THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 16

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With some of the world’s best profile photographers now on board, magazines lining up to interview The Recommender, and visitors arriving in their thousands every day now, you are now part of a blog that’s growing and developing in front of your very eyes. Just another handful of reasons for you lovely people to keep on coming back. Now, back to the real reason for it’s existence  – totally awesome tuneage…

ENFANT TERRIBLE
Landed on my feet here with this super-hot new, unsigned, French band. They approached me via Myspace and kindly dropped me their mp3′s. They are totally superb. I love it when fresh meat discoveries like this pop up and give you goosebumps all over. Their dance-pop-electro-madness sound is somewhere between CSS and Crystal Castles. Remember when you first heard the cute, badly-pronounced lyrics of Lovefoxxx from CSS, mixed over a melody-mad chorus, tinged with the echo of Alice Glass’ vocals and Ethan Kath’s stripped down basics and you’re right on the button. The upbeat backdrops with sharp guitars and an 8-bit, ZX Spectrum keyboard accompaniment, makes you smile broadly. Totally irresistible.

Find them here:   Myspace

Hear them here:  ENFANT TERRIBLE – I CAN’T HELP MYSELF

THE BIG PINK
This two-piece from London came wafting by my ears when I located them on the fantastic website, Styleslut. Milo and Robbie also seem to pair up on occasion with a third member who plays the drums for them; the crazy but gorgeous Akiko Matsuura, from the bands Pre and Comanechi. The Big Pink seem to hark back to a day when Manchester sold us every album going. There’s definitely a Primal Scream flavour to them, which is a fantastic thing, but it drops the guitaring for a psychedelic bass rumble. It’s not too retro as they are definitely pushing that sound in a brilliant, modern direction. It’s almost more Chemical Brothers, were they to mash up ‘One Too Many Mornings’ with ‘Life is Sweet’. It’s totally enchanting and will have you hooked.

Find them here:     Myspace

Hear them here:    THE BIG PINK – TOO YOUNG TO LOVE

THE GOLDEN FILTER
About time I did a post on this, following their Gig List posting. They describe themselves as secretive and so we don’t know what they look like or any specific info on them as people, apart from that they hail from New York, which leaves us the bare bones to pick over – the music. Thank fuck it’s this good then. An electric-pop sound, sometimes very danceable indeed, sometimes of a slower pace, flows behind the sexy, irresistible vocals. Singing this pure and lovely simply must be from a woman that I imagine to be stunningly beautiful! It’s like Division Kent or St.Etienne having the French DJ Danger jamming behind them. Light and gorgeous. Instantly loveable. The blogs – Big Stereo and Discodust - grabbed them first back in the summer, but as The Golden Filter turn up to play in my town of Brighton in the coming weeks it was time to turn my attention to them. I’m glad I did as it’s solid gold stuff.

Find them here:     Myspace Last.fm

Hear them here:     THE GOLDEN FILTER – SOLID GOLD

Hope this helped shove a couple more fresh bands down your musical gullets. Return here for more lovingly plucked highlights from the world’s music real soon. Got the ‘Best Of 2008′ list being drafted as we speak, so that’s going to be ram-jammed full of lovelies.

Mike

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THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 15

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Are you getting hooked yet? Thought so. Well here is a little more Recommender juice to keep you pumped up and coming back for more. You adorable Recommender junkies you.

In my usual nosey manner I’ve been sifting through my favourite blogs online and located a couple of sounds that seem to be getting the chatter going. Our friends; Missing Toof, Disco Dust and You Can Call Me Pelski get the credit for tempting my nose of recent. The sound is a Hip Hop/Electro blend that’s spawned a couple of new tunes that I wanna throw your way.

Hip Hop and Electro blend surprisingly well and I’ve been more and more drawn to it of recent. With the more playful mix of rap lyrics over a twist of crunchy electro it seems to work real well. It keeps the Hip Hop more upbeat and danceable, whilst the rapping keeps the Electro lighter and both seem to lose their seriousness, which is no bad thing in a club.

The crossover sound has been flirted with for a while, ever since the lyrical assault of Uffie, or the popularity of DJ Mehdi, (who I’ve also listed below), and has often been seen in the fun(k) that Chromeo inject, so long may its evolution continue…

VYLE
You will find the likes of Busy P, Flosstradamus and Danger on this Chicago rapper’s Myspace friends list, showing us his love for the gods of Electro. In truth, I don’t think his lyrics or vocal sound are as strong as others, but I think he is onto something with his overall soundscape and choice of collaborations. Laying words down over tuneful, choppy, electro riffs makes for a tidy set. Slower than the normal dance pace, but definitely crunchy, funky and dirty like all good electro is. I list below a cracking track from Danger that features Vyle. It provides the usual cinematic sound, (Danger’s tunes always seem like they’re straight out of a John Carpenter film…), with the DJ’s slow, pounding beats, while Vyle’s lyrics give a refreshing dimension.

Find him here:    Myspace

Hear him here:   DANGER Ft VYLE – 00h00

THE AMERICAN DREAM TEAM
With the DJ Code-D fronting the mix, this is a team of guys utilising guitars, vocals and beats to full effect.
The breaks, rolling beats and fuzzy riffs make for an entertaining blend. Now releasing their own original creations, having only previously released remixes, they are a fine addition to any mp3 player. I list their tune Money VIP, which although full of Vocoder vocals and a dance tempo, is actually all about typically Hip Hop themes – As the lyric explains…”Money, Bitches, Cars, Clothes and Weed”. Need I say more?

Find them here:      Myspace

Hear them here:    THE AMERICAN DREAM TEAM – MONEY VIP

DJ MEHDI
Well known to the blog world this superstar collaborator has been walking the planks for many years now. The French DJ and key friend to all things Ed Banger, DJ Mehdi has had many guises, either DJ’ing for other artists, or producing his own material. He is happy switching from dreamy Hip Hop to pacey Electro at a heartbeat and perfectly comfortable in either genre. Perhaps the master of this crossover sound, I list below a remix he’s done on the Ed Banger label that’s floated around the clubs this year, but still makes me smile every time I hear it.  The tune is a commentary on the LA scene, originally by Busy P with lyrics by MURS, this mix has been suitably spiced up well by our man Mehdi. (Note – There’s also decent mixes of the same tune out there by Crookers and Mr.Oizo).  As a little bonus I also attach the video for his song, Signatune, an original mix, edited by Daft Punk’s very own Thomas Bengalter. It’s a better example of the more electro end of the spectrum Mehdi encompasses.

Find him here:     Myspace Last.fm

Hear him here:     BUSYP Ft MURS – TO PROTECT AND ENTERTAIN (DJ MEHDI Remix)

So that’s a first – a little Hip Hop flavour for The Recommender. Be sure to look out soon for more familiar stuff returning for the next edition. I’m off to my usual hunting ground to shoot me some more meaty tunes for your listening pleasure. Click, lock…BOOM!

Mike

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