Klaxons- Love frequency

Hi,

Klaxons' long anticipated new album "love frequency" came out a few days ago. You can buy it on iTunes for £7.99 or listen on spotify or on soundcloud HERE. This is the 'present' album in their trilogy of past, present and future albums so it was always going to be very difficult to predict how this one was going to turn out, they haven't done an awful job but I'm still a little disappointed with some of the tracks.

Tracklist
1) A new reality
2) There is no other time
3) Show me a miracle
4) Out of the dark
5) Children of the sun
6) Invisible forces
7) Rhythm of life
8) Liquid light
9) The dreamers
10) Atom to atom
11) Love frequency

It's a house style, electro beat, dance album but not the experimental, scuzzy, old-school electronics that we're used to with Klaxons. "Children of the sun" has some nice indie-rock electronic melodies and typical klaxons space age soundscape with a lot of varied verses and interesting harmonies. Some of the tracks aren't even recognizable as klaxons anymore. "There is no other time" is 70s disco music, while it played I imagined cheesey top of the pops dancing with flared jeans and a mullet! I struggled to listen to this song to the end. "The dreamers" however is smooth and lovely with poetic lyrics that are pleasing to listen to and a beautiful intro that really contrasts with the pop club beats of some of the other tracks. Songs like "invisible forces" seem to have lost the klaxons-esque ambiguous meanings and interesting sounds and word structure. The keyboard in this song and others is a nice effect and is the closest to a real instrument that we get to on this album. I'm not a fan of exclusively computer generated music.

I am a little disappointed at the long anticipated release of "Love frequency", but maybe that's partly due to the fact that I had high expectations and have been waiting a long time. It definitely wasn't what I expected but it isn't bad for what it's trying to do. Some of the tracks have gone off the rails and are a bit too pop for my tastes but they haven't done such a bad job at a dance record in its own right. I'm not sure how big klaxons fans will take this album though.  6/10 

iTunes Single of the week #10

Hi,

This week iTune's free single of the week was "Gone (feat. Mahut Mondino)" by Supreme Cuts.

Supreme Cuts are a pair of electronic, dubstep artists from Chicago. They have on album "Divine Ecstasy" and one EP "Trouble" on iTunes. Mahut Mondino is a singer/songwriter from Paris. She has two singles out on iTunes, not including this one.

Review:
This track is electronic-pop but has indie hints to it. The intro is so beautiful, a piano playing gorgeous moving chords over a simple twinkly melody is just unbelievably wonderful. I kept rewinding the song and listening to it again and again. Listening to it you think you're in for a gentle, beautiful piano ballad, but soon the singer and electro beats bursts through which I find ruins the moment. The piano is kept all the way through but overshadowed by electro-pop beats, which is a shame. The rest of the song is much the same, the singer is talented and the vocals are great but is high pitched all the way through and can get irritating. Her first note escapes through the soft piano with airy, light softness but we also hear the strength of her voice. Mahut Mondino is one to watch I think but this whole track is too electro-pop club beat-y for me!

Overall, purely for the piano and the vocals, I will give it 6/10.

ACADEMIC_

Hi,

So today's post will be about an artist called "Academic". I'll be telling you about my favourite two songs of his: Bye Bye- HERE and Prelude to a dream- HERE

Background info:
His name is Tyler Matthews and he is a 28 year old electronic artist from Columbia, SC: home of Hootie and the Blowfish, Toro y Moi, & Washed Out. He left the finance world to focus on his music. He makes music for tv & movie soundtracks as well as commercials. He's planning to begin a regional tour in the Spring of 2014.

Review:
Bye Bye has nice strong intro beats, it's clean and sharp which is nice to hear. This is electronic, but not too poppy and in that respect  breath of fresh air. There are some really interesting changes throughout this track which give your ears something to hold onto. Some nice beats and added electro "twinkles" are a nice touch. Personally,  find this 4 minute track a bit boring for the whole thing, but that is my techno-resenting opinion. It is worth a listen.

Prelude to a dream has an interesting start. The short tapping beats are a nice addition and the far out noises are lovely. The added moving pitches give a nice effect, overall I like this one better.

So I hope you can all find time in your busy schedules to listen to "Academic Beats", it's worth it! HERE is his sound-cloud link so you can listen to more. There are a couple of free downloads on there if you want! Follow him on twitter @academicbeats. Thanks for reading!

iTunes Single of the week Review #6

Hi,

So the iTunes single this week is "Holding onto heaven" by Foxes.

Foxes is a 24 year old pop and electronic singer from Southampton. She has one EP out called Warrior that came out in May 2012.

Review:
The intro starts with electronic twinkly notes, then she starts singing and we hear breathy, gentle, girly vocals that sound slightly croaky and distressed. Her voice is poppy but she is quite talented. When the first chorus is played it starts to get a bit charty, sounding like the generic mainstream artists. She does sing with surprising emotion and you can't deny that she has talent even if that sort of singing isn't your cup of tea. I love the last part where she sings with just piano chords and strings, I don't think her voice needs to be weighed down with all the poppy texture that it was before. The last bit sounds lighter and more free. The track ends with the same twinkly notes it started with, which I like.

Overall, I think there are some really great elements to this song, so I'll give it 6/10.

Top 3 Songs of the week #6

Hi,

This week I've been loving....
Starring Role by Marina and the diamonds
Two Devils by Dog is Dead
Lies by Chvrches

Starring Role is a gentle kind of electro-pop song. I don't normally like this kind of song but I love Marina's voice. There are wind chime sounds every now and again which give the song a kind of spooky, house abandoned with untouched food left at the table feel, which is a nice change from the usual fast poppy beats the rest of the way through. This poppy track suddenly changes to a gentle heart felt ending with this wind chime and alternating keyboard notes which go up and down pitches. This also happens at the beginning. Marina is really talented, this is a great song.

Two Devils is by Dog is Dead... yes I know I've been posting all over about these guys but they really are worth it!! This track starts with a spacey note that sounds like something falling from the sky. Then the moving guitar chords and Robert Milton's vocals start straight away and you know you're in for a good song! The lyrics are amazing here and really mean something to everyone, they have a powerful message different to everyone. I love when it starts to get more gentle and we are left with only guitar and occasional piano chords and the rest of the bands soft "ooooooh"s and Robert Milton's vocals start to get more tired and strained sounding like he's just been crying. There is so much emotion in his voice I just want to cry! Then they end with loud and powerful last two chords, I love this song!

Lies is another electronic song with an indie sounding vocalist. The singer is just so gorgeous, her voice is youthful and makes you want to give her a big hug! I love the lyrics and the story in this song. I love the froggy (can't think of another word to describe it) notes in the verses. I actually really like the addition of the electronic beats in this song, it really does add something good. I don't normally mention the video but the cinematography is worth a look, it's great! I really like the accent of the singer, she is amazingly talented. These guys are worth a listen (and a watch!).