🐣 GIRAFFAGE — SLOWLY FEAT. MATOSIC

The freefall bounce of this track, the fun of it, the joy of it, the muted sparkle of its soft pastel ping pong arpeggios, the thick modulating synths, the glooping subtle heartbeat boom of the kicks, the unexpected switches that it goes through, the undeniable romance effusing from it. The first dynamic twist, the staccato chords alongside acrobatic synth bassline, the vocals panning left to right with each word, the fizzling catapulting energy of this part, and the chorus launching like a jet ski on sapphire teal seas, the simple French touch feel of the beat allowing those rich synths and the croon of the vocals to truly sparkle, tropical summer atmosphere bubbling up like heat distortion.

And! Another dramatic turn, the energy toning down from this azure beachtime clarity to something tinged with much more slow, much more ache, Giraffage and co-producing feature-spot Matosic opening up a glittering dreamworld halfway through 'Slowly', the glisten of digital synth keys and the gorgeous major-minor jazz-lounge chords in their complexity glassy wonderful in this new quiet space of the track, exuding a very vintage R&B atmosphere, with its snapping fingerclicks and pitch-shifted vocal and tinkling chimes, the texture made even more nuanced with the sound of birdsong trickling in, a sprinkle of nature in the midst of this cradle of loving electronics, the whole thing a physiological heart-pumping reaction to a crush and the idealist hopeful infatuated thoughts that go with it.

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• 🔔 'Slowly', featuring New York-based producer Michael Matosic aka Matosic, is taken from Giraffage's upcoming debut album, Too Real, scheduled for release on 20th October via Counter Records.

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THE FUGEES VS. NAS – SURVIVING THE TIMES (BOEHM REMIX)

Here's something courtesy of Boehm, a musicmaker from Bucharest, Romania. A good mash-up (do people still call them that) is always appreciated, and here Mr. Boehm (perhaps named after the German musician/inventor) has shown that you can be wildly creative even when there are TWO original tracks to consider.

There are no holds barred in this future leaning remix, totally juddering with an addictive tropical beat and accented with the glorious reverb of beachside guitars with the occasional ornament of bendy slide guitar like a seagull swooping as a sunset splashes its muted fire over the still-warm sand and gentle sea.

Xylophone tumblings give this a lovely forest-jam flavour, I say forest but I mean more like a little copse of palm trees, a coastal vibe that incorporates jaunty harmonica from I don't know where. It samples 'Fu-Gee-La- by The Fugees, the hook from the track reworked and interspersed between verses from Nas' track 'Surviving The Times'.

All of it sounds perfect to the bouncy rhythm here, the piano chords and the groovesome synth bass and the soft, triumphal chords; the backdrop to wild synth solos that seem to diffuse into the air like a solar flare in reverse, or like the synth-happy soundtrack to one of my favourite SNES games, Top Gear. It even ends well, the instruments bowing out to each other as we're left with the wooden roller-coaster of the xylophone melody to contend with, amongst other things.

Luscious sounds and a rhythm you can totally groove to; perfect for listening or moving. Probably goes well with a bowl of unadon or as the last song to play at work before you leave to go home, glorious glorious home.

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BOYS GET HURT – S P L A S H

Unexpectedly! And with incredible aplomb, Tokyo producer Boys Get Hurt, aka Yuki Abe, graces the internet with a new song that moves far, far away from his usual domain of emotional, romantic house music, entering that ever so addictive and on-trend sound that is juke (or footwork, or ghetto house). It's not something I thought would happen, but then again: Why stick to one genre? Or, with less focus on bloody-bloody genre— Why stick to one type of sound? Explore! Go! Create! Enjoy the mountain of sounds that lived before you! Be inspired! Never get stuck!

Anyway, last time we heard from Yukiさん he'd created a song called 'Elegance', an indie-discotèchque classic that dripped with temporary nocturnal romance. It could be, in some degree of likelihood, the last BGH track that will follow this endless summer theme of disco-house that he has pursued with gusto since I first stumbled across his music at the start of last summer. Maybe it won't be, maybe this is just a blip, an anomaly, but either way his latest offering 's p l a s h' is lovely.

Still infected with the warm, nostalgia-summoning synth chords that softened the relentless beat of his house-flavoured offerings, this new track instead jiggles with the foot-tapping brain-candy of juke. Featuring as a recurring sound, the eponymous 'splash' is more a drop of water that bwips no less than six times in as many dynamic cuts in the bounce of the rhythm. The song winds itself up, an automaton of the upbeat, the sweet, as hi-hats rattle-rage and snares roll virtuosic for maximum impact. Thin yet triumphal synth leads ring out with glistening sun-glint intensity, the soft chords get chopped syncopatedly, all in a sharp convocation of the beachside fun and dancefloor-matic atmosphere that endeared the music of Boys Get Hurt to its listeners in the first place.

So whether this colourful beachstep marks a permanent change or not remains to be seen, but whatever the weather you're guaranteed – as always – a free download of the song from this fun-loving Tokyo DJ. Also, if you want a little more insight into the world of Yuki Abe, please check out this Lazy Interview (a Q&A) he did with yours truly for YES/NO.

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CIARA BODY PARTY (BOYS GET HURT REMIX) [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Right, firstly, in like every post I've written about Boys Get Hurt I've called it a duo. Two people. That is, Yuki and Takumi. Due to I don't know what reasons, Takumi "quit" at the start of this summer. So basically, everything I've written about these guys has been wrong. Well, this guy. It's just Yuki Abe now. If you'd like to have a quick refresher course on his music, then please be my guest.

So this is just a singular project. Anyway that's enough of that. Mr Abe emailed me the other day notifying me of his new song, a remix of Ciara's 'Body Party'. The original is a downtempo pool of sultry slow-jamz R&B that positively steams with tip-of-the-tongue sexuality - obvious, but not obvious enough to be outrageous. It's just the kind of song that Boys Get Hurt would remix and he's done a good job of it, too. Yep, it drips with disco sensibilities with an uptempo beat, taking the slow heart out of the original and replacing it with a ticker that is pre-wound-up and ready to move.

Giving Ciara's vocals from the original a lot of room to breathe, running the course of the song instead of cutting it too much, this fast-paced rendition takes you from the velvet-clad bedrooms of slow-jams to a disco hut on a beach somewhere. Marimba chords support other tuned percussion melodies, little glockenspiel loops, that lend a joyous vibe to the tune - that feeling of endless summer which Boys Get Hurt gets absolutely spot on every time. There's a little string melody in here as well that sounds familiar, like it could be the same decorative cluster of sounds that graced Madonna's 'Holiday'. The spirit of the song is just that though: holiday. Fun in the sun. Beach dancing until sunrise.

It's always fun listening to Boys Get Hurt. This kind of dance music, a collection of sounds that recalls the soul of early 90s pop with emotive recollections of summer and a beat that's always buzzing with energy and busy with percussion, is lovely. You can always rely on Yuki Abe to deliver this friendly familiarity that in every new track bursts with freshness. And this is FREE TO DOWNLOAD as with most of his songs. Woo!

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CLUBFEET ACAPULCO & LA [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Hello hi. Apple juice is not often purchased by me but when it is purchased it is rapidly consumed. Do you also find that? But this is neither here nor there. Sorry, it's music time isn't it. Here is something new. It's called 'Acapulco & LA' and it's by a band called Clubfeet.

They are from both Australia and South Africa at the same time - I'm not sure how that works out. As in, which members of the band are from which countries I don't know, so I apologise for that. Their first album, Gold on Gold, released in 2010, caused quite a stir and they've been kinda popular ever since. Perhaps not on such a global level but certainly in their respective mother countries, sure. Oh I just looked at the press release. Yeah, I was right. They're a "critical and commercial hit" in Australia. Too right as well. They have some nice tunes.

One such is this one, which they are offering to fans and non-fans alike on their SoundCloud page - 'Acapulco & LA'. As soon as I saw the title of this one I just thought of sub-tropical party fun and, listening to it, I wasn't wrong. It's a damn party song. It sounds already like an indie-dance classic. Yep, with that intro of ambient synth roaring like distant waves, jungle noises, and a gently calming, simplistic guitar melody set to a driving beat, you know what you're getting into.

Soon there are some truly delicious sounds - hollow synth melodies and the undeniable jolly cool that comes with a xylophone exposure. Xylophone chords, as well. Truly chilling yet heartwarming on the most basic level ever. Surely the xylophone is like one of the oldest instruments. Always is like someone playing bones or something.

It's a dancefloor number that should find its way into many indie-wired clubs in the future. It just oozes that beach party sound, with the added personable appeal of knowing that a five-piece band has created the track - somehow, it just is more personable. As with this kind of music, it's emotional, too, often going with the easy heartbreak that can occur in the darkness of a club environment - lover's tiffs and rifts in relationships haunt these places like the scent of alcohol-soaked carpets itself. As such, there's emotional lyrics, such as, "You broke my heart and now I'm lost forever" and the catchy pop-hook of "I lost another beat of my heart" with the support of ahh-ing backing vocals.

Nice. Keeping that indie-disco flame alive with a nearly 90s-dance twist, 'Acapulco & LA' can be downloaded for free and comes from Clubfeet's second album, Heirs & Graces, which is out now.

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NINETOES FINDER

This is old this is old this is old. In terms of the internet anyway. A day-old song might as well be chucked in the bin for all some people care you get me. But when it was released it kind of had the oh-goodness-is-this-song-going-to-bring-the-sun-out vibe that everyone likes at the very start of summer, you know, when it's not quite summer yet. However, now that summer is actually in full swing it really fits and it's really nice.

It's a track called 'Finder' by a man called Ninetoes, from Stuttgart. Sometimes there are meanings behind names. Maybe he actually does have nine toes. Or maybe it's a mispronunciation of the Pokémon Ninetails. The song is a regular fever of calypso rhythms, percussion already frenzied by the time you push the play button. The claps sneak in, as do the deep subby kicks. There's a little taster of something to come, a looped sample of what sounds like some steel drums... and yes. It is. Your prayers are answered.

This wholly Caribbean sound is infectious. It has every bone in your body having a boogie. The melodic hook of the steel drums - which are technically labelled as steel pans from what I remember of steel pan lessons (yep, had em) but we'll leave that by the wayside - moves in an ear-pleasing wave from high to low pitch. But that's not all. More instruments pop in and the melody changes before the final third has the hi-hats clipping at the air like crazed dancers. Synchronised chopped up vocal samples begin to parade around like chanting mouths with dancing feet. You can see the party right in front of you.

And if it isn't a party, then it's just the soundtrack to a bustling holiday resort on a Caribbean island. It's a really great atmosphere, one held in place with images of palm trees and coconuts and cocktails and torches on the beach keeping everyone dancing until the sand wears their legs out and they have to lie down and look up at the unending stars. The expertise of Ninetoes in changing the groove of the song just when each particular part becomes second nature to your brain keeps everything fresh and exciting, like a free bar complete with a barman who can make every cocktail in the world.

I'm dreaming too much. But you understand now: this is a song for summer and summer is here. Celebrate! Um, oh, there's also the Finder EP with some remixes if you'd like to listen to that too (below). It's out on Kling Klong Records btw.

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