EP Review: From The Moment EP - Miguel Puente

Mexican producer Miguel Puente's new EP From The Moment drops on Miguel Campbell and Matt Hughes' Outcross Records this week and it's a slinky release featuring some stark electronic disco that builds nicely on last year's What You Do.

The EP opens with 'Only You', a funky electronic groove with layered vocal samples. It's a fairly muted start compared to what follows, particularly 'Keep On', which represents some serious low-end trouble, a lairy bass line and garage-y female vocals playing up a grimey basement feel and complementing the synth work.

The EP's title track is a little tighter than anything that precedes it, a straight four-four drum pattern providing the backing for some more soulful female vocals whilst Puente mixes in a series of effects, giving the track a rave-y sci-fi sound. Final track 'Be No Good' is Puente at his most rounded - deep bass and looped dubby vocals samples creating a darker, more emotional track. It shines thanks to its clattering drum patterns and the use of a strong vocal hook.

​From The Moment is released tomorrow through Outcross Records - preview via Soundcloud below:

Miguel Campbell & Matt Hughes, Outcross Records, returns with Miguel Puente's 'From The Moment' this June, comprising four original cuts from the Mexican producer. Miguel Puente, over the past few years, has been steadily building a highly praised reputation for his dropped tempo workouts, many of which have found their way onto reputable imprints such as No.19 Music, OFF, Diynamic and Hot Waves, a striking indication of the sheer quality and current appeal in his work.

Single Review: Dumb Disco Ideas - Holy Ghost!

Yet more disco pouring into our ear holes and down our brain tubes like hot funky wax rivers in a month of seemingly endless disco pleasures. 'Dumb Disco Ideas' is the latest release from disco-influenced DFA house dons Holy Ghost, who achieved greatness with their modern classic 'Hold On'.

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​Dumb Disco Ideas - Holy Ghost!

'Dumb Disco Ideas' actually sounds like a jovially mocking description of Daft Punk's latest album in a month when it seems to have been the only music people talked about but it's also a pretty descriptive title for this new track. This isn't the moody-yet-knowing house of Holy Ghost!'s breakthrough 'Hold On' but it feels like their most exciting track in some time. It is a chaotic and eccentric punk-funk record that manages to be catchy and yet cool, exactly the sort of thing DFA are known for.

Holy Ghost!'s debut album didn't quite deliver but it would be a shame if this gets overlooked as a result. 'Dumb Disco Ideas' makes me think that maybe they are just a decent singles band but this is one of those singles that is good enough you will want to keep coming back to it. Playing with vocal effects, cow bells and big synths the track's latter third slams into a drop that then re-builds as a crazy gospel soul acid house shakedown: a looped chant of the main hook, "Put it off and wait, and wait for another day... Put it off for another day", build like a mantra to how it feels to make a record. There's a bit of LCD in this record and it doesn't surprise me at all to note Nancy Whang's involvement.

The single has an instrumental on the flip and anyone that reads regularly will normally know that I'm an a-side kind of guy when it comes to dubs and instrumentals but this one is pretty special. There's just so much going on the space given to the instruments creates an equally strong track. I dare you to find an acapella that can ride it though...

Dumb Disco Ideas is out now through DFA, available on MP3 from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate link].​ Check out the video below:

Directed by Ben Fries Produced by Deadhorse Films Title Design by Michael Vadino Shot May 2-3 at The End. Special thanks to Jesse Cain, Zach Poff and Brian Crowe Buy Single: http://store.dfarecords.com/collections/digital-downloads https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dumb-disco-ideas-single/id641336094 HOLY GHOST!

EP Review: Tension / Margine Call - Fantastic Man

I'm still in a loved-up disco buzz and this new release from Australian Mic Newman, here as Fantastic Man, is pushing my buttons. Off of the back of all of the Daft Punk excitement everything feels a little bit woozy so it's a bit fresh to hear something this tight and focused.

'Tension' is a clipped tech 'n' disco number, full of 80s gloss and moments of heart beats skipping. There's a viciousness in the unforgiving scratches that rub up against the yearning sample work and melodic keys, creating a track the is insistently passionate.

'Margine Call' makes a classic misstep in being utterly predictable: it's a fucking DJ tool / sound test record. One of those "classic" in-jokes that pretends the track will help you 'tune you equipment'. Well fuck that: we've all just wasted our time and Fantastic Man has wasted 50% of a slab of vinyl.

Drop the annoying vocal though and 'Margine Call' would be an off-kilter funk record made with layered samples and some massive rolling, fuzzy drum work. It's a decent track but the dressing kind of ruins it.

Tension / Margine Call is out on Monday through Fine Choice Records, check out ​the Soundcloud previews below:

Listen to A. Tension [FCR002] Snippet ( 10" Vinyl Only) by Fantastic Man | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.

Listen to B. Margin Call [FCR002] Snippet (10" Vinyl Only) by Fantastic Man | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.

Album Review: Random Access Memories - Daft Punk

The new Daft Punk album has rapidly become the most hotly anticipated album of the current decade so far, with many struggling to recall an album this hot this side of the millennium. You don't even need to put Random Access Memories on to understand why this album is such a big deal.

We don't make records like this any more. We don't approach them in this way and perhaps more importantly, the labels don't market them like this any more. There is a palpable permanence on Random Access Memories - it's built to last, to age and to be shaped by years of listening.

Unlike the French robotic duo's previous 'studio' albums, Random Access Memories wasn't recorded in their bedrooms on computers - it was recorded using analogue equipment in studios across the world (Paris, New York and Los Angeles to be precise). It wasn't funded by a label, but it wasn't recorded on the cheap or via Kickstarter - it was entirely self-funded and Thomas Bangalter proclaims it cost "more than a million dollars […] easily".

Daft Punk's last album, Human After All, took two months. They obsessed over the ridiculous detail of this record for years and incorporated a plethora of recent and classic musicians, and then one day they then just carried it into Columbia Records. In doing so Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo guaranteed this would be a record that would be marketed, sold and celebrated. It kept them in control, something Bangalter recently explained the importance of to The Observer. The first thing they did was avoid the temptation to shutter it off - something the label would no doubt have wanted.

Having teased the Pharrell Williams featuring Get Lucky at Coachella they created a storm that appeared to be almost getting out of hand. Edits of the snippet circled as the internet whipped itself into a furore. But just when it seemed like we couldn't take any more waiting Daft Punk just let it drop, releasing the full track (well, an edit) as a single. The same thing happened with the full album, available to stream in full via iTunes in the week running up to its release and then available pretty much instantly on Spotify on release day. This isn't how big bands (or more likely their labels) act with hotly anticipated albums. The latest Vampire Weekend album still isn't on Spotify, weeks after release. It's almost like Daft Punk actually want you to hear their music.

Your first actual listen to Random Access Memories tells you that this is a very different Daft Punk and you will either relish in that or be befuddled by it. The internet has changed the way we consume music to the point where everything feels like a sample of an edit of a remix of a cover and thousands of bloggers, DJs and fellow artists are combing over your music as soon as it is released, looking to find the original source material. Many stars of electronic music, Daft Punk included, have found their back catalogue ransacked and arguably, in the eyes of the faithful, somewhat devalued by the revelation that some of those killer hooks weren't actually so fresh after all. Daft Punk have also found themselves at the centre of a venn-diagram of dance genres riffing off of the output from their first three albums. In the US EDM exploded following their notorious Alive 2007 tour and in Europe Justice's and half of Kitsuné's output has long been based on Daft Punk's original formula.

So Random Access Memories is a departure precisely because departure was the only credible option. An album of more intense electronic dance music would have put Daft Punk in league with their descendants, rather than above them, and so R.A.M. is an album of more laid back and considered, maybe even (whisper it) mature songs. The internet means any tracks based purely on samples would have been uncovered near instantly and therefore it also isn't a surprise that this album is almost completely sample free - just one track, Contact, features samples and the bulk of the music is played with instruments rather than computers.

Daft Punk have made an anticipated, culturally significant and important album. But is it any good? In a word: yes. It's very good in fact, but that is not to say it is without flaws. Our short collective cultural memory seems to forget how controversial Daft Punk's second album Discovery was, precisely because it became so strong and so influential over hundreds of repeated listens. Even Human After All became more important and enjoyable through the lens of Alive 2007. It is very likely the same maturation will happen here, but R.A.M. takes a little time to explore.

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​Random Access Memories - Daft Punk

First let me cover the flaws. With an album of such brazen ambition it feels a little resigned to still be pushing the vocodered and auto-tuned vocals, applied to all of Daft Punk's vocals and similarly applied to Julian Casablancas on Instant Crush (where he strangely sounds right at home following the latest Strokes album). At times though, those vocals still work - almost gospel on Touch or rhythmic on Lose Yourself To Dance - and it is difficult to think of an alternative. They are part of the myth - certainly more of the duo than their long-since forgotten faces. The melodic piano piece, Within, with the help of Chilly Gonzales, almost sounds like an Elton John song. The robotic melodies sit somewhat awkwardly and undermine the emotional punch, despite giving what would otherwise be hamfisted lyrics an added dimension.

There are also several moments that feel a little too much like filler. Maybe they will grow over time but right now Motherboard and The Game Of Love both feel like a pause for breath amongst so many set pieces, and fade from memory quickly.

There is, however, so much on Random Access Memories that is beautiful, surprising and impossible not to love. Album opener Give Life Back To Music is a pure statement of intent, almost literally jumping on the table, stamping its feet and DEMANDING more from music. Nile Rogers puts in his first appearance with a Chic-style guitar lick that gives the track an important rhythm around which Daft Punk build a ballsy track that demonstrates the scale of their new sound.

Giorgio By Moroder is already an instant classic - part documentary, part concept album and all absolute belter. The track builds around Moroder's voice, creating a musical reference to everything he describes as it happens. It's a statement of music experimentation and the drop, signalled by Moroder's line: "My name is Giovanni Giorgio, but everyone calls me Giorgio" is thrilling and incredibly touching at once, a simple love song from two musicians to one of their heros. The track's breakbeat and record scratches carry it into a new dimension and it never feels anything but thrilling, organic and alive.

Get Lucky's mirror is Lose Yourself To Dance, which also features Pharrell and is intense, demanding and almost aggressive to Get Lucky's flirty promiscuity. A heavy bass and forceful drum beat makes it very difficult not to relent to Williams' chants. It's immediately followed by R.A.M.'s most eccentric moment - the Paul Williams featuring Touch, which moves through campy disco melded into jazzy big-band through orchestral strings and on to a highly dramatic finale. It sounds, unsurprisingly given Wlliams' involvement, like a musical, ridiculous but also brilliant and a central anchor for the album's other moments.

Fragments Of Time, featuring Todd Edwards, gives the album it's title and is almost a revisit of what he made last time he collaborated with Daft Punk, then on Discovery's Face To Face. One of the most surprisingly collaborations - that with Panda Bear - turns out to work well, his vocal work bringing the wide-eyed psychedelic Beach Boys sound of Animal Collective and introducing it to the one of Daft Punk's most intensely uplifting disco tracks and the most electronic track is.

Final track Contact is an appropriate climax - by far the most intense moment on the album. It is a widescreen rocket fuelled blast-off into space that samples Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan describing a UFO from his capsule. Contact, and that sample in particular, are a fitting conclusion on an album that is about the past as much as the future, and (be it forward of back) the view from one era to another.

​Random Access Memories is out now, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP+MP3 and MP3 [affiliate links]. Listen now through Spotify on the embedded player.

Single Review: Ziegler's House - Ben Rau

Ziegler's House is the latest release from London label Save You and it comes from Ben Rau, Berlin born Fuse resident who went against the flow, moving to London.

Ben Rau gives Ziegler's House a progressive sound that is balanced well with some smooth, adjusted vocals. There is a deep, techie bass line that bobs along throughout this track whilst lo-fi percussion and ambient synths give the track a raw feel. It's a cool, understated track and Rau is audibly keeping his cards to his chest, creating something minimal yet funky and well worth checking out.

The single is backed with a mix by Jordan Peak, who gives Zeigler's House a harder, minimal finish. Hard robotic keys and a bass line that hits like rubber bullets increase the pressure, with unforgiving drum loops adding to the track's darker tone.

​Ziegler's House is released on Monday through Save You. Preview it via the Soundcloud snippets below:

Listen to SYR023 Ben Rau - Ziegler's House feat. Jordan Peak rmx by Ben Rau | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.