Grouplove, Dutch Uncles & Cults

Lead track from their forthcoming EP, 'Colours' recalls the melodic boombast that Arcade Fire have made their own, bringing back memories of the 2006 vintage of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Cold War Kids with a little of the sunnier side of The Pixies and Pavement thrown in for good measure. The whole EP is wonderful, check it out and buy it here, its out on the 7th Feb.

Grouplove    Official Website    Myspace    Facebook

Manchester band Dutch Uncles are the latest to emerge from a very strong Manchester scene that includes Everything Everything, Delphic, Hurts and Egyptian Hip-Hop. They have that pop end of post-punk feel of a Maximo Park, the lo-fi sentiments of The Research and the playful time signatures and stop-start nature of Hot Club de Paris. The track above, 'Face In' was originally released back in 2008 but they are re-releasing it on the back of their headline national tour on Feb 28th.

Dutch Uncles    Official Website    Myspace    Facebook    Soundcloud




Not many tracks manage to achieve true organic growth anymore but 'Go Outside' by Cults has been one of them. Just a glance at blog aggregator the Hype Machine shows that a massive 161 blogs have posted this song steadily since March 2010, and its in the top 100 as I speak a whole 11 months later. Originally a free track it is now getting a full release and deserved attention from Radio 1 and 6Music, out on 11th Feb.

The track itself is a sunny piece of 60s inspired pop, exuberant girl-group vocals laid over a playful little xylophone and as addictive as it is timeless.

Cults    Website     Myspace

Realboy & Drop The Lime

It's not often these days that you hear an electro track that has a completely fresh and unique sound but L.A. based duo Realboy have managed to pull it off. Sampling a 1946 Fred Astaire classic they have created an infectious electro-swing banger that you can take a listen to and download below. Check out their own blog here where they post all of their new tracks and mixes first.

 The Ritz by Realboy

What better way to follow some 1940's inspired electro with some with its roots in the 1950's? Drop The Lime continues his hot streak after last years 'Sex Sax' with this rockabilly-tinged number that gets an official release on the 30th January (pre-order the EP here). Set to be a massive hit, check the leather and Brylcreem in the video below and a free download of Digital Product's remix that adds a fidget to the swagger.

 Drop The Lime - Hot As Hell (Digital Product Remix) by digitalproduct

Temabes is a Russian producer from Moscow with a line in some bleeping progressive electro house. I've been digging his remixes for a while, he has a knack of turning banal chart hits into exciting club bangers. Obviously the source material for this remix is anything but banal but his remix of The Prodigy's 'Omen' drops the tempo a little yet retains all the energy of the original, extending its life in the process. He's got some big tracks of his own dropping on Beatport sometime during January so be sure to check there, as well as his Soundcloud account which has free downloads of virtually all of his remixes.

I can't link the download directly, but follow this link to get his Omen remix free.



And one of the forthcoming releases...

Together everywhere, we fit snug like hand in glove

Discovered through Annie Mac's wonderful freebie Winter Warmer mixtape  here is a stunning track from The 2 Bears for you. Consisting of Hot Chip's Joe Goddard and Greco-Roman Soundsystem's Raf Rundell they have been receiving radio support from all over Radio 1 with Annie, Giles Peterson, Rob Da Bank and Toddla T all playing their songs regularly. 'Church' is a more wistful, laid back affair than some of their work and this video has to be one of the cutest things ever seen!



Buy the Curious Nature EP featuring 'Church' here

Download the dub from Southern Fried Records soundcloud account here...

 The 2 Bears: Church (The 2 Bears Dub) by Southern Fried Records



Now for a ridiculously entertaining piece of wonky techno, it is pretty much impossible not to smile along to this song, one of the most happy, bouncy instrumentals I've heard for a long time. It comes from Depressed Buttons who consist of three members of the long-running synth-punk outfit The Faint and is released on Mad Decent Records round about now. Links below, plus a bonus video from The Faint. And remember a depressed button is merely one that has just been turned on...

Buy Qwerty EP featuring 'Ow!' here

 Depressed Buttons-Ow! by maddecent