Hey everyone - welcome back at the discotheque!
La Voyage - Feel The Need
Today officially marks the return of bi-weekly promotion posts (woo, finally!) - and I'm super excited to talk about some of the awesome drops that have surfaced over the last two weeks - because quite frankly, there's been a ton of epic new music from, as per usual, a ton of awesome, awesome people. If this is anything to go by, July is looking to be a damn fine month!
Let's begin!
After an eight month hiatus - the legendary duo La Voyage - which pays tribute to iconic Welsh duo Vanguard came back in full force last Saturday with an absolutely brilliant new single that manages to capture the early 2010s French house sound with ease, while sounding effortlessly catchy, clean and so, so damn awesome. Building on from the ground covered with their brilliant remixes, singles and a classic EP on Creux La Nuit which was released last summer, Feel The Need features all of the same whistles and bells that listeners have become accustomed to, with slamming beats, glamorous synths and buckets of post-disco influence at the forefront of this future classic. To add, it also feels quite bittersweet in one way or another - so it could totally soundtrack your parties, or those calmer nights - we love a good multi-purpose track!
You can grab 'Feel The Need' on Bandcamp now.
Reppop - Frenzy
Building onto the topic of Creux La Nuit - released through the label last Saturday (which also doubled down as my 17th birthday!) - the brand new EP from Los Angeles based producer and graphic designer Reppop is an absolutely brilliant body of work that manages to meld future funk, filter house and nu disco into a six-track collection of tightly produced bangers - and I'm pleased to report that this is one of my favourite releases of the month so far - because in my opinion, it sounds super versatile, it's impossibly fun and above all, there's zero filler here whatsoever - so fans are bound to love it.
The first half of Frenzy sets the tone rather well, opening with the amazing titular track - which to me, sounds extremely magical, bright and fresh - I particularly got reminded of Monobata's filter house jam 'No Alternative' upon first listen - before launching into something a little more jazzy with the equally cool Nightcatcher, and continuing with the quirky, yet very bad-ass Dansante, which to me, feels like a welcome mix of the late 90s filter house sound and future funk with a slightly darker, more mature edge. The rest of Frenzy is even more epic - there's the soaring future classic Dayleaper, which I particularly love due to the sample techniques, which remind me heavily of late 90s legends such as DJ Sneak and the half-time, hip hop influenced bridges - my personal favourite, the shimmering nu disco jam Facsimile, which is ridiculously punchy and sounds like something that Italian future funk legend Cape Coral would easily champion, alongside bloghouse-era icon Lebatman, before closing with the slightly more chilled Setsun.
In short - this EP is freaking great - go and grab it on Bandcamp now!
Angelhook - Nosebleed
Stepping away from the smoother sounds explored in the last two releases above - I wanted to talk about the brand new release from French producer Angelhook, who has been on fire lately with several incredible singles that have been (deservedly) blowing up everywhere. While her last two outings were in the discostep realm, Nosebleed, which clocks in at just a minute and a half - is a short, but ridiculously killer French electro track that was released on July 13th - and boy, does it pack a massive punch. As to be expected from the up and coming maestro - Nosebleed is a deeply complex piece of work that leaves little room to breathe in the best way possible - it features a bunch of ridiculous sampling and crazy production techniques that definitely would have seen her rise to the top during the late 2000s bloghouse scene - there's hard hitting beats akin to the work of SebastiAn during his Total era, the same disco-shredding tomfoolery that The Phantom's Revenge pioneered and, as per usual, lots of jittery synthesis that was also present on her previously blogged classic, Face 2 Face - It's mental, it's upbeat, it's funky, it's quite frankly mad. What's not to love?
You can stream Nosebleed on SoundCloud now!
Dreamstate Protocol - Dancing In The Distance
As said in the intro to this amazing record - it's time to get on the dance floor and get it on (especially now it's summer!) - and the debut album from Norwegian producer Dreamstate Protocol - who I found a few days ago after scrolling on Instagram - is a fantastic release to do as instructed, as it is stuffed to the brim with tons of fun jams, excellent future funk outings and loads of tools that are bound to set clubs and parties alight - provided that DJs will bag this release, which they absolutely should, seeing as you get so much quality!
As I've been doing lately when talking about albums, I'm going to split this into thirds - Dancing In The Distance is mostly a future funk record, with the occasional excursion into sun-soaked disco or downtempo, city pop influenced beats to boot, wedged in between several atmospheric interludes of adverts, clubs and dance competitions in a slightly vaporwave fashion - with the opening track Everybody! being an awesome, joyous and effortlessly groovy track that I'm sure will end up on Real Love Music fairly soon, thanks to its funk filled nature and early 80s influence, before launching into a string of bangers, including the excellent Martini, which closes the opening third that has some ridiculously crisp production, and showcases the more laid back side to this record with a whole lot of style.
The second third of Dancing In The Distance follows on from this with ease, and to me, this is the most exciting and fun part of the album - largely due to the fact that the five tracks on this part of the record all sound equally glamorous, sparkly and playful - there's the dope Visions, which reminds me heavily of the work of Arizona-based, former producer ID Chief, with the great Everything You Do, which serves as a slice of reverb-soaked, yet slightly minimal piece of nu disco following directly after, alongside a host of bangers which closes with another slower production - the dreamy, yet slightly calming Soon.
The final third of this record is easily my favourite part - opening with the incredible (and my personal favourite) Disco Devotion, which to me, sounds like if Boston-based duo Nightriders made future funk - before continuing with the brilliant Enough For Me - which, thanks to its warm production, could have easily made it onto Artzie Music during it's mid-2015 / late 2017 peak - so if you like your future funk old-school, be sure to give this track a spin - before closing with two fantastic tracks which ooze with the stylistic influences of the post-disco movement from 1981-1984 - including the ecstatic Just Us Two, which I really, really enjoy.
To sum it up - this is a super sweet debut, so be sure to support one of Norway's newest talents - and buy Dancing In The Distance on Bandcamp.
DJ Double Dutch - Has Anyone Got A Name For This Song
It's been a damn long time since I covered anything solo from the blog's resident Dutchman and CLN member DJ Double Dutch - so I thought I'd shine a light on his excellent new single, which was released on July 9th - which is a warm, yet slightly fuzzy, trumpet-led filter house workout which clocks in at around five minutes that can also serve as a very deep, and incredibly hypnotic club weapon, as it mixes the modern sounds that he's been exploring in his work with the vibes of Guy-Man and Eric Chedeville's legendary Parisian label Crydamoure - and to add, while it can also raise a roof with ease, it's produced in a way that also makes it a very stylish and laid back tune to spin when you're kicking back after a long day at work, or even travelling on the way to an event - similar to how Dion was in the cover (although it was to a metal festival in Germany, which is quite the contrast!) - Overall though, this new single truly shows him at his top form - and whatever new work he's cooking up, you readers better look out for!
You can stream 'Has Anyone Got A Name For This Song' on SoundCloud now.
QB9 and blip_ - DON'T HURT ME
Building onto the topic of returning talents on the blog - released on July 3rd independently, the latest outing from two of the blog's resident Australians - namely, legendary future funk veteran QB9 and prolific producer blip_ - is an extremely hopeful, high spirited single that serves as the first sneak peek at their upcoming album All Cheaters Must Die, which is releasing on September 25th - and readers, let me tell you - it is absolutely brilliant, and probably one of the guaranteed highlights of this summer - it's filled to the brim with loads of extremely catchy riffs, a ton of 80s-sounding elements that make it feel like something that could be used in an action film, and to be honest - it sounds extremely unique too, and I haven't heard anything that's stylistically this epic from the two of them since I began my future funk journey - so be sure to stream this now!
You can find Don't Hurt Me on SoundCloud.
There you have it, everyone!
I hope you've enjoyed reading today's post - be sure to support all of the artists featured, and as always - keep enjoying your stay at the discotheque!
This whole post is so cool! It's made me discover some great new music I personally enjoyed 'Dancing in the distance'. I'm really looking forward to any possible future drops too! (Happy (late) birthday aswell!)
ReplyDeleteThank you! <3
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