Hey everyone - welcome back at the discotheque!
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It feels like it's been forever since I did a promotion post on the blog (and it kinda has, three weeks sure goes by fast!) and since I've got back from America and resumed my (generally mundane) life in south west England, there's been a ton of absolutely killer drops from a bunch of super talented people. As always, there's people you're bound to know today, alongside some fresh new talent - so I hope that today's ramblings on the best new music from the French house, future funk, disco and electro scenes serve you well.
Let's begin!
Funkup! - Wanderlust
To start this post off in the strongest way possible, I wanted to shine a light on the pair of brand new, red hot releases from acclaimed independent label Creux La Nuit - the first of which serves as the debut single from French artist Funkup! that released on October 16th. If you're currently unaware, he's starting to make a name for himself in the underground filter house scene, largely due to his raw, hardware based approach to making bangers akin to the first generation of filter disco artists coming out of Paris and modern greats such as Taylorythm - and Wanderlust is bound to cement his position as one of the freshest young new talents in the game right now for a whole bunch of reasons.
Firstly, it's an absolutely stunning piece of work that's bright, infectious and bad-ass at the same time, whilst expertly managing to channel the ideas and vibes created by legends such as Axel Le Baron, Supa Channel and pretty much the entire Crydamoure roster - secondly, it sounds super unique, with tons of great hooks, booming beats and enough nods to turntablism to turn a lot of heads - but most importantly, it's just a sweet slice of pumping, disco infused house that's bound to become a huge hit this winter due to the amount of warmth and charm it has. If that wasn't enough for you - on the flip side, there's a slightly faster, shinier re-work from Liverpool-based legend Luv4Loop under one of his many alter egos (Pierre Le Doue, to be exact!) that's perfect for slamming into your DJ sets as a ridiculously funky, near relentless, yet energetic five minute jam that takes the original up a notch. It's a double thumbs up from me!
You can buy and stream Wanderlust from all major platforms now - the Bandcamp is, as it always is, linked below!
KREUZEN - CATHETER EP
Building onto the topic of Creux La Nuit - it's no secret that blog-era sounding electro house has come back in full swing over this last year, with a massive range of talents stepping in to provide some of the freshest sounding music that's thick, menacing, heavy and quite frankly epic (cough cough, Wire One, Boys Noize, Broken Embraces, DASH30 and SHPESHFTR alongside several others...) - so whenever I stumble across new talents in this particular scene, I'm almost always beyond excited, and I'm pleased to report that Alabama-based wunderkind KREUZEN's brand new EP - which was released on October 23rd through CLN - is an absolute joy to listen to - packing a massive punch in a very short amount of time with two insane tracks that'll likely blow electro fans away completely, and for damn good reason.
To make this clear right from the get-go - Catheter has all of the textbook features for classic French-sounding jams; the whole EP is rough, ridiculously compressed, jammed with violent, angry synths that pop out at almost every second and overall production that mirrors the work of elusive icons such as SebastiAn and Revolte - however, there's a distinct modern twist and a particular edge that I haven't heard anywhere else, making the listening experience very, very intriguing. Both tracks are gloriously uncompromising - the titular track being a trippy, overblown future classic that's built for moshing in massive clubs or sweat soaked basements, and the snappy Outrage serving as a much slower, but equally dark (and cinematic, at many points!) weapon that's so hard it's bound to break a ton of necks, or make someone explode (metaphorically... of course!) - be sure to bump this EP loudly and with the lights off - or, if you want to feel like an action movie villain on the train to work, or school, or wherever it is you go in the morning, blast this in your headphones. It's totally worth it.
You can stream and buy Catheter on Bandcamp now.
Justice (feat. Gesaffelstein) - Pusher
Ever since it was announced that Justice are behind the score for the brand new Grand Theft Auto game, as you can likely imagine, the entire universe has gone quite frankly, mad - and after the incredible Flower in A Hurricane, which released on October 15th - people initially thought things couldn't get any cooler, until they did just two weeks later, with the release of Pusher, a seven minute, nu disco workout dripping with malice and tension that feels strongly reminiscent of the duo's first and fourth full-length records that was done in collaboration with Lyon-based musician, producer and DJ Gesaffelstein.
I'm going to make a pretty bold claim, readers - and admit that Pusher is one of my favourite singles not just of recent, but the entire year - it's a stark contrast from the shimmering, poppy sounds of Flower in A Hurricane, swapping out the Dire Straits-esque guitar action and heavy reliance on vocal sections for a track that feels much more nuanced, complex and deep - it's startling, bold and impossibly cool, blending in the orchestral sounds and structuring from Cross, and the modern, dense instrumentation explored on Hyperdrama, with Mike's smooth touches being a very, very welcome addition. To add, I feel like Pusher fits loads of different aesthetics - it could be used in a chase scene on a block-buster crime thriller (fitting, seeing as we all known what GTA is like!) - you could absolutely see its more stripped back parts in a horror game, and I'm sure it could absolutely do rounds in clubs when dropped at the right moment - the eighties-sounding synths still very much there, albeit used in a much heavier, colder fashion.
Like I said when I blogged about Flower in A Hurricane - all of the power goes to Xavier, Gaspard and Mike, and if this single is anything to go by, I cannot wait for the full score to drop on December 11th - maybe the vinyl could be a good Christmas gift for a French touch follower!
You can stream Pusher on all major streaming platforms now - the Bandcamp is below, backed with the previous single.
Mike Sandcastle - Jolene 18
The other day, whilst pondering about the blog (as I often do!) I was thinking to myself about how I (somehow) haven't covered that much from legendary underground label Jolene - so it was a lovely surprise to discover just hours later that they'd put up a brand new batch of tracks from Blackpool-based producer and DJ Mike Sandcastle, who's been making the rounds lately with his excellent tracks that are insanely funky, varied and built for parties and basements - even earning praise from huge stars such as Solomun. With his last two offerings for Jolene in mind - I was incredibly excited to sink my teeth into these juicy cuts, and boy, do they deliver, all effortlessly oozing with quality and a whole ton of style - something which only he can deliver so well.
I'm going to try and break down this EP down track by track - the opener Move On Up is a Chicago-influenced banger that's incredibly grand, filled to the brim with gorgeous, organic instrumentation against a backdrop of thumping beats akin to the likes of Paul Johnson, Todd Terry and Armand Van Helden with a shiny, modern coat of paint for audiences to marvel over (but most importantly, dance like crazy to!) - That's How You Want It goes even further, serving as a lush slice of deep, funky house that's got a ton of low end (so it goes especially hard on my studio monitors, and on a PA system, I can guarantee it'll do some serious damage!) complete with acidic, disco bleeps, jazzy chops that feels somewhat similar to the stuff Toronto-based legend DJ Rhythm was putting out for Moody and Riviera during his early 2000s heyday and buckets of groove to boot - it may be a tight, club ready tool, which is just part of his style, but it's so damn loose you could break dance to it, so it gets a major thumbs up from me.
Finally, the eighteenth release on Jolene closes with what I'd consider to be a future anthem of the modern French house scene, and my personal favourite on the record, this obviously being the incredible I See You Packing, which I've completely fallen in love with since it dropped, largely because it's one of the catchiest tracks I've heard over the last month - whilst also stylistically reminding me of legends such as DJ Sneak - who would absolutely rinse this in his weekly Friday live streams, and in clubs, and even some of the lighter stuff on Thomas Bangalter's legendary label Roule (in particular, the work of DJ Falcon and that one trio that turned down $3 million from Virgin...) so I can only give it high praise. It's bright, incredibly playful and as always from Mike, the production is top tier - but I suppose you could say the same thing for this entire EP, which in my eyes, is completely faultless. A pure joy from start to finish. All we need now, is the damn thing to be pressed on wax!
You can bag Jolene 18 on Bandcamp now. DJs, be sure to get your hands on this!
Minuit Cafe - Time (feat. Passynth & Los Torpedos)
Now, by this point - readers are bound to have listened to a bunch of Minuit Cafe's incredible music. The Argentina-based musician has been consecutively featured on the blog a grand total of four times this year, and to add, he's been collaborating with some absolutely wonderful people - his new (and very groovy) single Time - taken from his latest project Burn The Night, being no exception to this, with Texas-based artist Passynth and Brazilian musician (and French house connoisseur) Los Torpedos joining him to create a sparkly, roof-tearing future funk classic, released independently on October 22nd, that's genuinely so, so impressive, and an extremely quirky, joyous outing that's bound to please any listener - whether you're a long-time fan, or a newcomer.
The first thing I want to point out in regards to Time, is the fact that the production mirrors a lot of French house coming out at the moment, making it a perfect single to sneak into your sets or to play at parties to get a crowd going, and secondly, it's a post-disco sampling jam that manages to bring all of their styles together in a damn near perfect fashion - Passynth's sparkly synths and illuminating melodies present throughout, and Los Torpedos' incredible vocal performance set against Minuit's one of a kind sound. If that wasn't enough, there's also buckets of nu disco influence stuffed throughout (but that might just be from the funky guitar licks!) so it really manages to bring everything that I love into a short (well, it's five minutes!) yet sugary sweet package that's super heart-warming and sweet - so I massively, massively approve. Be sure to go and give it a few plays (or several more!)
Mr. Moustache - Rave On The Grave
At the moment, I'd definitely say that French touch is going through a much deserved revival (and it's only just beginning, heck, why do you think I started this blog in the first place?) - and one of the people that's helping to shape it, whilst making rounds on the internet is Mr. Moustache - hailing from Austin, Texas, he's racked up over sixteen thousand followers on Instagram thanks to his incredible remixes and original productions, and just a few days before Halloween, he unleashed a monster into the wild - this being the pulsating, anthemic future disco classic Rave On The Grave, which seems to double down as a tribute to the original Ghostbusters film, whilst sounding like the byproduct of a hypothetical, Ed Banger-laced collaboration between zombie superstar Kavinsky and possibly the busiest people of the movement right now - Justice. I'm not going to beat around the bush whatsoever and jump straight in - this track is an absolutely fantastic display of the moustache man's talent - it's jam packed full of vintage influence (and I could totally imagine it being signed to Cut Copy's legendary nu disco and pop-led label Cutters!) whilst sounding impossibly fresh, dance-able and modern - the clash being part of what makes this track so god damn great - and every single element is placed perfectly, the result being a five minute jam that invites anyone to get down on the dance floor and let go, but also be wary for ghosts. The fact that it manages to perfectly balance unease and funk is something to be damn floored by, and if anything - Rave On The Grave just shows that seventeen years after beginning his career - he's not even peaked.
Halloween may (unfortunately) be over, but this is a single that you're gonna want to play all year round.
You can stream and download Rave On The Grave from Bandcamp, as usual, now.
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Elektra - Rokerboy (feat. Wire One)
As I've said before, I always love bringing new people onto the blog, and the same goes for writing about releases that are a little different from what I usually cover. Released through Shut Up And Dance on October 30th on major platforms - the debut single from up and coming talent Rokerboy isn't the soty of thing I'd usually cover - but to put it simply - it's an utterly bonkers offering that, while short - serves as an epic, grandiose statement of intent that's produced by ATD's resident Detroiter and electro king Wire One.
Whilst a lot of the electro-influenced stuff on today's post has been fairly French-influenced - Rokerboy takes everything up to eleven and diverts from the usual path; it's insanely fast, punchy, punk-esque yet also somewhat poppy in nature, and above all, it sounds like a nasty, two minute slice of electronic music that could, and would have made waves on Hype Machine during the peak of the blog era. This is largely in part to how aggressive it sounds, whilst actively burying the glittery sounds of some popular music today with Elektra's incredible vocals, that ooze with confidence, neck-snapping production, buzzy synths that remind me heavily of Broken Embraces' work and enough distortion, compression and indie aesthetic to make any well-to-do record executive throw up - similar to Vanguard's remix of Electric Bloom by Foals. If there's anything you readers take from this - it's that these two are a damn good duo, and if this is anything to go by, I cannot wait for more work from Elektra. All of the power to you both!
You can stream Rokerboy on YouTube Music now.
There you have it, everyone!
I hope you've enjoyed reading today's post - it's been an absolute pleasure to talk about loads of amazing music today, and I should be back with a post centered on the first two weeks of November very soon if things go according to plan!
Be sure to support all of the artists featured today, and as always - follow the blog, and keep enjoying your stay at the discotheque.
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