Sounds of Summer Part 2 - Tom Edition
21.10.2009
Today our Sounds of Summer feature continues with Tom (Mr. AngelBreaks himself)’s list. There’s some Major Lazer, The proxy, The XX, and Florence and the Machine in there, as well as some sexy free download. Which did you like better, Adam’s list or this one? Let us know!
Buraka Som Sistema – IC19
I am not sure where to start with these guys. They have opened me up to a whole new form of music - Kuduro. They totally stole my attention for a few weeks with their inspired collaboration on Sound of Kuduro with M.I.A., the debut single from their album, Black Diamond. And most thrillingly of all, when I saw them at Bestival this summer, they displayed awe-inspiring prowess in their live performance…hypnotic African percussion, improbable booty shaking (Lady MC Blaya, I salute you!), driving techno, samba energy and microphone mastery…the complete dance package. This is the best song off their album. This was the song of my summer.
Major Lazer feat. Vybz Kartel & Afrojack – Pon de Floor
What can I say about these guys that hasn’t already been said? The Diplo and Switch dancehall project, Major Lazer, was one of the most hotly anticipated collaborations the scene has experienced in a long time. Blogs, magazines and music channels were churning the rumour mill with unprecedented voracity. So with such high expectations, the album has been received, somewhat inevitably, with a wide range of opinion. In my opinion it is a triumph…and it displays all the same emotions of its criticism – fun, aggressive, energetic, dark, sexy, ridiculous. I think if you are taking it too seriously, you haven’t got it and the video below attests to this. Please enjoy the jewel in the Lazer’s canon.
Dizzee Rascal – Bonkers (Doorly Remix)
Picture the scene. I am at Secret Garden party dressed as Napoleon Bonaparte with my crew of three pharaohs, two pixies, a dragon and Japanese sage. We are on the side of a bank watching the Tower of Babylon in the middle of the lake set ablaze. And right on cue, the ubiquitous summer track, Bonkers, is dropped by the right honourable main stage DJ and the crowd’s arms fly up and lick the sky almost as high as the flames. However, with a gloriously unexpected and beguiling plot twist, every last person in the field, without choice or exception, is brought to their knees by this totally unfamiliar, uncanny and bone-shuddering dubstep remix. A truly memorable festival moment.
Jack Beats – Get Down
“And then it happened”…Beni G of the Mixologists and Plus One of the Scratch Perverts got together in a studio and recorded this little ditty. A wobbly bassline, a big breakdown and a slick acapella. This epitomises everything that Jack Beats are about but also proudly represents the current UK House scene. It is a dance floor monster that cites multi-cultural influences and cross-genre inspiration. You can feel the hip-hop pomp, breakbeat bounce, techno control, electro energy and dubstep aggression all in the mixing pot. And as if justification was required, I think this song was awarded about as much airtime by the DJs I saw throughout the summer as any other.
Florence + The Machine – You Got The Love
In researching the history of this track I learned that it was originally a soul/gospel/disco track recorded in 1986. The most famous version was by The Source and Candi Staton and it was introduced to the dance world by DJ Eren in 1991. It has since been through the hands of New Voyager and the Shapeshifters. But none of that is important for two reasons…1) Everyone knows and is familiar with the song. 2) Florence has done it better than anyone and made it her own. With the legs of a supermodel, the voice of an opera singer and the presence of a lioness, she delivers this song with spine-tingling power and sensitivity in equal measure.
The xx – Infinity
I couldn’t possibly have placed The xx above Flo + The Mac because it was them that they have been supporting this summer and who have helped to launch their career. But The xx are no less deserving of their fame, spotlight, adoration, applause, props. This debut album is so damned accomplished and sexy, and astonishingly it was written by a bunch of 20 year old Londoners. If you have never heard them before, Infinity will tell you all you need to know. Careful and delicate lyrics draped over careful and delicate electronica is their talent. But it is the delivery of the songs that is their genius. There is a flirtatiousness and sexual tension that is so inclusive, you really feel like you are in their inner circle. There is a lot we can learn from this bunch of 20 year olds.
Proxy – Raven
A year on from its release this song still feels like it is red hot from being cast in an industrial steelworks in a dark and remote corner of Siberia. It is raw, metallic and frightening. And if I had to hand out the award for best festival dance stage 2009, it would go hands down to The Temple of Excess at The Secret Garden Party. Fortunately for me and the 400 or so other revellers in the tent, these two behemoths of the dance world were united. Successful excess, excessive success.
Diplo & Laidback Luke – Hey! (Foamo Remix)
Download the Mp3 here!
“Hey hey hey hey…hey hey hey hey…the bass keeps coming.” The Ronseal of the summer electro releases – ‘it does exactly what it says on the tin’ – and boy, does the bass keep coming. Unsurprisingly, given Diplo’s ever increasing global stock as a DJ/Producer, and the respect Luke commands from his fellow professionals, they put together an incredible remix package for this track. Despite featuring AngelBreaks favourites Nadastrom and Dre Skull, it was Foamo who emerged victorious. His re-imagining of the track extracts and enhances the best qualities of the track – attention grabbing bassline sonica – but he turns it up to eleven…and we saw that it was good.
TV on the Radio – Love Dog
I know that this track strictly speaking was not released this summer but if you would forgive me this one indulgence, it is a song that has been all over my home stereo, iPod and work computer this summer. It is the jewel in the crown on their fourth album Dear Science, and it continues to charm me ever time I hear it. Tunde Adebimpe’s dulcet delivery of his poetic lyrics falls over the end of each line and rolls into the next, making for a complex, textured and really f*cking cool song. Word to your mutha!
Orbital – Lush (Herve’s Tree and Leaf Remix)
This is a classic tale of old v. new. Orbital are central characters in the story of dance music and in particular have helped to push the envelope for DJ performance, goggle torches and beyond. This summer at The Big Chill and Get Loaded their use of grandiose stage effects and epic set building had certainly not dimmed with age. And then we have Herve, in his ascendancy as one of Britain’s finest, who is at his happiest in the studio and only DJs to pay the bills. Nonetheless these conflicting philosophies and approaches to dance music have found harmony on this remix. Herve has taken Orbital’s 1993 classic and twisted and wobbled it into his own production niche. Generational gap successfully bridged.
