Electronic, House, Techno | Spice’s Top 10 Tracks of 2013
Posted by Spice on December 22, 2013
2013 was a year of many momentous things. Including the insanely awesome above shot, which was taken by yours truly with a cracked iPhone (and it’s frankly still a mystery as to how I managed to pull it off. I mean, look at that thing. That thing is next level. Eat your heart out, Rukes). In keeping with all the seasonal nostalgia, here are my picks for the best tracks of the year.
Electronic, House | Disclosure – Settle (Album Review)
Posted by Spice on June 12, 2013
These days, it’s hard to do much of anything on the internet without encountering heaps of reverential praise for the British brother-duo better known as Disclosure. They’ve become the de facto poster children for what’s cool in 2013 and have amassed a following that includes both hipster indie pop enthusiasts and their ravier twenty-something counterparts. Back in March, I remember perusing the calendar at one of my favorite clubs and noticing that they had sold out that upcoming Friday — the first Friday of the second weekend of Ultra, as it were. Not only did this not register with me at the time, but I didn’t even bother to catch them in Miami. Quelle folie. I am usually slow to warm up to bandwagon-y new groups, probably due to the fact that I am effectively a huge music snob in denial, but sometimes the hype becomes too great to overlook and bandwagons get harder and harder to ignore. In the case of Disclosure (and their now very considerable bandwagon), I can confirm that all the hype is utterly justified.
Albums, Review | A Belated Discussion of Random Access Memories
Posted by Spice on May 31, 2013
By now, you’ve already listened to Daft Punk’s fourth album in full. You may have streamed it on iTunes, or downloaded the rip when it leaked (even though ain’t nobody got time for 192 kbps…), or perhaps you waited patiently and saved your first listen for the official, high quality, purchasable version. Your opinion of the album is probably already cemented.
But that won’t stop me from trying to change it.
Moombahton, Techno | Alesia – Otho & Andrea // Tune In Crew – Tous dehors
Posted by Spice on April 30, 2013
I’m not sure why I’m lumping these tracks together. They’re really only similar in that that they are cool, free, and happen to have been written by French producers. But given that we’re now only a few weeks away from Random Access Memories, it seems sort of appropriate to cast a spotlight on some of France’s brightest up-and-comers. So, without further adieu…
First up, two new tracks from Alesia, whom you may recall recently made waves with the
now-omnipresent “Bird Machine.” Be advised: “Andrea” and “Otho” are not trap — both are dark, industrial techno carefully calibrated to get inside your head. Fellow Parisian Gesaffelstein would undoubtedly approve. If this is your poison, hop on the free DLs…and if not, do me a favor and give it a chance. Relative newcomers though they may be, Alesia are definitely a duo to keep your eyes on.
Next (and finally) we have a really interesting track that’s currently putting a gigantic smile on my face. I’m not sure what it is about “Tous dehors” — the languorous moombah bassline, the steel drum (and all the dancehall flavor it imparts), the French samples…but something about this gels fantastically when it probably shouldn’t. Super chouette!
Albums | Daft Punk to release album “Random Access Memories” May 21st, Pre-Order now
Posted by Middy on March 23, 2013
With the full court press being put on by Columbia hyping up this album all over the web and all over the world, putting up posters and slowly releasing small bits of relatively inconsequential information about Daft Punk’s 4th artist album, we can finally say we are the stretch run of the release. The album “Random Access Memories” will be released on May 21st and lets pray there are not any last minute delays. There are no names for any of the 13 songs, but you have the lengths of each of the tracks. You can pre-order the album on iTunes and until then listen to the 15 second clip from the SNL commercial below or listen to it in a 10 hour loop.