Jamie Woon - Night Air - Ramadanman Refix

 Night Air (Ramadanman Refix) by woon

It's taken me far too long to write about this track. The crisp military tattoo of the Ramadanman drums against the enormous bass and slightly atonal synth perfectly cradles Jamie Woon's clear, soul-filled vocals. But it’s the warmth of the chorus synths in the 'Night Air Refix' that soar at the same time as that voice that is so spine tinglingly uplifting - serotonin in beat form.

Woon is smashing it in terms of recent collaborations with Burial having already provided a beautifully haunting remix of his 'Wayfaring Stranger’ and now this darkly lovely piece of sound.  Ramadanman's beats are to Woon's vocals what marmite is to peanut butter on hot buttered toast – for me that’s pretty much a perfect 10.

www.myspace.com/jamiewoon

Sissy And The Blisters

"Us going on to the X Factor would be like entering a cat in to a dog show," says Sissy and The Blisters guitarist and ivory-tinkler Nick Benton about participating in ITV's weekly circus of freaks and fantasists. This is kind of a shame because if bands like Sissy did go on the X Factor I wouldn't have to spend my Saturday nights watching Seinfeld re-runs. But whilst the likes of Joe Mcelderry put the 'talent' in 'talent show' you'll have to look further than prime time Saturday night for a real music fix like this.

If you listen to the demos on Sissy and the Blisters' myspace you will hear a proper band bashing out raucous tracks with a fresh-feeling nod to some of music’s greats. ‘Gangs of Three’ is a fast-paced canter of scratchy vocals and Doors-esque shimmy, something which appears again in ‘Mystics’ before the track becomes a mash up of thrashing guitars and shouty vocals. The band’s debut single ‘Things May Change’ is out on 1 November on Hit Club Records and has the component parts of what seems intended to become the band's signature noise - Vox Continental keyboard sound and raw, punchy vocals.  The band cite their influences as "anything from 60's pop and garage, to modern lo fi music" and their songs all have a heavy focus on melodies and unfussy, clunky rhythms - "production-wise we try to keep it sounding as sparse and raw as possible," they say.

Live, they are chaotic, exciting, unexpected and brimming with relentless energy: "the set is usually fairly short and as we don't leave any gaps between songs the performance feels like one quick burst of mayhem." You can see evidence of the same in their visuals - the video for 'The Wolf' is a grainy black and white affair with a moving camera capturing the band performing clad in leather and chanelling bands 50 years their seniors.  “The reason we use black and white in the majority of our visuals is to reflect the simplicity and basic form of our music. It fits our idea of stripping things back to absolute basics."

The band are fiercely down to earth and won't tolerate allegations that they are 'in the music business.'  They claim to have no groupies ("we're not Guns n Roses") and are keen to hold on to their 'new band mystique' by avoiding giving straight answers to pedestrian questions.  It’s only when you get them onto the subject of their music that you get a real, honest response and anything bordering on enthusiasm.  Unlike Joe Mcedlderry and his airbrushed kind, SATB just seem to want to talk about what they love to do - and what they’re good at.  And that's the music.


'The Wolf' - Sissy And The Blisters from Bennycrime on Vimeo.

Gold Panda - Snow & Taxis - Out 4th October

Gold Panda makes minutely detailed electronica that is filled with imagination. Snow & Taxis is a perfect example - a carefully constructed piece of music layered with a sleigh bell-like glockenspiel and a brief appearance by a Titanic soundtrack type vocal synth that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. The track has a muted techno beat and is breathlessly danceable, despite never really reaching any kind of a crescendo. 

Comparisons with the likes of Four Tet are easily made because of Snow & Taxis' unfussy structure and the geeky attention to detail that gives the track a real thickness and quality feel.  A slightly confusing video that’s more David Attenborough meets Blair Witch Project, than twinkling car lights and glistening snow just makes it all the more intruiging.  Snow & Taxis is the first track to be released from Gold Panda’s album - Lucky Shiner – that is due on 11th October.  If you want to hear the whole thing go to http://www.luckyshiner.com/.




Snow & Taxis by Gold Panda

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

It has been a bad year for established bands releasing new albums. Yeasayer's Odd Blood was considered the poor second cousin to All Hour Cymbals, Arcade Fire's eagerly anticipated The Suburbs was critically acclaimed but didn't really generate the same spark as their earlier releases and MGMT's Congratulations fell flat as a steamrollered bagel. Thank the lord then for Bradford Cox and Lockett Pundt who, with Halcyon Digest, have finally silenced the 'it's just not as good as the first album' mutterings that have become deafening this year.

Halcyon Digest is smoother than the records gone before, less rocky perhaps but richer in terms of warmth and sound. The whole thing has a vintage feel and sounds like it has been filtered through a Hipstamatic lens. Which seems appropriate as the band say the record is all about snapshots of memory, specifically "the way that we write and rewrite and edit our memories to be a digest version of what we want to remember, and how that's kind of sad."

From the fairytale sinisterness of 'Don't Cry' to the Rydell-High-through-a-hash-haze vibes of 'Basement Scene', it's an album that makes you think of sepia drenched summer days and sticky teenage nights. But each memory is tinged with the knowledge that they are not as glistening as you remember them - you weren't the most popular kid in school, you did have a monobrow and your first time wasn't special. But Halcyon Digest isn't bitter.

'Helicopter' is a typical example: a harp-like synth, lovely, fuzzy sounds contrasted by some really quite sad lyrics: "could you pray for us? We know he loves you the best." 'Earthquake' starts on a Massive Attack tip and makes me think of a heat haze over tarmac, melting ice cubes in a G&T and the feeling of sweat running down the back of your neck.

'Memory Boy' and 'Revival' are catchy, the latter defined by a happy little shaker that is roughed up by a gruff, tough bassline in the chorus. It is detailed and melodic and feels like a real work of art that is composed of many intricate parts. It's a contrast to the simplicity of 'Sailing' which is flooded with watery samples which make the song sound very Alice in Wonderland, giving it a fairytale quality of sweetness and darkness.  'Desire Lines' is the halcyon track of this digest in my view with a chorus set by a wonderful flowing, mellow guitar that is completely uplifting.   'He Would Have Laughed' is another 'moment' on the record: a drum-heavy opening, vertigo-y distortion and weary sounding vocals - "in sweetness comes suffering" - take the track through to a synth-charged high, which rather touchingly has been dedicated to Jay Reatard.

Deerhunter have never really been in the habit of following in other people's footsteps so it makes sense that they would buck the 'slightly inadequate follow up album' trend. While this record is made more accessible than Microcastle or Cryptograms by employing soaring choruses and a smiley feelgoodness, it's all balanced by a sense of reality - a crunchy chord, truthful lyric or distorted vocal - like there's only one rose tinted lens in Pundt/Cox's glasses. This truthfulness has always been there in Deerhunter's music and is one of the things that makes it so individual. The fact that they're obviously not going to sacrifice it on the altar of commerciality is another reason why Halcyon Digest is going to be, for many, a front-runner for album of the year.

Halcyon Digest is released 27th September www.myspace.com/deerhunter

Interpol

As albums go, the latest offering from Interpol is a well-produced, sophisticated, glossily packaged affair. Such expensive processing and sleek wrapping might in other circumstances indicate cynically made chart fodder, but not this record. ‘Interpol’ has the dramatic, rocky air of a pack of stadium anthems without the tritely predictable ballads and sticky, implausible sentiment. The anthemic riffs and spine tingling key changes are weighed down by good old fashioned cynicism and a world-weariness that gives the record a grown up authenticity. In a fight with Justin Bieber, this record would tank up on whisky, wipe its mouth on its tattooed arm, fight dirty and take home the girl.

"Success" sets out the album's stall straight away with a rocky guitar and the heady mix of sex, self-doubt and been-there-done-that wisdom that spills from Paul Banks' voice box every time he opens his mouth. (How is this man not prime minister? Imagine the wars that would be won.) Then there’s "Memory Serves," a freshly unmade bed of a track, heavy with the night before’s suggestive scent, that travels from the nonchalant one night stand of the start of the song to full on gritty, soul baring emo as the hangover kicks in.

“Always Malaise (The Man I Am)" is possibly the best song on the record and an epic track at every stage. It grows as you listen to it, prods you in a soft bit from the opening note and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The track uses layers of instruments, from piano through to what sounds like half an orchestra, each new layer a complete surprise. In the end it's like listening to a military attack and you may as well just lie on the floor wherever you are and surrender to it, until the track drops away like a cliff, leaving you with the same sense of vertigo. It's fantastically terrifying.

After the tentative start and lyrical cleverness - "tell me you're mine. Tell me you're mine to break...the ice"- penultimate track "All of the Ways" opens out into five minutes and sixteen seconds of painful, longing vocals about lost love and betrayal. It's a slow, emotionally damaged track that moves as you would if your heart had just been broken. "Try It On" has the kind of repetitive five note keyboarding you'd want to slap a younger sibling for and sounds like it might be the dud of the record. But in an unexpected move, the track is saved by some atmospheric whistling. In fact, there really aren’t any obvious howlers on ‘Interpol’ - "Barricade” has an immorally catchy refrain, "The Undoing" is a fantastic finale full of foreboding and foreignspeak, "Summer Well" is a showcase for an explosion of outrageously lovely drumming, whilst the freebie single "Lights" is full of pseudo religious fervour - Last Supper lyrics and prayer-like vocals. Even "Safe Without," a slightly ominous track with a chorus so emotional and raw you might have to look the other way, is in the end perfectly pitched.

I expect there’s already plenty of negative backlash to ‘Interpol’, from Carlos lovers and industry trendsetters alike, but they’ll all still secretly have got hold of a copy because it’s just too good not too. Ok so Interpol are not pioneering a genre or using guitars made from gold, but this is hearty fare, made from quality ingredients – the roast beef and yorkshires of the music world. And in an industry peppered with spam and riddled with saveloys, why turn down the chance to wrap your chops around something this satisfying and substantial.

'Interpol' is released 13th September on Soft Limit

XXXY

THIS MUCH by xxxy

The first time I stumbled across the music of Manchester-based XXXY (aka Rupert Taylor), it was like finding a £20 note down the back of the sofa. For those who have yet to turn on to what he does, its like "the mutated child of house, dubstep, garage and techno," which may not sound like anything that hasn't been done before - and really it isn't - but it's one of the finest splicing of genres I've come across in a long while.

Having sprung from the loins of a city that also birthed Autechre, New Order and Oasis, the obvious question for Taylor has to be whether any of this musical heritage has seeped into his psyche. "I'm not sure if Manchester's musical heritage has influenced me that much - I'm no fan of parkas and mid haircuts. But going to nights like electric chair definitely shaped my sound." In terms of the Mancunian music scene as it currently stands, he says "Manchester can be a bit slow at getting things, dubstep took a while to take off and even when it did the more interesting nights were sparsely populated so there was a load of wobbly key nights that sprung up over a short period of time. Thankfully these appear to be dying down and the more diverse nights, such as Hoyahoya & Meandyou, are changing things up for the better."

Taylor produces on "a MacBook pro, monitors, little mixer and a couple of midi controllers powered by tea and biscuits." It’s a set up that has enabled him to bring into the world the joyful two step of ‘Ordinary Things,’ the drum driven funk of ‘Replicate’ and the excellent ‘U Always Start It’, a triumph of warm pulsing synth and old school Todd Edwards chopped up vocals. If Taylor could lure anyone to Chorlton to collaborate with him in future, he says it would be Bjork or Modeselektor, "she has the finest voice I have ever heard and modeselektor are just brilliant producers." Perhaps this wish might one day be granted, given the attention he has been generating - superclub Fabric slapped ‘Sing With Us’ on Elevator Music Volume 1 earlier this year, he's done the August mix for FACT and recently become part of Reprise booking agency family. But despite this growing spotlight beaming on him from outside Manchester's boundaries, for the moment the lure of the capital is not strong enough to dislodge Taylor from his Chorlton base: "there are times when it makes sense like when I've been down [to London] three times in a month and there are others when I feel completely happy being in Manchester. It would be very hard for me to leave Chorlton."

Garage movements of yesteryear have undoubtedly produced some horrendous, highly publicised duds, giving the genre a thoroughly bad – and mostly undeserved – reputation. But, even given the slightly questionable name, the 'future garage' movement that claims XXXY as one of its own is a far subtler, more interesting beast. Taylor appears not to be a fan of labels, seeing himself as something of a lone ranger musically, and he's clearly a believer in musical boundaries not being what they were "there are still definable genres but the lines are blurring which is brilliant, you can go out and hear so many different styles of music, which can only lead to better things." So in terms of his own listening choices, that would logically make Taylor something of a genre chameleon. Or perhaps he’s harbouring a secret mainstream Muse addiction. "I used to be quite into muse but they went a bit OTT. I listen to loads of stuff I'm big into Spiritualized and Mogwai as well as house techno garage etc". He also name checks new blood like Pariah (www.completelytwisteduk.blogspot.com/2010/06/pariah-beats) Jamie Grind, Canblaster, Polish beatmaster Zeppy Zep and the output from labels like Well Rounded, We Play House, Eglo, R2 and Horizontal Ground.

In a time flooded by clumsy, grinding, bastardised dubstep and badly produced ear-bending noise, XXXY's tunes are a breath of fresh air without lacking anything in terms of basslines, substance or imagination. You almost get the sugary hit of a pop tune from some of his music without the unsatisfying formulaic structure and overdone production. The tracks he makes are neat and stylish and completely whole so that you're rarely left wishing he'd added anything in or taken a sound away. Best of all, his music is significant but doesn’t take itself too seriously – the bouncy beats of 'This Much' are completely infectious - and his skills are varied, he's got no problem genre hopping and he does it well.

2010 for XXXY holds "more releases, more gigs. There have been suggestions of an album but I don't feel capable of writing one yet," which is a brave admission in an industry where if you can't be creative on tap you may as well sign up at the job centre. But then Taylor still has a day job so for now his only musical motivation is the love of the beats. And a desire to be "happy until my times comes." And if you don't understand that then your heart is a bagel.

Young Empires for Dazed & Confused

“We make music that makes you feel wealthy, attractive, and powerful; traits the human race has coveted since the dawn of time,” says Jake Palahnuk, the “Rhythm” section of Canadian twentysomethings, Young Empires. Matthew Vlahovich (“Hooks”) and Robert Aaron Ellingson (“Swagger”) complete the lineup, a Cut Copy/Friendly Fires/ Tanlines type outfit, making genre defiant tracks that sprawl over chillwave, pop, tropical and disco punk. They even have the audacity to feature flutes, a feat not so brazenly attempted since they heyday of Jethro Tull only successfully achieved by Yeasayer.

The band are also brand-minded, taking control of their own images, moving and still. The track “Glory of The Night” is accompanied by one of their videos, a 3-minute tale of marionette murder and destruction. According to Jake, “the song is about a metaphysical bond that exists only in dreams - the puppets represent this type of abstraction from reality. The video was made to capture the duality of the song, to visualize the two distinct yet cohesive sides of dreams and waking life. “ Okay, then.

Currently unsigned but generating plenty of interest, the Toronto band hint at a single for autumn and a possible album for 2011, “brimming with swagger, sexuality and maybe even a little angst at times.“ They certainly have no shortage of drive and Jake insists they’re in it for the long haul: “Young Empires is the most serious project we've ever taken on- it's the culmination of each of our past experiences, current desires and ever-developing philosophies. We have entered into a wonderful challenge - to compose and produce the new music for our generation.”

PVT - Church With No Magic

Australia might not be the first country to spring to mind as a hotbed of musical talent - INXS, Olivia Newton John, Rolph Harris the er…Wiggles have seen to that - but in the last few years a real volume of quality sounds have been filtering up from down under. Riding the crest of the wave of Cut Copy, The Presets, Hilltop Hoods and Empire of the Sun is a second album by another very interesting prospect: PVT.

Formerly 'Pivot' up until legal wranglings with an American band of the same name forced the switch, PVT are a family-linked three piece who made history as the first Aussies to sign to Warp. Out this week, 'Church With No Magic' is the follow up to 2008’s understated slice of intelligent electronica - 'O Soundtrack My Heart' – and is likely to be the album that catapults the band into the wider consciousness. If you like the choral-esque vocals of Grizzly Bear, the electronic wizardry if Aphex Twin and the ferocious rhythms of Yeasayer then you should make room in your life for PVT.

The album kicks off with ‘Community,’ composed of gradually building bubbled soundwaves and monastic vocals, orthodoxically powerful but saved from stepping into Enigma’s sweaty sandal chanting territory by the next track ‘Light Up Bright Fires.' LIBF is a crazy mash up of hectic sounds and the kind of drumming Animal would be proud of. The track is a veritable trifle of sound with layers of electronic stabs laid over demanding, insistent drums, ethereal female backing, finished with the male rock vocal.

‘Church With No Magic’ would be at home on Yeasayer’s Odd Blood. The huge, grizzly bass and combination of electronic and organic sound gives the track a real punch that is enhanced when the sound is picked up and flung across the room by the soaring synths and random electronic noises and vocal noises. ‘Crimson Swan’ hangs on deep, almost religious chanting and is intriguingly peppered with background noises evocative of a haunted house. The track is driven by reversed beats before a slash of electric guitar introduces a climax of dizzyingly distorted electronic sound.

‘Window’s genius is the increasingly popular tactic of using a sampled vocal used as a beat. It’s a hectic cacophony of a track that drives from angry determination to absolute certainty: 'I won't slip I won't fall, I won't fall.’ A little reminiscent of Cheryl Cole's Parachute? She wishes.

‘The Quick Mile’ travels on the warm force of a bass sound cut through with more dizzying synth, UNKLE Psyence Fiction-era drums and a signature PVT ending that could compete with Muse at Wembley. ‘Waves & Radiation’ is possibly too ambient for its own good but ‘Circle of Friends’ really showcases how strong vocals can send a track to the next level. Finally, the album finishes with the gloriously electronic ‘Timeless' and ‘Only The Wind Can Hear You’ that pitches at the sound and serious vocal range of the glorious Grizzly Bear.

The band's first album was vocal free and I can only say how glad I am that the vocals arrived on this record. They might make it slightly more accessible - something which is no doubt anathema to purists and the smuggest of critics - but with the addition of the vocals, instead of another subtly brilliant piece of electronica destined to go unnoticed by anyone whose playlist is informed solely by daytime Radio 1 this album could make a difference. Indeed, 'Church With No Magic' might make it onto the radar of JLS fans who only need to be shown what real music sounds like to step off the commercial musical offal pathway and on to something real. And this album is an example of what real music sounds like: gutsy, courageous, imperfect and pleasingly anti autotune.

Zola Jesus

Zola Jesus is the kind of name that sets your imagination running. A Christian dubstep outfit? Latin American singer with a wonky vibe? Religious chillwave? All wrong of course. It's operatic pop combined with lo-fi rock with a side of tortured Goth. Of course.

The band is female vocalist Nika Roza Danilova, a trained opera singer who has worked with a number of musicians to bring Zola Jesus to life. From an ex boyfriend - "it got weird" - to the current three-piece, a motley collection of musicians from bands with names like Wormsblood and Jex Thoth, all have input to produce respectively 2009's 'New Amsterdam', 'The Spoils', 'Tsar Bomba', 'Stridulum' and now the album 'Stridulum II', released in the UK this month.

The album follows the EP ‘Stridulum’ released earlier this year and is inspired by the 1979 cult science fiction movie 'Stridulum' by Giulio Paradisi, a slightly confusing opus that centres around the battle between good and evil. According to Danilova these extremes have filtered into every song on the album, reflecting her own personal battles as well as a tendency to gravitate towards the contrast of dark and light.

The music itself is theatrical, the opposite of the poppy R&B Nika writes with band member Nick Turco under the moniker Nika + Rory. 'Stridulum II' features the six songs from the EP version along with three unreleased, newly recorded tracks - all full of longing and dramatic sentiments, heavily produced and distinctly operatic. The drama of the Goth rock ballads is echoed in accompanying videos which are all leather and lace, ghostly shadows and supernatural happenings, all tied up by those spine tingling vocals.

Stridulum II is out 23 August and you can see Zola Jesus supporting Fever Ray in the UK in September www.myspace.com/zolajesus

Jimmy Edgar - XXX

It's with a wagon heavily loaded with 80s synths and drum pads that Jimmy Edgar rolls into town trumpeting the arrival of new album ‘XXX’. From the already digitally released 'Hot Raw Sex,' the musical equivalent of a vocoded post one night stand brag, to the Missy Elliot-esque ‘Push’ and Chromeo loving ‘Turn You Inside Out’, the album keeps its easy simplicity all the way through by not straying too far from previously proven, perfectly compatible combinations of sounds. Funky is a word I really hate to use but this release is that with a capital F. Everyone from hipsters to true fans to the spectacle that is the drunken City boy could get down to this collection of provocatively written tracks should they so wish. There’s even something there for the musos too, particularly in the detail. Admittedly, there’s the odd moment where the influence of Harold Faltermeyer and echoes of synth patterns past threaten to overly date the music but overall the record achieves the right balance of vintage and brand new. Besides, even if you hate every single narcissistic, sexually charged note of it you’ll still find it impossible to stand still when it’s on. The album is released tomorrow on !K7.

Forest Swords - Not Dogging

Whilst ‘Forest Swords’ may be the kind of name that someone with a bit of a dirty mind could read as related to some form woodland-based nakedness, it is in fact much more enjoyable and less fleeting a pleasure. It is the moniker for a Wirral based solo songsmith making “British coastal jams” who has been known to release his music on the long lost art form that is the cassette. FS has a penchant for beats that echo the environment they were created in, writing music that ambiently recreates the dramatic coastline and occasional bleakness of the northwest peninsula that is his home turf. With a nod to Burial-esque sampled denseness, FS combines dub beats, basslines and guitars both rock and acoustic, with a hefty dose of reverb, to produce an output that definitely makes him one for the radar for 2010. So far released is 'Dagger Paths' - 12" EP on Olde English Spelling Bee with the panoramic single 'Rattling Cage / Hjurt' due on 26th July on No Pain In Pop.

www.myspace.com/forestswords

Pariah Beats

Arthur Cayzer may have chosen the moniker of an outsider but he's unlikely to end up a music exile. With comparisons to J Dilla and Flying Lotus, Radio 1 airplay, remixes for the likes of The XX and a Myspace as frequented as a vuvuzela horn shop at the World Cup, there's an exciting vibe about the twenty two year old student at the moment.

His output is a Frankenstein of haunting, hanging dubbeats, meets Detroit, meets smart two-step, meets a cloud of cut up samples. It's good, very good, and rather refreshingly it avoids the clichés and pitfalls of copycat production. Cayzer is signed to the recently reinvigorated R & S Records whose current roster also includes James Blake and Delphic. The label released the Pariah tracks 'Orpheus/Detroit Falls' in March of this year, the former a melodically haunting slice of smartly formed beats and the latter big listening dubstep with original detailing and a vintage vocal. Then there's the gentle, synthed up remix Cayzer produced of 'Basic Space' by The XX, one of the biggest success stories of the last two years. Not a bad start then.

Who's Pariah and where did he come from?

I'm Arthur, I'm 22 and originally from Scotland but I moved down to London about four years ago.

What is the Pariah Sound?

I'm not really sure to be honest. I guess pretty much all my tunes have an emphasis on melody and use a lot of sampled vocals. Recently, because I've been DJ'ing a lot more, my productions have been far more percussive and geared towards the dance floor but they do still have extended melodic sections.

What's been the story so far with the tracks? [I especially love 'Don't Go' - it's gorgeous, haunting like the best of Burial] How do you start a tune and where's the inspiration?

Thanks very much! That was actually the first tune that I ever made and I never got round to finishing it properly. I'm glad you like it.

I usually start a tune by sitting in front of my keyboard and finding a good chord progression. I always have to get the melody first and I've never actually finished a tune that I started with just a rhythm.

You've been compared to Flying Lotus, Joy Orbison and Bullion. Which producers do you rate right now?

I find that very flattering and I guess some of my tunes have similarities to those artists because they certainly influence me. At the moment, I can't get enough of the Hessle and Hemlock outputs. The new Joe 12" on Hessle is ridiculous.

What kind of set up do you have?

I make my tunes on a Macbook Pro with Logic 8 Express and use Genelec 8020a monitors. I also use an Alesis Micron. It’s pretty basic.

You've been mentioned in the same breath as J Dilla and Burial - were they an influence? Who are your musical heroes?

Both those artists influence me hugely! I'm indebted to them. My musical heroes are people and bands like Brian Eno, Godspeed! You Black Emperor (and anyone/anything affiliated with them), Burial, Boards of Canada, The Smiths, and Jacob Bannon.

What's been your highlight so far? (pretty early to ask but still..)

Having my debut single come out and having my tunes played on Radio 1.

Whose the best DJ around - is it you? What's your DJ style?

Haha... definitely definitely not me. In my opinion people like Ben UFO and Oneman are the best DJ's around. I like to have as wide a range of genres as possible. I play a blend of house, techno, UK garage and general UK bass music. I like to start at 120bpm and work my way up to 140bpm.

Pint of Stella or something sweet and fruity?

I get ripped on by all my mates because I don't drink beer. I've never really liked it. Give me a glass of wine anyday!

What have you got in the pipeline for this year?

I've got a 6 track 2x12" EP called "Safehouses" which is forthcoming on R&S. After that I've got another 12" on R&S which feature a Berlin meets Detroit influenced techno tune and then a 3 track EP for Black Acre.

What sound do you think is running music at the moment?

I think that, right now, there is so much interesting music coming out across all genres and especially so with electronic music. What's great is that there is no single sound running dance music at the moment. When you go out to a night now, you hear so much music that takes its influences from so many different places that it becomes unclassifiable which is a truly great thing.

www.myspace.com/pariahbeats

Washed Out - Life of Leisure - 14th June

Washed Out's Ernest Greene produces the kind of music that makes you think of pink sunsets and lithe, tanned, sun-warmed skin. The laid-back disco beats of the Life of Leisure EP are summer in a box, lazy Ibizan days and hot Riviera nights, ice cream dripping down the cone in the heat of the sun and ice cubes slowly melting into your rum.

The tracks reek of Cafe Del Mar, with 80s pads ('Get Up') or a hefty dash of harmonic vocal thrown in ('Hold Out') for a 2010 twist. They also make use of heavy, electro sounds reminiscent of Daft Punk's slower stuff and there's even an appearance by the Top Gun synth in 'Feel It All Around'. I first reviewed this EP last year when it came out as a digital download and frankly I've been listening to it ever since.

My very favourite track is 'You'll See It', a life-enhancing blend of delicate synths, gentle nudging beats - like waves lapping at the shore (*sigh*) - and a massive wedge of uplifting, warm chords. If you take a look at the cover of the Life of Leisure EP that about sums up what you're in for with this record - idyllic sunset vibes, just far enough from the shore to be daring with a great big, warm and fuzzy dose of violet tinged nostalgia. Done.

Jeanne Toussaint - Panthere de Cartier

It’s not often I feel compelled to write about jewellery but this is a Panthère de Cartier ring. Beloved by the likes of Chloe Sevigny with a cool $20,300 price tag, whilst many girls might pine for the pedestrian romance of a Tiffany solitaire, the style, power and sheer sex of this yellow gold, peridots and onyx lacquer beast of a piece is where it’s at for me.

The ring design was first introduced by Cartier back in 1914 and has lost none of it's mammalian charm, featuring in Vogue back in 2005 and recently accessorizing Kristen Stewart for a Vanity Fair shoot. The “feline motif is a tribute to devastating seduction, mysterious beauty and untamed character” and there’s one woman responsible for that.

Jeanne Toussaint joined Cartier in 1910 and become first lover and muse to Louis Cartier and then his director of fine jewellery from 1993 onwards. She was nicknamed ‘the panther’ by him for her obsession with the big cat and her similar character traits – including a merciless judgment - and she is responsible for the Panthère de Cartier jewellery range, some of which would make you weep with pleasure if you were ever lucky to acquire one, even if bling isn’t your thing.

Toussaint was a complete eccentric, a woman of exquisite and brave style and an uncompromising, daring and sense of self. She took self expression very seriously, choosing most days her self selected uniform of navy blue silk pyjamas, a printed turban and gold embroidered riding boots and she had a great sense of women's desire for emancipation, something she channelled through her style and her designs.

Like her contemporary Coco Chanel she was a "creative and demanding woman of the utmost elegance" who craved independence in the bedroom, the boardroom and at the bank. In fact they were so similar they shared some of the same lovers, including Cartier.

If for you, like me, the ring is probably a lottery win away, there’s a new Toussaint biography that has just come out written by Stéphanie des Horts called La Panthère: Le Fabuleux Roman de Jeanne Toussaint. Get hold of a copy and learn how to live life Panther-style.

Yeasayer - Shunt - 19th May 2010

The first clear thought I had watching Yeasyer at Shunt last night, slightly skewed on Peroni and slightly weirded out by essentially being inside a dungeon, was 'how ridiculously talented is this band?' Shortly followed by 'how wasted are they on this crowd.' It was a sad fact that most of the people there seemed more interested in getting papped by the TopShop girls than plugging into the pure brilliance of this eclectic group. People talked ALL THE WAY THROUGH. While you can get away with that at Brixton or Shepherds Bush, when you're in a venue where the band can see the label on your beer bottle, that is not cool.

It took a while for me to get comfortable with the jump Yeasayer made from the world music, indie style of All Hour Cymbals to the much more ravey, slightly (more) pretentious ODD BLOOD. In fact I positively hated it at first as the first record had been such a wondrous treat. But I have been won round and last night cemented for me the fact that they really are just an incredibly talented bunch of musicians. Even if they all seem to be coming from completely different places, somehow they work and what they produce is the vocal equivalent of cold beer in a desert. Life-affirmingly refreshing.

Back to the gig: they opened with the deliciously freaky 'The Children' which, with the distorted vocals and heavy beat, was a spine tingling start to the set and particularly chilling standing in a dark, dank vault, probably on the spot where someone had been racked in the last century or so. The band then moved on to the swinging, drum driven 'Rome' which was good but I was sad to see bassist Ira relegated to synth duty. He's not made for synths. Happily he was back on six strings during the slightly forceless but overall nicely overwhelming 'Madder Red.' 'Wait For The Summer' is just an awesome song from start to finish and this was a titanic rendition, complete with cymbals played with maracas which I don't think is something I have seen before (it worked).

'I Remember,' the Yeasyer version of a ballad, came complete with that lovely cascading sound and and some excellent, powerful harmonies. Next up was the anthemic '2080' followed by 'Strange Reunions' and then the moment for quiet before what is probably the best Yeasyer track ever: 'Tightrope.' But of course there was no quiet, people kept yapping and although the band continued bravely on you could sense their relief when they got to 'O.N.E' and the end of the gig was in sight. 'Mondegreen' and 'Ambling Alp' finished the night off with aplomb and finally the band could go back to their beds and away from the gabbling crowd.

It might have been a bit of a sulky performance in places last night but Yeasayer are just not the kind of band who will turn up and put a PR face on, which is the downside of being so genuinely motivated by the music side of things. Even if they didn't connect with the crowd of kids, scensters and bitter old hacks they still played a blinder of a gig in my view and they will always be the most pleasurable thing I've ever done in a torture chamber.

Holy Fuck - Latin

Holy Fuck are one part American rock band, one part synthy/ambient electronic wizards, one part of something that doesn't fit in any box and a dash of non-conformist genius thrown in for good measure. 'Latin', the third album from the Canadian post rock electronica experimentalists (if its even possible to tag them) is the aural equivalent of an 80s road movie. It's unfussy but well thought out music that makes you think of journeys and landscapes, not much in the way of vocals with the odd supplement of ambient noise slapped up with a rocky edge. It's an album where the drums rule, driving every tune like a road train, sometimes verging on uniformity, but giving the album a definite style and energy. I was predisposed to not like 'Latin' because a friend of mine had unequivocally stated they thought it was not good. But I did like it. Mostly.

'One' is definitely a stoic choice of opener - gently rising ambient noise to begin, a bit Spiritualised, a bit Animal Collective's 'Graze', gradually getting rougher and more static y until it reaches a spine tingling crescendo like the spaceship taking off in ET (!). Which does make the next track a bit of an anticlimax but nevertheless, this is an opener with a proper and appropriate sense of occasion. In comparison, 'Red Lights' does sound quite muted with its electric guitar reminiscent of a 70s cop show soundtrack. It's guitar-heavy music, fit to accompany a journey across long, wide roads with just enough top end synth in there to keep it interesting. What I like most about this track is just before the end the drums suddenly change, first twisting into majorette/marching band style and then eventually keeping the travelling theme going, sounding like a train.

'Latin America' is a vista of a tune - broad and long. It has a much more electronic start to it which makes you think its going to become something very different to 'Red Lights' and it's almost a bit disappointing when it doesn't take a more electronic turn off. The drums again are a feature but Latin America escapes the sameyness of some of the other tunes because it has a kind of a throbbing bass that pulses throughout underneath everything else and easy piano chords to give it a great lightness. Right at the end the samba-y beats of the title break through, giving the track a flourishing, clever finish. 'Stay Lit' is wonderfully dramatic. I love the stuttering synths in the intro and the fact that the track just builds and builds and builds, making it quite hard to listen to sitting down. There's a substantial dose of theatre in there with the uneven drum beat and savage electric guitar, distorted to give it a ragged feel.

The deliciously Dickensianly titled ‘Silvia & Grimes’ opens in a way that reminds me of a Bat For Lashes tune and the track sounds like it will be exciting as it starts to motor through. But I wondered is it little bit lacking? It's another cascading tune that builds and builds and builds - it starts out a bit Orbital until the drums come in - and on this album we have heard this before. 'SHT MTN' has an industrial start and is a bit different with the little computer beeps and beats paving the way for a big drum beat and prominent cowbell. For some reason this track made me think of Barbarella and Bladerunner, that vocal sounding like an announcement on a space station in one of those slightly unnerving retro films full of people with strangely cruel ideas. It's a heavy tune that grinds its way through 2 minutes 51, taking on a bit of a 'Psyence Fiction' era UNKLE mantle.

'Stilettos' is speedy and thrilling with furious drumming conjuring up the wind in your hair on the back of a motorbike driving across the Nevada desert at sunset. Well that’s what it did for me anyway. 'Lucky' returns to static-y noises to open accompanied by breakbeaty drums, dominant hi hat/cymbal and a very distorted vocal. Towards the end the track almost begins to sounds like an indie guitar band song - some kind of big, uplifting anthem, from likes of Kings of Leon in their more recent incarnation.

'Pigs' is technoey, ravey, a heavy tune and not for the weak minded or those coming round from a heavy weekend. The track could perfectly accompany a double drop with its relentless beat and swirly, high- inducing background. I found 'Positive Ghosts' a bit laboured, it wasn't my favourite track. Similarly, 'Grease Fire' is of a 1980s vintage and has a high class start, a bit Top Gun, very rocky but in places, but it left me with the aftertaste of bad European rock/pop. Finally 'Russell X' gives good, laid back beats, electronic samples and well used interference. The vocal is distorted and the track is peppered with industrial samples and screeches and has an air of Pendulum although without the drum n bass beat.

I liked a lot of this album, REALLY liked it. The rest I might have liked if it appeared in a collection of less similar sounding tracks but as they were I could take or leave. It is obvious that a lot of talent and imagination has been funnelled into 'Latin' and its production but a couple of the tracks were a bit formulaic - synths and electronica + indie drums at varying speeds. The drums are also very dominant - the same drum sound - which made some of the tracks sound like fillers. However, I do admire Holy Fuck’s style and the fact that you can't really compare them to anyone else with any certainty and I did listen to this record over and over again, feet a tapping, head a nodding. Maybe the album is a bit like a Latin textbook- underestimated, challenging and creative in places but it could easily be a bit shorter.

Good Rats - Q&A with Niall O'Brien at Bistroteque, Bethnal Green April 22

The work of Niall O Brien is unexpectedly inspiring. I say 'unexpectedly' because it generally takes a serious subject to lift a photographer above ‘run of the mill’ and a three year project documenting one of the least sympathetic groups in society - punks - is on paper pretty lacking in heart-string-pulling appeal. Whilst his exhibition - Good Rats - at the Hempel Hotel back in February was an excellent collection of intuitive, visceral, expressive photography, it was only with the explanation of the back-story – and his own experiences at the hands of the group - at a Q&A last week in Bethnal Green that the whole project really came alive for me.

O'Brien shot the photos for the exhibition over a three year period as he gradually went from an outsider with a camera whom the punks could take or leave to someone they actively wanted around (perhaps a bit too much sometimes) who listened, unobtrusively documented their story and even took one for the team when police caught them breaking in to an abandoned mental hospital.

I got the impression that O'Brien clearly didn't know what he was getting into when he started trying to establish a relationship with these kids. Perhaps getting involved with such an unpredictable, unstable group of needy teens without expecting consequences was a little naive but naivety often borders on brave. He says the initial idea was to take a group of kids - any group - with a strong identity and lift them outside of their comfort zone to watch them interact. Which he did. And I suspect at the same time the experience had exactly the same effect on him, although for this we don't have the photographic evidence.

From this project we learn that these kids (all around 15/16 years old) come from middle class families, their mums pay their phone bills, their parents are pretty normal. They like to destroy things, they drink, take drugs, their German punk associates will take a dancefloor full of Eurotrash over a traditional punk band and you won’t find many girl punks. Throughout the series of photos they make mistakes, they lose the plot and like rats they make the rest of society uncomfortable just by being there but they're basically underestimated or misunderstood - good rats at heart.

There's no mention of fascism or the kind of right wing mentality that can accompany a punk philosophy but there's plenty of nihilism. In such a quantity and so well portrayed that for the first time I really understood what being a punk means. They just completely ignore society’s rules and traditions and through O'Brien’s photos you can see the freedom of that as well as the isolation.

I was unexpectedly touched by O'Brien's recounting of experiences with these kids who at heart just seemed to be struggling with the same crisis of self that everyone hits in their teens. I admired their bravery in wholeheartedly taking on such a visibly extreme philosophy and challenging society to put them in a box and dismiss them at its peril. And I feared for the consequences of the extreme behaviour and refusal to acknowledge a future and the preparation that requires. Most of all I felt something like understanding and fondness for the group who I’ve never met and who I would certainly move away from if they started pissing on the floor of a train near me as was recounted in one of the stories at the Q&A. And in getting me to feel that fondness – something I didn’t want or expect - I think O’Brien proved himself an intuitive and exciting talent.

Toro Y Moi - Causes of This

Although this album is slightly past its release date (Jan 4 2010, Car Park Records), in terms of perfect relevance it's pretty much hitting its peak. Because you see this is a summer album, filled with the kind of tunes that take you off to hazy days and remind you what it feels like not to have sun-starved skin hidden under five layers of clothing. So as spring tears at the walls of winter, letting in light and life (finally..), it's time to put the needle to this record and remind yourself of what's in summer store.

This album is of the Washed Out school of thought, so similar in places that it could be its gorgeous cousin, although perhaps just a touch more from the hiphop side of the family, more influenced by relatives like uncle Flying Lotus and cousin J Dilla. 'Blessa' opens the show through a heat haze with its echoey vocals, simple beat, warm bass and warped strings, ending with that most comforting of sounds - a needle on a record. Swiftly following on is 'Minors,' dominated by a little descending synth sound set to a softened beat with big, uplifting synths and disorientating production encouraging you horizontal like the heat of the sun.

'Imprint After' starts out with an uplifting piano that sounds like it will break into some kind of Balearic House track with a trumpety synth giving it a truly summerful vibe. 'Lissoms' is an Eton mess of lovely uplifting pads of vocal ooos and aaaahs, slowed down with broken beats and a police siren chucked in there for good measure.

The excellently named 'Fax Shadow' is all chopped up vocal and broken sounds littered with reversed samples over a beat that sounds deliciously like the crack of a tennis ball. The track is lifted up by a little rising soft synth in the background then it fades away into a summer sunset sound. 'Thanks Vision' sees French electro synths and Ernest Greene beats, Sebastien Tellier and Washed Out's lovechild. It has a sliced off sound that makes the music move as if it has been side-chained and finishes with what is almost destruction of the track. 'Freak Love' is set to a hip hop beat and brings to mind Roots Manuva, another of my summer favourites.

'Low Shoulders' is like a Crazy P track, summertime vibes with uplifting chords, maybe vocally and lyrically a bit Frankmusik but kept from fromage by its beats. The title track 'Causes of This' reminds me of Janet Jackson, right down to the guitar sound and shakers but reproduced for 2010 by running the samples ragged and having the beat go electro.

If you haven't listened to this album recently go and play it and if you don't have it then go and buy it. If there was ever a collection of tracks most suited to getting you ready for summer 2010 this is it. Bring out the deckchairs and dust down your shorts, it's going to be another long hot, chilliwave summer.

Mardou & Dean

Mardou&Dean design clothes for the urban traveller. Ingrid Bredholt and Patrik Rosenfors, the pair behind the designs, started the label back in 2006 and have made their trademark a thin, sharp silhouette, edgy but easy, simple but crisp.

In 2007 they opened with a high fashion denim line with sweaters and t-shirts added to the collection in autumn 2008. Then in February 2009, the label's A/W 2009-10 collection introduced ‘Mardou&Dean Souterrain’ which ventures into the territory of tailored gowns, trousers, shirts, jackets and outerwear.

The clothes they produce are inspired by Beatnik culture and literature and made with high quality fabrics and are currently available in only a few outlets around the world. Making them even more covetable. www.mardouanddean.com

Record Store Day - 17th April

Record Store Day comes but once a year and you’d be a fool not to pencil this one in. Begun back in 2007 in the US, it’s now a global phenomenon, a day when all the independent record stores and artists join forces to celebrate the art of music. There's in-stores and events (e.g. see www.puregroove.co.uk and www.roughtrade.com) as well as special vinyl and CD releases and promo materials put together especially for the day.

In the UK RSD will give you access to a whole heap of limited edition treasures from favourites old and new including: a limited repress of Hot Chip 'Coming On Strong', Pet Shop Boys 'Love Life' dinked vinyl with retro sleeve, Jonsi 'Go Do' dinked vinyl with retro sleeve, Goldfrapp 'Head First' on CASSETTE (remember those?), Yeasayer O.N.E with limited edition print, remix and demos, Them Crooked Vultures "Mind Eraser, No Chaser/Hwy/Vulture Speak" with an interview with the band and 10" picture disc and a limited 500 copies of Pavement "Cut Your Hair." For a comprehensive list of participating indie stores and all the Record Store Day specials see here www.indierecordshop.org/?p=316

In the words of Billy Bob Thornton: “independent record stores are really the only places left with the actual spirit of music as I knew it growing up, and hopefully those will be around for 50 years from now because that's where it feels magical - you don't feel like you're buying a tire iron, tube of shampoo, a 12 pack, a bag of Cheetos and a record." Exactly.