Monday, January 28, 2013

Chordashian - Cold Nights

New Chordashian straight from the oven, available for free by just liking their Facebook page. Which you already have of course.

Owlle + Moonlight Matters

We're big fans of Moonlight Matters, as you all know. Of the whole Belgian Disco Mafia, he's probably the discoest of the discoey. And while a lot of his colleagues, especially that guy The Sorcerer (or is it The Wizard?), have moved more towards deep house and retro 90's house, Mr Matters have moved more towards early/mid-80's electro disco. When it comes to strong female vocals, you still gotta love his string-filled remixes. His latest one is a remix of French singer Owlle, who recently toured with a certain Sébastien Tellier, and who will feature on a forthcoming Moonlight Matters single. I think this will make you look forward to further collaborations between the two.


Thursday, January 24, 2013

The first track from The Knife's upcoming album

It's been a crazy The Knife fever the last days here in Sweden and around the world, with concert tickets and that they are to release a new album ”Shaking The Habitual” in April. "Full of Fire" is the first material that we are able to hear. Very interesting to hear new stuff from The Knife because they haven't released stuff for years.



New tracks from Clancy and Shelby Grey

Two artists from Holographic People, Clancy and Shelby Grey give us two hot steamin' new tracks. This is great news but what's even better is that both tracks come as free downloads!

Clancy who made it into our Best of 2012 lists, is now back with another big tune in "How To Hold On To You". Great work by Clancy, and I really hope 2013 will be his year!



Shelby Grey has made a remix a la ‘dreamwave 90’s Balearic' on Saint Lou Lou's "Maybe You". Sweet remix!



First track from Young Galaxy's long awaited album!

"Pretty Boy" is the first track that we can hear from the upcoming album "Ultramarine" out April 23 on Paper Bag Records. It's Young Galaxy's fourth album and for me an album that I long for so much. Lately they've been sending out small teasers by showing the album cover, a short video and so on but now finally, we get the chance to hear a track from the album. Joy!

Once again it's the mastermind of Dan Lissvik, who has produced the album. He was one big reason to why Young Galaxy's last album "Shapeshifting" was such a success and so loved by me. I still hold it as one of the greatest records made in modern times! So I have such great expectations on "Ultramarine" and with "Pretty Boy" I know that I won't be disappointed even if this track not is one of their greatest tracks made.



Monsieur Adi remixes Lana Del Rey

Our fine French friend Monsieur Adi has made an official remix of Lana Del Rey's "Summertime Sadness". Already a huge hit on Hype Machine and 18.000 plays in less than a day. Adi knows how to make an already great song into another great song. Hats off for Monsieur Adi!



Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Du Tonc - Darkness

The second track of Magic Tape 29 below is a very interesting collab between Mighty Mouse and Matt Van Schie from Van She. That's two very talented people teaming up to make a very nice disco-pop song. We'll make sure to follow future exploits of Du Tonc.


Magic Tape 29

It's Tuesday, and The Magician released his first Magic Tape of 2013, as promised.


Disclosure - White Noise

So, Disclosure's upcoming single "White Noise", featuring AlunaGeorge, hit the internets earlier this evening. I was sitting in a plane trying to waste some boring flying time (I wonder how people survived before on-board WiFi), when suddenly Soundcloud, Twitter and Facebook blew up. Easily this evening's most hyped up track, the general consensus is that it's awesome, and I agree. Aluna's voice fits perfectly with that straight-forward beat and burred synth, and expect to hear this playing a lot at your favourite club come February 17 when it's released on PMR Records.


Monday, January 21, 2013

Cool video from Is Tropical

Is Tropical are in the studio right now in the final making of their second album, out later this year. Until then, they got some time to put together an EP named "Flags", where you can find this track "Oi Peru". Sweet and hard at the same time, I think it's golden! Below here you got the mighty cool video to it!

"Flags EP" is out today on Kitsuné/Cooperative Music and Is Tropcial describe it as something they been playing with in tour vans and it was about exorcising some of these dancefloor-based demo(n)s so they could go on to work on their record with fresh ears. Buy the EP in iTunes.





Official video for Kamp!'s new single "Melt"

Our Polish friends of Kamp! are to release their new single "Melt" on Discotexas February 15, including remixes by Midnight Magic, Xinobi and Zimmer. Kamp! have recently released their debut album on their own Brennnessel label. We actually got us a copy a while ago before it was released and we have been loving the album since then. "Melt" is one of my favourite tracks from the album, so it's nice to see it as a single along with a nicely filmed video directed by Tomek Goldbaum-Wlazinski. Swim along with Kamp!





Matthew Dear + Benoit & Sergio

Today we start out with this lovely remix by Benoit & Sergio of Matthew Dear's "Fighting is Futile". The remix EP is out January 28 on Spectral Sound. Take a listen to the other remixes and pre-order your copy over at Ghostly.



Sunday, January 20, 2013

Two electro-pop ballads from Tegan and Sara

The Canadian twin sister indie/folk/electro-pop band Tegan and Sara are about to release a new album "Heartthrob" January 29. In addition to this they have "released" two electro-pop tracks in the last week only with a few days in between them. Wise by them I would say. "Now I'm All Messed Up" is a lovely piece of music!





Back in September they released the first official single "Closer" for the upcoming album.



AntonyToga remix of Depeche Mode

French AntonyToga has remixed a Depeche Mode track named "Martyr". The track was released as a non-album single to promote the compilation "The Best Of, Volume 1" released in 2006. Rumours also say that the original track was to be included originally on the album "Playing The Angel" released in 2005. Now AntonyToga has remixed it and it sounds really nice. Cool work by AntonyToga!



Friday, January 18, 2013

Foals + Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix

Great to see Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs starting the year on a high note. His remix of Foals' "My Number" is amazing, and it grows even better after a few listens. Will T-E-E-D make it to the Best of '13 list too, I wonder.


Gabriell - Feel' So Good EP

We've really digging Gabriell's funky disco house tune "Feel So Good", out last week on our dear Spanish friends Neonized's label. Remixes by fellow Italian Monkey Monday and Richard Rossa, another dear friend.

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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Josh Butler - Got A Feeling EP + Bontan

Here's another great-sounding British house EP coming out soon on London label MTA Records. Josh Butler is a promising Leeds producer, and his "Got a Feeling" EP is coming out on Beatport on Monday with a global release February 3. Remix support comes in the form of Ben Pearce, who made that wonderful "What I Might Do" on the same label (a track that very narrowly missed a spot on my Best of '12 list) but I have to say my pick is Bontan's jackin' remix. In short, three acts and a label to keep your eye on if you like your dancefloor sweaty.



In case you missed this one:



Bontan has a nice, techy EP out on Pleasurekraft's Kraftek label.



Waze & Odyssey - Be Right There EP

Following their awesome "I Want You You You", Waze & Odyssey is releasing a new EP, entitled "Be Right There" on Kerri Chandler's imprint MadTech. Waze & Odyssey are in excellent form, and how Waze can manage being co-standard-bearer of British house, while running that social navigation app, I'll never know.



In case you missed this gem:

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Two remixes & one original from Monsieur Adi

Our fine Frecnhman Monsieur Adi has got two new hot remixes for us to take a good listen to of Bastille and Phildel. He also got a stemin' hot original tune featuring Aaron Alexis. Was quite a while ago we posted stuff from Adi, so now it was time to post and then we post at least three tracks just to make it up to him. Keep it up Monsieur Adi, we always love your style!







Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Hermansen from F.O.O.L releases beautiful EP

Rasmus Hermansen is one part of the Swedish electro duo F.O.O.L. With F.O.O.L he releases hard electro and they have been conquering the world the last years.

Hermansen is Rasmus' side project together with his brother. With this project he wants to explore other genres and sounds and by doing this he has created a beautiful 4-track EP that got hold of me right away. Very nice to see Rasmus' diversity in music. Another nice thing, is that he always will be releasing Hermansen stuff for free. Download the whole EP here.

"Deeps" is my fave of the EP, really loving it! "Temper" has got some of the hard stuff as with F.O.O.L., but it never explodes into something hard, instead it keeps the piano working. While "Flashwork" is a quiet guitar tune. Thank you Rasmus for this wonderful side project!







Mercury back with "Man EP"

The Swiss duo of Mercury have a new EP out on Gomma. "Man EP" holds two tracks that sounds like sweet Mercury. You can always rely on these Swiss guys, a bit like that you can rely on a Swiss clock. Buy the EP over at Beatport.





Also check out the video for "The Man", very cool Swiss stylee.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Lindstrom & Todd Terje with a new single!

Three days ago these two supermen Lindstrom and Todd Terje released another epic tune together. "Lanzarote" is the name of the track and the release also comes with a remix by their fellow countryman diskJokke. I don't know what it is with Norway and releasing fantastic electronic music all the time, could it be something with their water coming from the fjords?! The last minute of the track is pretty hilarious too. Buy the full release over at Beatport.

Sweet remix by Bufi on Goldroom

Goldroom's lovely tune "Sweetness Alive" featuring the hot Swedish duo Saint Lou Lou made our best of 2012 lists. Now Goldroom's friend Bufi has made a really sweet remix of it. Deep and funky at the same time!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Kids At Midnight - Habits

Kids At Midnight is Australian multi-talented producer/singer/dancer/entertainer Jane Hanley, who you heard singing on Edwin van Cleef's "Lisztomania" remix, and who had an EP released on Alan Braxe's label Vulture last spring (or in Jane's case, autumn). "Habits" has a slightly different, more deep house sound compared to her previous synthpop and nu disco sound. But, as you can imagine, moving towards deephouse doesn't make us like her music any less.

Young Digerati + Cavaliers of Fun

We're well into the new year, so it's time to get the show on the road again. My personal new year's resolution is to post more than last year, and that shouldn't be too difficult. I think our readers will like that, since you all know I'm the one with the good music taste. Just kidding Jonny!

Let's start off with something familiar. One of our favourite synthpop producers, Cavaliers of Fun, have made a very nice remix of one of our favourite songs of one of our favourite synthpop bands - Young Digerati.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Tracasseur's best of 2012 on Spotify

We started a new tradition last year by collecting our Top 100 tracks from the year that had passed. We will of course continue this mission this year too, and the next, and the next... As everybody know, not all songs are on Spotify, for example from smaller producers and special remixes. We have based this list on Tracasseur's two Best of lists but also added another 50–60 tunes that deserves to be on a bigger list. So here you have your smorgasbord from 2012! Spread the word our fine friends, this list is for you!

Tracasseur - Best of 2012 on Spotify

Friday, January 4, 2013

Arnie Becker's best of 2012

So, another year to add to the annals. How does one sum up 2012 in a few sentences? Well, it was like everyone had rented a copy of "Inception" from Blockbusters, since the credo seemed to be "we need to go deeper". There were still was a lot of rummaging around in the early history of  modern dance music, but the biggest shoulder pads all but disappeared when the nu disco wave shifted focus from continental European early 80's italo to the later 80's and early 90's American (or at least Anglo-Saxon) house. The neon colours disappeared into the sweaty darkness of deep house, except maybe the neon yellow of the acid smiley.

Under the strains of what the commercial EDM wave call 'house music', it's great to see that so many people are actually going through the troubles of examining every part of the emergence of 'real' house music. Not least because it's the music I used to listen to, and always has been close to my heart. So it's great to see what a new breed of globalized producers make of it.

Not everyone wanted to descend into dark nightclubs, but preferred to sip on a cocktail on a Caribbean beach somewhere since the tropical disco stayed strong.

As usual, and boringly predictably, I have to complain about how hard it was to choose my favourite 25 tunes. It's like with my All Time Top 10 list that probably contains hundreds and hundreds of songs. So, while I can't see a track that doesn't deserve to be on here, I can see more than a few that probably would too, but isn't. But I guess that's a first world problem.

So, here we go.

#25. Florence + The Machine - Take Care (ColeCo Remix)
The intro track on this list was also our intro track when we did the Tracasseur Disco in Paris last spring. Great original from Florence + The Machine, and a wonderful remix by ColeCo.




#24. Finnebassen - If You Only Knew
Good deep house, like good music in general, don't have to be very complicated. Finnebassen made a melancholic deep house track out of a great bassline that shows that less is more, an inspired Aaliya sample and a lot of percussions. Emo house anyone?




#23. Kolombo - What Would Make Me Think
Kolombo, like Finnebassen, makes bass-heavy deep house, basically with the same ingredients as the Norwegian. Straight four-to-the-floor beats driven by a funky bassline, but without the Scandinavian melancholy and, probably via the Belgian disco angle, closer to classic funk also in its temperament. This is the sort of house that George Clinton and Parliament would get down to.




#22. Toyboy & Robin - No More Sunshine
This is the first of several British house tunes that made it to my list. Toyboy & Robin had a great year and were deservedly picked up by cool label Sccucci Manucci.




#21. Broke One - The Empire
 Yes, yet another percussive and retro sounding house tune. I'm guessing you're starting to see a pattern here. Broke One's "Empire"'s USPs are those lush synth cords in the intro and the break that make you think of another Italian house classics like F.P.I. Projects' "Rich in Paradise".




#20. The Presets - Promises (Plastic Plates Remix)
Plastic Plates had a great release on Kitsuné in "Things I Didn't Know I Loved" which wasn't very far off my list, but I preferred his nu disco take on The Presets a tad bit more.




#19. Simian Mobile Disco - Your Love Ain't Fair
I really liked the combination of the lazy beat, the bending chords and the lamenting vocals on Simian Mobile Disco's "Your Love Ain't Fair".




#18. A.N.D.Y. feat. Nyemiah Supreme - Pump It Up
A.N.D.Y., and you too, might have thought that we didn't like his first proper single, since we didn't blog it back in November, but nothing could be more wrong. It's just that the only thing that matches my great taste in music is my lazyness (as I use to say in job interviews). "Pump It Up" is a great hip house party banger with both ghetto house and classic techno flavours. And doesn't it remind you of another Belgian classic with a female rapper and the word "Pump" in the title?




#17. Patrick L & DJ Nibc feat. Andreas Cavaco - Call Me (DJ Nibc Mix)
Sweden and deep house from Berlin is usually a bad combination. One of the reasons we started this blog in the first place was that we were fed up with club Stockholm's obsession with the type of soulless and generic tech- and deep house that washed over us from the German capital a couple of years ago. Since then both the Scandi-German scene and deep house in general have had some vital infusions of disco, garage and funk and, to a large extent, cleaned up its act. Patrik L & DJ Nibc's "Call Me" is a great example. The Tiger Stripes remix is deep as the Challenger Depth, but still super funky. It's just as good as DJ Nibc's own mix, but in the end I went with Nibc and those lovely 80's Chicago house strings.




#16. Waze & Odyssey - Love That (Burns Hot Enough)

Waze & Odyssey's remix of "Call Me" from the previous entry was one of the first tracks I heard from them. And even if I think they were outshone on that occasion, the duo have quickly sailed up as one of the most important acts of the British garage house scene with a string of awesome remixes and a couple of just as awesome originals. "Love That (Burns Hot Enough)" is an intense peak-time garage track, and it was my favourite W&O track of many. The only problem with the Brits is their love for vinyl only releases, so if you can't find it on your favourite mp3 shop, "I Want You You You" is almost just as hot.




#15. St. Lucia - We Got It Wrong
Even if it might not seem like it, I haven't totally switched to only listening to deep house, retro 90's house and garage house. I think there were a few nu disco tunes up there, right? Anyway, I'm still a sucker for electropop/indie dance/indie disco crossovers. St. Lucia had several of those this year, and even if "Closer Than This" and "September" are favourites too, "Closer Than This" is the one that get the final nod.




#14. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Tapes & Money
Synthpop-techno is another grateful crossover when done right. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs not only have a catchy name, but his genre-defying music is wonderfully melodic and captivating in its quirkiness. "Trouble" was one of the albums of the year, with "Tapes & Money" the best on the album and a logical single release.




#13. Jonas Rathsman - Since I Don't Have You
One of the things I regret with last years' list is that I didn't pace Jonas Rathsman's "Tobago" at the very top. Placing "Since I Don't Have You" might be hard on our Swedish compatriot yet again, but on the other hand us vikings didn't conquer large parts of Europe and Russia by constant positive reinforcement. Jonas seems to be doing his conquering of the house scene very well on his own.




#12. Goldroom feat. Saint Lou Lou - Sweetness Alive
Goldroom was another friend who had a good year. "Fifteen" was a beautiful synthpop song back in May. "Sweetness Alive" was pure light therapy for us poor Scandinavian's when he released in the worst autumn darkness. Featuring Swedish twins Saint Lou Lou on vocals didn't make it worse. We were also happy to bring him to Stockholm, even if it was during a freak spring snow storm that only comes like once a decade.




#11. Flight Facilities feat. Grovesnor - With You
Flight Facilities' "With You"is another great tropical disco tune, but what makes it stand out is its bitter-sweetness. Sunny, but with an overcast rolling in, you might say.




#10. Fabo - Where I Stand (Karmon Remix)
While a lot of producers moved from nu disco towards deep house, Dutch deep house producer Karmon went in the other direction with his remix of Fabo. The combination combined the best of two worlds.




#9. Van She - Jamaica
Van She's holiday postcard "Jamaica" was one of the great singles of the year; both a pinnacle of tropical disco pop and a link back to old Aussie synthpop favourites of previous years' Best of lists. I liked the Plastic Plates remix, that Jonny included on his list too, but the original is the best version in my book.




#8. Jessie Ware - No To Love (George Fitzgerald Remix)
George FitzGerald was one of many British acts with a meteoric rise during 2012. "Child" was a huge house tune on heavy rotation the last year (if mp3s rotate), but in the end I opted for his techier, yet more melodic, Jessie Ware remix. This choice were to have effect further up the list.




#7. Chris Malinchak - If U Got It
Previous years there has been a lot of weelings and deelings between me and Jonny about who will have their favourite tracks on their list since they have a tendency to overlap. This year we had quite a few close calls, but not the exact same song on both lists. One of those close calls was Chris Malinchak. As Jonny said on his list, it was pretty obvious that he would get a spot, but since he coupled quality output with quantity we just had different favourites. I could easily have included half a dozen Malinchak tunes on my list, but in the end I decided between "Fuego" "There I Was (Again)" and "If You Got It". The piano chords and the vocals made up of liquid honey and gold were the deciders.




#6. Terranova feat. Tomas Hoffding - Paris Is For Lovers (My Love)
Terranova's "Paris Is For Lovers" is a clear flirt with stuff like Byron Stingily's crooning in Ten City, and even more so Mr. Fingers' "Can You Feel It". And that's obviously a recipe for a great tune. "Paris" is techier than the Chicago house classics though, and I'm predicting we'll hear more retrospective house-techno fusions ahead, Then again, the boundaries between these two genres have always been blurry, especially back in its infancy, so it makes sense to start looking at what happened in Detroit back then too.




#5. Isaac Tichauer - Still I Love You
Isaac Tichauer must wonder what we have against him. We like to cover all the exploits of French Express, and here Isaac releases a whole album, for free no less, and doesn't get a peep about it. Again, I'll put that down to lazyness and summer blogging fatigue. "Devotion" is a great album, and it even borrows its name from my favourite Ten City song. "Still I Love You" was the jewel in the crown with its warm, fuzzy bassline ant that vocal sample hook.




#4. Emeli Sandé - Daddy (Disclosure Remix)
More meteoric rises from Britain. The young duo Disclosure was one of the most hyped up acts of the year, and for good reasons. Their great remixes and originals was also a summary of the UK electronic scene of today and the recent past with music ranging from subsoul to post-dubstep to nu garage. "Tenderly", "Flow", "Latch" and "What's in Your Head" are all great tracks, but my favourites were their remixes of soul-singers Jessie Ware and Emeli Sandé. Since I chose George FitzGerald's Jessie remix above, I guess I'll go with Emeli here.




#3. Hot Chip - How Do You Do? (Todd Terje Remix)
It was pretty obvious that Todd Terje would be very high placed on this list. "Inspector Norse" was probably one of the most hyped-up tracks this year, and for a moment, even the old lady next door asked if we had a promo of it. It's obviously a huge tune with its bouncy synth-disco-jazz, and it will be one of the obvious omissions from my list. However, I wanted to have just one entry per artist, so I had to pit the inspector against Terje's second huge tune of the year; his remix of Hot Chip's "How Do You Do?". In the end I went with the latter, with it's classic Detroit techno sound that made you think of Kevin "Reese" Saunderson and "Night of the Jaguar". But it sure was a close call.




#2. Bicep - Vision Of Love
If there were a house tune in Plato's divine ideal world, this is how it would sound. Feel My Bicep has been the go-to place to find 90's house and techno classics for years, so when the duo make their own garage tracks it's like they tap into The Concept of the Perfect Garage Tune. They all sound exactly like the classics of the early 90's, only when you try to find that tune that they remind you of, you can't really put your finger on which tune that is exactly. "Visions of Love" is a perfect example with its relentless, yet super funky, beat and that epic build-up.




#1. Perseus - Seychelles
Perseus' "Seychelles" is my favourite tune of the year, and it was a case of love at first listen. From the kick drum to the congas, from the bassline to those warm keys to that crisp handclap. Woven together with Toni Braxton's crooning it all sent instant butterflies in my stomach. And listening to it now for the umpteenth time it's like any good love story - everlasting.