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

Video of the Week: Sleigh Bells – Rill Rill

Although we’re getting into the darkest time of the year, I thought for this week’s video I’d bring out something light, summery and fun to wipe away those winter blues. So here’s the gorgeous video for Sleigh Bells’ Rill Rill, from their debut album Treats.

The video tells a dark story set with a smirk to a lush and sunny tune. What at first appears to be a pleasant drive turns into attempted murder, and the creepy shots of (singer) Alexis Krauss forming her sinister plans in an old high school are pure retro cool. Add to this the bleeding telephone, overflowing milkshake and the perfect muted colour palette, and you’ve got yourself a fun and artful video that really embodies everything that’s so great about Sleigh Bells.

Sweet

Since I Left You – Avalanches

Shoo Be Doo – Letherette

Stay Close – Delorean

Shy – A Sunny Day in Glasgow

Drama Cum Drama – Autre Ne Veut

The Nothing – Baths

My Girls – Animal Collective

Kim & Jessie – M83

Aminals - Baths

Gravity – Lusine

Sun – Caribou

Summer of Summer – Lone

Marriage – Gold Panda

Now You See Me – Emeralds

Rill Rill – Sleigh Bells

I've saved my favourite list til last, these are the sugar-sweet sounds of the synthiest of summers, moving between the light and dark of summer electro. Kicking off with my favourite song of all time (I know, that's a big statement but there you go, this is it), the Avalanches' stunning Since I Left You (I've left the brilliant video in there too), this playlist begins with some shining summer beats; Delorean's Ibiza-pop Stay Close shimmers with fun and Baths' most recent single The Nothing is another banger.

After a few classics from Animal Collective and M83 we move to choppier pastures, another great Baths track, Lusine's fantastic vocal cuts in Gravity and Gold Panda's unforgettable Marriage. The list rounds off with Emeralds' stunning fusion of the analogue and the digital in Now You See Me, and what is probably the summeriest track I've ever heard is saved til last, Sleigh Bells' synth-pop anthem Rill Rill (also replete with a rather gorgeous video).

P.S - I really wanted to stick Blue Hawaii's Belize into this list but couldn't find it on youtube, and after wasting an hour trying to work out how to upload it I gave up. But you can check it out here if you're interested.

Over the next week or so I'll be doing a selection of reviews of some of the best albums for summer, so let these lists whet your appetites and get some sun til then.

Sleigh Bells – Treats

Sleigh Bells are Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller. She's from a manufactured girl group that didn't really make it, and he's from hardcore group Poison the Well. And by all accounts, Sleigh Bells sound exactly like this mix; they are loud, aggressive, and most of all, totally euphoric.

This album is what you'd get if you took a particularly good pop album, pumped up the volume to 1000 and cut out everything that wasn't a build-up, a drop, or a vocal hook. This is instant gratification music, they are firing on all cylinders almost all of the time and the majority is pure joy.

The album has definitely got substance and consistency, Miller's heavy synths sound like a sort of industrial pop and Krauss' vocals shimmer over the top of them with glossy hooks that never relent. The marriage of these styles could have easily gone wrong, but to pay these artists the credit they're due, they get it right more than could possibly be expected.

Opener Tell 'Em starts at full volume, with a deep hook on the bass that recurs through the whole song, punctuated by synthy ray-gun noises and the occasional release of a dubby throb. Glossy is definitely the best word for the vocals, the melody shines and sails right above the noise. This is simple pop pushed to extremes and distortion by the pummelling drum machines; the contrast between the two styles is never less than thrilling.

The album continues in much the same vein, Kids builds up to an incredibly satisfying release, and the fantastic Infinity Guitars pares the sound right down to distorted guitar, condensed finger clicks and Krauss' screaming vocals which all reach a crescendo of pure, incredible energy. You could see it as heavy noise pop or you could go all out on the analysis and talk about the distorting of modern pop by a vein of underground heaviness – something purely manufactured and consumer-fed ramped up to an extreme where the most surprising thing is that it is still incredibly catchy and musically interesting.

Another surprise is that when Sleigh Bells deviate slightly from the formula, they unerringly hit the mark. Crown On the Ground is by far the heaviest track on the album with a relentlessly pounding drumline introduced by searing guitars, but it's still great fun. Run the Heart has much heavier electro stylings and is pulled off magnificently, layers of synths building under Krauss' wordless hook (the kind that'll stay in your head for weeks) into a crunchy beat that retreats and re-introduces itself with perfect timing across the track. Perhaps the most surprising is potential album highlight 'Rill Rill' in which a bouncing noise and a finger click bursts into one of the most euphoric, summery pop tracks I've heard in a long while. The heaviness is completely stripped away and still it's utterly entrancing and substantial noise pop.

This album is a triumph, it's pop music pared down to its simplest hooks and built back up into something shiny, new, and endlessly satisfying.

84%

Sleigh Bells Live at Heaven Review – 14/2/2011

Stalking onstage to an ABBA track played at ear-splitting volume, Derek Miller doesn't look like he can possibly make as much sound as he does. He begins, firing out a hard, metal rhythm that isn't familiar, but just before it all gets too much Alexis Krauss swoops onto stage, yanks up the mic and starts singing the recognisable first melody to Treats' album opener Tell 'Em to a massive cheer. She looks sexy as hell and has an enormous stage presence, as Miller receded into the background she became the focal point for the whole gig.

Sleigh Bells music is pop that is distorted and played at terrifying volume, and it suited a live gig perfectly. The crowd were ready and willing to dance, all but the furthest back hurling themselves around in time to the music. They smashed through all the best cuts from their album, Run the Heart being especially fantastic with those drops at that volume, and Rill Rill providing glorious release from the intensity of the gig.

There was a vague question of how much of the music was actually being played onstage and how much was pre-recorded, but when you see them you realise that Krauss' voice and Miller's machine-gun guitar are Sleigh Bells' sound, and it's more than enough.

With a final rip round the glorious Crown On The Ground at ear-splitting volume Krauss launched herself into the crowd (I touched her arm!) before retreating back to the stage and bouncing off not long after they'd begun. The set was short and it would've been nice to hear some new material, but it was nevertheless fast, frenetic and satisfying, and that's exactly what you're looking for when you pay to see Sleigh Bells.

4/5