The Weeknd remix Florence + The Machine

The BBC's Zane Lowe just gave a first airing of a remix of Florence + The Machine's new single Shake It Out by Toronto R'n'B producer The Weeknd. The original's wide-eyed optimism is replaced with a certain anxiety and the remixer's charateristic murky, nocturnal quality, which fans of the Weeknd's album House of Balloons will recognise immediately. Check out the radio rip below.

Florence & The Machine - Shake It Out Remix (Feat. The Weeknd) by Music Is

Frontier Ruckus

Though I have been leaning towards more agrarian music of late, there is still something very special about Detroit based Frontier Ruckus, who display remnants of Cake with a hip hillbilly twist. The combination of the lyrical meandering of Milia's verse, Jones' banjo plucking and the unorthodox saw playing of Zachary Nichols will appeal to the faintest of music lovers. Both their debut and sophomore albums are out now and demand a listen.

Frontier Ruckus' Official Site. Facebook. Twitter.

J Dilla :: 'Last Donut Of The Night' video

Beautifully filmed and utterly strange video for the late J Dilla's classic track from the essential Donuts instrumental hip-hop album. Here, a love of donuts brings about some pretty odd behaviour in two Finnish policemen. The video is part of Stones Throw Records' video contest which is receiving submissions from amateur filmmakers for any song in the labels back catalogue.

M83 album teaser

It's been a full 3 years since M83 dropped their excellent Saturdays=Youth album. Their follow-up record is due in October and here we have a brief snippet of one track with some suitably lush visuals. It's as grand and orchestral as you would hope and expect from Anthony Gonzalez and co.

The Rapture :: 'How Deep Is Your Love?'

After a few low-key years The Rapture return with this pumped up and hypnotic piano-driven piece of disco. They're back on DFA Records and have a new album, In the Grace of Your Love, dropping later in the year which, on this evidence, should be well worth the wait.

The Rapture - "How Deep Is Your Love" by Marco Collins

Young Montana? :: Limerence LP

It may be the most superfluous question mark since Jonatton Yeah? graced our screens but UK producer Young Montana? is making some damn good beats at the moment. His debut album Limerence is out now and is getting a lot of attention from the likes of BBC's Mary-Anne Hobbs. Like Manchester beat-maker Star Slinger, though less prolific (who could keep up with him?!), Young Montana? dips into in the same post-J Dilla pallette of sounds but with a restless tendency to chop and twist them for his own amusement. Head on over to his Soundcloud page for some of his remix work.

Young Montana: Sacre Cool by ALPHA PUP

Young Montana? - 'Limerence' Album Sampler <<< OUT NOW by Young Montana?

Broken Social Scene cover Modest Mouse

I saw Broken Social Scene playing a cover of Modest Mouse classic World At Large on stage a few weeks back and then this interesting video surfaced of a live studio recording of the song for charity video series The Voice Project. BSS give the song some breathing space, faithfully letting the quality of the original song shine through while still putting their own stamp on it with the saxophone and simple percussion.

Broken Social Scene » Modest Mouse from The Voice Project on Vimeo.

The Weeknd make it ok to like R'n'B!

Toronto group The Weeknd have generated a lot of hype with their free mixtape 'House of Balloons' which charts the tricky waters between Burial's nocturnal atmospheres and a sinister kind of R. Kelly sleaze but the results are compelling.

The inventive source material is what initially makes this album stand out from the crowd, as is the case with the Siouxsie and the Banshees-sampling title track below.

Download the album 'House of Balloons' here.

The Weeknd - House Of Balloons/Glass Table Girls by snipelondon

The Weeknd - The Morning by The_Weeknd

Booker T Jones :: 'Representing Memphis'

60s soul veteran Booker T. Jones is enjoying something of a second career at the moment. His new album, 'The Road from Memphis' comes out next month and features guest appearances by with The Roots, Lou Reed, and most interestingly, a duet between soul singer Sharon Jones and Matt Berninger of The National. The two very different voices compliment each other in a surprisingly effortless way and Booker T's classic organ sound fills in the gaps nicely.

Booker T. Jones - Representing Memphis (feat. Matt Berninger and Sharon Jones) by antirecords

and Digitalism are back...

2011 is already shaping up to be a comeback year; alongside Lykke Li, Justice, and PB&J, Digitalism have also announced that their sophomore long player, I Love You Dude, will be out this June. Its clear that the microKorg is still very much in use down in their WWII bunker in Hamburg, though Jens seems to have worked on his English pronunciation. Stream and download below.


2 Hearts by digitalism_official

Digitalism SoundCloud, Twitter, MySpace, Official

Tune in next week for another 2011 comeback...

RAC vs PB&J

It's hard to believe its 5 years, 2 albums and 18 million views since Peter, Bjorn and John produced their mainstream masterpiece Young Folks, but the sixth installment from the Swedish trio builds on the wizardry of almost a decade's worth of work. RAC put their subtle stamp on Second Chance, the first release from Gimme Some, and boy does it deliver.

PB&J twitter, official, facebook, myspace

Download below:

and JUSTICE returns...

Next month sees the return of Justice, after a lengthy 4 year break since the release of their † album. The first preview, Civilisation, is the soundtrack to the new Adidas Is All In campaign, the video of which is the brainchild of French director Romain Gavras, who was also behind the visual piece for Justice's Stress. If this is anything to go by, it seems like the currently unnamed follow-up will be more of the same. Here here.

Justice facebook and myspace

Lykke Li Returns

Lykke's follow-up to 2008's lauded Youth Novels was released just a couple of weeks ago and looks likely to outdo her first effort. With Bjorn Yttling (of Peter, Bjorn & John fame) and hit maker Rick Nowels on the production team, the overall result is a more radio friendly output but still retains Li's candid and gentle nature throughout. The rehash of second-single I Follow Rivers by low-profile remixer The Magician has been trending quite well of late and layers a 90's piano break over Li's catchy chorus. She returns to Ireland on Saturday 16th April to play Tripod, Dublin and will undoubtedly sell out so book your tickets early.

Offical site, myspace, twitter.

Download removed.

New Star Slinger video

Following up on Brian's last post, here is the new, suitably radiant video for Star Slinger's Mornin'.

Star Slinger

It's been a while since I've found it difficult to select an artists model track, but I can't seem to settle on an individual Star Slinger cut as all of his releases in his relatively short career are absolutely stunning. Starting out in just April 2010, Star Slinger's work was first pointed out to me by Jezza with his sterling rework of The Go Team's Apollo Throwdown, which opened up a small universe of twitching samples and hopping beats. As is á la mode with emerging acts, all his music is currently free to download, with the option to donate available on iTunes and on his own website. Collect them all - this guy is certainly one to watch for the future.

Download: Star Slinger - Volume 1 (album)

Download: Star Slinger - May I Walk With You

PS Star Slinger just announced on his Twitter that he will be playing Bernard Shaw, Dublin on April 29th.

Bag Raiders

A post on this extremely talented duo from down under is long overdue. Chris and Jack have been producing glitzy star-pop under the pseudonym Bag Raiders since 2007. Shooting Stars (above) has been their biggest crowd pleaser to date, racking up over 1.3 million plays on YouTube, with both Way Back Home and Turbo Love also gaining considerable listener counts. Their self-titled debut was released in Australia in October last year, and Sunlight is the second single to emerge from the album, and it doesn't disappoint. Check it out below

Download: Bag Raiders - Sunlight

MySpace, Official, Facebook, Twitter.

Passion Pit remix Cold War Kids

Passion Pit take time out from working on their second studio album (rumoured to be released sometime in spring) to remix Cold War Kids' title track Mine Is Yours. The rework yields a synthetically styled dreamscape, with echoed vocals, pitch bent keys and a kick-snare beat lifted straight from Depeche Mode's 1988 stadium tour.

Listen and download yourself a copy below:

Duck Sauce remix Chromeo

TPNK favourites cross paths again with Duck Sauce's interpretation of Hot Mess taken from Chromeo's most recent long player Business Casual. The track features Elly Jackson of La Roux fame, with the remix revolving around her vocal hook. A nice fist pumper to start the New Year. Download it for free below.

Chromeo ft. Elly Jackson - Hot Mess (Duck Sauce Remix)