Roses Gabor - Stars

After her sleek guest spot on SBTRKT's album highlight "Pharoahs", Roses Gabor's latest single, produced by UK dance producer Redlight is much darker, and she takes centre stage despite the punishing, gritty production. Redlight cuts and pastes her voice over a gravelly bass synth and industrial sized beat, but Roses has no problem commanding the track when she steps forward.

FOR FANS OF: Jessie Ware, SBTRKT, Delilah

A*M*E - Play The Game Boy

It's tracks like this that are really what this blog are about. Pop songs that don't try to avoid being 'cringeworthy' or 'cheesy' (both words are are cheesier to apply in description than to hear examples of, at any rate), and as a result bring the most out of the pop music genre. Specifically, the hooks, the energy and, above all, the sense of fun.

A*M*E is a 17 year old UK pop singer, and the song is somewhat brattish, but innocently charming, tongue-in-cheek... everything that resembles a 17 year old girl. It's K-Pop/electropop mould is cutesy, sugary but full of attack, and it's clumsy 'play the game boy' wordplay is endearing, and I'm damned if I'm calling this a 'guilty pleasure'. I don't feel guilty in the slightest.

The colourful video brought to mind the debut efforts of Little Mix. Of course, Little Mix seem a little bit too mature to pull off a song like "Play The Game Boy", but maybe that's because they've been marketed to sing about believing in themselves and potential ("Wings") and gimmicky takes on love songs ("DNA"). And yet there's more of a marketable prospect in A*M*E then there is in Little Mix.

There's a lot to be said for not taking yourselves seriously after all.

FOR FANS OF: Annie, Robyn, Alphabeat

TOP 10 SONGS OF SEPTEMBER 2012.

10

"Default"
Atoms for Peace

The first single proper from the unexpected supergroup that includes Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. At first listen it's hard to hear anyone apart from Thom Yorke on this jittery, quirky electronica track, but "Default"'s wistful melodies and restrained, tasteful beats are in fact much easier on the ear than Thom Yorke's introverted, difficult solo material. Much like his excellent collaborations with Modeselektor last year, Thom doesn't mumble through the words as if he wishes the listener would leave him alone, instead his voice is beautiful, gliding along in spectral falsetto. If this track is the default setting for Atoms for Peace's debut record, allegedly due early 2013, then it's a promising benchmark.

9
"Feeling's Gone"
Beacon

I've come across a lot of atmospheric post-James Blake pop bands over the last year popping up on blogs, but few have quite created something as haunting as Brooklyn-based Beacon's debut single "Feeling's Gone". A wonderful, beautifully tragic lyrical refrain, "Feeling's gone, we waited for too long, but if you stay the night, we can find some more", opens the track, and the muffled synths, initially shrouded in misty pads, hint at a climax to come, but it isn't until the track's final minute that it triumphantly breaks out into an xx-esque dance beat. It's brief, but expertly done. The band's debut EP is out on October 2nd, called For Now.

8

"Ache"

Twigs

Twigs' "Ache" appeared online a couple of months ago, out of the blue with no clue as to the identity of this mystery singer. It arrived with an arresting, somewhat unsettling video, a slow motion clip of a masked dancer contorting his body in a rhythmical rage. It was a bizarre pairing with this sensual, intensely sexual art'n'B track, yet somehow a perfect fit. Twigs' gentle voice can be compared to the sugary tones of AlunaGeorge or even Aaliyah on a good note, but there's no denying that this is a track that suggests Twigs has a lot more to express and to offer. 

7

"Fall"
Presets

"For a band who focus so intently on their less melodic, minimalistic rave numbers, I personally wonder why The Presets don't just stick to melodic dancepop numbers like "Fall"...

Read my review of "Fall" here.

6

"Suicide Mission"

Groundislava feat. Baths

On the outskirts of the flourishing underground bass scene lies Groundislava, who are fond of their subby hip hop beats, but are also very fond of rubbing shoulders with the likes of Boards of Canada and Four Tet. As a result, Groundislava's Feel Me record mixes gorgeous electronica with a gritty, modern bass edge. "Suicide Mission" stands out on the record for its enchanting, eerie vocal and baroque-tronic synth arpeggios, like the long lost, missing cousin of SBTRKT's "Wildfire".

5

"Latch"

Disclosure feat. Sam Smith

"Latch" is the first single that really sets Disclosure apart from just another UK underground dance act, mainly because it takes risks. Looking at the more popular numbers of Disclosure's output so far, "Boiling" brings ethereal female vocals to the table, and "Tenderly" showed us the duo's ear for perfect vocal sampling, but not only does "Latch" bounce rather than pound, the camp, falsetto-heavy vocals of Sam Smith are totally out of the bass ball-park. Not a million miles from the soulful croon of Sam Sparro, the slamming climax when his falsetto hits in the chorus is the most exciting moment in any Disclosure track thus far. A track this daring makes Disclosure seem more than just another craze, this gives more than just a hint the duo could be in it for the long run.

4

"Swept Away"
The xx

The elevated presence of Jamie on Coexist is most apparent on the tribal, subtly ravey "Swept Away". For all the criticism directed at the band's sophomore effort, its lack of creativity and progression, "Swept Away" certainly sounds like the band taking a step in a new direction. Jamie's 90s dance beat is simple, tom heavy and does nothing if not intensify the breathless emotion of the band's trademark reverb heavy soundscape. The track pulses like a heartbeat, yet still manages to float.

3

"Little Talks"
Of Monsters and Men

Although the track might be unabashedly chirpy in its main hook, the band's charm and the male/female vocal chemistry end up justifying the sheer joy that this song exudes. However, the song is allegedly a conversation between a dead man and the wife he left behind, and the bittersweet nature of one-two lines such as "there's an old voice in my head that's holding me back - well tell her that I miss our little talks" are all the more poignant when sung over such an uplifting brass-laden indiepop backing. A track that on first listen seems to reveal all it's ever going to, but on repeat listens, it dawns on you that you may never completely understand everything it has to say. Heartbreaking, beautiful and quite clever really. 

2

"Need U"
Unicorn Kid

After last year's phenomenal rave revival of Unicorn Kid's Tidal Rave EP, "Need U" strides even more confidentally down the 90s rave route. Somewhere between rave classics "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" and "Set You Free", and leaving even more of his 16-bit roots behind, "Need U" is Unicorn Kid's crowing glory, and the most euphoric, stargazing dance track of the year by far thus far.

1

"Everything is Embarrassing"
Sky Ferreira

The Robyn-esque robot-pop of Sky's early singles "One" and "Obsession" were mildly distracting, but ultimately uninteresting in the long term. Her music smarted with a 'manufactured and lifeless' stamp, that sadly a lot of female singers cannot help by be branded with; one popular single, then oblivion and obscurity. But Sky Ferreira's "Everything is Embarrassing" is phenomenal. You can not only hear a real girl, her emotion, her words, but you cannot pin down what exactly the track is trying to prove, and this mystery is the beauty of it. 

Co-produced by Blood Orange's Dev Hynes, the track has the same warm, enveloping sound that gives life to that band's music, and Sky's voice is virtually untouched and airy, what sounds like a girl with nothing left to prove. She sings, defeatedly, cynically, yet beautifully "maybe if you let me be your lover, maybe if you tried, then I would not bother". A poignant, soft, yet hard hitting lyric, one that defines Sky Ferreira's character more than any other lyric she has sung before.

Play "Obsession" straight after listening to this. You'll want to turn it off within seconds in, well, embarrassment. Good luck to the new Sky.

Mausi - Sol

Now a year old, Mausi's sunny indiepop gem "Sol" is finally receiving airplay on Radio 1. Its piano-house-flecked vibes and infectious vocal hook are summery, carefree and uplifting, as all pop music should be; think the younger sister of 2003 house gem, Milky's "Just The Way You Are". Singing of "losing track of time as we dance in the summer haze", the song somehow gives the illusion that the bleak summer of 2012 was one of the hottest, most joyous in recent memory. There's no discouraging some people.

FOR FANS OF: Haim, The Pipettes, Foster The People

Destiny's Child - Say My Name (Cyril Hahn Remix)

A novelty, but a gorgeous one. Up and coming producer Cyril Hahn mutates the Destiny's Child's voices into mournful, androgynous croons over a dark, minimal house beat. Cyril Hahn's material consists of all remixes at the time of posting, but they are all worth listening to, check out his tumblr, and especially his remix of Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" as well. They aren't so much remixes as reinterpretations, sucking the swag and attitude out of hip hop and R&B hits, and replacing it with an eerieness, sparseness and sense of melancholy.

FOR FANS OF: Disclosure, The Weeknd, SBTRKT

The Presets - Fall

For a band who focus so intently on their less melodic, minimalistic rave numbers, I personally wonder why The Presets don't just stick to melodic dancepop numbers like "Fall". As with the unfathomably brilliant duo of "This Boy's In Love" and "If I Know You" from their last record, 2008's Apocalypso, "Fall" encapsulates a warm, euphoric-pop space with hooks so perfect one could even call them timeless.

Latest record Pacifica is their most accomplished to date, not at all unrelated to the fact that it's their most melodic. Keep going guys, you've almost got it!

FOR FANS OF: New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Delphic

GIG REVIEW: Gold Dust @ Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, feat. Josh Kumra, Venice, Draper & Saint Lou Lou - 19/09/12

I am not an East London regular, the crowds are a tad too trendy and “If-I-don’t-know-you-you-don’t-exist” for me. An perhaps unfair assumption I once made was that EC2 and N1 residents would turn up to a string of gigs to be seen, rather than to hear the music that was played. I’m sure that’s unfair, but the lack of enthusiasm of tonight’s pouty, moody crowd, as myself and my plus one ease our way through a small yet not-entirely-packed-out back room of Hoxton Bar, suggests a good deal of this crowd are here for fear of doing nothing of an evening. My friend gets barged into and spills a glass of wine on one of them accidentally, and he spends 5 minutes glancing daggers our way. My spirits are lifted.

The line-up is a mix of styles, guaranteed to please every attendee at least once surely, and it’s encouraging to see a line-up that isn’t afraid to be varied. First on, Saint Lou Lou surprise me by turning out to be a four piece band, with two synchronized twin supermodels as singers, as opposed to the misty eyed solo beauty I was imagining. It’s just as well there are two singers, as an overpowering rhythm section slightly drowns out their fashionably twee murmurs. Nevertheless, the twins, dressed entirely in black and with large swimming pool eyes, command the stage with ease, and their gothic indiepop loses none of its haunting charm in this setting. Single “Maybe You” is especially ethereal.

After a cigarette break (not mine), I am filled with a slight resentment at the sight of another young, pretty boy producer, Draper, bouncing around his laptop. It’s standard melodic dubstep; you know the drill, sugar sweet leads and a pummeling bass line, chopped vocals; perfectly acceptable Skrillex-lite. His set ticks all the boxes in his category, and his Ellie Goulding remix is actually fairly glorious, but as Draper air guitars and ping pongs his way through an overlong, samey set, a sparse crowd distances itself from the stage. “Next!” my fidgety plus one shouts.

Venice, who thus far I had unfairly placed on the boy band pedestal alongside Lawson and, dare-I-say One Direction, are the biggest surprise of the night. After two very typically ‘trendy-in-2012’ acts, the clean cut Venice are refreshingly and endearingly uncool. The first act to warmly address the crowd, the band come across as a budding young Killers. Their sparkly lead single “Heart That Could Heal” warms up a frosty room and the mood and crowd is noticeably looser, even if this snooty East London crowd won’t approach the stage for love nor money. Their flirtations with piano house on numbers like “Killer in Me” could not go down better, and the boys could well be The Rapture at some points. By the end of their set, how current and trendy the band are or are not is irrelevant; as my plus one noted, all that mattered was that we were enjoying ourselves and dancing like fools.

The subsequent high spirits of the crowd dwindle, after a lengthy period of Josh Kumra wandering on and off the stage. By the time the pint-sized crooner picks up his guitar and lazily greets us, the crowd is severely diminished. His set of above average singer songwriter material is nevertheless relaxed and professional; he sounds convincing as a headliner. Yet despite his charm, ease and talent, the wistful material sounds somewhat interchangeable with most of his peers. His voice is hella-lovely however, especially on early set highlight “The Answer”, where his higher range strains with a touching authenticity. 

Extortionate London parking fees dictate we must leave halfway through his set, but the sleek delivery of Josh’s set suggests this was probably charming and fuzzy until the end. Which is actually just as well, because there’s only so much charm and fuzz I can take. As we move our way out through a sea of black clothing and unnecessary hats, I leave feeling that the one act who stood out was the one that didn’t try to please this crowd of trend-experts and fashionistas, and as a result, Venice definately pleased them the most.