Ramadanman arranges the thick gush of emotive strings and some jittery high-end electronics into a fragmented whole, making this sound like the work of a more accessible James Blake. As for the vocals, it just depends where you stand on cheesy r’n'b. But the slightly sickly lyricism is suitably choppped ‘n’ screwed by Ramadanman. Speaking of both Ramdanman and James Blake, it would be a crime to not hunt out Ramadanman’s remix of Jamie Woon’s ‘Night Air’, nor to give James Blake’s latest EP ‘Klavierweke’ a look in. (Thanks to Radarmaker for the freebie:)
Spark – Revolving (Ramadanman Refix) [pelski highly recommends] {192kb}
Headshotboyz are handing out this tasty re-edit of of Mount Kimbie’s ‘Serged’ (the flip to last year’s superb Sketch On Glass Ep). They smooth out all the crackling blips and beeps into something vaguely resembling a four-to-the-floor structure. Surprisingly enough this edit actually brings a little something to the track, and in my opinion betters FaltyDL’s previous effort:
Mount Kimbie – Serged (Headshotboyz Edit) [pelski highly recommends] {192}
Emvee fits xylophone-esque melodies between fervent flurries of shuffling, tiptoeing percussion with the odd burst of warped 303 sythns. The stop-and-start rhythm of the whole thing adds to the urgency and mood of the track: if a James Bond soundtrack was produced by Rustie and Roska it might sound something like this:
Emvee – Horror Movie [pelski highly recommends]
Our friends Dark Sky throw in some punchy 2-step, rolling beats and bubbly melodies draped over voxed vocals. Delooze are ones to watch too – they’re that strange paradox in the 21st century: an organic, dramatic and genuinely emotive electro band:
Jamie from The XX layers a deep, grumbling wall of creeping mid-range under a medley of synth squeeks and pattering beats:
Hackman goes a little more restrained than usual with some light but effective garage rhythms:
Seiji’s recent bassy boomer ‘Elevator’ has been absolutely essential. Dope Fix (via XLR8R) doesn’t have as much bass. But it’s great UK Funky at its most raw: consisting almost entirely of all-out hard-hitting drums, proudly devoid of melody or vocals:
A bit of cheese never did anyone any harm. And this one works with the same vocal sample that made Zomby’s ‘Float’ so delectable. Clattering, percussive, crunky goodness, to put a smile on your face:
