Groovin' To Róisín

Groove Armada should whore themselves out to other artists more frequently. 'Soundboy Rock' was a letdown, but the outstanding track on it clearly was their collab with Mutya Buena, 'Out Of Control (Song 4 Mutya)' (with no help from the horribly dull video). And now, they've teamed up with ex-Moloko-vocalist Roisin Murphy for her second single off the new album 'Overpowered'.

The result is glistening with AMAZINGNESS.

I'm finding it hard to figure out if 'Let Me Know' is better than 'Overpowered' or not, however, one thing is for sure that like the latter, it's getting non-stop rotation on my iPod. She's clearly aiming for a more direct, commercial sound this time and she handles it with such class that she never appears to be selling out.

I haven't been this excited about an electropop album since 'Trip The Light Fantastic', and so far, the marketing campaign has been flawless. Just imagine that cover above on a vinyl sleeve. At this rate, lyrics on the cd booklet is no longer necessary as long as they have a dozen of brilliant pictures of Roisin in ridiculous designer's clothes in random normal places.

The video should be bonkers, too, I assume.

I guess you've heard it all by now, but anyway, for those who's missing out, here's the radio edit of 'Let Me Know':

Let Me Know (Radio Edit)

And as a bonus, a live performance of 'Overpowered':

Overpowered (Live from BBC Radio 1 'Global Gathering' 27.07.07)

And here's her anthemic collab with Boris Dlugosch back in 2001, worth a revisiting.

Boris Dlugosch feat. Roisin Murphy - Never Enough (Radio Edit)

'Overpowered' drops this October in the UK.

There's also a free track called 'Modern Timing' available at her MySpace.

*EDIT: The Joey Negro remixes are quite epic, too.

And it hurts with every heartbeat...

Apparently, it took me about six months to be fully absorbed in the brilliance of this song. Around the time of my first listen, I did not know much about Robyn and 'Konichiwa Bitches' was my only favorite song from her then. To be honest, I was a bit unpatient with the song, quickly deemed it as 'overrated' and moved on. A few months later, as I was strolling down my iTunes library looking for forgotten tracks, this came up. This time, I finally felt the connection, from the lyrics, her vulnerable vocals to the synths swimming under. I guess it's just one of those songs that require you to be in a particular mood to fully enjoy it.
Well, maybe I'm not the only one arriving late to the party. To be released as Robyn's second UK single off her self-titled album, the song lately has been picking up airplay since it was 'Record of the Week' on BBC's Radio 1. And judging by the number of mostly positive comments for the video on YouTube, I think she's just one commercial deal away from a belated, glorified mainstream comeback. I assume most of you have played the original version to death already, so I will just give you three quite awesome remixes. My favorite one out of the bunch is the Tong & Spoon one, which is perfect for summertime, but the other two is just as good.

Kleerup & Robyn - With Every Heartbeat (Tong & Spoon Wonderland Remix)
Kleerup & Robyn - With Every Heartbeat (Meat Boys Remix)
Kleerup & Robyn - With Every Heartbeat (Rory Phillips Remix)

And here's the video for the song, for those who wants to listen to the original version:



Still one thing that makes wonder though, it's clear that this is a collaboration of Robyn and producer Andreas Kleerup, but I'm not sure how it should be called, 'Kleerup feat. Robyn', 'Robyn with Kleerup', or 'Kleerup & Robyn'?

Kleerup's MySpace
Robyn's MySpace

Chungking - Slow It Down

Chungking, whose name made me immediately me think of them as some obese, sleazy Chinese rapper, is in fact, not some obese, sleazy Chinese rapper. Evidence is in that picture above.
Chungking, however, is a Brighton-based duo, which consists of Jessie Banks & Sean Hennessey. They make quite delicious electropop.
My first impression upon hearing the slick, Richard X-produced track 'Slow It Down' is its Goldfrapp-meets-Kylie-esqueness (badly worded, but works).
As implied by the title, it's not so much a nauseously pulsating track. It just works its way slowly, in a snake-charming kind of way. Jessie's vocals are both seductive and suggestive enough to fill the song with sensuality. I can see this being played on a dancefloor, and suddenly people in animal masks, all sweaty, start doing naughty things to each other. It's like halfway between gutter and the stars. Amazing piece of sexy electropop done right!


Chungking - Slow It Down


Chungking is signed to Institute Recordings, and their new album 'Stay Up Forever', which will include this track, is set for an August 13 release date in the UK. Apparently, Richard X worked with them on another track called 'Itch Scratch' but I haven't heard that one yet. Hopefully, the album will sell well enough, so Jessie can hire a new, better airbrusher for their press pics.

Go visit their MySpace for more tunes

Sneaky Sound System - UFO

I was flipping through channels and somehow my fingers stopped at MTV. The Australian Video Music Awards was on. I knew it was on, but chose not to be bothered for the fact that Fergie and the Madden brothers hosted the show, followed by performances from Good Charlotte and, um, Avenged Sevenfold. However, what I was seeing was neither of those crappy bands. On the screen was an afro-haired, fierce-looking woman in a black dress belting out tunes while dancers were rollerskating around the stage. "Must be an Aussie act", I assumed. The song caught my attention, and I swore I had heard it before.
Later, thanks to the miracle that is 'the internet', I managed to find out who they were. The band in question is Sneaky Sound System, and the song is UFO, which I indeed had heard before on a podcast. So amazing was 'UFO' that I kept pushing the repeat button. I searched for some more of their singles, and the more I listened, the more I dug them. Sneaky Sound System makes this kind of storming, catchy, 'outer-spacey' electropop that I just happen to love these days. I highly recommend their stuff if you have a thing for danceable electropop, and if you like what you hear, also check out the quite good Van She Tech remix.

Fave bit: At the 0:48 minute mark, when she pronounced 'beating' as 'bea-yee-yee-yee-ting'.

Sneaky Sound System - UFO
Sneaky Sound System - UFO (Van She Tech Remix)


Buy their cd.
Visit their MySpace.

Awesomely Remixed: Feist, Beck & Beyoncé

A new round of banging remixes coming atcha.

FEIST:

Feist - My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix)

First up, here's a cool Boys Noize Remix of Feist's awesome new single 'My Moon, My Man'. It's the first dancefloor-friendly remix of her, though it can do without the slightly cheesy computerized voice repeating the vocals. Good news is Feist recently wrapped up the video shoots for both '1 2 3 4' and 'My Moon My Man'. The latter was directed by Patrick Daughters (the man behind the Mushaboom video), shot at an airport and involved choreography with dancers in flight attendant uniforms! Sounds like her most interesting video yet!

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BECK:

The Deluxe Edition of Beck's 'The Information' contains some really interesting bonus remixes. He's got all the cool people, blogger-favorites like Ellen Allien, TV On The Radio...to reconstruct his songs. Here I choose two that grab my attention most.

Beck - Cellphone's Dead (Ellen Allien Remix)
Beck - Nausea (Pirate's Bumblebeez Remix)

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BEYONCÉ/FREEMASONS:

Beyoncé + Freemasons = dancefloor heaven. That is inevitable. They have collaborated for 3 times now, and all of which results in storming, funky, groovy club anthems that can hit the 8 minute mark and still you can't get enough of it. The best one out of the three is the Deja Vu remix, which is so ace that even the Grammy had to take note and get it nominated for best remix. The other two followed like a trilogy. For a genre that I rarely had interest in, Freemasons really did it good.


Beyoncé - Deja Vu (Freemasons Club Mix)
Beyoncé - Ring The Alarm (Freemasons Club Mix)
Beyoncé and Shakira - Beautiful Liar(Freemasons Radio Vox) (3-minute radio edit)

Awesomely Remixed

Another round of great new remixes I listened to lately. This wouldn't have been possible if not for the great music blogs I frequently visited, so props to them.

Amy Winehouse - Rehab (Eagle Desert Remix)
This new remix is hot! I imagine I would sound great blasting out of a car stereo. And Universal gives it away for free. So all's good.

Robyn - Konichiwa Bitches (Trentemoller Remix)
At last, a dance remix to such a fun song! It's nothing to special, but you see trendy remixer Trentemoller's name on it, so if you like his work, don't miss this one.

The Killers - Read My Mind (Pet Shop Boys Stars Are Blazing Mix)
Wow, good job. It runs for 7 minutes but feels like a 3 minutes. Maybe Pet Shop Boys should produce The Killers' next album, no?

Beyoncé - Imprescindible (Rudy Perez Nortena Remix)
Okay, another remix for 'Irreplaceable', but this time around it's the most interesting so far, with a Caribbean, ska-lite flavor, and the vocals are the Spanish version. Save it for the summer. It's supposed to be included in the 'Deluxe Version' of B'day.

Stefski - Say It Again (courtesy of Pitchfork)
A pretty odd, electro synth-heavy remix of Nelly Furtado's megahit 'Say It Right' by Swedish DJ Stefski. It's got renamed to 'Say It Again'.

Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race (Kanye West Remix)
I didn't expect this to turn out great. But it did. Kanye lent the boys a pumping beat and a coll rapping verse, beginning with 'I don't know what the hell this song's about'. Well, me too, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it. So nowadays even Kanye & Jay Z consider emo cool. Such a time we're living in.

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And now, the more left-field ones for the indie hipsters:

The Postmarks - Goodbye (James Iha Remix)
Their self-titled debut is an early contender for my 2007 favorites. The Postmarks makes delightful female-vocal dreampop, and this remix for the single added a nice upbeat electronic touch to an already beautiful song. I'll get back to them at another time.

My Brightest Diamond - Golden Star (Alias Remix)
My Brightest Diamond's music seems a little distant to me, but maybe what I need is a good remix like this one. Trip-hoppy with blips and bleeps. From her new remix album 'Tear It Down'.

Junior Boys - In The Morning (Hot Chip Remix)

From their new EP Dead Horse. It's more like a cover actually with added vocals from Hot Chip. If you're fan of Hot Chip and/or Junior Boys, this is a must-hear, but if you don't know much about them, think it through before clicking the mouse. It's almost 10 minutes.

Remixed

A bunch of remixes that's been on rotation in my iPod lately. All equally ace.


Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape (Konvict Remix)
This is how the song might have sounded if Pharrell were to produce it. It's got a bouncy, commercial, typical hip-hop beat and a new verse for both Akon & Gwen. Apparently, her next single will be '4 In The Morning'. Wise gal.

Beyonce - Irreplaceable (STA Remix)
A new remix for a ubiquituous song. It actually brings something new to it, with snappy, lean-with-it beats. Basically like the original version, but more upbeat and danceable. Quite like it.

The Sounds - Tony The Beat (Rex The Dog Mix)
If I hadn't heard the original version, I'd assume this is just a nice banging electropop single. One made for clubs, clocking in over 6 minutes. Rex The Dog's so hot right now, isn't he?

Zero 7 - You're My Flame (Justus Köhncke Remix)
A vinyl rip. I actually find this more interesting than the original version (which was a weird choice for a single, there's plenty of better songs on the album). A 7-minute dance remix, but it doesn't feel overtime. I seldom like club remixes, but this one's an exception. One of those random, yet deserving downloads I stumple upon every now and then.

Peter Bjorn And John - Let's Call It Off (Girl Talk Remix)
Yay. Girl Talk remixed Peter Bjorn And John. Which turned out just cool. Strong follow-up single, but can't say the same about half of the album, which is mostly like underproduced, substandard b-sides.

Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars (Hey Team Remix)
This actually adds something to such a bland 'breakthrough' single. With soothing electronic details, it's one for a chillout night. Not exactly new, but I still like it.