Hailing from Philipdelphia, USA, Kevin, Cristian, Tom and Julien make up Arches and have successfully produced a quartet of rich psychedelic, lo- fi indie. Some where in between the shoegazed mist of Deerhunter’s ethereal cloud and the constant shower of indie pop bands, you can give a deserved position to the Arches’ architect of their psych jam design.
Enough on a whole, favour the mighty guitar riffs which are layered and encompassed in a never ending hole of pervading reverb. Steady drones, hums and intones tickle your senses and often makes up for the few lyrics in tracks like ‘Late Last Night’. Although trying at first, stick with the four songs and enjoy the vivid kaledioscope trip.
Listen via the Bandcamp below, pay what you wish for a download or if you’re retro enough, grab a high quality hand dubbed cassette via Treetops
Following the success of the runaway track ‘Hide Yourself’, taken from their debut EP, the 14th return with another slab of 90′s-esque dance floor raving. A nod to the garage ghost of yesteryear with the intricate production is bought to the forefront with a bubbling vocal. Art deco soul and beating hearts vulnerability all over this one.
Virtually impossible to hunt down on the interwebs, this limited edition single-sided 7″ by Jay Simon almost evaded us. However, after an intense search we stumbled across this radio rip from Benji B’s show in September.
In a tradition that’s become popular, Simon has taken on a classic 90′s R&B jam – this time Faith Evan’s ‘You Used To Love Me’ – and brought it into the contemporary stratosphere. While holding true to the essence of the original, the sexy updated beat and accompanying House-influenced arrangement gives this ’95 classic a new lease of life.
A risky business this, tampering with nostalgia in such a way – but credit where credit is due, Jay Simon delivers a honorable tribute.
‘Faith’ (released through Wild Oats) is virtually sold out from most online retail outlets, but you can grab the last remaining few via Discogs.
An unfathomable all-star cast has been scooped by Pop star Ke$ha for the remix of ‘Sleazy Remix 2.0 Get Sleazier’ – consisting of Lil’ Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, T.I & André 3000. Pause.
… Unfortunately the worse thing about this song is Ke$ha’s part. That said, a respectable (and extremely clever) hustle must be noted – this line up is ridiculous. She got 3 Stacks on her record?
It’s been a minute since Mar dropped new music, he’s currently busy working on his debut album as well as new project with Full Crate. But tonight he returns with another ‘variation’ – a series which sees him covering/rearranging a diverse array of songs.
Having already tackled songs by Wham, Dorian Concept, Oddisee, Louis Bordeaux and Lil’ Wayne – he’s now worked his musings over Apex Twin’s ‘Avril 14th’ (recently sampled by Kanye West on ‘Blame Game’). Featuring London songbird Szjerdene, the pair sing over an accompanying video depicting a couple having to deal with an difficult and emotional situation.
As a celebratory freebie, US producer Eprom released this screwed, seductive refix. Janet Jackson sublime vocals echo in the distant as the warped sounds come to the forefront. Check the synth wizardry via the Soundcloud below.
It would appear Christmas has come early! Our beloved London chanteuse Tawiah has (finally!) released some new music in the shape of an free EP entitled Run.
We were fortunate enough to have heard some of the new songs a couple months back and couldn’t wait to share them with you. This project will remind anyone needing reminding that Tawiah’s voice is among the best we have in this country.
With a couple more projects in the pipeline and that all important debut album coming in the new year, it’s without doubt we say – 2012 is Tawiah’s year.
Although not a debut album, Metronomy really broke through with their cross genre album The English Riveria this year. The four piece have gained recognition from various folk in the industry for their new wave, indie pop with injections of electronic sounds merged with handclaps and Yamahas.
Their original perky track has been transformed into a horn heavy vintage ska sound fused with quick time danceable snare. Finger clicks and jolted rhythm at the ready too. This is taken from their band’s remix EP which is available for download now.
The latest Toronto export, jazz group, BBNG give us 6 minutes of orginal instrumentation. Off key ivories embedded in deep grooves and sunken double bass, that stays uptight as ever. The mood is sombre for this one, but trust me your aural senses will be kicking off.
Listen below and download for free, with the B Side by clicking the artwork.
Shlohmo takes it somewhere else entirely with this remix. Contorting DJ Khaled’s #crewlove anthem ‘I’m On One’ and deconstructing it into something compellingly left is a real insight into the mind of this obscure producer. For some it may be a little difficult to digest on a Monday morning, but later when the sun fades – this should be your soundtrack (for a few puffs at least). Listen & download below…
A couple weeks ago Beyonce’s ITV1 special ‘A Night with Beyonce’ aired in the UK – however, some performances she recorded back in July never made the final cut. While her biggest hits were the main attraction, songs like ‘Party’, ‘I Care’ and ‘I Miss You’ off her most recent album 4 were unfortunately (but understandably) left out of the main show.
These songs represent a lot of what’s strong about Bey’s new album – they display a growth and maturity that until now we hadn’t heard from the 16 time Grammy Award winner. Most of her back catelogue is filled with radio hits and pop charting success stories – but these songs establish a more contemporary/credible sound.
Watch ‘Party’ up top and ‘I Care/I Miss You’ & ‘Run the World (Girls)’ after the jump…
It’s been a great year for Radiohead (and their fans) – they released the critically successful King of Limbs LP, as well as a fantastic remix album TKOL RMX 1234567 and now they’re readying the release of a concert film. “The King of Limbs: Live From the Basement” will be released on December 19th via iTunes and as the title suggests – it will see the band performing their latest album in full… In a basement.
The film will also include live renditions of couple bonus tracks, ‘Supercollider’ being on of them. This song, along with ‘The Butcher’ was released a few months ago, but it’s live version just hit the interwebs. Have a listen…
“HDB059 Burial – Kindred EP. Join Hyperdub mailing list for news. Vinyl/digital and def less than 25quid” – news straight from Kode9′s twitter.
No word on when this will drop or how many tracks will be included (we’ll keep you updated, of course), but when it comes to William Bevan – the specifics rarely matter.
Bevan was surprisingly quite active this year having released his Street Halo EP in March, a beautiful set of remixes for Massive Attack and a collaborative project with Four Tet & Thom Yorke. With the news of another new EP on the way we can only assume an album is being prepped. Fingers are crossed.
Gothenburg band Niki & The Dove’s lead moonchild is a sorceress at one with the eagles and foliage for this accompaniment to their latest infectious, deerstalking jaunt of funky alt-Pop.
