Ballet School - Heartbeat Overdrive

Berlin new kids on the synth-block Ballet School manage to merge a spectrum of (predominantly 80s) influences on their debut single "Heartbeat Overdrive". The result is a triumphant and glorious track that sounds delirious and atmospheric enough to please shoegazers and funky and danceable enough to please synthpoppers. Singer Rosie Blair's confident, hiccuping voice sounds like Grimes after rehab, or Alison Goldfrapp just before.

Sign up to see the band's debut London show at The Shaklewell Arms for FREE on August 23rd by clicking on the image to the left.


FOR FANS OF: Goldfrapp, CHVRCHES, Grimes

Annie - Tube Stops and Lonely Hearts

After 4 years of silence from the reliably classy Norwegian popstress, Annie returns with "Tube Stops And Lonely Hearts", an unusual yet strangely addictive stop/start dance number that takes generously from her Europop roots, with hints of 80s and 90s revival that ensure Annie's twinkle-twinkle-little-star croon translates effortlessly into the 2010s pop scene. CHVRCHES, Purity Ring et al better keep an eye on Annie, she might just be biding her time to reclaim her europop throne.

FOR FANS OF: Charli XCX, Saint Etienne, Grimes

GIVEPOPACHANCE'S TOP 20 SONGS OF 2012.

20

"Play The Game Boy"

A*M*E

The perfect pop song of 2012. Earworm hooks laced with sugar-sweet electropop.

19

"Anything Could Happen"

Ellie Goulding

Amoungst all the butterfly vocal licks and thunderclap beats lies the fragile heart of Ellie Goulding, never before exposed like this.

18

"Boring Bitches"

Etta Bond/Raf Riley feat. Lady Leshurr

More a rant than a song, but totally redeems itself with a drop so insane it will shudder the bones of every boring bitch from the "east to the fucking south".

17

"Esta Noche"

Azealia Banks

Shame about the spat between producer Munchi and Banks, because Esta Noche would've been the perfect breakthrough for Moombahton into the mainstream, and another genre calling card for the ever flexible Banks.

16

"You Know You Like It"

AlunaGeorge

A song the band have yet to match on any level; the cheeky bassline, silky vocals and jittering beats make for the sexiest song of 2012.

15

"Tidal Wave"

Sub Focus feat. Alpines

If for nothing but those glorious final 30 seconds, Sub Focus managed to make Drum& Bass truly ethereal.

14

"Ride"

Lana Del Rey

If Born To Die was a record where Lana hinted at a fragile core underneath her 'gangster Nancy Sinatra' persona, "Ride" is the full on emotional revelation; it sounds like her most personal song to date.

13

"Latch"

Disclosure feat. Sam Smith

Paid no attention to the rules of the underground, and did everything that was uncool. Campy, falsetto vocals (from the brilliant Sam Smith) and an exuberant, bouncy rhythm, it ended up being the biggest breakthrough for the band so far.

12 

"Everything Is Embarrassing"

Sky Ferreira

A total reinvention for the previously robotic pop-doll, "Everything is Embarrassing" sounds lush from Blood Orange's production, but also wry and pessimistic in its lyrical content. "Maybe if you tried then I would not bother"; it's a truly tragic teenage anthem.

11

"Thinkin' Bout You"

Frank Ocean

Despite many epic and brave sounds on Channel Orange, the record's highlight comes from it's subtle, understated opening number proper. Ocean's lyrics are vague but poignant, the song rarely peaking in mood, the song is a daydream on a lazy day. It's a perfect introduction to Frank.

10

"Walk With Me"

Memoryhouse

The definitive indie love song of 2012, full of clumsy and sweet lyrics: "this life could be graced with symmetry" / "I rest my head on your shoulder". Melodically wonderful, the husky voice of singer Denise Nouvion is what really carries the song straight to your heart.

9 

"In The Dark"

Nite Jewel

Understated, confusing and mysterious, "In The Dark" is the warm heart of One Second of Love.

8

"Running"

Jessie Ware

Sade's "No Ordinary Love" reinvented for the 21st century, and I do not make that comparison lightly.

7

"Genesis"

Grimes

Weird, unfriendly, yet totally haunting, "Genesis" was Grimes' breakthrough track, and one that did nothing commercial to achieve this, merely brought to the table everything she was about, and we were hooked.

6

"Wildest Moments"

Jessie Ware

This year's "Someone Like You" in my eyes, a love song so universal it can apply to any sort of relationship, and a timeless melody.

5

"Angels"

The xx

Although not completely de-sexed, "Angels" is the most honest, fragile love song that the seductive and suggestive xx have written to date, and you can hear it in Romy's trembling voice.

4

"These Streets Will Never Look The Same"

Chromatics

Desolate and despairing as its subject matter, "These Streets..." is a near 8 minute dirge, one that wallows in its own regret and loneliness. But amidst its hypnotic synths and icy piano chords, this heartbreaking track could easily go on for double its running time, and indeed it feels as if it does, in the best way possible.

3

"Myth"

Beach House

If "Norway" was the nearest thing to epic that Beach House had managed thus far, "Myth"'s soaring guitars and euphoric vocals push the band to an entirely new emotional peak.

2

"110%"

Jessie Ware

2012 was undoubtedly Brixton sweetheart Jessie Ware's year, and 110% was the track that really made the UK sit up and listen. Over a skittering, unfamiliarly speedy beat and ethereal, heavenly pads, Jessie whispered sweet nothings in our ear before letting her voice float away into the clouds. Mysterious, quirky and beautiful.

1

"Paradise"

Wild Nothing

Sparsely filled and structured, the few elements that make up "Paradise" combine to make it magical. Like Bon Iver's "Calgary" that topped my list last year, "Paradise" is a song that makes a journey. In this case, it is one that starts off with a short couple of verses before dipping into a lengthy break that takes up most of the song, building and building, before returning for a glorious climax, at exactly the right exhilarating moment. The track's finest flourishes however, come in the form of its funky guitar lick and charming flute hook, that dance a celebratory dance over the simmering pads.

GIVEPOPACHANCE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012.

- 10 -

"There's No Leaving Now"

The Tallest Man on Earth

An emotional revelation. The man of unrivalled height, in a similar manner to Bon Iver last year, delivers an entirely more open, more beautiful sophomore record. Whilst Tallest Man's debut was all lonely guitars and bluesy tunes, There's No... is awash with tinkling guitars, soaring vocal melodies, sombre pianos, and the whole thing has a glorious optimism to it. The Man's voice aches with hope, seasoned with coming to peace with past regret. An escapist record, for sitting by lakes in summer.

- 9 -

"Nocturne"

Wild Nothing

Another more melodic sophomore effort, after the distant indiepop of Wild Nothing's debut, their second takes influence from more balearic peers such as Delorean and Friendly Fires. Marimbas pop up on "Counting Days", guitars soar like U2 on "Nocturne" and the magnificent "Paradise" lights up with its fuzzy coat of warm pads. A much poppier record song-wise too, turns out The Nothing have a knack for gorgeous 90s indie hooks.

- 8 -

"The Slideshow Effect"

Memoryhouse

Blissfully melancholic, Memoryhouse's Slideshow... makes it a hat trick of great second records this year. Singer Denise Nouvion's deep, warm voice finds a comfortable space amongst the shoegazer guitars and lullaby melodies. Every song is a daydream, and every lyric an ideal, the record is simple and perfectly formed. "This life could be graced with symmetry..." Nouvion ponders on "Walk With Me", and that's exactly what has graced this album. Everything fits.

- 7 -

"Born To Die"

Lana Del Rey

Actually improved upon by the later Paradise EP, Lana Del Rey's debut is still, although an acquired taste for some/many, a perfect introduction to a new pop persona. The combination of classic 60s and 70s glamour, sombre balladry with hip hop undertones. The beats are always slow and heavy, the strings always mournful, and Lana's voice, though far from incredible technically, cracks with hollywood tragedy one moment, and is delirious and suggestive the next. It's a slog for people who are on the fence about her, but for those that have become addicted, it's impossible to not be drawn in from start to finish.

- 6 -

"Trouble"

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

In an era for dance music where producers live single to single, a full length album packed with potentials is masterful. TEED's 80s electro is quirky, creative and more-ish, "Household Goods" shudders under the weight of its tidal wave synth, the "feet don't fail me now" sample on "Tapes and Money" is the most epic call to the dancefloor this year, and "Your Love" is unadulterated diva house joy . And those are just the existing singles, but TEED could happily milk the album dry for the next year without his nerd-rave house getting old.

- 5 -

"Bloom"

Beach House

There's no suggesting that Bloom is anything spectacularly different to Beach House's last record, the wonderful Teen Dream, but the feat of matching that record in quality alone gets the band's fourth record to number 5 on this list. It's not an identical record by any means however. Whilst only the euphoric "Norway" really lifted your feet off the ground on Teen Dream, the rest of the album content to take gorgeous strolls in the park, the opening three tracks on Bloom all suggest that slowly but surely, Beach House are becoming confident in their ability to write songs that fill larger spaces then their own subconscious. Listen to the opening arpeggios of "Wild", for example, a track so glorious that the only fair place for it to be heard is a stadium.

- 4 -

"Visions"

Grimes

Not Grimes' debut, but her breakthrough record Visions, so fresh, unusual and intriguing in its fusion of electropop and industrial ambience, feels very much like a debut. Grimes' twisted-singsong vocals and harsh, raw beats bring to mind Crystal Castles, but unlike said band, her music is endearing and beautiful, as opposed to nihilistic and icy. Both brilliant acts working in a deeply uncommercial, rarely touched sound space, but Grimes' record is less like a nightmare and more like a daydream, one that the listener joins her on for the duration.

- 3 -

"Kill For Love"

Chromatics

After their work on the excellent, retro Drive soundtrack, Kill For Love maintains that combination of silky indie, new wave and electropop with dark undertones. Yet what is most beautiful about Kill For Love is the overwhelming sense of sadness and regret that overshadows every track. From lengthy electroacoustic odes to loneliness like "Running From The Sun" and "These Streets..." to the synth-drenched new wave of the gorgeous title track, the record spans many sounds and moods, but there is never a moment when it fails to leave the bittersweet aftertaste of melancholy.

- 2 -

"Devotion"

Jessie Ware

Jessie Ware's debut album marks the ascendancy of the feature singer to full blown artist. The sweetheart of Brixton has a voice that is as authentically soul as it is credibly pop, and the music is also an incredibly effective crossover. Devotion has it's more electronic moments, "110%" and "Sweet Talk", it's more traditionally balladic moments, "Wildest Moments" and "Taking In Water", and flecks of old school hip hop also creep in, "Still Love Me" and "No To Love". But any song that Jessie sings, she makes her own. In an industry of singers defined by the music behind them, Jessie Ware can only be defined as the best voice of 2012.

- 1 -

"One Second of Love"

Nite Jewel

Relatively underground Canadian singer Nite Jewel's debut was destined to take her nowhere. A difficult, unfriendly album of shoegaze synthpop, with vocals so distorted and distant that a melody was lucky to be picked out of the fuzzy mess. And I'm sure this was her intention. However One Second of Love shows, and in magnificent style, her true potential. 

Still a synthpop artist in many ways, it is crude to use this term to describe the pallet of sounds on display here. The Robyn-on-a-downer electropop of the title track, the gorgeous new age sweep of "In The Dark", the aching melancholica-electronica of "No I Don't" right to the peaceful, soothing ambience of "Clive", each song shows a different facet of her persona. 

I would compare it, bizarrely enough, to Radiohead's Kid A. It is a succinct record, but one that picks it's ideas very carefully. And it's flaws (maybe the metaphor of "Autograph" is a tad clumsy, or the introductory drop into "This Story" is a tad abrupt) all add to the character and shape of OSoL. It's an odd record, a subtle one, and for me, a genius one, one that did more for me than any other this year.

Give Pop A Chance's Best Of July Round-Up: INCLUDING 15-TRACK MIX!

ENJOY THE GIVE-POP-A-CHANCE JULY 2012 MIX BELOW!



Azealia Banks finally dropped her mixtape Fantasea this month, to a gleeful response from this blogger. A mix of bass-heavy hip hop, underground dance and house, working with a plethora of brilliant underground producers, highlights including the camp, high fashion house anthem "Fierce" (0:00 in the mix), and brilliantly explicit moombahton flirtation "Esta Noche" (42:41), penned by Munchi.


Bat For Lashes also finally released a new single, a simple piano and voice lament, the heartbreaking "Laura" (28:42).


If you've not heard Grimes latest work with producers Blood Diamonds, the track "Phone Sex" is as balearic and blissful as it is dark and disturbing, sweetened considerably by some pretty steel drums and poppy beat. Whilst you're checking this out, the Unicorn Kid remix (45:52) is also worth a listen or 10; the kid only goes from strength to strength, his production values having never sounded more chart friendly, whilst never losing the 90s rave vibe that gives everything he touches such a joyously euphoric sound.


Anyone missing their indiepop need look no further than The Crookes, whose debut record Hold Fast is pumped with youthful energy and earworm hooks. Particularly exciting is single "Maybe in the Dark" (26:14), oozing the same desperate teenage woes of their equally likeable peers The Heartbreaks.


After opening many a recent set with the track, Crystal Castles (10:46) finally shared a studio version of the dark, difficult and foreboding "Plague", sounding like a rave caught in a tornado, with Alice Glass crying "I am the plague!" with trademark alarming gusto in the chorus.


Etta Bond's free EP Emergency Room, produced at the dirty dubstep hands of 22 year old London producer Raf Riley, made early preview "Ask Me To Stay", seem like the weak pleas of an innocent girl in comparison to aggressive anthems about vomiting, fake tan and kissing on the tube. "Boring Bitches" (3:06) is a clear standout, with Etta's enraged party girl rant at said bitches and a drop to make you bleed from the eyes.


Pnau getting access to some of Elton John's back catalogue was a bizarre project, but a successful, lush sounding one, with Pnau merging slick 70s disco sounds with a gorgeous 80s warmpad sheen, particularly on the heartbreakingly beautiful tragic disco anthem "Sad" (23:00).


My favourite remix of the month has got to go to the Krystal Klear mix of the latest Marina & The Diamonds single "Power & Control" (32:58). The Manc producer takes the initially plodding track and turns it into a 1992 house banger, complete with token bubbling organ basslines and bright piano hits.


Passion Pit returned to their early bubblegum hyperpop tendencies of early tracks like "Smile Upon Me" for a brief moment on their sophomore effort Gossamer, for the cut and paste joy of "I'll Be Alright" (18:39), which stands out like a blinding ray of sunshine on a generally emotionally heavy album. Although lyrically its just as paranoid as the rest of the record, you wouldn't guess by all the cheery melodies flying around.


The debut album by electronic bass band Purity Ring however had no shortage of highlights, with the gory words and meatgrinder bassline of "Fineshrine" (7:19) and hypnotic middle eastern bells and sugar sweet melodies of "Amenamy" (36:21) proving to be amoungst the best.


Just when you thought M83's "Midnight City" (14:59) had done its fair share of rounds, eerie electropop act Saint Saviour posts a cover so good that it will undoubtedly do its own fair share. But with haunting synth pads, distant cooing vocals and an addictive rework of the already addictive main refrain, it almost deserves to stand on its own as an original work, such is the creativity on show here.


Bass producers Lunice and Hudson Mohawke's duo project TNGHT also had released its first EP, and the dance world is already trembling under the weight of the brass bass line in "Higher Ground" (39:44).


But the real event of July was The xx finally releasing their comeback single, "Angels" (50:09). Read my review of it here.