Summer Sessions: Chill

Back before White Noise was a dedicated dance blog, most of the reviews focused on alternative releases, from indie to offbeat electronica. Although the site is now purely dance-centric, we haven't stopped listening to all those other tunes. For our fourth summer playlist, we present a strong selection of summer vibes that crosses modern funk and soul, indie, beats and more. It's all very chilled, and with a lot more vocals and videos than you're likely to find on the latest Hyperdub release. Enjoy!

Make sure to check out all of our summer playlist series, and to follow White Noise on Facebook and Twitter!

Summer Sessions:

Classic House

Funk and Soul

Hip Hop

Bass
House

Chill

Tracklist:

Fatima - Mind

Andrew Ashong - Flowers

Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill

Primal Scream - Loaded

Gorrillaz - On Melancholy Hill

The Flaming Lips - Fight Test

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round

Memory Tapes - Bicycle

The Avalanches - Since I Left You

Peaking Lights - All The Sun That Shines

Washed Out - Feel It All Around

Toro Y Moi - Divina

Shlohmo - Places

Quiet Village - Too High To Move

Emeralds - Now You See Me

Leon Vynehall - Picture Frame

Bonobo - We Could Forever

Jessie Ware - Sweet Talk

Mala - Alicia

Bibio - Lovers Carvings (Letherette Remix)

Airhead - Wait

Boards of Canada - Peacock Tail

Do Make Say Think - Soul and Onward

Pablo Nouvelle - Be True To Me

Romare - Hey Now (When I Give You All My Lovin')

Gayngs - The Gaudy Side of Town

Dean Blunt - Track 2 Feat Inga Copeland

June / July Roundup 2013

2013 is shaping up to be the best year for dance music since White Noise began, and this summer has been incredibly exciting, particularly on the album front. To pay credit to the best of the best, here's a selection of our favourite tunes from the last couple of months, all organised in an easy Youtube playlist. The list comprises instant classics and lesser-known works, venturing from big-room bangers to techno rollers, finishing off with a satisfying selection of synthy noodlings. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Sophie - Bipp [Single Review]

Paul Woolford - Untitled

Ikonika - Beach Mode (Keep It Simple) [Album Review]

Simian Mobile Disco & Bicep - Sacrifice

Todd Terje - Strandbar (Disko Version) [EP Review]

Floorplan - Never Grow Old [Album Review]

Midland - Archive01

Alden Tyrell & Gerd - Luv Thang

Walton - Need To Feel [Album Review]

Special Request - Broken Dreams [EP Review]

Zomby - Memories [Album Review]

Machinedrum - Eyesdontlie

DJ Rashad - I Don't Give A Fuck

Lords of Midnite - Drown In Ur Love

June - Face This (Deep House Mix)

Tuff Sherm - Burglar Loops

The Mole - Lockdown Party (DJ Sprinkles Crossfaderama) [EP Review]

Gerry Read - Crave [EP Review]

Claws For? - Profumo

Octo Octa - Come Closer [Album Review]

Jon Hopkins - Breathe This Air [Album Review]

Boards of Canada - New Seeds [Album Review]

Holden - Renata

Forest Swords - The Weight Of Gold

Fuewa - Blhok [EP Review]

And the one that's not on Youtube:

Guy Andrews - Tapes [EP Review]

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Label: Warp

Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin: there are very few electronic acts who can be said to have unalterably changed the landscape of machine music. These artists, often great technical innovators in their field, are frequently regarded as near-sacred figures by the wider music community, and rightly so. Yet there are some artists who, while not technically revolutionary, still occupy an eminent position in the musical canon. Scottish electronic duo Boards of Canada, aka brothers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin, are a perfect example. While there was little groundbreaking about their technical ability, the pair’s first two albums, instant classics Music Has The Right To Children and Geogaddi, defined an era of electronic music, coining a distinctive sound whose influence can be heard in a wide array of contemporary genres.

This sound, a mixture of heady trip-hop beats, richly textured ambience and glittering synth melodies, was a world unto itself; nostalgic and otherworldly, playful yet frightening. During their first active years, Boards of Canada produced a series of superb albums and EPs steeped in references to the occult, numerology and digital-age mysticism. Each release was both an immersive musical experience and a code, to be explored and unlocked given time and space. With such an uncompromising modus operandi, it was perhaps surprising (and certainly testament to the duo’s masterful sense of musicality) just how much of the world was listening. Seven years on Boards of Canada have achieved near-legendary status despite a long period of silence, and after one of the most sophisticated publicity campaigns in recent memory, their new album has landed.

 

Reach For The Dead

Expectations were unfathomably high, but the pair have risen to meet the challenge. Is Tomorrow’s Harvest the instant classic that the pair’s first albums were? Possibly not. But it’s a damn fine piece of work which demands a dedicated listener who will approach it slowly and patiently. Given this time, Tomorrow’s Harvest slowly unfurls to reveal a wealth of detail and depth that could so easily be missed by the casual listener.

The core Boards of Canada sound has not really changed, but Tomorrow’s Harvest takes on a darker hue; a paranoid, concentrated work where only an occasional ray of irradiated sunshine penetrates the darkness. While the core sonic elements may seem the same, the pair have never before sounded so lush; the unsettling melodies are painted with cinematic grandeur, while richly textured percussion signals the pair’s meticulous attention to detail and love of old hardware.

So Tomorrow’s Harvest is a sophisticated, immersive musical experience in classic BoC style. But it also remains curiously difficult to pick apart. Tracks bleed into one another or stop suddenly in disorientating fashion, and the lack of variation in the sonic palette means that it can prove difficult to distinguish one song from the next. Here is an album that demands to be listened to in its totality, but as a result there is something daunting about it, and it can be difficult to gain a comprehensive grasp over the piece as a whole. In some senses this all makes sense; the album’s structure is defiantly cryptic in its way, yet it is also probably makes for the duo's least accessible album to date.

New Seeds

That said, when tracks do stand out from the crowd, they tower impressively over the nebulous melodies and glassy ambience which make up the album’s bulk. Lead single Reach For The Dead is stunning; deep atmospherics, equal parts sci-fi and spiritual, slowly build to a magnificent plateau as a single synth arpeggio snakes around a twitching field of dusty drum hits. Later both Cold Earth and Sick Times stand out from the album’s middle section, each harking back to the duo’s early days with stirring melodics and updated drumkits.

While some of the album may prove imposing, even difficult, Boards of Canada still know how to end an album as well as anyone else in the industry. The five-song closing suite easily stands as the LP’s extended highlight, from the cloud-parting brightness of Nothing Is Real to the beautiful off-kilter journey of New Seeds, by way of some of the pair’s best ambient work on Sundown and bleak closer Semena Mertvykh.

There’s a lot to be loved in this album, but there are also a fair few aspects of the duo’s sound which feel somewhat missed. Gone are the playful touches that counterbalanced the pair’s forays into sonic darkness, as are the accessible, rewarding melodies which marked much of their early output. As a result the sounds of Tomorrow’s Harvest feel somehow less memorable, less easy to hold onto.

Boards of Canada ask a lot of their listeners with their first album in seven years. Dedicated fans will be rewarded with a cryptic and fulfilling experience, but the album is also likely to alienate or merely puzzle the more casual listener. The brothers’ early work finely balanced its mystical depths with a concrete, satisfying musicality which at times feels absent here. Yet ultimately it’s hard not to feel that in a musical landscape increasingly populated by disposable me-too efforts, an album that not only asks a lot of its listener, but bountifully rewards those who are willing to take up the task, is a rare, powerful thing indeed.

8/10

Total Redraw: Dance Edition

Remixes that really shake things up

To continue from Monday’s part 1, White Noise now presents some of the best dance remixes from recent times that have been lurking in our music vaults. Again, special attention is paid to remixes that really change the original, and a lot of these are tracks from the non-dance world that have been given a special rework by a top producer.

Tracklist:

Storm Queen – Look Right Through (MK Don’t Talk To Me Dub)

Classixx – Into The Valley feat. Karl Dixon (Julio Bashmore Remix)

Groove Theory – Tell Me (George Fitzgerald Refix)

Florence & The Machine – You’ve Got The Love (Jamie xx Remix)

The Weeknd – What You Need (Prison Garde 808 Edit)

Radiohead – Lotus Flower (Jacques Greene Remix)

The xx – Crystalised (Dark Sky Remix)

Hard Drive – Deep Inside (Pearson Sound Refix)

Amerie – One Thing (French Fries Remix)

Zed Bias – Neighbourhood (El-B Remix)

The Drop – Looking To The Sky (DjRum Remix)

Fat Freddy’s Drop – Cay’s Crays (Digital Mystikz Remix)

Bo Saris – She’s On Fire (Maya Jane Coles Remix)

TRG – Broken Heart (Martyn’s DMC Remix)

Modular Pursuits – No Boundaries (Daphni Remix)

Mosca – Tilt Shift (Julio Bashmore Remix)

Late Nite Tuff Guy – A Deal With God

Boards of Canada – Olson (Midland Re-edit)

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Special thanks to my friend Tom for helping me compile this playlist. Check out his superb mixes on Soundcloud.

Hope you enjoyed the remix roundup, I’ll leave you with a taster of one last track; a forthcoming release from Lorca mixing up FaithEvans and Nuyorican Soul – Enjoy!

Total Redraw: Home Listening Edition

Remixes that really shake things up

No self-respecting music fan is a stranger to the idea of the remix. After a track is completed, the stems are passed off to other like-minded producers and are reshaped to allow the style and personality of the remixer to come out while elements of the original are retained. While the odd remix on the B-side of an EP really shines, they can all too frequently come across as unnecessary additions to the original mixes, so when a really good remix comes about you’re sure to take notice.

This feature doesn’t focus specifically on ‘great remixes’, but rather remixes where the producer has taken the core track and has really invigorated the original track, leaving it recognisably the same but taking the tune in a totally different direction. After much ploughing through my music library, I’d like to present some of the most successful remixes I’ve heard where the remixer on hand has really gone beyond the call of duty; and these will be shown  and discussed along with the original tracks.

Running through a real range of contemporary music, a lot of these will be dance-focused but some are even stranger takes on recognisable classics alongside less well-known contributions. So without further ado, let’s get listening and check out some of the best remixes to be found in the White Noise vaults.

This two-part series will be split, with the first section dedicated to home listening tracks and the latter a big playlist of remixed dance music. Enjoy part 1!

Gold Panda – Marriage (Forest Swords 1am Hotel Room Redraw) 

In this stunning rework of one of Gold Panda’s best tunes, the atmospheric Forest Swords completely rebuilds the track from the ground up, entirely with acoustic instrumentation. The melody is still there, but it’s hard to imagine a more imaginative and successful redraw.

Efdemin – Acid Bells (Martyn’s Bittersweet Mix)

Sounding more Aphex Twin than Efdemin, legend Martyn relegates the original’s driving rhythms to the background, allowing a haunting piano melody to take centre stage.

Aphex Twin – Untitled (Four Tet Mix)

Apparently devised at the tender age of 17, Kieran Hebden’s IDM-fuelled mix of one of Aphex Twin’s most brilliant ambient tracks is a dream collaboration that retains aspects of both producers’ styles.

Mount Kimbie – Maybes (James Blake Remix)

James Blake applies a trademark warmth to one of Mount Kimbie’s best, fuzzing up the duo’s crisp production and lending it a woozy dubstep momentum.

Fever Ray – If I Had A Heart (Fuck Buttons Remix) 

Here Fuck Buttons take Fever Ray’s darkness as far as it will stretch, wielding a driving 4/4 and growling bass frequencies to create something black and wildly hypnotic.

Fever Ray – When I Grow Up (Version by Lissvik) 

Alongside for comparison, the most bizarre remix here is courtesy of one half of Balearic duo Studio, as Lissvik sets Fever Ray’s straining vocals to bouncing house with tropical synthlines. The strangest thing isn’t that it works, it’s that it works so damn well.

Star Slinger – May I Walk With You

Although not technically a remix, Star Slinger’s rework of Life Without Buildings' The Leanover is a brilliant recreation, taking Sue Tompkins’ jittery vocals to their logical extreme alongside tough beats and some of the catchiest looping you’re likely to hear.

Bibio – Lover’s Carving (Letherette Remix)

This dreamy hip hop rework of Bibio’s upbeat classic works like a charm, chopping up the vocals while retaining the sunshine of the original. The only flaw is that it’s all too short.

Lianne La Havas – Forget (Shlohmo Remix)

Shlohmo on excellent remixing form again, applying Lianne La Havas’ vocals both in original and chopped forms to a dreamy soundscapes replete with clicks, blips and deep haunting bass.

Agaric – No Way I Know I Feel  (Axel Boman Remix) – Clips of Original

Axel Boman takes Agaric’s dense original and cleans it up, making that nagging vocal the centrepiece of a world of swirling samples and twinkling beats.

Shlohmo – Rained The Whole Time (Nicolas Jaar Remix) 

The superb Nicolas Jaar livens up Shlohmo’s melancholy original with harder woodblock beats, blowing up the guitar in the original alongside soulful beats and samples that shift and swirl magnificently.

Colonel Abrams – Trapped (Hell Interface Remix)

Boards of Canada, under their Hell Interface moniker, take chopped and screwed to a new deathly extreme in their growling slow-down of Colonel Abrams’ 80s classic.

Burial – Shell of Light (Shlohmo Remix)

Tampering with Burial is not done lightly, but Shlohmo nails this one, isolating the hopeful last 30 seconds of the original and casting them onto an emotional widescreen with deeper-than-deep bass and ghostly vocal touches.

Nuyorican Soul – I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun (4 Hero Remix)

It’d be hard to outdo the original, backed by Masters of Work production and Jocelyn Brown’s honey tones, but 4 Hero turns the tune into a feelgood jazzy odyssey, thoroughly living up to the glory of the original.

Electronic

This list is a little less melancholy. Opening with Shlohmo's brand new Sink which emotes through downbeat percussion and lush oriental synths, this is followed by the ever-weird Odd Nosdam of anticon fame, with The Kill Tone Two in which a dusky harp melody is damaged by drum machines and off-kilter rap. Mount Kimbie's Between Time twins slow reverb-laden guitar with sharp beats, setting up a very young Kieran Hebden's first big hit, Everything Is Alright. From here we move to more solemn territory, Nicolas Jaar's distinctive minimal soundscapes in the quiet and perfect Colomb, and How to Dress Well's deeply sorrowful Suicide Dream 2. Drifting into less emotional waters with another track from Shlohmo's new album which leads to the inimitable Boards of Canada's fantastic drone piece Corsair. This flows into Burial's most ambient track on record, the short but beautiful UK from his masterwork Untrue. Fennesz lifts the mood slightly with the melancholy fractured summer pop of Caecilia and then a one-two punch of Dilla tracks injects a little soul into the proceedings. After this Memory Tapes' lovely instrumental closer Run Out breathes life and hope into the melancholy sound with a gorgeous melody, followed by my very favourite Gold Panda track, the second You in which a beautiful operatic sample soars over switching beats. Then, let it all fade away with the Scottish duo once more, this time with Farewell Fire which loops more and more quietly until nothing remains.

Chilled

King David's Melody – Augustus Pablo

Country Gal Dub – King Tubby

Memories of the Ghetto – Augustus Pablo

King In My Empire – Rhythm & Sound

Keep On Dubbing – Augustus Pablo & King Tubby

Vibrate On – Lee 'Scratch' Perry

Radio Retaliation – Thievery Corporation

Jacqueline – Hugh Mundell

Africa (1983) – Augustus Pablo

Shine Blockas – Big Boi

93 til Infinity – Souls of Mischief

All the Sun that Shines – Peaking Lights

Smoking Buddha – Onra

Lovers Carvings (Letherette Remix) – Bibio

Place to Be – Nick Drake

Star Witness – Neko Case

This Beard is for Siobhan – Devendra Banhart

Banshee Beat – Animal Collective

Apple Orchard – Beach House

Divina – Toro Y Moi

Oh, Why – Balam Acab

The Gaudy Side of Town – Gayngs

Unspoken – Four Tet

The Daydream – Tycho

Peacock Tail – Boards of Canada

This playlist is more laid back, for blazing in the heat. It starts off with some great old reggae and dub cuts with a lot of Augustus Pablo and King Tubby by way of some less known but equally brilliant modern cuts like Thievery Corporation and Rhythm & Sound (yes, there's a lot of Pablo, but he's just that good).

From here we move through a brief hip-hop stint with some of the shiniest and most laid back tracks from Big Boi and Souls of Mischief, switching over to some lovely singer-songwriter turns from Nick Drake and Neko Case by way of the trippy variations of Onra and the Letherette's gorgeous syrup-thick cover of Bibio's Lovers' Carvings.

After this we have some more chilled cuts from Beach House and Animal Collective, followed by some of the most laid back sounds from the last ten years of electro, taking in Balam Acab's brand new cut Oh Why and leaving us with Tycho's shiny road-trip song The Daydream and ending with what might well be the most relaxing song of all time, the inimitable Boards of Canada with Peacock Tail.