Louis La Roche - All I Had

What is it about stage names? How much does the headline influence the song's impact? Is it merely for purposes of attraction? Would this track be any less funky if it was released by Brett Ewels?

I don't know the answers to these, as they seem by and large subjective. Gotta admit though, if Louis La Roche had a sound this would be it.

Best of 2014 Part 2

I kinda forgot, yesterday, to mention some of the albums that didn't quite make it. This year felt like the spectrum of what is 'popular' expanded just a little bit further. Flying Lotus put out a far-out album that got a lot of critical acclaim. I'm not a big fan but I can appreciate its artistic merit. Lots of 'alternative hip-hop' ended up on best-of lists, and some 'neo-soul' albums. The new D'Angelo has been making waves recently, again not really my thing, but whatever floats your boat.

Once again it felt like there were a lot of really good albums, but nothing that came off as an instant classic. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's worth considering as we venture further into the digital age where kids all over the world have virtually free exposure to, well, everything ever. Who will be the next great genre definer?

I digress. Taylor McFerrin, son of Bobby, put out a really impressive debut LP. Other stand-outs that were close, but no cigar, included (but not limited to) Glass Animals, FaltyDL, Beef Terminal, The Juan MacLean, Badbadnotgood, and Tom Petty. Special mention also to Apollo Brown who dropped an awesome collection of hip hop beats that I couldn't quite squeeze in. I enjoyed the new Joris Voorn album, and James Curd's funky house grooves on "Damage Is Done" was my favorite EP that didn't make my charts. So there you have the honorable mentions. Now back to the headliners.

#18

Smashing Pumpkins

Monument To An Elegy

This one kind of came out of nowhere for me. I wasn't expecting its arrival, particularly after the bizarro "AEGEA" vinyl that Billy Corgan put out earlier in the year, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It's fair to say that Corgan is a bit out in space these days. Well, maybe that's not fair to say, it's not like he hasn't always been there, and then again aren't we all a little bit? Anyway thankfully this album did not sound like that pre-recorded noise, it sounded like a rock album.

I might come back later on and think I rated this too highly. There's some valid criticism being throttled at it. It's real short, like barely over a half hour, and a couple tracks are a little on the synth-pop side of things, but I still dig it. The songs that rock, really f'in rock. Tiberius rips the album into life and sounds almost as good as anything the Pumpkins have ever put out. It's interesting to note that the band is basically just Corgan these days. He even brought in Tommy Lee to play drums on the record. Anyway check it out. You might not be as impressed with it as I am, and I'm perfectly ok with that. It's a free country. Not everyone was born to rock.

One And All

Anti-Hero

Tiberius

#17

Tensnake

Glow

I like disco. There. I said it. If you've been following the blog at all, or even just my year end lists, you'll be well aware of that by now. Not that this is pure disco, it's not, but there are a lot of elements that certainly feel like it. This album is sort of this year's Disclosure, only not quite as big, and maybe mixed with some Classixx. It's just a helluva lot of fun. The production is slick and bouncy, and the choice of guest vocalists sounds spot on wherever it's called for.

It's not easy to put out a dance record these days. Most people throw out EPs or singles, so I feel like you have to laud a good one when it comes around, and this one is really good. At least a half-dozen tracks are killer singles in their own right, and there isn't any jarring issues with the song order. Even though it spans genres, it flows like an album should. I give it two thumbs up. Throw it on your favored portable music device and do some dancing in the street.

Feel Of Love

58 BPM

See Right Through

#16

Ought

More Than Any Other Day

Eight tracks is all we get on this album, so savor every little bite. There's a good chance you've never heard of them, unless you've got your ear to the hipster wheel, but that's ok. Now you have. They're young fellas from Montreal who sound a great deal like the Talking Heads, and probably a little Velvet Underground mixed with Battles. It's pulsing, groovy, trippy madness and it's super fun to rock out to.

For a debut it's massively promising, but also kind of scary. They could descend further into madness, in fact they should, and who knows what they might churn out. Can they reach the heights of their esteemed forefathers, or will the flutter into obscurity? Does it even matter? Does any of this matter? Have I eaten too much turkey? Get the damn record. Thank me later.

Today More Than Any Other Day

Habit

Pleasant Heart

EP #6

Louis La Roche

Dusty Cassette

Louis, aka Brett, maintains his #6 spot on the EP charts with another French disco house special, only this time he juices that classic '80s synth soul ballad sound to maximum levels. It's got huge, ubersaturated, chunky bass goodness that just makes you want to groove. At just over 20 minutes you can get through it on the way to the grocery store, or maybe on a short bus ride. He's taken that old beat up tape deck and given it a fresh coat of dust, and it works perfectly. 

Wondering

Ghost

The Way She Makes Me Feel

Part threeeee tomorrow, but first - Hobbits!

The Saturday Beat

Well that week wasn't supposed to be so busy. Here's some beats to make up for it.



Deep thumping tech beats.



Funky fun from a pretty solid album



Groovin' soul mid set dancin' beats. FREE download!



Lounge style sexy swinger beats.



Proper jazzy jackin' beauty.



Bouncy disco glitch tech. Lovin' this one. FREE download!



Deep and delicious, with a side of smoooooth.



Easily the best remix of this track.



Late night deepness personified.

The Saturday Beat

Time for some much needed beats!



Nice melodic late night big roomer.



Love this one. Groovy rolling house action.



Another killer new classic house vibe.



Juicy funk soul sweetness to the max.



Old school breaks! Just because they're awesome.

Louis La Roche - Kaboom

It's raining. How about some house music?

Best of 2013 Part 2

On to part 2, you know how we do.

#18

Boards Of Canada

Tomorrow's Harvest

Easily one of the most anticipated albums of the year, at least from fans of ambient and experimental psychedelia, the acclaimed Scottish duo returned with their first studio LP since 2005. For most if not all, it was worth the wait. This is a fantastic album, indeed arguably their best, and moving forwards it will be among the select few of this calendar year that will stand out as one of true exception. Frankly, looking at it now, I’ve probably placed it a little too low, but tough decisions had to be made so here it is.

Melancholy is probably the most appropriate descriptive term for this album as a whole, reflective another. These guys are renowned for the depth of their composition, and once again the sheer spectrum of sound that they work with is impressive. As usual it’s difficult to pinpoint individual tracks as this is best listened to in its entirety, but take a gander at the selections below anyway and it will give you a rough idea of where this album is going.

Reach For The Dead

White Cyclosa

Sick Times

#17

Kvelertak

Meir

I have to give credit to Anthony Fantano (of Needle Drop fame) for this one. I hadn’t heard of these guys before but I saw his review and thought I should give them a listen, and I’m glad I did. Their sound is... well... picture a group of Vikings, striding across the hills of Norway, guitars in hand and spitting fervent fury from their fingers with an axe in their teeth. Yup, that’s pretty much it.

If there is a detraction for me, it’s the characteristic screamo vocals that dominate the verses. The choruses are actually quite melodic, and I just wish they’d add a little more variety to the rest, but then it’s done in a tasteful way, and not just random indecipherable screeching that tends to ruin so many other black metal acts. The instrumentals are what make this sound, though, and they are awesome. With another singing style you could easily picture this record exploding in popularity, but maybe we should just enjoy this for what it is – Viking metal!

Kvelertak

Månelyst

Evig Vandrar

#16

Ian Pooley

What I Do

His name doesn’t sound German, but this genius producer is from Frankfurt, one of the world’s most influential cities in the evolution of modern electronic music. Essentially a tech house specialist, Pooley continues largely in that vein but does find room to branch out a little with some funky synth-pop beats that just melt beautifully into the script.

Vocals are scattered sparsely but effectively, with only a couple tracks truly driven by the words. The mood is mostly playful, funky and soulful, with Pooley’s signature percussion rhythms smoothing out the edges. This is the best pure house album of the year, and in a year dominated by pulsing electronic experimentalism, this one proves that the basics can still get the job done when they’re done right.

CompuRhythm

1983

Swing Mode

EP #6

Louis La Roche

Composure

UK based Brett Ewels is a French house master, and his bouncy style continues on this groovy five-track release, but this time with a bit more 80s disco feel to it, not unlike the sounds of Grum or Mylo. He plays around with tempo a bit, opting for a slightly slower, groovier sound, and even throws in a dubstep-type track for good measure. This isn’t an earth shaker, or one that critics will be fawning over, it’s just a nice 20 minute escape to fantasy funk, and that’s good enough for me.

Dance With Me Tonight

Let Go

Looking Up

Part 3 cominatcha tomorroooow!

Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Rubicon

Fred Falke was the man behind that last remix, and he along with fellow Frenchmen Alan Braxe have combined to make some sweet tunes, with this proving to be a pretty big hit. So-called "French House" is in vogue these days, the term is used to describe the heavily filtered disco house style popularised by others like Daft Punk, Cassius, and most recently Louis La Roche. I'm a big fan, and you hear some of that in my "future samplers" tracks.

This particular tune doesn't have any lyrics at all in it, and it's a bit up-tempo for classic house, but it's still distinctly French and full of cheesy 80's synth brilliance. Not the most inspiring of videos either, but hey, you can't expect those crazy Frenchmen to get everything right...

More please.