Ah 80s synth electropop. Where would modern electro be without you? Well we wouldn’t have bands like La Roux, 80s inspired synth electropop duo from the UK. The group consists of surfable red wave haired androgynous Bowie lookalike female singer Elly Jackson and London based in-the-shadows synth producer Ben Langmaid. Elly’s voice has some of that British flavor we love from the likes of Lily Allen, Kate Nash and Little Boots. Tons of low bit synth beats and drum machines present to back up lyrics drawn from Elly’s rocky 5 year relationship with another woman. Nothing too groundbreaking to the music though, the recently released Bulletproof is a solid song and some of the remixes coming out from the other songs are great. The second single to be released In For The Kill seems particularly flat out 80s in nature not just inspired by which makes for an interesting choice of style. I’ll be interested to see what else they can come up with for the full debut album coming out sometime this year. If you’re a bit of an 80s electropop nostalgic I suggest checking out La Roux.

MP3| Bulletproof – La Roux
MP3| Bulletproof (Foamo Remix) – La Roux
MP3| In For The Kill (Radio Edit) – La Roux
MP3| In For The Kill (Skream’s Let’s Get Ravey Remix) – La Roux

-Alx

Hey Kids! Remember when I said Kitsune Maison 7 was coming out in a week or two? Well guess what I just found out it’s floating around the internet and I found a full album download for you guys! I’ve checked it out already and its pretty fresh, its probably gonna be one of my favorites in the series. In case you forgot what the track list is here is a refresher:

01 Two Door Cinema Club – Something Good Can Work
02 We Have Band Feat Yulia – Time After Time
03 Phoenix – Lisztomania (Classixx Version)
04 Crystal Fighters – Xtatic Truth (Xtra Loud Mix)
05 The Golden Filter – Favourite Things
06 La Roux – In For The Kill (Lifelike Remix)
07 Beni – Fringe Element (Shorts Like Me Edit)
08 Autokratz – Always More (Yuksek Remix)
09 80kidz – Miss Mars
10 James Yuill – This Sweet Love (Prins Thomas Sneaky Edit)
11 Men – Make It Reverse
12 Chew Lips – Solo
13 Chateau Marmont – Beagle
14 Heartsrevolution – Bara To Kanojyo To Ouji
15 Delphic – Counterpoint (Delphics En Route Mix)
16 Interlude – Encore
17 Maybb – Touring In Ny (Short Tour Edit)
18 Renaissance Man – Rythym
19 Tanlines – Bejan

You can download the full album here.

ENJOY!

-Alx

We rarely ever post music related news on The Anti Hype but this is something mentioning. One of my favorite indie-electro compilation series, from French electronic label Kitsune Music, is the Kitsune Maison series. With nine albums (Kitsune Maison 1-6, X, Midnight and Love) the compilation series features some of the hottest songs and remixes in electronic music. Not to mention being the label for Digitalism, autoKratz and Ted & Francis, Kitsune has made quite a name for itself in this genre. Now its been announced that on June 1st Kitsune Maison Compilation 7 will be released and will feature the following tracklist:

01. Two Door Cinema Club – Something Good Can Work
02. We Have Band – Time After Time
03. Phoenix – Lisztomania (Classixx Version)
04. Crystal Fighters – Xtatic Truth
05. The Golden Filter – Favourite Things
06. La Roux – In for the Kill (Lifelike Remix)
07. Beni – Fringe Element (Short Like Me Edit)
08. Autokratz – Always More (Yuksek Remix)
09. 80 Kidz – Miss Mars
10. James Yuill – This Sweet Love (Prins Thomas Sneaky Edit)
11. Men – Make It Reverse
12. Chew Lips – Solo
13. Chateau Marmont – Beagle
14. Heartsrevolution – 薔薇と彼女の王子
15. Delphic – Counterpoint (Delphic’s En Route Mix)
16. Encore
17. Maybb – Touring In Ny (Short Tour Edit)
18. Renaissance Man – Rythym
19. Tanlines – Bejan

If you aren’t excited or just don’t what you are supposed to be excited about you should check out the previous iterations of the Kitsune Maison series.

Paris, France. A city that time and time again has proven itself to be a powerhouse in producing some of the best dance and indie-electro on the planet. Daft Punk, Justice, Yelle, Danger and Air to name a few. Hot on the heels of this continuing trend is Make The Girl Dance, an electro-rock duo exhibit some familiar styles most likely influenced by the big acts named above. Even the innuendo filled lyrics to their hit single Baby Baby Baby make reference to Justice, Yelle and Tellier. This group is staying on my radar as they could be the next big French export of 2009. Make The Girl Dance just released a risque video to Baby Baby Baby and you can check it out along with links to some of their songs after the break. PLUS a bonus remix. ;)

Read More »

West Ryder EP Cover Art

Building up to the eventual release of their third album this summer entitled West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, Kasabian have released two EPs, Fire Fuse and West Ryder. The latter being the most recently released contains the singles Fire, Vald the Impaler and the opening track to the upcoming album, Underdog. This EP shows a real return to form for Kasabian after a slightly disappointing second album Empire. Most likely going to be fleshed out in the full album the songs of West Ryder shows great examples of Kasabian’s eclectic style, grungy rifts, ethereal synths and psychedelic vocals that we loved from the debut album. West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum comes out June 9th but until then check out the West Ryder EP out now.

MP3| Underdog (Radio Edit) – Kasabian
MP3| Fire – Kasabian
MP3| Vlad the Impaler – Kasabian

-Alx

little-boots

There is a simplicity in listening to Little Boots.  ‘Meddle‘ jumps in with drums and a synth line that creeps into the verse so that you’re surprised by how catchy it is. ‘Stuck on Repeat‘  starts so simply and builds up so well that your mind has no choice but to follow. In between, you can sense that behind every electronic note is a human hand. It’s not often that you hear a song where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts while still being ‘electropop’.

-Erick

Breathy vocals, chilled beats and bass, experimental tones and synths, a myriad of percussions, strange lyrics and krautrock influences. The Brighton, England  based band, with a name taken from The Karate Kid and influenced by Neu! and Talking Heads, has a very distinct post punk taste reminiscent of Ratatat-meets-LCD Soundsystem-meets-Hot Chip. They mix into the indie electro but don’t stray too far from the traditional guitar, bass, drums rock trio distancing themselves from a sound similar to M83 or Maps. These guys landed on my radar when I picked up when of their songs (Dishwasher) from a playlist I found online and around the same time discovering that they are on tour with the band from my previous post, School of Seven Bells. If you are looking for something a little funky, lounge-y without getting too techno that you can sway to definitely check out Fujiya & Miyagi. They have two albums out Transparent Things and Lightbulbs.

-Alx

Quick shout out to anyone in the greater Boston/Cambridge area, Fujiya & Miyagi will be playing at the Paradise in Boston on the 15th of Feb with School of Seven Bells, I’ll be there and you should too. Tickets available on LiveNation.

MP3| Dishwasher – Fujiya & Miyagi
MP3| Pterodactyls – Fujiya & Miyagi
MP3| Photocopier – Fujiya & Miyagi

schoolofsevenbells

“Shoegaze” maybe one of my favorite genres if not for the number of great bands who categorize themselves that way then because its probably one of the most litteral ways to describe a band’s music as some of the songs you really just want to close your eyes, hang your head and sway it to the music appearing to anyone around you as though you were staring at your footwear.

School of Seven Bells is one of these indie electro, shoegaze bands. Created by the joining of forces by Benjamin Curtis of Secret Machines fame and Alejandra and Claudia Deheza formerly of On! Air! Library! the band got their name from a PBS show about a mythical South American pickpocket training academy.

Their sound is breathy female vocals with funky beats, dreamy synths, guitars and a menagerie of sounds that just adds to the dreamy factor. Their big song is Half Asleep which has a very flowy psychedelic feel with airy singing and a fun and head bopping beat. Lyrics are abstract but meaningful. The songs title seems fitting as the Deheza sisters are said to be lucid dreamers.

Their debut album, Alpinisms, was released in October and they are currently on tour with M83.

-Alx

MP3| Half Asleep – School of Seven Bells
MP3| Connjur – School of Seven Bells
MP3| Chain – School of Seven Bells

Ratatat has a new music video for their song Shempi. A very trippy video, takes a dive through 80’s fades but then goes somewhere dark and psychedelic. It’s off their new album entitled LP3. Check it out!

-Erick

So back in July, Justice made a mix for the Dior Homme Summer 2009 Fashion show entitled Planisphère. They’ve split it off into three parts, and a final unreleased track.

I’ve put up the first track, Planisphère (Part 1), which so ridiculously sick. It has funky bass slapping and of course the syncopated synths and there’s a slight touch of piano at the beginning, completely on par with Justice. Definitely download it and hear what they’ve been up to.

MP3| Planisphère (Part 1) – Justice

-Erick