247. The Prodigy – Girls
Posted: September 4, 2013 Filed under: breakbeat, electro, electronica | Tags: a song a day, always outnumbered never outgunned, breakbeat, electronica, firestarter, girls, invaders must die, Keith flint, Liam howlett, maxim reality, solo, the prodigy Leave a comment
From their underrated “Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned” album, “Girls” is a breaky pounder, ahead of it’s time, sonically (what else do you expect from Liam Howlett?) Their first album since the legendary “Fat Of The Land” album, it was a departure from the previous format, having been entirely produced by Liam Howlett. With Leeroy having left the group and Keith & Maxim not featuring, it’s ultimately a solo album – Keith tried his own hand as a solo producer around the same time, producing a pretty bad slowed down screwed version of Firestarter.
Thankfully, the group reformed (unofficially, as they’d never broken up) and came through with their “Invaders Must Die” project, cementing them as one of the key electronic groups in the UK.
Three’s a (loud) crowd
245. Rhythm On The Loose – Break Of Dawn
Posted: September 2, 2013 Filed under: 90s, electronica, rave | Tags: 1995, a song a day, bootleg, break of dawn, dance, electronica, first choice, put no man asunder, rave, rhythm on the loose Leave a comment
One of the original breakbeat rave classics from 1995 with a vocal (originally sampled from First Choice’s “Let No Man Put Asunder”) that has travelled far and wide, appearing on bootlegs for nigh on 20 years.
The artwork of rave champions
234. Sam Smith – Nirvana
Posted: August 22, 2013 Filed under: #hotfor2013, chillout, electronica, post dubstep | Tags: a song a day, blackstreet, chillout, disclosure, downtempo, electronica, john newman, nirvana, pmr, r&b, sam smith, soundscape Leave a comment
Forthcoming on PMR (home to Disclosure), it’s another luscious, dreamy soundscaper from Sam. “Nirvana” shows off his vocal and emotional range well, taking in tinges of Blackstreet along the way. There’s always a few stand out artists that emerge in the second half of the year and Sam, alongside the likes of John Newman has forged a path for a new type of electronica soul to emerge. No plans for an album have been announced yet but his body of work to date is strong.
Squiggly Smith
209. Bonobo – Cirrus
Posted: July 28, 2013 Filed under: #hotfor2013, chillout, electronica | Tags: a song a day, bonobo, broken beat, cirrus, electronica, hot for 2013, the north borders Leave a comment
It seems criminal to have only had one Bonobo track amongst my list, especially considering the excellence of “The North Borders” album. “Cirrus” is one of the more upbeat tunes on the album, combining a galloping beat with the traditional emotive angst of chords and samples clashing. I can’t really emphasise more how much you need this album in your life if you want a complete 2013 – so much so that here’s the link on Spotify
The DJ, not the monkey
208. Usher – Climax
Posted: July 27, 2013 Filed under: RnB | Tags: a song a day, climax, diplo, dj got us fallin in love, electronica, euro dance, post dubstep, scream, usher Leave a comment
Usher, one of our era’s great entertainers (honestly) has proved himself willing to follow the trends – the boisterous likes of euro-dance hits like “Scream” and “DJ Got Us Fallin In Love” prove that. However, it takes no skill to follow a trend – more one to buck against it. And really, that’s what Climax does – produced by trend setter, Diplo, it sits against the obvious “boom boom” movement and instead opts for some subtlety and delicacy, traits that are painfully missing in modern pop music.
True, I doubt Usher is suddenly on his way to becoming a wholly interesting artist seeking to buck trends but it’s a relief to see this kind of genre breaking from the world’s biggest.
Let’s hope he doesn’t finish here, there’ll be a lot of cleaning up to do
189. Disclosure – You & Me (Flume Remix)
Posted: July 8, 2013 Filed under: #hotfor2013, dubstep, electronica, garage | Tags: 2013, a song a day, australia, bass music, disclosure, electronica, flume, garage, post dubstep, settle, sydney, you & me Leave a comment
Yes, I’ve put my fair share of Disclosure up already but it’s great to see when someone takes a track and totally flips it. Australian post-dubstep (is he? I don’t know what the fuck to call it) producer Flume winds up a massive crank of feel good electronicness in this remix which can only be best described as well prescripted madness. His self titled 2012 album comes highly recommended by me, a strong level of Burial garage influences mixed with some upbeatness offering something genuinely unique.
Flumeing ‘eck
187. TNGHT – Higher Ground
Posted: July 6, 2013 Filed under: electronica, grime, trap | Tags: a song a day, chicago, cruel summer, electronica, glasgow, grime, higher ground, hudmo, hudson mohawke, Kanye west, lunice, tnght, trap, yeezus Leave a comment
TNGHT, alias of Kanye favourite Hudson Mohawke and Lunice caused a stir in 2012 when they dropped their self titled EP. “Higher Ground” garnered the greatest attention, a majestically odd clash of grime influences, trap and all manner of electronic nonsense. Hud Mo has gone on to produce further for Kanye (including on “Cruel Summer” & “Yeezus”) and is proving something of a muse for Chicago’s wildest child – not too bad for a kid from the Glasgow suburbs.
Catch them later
171. Clams Casino – Waterfalls
Posted: June 20, 2013 Filed under: chillout, electronica, hip hop | Tags: a song a day, a$ap rocky, chillput, Clams casino, drake, electronica, hip hop, lana del rey, rainforest, waterfalls Leave a comment
I’ve written this three times and it’s been deleted three times. Basically, this is great, epic and fun. Enjoy it.
147. Bonobo feat Grey Reverend – First Fires
Posted: May 27, 2013 Filed under: electronica, trip hop | Tags: a song a day, bonobo, chart, electronica, first fires, grey reverend, ninja tune, simon green, strings, success, trip hop Leave a comment
5 albums in and Simon Green, aka Bonobo is finally seeing some commercial success. New album “The North Borders” peaked at #29 on its April release on Ninja Tune and is a swirling, deep work full of texture and soul, but as accessible as he is likely to go. With the trend in pop music moving towards the morbid and glitchy (thanks, The Weeknd), it definitely has favoured the likes of Bonobo and his style.
“First Fires” is laden with emotive strings like any properly good trip hop tune, Grey Reverend husking lyrics:
Honestly, I can’t believe it’s burning again
Like the first fires
Run from fences, you don’t have to pretend
First fires
Well worth a deep Sunday night listen on the whole album.
Wistful Bonobo
127. Toddla T Sound – Worst Enemy #newmusicmonday
Posted: May 7, 2013 Filed under: #hotfor2013, downtempo, electronica, new music monday, Uncategorized | Tags: downtempo, drs, electronica, j2k, lush, serocee, shola ama, take it back, toddla t sound, trap, worst enemy Leave a comment
Released earlier this year, Toddla T and his “sound” (aka Serocee, Shola Ama & DRS) come through with this spacious, synth out lush in it’s sparseness. Toddla’s previous high was “Take It Back”, featuring J2K and Shola Ama, which in many ways could’ve been a lot bigger than it was – this is a tad less accessible, but far fresher; as a track, there’s a definite feeling of it pushing the barrier.
What’s this bloody racket?
A Song A Day 2013 