Hey everyone - welcome back at the discotheque!
.jpg)
The first half of October has already zipped by (where does the damn time go?) and after yesterday's post, I wanted to go back to what the blog usually covers - especially as over the last fortnight there's been a bucket load of incredible new releases and a fair few bits of awesome news too - I feel like late autumn is always a golden time for the scenes covered on the blog, so I can't wait to write about what's been happening!
Let's get started!
Justice - Flower In A Hurricane (feat. Tame Impala, SZA and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard)
When it was announced just yesterday that legendary Parisian duo Justice were behind the soundtrack for what's going to likely be one of the biggest media products of the decade - that being the brand new Grand Theft Auto game, as you can likely imagine, the internet - and the entire French touch scene went promptly insane, and if that wasn't enough for you, at the same time the duo released their first single in two years - which later made an appearance on the game's brand new launch trailer, that to date has racked up twenty-six million views.
As for the single itself - it's an absolute spectacle, a near four minute, punchy and extremely bad-ass nu disco workout that's smooth, glamorous, infused with 80s synthesis and warm instrumentation, killer rock guitars akin to the likes of Dire Straits (did anyone get 'Money for Nothing' vibes?) and it's bright, funk and contains three bonkers features - namely, Australian artist Tame Impala, who previously worked with the boys on their iconic, Grammy-winning single Neverender (and delivered a pretty smooth vocal performance for this, god damn he is good!) - American pop star SZA and the Melboune-based psychedelic rock outlet King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - so that's a damn crazy team if I've ever seen one. Flower In A Hurricane is just a snippet of what's to come in what's likely to be an utterly stunning soundtrack - and in my eyes, if anyone had any doubts that French touch isn't coming back - surely they've been alleviated by now. All power to Gaspard and Xavier, and roll on November 19th!
You can find Flower In A Hurricane on all major platforms now - the Bandcamp link is below, in case you want to get a high quality copy!
Demuir - Sunshine Rave
Now, the last time I blogged about anything from iconic Montreal-based label Kookoo was back in late March with Toomy Disco's self titled EP - and if you ask me, that's a damn crime, so when I got the latest (and very rebellious!) offering from Toronto-based artist Demuir in my emails last week, I knew I had to give it a spin, and upon doing so, I was thoroughly impressed. To sum it up in the best way that I can, this single is the textbook definition of warm, funky, jacking filter house - it's surprisingly deep, extremely soulful and sounds like something that I can imagine legends such as German icon Ian Pooley and several of Chicago's hometown heroes (such as the late Paul Johnson!) heavily supporting - and if that wasn't enough, it doubles down as an extremely versatile club tool that you could use at basically any point of the night to get a crowd going, whilst stylistically reminding me of Homework-era Daft Punk, the darker stuff on Parisian label Pro-Zak Trax at the turn of the millennium, and the disco-fueled work of Armand Van Helden and DJ Sneak during their prolific run releasing for labels such as Strictly Rhythm and Relief. If you like your house served old-school with a slight modern edge, then be sure to bag this single now - I know I will be!
You can grab Sunshine Rave from Kookoo's Bandcamp now.
Future0s - Starry Lady (Deluxe)
Building onto the topic of old-school sounding French house, if you asked any person that's been keeping up with the movement lately who's been pushing that particular sound to the greatest of heights lately - Mexican artist and DJ Future0s is sure to come up in conversation. Known widely for his many original cuts, fantastic mixtape series and a slew of remixes for the likes of Hot Singles, Frenssu, The Phantom's Revenge and his many label-mates under Creux La Nuit - on October 9th, eager fans were treated to a shiny new EP released through Synchronistic - one of the hottest new collectives in the game, and oh boy, it is damn good.
On this EP, you'll find a ton of stuff to sink your teeth into - including an expanded version of a track from the man's full-length record for Synchroma, a previously unreleased B-side that absolutely kicks, and four brand new remixes from the likes of future Californian legend Diskovertz, Karminero, Yuletide Christoph and Everpine (who, in reality is the blog's resident Dutch guy, DJ Double Dutch!) - so there's plenty to be excited about. Breaking this record down into chunks - I'll start by talking about the original jams that take up the first third. The 'deluxe' edition of Starry Lady is, as to be expected, a classic track that seems very reminiscent of the stuff that was being pioneered by various artists at Fab G's incredible labels such as Riviera and Premium, whilst effortlessly carrying Future's impossibly unique production style, and this follows through with the even more epic Spacekicks - that somewhat melds together the later sounds (and humour) of French superhero The Phantom's Revenge and lots of underground 'disco techno' records produced by the likes of Dave Clarke and Joris Voom - so DJs, I think you already know what I'm going to say next.
Flipping over to the remixes present on Starry Lady Deluxe, Diskovertz takes over the reins first to deliver a slightly subdued rework of the titular track that's a little more glamorous and sparse, whereas Karminero takes a completely different approach, swapping out the warm, playful grooves of the original track to create something more akin to the late 2000s Ed Banger sound, albeit with a lot of added quirkiness and beefed up production to boot (think of this edit as like, if early Justice decided to try their hand at making some stuff for Versatile Records, and while that may sound odd, it's what I think of when listening to this!)
On the other hand, Yule Christoph and Everpine take over from that point forward and choose to mess around with Spacekicks instead, and the results are truly dizzying. Yule turns the original from a disco-techno jam into the sort of thing that you'd imagine Scottish legend Go Go Bizkitt producing for the likes of labels La Valligetta, Stardust or Deepfunk in the early 2010s (this could be why his edit is my favourite cut from this EP!) - whilst Everpine takes a completely different route, swapping out French touch for heavy, acid influenced big-beat akin to the likes of Fatboy Slim and the stuff coming out on Brighton based label Skint during its peak in popularity - with tons of fat snares, electric guitar action and a huge amount of confidence overall - so it's a thumbs up from me!
You can grab Starry Lady (Deluxe) from Bandcamp now.
Shakatak - One Day At A Time (Laberge Remix)
Released through his SoundCloud last Friday, it's always a lovely surprise when Canadian disco king and blog-era legend Laberge drops anything new, and after coming back last year with a string of killer tracks that each ooze with quality, he upped his game even further with a beautiful re-work of 'One Day At A Time' by English jazz-funk band Shakatak, by turning the original from a mellow, early 90s banger into a high-energy anthem that sounds like something German-American quartet Ride The Universe could have put out during their early years, whilst containing the buttery smooth production and polished, shiny instrumentation that makes his music so, so great - and has earned him many fans in the underground French house and nu disco scenes over the last decade and a half, quite deservedly so. Furthermore, this particular remix I love for many other reasons than what I just said - firstly, it's so much fun to dance to, which is obviously a great thing because people are far too serious in the big twenty-twenty six, and secondly, this remix is a super loose joint that's super lighthearted. If I don't walk into a club in a few months and see a crowd having fun with this, I'll be pretty damn annoyed - so go and do the guy a favor and spin this endlessly to warm up autumn.
The link is below!
PAS TASTA - SCYTHE (Wire One Remix)
Now, while we love French house and nu disco on the blog, of course - it wouldn't be a true post without some headbanging electro to go alongside this, and who better to provide this than Detroit-based producer Wire One, who, as readers will know, has become one of the pivotal figures in the revival of heavy, harsh, club decimating electro from the late 2000s. His latest outing - that being a remix for Japanese pop group Pas Tasta, is a stomach churning (yet utterly brilliant) future classic that may well be his greatest work yet. It features all of the things that make his music unmistakably amazing (and extremely bad-ass, let's be honest!) - it's loud, uncompromising in the best way possible, full of dirty synths and slamming production to boot - and whilst the original is a relatively clean dubstep-pop ditty that I also really enjoy on its own, this remix takes it up several notches and makes it faster, grander and a whole lot angrier. Could this be punk for the kids that have grown up on electronic music? I'd somewhat like to think so.
You can find this remix on Wire One's SoundCloud now.
We need to talk about the return of Bugged Out at Drumsheds.
Okay, before we get back to talking about the (many) new releases from the last two weeks - I feel like a little news break is needed, and what better way to kick this part of the post off with a small round-up on what's likely to be looked back on as one of the most legendary parties of the year. The return of the legendary Bugged Out at Drumsheds last Friday in London was a truly spectacular event, with a star-studded line up filled with incredible people - examples include Soulwax, The Avalanches, Dave Clarke, Simian Mobile Disco and former Radio 1 resident Heidi - alongside the likes of French house royalty (Braxe + Falcon, Etienne De Crecy!) and even a small Ed Banger take-over, with new signee Tatyana Jane, Myd and elusive star SebastiAn all sharing the stage (well, it was split across three rooms...) at various points across the night. If you were there, you are one lucky person in my eyes!
While at the moment of writing this post, not that much information is known in regards to what was played for the majority of acts - I'm told that Soulwax (under their much loved moniker 2ManyDJs) whilst going back to back with Erol Alkan played a killer, multi-genre mix of jams across two and a quarter hours - SebastiAn played some (incredible sounding) unreleased new material from what could be his brand new album and a ton of sweet electro house (bloghouse is back, baby!) - Simian Mobile Disco returned after eight years to bless the universe with club beats, as usual - whilst Braxe and Falcon worked their magic to deliver that sweet, old-school sound to an eager crowd of what looked like thousands. I know Intro was dropped, I know Music Sounds Better With You was dropped, I know So Much Love To Give was dropped, and I know the Justice remix of We Are Your Friends was dropped - so that already convinces me that the boys can do no wrong as masters of the movement.
I'll try to gather more information about this legendary party as soon as possible!
DJ Mehdi's second album Lucky Boy is turning 20 - so the Ed Banger crew are throwing a party to celebrate!
The other day, I was thinking to myself about the fact that DJ Mehdi's incredible LP Lucky Boy is turning twenty soon (a thought that does seem to scare me quite a lot!) yet the very next day, just before it was announced that Justice had scored the new Grand Theft Auto game - it was announced that a killer party would be taking place on the eve of Halloween at the Parisian club Wanderlust to commemorate the record featuring a massive host of A-list DJs and musicians in what's likely one of the finest line-ups I've ever seen this year, or maybe the decade - there's Busy P, Etienne De Crecy (man he's been popping up a ton lately, have any of y'all got tickets to Super Discount Festival?) - Feadz, A-Trak, Breakbot and Irfane, Brodinski, Braxe + Falcon and many, many more, making this event an epic way to celebrate the life (and music!) of one of the French touch movement's finest people. Plus, the flyers are designed by So Me - which is awesome!
Grab your tickets where you can, and quick! I can imagine it's going to sell out rather fast!
Moekyen - Pastel
I feel like it's been far, far too long since I last covered a release from ATD-favourite Moekyen (checking my metaphorical notebook, it's been almost three months, wow!) - so when the guy dropped this hot new future funk track through his SoundCloud, I knew I had to get on the case, and fast. While he's been making his name from a whole different range of things, including discostep weapons, complextro and French electro, this time around, Moe's decided to go down the future funk route, and let me tell you readers, it's been done with a whole lot of finesse. For a start - I'd like to say that Pastel manages to bridge the gap between the old-school and the modern sound of the genre, by bringing together expertly the bright, shimmering vibes of the stuff that would initially be featured on Artzie Music with his hard, punchy production that's now almost tied uniquely to his incredible music. The production is utterly slamming (and brilliant!) - the sampling is, as per usual, second to none, and the ride (by this, I mean the listening experience!) is equally intriguing, as it is fun and exhilarating - so no wonder it's attracted praise from Versiple, CyanBlue and Manikin, amongst others. Never have I heard future funk done like this. All I can ask, is more please, Moe!
You can stream Pastel now using the link below.
BarbWalters - Fresh
For the last few releases featured on today's post - I thought I'd go on a bit of a future funk binge and talk about some of the hottest music coming out in that scene (hence the feature on Pastel!) and secondly, I wanted to shine a light on the brand new single from the blog's resident Bostonian BarbWalters - that came out on October 7th - which serves as a sparkly, short yet impossibly sweet future classic that feels very obviously influenced by the early-eighties post disco sound, whilst remaining extremely fresh (ha, see what I did there?) tight and a whole lot of fun. At the moment, I've been loving the guy's latest work for the fact that it's often very crisp and polished - however, on this new ditty he seems to take a completely different path, instead going for a sound that, whilst being drenched in his signature (and very welcome!) style - is a lot more bass-heavy and lo-fi, somewhat mirroring the work of ID Chief during his peak in the initial future funk explosion, or the compressed, glitzy bangers that Italian legend (and one of the blog's past interviewees!) Cape Coral has been pushing for years) - so if you asked me, I'd give it a very enthusiastic thumbs up for just those reasons, but I'd also like to add that Fresh is an incredibly dreamy and energetic single (and those two might not mix on paper, but I feel like it does in this context!) and another example of why Barb is still one of the top producers in future funk - a position he's held proudly for years. Go and give it a much deserved spin, because I know I'll be bumping this a ton soon.
You can find Fresh on his SoundCloud now.
.jpg)
blip_ and Corrout - Selfish
To end out this post, I wanted to talk about (and bring back to the blog!) the legendary Australian tag team that are blip_ and Corrout - who, over the last year or so have been pumping out heat left, right and center (yet somehow, the last time I covered the two of them together was all the way back in November for the release of Go-Go-Groove on Coraspect!) - the other day, I was looking for a bunch of new things to blog and came across this, and upon giving it a few spins, I was instantly hooked for so many different reasons. Firstly, Selfish feels like a very interesting hybrid between future funk, their unique production styles (which are often quite chilled out, in what I keep hearing of them!) and filter house, with some added turntablism and slower bits thrown in there for good measure. The results are a very groovy future classic that has the potential to become a massive hit in the coming months, largely in part due to the great ideas being thrown around (there's also some great drum break action at the start, so that's always a plus!) and the fact that it can appeal to pretty much anyone - it's very easy on the ears, but it can definitely also work in a club setting, and due to the hybrid of genres it seems to stylistically cover, Selfish works extremely well, and it's probably my favourite work from the two of them yet. Thumbs up!
You can find it on all major streaming platforms now. As per usual, the YouTube Music link is below.
There you have it, everyone!
I hope you've enjoyed reading today's post - be sure to support everyone featured today, and as always - keep enjoying your stay at the discotheque!
Comments
Post a Comment