KERO KERO BONITO SICK BEAT

Kero Kero Bonito. That's their name. 'Kero kero' (or 'gero gero' if you like) is the noise a Japanese frog makes (FYI: dogs go 'wan wan' not 'woof woof', also). Bonito is like... bonito tuna. Maybe? Is it? Kero Kero Bonito (ケロケロボニト). KKB. That's it. It is a group of three people from London (ENGLAND) called Sarah, Gus and Jamie and they make music. Nice music.

I stumbled across this song, called 'Sick Beat', thanks to someone on Twitter. I listened and instantly liked it. There are many likeable things about this song. However, I believe that the use of Japanese in songs, or samples from Super Mario 64, won't be for everybody: but they are for me. It is nevertheless a really cool song with a really nice message. There's a rap in it, interchanging Japanese and English, expounding the idea that girls can play videogames without the stigma of being a 'girl gamer' - it shouldn't even be an idea. Just don't be surprised that girls play games too, what's so difficult about that?

Anyway. Let's listen together〜

Starting with an amazingly utilised sample of the "ba ba ba ba ba ba" from Mario 64, the song launches into mildly swaggery beat whilst Sarah of KKB raps nonchalantly in Japanese, chucking in some English phrases for childhood references, mentioning Tomb Raider and Windows 98, all the way to the chorus which is where the heart of the song lies. It's a really catchy hook, not to mention clever in its lyrics; beginning with a challenge - "Whichever console you play / no matter how many hours a day / I could win at any game / Whether you're a boy or a girl or a supercomputer" - ending with a lament of more "girly" pursuits - "It's often said / I should get some girly hobbies instead / but that thought fills me with dread / I'm not into sewing, baking, dressmaking, not-eating, bitching, submitting [?]"

That's all done in pleasant layered vocals to the tune of some fizzing bass synth that plunks alongside marching snare drums. From the middle, the rap gets a spotlight whilst the beat lays in wait for its part in the sample-infused finale of the song. It's a straightforward like indie pop rap kinda vibe with additional appeal for its get-em-if-you-can, gotta-catch-em-all references, and the heavy investment in Japanese language. In style, it kinda reminds me of the cutesy rap that may.e did a while back, but for me, the fact that it's from England is both exciting and praiseworthy. What a global world we now live in!

This btw comes from Kero Kero Bonito's upcoming mixtape Intro Bonito out 30th September.

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CLARA MOTO HOW WE LIVE IN EACH OTHER

Last month I probably should've written about Clara Moto's new EP, Joy Departed, but instead I just wrote about one of the songs from it called 'Disposable Darling'. This was essentially a slice of techno infused with pop sensibilities, kind of like sitting the Techno Viking down and dressing him up in more fashionable clothes (putting a T-shirt on, for starters) and teaching him about pop hooks and things. Something like that. Anyway, it was nice.

And again, there's something really nice from Clara Moto, the Berlin-dwelling Austrian: 'How We Live In Each Other'. This is one of the songs from her upcoming album called Blue Distance, out 4th November on InFiné records. It is named after a phrase used by Sylvia Plath in her poem 'Years'. Quite a beautiful poem don't you think? I wonder why she chose that particular phrase from that particular poem from that particular poet. Who knows, not I. Not I. But the meanings behind things, as fascinating as they are, do not get us listening to a song, do they? So please, click play below and get stuck into the all-encompassing 'How We Live In Each Other'.

It is a song of two halves, which is something I really like anyway so she's already got points for that. The first half is an unnerving wash of sound that summons an atmosphere that is dark and unnerving. Images of trees shaking in the wind, something suffocating at the same time, disturbing almost. Synth blips pulse in and out like something from the future. Rainstick sounds ebb and flow. A gusty set of wildly reverbing piano chords play their morose melody. It's really atmospheric. Maybe it's a reflection of the song's title, the suffocating nature of a too-close relationship or something. I'm sure there are other explanations.

And then the vocals come in, I think they are Clara's own, leading the charge of the pretty brutal beat that barges in belligerently with a big boom. Yeah it's aggressive and ballsy, like any good techno beat should be, but leaving aside genre-specificity it's safe to say that it's great. The punchy kick with its two-tone flavour, bouncy - almost reversed - in one instance and rumbling in another; the snare with its mighty slap-sound, like a punch sound effect from an old action movie. Going back to the vocals for a second, their melody is dark and almost eastern-sounding, they pierce in like something from the future, something foreboding. They drip with a kind of straight-talking trance-like vibe. How great are the things that Clara Moto is doing, right? Genre-bending. Is it techno is it this is it pop is it what. It's experimental techno pop probably or something like that.

Anyway, will probs write about some more of her songs before the album release. Keep an eye out yo.

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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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METOME TAKE THIS LOVE

I wrote about this fantastic Japanese producer Metome last month, when I stumbled across his brilliant song 'Water Cycle' - a whirlwind of artfully whizzing vocal samples that was like eating a whole bag of Tangfastics but without the feeling of guilt/fullness that comes after that physical ingestion: tangy stuff.

So it is with pleasure that I wholeheartedly welcome his latest track, 'Take This Love'. Even though the song's title is imperatively commanding, it is only Metome who is doing the commanding - yeah that's right. And he again commands vocal samples as if they are so many Pikmin, just as colourful and helpful to the general vibe of the song that, without them, it would feel a little washed out. But that isn't to say that the rest of the music isn't fab - it just wouldn't FEEL like Metome without that sampling prowess.

This also is quite exciting because I do believe it comes as the first release from an upcoming EP that Metome is working on. And that just means more exquisite music. But for now let us all have a nice little listen to this track eh.

It is completely lush. Glitchy beats gently saunter around, like a small rowboat on a huge sea of sub-bass writhing slowly beneath it. Electric piano warms the heart. The vocal sample - "Take this love..." - comes and goes, toyed with and pushed up and down octaves, sped up and super-slowed down. A saxophone sample gives this the ultimate lounge music vibe. More wordless vocal samples fall like droplets of the feelings of a romance you'll never forget.

And we are privileged to navigate it via Metome's ingenious dynamism, which flows organically like currents. He takes the right breaks in the right places, leaving it sparse where it needs to be, and showering it with breaths of feeling in other places. A genreless slice of dreamworld. This producer is a fantastic addition to the world of music and if you don't like it, even a little bit, then you are mad.

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FOREST SWORDS THE WEIGHT OF GOLD

Over a month ago we heard the fabuloso 'Thor's Stone' by the rather esoteric Forest Swords, a song beset by wild bamboo flutes with more than a little what's-in-the-woods-? mystique about it. Today we have more delights from this experimental British artist, whose music conjures foggy marshlands or murky forests where clusters of ghost lights float panicked ahead of something truly strange and unknown in the unseen depths of nature, in the very trees themselves, in the water, in the air. The grass is cold and wet. The paths are muddy. Britain is an ancient forest swimming in bogs. Huge angry clouds crouch over the land forever.

That's the kind of vibe you get from past songs and also their latest tracks - and the delight I was speaking of today, 'The Weight Of Gold' plays up to the heaviness implied by its title. And it certainly doesn't skimp on the brutal mysticism that seems to emanate from this sound like curling smoke. It's there all the time, hanging in the air. Hear fo yoself.

The song announces itself as an existence in and of itself with distorted horns, the atmosphere conjured with plucked overdriven stringed-something-or-other and scuttling percussion that is both huge and raw. It pounds away, clacking woodblocks against dull-yet-explosive taiko-sounding drums. Sub-bass creeps in from somewhere, giving a nonchalant groove to a wholly non-nonchalant sound. Beginning at the final third of the song, the high-pitched strings play a cyclical melody, summoning the final push that seems to burst forth from the very earth itself, scraping and distorted completely unintelligible/inhuman vocals that reverb and echo as if travelling through twisted jagged caves to get to your ears.

That beat. Wow. It kills your ears but it's kinda gloriously satisfying, that thud of a drum booming, sounding closer to your heart than something more electro-based. It's a tatty kind of sound, rough-around-the-edges, like the kind of paper you'd stain with tea, crumple up, rub with dirt and burn holes in when you were younger to make a treasure map. It's faux-mystic, of course, cause you can't very well record true sounds of unearthly things, but you can whisk your imagination away to a landscape that shudders heavy with meaning and magic.

This is the second song to come from Forest Swords' upcoming DEBUT ALBUM Engravings out 26th August on Tri Angle records.

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VULKANO VISION TRICKS [VIDEO]

Things don't always have to bright and sunny. Certainly not. Because they're not always bright and sunny; day gives way to night. It's normal yo. So a little bit of dark is alright sometimes. And in terms of sound too. If bright soundscapes give you images of melting endless summer days, dark ones evoke more shadowy or sometimes nocturnal scenery. Obviously.

As such, as the sun sets on another broiling hot day in South East England, the soundtrack for this still and twilit evening comes from Stockholm duo Vulkano. Comprised of Lisa Pyk-Wirström (keyboards/other things) and Cissi Efraimsson (drums/vocals), Vulkano's sounds in their song 'Vision Tricks' perfectly suit this time of day, when things can seem to appear from nowhere and glimmer in front of your eyes.

It's got the same darkly appealing atmosphere as The Cure's 'A Forest', but of course this is its own thing. It oozes an uncomfortable dark feeling without reverting to a wholly lo-fi sound as some who saunter down this route do, instead boasting an polished yet earthy pulse.

Listen to it via this video.

What you first notice is that bass. It sure is meaty. Gives just enough thickness of sound whilst picking out a melody, so heavy sounding that it could have been played on telephone wire for all I know. The melody harbours a grim edge and gives an impression of something foreboding, Nice nice nice. Its partner is a set of raw drums, who keep a steady beat throughout; snare rich and rattling, dull thuds for kicks. Later they roll and rollick in the choruses, provide a riotous clash of cymbals for the break. A strong foundation.

Cissi's vocals are yelping and affected, seeming to actually come as a warning - she even sings imploringly "I know it's out there..." (is it BOB?) There's something chilling about them, perhaps in the way that they echo starkly against the empty space in the song that's left over. Luminescent keyboard sounds that wail quietly all around appearing like kitsunebi (ghost lights), disconcerting fairy-lights. Altogether it's quite an enveloping sound.

It's actually their first ever ever single (from what I have yet to find out) and it's out officially on 29th July.

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CORY JREAMZ HOWL [VIDEO]

It's been a while since we've heard from Cory Jreamz - for those who don't know, this young guy is an up-and-coming rapper from Houston, Texas. You could call it alternative rap, but it's quite difficult to compare Mr Jreamz to anybody in particular: he is his own creation. Which is a very good thing.

Last time the world heard from him it was at the end of last year with his Vague Current Vivid Fated EP, four songs that run through the fantasies and frustrations of youth. I wrote about it - check it out.

Now he's back with a new song: 'Howl'. Alongside sharing its name with Allen Ginsberg's iconic and "obscene" poem - a frantic and wordy shout to the world - Cory Jreamz has peppered it with lyrics that reference other art-world-related things, such as trying to be "better than Ernest Hemingway" and putting a "black man in the MoMa". It overflows with the desire to create art, dismissing those who dismiss this desire as a pipe dream with a suggestion: "stick it up your anus".

You can even see this intense attitude in the video; Jreamz directs his diatribal one-liners at the camera, keen and fervid.

Aside from CJ's voice itself, whose words strike and reverberate poignantly, the music itself is biting and affective. Experimental at heart, a barely decipherable beat hides itself behind these fluidly rippling sounds, a watery, dreamlike feel to them. An occasional bassline almost gets the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. An eastern-like twanging of a stringed instrument boils in the background, a cycle of sharp sounds to go with the growl of the vocals. It's a heavy atmosphere.

It's a nicely unique sound, one that's genuinely a sonic howl into the air, a short statement of intent to the world - and I'm glad it's coming from someone like Cory Jreamz, a thoughtful and thinking guy standing on the fringes of rap and hip hop looking to external influences for inspiration, expanding his mind. We'll be hearing his next single, 'Swim' on 1st August, after which we'll be looking forward to his album The Lonely Painter, expected later this year.

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THESE NEW PURITANS FRAGMENT TWO

Hey, oh my gosh, it's These New Puritans, which is really exciting because I honestly thought that we weren't gonna hear anything from them ever again. A defeatist thought, yes, but now I'm even happier that they're back. They're back! Imagine that. Anyway, I loved their first album Beat Pyramid (2008) and also their second album Hidden; the sound between these two albums changed drastically from a distinctly stylised esoterically worded beat-driven indie band, to something more symphonic, still highly stylised and - although I hate to use this word - 'arty'.

It seems with this new release, 'Fragment Two', that we may be seeing a blend of out-there-unexpected-artiness and something a little more conventional - kind of a happy medium between the first and second album. Their new album is called Field of Reeds (out 10th June) and the title is kind of interesting for me. This is because I heard a few years ago from an interview with 'band leader' Jack Barnett that he wanted to write an opera about the islands of the Thames Estuary: their upcoming album may be that opera. But who knows. Maybe that was a pipe dream.

Anyway, on to the song.

The meaty meaty piano in the song is very 'them' (as are, as ever, the softly-spoken vocals), it sounds like a logical not-too-far departure from their last album. The way that the bass and drums then are led by this piano bashing is pretty nice - I like how everything fits in; even the backwards-organ-type-sounds that arise keep with that same rhythm. Mainly, I love how everything is just slightly off-centre - it's not standard by any means, but it's wonderfully squiffy - different instruments come in when you're not expecting it, the snare snaps exactly when you think it won't. Lovely. It builds to a climax, with some kind of horn instrument playing a truncated solo, bass notes rumbling. There is also a cheeky reverb on the snare drum every now and again.

It is quirky and I like it quite a lot. It wasn't what I was expecting, but then again nor was Hidden what I was expecting. Is avant-garde too strong? Yeah maybe. Let's just say that this song is refreshing. Like a new cuisine. Not like a peach cooler.

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VISITOR RNB

Wow. The epicality of this radical track by Visitor is just too much to bear. It's certainly pretty cool, and definitely something that I will look forward to hearing more of. Before you even listen to the music, the artwork to the right of this silly bit of writing will tell you that: yes, this will be a good track. It will be. Just look at it. Of course it will be. Why would anybody spend time creating a cool little graphic like that for music that is no good?

So this is 'RNB' by Visitor. They got a bit of traction recently when Jacques Lu Cont who included them in a mini-mix for Annie Mac - perfect when their EP, Coming Home // RNB, is due for launch on 10th September. This will come ahead of a full album launch - details of which I'm sure will come our way soon.

Onto the song itself. It seems to be aligned with the style of retro 80s-ness that is permeating a lot of electronic music at the moment - especially any of the songs associated with the wonderful film Drive. All the right elements are there: we have that rigid bass synth fuzzing in the background, a bit of standing-on-a-cliff guitar solo stuff, the couldn't-be-anything-but-80s drums, some hollow flute synth hopping around over the top, and most importantly - glittering, mood-making bells.



Second-half of the song seems to, using the same sounds, become more of a majestically huge, electronic pop-rock ballad. The vocals are powerfully catchy and exude a sense of the dreaded sing-a-long - not dreaded really, but I just liked the way that sounded. All in all a track to enjoy and headbang to whilst playing some games on the Sega Megadrive or reminiscing about The NeverEnding Story. Or just rocking out in your own private dreamworld. Love this. What an atmosphere it makes!

Like it? Then remember: Visitor Coming Home // RNB EP out 10th September.

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TAMARYN I'M GONE

Good morning. To start the day, I've got a pretty song from a beautiful singer: 'I'm Gone' by Tamaryn. She's New Zealandish (is that right?) born and bred, but moved to San Fransisco at some point to pursue the rosy path of music. It's not a bad life at all is it? Maybe that's why her music is so ear-friendly. Easy-listening. But not in a picture book kind of way. More in a grand impressionist painting kind of way.

You just know from first look, first listen, that it's a pulchritudinous thing. I think that's a good way to describe this song. It's actually a kind of sound that isn't insanely happy, it's more sadly content than that. It reminds me of an overcast day by the sea, the wind blustering along the dirt-coloured beach and the sea with its shade of dark teal and brown whipping its washes in the near-distance. You walking along in a raincoat and hair tangling around your face, hoping for a sunny day at the beach but preparing for the dismal seaside experience.

Perhaps this is just because I am used to a day by the sea anywhere in the UK. It's kind of beautiful in a disappointing way, isn't it?

Not like this song. It's beautiful in a pretty way. But judging from the title, it's supposed to sound like a grey day at the beach. 1-0 me.


Nice, isn't it?

I totally dig the lazy laid-back psychedelic effects on the guitars and the lo-fi, 80s-esque drums. All of it pours over you like a stream of liquid nitrogen, chillingly hypnotic with its distorted sounds and Tamaryn's voice, purring and crooning in the midst of the clashing guitars. The track is a chasm of absence and loneliness out of which this blissfully aching dreampop sound erupts.

It comes from her upcoming second album Tender New Signs, due for release on 16th October on Mexican Summer records. She's collaborated on this on with longtime collaborater-producer Rex John Shelverton. And if it's all like this, I'll be looking forward to it.

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SBTRKT GLOSS

Anyone who's anyone has heard at least one song from SBTRKT's 2011 self-titled debut album. Those selfsame people probably loved that song.

It was probably 'Wildfire'.

Nothing wrong with that. Great song. Great album. Now we can see that, thanks to a new track released yesterday, that it's completely consistent.

The release of this great new track is SoundCloud-only, as far as I know or just for the moment. Either way that doesn't detract (or subtract, ha ha) away from the fact that the song, titled 'Gloss', is pure gold. It's a real El Dorado of sound. It's very different what SBTRKT, real name Aaron Jerome (but who cares? As he says, "let the music speak for itself"), has put out before. It's purely instrumental, for starters, and that marks quite a big difference to the self-titled album in that most if not all the tracks feature vocals. But please correct me if I'm wrong.

Instrumental is a good way to go. Lack of vocals = no what-does-this-song-mean pretension. Gives you time to focus on the sound of the actual song. And this is what SBTRKT does with seeming effortlessness and a clear, pure joy for the creation of sounds.



It's wonderful. Sounds a bit like Gold Panda, but then it doesn't. That deep, melodic sub-bass rumbling throughout is something that I think is quite recognizable. But then again, what do I know? The song just sounds brilliant. The beat with all its schizoid snare and screeching distorted synths like alien cicadas aching in a sharp and vivid night etched with equatorial heat against pulses from synth pads as mellow as they are a warm breeze flowing through the whole thing. It's beautiful. Glitch house ambient.

One comment on SoundCloud said that it "feels like swimming over clouds". Couldn't agree more. It's all about the music.

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SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO A SPECIES OUT OF CONTROL

Simian Mobile Disco don't often fail to please. Since 2007's massively sensitive to the electro zeitgeist Attack Decay Sustain Release, there hasn't been anything that's grabbed me. Well, there was 'Audacity of Huge' and '10000 Horses Can't Be Wrong' but I wasn't compelled to listen to the album, Temporary Pleasure, any more in depth than those two songs. Bad of me, yes probably.

But here we are. It's 2012. Five years since Simian Mobile Disco busted out onto the scene at the same time as other acts like Justice. And I think it's pretty fair to say they're back. Their new album, Unpatterns, is a pretty joyous aural treat. Give it a listen if you still have time for electro house in your busy life.

One song on the album with which I am particularly enamoured at the moment is 'A Species Out Of Control'. It's a fabulous track, something between a study of layering and tension, and an experiment with modulation and filters. They're certainly come a long way since 'Hustler'...



The way the song builds up is really great, starting as something that could be something as simple as a Flash game soundtrack, quickly becoming much, much bigger than that. There are many parts to this song, each succumbing to the weight of more distortion or a more complex beat as it progresses through its 5 minute 18 second duration.

Although I think the action stops a little soon and abruptly, like an rhubarb crumble that lacks crumble, the chilled ambience at the end of the song - along with the kick still kicking and the bassline still bassing fuzzily in the background - is a good way to end it all. Bravo and hooray.

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• Hey, Simian Mobile Disco are documented on Wikipedia!
• Hey, it's their official site!
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SACRED CAVES ON THE OUTSIDE

This is the sound of Sacred Caves. It's simple, but not simplistic, vast, but not overwhelming, electro, but electro. It is electro. Pure and lovely. Like a pot of jam, it's the kind of thing you'll keep and use occasionally.

The song is called 'On The Outside'. Its success lies in its catchy bass melody, which is absolutely unchanging throughout. In the chorus parts, where a gloriously understated voice calls from what feels like a thousand miles away, sharp synth rises up like shark fins piercing a placid sea. They do nothing more than that, however. But then again, sometimes seeing the whole shark is a bit too much, don't you think?

Overall, though, the sound - with its full-bodied beats and psychic phantom harmonies - is fresh like a mint julep, and is a promising little taster that comes from their forthcoming EP, Sanctuarium, out July 31st (hausKat records).



Sacred Caves comes from the minds and souls of Greg Bertens and Nyles Lannon.

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• SACRED CAVES OFFICIAL SITE - I am so DOWN with their aesthetics
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MARCONI UNION BROKEN COLOURS

Marconi Union have an album coming out June 18th this year. Judging by this song, 'Broken Colours', it's going to be a collective anthem of beautiful sounds and such utter chill that you won't even know which way to lean or recline, a completely legitimate anthology of ambient prettiness.

The song is slow and has at its core a never ending wash of sound, warm and fuzzy, like a teddy bear, but like a teddy bear which is actually a vast ghost that is nowhere and is intangible. It's a study in dynamics and build-up, going from understated, almost tidal sounds, to a busy, bustling highway filled with delicate synth sounds. A busy afterlife, the plane beyond: an ever-shining limbo of electronica.

Underneath it all there's this muffled, metronomic dub-like beat, carrying with it the gentlest bass sounds and a snare that comes only every so often, but reverberates as if it would go on echoing forever.

It's the perfect kind of music for the weather we are currently experiencing in London. A fluid sound to wash over us like an ethereal sprinkler as we melt in the glory of the sun, languidly going about our lives in the oneness of the heat. What an illustration of the friendly sun! 'Broken Colors' is a wonderful effort from the Manchester-based Marconi Union, and I am anticipating their album very gladly. More than that, I hope that the weather will continue to match these skyward, totemic and all-encompassing sounds of vast comfort.

Listen for yourself below.



They are a very relaxing group. In fact, a little Google threw up this article on the Telegraph's site. Have a read. But for the moment, enjoy this quote:

Boffins say the eight minute track, called Weightless, is so effective at inducing sleep it should not be listened to while driving.

Manchester trio Marconi Union worked with sound therapists to create the soothing tune, which also slows breathing and reduces brain activity.

Scientists played the song to 40 women and found it to be more effective at helping them relax than songs by Enya, Mozart and Coldplay.

The study - commissioned by bubble bath and shower gel firm Radox Spa - found the song was even more relaxing than a massage, walk or cup of tea.

Nuff said.

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• Marconi Union's OFFICIAL SITE
• Follow Marconi Union on Twitter
• Find out more about them on Wikipedia
• ... And they're still on Myspace.
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SLUGABED DEPTH PERCEPTION

Who is Slugabed? I wasn't too sure until about a week ago. But since then I have had the bass sounds from his wonderful song 'Depth Perception' echo in my bones, shaking like brittle china in the wake of the earthquake beats.

This comes from his new EP, Sun Too Bright Turn It Off, which was released 24th October. It's being released on label Ninja Tune, Slugabed - real name Gregory Feldwick (Slugabed is something his mum used to call him) - having moved around from label to label, like Planet Mu and Ramp Recordings, to settle down earlier this year with the label.

And what a song 'Depth Perception' is. It's chilled to the core, exuding a strong heart-kicking beat flows through you, the various underwater modulated synth streaming through like blurs of light. Dancehall rhythm with a warm surrounding all-surmounting window shaking vibe as it drizzles glitch bleeps.



The progression of the beat from start to finish is supremely well done. Two thirds of the way through this song, the melodic high frequency solo, 80s in soul 80s in spirit, is pretty much divine. The whole thing comes on like an intense dream. This guy can really pull some moves. Heavenly producer. He's also from Kingston.

You can download this track. Do it!

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• Slugabed on Discogs
• Slugabed is on SoundCloud
• He is on Myspace (IF NOT FOR SEO, THEN WHY?)
• Facebook/ Slugabed
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