THE KNOCKS AND FRED FALKE GERONIMO

The Knocks are a pretty successful (NME say that, together, they are one of the "20 hottest producers in music right now" but what do they know?) electro duo consisting of Ben "B-Roc" Ruttner and James "JPatt" Patterson - I'm sure you knew that already. I wish I had a cool alias like that. R-Tomz?

Only works if you actually make music, I think.

Anyway. They recently collaborated with French producer Fred Falke to create this pretty cool track 'Geronimo', released 23rd July. I say pretty cool because it exudes a minutely disappointing sense of semi-standardness. All the right elements are there, you know, the grinding distorted synth coming on like endless waves of energy, the thumping four-to-the-floor house beat, the now-and-again vocal track howling underneath everything, the half-funk bassline rumbling like a mini-earthquake. But for some reason it's just not doing all that it could.

That's not to say that it isn't a cool track. Cause it is: it's on Kitsuné, for Allah's sake! The French Touch (Fred Falke in this case) is always pretty magic.



The best thing about it actually is the build-up that these guys create. The energy is immense and it's hard not to get even a little bit excited about this track. I love the ruthless hi-hat and the galloping brightness of it all. The funk bassline is also really tasty. But, like I said, although it's good it could be better. Remember: I said minutely disappointing, not terribly or even mildly. Covering my back here.

The video - and if you haven't watched it, do - is also very cool and echoes the absolute unhindered freedom that this song sweats out as it does its hardcore workout in my ears.

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• Here's the Wikipedia page for The Knocks
• The Knocks on Facebook
• Listen to more from The Knocks on their SoundCloud
• The Knocks on Myspace.
• This is the Knocks' official site
• Follow The Knocks on Twitter
• And here's the Wikipedia page for Fred Falke
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MODE MODERNE STRANGE BRUISES EP

Listening to Mode Moderne's new EP Strange Bruises (released on Light Organ Records yesterday, 15th May) is a wonderful experience. It's like travelling back in time on a cloud or a magic carpet. And while you're travelling back, soaring through the skies of the past, the voice of Ian Curtis sounds in the air like a charm or magic amulet. Maybe that's unfair. There's an acrobatic side to the vocals, at times, that is more reminiscent of Morrissey, as in EP opener, 'Nightly Youths'.

Either way, twofold irony and non-irony of a name that means 'modern fashion' is quite a nice touch. It is not modern music as it sounds like the post-rock-synth-pop of the 80s. But it is modern because bending our necks, and ears, back to this era is a trend at the moment. Realising this is like hearing birds sing on a May morning as the trees rustle under the sleepy gaze of a cool sun.

'Guns' is brilliant, displaying the pop-rock sensibilities of the band, sounding like a cross between Joy Division and The Stone Roses - kind of like Editors, too. It's earthy, rich and altogether a joy to listen to (no pun intended). At other times, the sound is entirely a more psychedelic, more cheerful and less darkly lo-fi as Joy Division, as in the flanger-happy earworm breeding 'Private Library' and the agoraphobics' nightmare of a last track, 'Open Air'. This last one really gives a sense of being outside, a kind of warm suburban feel of languishing exploration twinned contrapuntally with a been-there-done-that ennui.



This darker side to Strange Bruises is highlighted by the natural melancholic desperation, which creeps in the crooning vocals, noticeable especially in the aggressive minor vibes of 'Electrocute Me'. This is evident also in some of the painfully contrasting lyrics of the track: "Some things lead something, others lead to nil"; "I apologise, but I wanna die"; and "I cross my legs, uncross my legs, and cross my legs".

Other lyrical statements include the gloriously inane, "Raise your hand for sugar in your tea, raise your hand for luxury" in title track, 'Strange Bruises'. There must be plenty of others, but I cannot quite transcribe all of the lyrics here. It deserves a couple of listens, basically - you catch something new every time.

There's a lot of energy, as shown in most of the songs, but the wall-of-sound, sunny overdrive of 'Foul Weather Fair' is a good illustration, as is the demi-sad 'Electrocute Me'. This is an energetic anti-dirge of a dirge about, I suppose, being in a constant state of two minds over something or other. The refrain that begs "Electrocute me..." is a plaintive cry amidst the jangly distortion of the guitar and it sounds positively, or negatively, great.

It's new new-wave. If you like The Drums, or Editors, and want something that sounds more authentically past-future (or future-past) than both, then get on board with Mode Moderne.

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• It's Mode Moderne, on Myspace!
• And here's their Facebook page
• Their Tumblr site
• Find Mode Moderne on Bandcamp
• You can follow Mode Moderne on Twitter
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NO ARTIFICIAL COLOURS IN THE DEEP

Completely loving this sound at the moment I could just sink in sublime and explore these super melodies like a scuba diver in some coral or the deepest waters man I love it. It's house (House) but not as it has always been. This is No Articifical Colours.

Laden with heaps of groove, the song below 'In The Deep' is but a mere taster of their beat-driven sensibilities. When not being No Artificial Colours, the two people that make it up are known in the real world as Ryan Ellis (23) and Lewis Wright (26). Both relatively young, to an old tree or the earth perhaps, they started making music when they started playing the same nights ("We should stop meeting like this" - that kind of thing), after which they realised their musical tastes were pretty in synch. With a debut EP, Welcome To The Jungle, out at the beginning of this year, they have another one out tomorrow but technically today (25th October) which is called Street Knowledge.

'In The Deep' is actually not on the EP but is a great song nonetheless. Perfect for night time. And it got put up only a few hours ago too.



The groove is created by the simplest of things, things which take a very fine-tuned ear to figure out sometimes - there's just that extra tap on the hi-hat at the end of each bar that is the equivalent of a spring in someone's step. Not that you see someone walking down the road looking particularly happy and say "Wow they sure are grooving today" - not at all, but you must understand what I mean. The sample is unidentifiable which in my mind makes it better.

It's house, it's deep, there are some modulating synths and samples popping up like friendly ghosts, and there is a progression towards a final segment that adds in yet more depth. Perfect for chilling, but perfect for dancing too. Like chicken - perfect for a salad, but also great for a ceylon curry. But please don't think I equate these two things together; it's just an analogy.

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You can catch No Artificial Colours playing FABRIC on 6th November
• Listen to much more No Artificial Colours on SoundCloud
• Also you should follow them on Twitter
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PAPA I AM THE LION KING

This is the swaggery single from California-based trio, PAPA, prepped just ahead of their latest release, A Good Woman Is Hard To Find, scheduled for release on 4th October.

Fronted by ex-Girls drummer Darren Weiss, PAPA are a force made up of jangling soul and punky attitude - mainly in the sharp, choppy, entirely coastal guitar sounds shown especially in this new single, 'I Am The Lion King'. With vocals that are as smooth as they are casual and confident, and a high-pitched guitar lick that hits all the right places, it's a great number that leaves me waiting for October.

Have a listen below and let me know what you think. It starts off like it might be a nearly generic electro song, but quickly bounds into something far more substantial, a glittering tune that is aiming to send Weiss, along with bandmates Danny Presant and Sean O'Brien, sailing into your brains.




• Listen to more on PAPA's Myspace page
• Check the PAPA official site
• Follow them on Twitter

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KAP BAMBINO OBSESS

This is the video for Kap Bambino's new single 'Obsess', taken in advance of their latest album Obsess which is chalked for release of October this year. There's a while yet.

Directed by Carl Burgess, this is a little showcase of some actors showing a wide range of emotions - perhaps in reaction to the song or perhaps not - I found out from Creative Review. But direction aside, the song is a loud electro-fest founded on a sweeping modulation of scratchy synth whilst ADHD hollow keyboard arpeggiates above during the chorus. It's a galloping number, something that stands out against a lot of music at the moment that is reverting backwards to 80s, even 60s nostalgia - Kap Bambino stick to their guns and electrify the air, producer Orion Bouvier providing the slightly askew mechanical metallic sound and Caroline Martial yelling with such engaging power that it's impossible not to listen.

Here it is:


Are you still sitting down? I'm not.

• Listen to more Kap Bambino on their Myspace
• Check out their official site
• And follow them on Twitter

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TROPICS MOUVES VIDEO

This is new video for Chris Ward's superchilled dance/lounge project, Tropics. I touched on these guys whilst I was at Glastonbury (the glory of scheduled posts) and will be posting up some live recordings of their set.

For the moment, let's focus on the video for new song 'Mouves' (released this Monday 18th July) - premiered on The Fader, it was directed by Japanese director Yasuyuki Kubota and features two men running through the streets and forests of Japan, eventually into the sea. Seemingly innocent enough, especially when put to Tropics' wonderful sounds, the enigmatic Kubota insists it's something more:

There you have it. Though these messages must be buried pretty deep within the video itself, it's still a really nice concept - the flowing nature of Chris Ward's Fourtet-like liquid synths and softly galloping drums suits these running men perfectly as they ignore the hustle and bustle of their country, and even the country itself, getting lost in the pure escapism of their travels.


• Listen to Tropics on SoundCloud
• Follow Tropics on Twitter
• And find out more about Yasuyuki Kubota

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D DOUBLE E FEAT DIZZEE RASCAL BLUKU! BLUKU!

This is the new, eye-wateringly glitchy video from grime D Double E for his new song 'Bluku! Bluku!' featuring the now-veteran Dizzee Rascal, putting the punch back into the lulling genre.

Like dubstep bathed in fuzzy synth under the light of eternal swagger, the song is bursting at the seams with high-octane pulled-punch bars from D Double E, a dark, nearly violent undertone running through with aggressive, late-night, wet-tarmac sentiment - and with the repeated war cry of "Bluku! Bluku!" this song is big, bad, and it means business.

It's been a long time since Dizzee's dazzling debut, Boy In Da Corner, yet we're still reeling from it. Arguably one of the best pieces of raw grime made in the last 10 years, it's still a cornerstone of comparison for his later work, and his feature spot on D Double E's latest, unusual effort is no exception. He spits as if he's fresh from his first effort, and it's wonderful to hear his voice in a more raw environment than his latest releases have offered.

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FIXERS SWIMMHAUS JOHANNESBURG

Oxford band Fixers had this great song debuted on Zane Lowe's show last week. Touted by NME as "a cartoon Animal Collective", the sounds of the band scream to be remixed, having been given the once-over by the D/R/U/G/S, Memory Tapes and Chad Valley amongst others so far - they're pretty new to the scene and already making friends, which is nice.

Strangely named 'Swimmhaus Johannesburg' is a crazed mix of synth that sounds straight out of the amazing 1992 game for SNES Top Gear, late 90s piano-led house music, a beat that couldn't be more solid if it tried, and the strange euphoric atmosphere of a dark sweaty hotel nightclub - the kind of place where the music seems to come from another world.



Fixers' latest offering is nothing but otherworldly. It's as if aliens looked at the music of pop culture over the last 20-something years and put this all together in a mixing pot. Starting which a distorted guitar Black Betty against a backdrop of tumbling tropical toms, that classic rave piano chord struck on the offbeat comes in, coupled with a drawn out virtuoso synth sound that reverberates in your skull. Soon we are at the chorus, where the vocals though slightly thin lead the song forward accompanied by a host of 'aaah's in the background, and a boiling kettle schizoid synth sound gathers energy as it rises up towards the next break. All the while a disco bassline crunches deeply behind the madness.

There's a lot going on in the song, all coming to a head when the chorus jumps out of the verse to raise you up out of your seats and off the ground it seems. It's very ADHD, jumping from a Duran Duran-style breakdown one minute to a ravey comedown the next; heavily layered, energetic and progressively electro-rock-disco enough to be more than just a quirk, it's not exactly something that you can listen to without an aural doubletake.

• Listen to Fixers on SoundCloud
• Or their Myspace
• Check their official site
• And follow them on Twitter

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MELLOWHYPE 64

Hip-hop for a Tuesday night. Listened to it on the train. I'd never heard of MellowHype before Pictureplane tweeted about - and I'm glad he did. This is a little alternative hip-hop duo, made up of Hodgy Beats and Left Brain, both members OFWGKTA - the hip-hop/rap collective headed by Tyler, The Creator.

Better known as simply Odd Future (or if you want it all, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All), this group of talented young producers, rappers, and singers (numbering over 60, according to Tyler) is characterised by a love of making music. Generally populated by dark lyrics - as emphasised by Tyler, The Creator's 'Bastard' if I was going to recommend one - these young guys may be going over the top for the sake of it, but if the name of the collective is anything to go by, they have a 'fuck you' attitude. In the nicest possible way.

Here's a song from MellowHype called 'CopKiller' - it features another Odd Future rapper, 17-year-old Earl Sweatshirt (real name Thebe Kgositstile) who is currently being held back in his music career by his mother. No joke. Have a listen. The bass is unreal, supporting the unusual start stop flanging synth, and overall sounding like not much rap that's floating around at the moment. Earl's 'fuck you' (or 'fuck school'?) attitude is heard in his section, starting around two thirds of the way through; lines like "Now I'm transitioning from class clown to cash cow" give you an idea of that mindset.

CopKiller (feat. Earl Sweatshirt) - MellowHype

The image above left is is taken from the video for CopKiller. Is it really that wrong to discover things through Twitter? Eugh. Anyway.

Here are two other songs to top it all off. One commentator on the YT page put it so well that I won't even bother trying to top it.

That's basically it. And that's exactly what you get below. '65' is so chilled, a complete lean back number. The beats, courtesy of Left Brain, are nothing short of sheer genius. It's sounds like this that redeem hip-hop, and put it securely back in its place as one of the most creative genres out there at the moment, allowing for influences from everywhere, and allowing - perhaps even moreso - a perfect outlet for venting any frustrations with words. But yes, "listen to this, and then 64 in order."



And here is the fantastically visceral '64', filled with spooky saw wave synth sounds, vicious vocals, and some mean beats. There's anger and intelligence, but at the same time there's the same feeling of tongue-in-cheek in this as there is in grime - it's finally all coming together.

Only released online (uploaded to YT basically) on Sunday, 12th June, this is pushing over 200k views already - but that's superficial.

The video itself is a bit odd, and this added with the nature of the video, the nature of the sounds, and of the dark lyrics, add up to almost encompass a small part of the spirit of witch house. Witch-hop? Is that allowed? Listen for yourself.



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