Miike Snow

So the blog has been lying idle for longer than I dare admit but it's back! The long, wet days of this summer have given me ample time for the vast amount of new music 2009 has given us so far. One act that I've had my eye on recently is Sweden's Miike Snow. I was introduced to the gleeful, marching electro-pop of their single 'Animal' a couple of month's back. This was followed about 8 weeks ago by the release of their debut, self-titled album which is an exciting, if patchy, affair.

In a previous life Miike Snow were the production team behind Britney Spear's guilty pleasure Toxic so as you might expect the production here is flawlessly polished from start to finish. However in the leap from the shadows into the sharp focus of creating their own music an element of their pop effervescense was lost. Having said that there are still absolute triumphs in the form of Black and Blue, Silvia, Song for No One and Animal, at times reminiscent of Hot Chip or Peter Bjorn and John at their most bitter-sweet.

Speaking of which, step forward PB&J who knock it out of the park with this awesome remix of Animal. Then Spank Rock's Benny Blanco rescues Burial from mediocrity by giving it some balls with added vocals and heavyweight beats.

Download: Miike Snow - Animal (Peter Bjorn and John remix)
Stream: Miike Snow - Burial (Benny Blanco remix feat. Neon Hitch)

New Hot Chip + Album News

I've been listening to Hot Chip's breakthrough 2005 album The Warning for the last 2 years pretty solidly and I still love every track on it as much as day one. Since then they've released their excellent DJ Kicks compilation which showcased the song My Piano and gave us a taster of what sounds they've been working on.

Well their new album, titled Made In The Dark, is ready for release on the 4th of february and features 13 tracks including My Piano, Shake A Fist and a new track i've been hearing on the radio called Ready For The Floor. It's trademark Hot Chip, with a bouncing electro beat, twinkling electronics and Alexis Taylor's unique vocals and all together they make up the best pop song I've heard in ages.

Ready For The Floor will be the first single off the new album and comes out a week before, on the 28th of january. The CD features a great Soulwax remix of Ready For The Floor plus a Diplo mix of Shake A Fist.

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Pre-order the album Made In The Dark here

Download: Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor

Miami Horror

Hola amigos. Sincere apologies for the lack of posts recently. Rest assured that normal service has resumed.

To say sorry here are some lovely pieces of Aussie electro-disco. There seems to be no end to the quality dance music coming out of Australia (especially Melbourne) these days from the likes of Cut Copy, The Presets, Midnight Juggernauts, Van She, Riot in Belgium and the excellent label Modular.

Miami Horror is Ben Plant from Melbourne who's been generating a bit of heat with some great remixes over the last year. Giving two fingers to those who say electro is played out, Miami Horror brings you an unashamed 80s synth disco attack taking in the heavily compressed French house of Alan Braxe and Cassius along the way.

A debut album, titled Bravado, is due some time soon. In the mean time get your ears 'round this lot.

Download: Codebreaker - Exiled (Miami Horror remix)

Download: Miami Horror - Don't Be On With Her

New material from Cut Copy

Cut Copy are a band from Melbourne, Australia that i've been into for a few years. Their last album 'Bright Like Neon Love' was a mix of shimmering electro, house and indie with bitter-sweet vocals from frontman Dan Whitford that really deserved a wider audience.

They've been working with producer Tim Goldsworthy (DFA - see post below) to put the finishing touches to their second album 'In Ghost Colours' which is due out early next year. Along with the new Hot Chip album this is something i'm really looking forward to. Anyway the first single from the new record is due to be 'So Haunted' which they've been playing on tour in Australia at the moment. It's a real grower I must say and you can see Goldworthy's influence in the stomping electro riff. See what you think.

Download: Cut Copy - So Haunted

Tim Goldsworthy & Tim Sweeney (DFA Records) @ Ri-Ra

It's Ri-Ra's 14th birthday this week and they've got Tim Goldsworthy and Tim Sweeney flying in from New York for the celebrations on friday night. Goldsworthy has popped up in lots of places over the years. He was drummer in U.N.K.L.E., co-founded the Mo' Wax label, was in LCD Soundsystem with James Murphy and now together they are DFA, a much sought-after production team and record label. He has also produced albums for The Rapture, David Holmes and Cut Copy.

Tim Sweeney did an internship with DFA (how cool is that!) and ended up doing mix tapes and dj sets for them. The Ri-Ra show is the first time Sweeney and Goldsworthy have played in Europe as a duo so it should be a pretty cool night.

11:30pm Friday. Entry €10/€12

Here's a couple of great remixes to get you in the mood.

Download: Le Tigre - Deceptacon (DFA remix)

Download: Soulwax - NY Excuse (DFA remix)

Late Of The Pier

Late Of the Pier are a band from Nottingham that have been turning one or two heads over the last year. They've only released a handful of tracks but each one i've heard has been damn good. On the face of things the world probably doesn't need another UK indie band with a keyboard player making 'dance-rock' but Late Of The Pier have enough eclectic influences and tight production to stand well above chancers like the Klaxons or Shitdisco.

Their standout track so far is definitely 'Bathroom Gurgle', produced by the busiest man in dance music, Erol Alkan. It moves from strutting bassline like the Rapture to a sweeping breakdown followed by the frantic chorus "So put your hands on your waistline/And move your body to the bassline/And get your hands on some cheap wine/And just move it til you feel fiiiiiiine!".

Also worth checking out is their Gary Numan-esque 'Space and the Woods'.

Download: Late Of the Pier - 'Bathroom Gurgle'
Download: Late Of the Pier - 'Space and the Woods'

Girl Talk!!

Anyone lucky enough to be at Whelan's in Dublin on the 13th of december is gonna get an ear full of the force of nature that is Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk. Every picture i've seen makes his live shows look like the most fun place to be on planet earth. Just put 'girl talk' into google images and you'll see what i mean. Like a good house party just seconds before the police get there. Thanks to Nialler9 for the tip off as this gig had completely crept under my radar.

Anyway Girl Talk mixes old school hip hop, house, cheesy r'n'b and top 40 hits and whatever else is lying about. One of his tracks puts Notorious B.I.G. up against Elton John's Tiny Dancer so that should give you an idea!

I first heard about him through his remix of Peter, Bjorn and John's 'Lets Call It Off' where he laid on a nice bouncing beat and some gorgeous twinkly xylophone/glockenspiel(?) action with echoes of Hot Chip about it. Definitely one of my favourite tunes of the year.

Download: Peter, Bjorn and John - Let's Call It Off (Girl Talk remix)

also here's a nice mashup courtesy of Good Weather For Airstrikes which should give you a taste of his more usual stuff.

Download: Girl Talk - Digital Hustlin'

Jape Is Grape

Some new material here from one of Ireland's finest acts. Jape has been on a steady rise since the slow-burning success of the blissful 'Floating' and it's great to see he's able to keep churning out interesting stuff. Jape has just polished off his second album and before it's ready for release he's giving us the 'Jape Is Grape' EP. It features 'Floating' and a handful of remixes (though not the excellent Prins Thomas mix) plus two new tracks so it's more of a prelude to the album than anything else.
The real highlight is 'Christopher and Anthony' an incredibly hypnotic piece of electro pop which deserves to be as big as 'Floating'.
He's playing three gigs in Dublin this weekend before he heads off around Europe. Then he returns for shows in Cork, Limerick, Galway, Derry and Belfast in December. Check out his myspace for details.

Download: Jape - Christopher and Anthony

Buy the EP from 7 Digital or iTunes