TRIM NOTICE NOW (EONE'S RAIDERS OF THE LOST DARK REFIX)

I came back and then I went away again then came back again and disappeared for like a week but here I am. Yes, I have proverbially returned. It has been a chilled time but all chills must come to an end – one cannot chill forever. And although I posted a new track on New Year's Day ('Everything Happens To You' by miii) it was kind of a stand-alone thing. So now here's something to properly start 2014. It's something dark and stormy and it's from the Brighton producer himself, Eone.

Whilst it's not an original, it shows an interesting side to this man's sound. When I first stumbled across his sounds, I was under the impression that he made a dark brand of techno and only that, but after I listened to his guest mix for YES/NO it was clear that his tastes and influences ran wider and deeper than I'd imagined – grime and hip hop played a large part in his musical repertoire. And it's displayed most of all in this newest track, something old rediscovered and uploaded – as such, it's new. A refix of 'Notice Now' by rapper Trim, previously part of super grime collective Roll Deep, Eone injects the track – previously an electronically charged number with dubstep flavours – with a new bass-laden ethnic ornamentation.

Trim's swarthy, plosive vocals are extracted from the original's zeitgeistical dubstep surroundings and placed in a deep creeping basement of shadowy reverb, where an atonal, grimey bassline leads into bristling swathes of percussion – shakers, drums, tinny hits, a waterfall of sound that gives this essentially urban medium of art a faraway exotic twist, something from another dimension almost. And it reminds me a little bit of the music for Hazy Maze Cave from Super Mario 64 – man I'm just listening to it now and it's almost a perfect match. The name is really nice too: 'Raiders of the Lost Dark'.

Anyway, it shows another side to Eone and one that I hope he'll revisit soon, cause I know this is an old song. Perhaps these flavours will be revitalised, and perhaps there'll be more remixes/fixes like this, too. Bye-bye!

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GOLD PANDA WE WORK NIGHTS

Since I was for some reason unable to share the embed code from SoundCloud for this lovely song, I had to get one from a static video. Who is a fan of static videos? Is SoundCloud not... like... better than that? Sound quality goes down a little I think but... whatever. What am I waffling for? In any case here is a new song, a more-than-a-week-old-so-everybody-who-wants-to-hear-it-has-probably-heard-it song, so this is like the, I dunno, like a reminder that the song still exists. My apologies for not being more "on it" or "knowledgable".

Here is an image also, not from the current song specifically but I think it has something to do with the upcoming album. Upcoming what, you say? Album. Yes, Gold Panda has a new album coming out. It is called Half Of Where You Live and it is out 10th June on Ghostly International. Exciting.

It is seemingly the second song to seep off the new album, the first being the subliminally-geared 'Brazil', and - if these two are anything to go by - the album should be a very nice listen indeed. This song is called 'We Work Nights' - a reference perhaps to people who make music... at night?

Using various sampled sounds and instruments to the background sound of a babbling brook or something equally watery (could just be a turntable sound), G Panda shows us his pure and smooth vision of a very liquid soundscape. The various noises merge into one another, cascade together over a beat that is built like a Lego house - one new sound at a time. As soon as we get used to the gloriously hip-hop stop-start strings that underpin everything, we have a harp undulating like actual magic and something else stringy and bendy, something Oriental-sounding.

It builds up into a mystical misty mountain kinda sound, water vapour rising from trees and birds combing the skies in sweeping arcs, that kinda sound. A very lush song, with a break like a diving off a waterfall into a pool before resurfacing into the exotic medley of sounds that G Panda has created. It is fresh and it is a very evocative song that paints pictures and gently tugs at your imagination to work. Very nice. Is that ok? Looking forward to album.

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2 SONGS FROM RAINBOW ARABIA

I like Rainbow Arabia. Their remix featured on Health's Disco2 of 'Before Tigers' is an interesting one - not my favourite, but it spurred me on to have a look at Rainbow Arabia themselves. And I was happy with what I found.

They seem to be a source of contention, as you can see from these comments on YouTube - are they liked? Unliked? Seems pretty mixed to me. The sheer mix of comments is pretty fitting too; they're a mixed up duo with a mixed up sound. They're actually a married couple from Los Angeles, Danny and Tiffany Preston. I got the impression they were from Lebanon, because of a story about the inspiration behind the music, told by Danny - "It wasn’t until we ordered an Arabic Casio from a Lebanese website that Rainbow Arabia was formed."

So you see why I thought that. It's also because their sound is so un-LA, un-USA, and so much more world, ethnic, tribal. They sound a bit like MIA, though like MIA blended up with a more lo-fi, experimental sound. They're certainly brave in how they make their music, pioneering weird sounds in microtonal synths, Eastern beats, and conjuring soundscapes that transport you from wherever you are to somewhere mad, somewhere that might not even exist. The video below for 'OMAR K' is bizarre.


Starting with tribal drums that carry on throughout, a spooky, ska-like, melody bounces around over the top as Tiffany's echoing voice calls you up to dance like a Dervish, or more likely just move like crazy. The video, in which Tiffany and a little girl with a tomahawk transform into bloodthirsty monsters with beards and fangs, suits the song totally. This is Rainbow Arabia's sound; carefree, brash, and full of energy. The next song, 'Without You' - taken from Boys and Diamonds (released March 1st, 2011) shows off a more new-wave influence.


Touching sounds, and lyrics tinged with the fear of being "so lonely", are contrasted against the tribal beats which typify Rainbow Arabia. From the video you can see how much the Prestons enjoy the music they make. And this is the key behind the songs they make.

Their passion creates a kind of transcendental sound; you can feel their energy and love of music in every single song. If you're a fan of MIA (the only coherent comparison I can make) I would very much recommend this lovely band to you. Well, at least I hope they have brightened up this grey Sunday evening.

Listen on SoundCloud or Myspace.

Or follow on Twitter...

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