EP Review: Coordinates - I Like Where I Live

As I Like Where I Live, Dave McAdams makes indie-electropop and has just released his first EP, Coordinates, through Slow Receiver Records. And it's free.

This is why you should check it out:

1. It's lovely, like a stroll on the beach or a cup of tea with someone you really like.
2. It sounds a bit like the Postal Service and Stars, amongst others, and we like them. They are super-swell.
3. All five tracks are kind of neat. There is a nice mix of sounds but it all comes together well like a jumper your grandma knitted you.
4. It's less humiliating to use in public than a jumper your grandma knitted you.
5. 'You Took Photographs' is especially great, with a fuzzy little distorted bassline, a lovely vocal and some soaring keyboards.
6. The artwork is good. BlackPlastic likes artwork.
7. It's free.
8. Dave seems like a nice chap.

So there you have it. As it doesn't cost anything it seems a no brainer. Listening to Coordinates is like gazing into a photo of someone you used to love, so why not download it here?  For more news on I Like Where I Live, check out the MySpace page.

Oh, and did we mention it's free?

BP x

Single Review: Under Control (Alex Metric Remix) - Freeland

When BlackPlastic first heard this mix of Freeland's Lead single from the next album on the radio whilst making dinner it wasn't long before focus was abandonned, the volume cranked up and arms were flailing all over the room in something that may or may not have resembled dancing.

'Under Control' continues Adam Freeland's move towards a more rock orientated sound and features a vocal from someone who sounds very much like (but presumeably isn't) one James Murphy. It's quite good...

...But dammit, this is better. Alex Metric's remix jams a square peg in a round hole and whacks it with a mallet several times and the resulting mess is lovely. Featuring the kind of frictional, discordant synthesizers that make BlackPlastic get hot and sweaty over anything that comes out of the Soulwax stable in combination with a jagged, fuzzy rock edge, this mix takes the original to new heights. All it needs is a little more length and a more climatic finale.

What's more, it's available as a free download over at Freeland.fm. All you've got to you is give up your email address.  You can also download a digital version of the single there or get a vinyl / MP3 bundle (with FLAC options).

Do it.

BP x

Single Review: Counterpoint - Delphic

If this is anything to go by then we just might have stumbled across one of 2009's most exciting new bands. Foraging similar territories as BlackPlastic favorites Friendly Fires, Delphic mold a true hybrid between rock and epic, spaced out house music.

Only just entering their second year as a band Delphic come up with their music together on laptops and only then do they figure out how to play it live, laying instruments over the top before finally taking to the stage to perform their songs together in one continuous set.  From what BlackPlastic can hear it sounds like a pretty good system.

First singe 'Counterpoint' is produced by Ewan Pearson and it's a shimmering piece of electronic rock that sounds like an emotional two-finger salute, a celebration of the summer and a call for help all in one.  The video, directed by hAndz, is also quite cool:

Pearson is to start work on producing the debut album soon, meaning it should be one to look out for. Don't just take our word on it - we have a download of Delphic performing 'Counterpoint' live in Amsterdam here (right click, save as).

'Counterpoint' is released on 13 April 2009 on R&S.  Delphic - website / MySpace / Twitter.

Ewan Pearson on Twitter.

BlackPlastic on Twitter.

BP x

Single Review: Wasted My Time - Superpowerless

Superpowerless is 20 year old Oliver Hindle from Leeds and Wasted My Time comes as the winning track from Vodafone's Fast Track competition. Oliver himself describes Superpowerless' sound as "Game Boy-fueled adventure-core" and based on Chiptune debut single 'Wasted My Time' the influence is clear.

Inspired by the Postal Service to get into electronic music and subsequently Depeche Mode and .Adult amongst others the influences are pretty clear with 'Wasted My Time' coming across with the sweet 16 bit pop of the Jimmy Tamborello / Ben Gibbard side project but with a dash of tongue in cheek darkness.

The result, now re-recorded with producer and DJ Andy Chatterly (who has worked with Kanye West in the past, notably on 'Stronger') is quite enjoyable and features a new video directed by Luc Janin that draws on the videogame theme.

'Wasted My Time' is out on Vodafone Live on 23 March 2009 and Superpowerless play live on 24 March at the Old Blue Last in Shoreditch, London.

BP x

Single Review: In For The Kill - La Roux

La Roux rose to fame recently following the appearance of the catchy 'Quicksand' on Kitsuné Maison Compilation 6 and since then they have been garnering significant attention, both of the blogger and mainstream variety.

Now on a major label (Polydor, part of Universal), 'In For The Kill' is the follow up to 'Quicksand' and, if we are brutally honest, it's kind of more of the same. It has the same simple Casio keyboard meets garage-beat sound only with a slightly catchier chorus. BlackPlastic hates to say it but the recent adulation heaped on this band smacks of a certain emperor's affection for nudey outfits in public... And yet they even seem to have made it onto the daytime radio playlists. An album full of this doesn't exactly excite.

What is worth checking out though is what Skream have done here on their 'Let's Get Ravey' mix. Giving the whole thing a dub-step rework gives that vocal more room to breath (even if the sound quality on said vocal seems off, at least on BlackPlastic's iTunes download) but what really takes this mix to the next level is the drum 'n' bass break that hits at the end. It's pure romanticism, a love letter to early nineties rave.

Available at Amazon.co.uk on CD or MP3

BP x