Pop | Clean Bandit & Jess Glynne – Real Love
Posted by BIGLIFE on October 3, 2014
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Clean Bandit took the summer, and never gave it back. With their latest hit, “Real Love”, they’re poised to take the winter as well. Jess Glynne’s soulful vocals make the track, with incredible writing and infectious melodies that give “Real Love” the potential to be a radio smasher.
Purchase: Clean Bandit & Jess Glynne – Real Love
Electro | Labrinth – Let It Be (TORN Remix)
Posted by VMan on October 2, 2014
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The mysterious Torn is back from radio silence with a hard bassy glitchy remix of Labrinth’s “Let It Be,” and faithful to his name, I’m still trying to figure this one out, but when I saw Labrinth behind the original, I knew I had to support, he’s way too underrated to be not supporting his talent. Glad Torn shed light on this talented vocalist, and good to see him back to remixes, the world will soon find out who is behind the alias…. This is a must listen!
Progressive House | Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman – ID2
Posted by Middy on September 23, 2014
No this is not some ode to a bygone era of constant Avicii IDs, this is simply just the name that has become branded to this tune, including on radio tracklists and to retitle it might damage the effect of the release. Let’s hope it doesn’t start a trend of artists releasing songs legitimately called “ID” because that would cause some serious problems for guys like Eric Prydz. Size has been on fire this year with their usual suspects of high energy tunes, but also a new smattering of deeper, groovier tunes that have escaped the clutches of his newly formed We Are All X imprint. In the mold of those big progressive tunes, Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman return for their 4th release on the label, first since April’s smash single “Payback” that still echoes around the few remaining festival grounds and now filled arenas & concert halls. Expect to hear “ID2” plenty as the year closes out.
Another note worth mentioning, their Tom Ordell remix that was previewed last summer will finally get a release date soon, so stay tuned to Vangelis & Wyman’s socials for details.
Beatport: Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman – ID2
Pop | MisterWives – Reflections
Posted by VMan on August 29, 2014
One of my homies put me on to the band MisterWives, and I can’t deny their track “Reflections” is super catchy! Late to the party as for a change, as word on the street they’re already selling out shows cross country, but it’s never too late to discover a band that will for sure have their radio hit in no time, if it’s not this one! This is a must listen and check out their EP Reflections on iTunes. The band will be performing at Webster Hall September 4th, so make sure you get your tickets and go check them out if you’re in the area! This is a must listen!
Progressive House | Steve Angello – Wasted Love ft. Dougy from The Temper Trap
Posted by Mel on July 23, 2014
The first single off Steve Angello’s upcoming album is out and it is as awesome as one would expect. The superb vocals and radio ready production destine this song to commercial success, much like how “Don’t You Worry Child” was. It’s not a huge surprise for there to be a song or two from the album that is catered to the mainstream and this is one of them. Even so, it’s a great track and a smart way to reintroduce the world to Steve Angello, the solo artist.
iTunes: Steve Angello – Wasted Love ft. Dougy from The Temper Trap
Chill, Compilation, Mix | WhitneyAbstraKt – A Night With Leyla
Posted by admin on July 5, 2014
Curation is key. It is this fact alone that has allowed music streaming services such as Songza and Beats to be purchased for millions and millions of dollars this past year. And, it is this fact that keeps talented curators in the front of our minds and ears.
In the wake of endless singles, one-off radio hits, and all-around clutter in music it is nice to know that there are those out there that will spend tireless hours of their own time to bring a collection of the best music to your ears. Today, this glorious mix of tunes is brought to us by WhitneyAbstraKt in conjunction with Artistic Manifesto.
The mix is self-described as follows: “It’s a mild spring evening, the wind is gently blowing through her hair, and you’re out enjoying a night on the town. You have one thing in mind, but the night carries you in an entirely different direction. Before you know it, dawn has arrived and you realize that the entire night has been one hazy, disorienting, pleasurable blur. You just experienced “A Night With Leyla.” This is your soundtrack.”
Enjoy the eclectic musical stylings, and have a great Saturday night to accompany it.
Alternative, Featured | Meet Great Good Fine Ok, Your Soundtrack to Summer
Posted by admin on June 2, 2014
By: Annie Dineen
If you’ve danced it out to a funky synth line, tested the limits of your shower’s resonance with high notes, or dabble in keytar solos, you’ll love Great Good Fine Ok. Made of creamy-smooth falsettos and hip-shaking synth beats you won’t need a degree in twerking to dance to, Great Good Fine OK is the indie-synth-pop ice cream bar dipped in R&B syrup that you’ll be craving all summer.
I spoke to the band before their show at Baby’s All Right, a colored light infused venue in Brooklyn replete with elaborate drawings spanning the walls and copper crocodiles carrying incandescent orbs in their mouths. The exuberant twenty-somethings, fresh off a few of their first shows ever at South by Southwest, were particularly excited to be opening for Tove Lo, the Swedish pop goddess whose affinity for black mesh shirts and eating dinner in bathtubs has met with massive recent success. “We’re both big fans of Tove Lo, we’ve been listening to a lot of her,” they tell me. “It’s funny cuz we actually are fans of her, we’re not just saying that.”
Great Good Fine OK is Jon Sandler and Luke Moellman, two Brooklynites who, despite growing up a town apart in upstate New York, didn’t meet until moving to Brooklyn. “We worked together on a couple musical projects, and I was saying some day we should write a song together and it just like, never happened for a while. Then one day we ran into each other on the street like after months of not seeing each other and we were like let’s do this, let’s write a song. That night he sent me the music to “You’re the One for Me” and the next day I wrote the lyrics and the melody to it, kinda sent it back and forth, and we were kinda like ‘oh shit, we have something here.’”
Though they often finish each other’s sentences, Jon taking the lead as they talk and Luke filling in to expand or clarify, when it comes to songwriting, they’d rather be far apart.
“We’re rarely in the same room when we write,” Jon says. “Luke is the producer/engineer and writes. The formula we’ve been working on is…” Luke picks up the slack. “I’ll like write the music to it, the instruments, everything, and then give it to Jon and he comes up with the melody and the lyrics and then sends it back and he’ll have comments about what I did and I’ll have comments about what he did. That’s sort of the formula, that’s what’s been working for us, and it’s really awesome because we both get to focus on what we feel like we’re best at.”
“It’s cool,” they say of their hyper-2014 digital songwriting sessions. “You can sort of turn off the part of your brain that’s really critical if there’s nobody else around.”
The sound that emerges is heavily pop, often compared to artists like Passion Pit or M83. I ask them to describe their sound. “I think the most accurate things people have said is that it’s like a mix between synth pop and R&B,” they tell me. “We’re using a lot of elements that are in Passion Pit and M83 and all these comparisons we’re getting. At the same time, I feel like we’re a little more influenced by more classic 70’s and 80’s.. Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson. So any description that combines those two worlds is really cool and it is really hard to verbalize.”
“Our favorite descriptor we got was that somebody called us ‘PBR Kelly’. Isn’t that amazing? We’ve talked about it a lot. I hope the people that wrote it know that we love it.”
I ask them what they’ve been listening to lately. “I have a car so I listen to a ton of top 40 radio, so I can tell you exactly what I like in the top 40 world,” Jon says, laughing. “I like that Paramore song “Ain’t It Fun,” I like the new Justin Timberlake jam [“Not A Bad Thing”] – it’s amazing! My favorite band in the world is Steely Dan, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that from the type of music we play.”
Dreams for the future? “I always say this and I think it bothers Luke,” Jon says. “But I would love to go on tour with a big pop artist like Lady Gaga, somebody like that who does kind of artistic things within the pop. Does it bother you?” Luke retains a stoic poker face. “I always say Lady Gaga because like while she writes pop songs and she’s like on Top 40 radio, I feel like it’s how in that respect she’s kind of trying to be creative, not just in the confines of a pop machine.”
“It would be extravagant. Lights, smoke, maybe some fire. Fire mostly shooting out of Luke’s instruments.”
Luke laughs. “I’m beginning to warm to the idea. No pun intended.”
So start practicing your #bodydiamond (no, they did not explain), and get ready to fall in love with the infectious groove of Great Good Fine OK. With or without pyrotechnics, they’re lighting a spark in the pop scene.