Andy Cato and Tom Findlay, better known as Groove Armada, have announced a spring US. tour in support of Black Light, their sixth studio album through Om Records. The tour will find them dropping multiple dates in New York, California, and Florida, including appearances on Morning Becomes Electric and at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami.
Roxy Music / Re-Make Re-Model A band that have had a great influence on us, particularly in the making of Black Light. Loads of Roxy tracks have been on loop on the tour bus, but this one stands out for me from their first ever eponymous album. It shows just how out there they really were.
It is 30 years since Visage released the seminal Fade To Grey. It was a huge dance floor hit, topping the charts in the UK and Europe. To celebrate this anniversary, Universal Music have announced the release of The Very Best of Visage, updated with 2009 remixes of Fade To Grey by Michael Gray – of The Weekend and Borderline fame, and Lee Mortimer, AKA Sawtooth Sucka and resident Ministry of Sound DJ, alongside the group’s complete chart topping hit singles and some of the classic and highly sought after original remixes and 12” versions.
Deadmau5 / Faxing Berlin This track introduced me to Deadmau5 and I have been an avid fan ever since. He is the only DJ I have gone to see perform. To people who came for his music, his gigs at 02 club “matter“ and at The Roundhouse in London, the sound and lights were the stuff of my dreams from my early ecstasy trips at acid house parties.
Ylajali is the debut full-length from Syntaks, the Danish duo of Jakob Skott and Anna Cecilia. In Ylajali’s beautifully scorched sonic landscape, acres of drones run beneath Cecilia’s wordless sighs; Skott’s beats crunch like autumn leaves while synthesizers swell, flourish, and disappear. Songs either tramp through hazy forests until they fade into the dark (the Boards of Canada-esque, Love Camp 23), or stack tone upon tone like translucent building blocks, building to forceful, near-operatic crescendos.
The Cure / Plainsong This is probably the best album opener of all time. From the distant tinkle of bells to the huge synth-pad explosion, it’s a prime example of how to open the show. Everything sounds muddled together in just about a perfect way.
PANTyRAiD are Josh Mayer, aka Ooah of The Glitch Mob, and Marty Folb, aka Marty Party. They met on the West Coast, brought together by their shared appreciation for well-produced dance music. The result is a new flavor of urban beat — a fresh, new, sexy sound that redefines the power, relevance, and longevity of electronic music.
Bat For Lashes / Daniel Just an all-around amazing song. Bat for Lashes has such a ominous and magical feel around her music, and Daniel is the perfect fit of gorgeous vocals, good instrumentation, and an epic feeling, with the perfect beat to get you moving on the dance floor.
David Sheppard has received critical acclaim for his work with the group Phelan Sheppard. He is also a founder member of Ellis Island Sound and a member of Smile Down Upon Us, The Wisdom Of Harry, and Continental Film Night. Phelan Sheppard released the album Harps Old Master on The Leaf Label in 2006. A collaborative single with Niandra Ladies was released on Static Caravan in 2007. On Some Faraway Beach, David’s rather large biography of Brian Eno, is out now in the US through the Chicago Review Press.
Tenniscoats / Ichnichi The Japanese duo of Saya and Ueno recorded their album Temporacha in a miscellany of outdoor locations, allowing the musique concrète of the world to become a legitimate component of their sound. Ichnichi is constructed from little more than wheezing accordion bellows, guitar harmonics and the surround-sound of birdsong. It may sound studiedly naïve and somewhat contrived on paper, but it works: music as total sensual seduction.
Vladislav Delay’s new album Tummaa will be released on the wonderfully eclectic Leaf Label in September. The Finnish electronic artist, otherwise known as Sasu Ripatti, creates dense, experimental music with sophisticated textural qualities.
Juan MacLean / One Day Strong and brave dance-pop. Not usually my cup of tea, but this track is quite interesting.
South London electro-pop band, The Chap, are unique and inventive. They are signed to Ghostly International, which issued their album Mega Breakfast in the US in July 2008 as their first official American release.
Supertramp / Breakfast in America We love eating breakfast and we’ve just been to America for the first time. So there! But the whole album of the same title is an all time classic. Smooth and sharp at the same time. And so emotional. It’s been with me since my older sisters had it on heavy rotation when I was seven.
Zoomorphic is the third album by electronic musician Spoonbill (Jim Moynihan), following the critically acclaimed Megafauna (2005) and Nestegg (2007). This time around, Spoonbill’s anarchic, quirk-funk, glitched-up aesthetic has been forensically finessed like never before, sculpted to a well-bodied medley of groove-based sound art. The Zoomorphic experience is crafted from an intricate web of edited studio recordings of exceptional musos melded with found sounds, foley folly and synthesised materials, much of which was captured while recently touring across US, Canada, Europe & UK.
Tipper / Sponge Mallet A super lush and sophisticated down tempo journey with an awesome booming drum tone. Clever details and editing, and a tangential breakdown makes this an exciting and stimulating listen.
The dynamic duo behind Beast met in Montreal, but both are from France. Their sound inhabits a place where the cinematic grandeur of Portishead meets the immediacy of Rage Against the Machine. With help from lyricist Simon Wilcox, Betty strikes a balance between telling vividly detailed stories and still adhering to the concise songwriting structure of pop. Soul, rap, electro, rock and jazz (complete with a Charles Mingus bass sample on “Satan”) collide in Beast.
Amon Tobin / Verbal Feat. Mc Decimal R Amon Tobin is a great electronic music producer, and this song is dark with a hint of humour. It’s smart and big.
Melbourne’s Winterpark will play a special Valentine’s Day single launch on Saturday 14 February at the Northcote Social Club in Melbourne. Playing tracks from their second album, Falling Men and Flying Dreams, which was released in late 2008 via MGM Distribution, Winterpark returns to the live scene following a successful east coast tour. Mixed by Casey Rice (Dirty Three/Tortoise/Grand Salvo) and mastered by Roger Siebel (!!!/Death Cab for Cutie/Modest Mouse), Falling Men and Flying Dreams takes the listener across contrasting musical landscapes that have been described by critics as ‘vast airy landscapes’, ‘tart, affectionate tunes’, and ’swirling nu-gaze’.
Ulrich Schnauss / Stars I love this guy’s production and aesthetic. He creates churning layered soundscapes, with soft but driving electronic beats. It’s sort of a bit like My Bloody Valentine meets Pink Floyd in Berlin, which has got to be a good thing.
My Secret Playlist is a music discovery website and weekly email publication. We invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs right now. These are their words on the music that inspires them.
