Urlaubshits

Every so often I get sent emails from people. Some are from DJs, some are from producers. More often than not they are from PR companies, hired by labels, agents, managers or artists to disseminate their content throughout the blogosphere. My profile isn’t that high, so I don’t get sent very much, and when I do it is usually something I have no interest in.

It never fails to amaze me the kind of things I get sent - I genuinely think that these people just have some kind of spidering software that trawls the Hype Machine for blogs to add to their vast mailing lists. If any of these people actually bothered to read any of the stuff on this site then they would know that I have a vague theme going on - maybe I sometimes deviate, but I’m not generally going to comment on bmore-electro-jackin-fidget house. Not necessarily because I don’t recognise its right to life, but because I don’t know anything about it. I have precious little enough time as it is to listen to the music I want to listen to, keep on top of the mountain of new releases, make mixes and update this site as often as I would like to. Furthermore, I have very little interest in posting stuff that I know has already been posted, or will end up being posted a hundred times by other blogs. I would much rather share music that people probably won’t have heard before - that surely should be the point of MP3 blogging.

Sometimes though I get sent stuff that I do like, and would like to write something about, but the way I approach my blog means that I often think about what I’m going to write about a week or so in advance, through listening to an album or single a good few times before approaching the writing. So I’ve come up with an idea for a new semi-regular feature, and you’re looking at it. What I’m going to do, every so often, is compile some stuff that I have been given permission to share that I think is interesting, or just plain fun to listen to, and just  Anything that does get shared in this way will no doubt end up being at least two weeks behind everyone else has posted it, but then that doesn’t really bother me.

Metronomy - A Thing For Me (Blackout Crew Remix)

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When I received this I had just been engaging in a conversation with a friend about the “donk” phenomenon, and discussed when we were going to make our pilgrimage to Wigan Pier, the spiritual home of “bounce”. If this means nothing to you, then I mentioned the Blackout Crew last month in this article, in relation to their single “Put A Donk On It”. If you want further explanation, then I point you to this article on the donk scene in Vice, it makes a grim but compelling read.

I heard that Blackout Crew had remixed Metronomy a few months ago, and found the notion laughable, as if Metronomy must have comissioned them to take this on as part of some huge joke at the expense of donk’s finest ambassadors, but the result is actually surprisingly good. It’s not a million miles away from the remixes that were being produced two years ago at the height of nu-rave, and if you don’t believe me then just search out the “Third Eye Mafia Re-fit” of Klaxons’ “Atlantis To Interzone”; if this Blackout Crew remix had been released two years ago, I seriously doubt anyone would have batted on eyelid. And at least the Blackout Crew aren’t just playing some kind of ironic joke with their music.

Post War Years - Flames Like Tinder

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I was really excited to receive this, mainly because I am lucky enough to know Post War Years personally, and always look forward to hearing new stuff from them to see what they’re going to do next. And if you’re wondering, it wasn’t them who sent it to me, it was in fact a PR company who probably have no idea I know them. Therefore I feel no conflict of interest in plugging them here, though mainly I don’t feel bad about it because I think they’re really good. If you haven’t heard them before, then take the gentlemanly vocal delivery of The Chap, the melancholy pop soul of Hot Chip, add them to some really punchy rhythms, sharp guitars, a few cosmic synths and occasional trumpet samples, and you’re probably only about half way to understanding what they sound like.

Anyway, this is the B-side from their upcoming 7″ on Chess Club, the A-side being a song called “Whole World On Its Head” which you can listen to at their MySpace page. They also have a blog which I really like reading too, which is here.

Groove Armada - Drop The Tough (The Twelves B-LIVE Remix)

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Just the name Groove Armada is enough to flood my synapses with unpleasant memories of late 90s big beat, and I have to say I was incredibly sceptical that this was going to be any good. But in a canny piece of marketing Bacardi have gotten recent blog darlings The Twelves to remix this track, just so that the kids who can’t remember Groove Armada will have something to latch onto. It’s fairly cynical, but the results are really quite awesome.

I knew very little about The Twelves before this, apart from the fact that they are literally all over The Hype Machine, but after listening to this remix, it becomes apparent why. They take that pop synth thing that Cut Copy do so well, throw in a bit of Alan Braxe, some disco guitar, funk bass, which, together with an infectious vocal hook create some brilliant pop music. Much better, it must be said, than most of the pop we are currently being told is going to save our civilisation.