A brilliant interpolation of Ghost Town DJs “My Boo” highlights M-Phazes superb new mix for Kimbra’s new Warner Bros. single “90’s Music”. Listen. (KKS)
M-Phazes (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.3
A brilliant interpolation of Ghost Town DJs “My Boo” highlights M-Phazes superb new mix for Kimbra’s new Warner Bros. single “90’s Music”. Listen. (KKS)
M-Phazes (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.3
Female is an AU-based producer dabbling in the vibe-y pitch-shifted trend current in indie house. Here, Female takes on Cosmic Quest’s already very good “Water Winds” and applies that lush chilled sound to excellent effect.
Female (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.3
Words and Photos by Russ Ramos
Not just another singer/songwriter/producer. From Los Angeles, Ms. Jillian Banks (better known to the industry as “Banks”) detaches herself from typical genre associations. Her sold out homecoming show at the iconic El Rey on Thursday night, May 29th, was something of a statement from this proclaimed “Goddess”. For an artist whose album hasn’t even been released yet, you already get the sense that this is the last time Banks will play a venue limited to 700 attendees. It’d be a safe bet that her next Los Angeles show would easily bring The Wiltern (1800 attendees) to capacity.
Prior to the show, I’d heard a bit of skepticism from people her previous performances. People saying things like, “She’s boring, she doesn’t move, she hides behind the mic”. After hearing all of that (whilst being a fan myself), I had to check her out. To my delight, they were as wrong as I’d hoped. Banks’ seductive moves, and exponential passion tore down away any doubt. The capacity filled venue sung along, track after track. It’s incredible evidence that Banks’ exotic music, her writing, and her voice are clearly a more engaging representation of the “singer-songwriter” genre. I saw more hands in the air then I did on iPhones. That, in Los Angeles, IS A BIG DEAL.
Banks is currently on a small US tour, and will also be touring Europe for the first half of the summer. Her debut album Goddess is expected to release September 9th, and we can only hope that she’ll grace us with another tour to promote the new album.
Banks (Facebook)
UK house producer Fort Romeau headlines a new mix for Jacques Greene’s upcoming remix set for his Phantom Vibrate EP release. The remix EP also features tracks from Yung Gud, Kit Grill and Area Forty One and is out tomorrow (May 30th) on Lucky Me.
Fort Romeau (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.4
Swedish band Movienite merge 90’s disto-rock with modern melodic & rhythm structures and do so well on new one “Yippie!” while not coming off hokey/nostalgic by maintaining the rudder of strong and focused pop writing. A++.
Movienite (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.4
Amber Run’s Spark EP is a delicate discourse on thisNottingham bands’ aching pop and rock sensibilities. Having seemed to learned a few tricks from bands like Arcade Fire, Amber Run also manage to pull in a few edgy lyrics from the relevancy popular culture. The band tread ‘familiar’ sonic territory on lead track “Sparks”, while still managing an uplifting piece of emotive currency. The following track “Heaven” rides a more diversified groove with a heavy hand on the hi-hat. The mid-section “Chamber” is a lovely tune that rises above a dusty guitar arpeggio into a cacophony of synths.
Things seem to mellow out as the epic closer “Hide & Seek” takes hold for almost five minutes. It’s here that Amber Run seem to find a striking and authentic stride, particularly it’s the airy auto-tuned vocals that bloom as the instrumentation drops in and out. If their dream was to achieve a radio ready single, the boys are golden with “Sparks”, but it’s the artistic possibilities that bubble up later in the EP which are particularly noteworthy. There is something here… hinting that this five piece could become much more than another Britpop powerhouse singing falsetto “ooohs” over massive drums.
Spark was released on the 20th of April on RCA. Purchase here: smarturl.it/AR_Spark_iTunes Reviewed by Mike Olinger
Amber Run (Facebook)
Rating: 8.4
German band Claire check-in with return single “My Audacity”. “Audacity” is an ambitious but still neatly formed bit of genre-jumping indie pop that can hold weight in quality with many of the genre’s biggest hitters.
Claire (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
Team Carousel return maybe their strongest track to date on the A+ synth pop of “New Friend”. “New Friend” is particularly strong in the exactness/wholeness of its construction; as seemingly no bit of rhythm track or vocal or keyboard flourish is out of place and each of the song’s constituent elements are perfectly harmonious in their synchronicity.
Carousel (Facebook)
Rating: 8.2
Brighton’s best Phoria do well to standout from the UK Alt-R&B trend/scene with a strong follow-up to one of the year’s best tracks “Emanate” on the soothing and spare “Undone”. X Novo will release next month “Display”, Phoria’s new EP from which “Undone” is sampled.
Phoria (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
The great Innovative Leisure will be releasing next week Wayne Interest, the new LP from SoCal band Tijuana Panthers. Debuted on KCRW last week is “NOBO” a reverb-washed, drop-out sort of track that mixes well surf rock elements and classic R&B and is Wayne Interest’s current focus track.
Banks (Facebook)
Rating 8.6