Hey everyone - welcome back at the discotheque!
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It's been a damn long time since I made a post detailing all of the fantastic new releases within a given period - and let me tell you, readers, the last four weeks have seen some of the finest releases in French house, nu disco and electro house of this year so far, so I'm incredibly excited to be reporting on a whole bunch of awesome music once again!
In this first part, my attention is going to be given to a host of brand new talents on the blog, alongside people you're bound to know, so buckle your seat belts, because this last month was pretty damn mad - let's get started!
Les Loups - That Feeling
Starting on the topic of new talents on the blog, I'm genuinely surprised that I've never talked about Hamburg-based production trio Les Loups, who over the last decade and a half have released some of the smoothest nu disco and filter house cuts available on the internet, and with official remixes from the likes of The Phantom's Revenge and Dominic Pierce - any keen reader of the blog will have likely stumbled across their amazing work at some point - so I'm incredibly pleased to report that when I got this in my Bandcamp inbox at the tail end of August, I was extremely excited, to say the least.
Their new single This Feeling - which is their first in four years, may I add - is an absolutely gorgeous club jam that traces back to their roots in filter house, whilst being extremely energetic, buckets of fun and so, so damn funky. To me, this new single seems like a perfect combination of the sounds coming out of the initial, late 90s Parisian wave - if it was still running, I feel like this could have been signed to Street Nostal Freak - and a lot of what's making waves currently in the scene from the likes of Laberge, Louis La Roche and the stuff releasing on labels such as Jolene. Also, the bassline is just so damn cool, so if I hadn't convinced you already to go and give this banger a spin - I think that'll do the trick!
You can grab it now from Bandcamp, or stream it from all major streaming services.
SHPESHFTR - CLANDESTINE
Stepping away from the smooth sounds provided by Les Loups to start out this post (can you tell I love doing genre switch-ups when talking about new releases?) - I wanted to shine a light on the brand new single from the blog's resident Ontarian and electro house maestro SHPESHFTR, who unleashed an utter monster into the wild on the 22nd - this being, in my eyes, his greatest outing yet. Keen readers by now will unmistakably know the man's ridiculously unique style of micro-sampling, overblown, punchy production and extremely heavy, thick synthesis all thrown into a blender with lots of added distortion to boot, and I'm happy to report that this single showcases all of that in top form - there's not a single flaw whatsoever, and Clandestine is extremely bold, brash, dark, crazy and in many ways menacing. If it was released in early 2009, I have a feeling that it would have blown up around the blogosphere and given the man a lot of record label opportunities (maybe from Ed Banger or Kitsune!) - if any promoters read the blog, then be sure to book him for some shows, and if any readers are from Ontario, then be damn proud this guy represents you!
You can grab Clandestine from Bandcamp now.
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BLOW - POST GLOOM
About a week ago, I was casually browsing on YouTube Music, looking for tracks to spin in my DJ sets, and after finding a playlist of new (and classic) French touch stuff, I started scrolling and picked some random cuts, before stumbling across the work of Parisian indie pop duo Blow - who, up until this point, I'd never heard of. Cue me finding some of their other work, being extremely impressed, jamming heavily in my room, and then kicking myself for not discovering them earlier. Shortly after that, I wrote them down in my books of 'artists I should cover on the blog' and gave them a follow on some socials, before promptly finding out that they'd released their newest EP - which, I'd like to just say, is a lush, five track collection of brilliant nu disco ditties that you need to check out right now, readers - independently on the 18th, so on the list it went!
At the moment, alongside being heavily into French house and electro (which is pretty much a given...) - I've been getting more into disco-infused indie pop thanks to the likes of Knightlife, Cut Copy and the stuff signed to Moda, so Post Gloom came at a perfect time with its squeaky clean production, heavy doses of funk and beautiful, polished instrumentation, and let me get this out of the way, readers - this EP is absolutely stunning, and probably one of my favourite releases of the month for so, so many reasons - not just because the whole thing is so damn catchy from start to finish. Opening with the bright, shimmering future classic Evelyn featuring rising production duo Modern Living - the tone for Post Gloom is set right from the get go - it's here to make you dance and feel damn gooood, before transitioning into the equally awesome Fool of Myself - which, in my opinion, should be getting played on every major radio station across the world right now, because it definitely has the power to become a massive hit.
Although I do love the openers on this excellent EP - I feel that Post Gloom's remaining three tracks showcase the duo at their absolute best - there's the incredible Superstar, which is an extremely energetic, glamorous banger that I could easily see being remixed by the likes of Louis La Roche, Vanguard if they were still around or SebastiAn - largely due to the track's bad-ass nature (and the insanely tight production, the guitar on it is mental!) - the much slower, almost city pop-influenced, sun kissed epic Beast of the Night, which reminds me heavily of the more subdued, ballad-esque work of post-disco legends Lamont Dozier or George Benson, albeit with a much more modern (yet welcome!) twist, before closing with my personal favourite, Lonely, which, although borrowing from the same stylistic influences as the rest of Post Gloom, feels a lot more influenced by the modern French house scene - and, it's summery, tons of fun and has loads of arpeggiated synth action in the second half, reminding me of the late Kavinsky's work, somewhat.
To sum it up - this EP is a fine, fine record. Go and stream it wherever you can, you won't be disappointed!
DJ DLG - Never Stop
The last time US-based veteran DJ DLG was featured on the blog - he'd just released the (absolutely brilliant!) Lose Yourself EP - a bangin' six track body of work that demonstrated why he's one of the biggest legends in the filter house scene. Fast forward four months, and he's back once again with another quite frankly mad release - the monstrous, sixteen track album Never Stop, which dropped on September 15th through his own label Lazor Music. Before I get into the nitty-gritty of this record, I'd like to let you readers know that this album is very, very different from what he's usually known for, as it seems he's decided to switch from making what he's usually known for - that being pumping filter house, as I mentioned just a second ago - to blog-era sounding electro house reminiscent of the French wave in the late 2000s and early 2010s that's impressively tight, extremely clean, surprisingly aggressive and above all, buckets of fun - with the odd nu disco and ambient outing thrown in there for good measure just to even things out across Never Stop's runtime of around forty five minutes.
I'm going to try and split Never Stop into two parts - the record opens with the stunning Crossover, which, rather than being an electro jam, or a house workout, serves as an atmospheric and almost cinematic establishing track that's almost orchestral in nature, letting listeners know that this isn't going to be an ordinary French house record - it's meant to be a journey into the mind of one of the scene's most coveted producers as he attempts (and succeeds!) in new territory, before launching into a string of insane tracks, starting with the titular track - a heavy, vocoder-filled, futuristic classic that reminds me heavily of the stuff being pumped out by the likes of Lamorn and Wire One at the moment - the somewhat minimalistic, yet glitzy Chops, which screams of influence from the likes of Fastback and the short, yet sugary sweet Arrival, that oozes with nu-disco flavorings, whilst being a track you could play in a club to raucous reception (or just walk slowly to, in order to feel very, very damn cool...)
The rest of the first half very much follows this approach with ease - it's all pumping electro and disco, with loads of great instrumentation, synth interjections and tons of different moods and stylistic influences shoved in there for good measure - and to also add, these tracks demonstrate the man's versatility as an artist in the finest way possible, however in my opinion, the second half of this record is where things truly shine, bringing this album to even higher highs than it already seems to have in the first half.
Opening with the bittersweet synth-wave jam Odyssey, which, feels very reminiscent of Kavinsky's work (and I know I say that a lot with synth-wave stuff on the blog, but it fits damn well, and seeing as this album sounds like a lost Ed Banger release, it sure as hell fits!) - listeners are soon launched back into the energetic sounds this album dons with pride, with six (yes, you read this right, six!) back to back future classics, all of which are just ridiculously epic and feature some of the man's greatest production to date (which is pretty crazy, seeing as he's been releasing music for almost twenty five years!) - there's the brilliant Supreme Motion, which sounds like something that would have been played at that one legendary party in April 2009 at Cinespace featuring a bunch of the Ed Banger crew, A-Trak, Steve Aoki and Thomas Bangalter - there's tracks like Fantome, which sounds like something legendary Californian duo LBCK could have produced at the turn of the decade with its choppy, synth filled, post-disco-esque nature, and the penultimate track Attack of the Funk, another personal favorite of mine that's dark, heavy and so damn nuts that I could imagine it being played out by The Dare to rock up venues and sweat soaked clubs in a few months time, before closing in a full circle fashion with the equally cinematic Final Form - the orchestral, cinematic nature once again present, but this time it's somewhat deeper and oozing with influences from multiple people - my brain instantly went to the more emotional work of deadmau5 upon listening, and towards the end, Contact by Daft Punk - giving this already incredible record a damn near perfect send-off.
Long story short - this album truly is something special, and if you're huge into that French electro sound - then you gotta check this album out, I promise you, it is one hell of a ride - you can find it on all major streaming platforms now, but as usual, the Bandcamp is linked below so you can support the man directly.
To add, there is also a vinyl version available through ElasticStage, complete with a multi-page booklet designed by DLG himself, so if you're up for grabbing a copy of this on wax, then the link is also below!
FIBRE - Reset Me (Demo)
At the time of me writing this, just last night FIBRE was ripping it up at the second day of the Book Club Radio Festival in Brooklyn (if anyone was there, then please tell me how it went, and what Alex played!) - so it somewhat feels extremely fitting that my next pick of this month is an absolutely killer demo from them, which was released independently on September 4th (which was also a Bandcamp Friday - did anyone grab anything from Montaime?) - and readers, let me tell you, this may be a demo from an upcoming album, but to me, it already sounds like some of their best work to date - it's irresistibly catchy, sweet and extremely warm - mirroring the sounds of the early 2000s French house scene, shaped by people such as Cassius, Daft Punk, Alavi and Sedat whilst also having sprinkles of their own style and the mid-2010s future funk scene baked in - which is sure to please long-time fans of the Baltimore-based legend. Furthermore, Reset Me sounds like something that either could have made its way onto Artzie during its heyday, or it would have been signed to a host of legendary blog-era labels such as Solid Bump, GrooveTraxx or Shiny Disco Club - but focusing on the present, it sure as hell is set to become an absolute hit fairly soon, and I better see this pop up at the yearly r/futurefunk awards alongside the new album!
You can grab Reset Me from Bandcamp now!
Stardawg (feat. CyanBlue) - So F*cked
Building onto the topic earlier of bringing new people onto the blog - a few weeks back, I was browsing through the future funk tag on SoundCloud for tracks to potentially blog - and I came across this super awesome jam featuring a new artist known as Stardawg - which, I actually think is an alias for Scottish producer ConsciousThoughts (at least I think so? I read it somewhere...) and legendary Canadian artist CyanBlue, who last appeared on the blog back in June. This new outing, which was released independently on September 18th immediately grabbed my attention upon first listen - from how I interpret it, it's a spring season track that seems to be built for chilling to, rather than for playing in clubs or jamming to aggressively - it's fairly deep and very, very dreamy, with the sampling techniques reminding me heavily of artists such as Australian icons QB9 and Corrout, and with tons of break action, sweet vocal chopping and a super loose feel - it's unlike anything I've heard this month, especially with the emphasis on punchy filter house and slamming electro - not that it's a bad thing, of course - but So F*cked is just, to put it simply, a very lovely, almost heartwarming future funk track that I really, really like.
It's available on SoundCloud now. Go and give it a spin!
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DASH30 and Lamorn - FIXING
To end out this post in a truly spectacular fashion - I thought I'd shine a light on the incredible new single from two of electro house's biggest stars at the moment. Released everywhere on September 14th, Fixing - the newest joint effort between Arizona's very own Lamorn, who appeared on the blog back in March with his incredible remix of French house classic Together, whilst also being known for his releases for mau5trap, and Idaho's DASH30 - who has been blowing up lately for his incredible French electro jams and brilliant sound design work, whilst also being a fixture in the Montaime crew - is, as to be expected, a truly breathtaking piece of work that manages to meld the blog-era sound, complextro and dubstep (at least, I think that's how I'd describe it?) together to create something that would likely have been spun heavily at legendary Hollywood-based party Banana Split by Steve Aoki, A-Trak or the late DJ AM. Fixing ticks all of the boxes in my brain for a perfect track, as it's melodic at points, frankly epic at others and to add, it's also extremely funky, and one of the first examples (at least in my brain!) of an electro track that could get stuck in your head for days on repeat, its jittery synths, heavy drum work and no holds barred attitude making it a perfect single to slam into a DJ set no matter the size of your crowd, aggressively head bang to, or just to put on your headphones when you want to wake up properly in the morning, if that the sort of thing some of you readers may do.
You can stream it in various places now, however the YouTube Music link is below!
There you have it, everyone!
I hope you've enjoyed reading today's post - be sure to support all of the artists featured today, follow the blog, and watch out for part two during your stay at the discotheque.
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