Flairs - Sweat Symphony [2009]

Country: Paris, France Staines,UK
Style: Electro, Indie
DSTG: Justice
Format: Mp3
VBR: 44.1Khz, 224Kbps.

Cockney speaking French knob twiddler Lionel Flairs is currently shacked up in Paris producing some of the most eccentric and off-beat pop & electro that you are likely to have heard since the start of this admittedly young millennium.
Starting his career as a bass player for Ben’s Symphonic Orchestra, first two albums produced by Oxford based Radiohead & Supergrass management, he very soon tours the globe & also starts playing for established French bands such as Mellow, AlexGopher Benjamin Diamond or the Hush Puppies, to name a few.
....But Years of shuttling between gay Paris, Staines (before Ali G and Hard-Fi had heard of it) and London’s Soho infused the maverick songsmith with the tongue-in-cheek triple irony of post-post modern England : he sets up a studio, puts his brains to work and soon produces « the non PC ep » a now collector white vinyl 12’ (2004/microbe rec.)
Thanks to the sonic talents of legendary producers Etienne de Crécy & Alex Gopher, he then self releases his « Better than Prince EP » 7’ limited edition customized vinyl (via his label, muddy trench rec.), a cynical electronica piece disguised in a form of basic indie rock…few weeks after, Koln based infamous producer Patrick Alavi (roXour) offers him to officially re-release the single, to be out in march 2008, with brilliant remixes from Benjamin (texas/Kitsuné) 25HRS a day (Phoenix & Cassius remixes) and Alavi himself (reRoX).
Not wasting his cockney rhyme, Flairs also gets a golden hand from French Wonders Jonas & François (Justice D.A.N.C.E, Kavinsky, Keanye West, Madonna "4 minutes"…) who produced a « better than Prince » stunning animated psychedelic Walt Dysney on acid video...that one can watch below !
Last but not least, Flairs recently finished producing & mixing a debut album that will demonstrate that when it comes to surpassing the little one formerly known as ‘The love symbol’ in hatching the perfect 3 minute electro pop gems, he is the dog’s bollock’s, mate...

Track listing :

01 Superlife
02 Radio
03 Whamma Gonna Do
04 Better Than Prince
05 French Cowboy
06 Truckers Delight
07 R.E Balls
08 Neighbourwatch
09 Square Boy
10 Golden Years

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Junior boys - Begone Dull Care [2009]

Country: Hamilton, Ontario. Canada
Style: Eletronic, Indie
DSTG: Mgmt, Bloc Party
Format: Mp3
CBR: 44.1Khz, 192Kbps.

Begone Dull Care is the third studio album by Canadian indietronica duo Junior Boys, scheduled for release in 2009. The album's release date is set for March 24 in Canada and April 7 in the United States.

The album is named for Begone Dull Care, a short film by Academy Award-winning National Film Board animator Norman McLaren which was set to the music of Oscar Peterson

Track listing :

1. "Parallel Lines" (6:31)
2. "Work" (6:32)
3. "Bits and Pieces" (4:01)
4. "Dull to Pause" (4:52)
5. "Hazel" (6:13)
6. "Sneak a Picture" (7:00)
7. "The Animator" (5:07)
8. "What It's For" (6:56)

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Yuksek - Away from the sea [2009]

Country: France
Style: Electro
DSTG: Daft Punk, Justice
Format: Mp3
CBR: 44.1Khz, 192Kbps.

Many artists have aspirations. Some bands aim to sound exactly like their idols, never quite getting there ("Dude, we are so close to Nirvana status, I can feel it!") and others take influences and ideas and attempt to carve a more unique niche in the respective genre they reside in.
In terms of sound, Yuksek sits dubiously in the Alternative/Dance section which is already bulging with household names like Daft Punk, Justice and LCD Soundsystem. If you could take each of those artists and buy a big enough blender, then Yuksek is the dark, frothy liquid produced from that rather disgusting metaphor. It doesnt taste bad, it just looked a whole lot more appetising before the ingredients went in.
Yukseks problem is his desire to be bigger than he actually is. His beats and production are both impressive but theres something amateurish about the whole album which brings the overall impact down a notch. Imagine a homeless guy in an Armani suit; everything on show is well presented and attractive but on the inside, its still just a dirty guy in expensive clothes.
Introductory track Break Ya is possibly the most interesting on the record and is a huge, stomping, intelligently crafted beast. However, it begs to be a Justice track to such a degree that you cant help but want to put them on instead.
When hes not attempting the overblown, the man actually knows how to sound inviting. A lot of the material present on the CD starts off as competent and intriguing (see; Little Dirty Trip) but as was to be expected, he ruins the potential by trying to sound like someone he isnt. If youre less confident than the music youre trying to create then dont make the music youre attempting, it doesnt sound right.
It is regrettable that when Yuksek seems to be on the right track, he cannot help but veer slightly off, incorporating cheesy Euro-Pop style vocals into the fray or opting for a simple quiet/loud/louder break structure which sounds like a hundred other, less skilled dance musicians. He seems to have one foot in the realm of serious music-making and the other in a pool of retro, cliché pop nonsense.
Theres a lot to enjoy on the record, its just constantly hindered by uninviting pointlessness which has no place on an album with actual potential. Give him another album, a quick lesson in subtlety and we could have the next D.A.N.C.E. on our hands. For now, well justput that on instead.

Track listing :

1 Break Ya (3:30)
2 Tonight (3:13)
3 A Certain Life (3:01)
4 Extraball (3:32)
5 Take A Ride (3:39)
6 I Could Never Be A Dancer (3:15)
7 So Far Away From The Sea (3:16)
8 Little Dirty Trip (4:31)
9 This Is Not Today (4:15)
10 I Like To Play (4:29)
11 So Down (3:44)
12 Freak O Rocker (3:16)
13 Eat My Bear (3:17)

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The Presets - Beams [2006]

Country: Australia & New Zealand
Style: Electronic, Pop, Rock
DSTG: Vnv Nation
Format: Mp3
VBR: 44.1Khz, 238Kbps. Aprox.

This would have to be one of the most anticipated releases of the year so far, as Sydney duo The Presets take their first smoothly crafted step into debut-land. Since their first EP Blow Up back in 2003, people have fallen for their delectable electro punk invasions both live and recorded. They’ve managed to win over audiences both at home and abroad touring with The Dissociatives and warming the stages for the likes of The Faint, Cut Copy and Placebo, but can they pull it off with their debut?

The answer YES, written in baroque cheesy 80s neon lights even! It has it’s classic no-brainer electro thumpers, ‘Down Down Down’, ‘Are You The One?’, ‘Kitty In The Middle’, ‘I Go Hard, I Go Home’ & the Prodigy sounding ‘Girl (You Chew My Mind Up)’ (05’s answer to 04’s ‘Girls Can Be Cruel’) which are likely to appeal to the masses and earn them the ‘next great white hope’ tag from both the rock and the dance communities alike. But if you think that’s where The Presets begin and end, then looks are very deceiving with this highly decorated pair. Scratch a little harder and you’ll peel away the layers to find a band capable of making much more than just a plain black and white record.

Beams may be short and sweet coming in at the 43 minute mark, but that doesn’t mean they ignored their other guises in the process of making Beams, quite on the contrary, they’ve taken each different facet of their sound and challenged it a little further, with exquisite results. It has it’s quieter, dark electro pop outbursts with ‘Worms’, the gorgeously engaging melancholy of ‘Bad Up Your Betterness’ and timeless classic beauty of ‘Girl & The Sea’ which is packed with enough punch to have even the toughest wiping a stray tear from their dampened cheek. Then there are the cinematic wonders of the record, which could be the shining lights on Beams (no pun intended). They’re both ball-breakingly original and have succeeded in what most bands have spent years setting out to achieve, but not quite managing to do with the same debonair that The Presets have with ‘Black Background’ and ‘Beams’, tipping the hat to their Prop days of genius.

Track listing :

1 Steamworks (4:37)
Drums - Felix Bloxsom

2 Are You The One? (3:26)
Drums - Felix Bloxsom
Trombone - Phil Stucky

3 Down Down Down (3:18)

4 Girl And The Sea (4:48)
Bass, Guitar - Sam Dixon
Drums - Felix Bloxsom
Vocals - Kendal Cuneo
Written-By - Daniel Johns

5 Black Background (1:41)

6 Worms (4:01)

7 Kitty In The Middle (2:44)

8 Hill Stuck (1:49)
Trombone - Phil Stucky

9 Girl (You Chew My Mind Up) (3:54)

10 I Go Hard, I Go Home (5:06)

11 Bad Up Your Betterness (4:13)
Drums - Felix Bloxsom
Written-By - Sam Dixon

12 Beams (3:41)

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Freaks Amour - Regressive Music For Mind And Body [1989]

Country: US
Style: Noise, Experimental
DSTG: -
Format: Mp3
CBR: 44.1Khz, 192Kbps.

FREAKS AMOUR, REGRESSIVE MUSIC FOR THE MIND AND BODY, ON NART RECORDS (NART #9001) USA 1989. An incredible use of sound, mind numbing weirdness, but not in your face, kinda like Third Ear Band freaks out! Would'nt you know there from Connecticut, remember Cro-Magnon, I wonder, no it couldn't be them, but perhaps their children, who knows? All I know is it works, Smegma like, but not over the top zanyness, these guys know how to caress the air with swiss cheese and make a nest out of a Wombats arm pit..
Definitions: Regressive - A stone-age approach to music, grungy, simplistic noise, best when improvised.

NART: That which is not art.

Cello, Piano [Toy Piano], Voice - Rich Vaughan
Electric Guitar - Grant Miller
Sampler [Sampled Voice & Guitar], Other [Found Objects, Screech], Bass Guitar, Violin - Stuart Werner

Song List :

A1 Sleep (7:51)
A2 Mother F", Incidentally (6:21)
A3 Sneaky Weasel (2:12)
A4 Where Is It At, You Say? (2:14)
A5 Lavalamp (2:45)
B1 Live Radio Feedback (6:31)
B2 Disposable Car (5:30)
B3 The Square (4:36)
B4 Noisy Mersey (4:24)

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The Bloody Beetroots - I Love The Bloody Beetroots [2008]

Country: US
Style: Acid Electro, Letouch
DSTG: Justice
Format: Mp3
VBR: 44.1Khz, 224Kbps.aprox.

Imagine the love child of the Misfits and Daft Punk; the act of conception would be grisly, but what a mighty offspring their union would generate. A formidable figure a la Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo, the polymath and producer behind the Bloody Beetroots.

While Bloody Beetroots burst on to the scene in 2007, Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo did not spring forth from the godhead fully formed. Born in Bassano del Grappa, Italy, in 1977, our hero started young, studying classical...

Song List :

1.Mac Mac
2.Pour Un Rasage De Très Près Et Un Confort Absolu!!
3.Harvest Time
4.Ezekiel Eats Red Hoodie
5.Detroit
6.Public Enemy
7.Rotten Pick 2007
8.I Love The Bloody Beetroots
9.Bluto Fucks Popeye
10.Butter

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Hospital Mix Seven [2009]

Country: UK
Style: Drum n' Bass
DSTG: -
Format: Mp3
CBR: 44.1Khz, 320kbps.

One of the main men of 2008 gets his paws on the excellent raft of future drum and bass that the surgeons at Hospital HQ have delivered and boy are we impressed! One hour of prime time business that demonstrates why big man Byrd is at our top table. Includes anthems from; London Elektricity, Q Project, Nu:Tone, Logistics and Commix. Heavy artillery!

Song List :

01. London Elektricity - Bare Religion
02. Logistics - Cosmonaut
03. London Elektricity - Attack Ships on Fire
04. Logistics - Eastern Promise
05. Danny Byrd - Labyrinth
06. Commix, Nu:Tone + Logistics - Soundbyte
07. Nu:Tone + Logistics - Hammerhead
08. Cyantific - Space Zombie
09. Danny Byrd - Red Mist
10. Q-Project - Credit Crunch
11. London Elektricity - All Hell is Breaking Loose
12. Logistiks - Intervention
13. Mistabishi - Heaven's Sake
14. Q-Project - Just Three Things
15. High Contrast - Tutti Frutti
16. Agent Alvin - Super Highway
17. Logistics - Trying Times
18. Commix, Nu:Tone + Logistics - Coffee
19. Danny Byrd - Feet Won't Touch the Ground
20. Mistabishi - Printer Jam
21. Cyantific - Empty Streets
22. Nu:tone - Balaclava
23. Total Science - Flip Flop
24. Commix - Bear Music
25. Danny Byrd - From Bath With Love

Download PT 1

Download PT 2