Monday, November 30, 2009

Polymorphic


ELECTRONIC/ TECHNO/ HOUSE
Artist: Polymorphic
Album: Rock On EP
Tracks: “Rock On,” “Scream”
Street Date: December 1, 2009
Label: Coco Machete


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If you’re a fan of Steve Aoki, the Bloody Beetroots, MSTRKRFT, etc., you’ll most likely enjoy Polymorphic, too. And if you don’t, well that’s too bad!

The Moscow-based artist recently released a new EP, Rock On, featuring three new tracks – “Rock On,” “Scream,” and “Move Faster.” The EP also includes an awesome remix of “Rock On” by Marseille. Most tracks are darkly aggressive and maybe even scary at times – but that’s not surprising. Polymorphic said in a MySpace blog post, “As the days get darker so shall the music, ... there’s only one thing we can really say about the last two tracks… they are scary … ‘Scream’ WILL make you ‘Move Faster.’”

Holy mackerel! NO, but seriously they’re not kidding. This music isn’t for the faint of heart… or hearing. I can clearly imagine myself getting trampled by a crowd of rave-goers and then exploding on the floor (with my glow stick fading out slowly by my side).

But don’t worry about that because you can listen to Polymorphic in the safety of your own home. Check their MySpace out!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Pal Joey


HOUSE
Artist: Pal Joey
Album: NYC Darlings
Tracks: “Flight 801” & “Party Time”
Street Date: November 11, 2009
Label: Pal Joey


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Apologies for the late Pal Joey blog posting, but it goes to show you that there was so much to information to consider and process about the artist/record label, especially since Pal Joey is considered as a great house legend and pioneer and influencer of all music after the 1980s.

From upbeat, funky electro to low-key trance, the artist demonstrates creative shifts and changes in the nuances of making enjoyable music. Pal Joey has worked with and produced albums for artists such as BQE, Lascivious, Paul Violet, Brio, Beautiful People, Dreamhouse, Soho, and Birdhouse (just to name a few).

Pal Joey’s new album NYC Darlings is a collection of ear-catching tracks – good for winding down and chillaxing. We hope Pal Joey continues to collaborate with other artists and release new stuff soon!

For more information, visit Pal Joey's website.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Conya Compilation


ELECTRONIC/ HOUSE
Artist: Various Artists
Album: Broaden Your Horizons Pt. 1 & 2
Tracks: Edmund “Electronic Love,” Copy/Paste “Caravan 2”
Street Date: November 17, 2009
Label: Conya Records/ Clubstar


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Alright, so when you think of German electronic/house/trance music, you probably think of really intense beats, rhythms, and bass, with a super deep and creepy German guy singing in a low monotone. Or we’re just exaggerating because an electro-Rammstein comes to mind at first thought.

This is not the case for the first ever Conya Compilation, Broaden Your Horizons Pt. 1 & 2! Originally founded in 2002, the record label wanted to focus on tribal house music however its made a shift to soulish, groovy deep electro-house dance music crafted by some of the best foreign house artists including Jay Tripwire, Manuel Tur, Jay West, Gianluca Pighi, Haldo, Sebastian Davidson, and Brazilian Soul Crew. Part 1 of Broaden Your Horizons, “The Soulful Rub,” mostly consists of laidback soul that you can still definitely dance to. Part 2 of the compilation, “The Deeper Club,” focuses on the deeper house and electronic side of Conya Records. The purchase of either part comes with a DJ mix of the tracks by Henri Kohn who compiled Broaden Your Horizons.

No, this ain’t yo run-of-the-mill compilation, but it’s a diverse collection of super good European/Canadian/Russian electronic music – and no it’s not reminiscent of an electro-Rammstein at all, just in case that thought is still in your head. Although that would probably be interesting too!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Arcane Trickster


ELECTRONIC
Artist: Arcane Trickster
Album: Eidola
Tracks: "Dope On A Rope,” “Zombie Shuffle (day mix)”
Street Date: November 10, 2009
Label: Tempest Records


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Arcane Trickster is the love baby birthed by producer Damiano Verna of Tempest Records and Christopher Innes. To give a brief and perhaps concise idea of what type of electronic music the two produce, imagine yourself riding a super funky roller coaster elevator-craft through outer-space, traveling through a mangled up montage of old film and audio clips, seeing neon-colored aliens techno dance around you in circles, and spiraling out of control into a nearby nebula:



Pretty awesome, right?!


Arcane Trickster is not your typical electro-pop band that AA-clad youngsters are fawning over these days. The two seem to bring out a darker tone in their music, especially in “Hex,” in which one of the back beat/rhythm sounds very reminiscent of the Prodigy’s “Smack My B***h Up.”

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Mogi Grumbles


ELECTRONIC/ HOUSE/ POP
Artist: Mogi Grumbles
Album:The Black Box Set
Tracks: "M.W.T.F.," "Missed Connections"
Street Date: October 27, 2009
Label: Moodgadget Records


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Correct us if we're mistaken but Mogi Grumbles could possibly be the hippest thing to come out of Michigan since... cars... when they were first invented.

Apparently in the current state of pop culture, it's standard for songs to last a total of 3 or 4, maybe even 5 minutes (if you're like, U2 or something). As a result people are all antsy now when they hear a track lasting 5+ minutes... and we think that's absurd! People used to sit through hours of operas and junk a few centuries ago and now most people can't even sit through a 5 minute track without fidgeting for their iPods.


The California Aggie arts editor put it in good enough terms in the paper yesterday. "Give anyone an album with five or six minute tracks and people will either faint or fall asleep with boredom." This has a high probability of being true, but we're willing to give people the benefit of the doubt... for now.

Now how is this relevant to Mogi Grumbles? Well, every track off the Black Box Set is designated as an EP and lasts about 2-3 times longer than your average MGMT song (no offense beebs!). Supposedly this is Mogi's way of making fun of the electronic genre, which has inherently taken a strong liking to short singles.

The point is, there's absolutely nothing wrong with long tracks! The double digits may look intimidating at first but it could end up being that much better (or at least better than you expected), and this is definitely the case for Mogi Grumbles' Black Box Set.

Check out his remixes and updates on his MySpace!