Meeting cancelled so let's dump out some of these links. One new and several familiar voices here, including two really good modern covers of "classic" tunes.
http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Letting-Up-Despite-Great-Faults/track/Bulletproof-Girl/I don't blog much rock, for whatever reasons. This is definitely on the electronic side of rock - very synth-heavy - but it has a number of standard rock tropes. Letting Up Despite Great Faults (
http://www.lettingup.com/) has a new album out and this "Bulletproof Girls" is from that. This all-male quartet reminds me of a lot of other all-male acts - they self-describe as "shoegaze guitar", a phrase I've not heard before but which is remarkably descriptive. It's a gentle, introspective sound without being maudlin or emo.
http://soundcloud.com/philosophyofsound/by-the-rivers-dark-pos-reworkPhilosophy of Sound (
http://www.philosophyofsound.info/) are a new-to-me electro-funk duo from down under. This rework of a Leonard Cohen classic works exceptionally well. The master's vocals are pristine, but laid over a kicked-up bass track that energizes without overwhelming. It's a fresh take on an old favorite.
http://audioporncentral.com/2012/10/illegal-sunday-the-xx-sunset-volta-remix.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ9rflGsNEg&feature=player_embedded#!
The xx are hot again. After being popular in 2009/2010 they kind of faded from sight but are back with force nowadays. The first link is a Volta remix of their track "Sunset". It's not bad. A little heavy on the electro and nu disco for my tastes. IMO, the xx rises or falls with Romy's voice and Volta respects that, but overdoes the knob-twisting a bit.
The second link is OH MY GODS. BBC Radio One did a live show with the xx and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. I'm often hesitant about orchestral arrangements of pop music, and it's doubly dangerous to try putting a full orchestra behind an act that builds around intimate breathy vocals. Normally you'd want (and the xx gives you) a spare sound. But somehow this works. It's goosebumps throughout, though I wish they'd edited out the enthusiastic audience.
http://audioporncentral.com/2012/10/illegal-sunday-yes-owner-of-a-lonely-heart-jean-claude-gavri-remix-dimitri-from-paris-re-touch.htmlI had to go back to 2009 to find a remix of a Yes tune that I liked enough to blog. Yes still is one of my guilty pleasures and there haven't been a lot of reworks that attempted to touch them. This is Dmitri from Paris (a producer I've heard but not blogged before) touching up a remix first done by another Frenchman, Jean Claude Gavri. I can't tell you who's responsible for what parts of the sound, but the double-edit definitely produced something good. It sounds like I imagine Yes would sound if they were writing in a modern style.
http://audioporncentral.com/2012/10/little-boots-double-pack.htmlBronski Beat are another good act that doesn't get covered much. Here's Little Boots (
http://littlebootsmusic.co.uk/) doing a modernized techno-dance version of their "Smalltown Boys". This is also another good example of how a light production touch on vocals can work well. She's got a great voice and it's not overtuned, though I wish they'd let her punch it just a bit more, and the ending of the post on APC sounds like it was cut short.
The second track in the post is Little Boots doing a dub remix of Jupiter's new "Juicy Lucy (Needs a Boogieman)." I've had the Jupiter track on the back burner for a bit - it's a style of old-school blaxsploitation-film funk that I should like but it just didn't do anything for me. The Little Boots remix is a step up in that it keeps the boppin' funk core but emphasizes the instrumentals rather than the vocals I found too repetitive in the original.
http://audioporncentral.com/2012/10/jack-beats-ft-jess-mills-somebody-to-love.htmlThis just hit today and it's a good antidote to the gray and drear. Plus, Jess Mills! Here she is doing vocals for Jack Beats (
http://www.jackbeats.co.uk/) a UK duo. Their new EP shows traces of vocal trance, hip-hop, dubstep, and definite techno genetics.
Last month I blogged their first single, a Diplo collaboration. I think I'll be buying this one when it drops.
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