Singles - The Best New & Recent Dance Tunes

New Releases
Yousef & CamelPhat - April
label: Knee Deep In Sound   genre: Progressive House
verdict: Two of Liverpool's most forward looking artists in dance today, trance house producer Yousef and well known duo CamelPhat team up for this samba tinged bit of progressive bliss which is suitably balearic and warmer than their recent efforts. The sound of an Indian summer.
rating: ★★★★✩

Disclosure - Seduction
label: Disclosure  genre: Deep House
verdict: After conquering the world by expanding their original garage house sound, Disclosure go back to their roots. This is their 3rd single in as many weeks and the pick of the bunch. A simple but effective piece and their own take on deep house.
rating: ★★★★✩

Joel Corry & Jax Jones (feat. Charli XCX & Saweetie) - OUT OUT
label: Perfect Havoc Limited   genre: Dance Pop
verdict: Another slice of contemporary dance pop built around a pulsating but predictable beat, the sought that was spearhead by will.i.am and Britney's Scream & Shout from back in 2012. A contemporary hit but I can't imagine listening to this in 10 years time ps: but award another star if inebriated! :D
rating: ★★★✩✩

label: Modena, Armada   genre: Trance
verdict: The 11th (!) single taken from his 8th album, this release is bolstered by a decent remix which brings the album track to life with extra percussion and a nice Chicane-esque choral intro. A minor ethereal trance gem.
rating: ★★★★✩

Caribou - You Can Do It
label: City Slang  genre: Progressive 'Indie' House
verdict: the cousin of Caribou's 2019 offering Never Come Back, this is similarly pared down spacey house, with a repetitive voice to remind us to keep on going during these crazy times.
rating: ★★★✩✩

The Chemical Brothers - The Darkness That You Fear
label: Virgin EMI Records   genre: Progressive House
verdict: Recalling both the psychedelia of their Surrender-era output and The Avalanches recent disco inflected The Divine Chord, this is intriguing stuff from our favourite big beat group and perhaps a bit of a slow burner. Certainly it'll work better on the album where the full unabridged version is given more time to breathe than it's single - edited - release.
rating: ★★★✩✩

Recent Release Catch Up
BTS - Butter
label: HYBE   genre: K-Pop
verdict: Finally delivering on their pop potential, Butter is an irresistibly catchy piece of modern art. A pop masterpiece.
rating: ★★★★★

Bailey Ibbs - Helter Skelter
label: VOITAX   genre: Breakstep
verdict: Up and coming DJ and producer Bailey Ibbs' latest single, as part of a wider E.P, this is sure to get the crowd going with it's sirens and UK garage and breakbeat vibes - a potential carnival classic.
rating: ★★★★✩

Shygirl feat. slowthai - BDE
label: Because Music   genre: Hip Hop
verdict: Bringing together Blackheath's Shygirl and Northampton's slowthai this it's breathless stuff. A succinct British club banger, perhaps this is our answer to last year's even more bonkers WAP? Your reaction to it will be either 'LOL' or revulsion or perhaps a bit of both?
rating: ★★★★✩

Chvrches - He Said She Said
label: EMI Records   genre: Synth pop
verdict: lead single from fourth album, retaining the core Chvrches sound whilst tackling experiences with sexism in the industry. Other tracks from the album were more worthy to be released as singles - especially California - but there's no denying it's importance.
rating: ★★★✩✩

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2021 - Year In Review Pt.2 - Albums

Image
Following the  first part of my 2021 review, below is a breakdown of my ten favourite albums of the year as well as a quick overview of songs which I enjoyed: Favourite 10 Albums of the Year 1. Blank & Jones -   Relax Edition 13 At the forefront of the late-90s rise in trance, the German duo of Piet Blank & Jaspa Jones turned to ambient thereafter with the release of their Relax series. This is the latest, a double album of chillout, tasteful funky house and balearic beats and a much needed tonic for lockdown despondency in 2021 - my choice for best album of 2021. 2. St. Vincent -   Daddy's Home A concept album about her father's return from prison, this album's real treat though is how Annie Clark recalls the atmosphere of early seventies downtown New York, the sleaze, the dirt, the funk. A melting pot of Lou Reed, Bowie, Steely Dan even Beatles (on the psychedelic Sun King-esque Live The Dream). 3. Cleo Sol -   Mother The singer in the mysterious London based col
Read more

Looking back at 2023 - for the record

Image
A music critic could look at 2023 through the same prism as the years 1973, '83, '93, 2003 and 2013 - years that let's be honest did not set the world on fire. But unlike those years which were very much on a journey as music continually evolved, 2023 was driven not by exciting new genres or even artists but my new challenges that haven't impacted any of those years above, namely climate change and technological change, principally AI. And Taylor Swift... This was the first year that AI created the possibility we could be listening to artificially created music and possibly an artist's work being  mimicked . Climate change is now far better understood than ten years ago but such inspiration appears largely lost in today's musical artists. Russia continued their assault on Ukraine whilst Israel-Palestine conflict became brutally and sadly physical. My song of the year is a beautiful and timely reminder on how beautiful music can be: Saint Levant's From Gaza,
Read more

Year In Review - 2022

Image
The first full uninterrupted year post pandemic saw us enjoy gigging and clubbing again and I was thankful to get to see a lot more live music than I had the previous few years with The Killers, Anne-Marie & Manic Street Preachers all providing memorable sets. The range of music released was perhaps wider than ever with the blurring of house and hip hop not letting up, indeed there was a reported revival of sorts with house identified as having a rebirth. Whilst this was largely spearhead by big name pop acts in the charts, for the primary product - the album, LP, Playlist - it was the hip hop that artistically made the most noise with great albums by Black Thought, Kendrick Lemar and Nas (again) whilst Pusha-T, Little Simz and Drake made vital contributions as well. This got me thinking back to Black Thoughts comments to Complex in 2017 about the crossroads that hip hop and its culture are at: are we now starting to see a subtle change in direction? With the huge social change see
Read more