Single Review: Game Over - Pool

Pool's 'Game Over' is a tribute to video games. You don't get enough of those in music in my opinion - who needs love when you've got a 20-hour-a-week Skyrim habit? Of course there could e some sort of clever analogue to love or getting drunk or something going on here but I'm going to plump for the assumption that this Hamburg three-piece just really dig their Donkey Kong.

It's a pretty awesomely catchy-pop record with a lovely bounce to the bass line and a slightly scratchy guitar rhythm. It also sounds quite a bit like Alphabetical-era Phoenix which basically means rather good.

'Don't Say My Name' is similar in style, if ever so slightly less infectious. The rhythm here is tight and fast, the overall feel being a great mixture of a live sound combined with a strong production.

The single also comes with two remixes, one of each track. Solomun takes the vocals from 'Game Over' and puts it on the top of a funky, loose proto-house bass line - either element is fine on it's own but the vocal and the melody just don't really gel for me. Stimming's remix of 'Don't Say My Name' is much better, reigning the track back into a disco-influenced dub that leaves behind almost all of the vocal.

Worth a listen. We like bookish indie euro kids.

Check out a previews of all four tracks below (the order is the original of 'Don't Say My Name', the Stimming mix, the original or 'Game Over' and then the Solomun mix):

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Game Over is out on 2DIY4 on 30 January, you can order it now on Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [afffiliate link].

Single Review / Stream: Orion remixes - Sons & Daughters

I was a big fan of Sons & Daughters' Mirror! Mirror! album that came out last year and the band have just followed it up with their second batch of remixes, this time focused on 'Orion' (Optimo and Andy Blake have already had a go at 'Silver Spell').

Have a listen in the player above. The Wrong Island mix is pretty decent, spacey and a bit spooky with a massive synth build whilst the Umberto mix is unfortunately pretty forgettable. It's the Emporer Machine mix you should really check out though. Emporer Machine is actually Andy Meecham, one half of the under-rated Chicken Lips, and this mix really takes the original to another level - it retains the same aggresiveness but cuts it through with bubbling electronic bass. It's pretty special and frankly a lesson in good remixing, probably adding as much detail and effort as the original recording.

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The Orion Remixes package is released on Domino on 20 February, you can pre-order is on 12" from Amazon.co.uk here [affiliate link].

Single Review: Do We Need? - Slove

French angular post-punkers just might be the new ones to watch if you like your music pitched somewhere between punk and dance. With a heavy bass pounded out from a bass guitar that recalls Etienne de Crécy's epic 'Fast Track', 'Do We Need?' feels slow, spent, minimal and atmospheric. Eschewing conventional song structure it's difficult to categorise - this feels perfectly equidistant between guitar based music and house structures and the result is a brilliant mix. My only criticism would be its length - 'Do We Need?', admittedly here in radio edit form, is just too damn short.

Tackling that are the two remixes included in this package - one by Kitsuné's Yan Wagner and the other by Remain (AKA Romain Rouffiac). Both remixes inevitably head in a more dance floor orientated direction. Whilst Wagner's mix is warm and sunny, with bouncy bass and melodic keys splashing across its length, Remain amps up the frictional, acerbic sound of the original and transforms it into a darker acidic techno piece.

All three takes have their merits but it will be Slove's original material, due to emerge on full length album Le Danse later this year, that makes or breaks this band.

Check out the video for 'Do We Need?' below:

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Do We Need? is released on Pschent on Monday 15 August.

Single Review: Something About You - Tensnake

Tensnake's mysteriously named 'Coma Cat' has become one of the biggest underground hits in the past few years. And understandably so - the fantastically old skool vibe is an undeniable pleasure, sounding like it came straight out of the summer of love with its wandering baseline and calypso percussion.

Considering the attention lavished on 'Coma Cat' the follow up, 'Something About You', seems to have managed to go a little under the radar. Don't expect that to remain the case - it just might be even better. The sound is similar - still wearing its proto-house badge with pride in it's squeaky stabs and loved-up piano loop. What it adds is a (tiny) bit more vocal and some warmth.

Where 'Coma Cat' just had snatches of voices this features the title repeated soulfully - ”Something about you baby". With a lovely glow surrounding the main piano break the vocal and the sound perfectly encapsulate the loved up feeling behind the original house scene... And that is the beauty of Tensnake: it makes you feel like you almost could have been there.

Jas Shaw's 'Alt. Mix' adds little. It's slower and has a few extra flourishes. The best thing about it is the gentle end, which eventually lets the beat drop away altogether, leaving a wonderfully laid back outro. Sadly it does a little bit less with the piano and so it doesn't quite capture the spirit as much as the A-side.

With this release Tensnake proves 'Coma Cat' was no fluke - time to keep your eyes peeled for more.

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Something About You is out now on Mirau Musik, available from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].

Single Review: I Can't Wait / Rock Me - Russ Yallop

Russ Yallop's 'I Can't Wait' is a bit of a master of deception. From the first minute you would be forgiven for thinking this is some sort of funky-house jam. The elements are all there: four-four, filters, female vocal.

Yet almost as soon as that minute is up Yallop treats us to a bass line heavy enough to dispel any illusions. Sure - it's house. And it's certainly funky. But this is a long way from anything described by the two labels together. Packed with snap, crackle and pop 'I Can't Wait' practically fizzes out of the sound system, melting the electronics on its way out. It boasts a lovely organic and analogue feel which, combined with some serious low-end, sounds like Chicken Lips at their best.

B-side 'Rock Me' is similar but with less compromise. There is even less vocal, instead just a moan, yet a lovely disco stab is worked into things to give the track it's hook before finally opening up and blossoming in the song's final quarter into a full on soul sample... And then back to the dark techno drums i goes, a brief flirt in the sunlight brought to an end all too soon.

So this is what minimal sounds like when you aren't afraid to fuck with it: awesome.

Check out a preview below:

I Can't Wait-Crossroads-Rock Me by Russ Yallop

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