Floating Points - Vacuum EP

Some of the best House I've heard for a long time. Deep and warm, melodic and hypnotic.





Buy it at Boomkat.com

Joy Orbison

If you've not heard anything about Joy Orbison's Hyph Mngo already this year you must be living under a rock. A massive genre defying tune, now finally available digitally on Hotflush Records. The b-side Wet Look is also a stormer.


Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo


Joy Orbison - Wet Look

Buy them at Boomkat.com

Mayer Hawthorne

His "A Strange Arrangement" album recently came out on Stones Throw Records. It's a throw back to all things old and soulful. It's pretty good, going on the few listens I've had so far. The opening accapella of "Prelude" into the title track is beautifully smooth. The more upbeat tracks like "Your Easy Lovin'..." or "One Track Mind" I could live without to be honest. But what's really been doing it for me recently are the two free remixes available for download from stonesthrow.com.

Astronote's remix of "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out" keeps the retro soul vibe of the original but ups the bass considerably and transforms the beat from a light backing track to a heavy funk stomp. Classixx's version of album closer "Green Eyed Love" is far more radical. For a start, the instrumentation is almost completely electronic. There are lovely synth lines and apreggios drenched all over it. The bassline is thick and the drums have a nice analogue warmth to them. The extra reverb on the vocals just enhances the dreaminess of it all. Clearly I need to do my homework on this Classixx fellow.

Just Ain't Gonna Work Out (Astronote's El Camino Remix).mp3
Green Eyed Love (Classixx Remix).mp3

Stream "A Strange Arrangement" on Spotify
Mayer Hawthorne at Stones Throw

Gatekeeper

I mentioned Gatekeeper last year when they had four amazing industrial-electro-horror-disco tracks circulating the internet. They now have their first vinyl release due on Fright Records - a new label set up by Kompakt's Michael Mayer and Jon Berry. The four track EP entitled Optimus Maximus will be available on limited edition granite coloured vinyl from October 26th (and also digitally). There's a video for the title track, created by Tommy Boy (who was also involved in the amazing cover art). Watch the video below and check the Fright Records myspace page for more previews and info.

I-F Mixtape 1986

There's a great old mix by I-F (CBS / Intergalactic FM) on the Valerie blog at the moment. Never heard any of the tracks before but they're pretty much all awesome; from Italo to Electro Rap to Euro-Dance. Mixing is spot on too. My personal favourite:



I-F - Disco Mix from Tape 1986

Casiopea - Make Up City

I've been meaning to post this for ages; some 1980 style Japanese Jazz-Fusion from Casiopea that I picked up in San Francisco last summer. First sample track is the straight-up groover, second one has more of a 'shuffle' vibe to it. Nice synths and a healthy portion of noodles throughout the album.

Casiopea - Eyes of Mind.mp3

Casiopea - Make Up City.mp3

Casiopea - Make Up City LP