Train) coming across like "Take-Care" era Drake. 

Rubee Rayne has 3 hypnotic gems available for free download on her SoundCloud, which you should snap up soon before "Breathe" finds itself A-listed on Radio 1.

FOR FANS OF: Jhene Aiko, Banks, FKA Twigs

- Joe Copplestone, 6.2.14

Party Tracks of the Week!

Felon - Isla
#House #Dance

Another underground house gem. Somewhere between the blissful balearica of Tensnake and the sleek deep house of Disclosure, London DJ Felon's magnificent "Isla" lies waiting to be discovered.



Zinc - Only For Tonight (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix)
#House #Dance

Since his flawless debut record, TEED has been making a name for himself as not just an incredible songwriter and artist, but as a genius remixer. In contrast to the grimey garage of the original, TEED Takes Zinc's "Only For Tonight" and transports it from an underground club in Peckham to a beach in Ibiza.



San Cisco - Fred Astaire (Joywave Remix)
#Electro #Bass

A completely unexpected take of the chirpy Aussie-indie band's last single. Taking "Fred Astaire" from twee to tremendous, The "Tongues" electropoppers tease us with some bubbly Bondax synths before dropping in an almighty gritbomb bassline drenched in apocalyptic choirs and synths. Outstanding.

MS MR - Hurricane (CHVRCHES Remix)

MS MR are one of the more subtle female fronted bands of the last couple of years, choosing a Florence-esque majesty over the all out synth onslaught of acts like CHVRCHES and Charli XCX. But every subtle song has an unexplored jubilant side, and the brilliant CHVRCHES smother "Hurricane" with 80s new wave electro, right down to its ridiculously authentic sampled snare drum. Whilst MS MR only predicted an oncoming storm in their original song, CHVRCHES bring the 80s synthpop tremors with panache.

FOR FANS OF: Hot Chip, Passion Pit, CHVRCHES (obviously)

Party Tracks of the Week!

A*M*E* - Heartless (MNEK Remix)
#Bass #R&B #Pop

With A*M*E*s bubblegum pop solo material contrasting somewhat with her ultra-cool spot on Duke Dumont's "Need U (100%)", teen prodigy MNEK brings a remix of her latest single that mixes all the sugar sweet melodies and gutsy pop aspirations with a dirty underground bassline and thick garage beats. Dare I say, this will please everyone.



Rudimental - Waiting All Night (Kidnap Kid Remix)
#Garage #2Step #House

Remixing a drum & bass to house is often a recipe for awkwardly-slowed-down-vox disaster. Luckily Kidnap Kid has the right idea when remixing Rudimental's #1 single, cleverly twisting the vox from gutsy and energetic, to sultry and suggestive, letting the jerky stop-start bass do the talking.



The Partysquad - Badman (feat. Alvaro)
#Hardstyle #Reggae #Rave

A revisitation of The Partysquad's incredible "Badman Rave" EP from last year, an insane fusion of reggae, hardstyle and electronic dance. "Badman" itself is a slippery dub number that gives way to a dinosaur stomp of a kick drum and frantic, twanging synth lead.

GivePopAChance's Summer 2013 Playlist.

So the year's first perfect sunny weekend bids a hopeful farewell to a miserable 7 month winter, and as May approaches, festival season begins to rear its defiant head. Visions of cider drenched, Diplo-worshipping, scantily clad music lovers passing out in fields, outside clubs and on stony beaches seem so much closer.

It seems like the perfect time to share a dance-heavy Summer playlist of sure fire hits and lesser known, but equally deserved ones, that you can expect to be on heavy rotation throughout the summer. If GivePopAChance had its own radio station, you would indeed expect these tracks to be A-listed until October.



The return of Daft Punk is perfectly timed, and sets the tone worldwide for a summer of chilling out, partying and getting lucky. In the UK, Duke Dumont led the 2012/13 House revival to the the top of the charts a couple of weeks ago, and Basement Jaxx's crazy comeback tune is a defiant "anything goes" statement.

If anything really does go this year in dance music, hopefully DJ Snake's bizarre tweet-trap (quite literally) number "Bird Machine" will make its way to your confused but welcoming ears, and if that's too way out, Major Lazer is bringing Jamaica back through the medium of crushing dancehall beats and hyperactive synths.

Watch out for Moon Boots, whose soulful, irresistibly funky 80s take on the new wave of House music has sported two of the years most effective, sun-kissed remixes. They morph Singer/songwriter Alison Valentine's "Peanut Butter" into something altogether more blissful and euphoric, and their take on Bondax's "Gold" drags the track back to 1991, where it clearly belongs. Miaoux Miaoux's glorious, synth-laden take on CHVRCHES' "The Mother We Share" occupies similar airspace, so bright and grin-inducing it's almost impossible to look directly at.

After the huge,anthemic electronic dance of Swedish House Mafia and Madeon dominated dancefloors and dance festivals last year, 2013 has its fair share of big dance tunes. After his godly, life-affirming "Language", Porter Robinson teams up with Mat Zo, to bring something just as breathtaking for 2013, in the form of "Easy", Kat Krazy comes down hard on Bastille's hit indie single "Pompeii", transforming it into this year's "Don't You Worry Child", and Russ Chimes' stunning "Turn Me Out" is fist pumping, Balearic heaven.

Also queued up is the D&B anthem of the summer, Drumsound & Bassline Smith's "One in A Million", the dark Gold Panda-produced electro of goth-flecked starlet Charli XCX's "You (Ha Ha Ha)", the similarly quirky and groove-laden vibes of Flume's "Sleepless", the drunken, woozy beats of the UK hip hop tune of the summer, Dream McLean's "Sloe Gin" and perhaps the sunniest of them all, Mausi's carefree piano house ditty "Move", graduating straight from the 2003 school of blissed-out house.

Whatever the weather, dance music in 2013 seems to have one defiant goal, to have fun, not take itself too seriously, and to party harder than ever. And judging by the gradual lean towards dance music that the Top 40 is beginning to show, looks like we're all on the same page.

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.

Sub Focus - 'Tidal Wave' (feat. Alpines)

Just when it seemed no 2012 EDM track would top the glorious "Out The Blue", along comes a track that stumps even that track with its sheer euphoric beauty and emotional high. "Tidal Wave" takes the angelic, La Roux-esque vocals of Alpines, and pairs it with an epic yet jagged edged march that bursts into break-beat just as you get comfy with it, synth fireworks abound. More of a vocal track than "Out The Blue", it's also a lot warmer and dare I say more beautiful. And for what was thus far a front runner for dance track of the year, this speaks volume upon volume on how incredible Sub Focus' sophomore effort could be.

Think "Out The Blue" merged with Labrinth's "Earthquake" and the legendary Skream mix of La Roux's "In For The Kill". As Zane Lowe says: "Massive, Massive, MASSIVE!"

The most gleeful moment? 3.33.

Christina Aguilera - Your Body (Demo)

Guilty pleasure alert. Since this demo surfaced online, there has been a lot of talk about it being an underwhelming, Britney knock off.

But I don't get that. Indeed, it's an obnoxious club anthem, with a chorus ripped straight from Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", but it's jam packed with (other) hooks, has some top notch yelping from Christina, and is no doubt aeons ahead of the dull "Not Myself Tonight", her last lead single.

The video is sped up and incredibly low quality, but naturally, as with every high profile leak, the song gets taken down as soon as it's posted, so this is the best to be found du jour.

AlunaGeorge - Your Drums, Your Love

As AlunaGeorge climb their way out of blogosphere up onto the ledge where the Jessie Wares and Delilahs of the UK sit comfortably, it would seem that itsy bitsy voiced Aluna Francis and her meticulous producer George Reid walk the line between the bassy and soulful as good as any of their peers. Whilst she may not have the effortless vocal of a singer like Jessie Ware or the instantly recognizable and arresting tone of Delilah, Francis' voice is light enough to ride Reid's deliciously seductive R&B grooves. "Your Drums Your Love" has a hook as strong and a lumbering bass as addictive as "You Know You Like It" before, and this can only raise expectations for their debut album, due 2013, even higher.

 Your Drums, Your Love by AlunaGeorge

Jessie Ware - What You Won't Do For Love (FREE download)

It's official. Jessie Ware is the new Sade. Such is the feather-light tone to her voice, the way it cracks on the way down from a challenging note, and SBTRKT collaborator Sampha totally gets this... just listen to the soulful, bubbling synth arpeggios of this cover of Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do For Love". Jessie brings 80s soul to the UK bass generation, and there's no one doing it quite like her at the moment.

"Jessie got a thing for you and I can't let go..." The feeling's mutual my dear.

DOWNLOAD "WHAT YOU WON'T DO FOR LOVE" FREE FROM JESSIE WARE'S FACEBOOK PAGE.

Jessie Ware's debut album "Devotion" is released on the 20th August.

Lisa Lewis - Bullet & Alive (NEW LONDON SINGER)

London-based singer Lisa Lewis has a husky, silky voice that aches with a maturity beyond her 21 years and a subdued delivery that suggests a depth to her songs, and every word lingers on the end of her tongue.  On her two soulful UK 2 step influenced tracks, the magnificent "Alive" soars with an effortless joy as beats shuffle and synths tingle,  and "Bullet's" jazzy garage is propelled by the irresistable "every little thing I do..." hook and collision-happy beats.

FOR FANS OF: Jessie Ware, Etta Bond, Burial

BULLET (Demo)


ALIVE (Demo)

TIPS FOR APRIL.

My suggestions for the music you should be buying this month.

Anathema - Weather Systems
Released: 16th April

My favourite emotional liverpudlian rockers release, uplifting, euphoric ninth full length. Word is that it has topped the vast, sweeping, anthemic "We're Here Because We're Here"... I will have to hear that to believe it.

FOR FANS OF: Oceansize, Porcupine Tree, Coldplay





Azealia Banks - 1991 EP
Released: 16th April

Foul-mouthed 20 year old NYC female rapper celebrates her year of birth on her debut EP proper. Judging by the huge bass beats she has been expleting over of late, this won't be an easy listen, but it will be a massively fun one.

FOR FANS OF: Diplo, UK bass, the words "bitch" and "c*nt"




Marina and the Diamonds - Electra Heart
Released: 30th April

Fame-obsessed diva Marina takes up an altogether more electronic dance approach on her new record, with dubstep beats clattering against her melodramatic vocal on "Starring Role" and throbbing dance meets deceptively sugar-sweet melodies on "Primadonna".

FOR FANS OF: Katy Perry, Robyn, Florence & The Machine




Sub Focus - Out The Blue EP
Released: 29th April

What will become one of the biggest Drum & Bass tunes of the year, no doubt.

FOR FANS OF: DJ Fresh, Nero, Pendulum




Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Tapes & Money EP
Released: 2nd April

The second single from what will hopefully be one of the best dance albums of the year, TEED's self-titled debut. Shy oxford boys doing synthpop, with huge beats. Who knew? In the words of the song's irresistable sample "Please don't fail me now!"

FOR FANS OF: The Rapture, Cut Copy, Calvin Harris




Zammuto - Zammuto 
Released: 9th April

A bit of a wild card this one. Unusual, uncatagorisable psychadelic pop music with quirky yet undeniably addictive rhythms, and a lot of double bass work.

FOR FANS OF: Animal Collective, Tame Impala, tUnE-yArDs

MY 10 SONGS FROM FEB.

So here are my favourite songs from the last 29 days... enjoy!

DRUNK.


90S GROOVE.


WOOZY.


FUNK.


SOOTHE.


DISCO.


MOSH. (Wanted to post "Road to Hell", but no link online... buy "Reign of Terror" to listen to this beast!)


TRIPPY.


SEX.


FEMME-DUBBBBB.