the good people from record makers just released the new single by english crooner findlay brown. 'promised land' is actually a smooth pop ballad cover of the classic house track by joe smooth, so house and disco-flavoured remixes were obviously mandatory. the package includes reworks from acid washed, pilooski, hypnolove, mellow and discodust favorites villa. loaded with piano chords and strings, enjoy their remix right here as another discodust premiere!
here is a new mysterious story to add to the history of van she tech. some of the plot keywords include '1984', 'grindhouse cinema soundtrack', 'fujiyama matsumuto', 'fire destryoing the studio' and 'found in a sealed box' 25 years later. fred falke and a certain 'nic nicola' are also name-dropped, so whether you believe all of this or not, enjoy this first lifesign of the upcoming vandroid.com saga!
once again i'll demonstrate my cluelessness by admitting that i am not too familiar with the work of pale sketcher (justin k. broadrick of post-rock band jesu, former member of napalm death) and donnacha costello (in the game since 1997 with releases on force inc. and poker flat) but i am rather good at spotting a beautiful electronica masterpiece when i hear one, so how is that?
this is the kind of music that sets out to take over my stereo as soon as the dark shades of autumn bury all traces of summer out there. make sure your beloved ones keep you warm while listening to the remix of 'can i go now (gone version)'.
following up on the still lasting success of 'reckless with your love' (that we posted over a year ago) and their collaboration with friendly fires plus countless remixes for the likes of munk, runaway, cfcf, voltage and sunday girl, toronto's currently hottest collective azari & iii are back with their new single 'indigo'.
originally supposed to be released on the resurrected trax records which never came through, it's out on turbo now instead. 'indigo' stays true to their classic house vibe but succeeds to sound fresh nevertheless, incorporating the same kind of slightly detuned chords we hear in a lot of borderline dubstep tracks from the united kingdom these days.
my favorite producers of downright banging dubstep, london producer duo nero just unveiled a new remix for the current single 'the recluse' by singer and rapper plan b. play it loud!
in her rather short career, clare maguire has already been in touch with jay-z (who attested her 'star quality'), rick rubin, jarvis cocker, primary 1 and bloodshy & avant, among many others. and i can definitely understand their fascination, as her voice and the atmosphere in her songs are something truly special, sometimes reminding me of no one else but stevie nicks.
her official debut single "ain't nobody" comes with a remarkable video and a remix by memory tapes has already received lots of blog love. most wanted remix in the package seems to be the one by london-based dubstep producer breakage though, already dubbed 'the biggest remix of the year' by zane lowe from bbc radio 1. not sure if i can second that yet but it's a great remix for sure, judge for yourself and enjoy another discodust premiere in 320 kbps!
disclosure are two 16 and 19 year old brothers residing in south london who just released their debut single on moshi moshi. operating somewhere in-between dubstep and garage, the diva vocal fragments and fading synth chords of 'linstigator' remind me of joy orbison and that must be a good thing.
one of our current favorite uk producers, bass addict foamo is giving away a dub version of his remix for nas & damian marley's 'as we enter'. loving the use of the mulatu astatke sample here! this is fire!
it has been quite a while since we have heard from electric youth. while both members of the toronto-based boy/girl duo have spent a lot of time in the studio writing, recording and producing recently, nothing besides a collaboration on the grum album has really surfaced yet.
we are about to change this now though, giving you their all new track 'right back to you'. moreover, if you were wondering where that classic melancholic, yet energetic eighties-flavoured 'discodust sound' went, here it is coming right back to you, better than ever. enjoy another discodust premiere!
after his most recent remixes for mark ronson and sunday girl, discodust favorite russ chimes is finally all set to drop his first original release, more particularly an ep named 'midnight club' featuring three all new originals. you can admire the cover artwork above or even better, watch all of the three videos directed by saman keshavarz (known for his sxsw award-winning video for 'luv deluxe' by cinnamon chasers).
pulling off one of the smartest music blog promotion stunts, all three videos combined result in a short movie and one video after another has been unveiled during the past weeks, leading to massive buzz all over the interwebs. so once again, unless you are living under a rock, this post might be rather pointless but being one of the world's greatest russ chimes fanboys in the world, i wanted them mentioned on here as well. deal with it!
russ chimes - midnight club ep (part 1: never look back) on vimeo
russ chimes - midnight club ep (part 2: tertre rouge) on vimeo
russ chimes - midnight club ep (part 3: targa) on vimeo
and even if you know the videos already, what you might not have heard yet is the brandnew remix russ chimes did for the upcoming single by kelis, called 'scream' (originally produced by david guetta).
we all know that grum went from regular unsigned track premieres on discodust to international stardom and it's all going great with him getting more and more love and gigs all around the world. the new single 'through the night' is due on october 4th and comes with remixes from the swiss, bit funk, perseus, grum himself and others.
if you haven't heard of perseus yet, that's probably because it is the first public release of the team which consists of members from belgium, indonesia and america, including our very own discodust family member leon. but even if he wouldn't be involved, i would have gone for their remix because it's really well done and by far my favorite of the bunch, so get it right here!
in case you didn't drown in 'chillwave' yet or have been living under a rock, you should be familiar with florrie by now, as she constantly keeps on getting love from all over the blogs and just doesn't seem to stop recording and putting out new great tracks. her newest original track 'give me your love' has once again been remixed by both justin faust and fred falke. same as last time around, my favorite has got to be the justin faust remix and i am not just saying that because it's another discodust premiere!
the amazing people from popjustice, world-famous for being the most influential blog dedicated to high quality pop music, finally started their own label: popjustice hi-fi, which is destined to become a new mecca for (guilty) pleasure seekers. the first release is coming from swedish singer rosanna and a single by london's bright light bright light will follow.
just as you would expect, 'waterfalls' by rosanna is catchy as hell and should go down well in the charts. considering the swedish heritage, the rather melancholic sound labeled as 'gloom pop' and the similarities in their voices, the comparisons to robyn are inevitable but of course that's not a bad thing at all, hinting at more cutting edge pop songs to come. hear the original 'waterfalls' on youtube!
in addition to the original, there's a great remix by discodust favorite fear of tigers which is on a much more uplifting tip, featuring his trademark playful synth sound and slightly over the top guitar solos! good vibes all the way, enjoy another discodust premiere!
after 'show me the night' was such a success on the blogs and beyond, los angeles electro-rockers jump jump dance dance are back with a new single called 'modern eyes'. watch the official video on youtube and enjoy the remixes by beni and bit funk right here!
although i screwed up regarding featuring them on here before, i have always been a fan of salem and so should you. born and raised on the outstanding acephale label, the true forerunners of the 'drag' genre are going to release their album 'king night' on iamsound late this summer.
the album's title track has just crashlanded on the interwebs and shows a significantly higher influence of the uk's 'purple' sound along with the signature tr-808 drums, eerie synthesizer pads and (not-so) sacred choirs. don't miss this unexpected turn from salem, a very special kind of summer jam!
i am not quite sure what elite gymnastics are all about and thought they are one of those fuzzed out 'chillwave' surf bands that will mainly only circulate on all these new blogs that represent 'the new cool' but there seems to be something more about them. their music originates from a site named psychedelic surf club, complete with fancy marijuana artwork and all, they mention van she tech (as travis points out over at bigstereo), their twitter is locked and says 'chillwave millionaires' and even pitchfork can't resist.
so regarding their whole appearance and the sound of their tracks, elite gymnastics range somewhere in-between electronic music production for beginners, sappy suicide boys electronica, the notorious 'chillwave' movement, the sound of rinse.fm and thugged out gangsta rap. just like me then! actually it pretty much sounds like the current state of 'blog house' in a blender. plus: hey, they've got high pitched vocals! here are my favorite tracks from their first ep called 'real friends'.
discodust favorite worship, long time collaborator of our friends on the fruit records, recently put out two new tracks and as they haven't been here yet, it's about time! like the names suggest, 'starcrash' and 'cosmic roller girls' are the perfect spacey disco soundtrack for your next lunar landing! so hear this, houston, there's not a problem that we can't fix!
a couple of weeks ago, we hooked you up with 'get a grip' by dirty super car, remixed by the loops of fury and released on the newly found label and events series grand hotel. in order to keep the track going in the clubs, the label unleashed a new remix coming from up-and-coming dubstep and drum & bass producer maximilian as well as a special vip edit from the mysterious strangers themselves, both hitting even harder than the original version.
we recently brought you their remix of 'show me the night' by jump jump dance dance and now, human life are following up with their debut single 'in it together'. the trio resides in southern california and consists of joshua collins, matt wasley and rachael starr, all of them being established producers and musicians with a history of releases going way back to 1997. 'in it together' clearly underlines that their sound is inspired by both french house and classic chicago house and has already gained support by the leaders of the new disco sound, such as aeroplane, grum and alan braxe (who will soon be putting out an ep with them).
the single is coming with a great remix package, featuring reworks by current cutting edge producers such as kris menace, acid girls, jaymo & andy george, louis la roche and (discodust discovery) pelifics. my personal favorite is this smooth remix by melbourne-based duo polygon palace which is taking the original even further down the new disco road. enjoy another discodust premiere!
i just feel really happy when friends start making good music. recently, on a cold brooklyn winter night, twin dj duo finger on the pulse and alan astor felt it should be time already for some summer feelings: punches.
united by their common goal to get you moving they have come up with some heavily disco influenced old school house vibes. there's a good chance you will have heard their beautiful remix for indie pop girls and fellow brooklyners au revoir simone - otherwise please make sure to catch up! but now enjoy their first original track 'let go' as a premiere on discodust!
ashley jones has been an artist known by multiple names and has, in turn, produced tracks spanning the genre spectrum. taking the building blocks that his musician father prepared him with, he has been playing the proverbial musical roulette wheel landing briefly on everything from high school bands to producing beats for hip hop artists to a drum n bass outfit called evol intent. the ball has finally come to rest on his most recent and aptly named nu-disco moniker, treasure fingers.
so in looking back at the flavors of your past projects, i am curious how this whole disco sound emerged from you?
i was really into the 90's chicago house sound and then the french house sound in the late 90s. that's the sound i started djing, along with drum & bass under a different name. someone ended up stealing all my house records. i was just too poor and lazy to go back and buy all the house records to keep djing that back then so i just stuck with drum & bass. that ended up turning into the evol intent project.
that's so shitty. how did they get stolen?
treasure fingers - what am i supposed to do
i was doing this really lo-fi tour with some dudes in a van. we were just traveling around the country and meeting up with whatever connections or friends we could and playing wherever we could. we had our own soundsystem so a lot of times we would end up playing in a basement or park or something. one dude with us was just a scam artist i guess. he ran off with my records and also took some money from some of the others. no one has heard from him to this day. i kind of look at it as a blessing in disguise because i started focusing heavily on drum & bass at that point and that turned somewhat successful. which in return helped me launch the treasure fingers project when i was ready.
that sucks. well look who's laughing now. can you remember what one of your first house records was that you purchased way back when?
i remember playing thomas bangalter 'spinal scratch' a lot. i also loved sneaker pimps 'spin spin sugar' armand van helden remix. speed garage blew my mind when i first heard it. but i really have no clue what the first record was. it was probably something shitty in the $1 bin.
how do you feel like you fit into club culture now with your specific sound. do you sometimes feel more comfortable in a different setting like a pool party?
i feel like a bit of an outcast most places in the united states just because all the kids have been so into super heavy noisy electro the past few years. i don't mind it though. i like doing my own thing. i usually get a lot of good feedback, like that it was a refreshing sound, or they loved how 'feel good' the music was. i'm actually more comfortable in a dark night club at 2 or 3am, but only with the right crowd i guess.
do you feel more well-recepted in other parts of the world?
i think australia and europe, yeah. they are just much more receptive to house music in general. but especially disco or melodic type stuff. i feel like new york and a few other spots around the united states are getting more and more familiar though. all the dates on this current tour have been amazing, really good turn outs and great crowd response.
it seems like there's kindof a plateau that these wave of producers reach. they get on the blogs, get dj gigs, get noticed by an agent and a manager and then they get launched worldwide. what comes after that?
i'm not quite sure, still figuring out the science to that haha. it seems like you just have to consistently keep hits coming and get all the dj's to play your stuff out. i think just getting some big records out this year, and hitting some of the same festivals i've done, but just moving up in those prime time slots would be nice. i just signed with coda agency who'll handle my uk/europe bookings now, so i hope to get over there a lot more often. i still haven't done the euro festival circuit yet, so that would be good also.
you're always going to all these crazy places all over the world as part of your job. what would qualify as a vacation to you (length of time, location, activities or lack of, etc)?
i think i've had one proper vacation in the last two or three years. it was in costa rica for about four days. i did some zip lining canopy tours, beaches, jungles, etc. i'm gonna try to take a bit more time off just to keep my mind & body refreshed. i think a good week or two off, a couple times a year would be a good look. i'm more a tropical vacation type, but i've been itching to go skiing or snowboarding sometime soon, too.
how do you keep healthy/sane on the road? do you take any comforts of home with you?
i take a lot of vitamins and take it pretty easy. i always try to swim and relax in the pool at hotels haha. i think just having my laptop and being able to produce music with minimal equipment keeps me most sane though. i always miss my home studio and all the gear, but I'm glad technology has advanced that i can get the job done with a macbook pro and portable sound card.
any musicmakers we should be keeping our eye on?
nightriders from boston are kiilling it right now. dcup from sydney.
what would someone receive if they ordered a 'treasure fingers' cocktail?
for me personally it'd probably be heavy dark liquor. but for the sake of keeping it smooth, maybe vodka, sprite with a splash of grape juice (or purple drank whatever you got handy). that seems a bit hood, but still classy somehow.
what's your drink of choice?
these days i go with makers mark; either w/ coke or manhattan or an old fashioned.
tell us four things we don't know about you.
1. i secretly want to write jokes for stand up comedians.
2. i'm pretty sure i suffer from posteriophobia, yet I really like being alone.
3. i grew up in a small, oklahoma town with the population of 4000.
4. i have an xbox 'call of duty' obsession.
*he volunteered his gamer tag: ev0l intent
and what surprises do you have in store for us in the near future?
fools gold is gonna put out a new single called 'keep up' early this summer, along with a full length hybrid mix cd. it will include about five or six originals along with a bunch of remixes i've done. that'll be like a mixed compilation, but different from a lot out there since all the material will be my own in some form.
one of our discodust favorites, the electro and disco-influenced pop duo monarchy from london, just released their new single 'the phoenix alive'. while the actual track and a couple of remixes have scattered across the blogs before, they also provided us with a sweet brandnew track called 'it must be love' which really takes us back to the classic synth pop of the eighties.
last century's official blog queen uffie is finally back with some new material from her upcoming album 'sex, dreams and denim jeans'. and it seems like ed banger president busy p organized some seriously heavy artillery in order to get the message out this time, regarding that 'add suv' is produced by mirwais and features pharrell williams. smart moves! i expect this to go down well with both the rap and electro club crowds, so fingers crossed for uffie kicking some ke$ha ass. stream the full track below and note that this is not the poor quality radio rip!
after several uncoordinated attempts over the past few years to have a sit-down with mr. calvin harris, i finally finessed a couple minutes with him when he most recently passed through san diego with burns to play at the rapidly becoming world-renown dj club, voyeur. sure, he may twist knobs for kylie and compose for dizzee, but he's refreshingly down to earth. armed with a new haircut and a new outlook on life, we chatted up everything from his new years resolutions to learning how to not put his foot in his mouth during interviews anymore.
so calvin, are you an interview professional now? i've seen a few previous ones where you've gotten a good slap on the hand for mouthing off about various people.
yes i'm a bit different now. a bit more refined, i guess you could say. everyone sits in front of their telly and says 'oh look at that dickhead', "he's a prick", 'i hate her', "he's an idiot". i just transferred that into proper interviews that i didn't realize so many people would read. then everyone was talking about me saying 'look at that idiot slagging off about everyone else'. it's one thing to say it to your mate, but it's quite another to say it in a publication. even if you think that person is a dickhead, he probably isn't. it's just spreading horrible, negative vibes around.
so does that go along with your new years 2008 resolution to 'be nicer'?
yes, definitely. in fact, i make that same resolution every year. i try to be the nicest man... in the world!
are you?
no, haha, i'm not. i think there's always room for improvement with that, isn't there? i'm also trying to not drink alcohol. this is red bull and this is water [gesturing to the two cups beside him]. i should probably go to the gym. i feel like an old man when i get up in the morning. that's probably a sign of being unhealthy and unfit and i'm only 26. i should think about getting a tan, too.
so when no one is dancing do your music in various clubs around the country because you aren't playing dutch house music all night long, you can only drown your sorrows with red bull?
ya, that's why i started jackin' up [slaps arm]... heroin. it takes the fuckin' pain away! [everyone laughs]
tell me when you learned how to dj. because i saw some old videos where you said you didn't know how, but now you are doing more dj gigs than actual live gigs.
i used to play vinyl in my bedroom when i was 15 and shy. i didn't understand the concept of a monitor so i was just trying to mix using the hi-fi. i couldn't quite figure out why it didn't sound right.
so when did it click for you?
when i started using ableton! there is no way i could physically mix out of time with it. i'm a selector, not a dj. it's only other djs that know the difference. i only want people to have a good time. i'll probably move to cds one day because ableton is a laborious setup. the instant gratification of cds is quite appealing.
any specific reason you're dj'ing more than performing live?
you can't do the odd one-off live gig in the same way you can with dj'ing. live gigs are so much of a production with a massive crew who all need to get paid. i guess it's a case of not losing money.
so which single is this dj tour promoting? you've already released four singles so far.
uhh, none of them. i'm not promoting anything.
so what is this tour for?
it's for fun!
oh. haha, what a concept! so tell me a little about your fascination with david guetta. you seem to mention him often. are there any plans to work with him on a song?
i'm a fan. he has not asked me, yet. if he did, i would.
oh ya, that's your thing isn't it? you won't ask people to collaborate, they have to approach you.
i'll ask people when i'm in a position to. right now i don't really want to.
you don't think so? i think that ever since 2007 you've been a bit of a rising star. what do you think triggered that whole cumulative effect that took you from a happy-go-lucky blog boy to uk pop song master?
i think i finally decided what i wanted to do. early on, i was just messing around. i quickly learned that you need to fit into something that has already existed in the past. i wanted to be taken in by people and made part of their musical consciousness. i hate 'electro-pop' but i became that 'electro-pop' guy stuck in-between the two genres and not quite authentic enough for either. so i just decided to buckle down and make good dance music.
well aren't you a bit 'pop'? you're all up in the videos and even sing in them like a lot of pop stars do with their sunglasses on.
i'm still in the videos, but i reserve that right for the songs that i make. you need a little bit of that to feed the ego. it's definitely more in production and making music that i enjoy.
sometimes i feel like the uk is so isolated in its trends and tastes that some things don't always translate their popularity to the rest of the world. coming from the uk, do you ever come across that barrier when making music?
it annoys me when it applies to my own music, but i like to think that i'm not a completely british entity. i'm aware that the music sounds european, but i try to think with a worldwide perspective. i need to think like guetta. i always come back to him because he thinks on a grand scale. it must be a product of him traveling the world for 25 years of dj'ing. i probably don't have the worldwide education, yet, to make that happen. it also depends on the artists themselves and how much money they have to market their music. i believe that some dizzee rascal records could have been huge if someone like jay-z was featured on a track or two.
so how much input do you have when it comes to marketing choices such as who is going to remix your singles?
there is loads of collaborative input. we were really lucky to snag who we did last year. everyone on the top of our lists said yes. we got the guetta remix of 'flashback', the deadmau5 remix of "i'm not alone", the laidback luke remix of 'you used to hold me'. i've done loads of remixes, so i know what parts i like to receive in the package. i just tried to make it as easy for them to put their sound on it as possible.
do you have any that you're working on now?
no. just recently, i finished up three in one week and just decided that i needed a big break from it all. i did shakira, mika and guetta. i was at capacity, so i'm giving it a rest for a while. i want to regroup and do something really good when i have time.
do you want to give us any hints to what you're going to play tonight?
i'll probably play some burns, some of my own tracks and some laidback luke. i love laidback luke!
do you sing over your tracks when you dj?
oh no, i'd never do that. a couple of people have said i should, but that would be awful.
why not? i know people who do it over their own tracks.
who?
drop the lime!
that's probably why he slagged me off for not singing while i was dj'ing. that's bollocks, though. i feel that for me it would sound like shit.
do you not like your voice?
it's not that. it's just that the quality of the sound is probably going to be rubbish. it's just not for me.
fair enough. any up and coming producers you want to name drop?
burns, obviously. i also really like a guy called paul epworth. he doesn't really make much dance music, though. he has produced for the friendly fires and florence + the machine. he does dance music as phones.
what's your take on disco?
well, i'm not sure about all that. all the new disco sounds like all the old disco. and the old disco was just fine and there's loads of it.
well, 'you created disco'...
[calvin's eyes shoot daggers across the room] oh dear!
* the truth disclaimer = calvin is nice, he does not drink or do heroin. the end.
those lovely french indie pop heartbreakers pony pony run run are back with a sweet new single called 'walking on a line' and are delivering one hell of a remix package including all the current blog heroes such as french fries, beataucue, highbloo, blatta & inesha and the holy saint of french disco house, lifelike.
thanks to the good people at 3ème bureau, team discodust are the first to receive the full 320 kbps version of lifelike's extended remix. and seriously, this is his best remix in a long time! a true summer anthem! got nothing but pure love for this!
pony pony run run - walking on a line (lifelike extended remix)
plus we just got lucky and also got a hold of the blatta & inesha remix which is a perfect peaktime banger with a driving bassline and broken beats! big ups!
pony pony run run - walking on a line (blatta & inesha remix)
and although you might think it's enough remixes for now, the band is holding a remix contest, so producers, get on it! head over to the pony pony run run myspace to show them some well-deserved love!