Album Review: Future Disco Vol. 8 - Various Artists

Needwant are back with the next entry in their long-running Future Disco series. Entitled Nighttime Networks, the eighth entry is a laid back, more minimal yet still groovy entry.

Andras Fox opens the mix with Your Life, a loose cut full of jazzy touches, sweeping string and and looping keys. It's a subtle and gentle starting point. Much of what remains follows on from that template - this is the least overtly soulful entry in the series yet, drawing more from deep house than the disco that has inspired most of the previous entries. Dippin' In from Ron Basejam and Danielle Moore plays a background of soft keys and shuffling drum beats beneath Moore's vocal.

Whilst the subtlety of much of the material means that Nighttime Networks lacks any real tent-pole moments there are still some standouts. The Chopstick and Johnjon remix of Zoot Woman's Don't Tear Yourself Apart is a refined slice of rhythmic electronic pop, full of autumnal hues. VIMES gorgeous track Celestial is given a make-over on a Gardens of God remix - falsetto vocals, strummed bass and plenty of manipulated effects giving the track a dreamy, spaced-out feeling.

James Zabiella gives Hot Chip's How Do You Do an electric body music makeover - tough drums and basslines reign supreme until the familiar chords kick in. It is another moment that says a lot about the direction this album has taken - stripped, meticulous and designed to make you move.

Future Disco albums often seem to end with a pair of vocal tracks that sit apart from the rest of the album and, in this regard at least, Nighttime Networks is no different. Portable's Surrender is a horizontal slice of electronic melancholy - loose electronic bass and flute provide a backing to a vocal describing giving in - you are left to you own mind what we are giving in to (battle? Love? Sleep?!). The album closes with the similarly downbeat Something by Weval, which sounds like Hot Chip with a hangover. In other words it is human, sad and glorious electronic music and a fitting if overtly dejected conclusion to the album.

Future Disco 8 is without doubt an unusual entry to the series, but the quality of the music and the pacing and fairly undeniably great. An album to dance to, but also one to make you happy think and feel.

Future Disco Vol. 8 - Nighttime Networks is released through Needwant on 20 April. Pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD and MP3 [affiliate links].

EP Review: Modern West - Garden City Movement

Tel Aviv's Garden City Movement are back for 2015 with their third EP, Modern West, and it pretty much picks up where Bengali Cinema left off.

Which is to say that opener Recollections is full of the same sense of space and ambience - the band revel in the reverb and seem determined to keep their sound as sparse as possible. There is plenty of feeling here - much of the same maudlin introversion that permeated Bengali Cinema - but it is dressed oh so beautifully.

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My Only Love feels like the closest thing the band have had to an obvious hit since their inception. Breathless vocals and mechanically whirring percussion gives way to a big hook of a chorus and it is difficult not to hear the pensive beardy festival rock of Foals in the falsetto vocals and melodic guitar picking... Which isn't to complain - it's a gorgeous, laid back and infectious song.

Musically the EP maintains much of the delicate shuffling electronic impulses meets post rock operatics throughout. Unfortunately it is hard not to feel like the band are occasionally light on inspiration lyrically - when title track's chorus revolves around a cringe inducing "That's why I fancy you so much" you have to wonder what the guys were thinking. Listening to that line feels like finding the unsent love letters you drafted to your teenage crush. The track itself is a little too populist, particularly in comparison to When We Had It Easy, which lets the synths come forward in the mix as if the band are deliberately using them to hide those easily bruised hearts. Likewise the big distorted bass stab that punctuates Recollections stands out - the band are best when they are pushing to create stark soundscapes.

The problems with its title track aside, Modern West is sure to appeal to fans of this style - if you like Friendly Fires and Foals then this could be your new favourite band... If anything it is even better than their previous material. Only time will tell if they can maintain their more interesting experimental edge as they make the transition into a full long-player.

Modern West is released through BLDG5 Records on 6 April. Check out Recollections and My Only Love below.

Digital pre-order: hyperurl.co/77pook Vinyl pre-order: http://www.vfeditions.com/product/view/237 Garden City Movement - Modern West EP, coming out April 6th on vinyl and digitally via The Vinyl Factory. BLDG5 Records' & The Vinyl Factory are thrilled to announce collaborative release from electronic trio 'Garden City Movement' Modern West EP. Since surfacing onto the music scene 1 year ago, Garden City Movement have released two other well-received EPs, climbed the Hype Machine Popular Chart with multiple singles, opened for SOHN and the Cults, plus made their debut appearance at Glastonbury 2014. Recently, the band's music video for pervious single “Move On” received a nomination for “Best Music Video” at the LA Film Festival 2014 and won “Best Video of The Year” at the MTV 2014 Israel Music Awards. Follow Garden City Movement www.facebook.com/GardenCityMovement twitter.com/gardencitymove

Digital pre-order: hyperurl.co/77pook Vinyl pre-order: http://www.vfeditions.com/product/view/237 Garden City Movement - Modern West EP, coming out April 6th on vinyl and digitally via The Vinyl Factory. The first single from the 5-song project, "My Only Love" premieres today on FACTmag.com BLDG5 Records' & The Vinyl Factory are thrilled to announce collaborative release from electronic trio 'Garden City Movement' Modern West EP. Since surfacing onto the music scene 1 year ago, Garden City Movement have released two other well-received EPs, climbed the Hype Machine Popular Chart with multiple singles, opened for SOHN and the Cults, plus made their debut appearance at Glastonbury 2014. Recently, the band's music video for pervious single “Move On” received a nomination for “Best Music Video” at the LA Film Festival 2014 and won “Best Video of The Year” at the MTV 2014 Israel Music Awards. Follow Garden City Movement www.facebook.com/GardenCityMovement twitter.com/gardencitymove

EP Review: Without You - John Talabot

Historically the DJ-Kicks series are known for some of the new original material that comes with the mix albums - each artist normally producing one new track specifically for the album. In the past these have included a number of highlights - Tiga's Man Hrdina, Hot Chip's My Piano and The Juan Maclean's Feel So Good all stick out for me - and in the past these have often seen their own  release complete with remixes from artists selected by the compilation artist.

In the new release of Without You, DJ-Kicks are returning to this tradition, selecting the original composition from John Talabot's 2013 compilation, Without You.

Opening the EP, the original track benefits from the separation from Talabot's DJ-Kicks entry, itself a great compilation, simply for the focus it earns in standing on its own, unmixed. A significant portion of time has passed since Talabot's 2012 debut album Fin, and hearing Without You in its full form only adds to the yearning for new material... It stands up there with much of the material on Fin, a forlorn and heartfelt slice of psych house, haunted vocals calling out as rhythmic sonar-like synths pulse through the smoke.

Alongside the original are three alternative versions. The Melchior Productions Ltd Sueno Sin Ti mix (which translates as 'dream without you' from Talabot's native Spanish) is more minimal, focusing on shifting percussive movements and the looped refrain of the main synth line. The vocal hook just occasionally sneaks in, but it is a more muted take that retains the mood but applies it to a subtler take.

Oskar Offermann's Without Her Remix is warmer - a more upfront minimal house version. He plays with the elasticity of the track's pulsing synths and bass, creating warped cosmic soundscapes that once again emphasise the alienation of the original.

The best is kept for last... Mistakes Are Okay's Midnight Version feels the most distinct, an incredibly atmospheric alternate take that slows the original down and places the focus squarely on the organic synth sound that permeates much of Talabot's work to date... Folding in a robotic bassline with the layered melodies and vocals of the original create something that feels electronic and thoroughly cinematic... Beautiful.

Without You

£3.96

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Without You is released tomorrow through K7 Records. Order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].

Listen to a selection of the tracks via Soundcloud below.

Single Review: Animals - Du Tonc

Du Tonc is a partnership between producer Mighty Mouse and Matt Van Schie, who founded and plays with the Australian band that took his name - Van She. Together they are releasing this new single for Eskimo Recordings, Animal. 

Having first made an impact back in 2013, Du Tonc's first single for Eskimo, Every Song, hit the top of the Hype Machine chart.  Busy at work on their debut album, which is due this year, Animals was created between San Francisco and LA, with the California experience impacting their music.

Animals packs a lovingly sun-bleached sound, and it is Eskimo at their most blissfully laid back. The influence of Van Schie (and therefore Van She) is audible in the melodic synths and vocal hooks, if not the subtle animal samples the guys snuck in there on this track!

Animals is a warm, blissful trip of a record - both Eskimo's best output for some time and an exciting preview of the Du Tonc album.

Single Review: Jealousy - Roisin Murphy

With Roisin Murphy About to unleash her new album Hairless Toys, the first since 2008's fantastic Overpowered, it feels like the perfect time for this new release on Crosstown Rebels.

Jealousy isn't featured on the new album - instead it is somewhat of a one-off tribute from Murphy to fans of deep house and disco. Cowritten and produced by DJ Parrot AKA The Crooked Man (formerly of Sweet Exorcist and All Seeing I), this is a bit of a meeting of minds for the two Sheffield legends. In Murphy's own words, "Parrot understands dancing music and he understands me. This is fast and furious; he says it's roller­disco music. The backing track sounded so frantic, the lyric wasn't long coming to me, all I had to do was try to create a vocal as demented as the music!"

The track features in two forms, and I find it impossible to decide which is my favourite. The house mix is sinister and minimal, Murphy's vocal deranged and striking, the bass hook irresistible.

In comparison the disco mix plays like a pitched up Nile Rodgers production, packed with glamour, funk guitar riffs and strings. Murphy's vocal seems to taunt the listener with the insistent repetition of the track's title. My only complaint would be it could do with slowing down just a little... Like, what's the rush guys?

Still - Murphy demonstrates her continuing taste and Parrot demonstrates Sheffield's still got it... What's not to like?

‘Jealousy’ is recorded especially for Crosstown Rebels and additional to Roisin's forthcoming album. This is an unashamed slice of dance-floor hedonism from the acclaimed singer, featuring Roisin’s compelling vocals in both a house and disco workout. Co-written and produced by the great-unsung modern day house hero, The Crooked Man AKA DJ Parrot, formally of Sweet Exorcist (Warp) and All Seeing I amongst many other aliases, he has been a bastion of the Sheffield sound since the late '80's. The single is also mixed by the legendary Eric Kupper, who was a production partner with Frankie Knuckles and Dave Morales and whose K-Scope releases were a staple of 90's American NY House. "Parrot understands dancing music and he understands me. This is fast and furious; he says it's roller-disco music. The backing track sounded so frantic, the lyric wasn't long coming to me, all I had to do was try to create a vocal as demented as the music!" Roisin Murphy Murphy has become one of the most competent, enduring and influential figures in the pop, disco and electronic music worlds. The Irish singer-songwriter originally broke into the charts as the front woman for Moloko, delivering music that was leftfield electronic and pop-orientated. Her consequent output, two stunning solo albums, and the beautiful EP with The Vinyl Factory alongside guest vocal presence on labels like Hot Creations and Permanent Vacation have ensured Roisin’s enduring legacy and constant evolution as an artist.

‘Jealousy’ is recorded especially for Crosstown Rebels and additional to Roisin's forthcoming album. This is an unashamed slice of dance-floor hedonism from the acclaimed singer, featuring Roisin’s compelling vocals in both a house and disco workout. Co-written and produced by the great-unsung modern day house hero, The Crooked Man AKA DJ Parrot, formally of Sweet Exorcist (Warp) and All Seeing I amongst many other aliases, he has been a bastion of the Sheffield sound since the late '80's. The single is also mixed by the legendary Eric Kupper, who was a production partner with Frankie Knuckles and Dave Morales and whose K-Scope releases were a staple of 90's American NY House. "Parrot understands dancing music and he understands me. This is fast and furious; he says it's roller-disco music. The backing track sounded so frantic, the lyric wasn't long coming to me, all I had to do was try to create a vocal as demented as the music!" Roisin Murphy Murphy has become one of the most competent, enduring and influential figures in the pop, disco and electronic music worlds. The Irish singer-songwriter originally broke into the charts as the front woman for Moloko, delivering music that was leftfield electronic and pop-orientated. Her consequent output, two stunning solo albums, and the beautiful EP with The Vinyl Factory alongside guest vocal presence on labels like Hot Creations and Permanent Vacation have ensured Roisin’s enduring legacy and constant evolution as an artist.