Single Review: It's Not Right - 10 Rapid

If you are still not feeling Christmas at this point you may as well give up and, well, 10 Rapid just might help you forget all about the festivities. Following up on the rather infectious single 'Minor Riot' that we covered earlier this year comes 10 Rapid's new track 'It's Not Right'.

And it's a boisterous affair. If 'Minor Riot' reminded BlackPlastic of Justice then this latest track is Boys Noize, which is to say it's harder and totally uncompromising. Its five-and-a-half-minute length is a harsh lesson in wobbly basslines and tweaking acid but it certainly does the job and would get the floor moving. It lacks the defining structure that makes some of 10 Rapid's contemporaries, or even previous single 'Minor Riot', as ideal for home listening as dancefloor fodder but it is certainly likely to get a dancefloor moving.

'It's Not Right' is available now, with the original mix on Juno, the Streetlife Rough Mix on Beatport and both the Mixdown 100 Remix and the Streetlife Smooth Remix on iTunes.

BP x

Single Review / Download: Still Love - Pollyn

Pollyn's follow-up to debut single 'Give It Up' (which BlackPlastic featured here) somehow manages to further up the melancholy angst even more, and if you have heard that previous track you know that's a bit of an achievement in itself.

File this under ice-cold mechanical soul, then, for that's what it is. The may be angst and pain here but it is the kind painted over with a coat of lead - the emotion buried beneath a protective suit of cold electronics. If anything this exceeds the quality Pollyn demonstrated on their debut single and is an encouraging taster of the album, although if the current trend continues they might end up making Ian Curtis look like an optimist - here's hoping their is a little more emotional variety on that album itself.

As with 'Give It Up' the remixes shine.  Hip-hop producers Sid Roams (who have previously worked with Jean Grae and Dilated Peoples) turn in distortion heavy affair that sits somewhere between hip-hop and industrial-soul, suiting the track perfectly and probably providing the highlight out of the remixes. French beatmaster dEbruit turns in a stuttering broken-beat effort that ditches the vocal but keeps the atmosphere. Finally Blue Daisy envelope the whole track in a disorienting, dubby sound that gradually fractures under the emotional weight of the track, giving a climax reminiscent of Four Tet.

Download 'Still Love (Original Mix)' [right click, save as]

Download 'Still Love (Sid Roams Remix)' [right click, save as]

Download 'Still Love (dEbruit Remix)' [right click, save as]

Download 'Still Love (Blue Daisy Remix)' [right click, save as]

BP

Pollyn's debut album This Little Night is out now, available on Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link]

Single Review: I Won't Kneel - Groove Armada

'I Won't Kneel' is Groove Armada's first proper single from a new album since the better-than-expected Soundboy Rock. And it would be easy to write it off and BlackPlastic is sure that many - except PopJustice possibly - will. Groove Armada just aren't cool.

But we tell you something - 'I Won't Kneel' is fab. It's a sparkling-modern-power-ballad-epic. It's a hands-in-the-air girl-power-boy-power-everyone-power liberation anthem. It's not cool, but it tears the fucking roof off and beside, this is what good pop music should be like. Gaga can goo goo all she wants, give us this any day.

BP x

I Won't Kneel is out now, available on Amazon.co.uk on CD, 12" and for a limited time on MP3 for just £0.29 [affiliate links].

Single Review: Not Made For Love - Metronomy

Metronomy have no right to be this bloody good. Last album Nights Out recreated the Metronomy sound in the form of a band with proper vocals and everything - you only need to take one listen to the last Simian Mobile Disco album to get a feel for how well (or not) that can go. But Nights Out surprised because, actually, it wasn't shit. In fact it was rather good.

And now this: basically three tracks (plus a stack of remixes) of sheer, wonky-pop-gold. 'Not Made For Love' sounds like Metronomy's best Hot Chip impression and golly does it sucker-punch BlackPlastic with it's slow, soulful hook and dough-eyed vocals. 'Do The Right Thing' recalls Nights Out's 'Thing For You' with it's falsetto vocals, only this time the whole song feels like it has been ground down to dust by dark winter nights and walks home following miss-understood romantic exchanges. Finally 'What Do I Do Now' is a completely bizarre electronic trip. With distorted vocals and a driving synth it feels like the actual soul of a spurned computer game, pining for a lost love but unable to understand it's feelings.

The whole EP feels like music that is being more honest than it intends. It may set out to make you dance but it ends up crying on your shoulder instead. Metronomy have just created the perfect soundtrack for those contemplative autumnal evenings now the nights are drawing in.

The remixes may be ultimately surplus to requirements but the package certainly is not. A perfect way to keep warm as autumn draws in.

BP x

Not Made For Love is out now, available from Amazon.co.uk on LP and MP3 [affiliate links].

Single Review / Download: Gave It Up - Pollyn

BlackPlastic has spent much of the last week digging on this slice of melancholic pop from Pollyn. 'Lost It All' sounds like the by-product of Annie and Robyn trying to out-do each other in the 'sad song' stakes whilst hanging out in a smokey little karaoke bar and in BlackPlastic's book that can only be a good thing. The slightly jangly backing track is just the right side of La Roux and the track drips with just enough sassy desperation that you can't figure out whether whether the singer is a basket case or not.

Check out the live studio performance:

Things get even better on Peter Visti's mix, which sees the whole tracked turned into a cosmic disco stormer... Sharp percussion and a muted guitar giving the whole track a moody, lost-on-the-dancefloor vibe and the break five minutes in, complete with discordant synths, really makes the whole thing a little epic.

Download 'Gave It Up' - Pollyn [right click, save as]

Download 'Gave It Up (Peter Visti Remix)' - Pollyn [right click, save as]

Head over to Pollyn's official site for more.