Lancelot - KnighTime Mix Vol. 1

Lancelot releases a tape that will put you to sleep, or keep you up all night. "KnighTime Mix. Vol. 1" is a near perfect mix of after burners, those songs that linger in the back of the mind--even around 4 A.M, or perhaps most powerfully around 4 Am.M. This is a mix for insomniacs and sleep apneaics alike. If The Avalanches recently released "Sleepy Bedtime Mix" was a masterful groove of chill surf and wave sounds, Lancelot's "KnighTime" mix is its more sedate, drive-up-to-the-top-of-the-mountain-and-stare-longingly-down-at-city-lights kind of mix. A longing and relaxed mix for the urbane, when the sheer inundation of daily jittering sounds leaves you waking up from the noise of no horns beeping, and no one to bother you.
 

Tracklisting:

1. Perseus - Running Back To You
2. Poolside - Do You Believe?
3. Lancelot - We Can Dance
4. Chris Malinchak - No Secrets (featuring Damon C. Scott)
5. Ron Basejam - Looter
6. Cherokee - Take Care Of You
7. Moon Boots - Gopherit
8. Crystal Fighters - In The Summer (Picture House's 'Summer In The Balearics' Mix)
9. Gigamesh - Red Light (Goldroom Remix)
10. Midnight Savari - Pinisi
11. Doctor Dru and Adana Twins - Juicy Fruit (Calm Down Winter Bootleg)
12. Kylie Minogue - Slow (Frames and Felix Lloyd Edit)
13. Daft Punk - Something About Us (Cherokee Remix)

Lifelike - Mixtape June 2012

Lifelike releases his June mixtape. It's a tape for the month that, in the minds of most, kicks off summer on the 1st. And for the others, the rational ones who don't make Monday and Tuesday their weekend, the summer officially begins on the 21st. In any event, June means one thing: Summer has started. Lifelike includes plenty of cuts worthy of the month---plenty of cuts fit for a squelching 3pm barbecue and plenty of cuts for cool 8 P.M blood orange sunsets (This thursday is the longest day of the year, watch out). The mix tape includes cuts from Sebastian Tellier, Popular Computer, and Kiki Twins, to name but a few.

PLAYLIST:

1- PITCHBEN - Soda - (LORENZ RODE Remix) - Compost
2- PITCHBEN - Stand Up - (TIGER & WOODS Remix) - Compost
3- SCANDAL - Just Let Me Dance - (MAXXI SOUDSYSTEM Remix) - Nurvous Rec.
4- KRIS MENACE feat. KIKI TWINS - We Are -(PWNTIAC Remix) - Compuphonic
5- DIONIGI - Italo Girls 80 - (Original Mix) - Italian Connection
6- SEBASTIEN TELLIER - Cochon Ville - (THE MAGICIAN Remix) - Record Makers
7- CABARET VOLTAIRE - Easy Life - (Original 1990 mix) - Mute Rec.
8- MASON - The Kickoff - (Original mix) - Animal Language
9- BRAZEN - Wishing Heart - (FONZERELLI BIG HAIR Remix) - Mena Music
10- VAN SHE - Idea Of Happiness - (SEBASTIAN Remix) - Modular
11- Mr GONZO - Dance On You - (TAGTEAM TERROR Remix) - Folistar
12- MICKEY & MONARCHY - Love For Sale - (SAFARI Remix) - Smile Rec.
13- POPULAR COMPUTER - Popheart - (LIFELIKE Remix) - PopularComputer Music
14- BONAR BRADBERRY - Loose Grip - (Original mix) - UnderTheShade rec.
15- SEBASTIEN TELLIER - Cochon Ville - (Original mix) - Record Makers

Thieves Like Us - Maria Marie (Official Video)

Thieves Like Us release an official video for "Maria Marie".  The video looks like a compendium of 80's German Cinema side reels, and the plot follows a wayward teenager named Maria. The deliciously transformed cheap synths and lilting vocals give off the impression of chic desperation, and in the video, it seems that, though Maria may continue to be wayward, she'll somehow always find her footing. How do you solve a problem like Maria? You can't. Not even Maria can.

Lifelike & Popular Computer - Getting High (Alcala Remix)

Alcala twists up Lifelike & Popular Computer's prime cut, "Getting High". The drug-induced track leans more toward dark, spaced-out vibes than jokey ones. There's little room for contemplating the ceiling or marveling at your fingers here. It's all business in hitting the high, from the manic instrumentation to the garbled and ribbed vocals. Enjoy.

Party By Jake - Poolside/Slow Down

Party By Jake release the delightfully cracking "Poolside/Slow Down". The track is appropriately whirlpoolish, if you will. It's swirling in vortexes of wavy bass and glossed electronics. It's officially summer in three days. Slow down and take it in.

Peter & The Magician - Memory

Peter (Yuksek) and The Magician release "Memory".  The track has one of the loveliest and relaxing instrumental we've heard all summer. "Memory" is built around that same sample of tropic music (you'll know it when you hear it) that seems to run from video games to elevators. However, Yuksek and the Magician make it into something fresh, largely through the power of the bass and the grace of the light vocals on the hook. You know that tropic sample when you hear it, but hopefully you'll remember it as something else now.

Die Antwoord - I Fink You Freeky (CRNKN Remix)

CRNKN releases a remix of Die Antwoord "I Fink You Freeky". The remix rivals the original in its elastic weirdness. In CRNKN's mix, we get a bending electronic breakdown, whereas in the original we are just pushed to the edge, but never given the come down. The breakdown is as fleeting as the dance-hall breakneck hook, and neither give you a central footing. You're on your own in this one, and that's just where Die Antwoord want you.

Hot Chip - Don't Deny Your Heart

Hot Chip releases the exuberant "Don't Deny Your Heart". The track is from their just released record In Our Heads. "Don't Deny Your Heart" comes with a flashbulb-popping energy: supremely bright synths and spins. And, it has a grunting sound effect that would make Rick Ross and Biggie jealous. If you care to experience "Don't Deny Your Heart" (and really, you should experience it), Hot Chip is currently on tour. They'll be coming to the Prospect Park Bandshell on July 18th, so get ready.

Justice - New Lands (A-Trak Remix)

Two contemporary titans in the electronic scene meet. A-Trak remixes Justice's "New Lands", and the result is worthy of the undertaking. It's common to refer to a hot song as a 'banger', and rarely has the term  seemed so appropriate for a song as in "New Lands". The instrumental is bursting at all sides with deep drums and 8 layer caked synths, to name only  afew parts in the cacophony. Discretion not advised.

CFCF - Exercise #3 (Official Video)

CFCF releases an official video treatment for "Exercise 3". The video is shot in sharp, meditative black and white---it's a nice complement to the electronic austerity of the track that makes the video. Only a couple of things get a color infusion---buds, mainly. Rose buds, the buds of the gorgeous woman's eyeballs. This is a video made for noticing the little things, and the entire world in each and every one of them.

Van She - Jamaica

Van She release the second single from their upcoming album Idea of Happiness (July 6th). "Jamaica" is appropriately Caribbean catchy and inspired. We can imagine that this is the kind of song that awakens Bernie from his weekend. Blown out and blissed out, but still keeping a two step. You can pre-order the album here.

Age of Consent - Heartbreak (Wilbur. DUB remix)

Check out the first remix from Wilbur (formerly known as Greedy from electro group Static and Greedy). After the successes of Static and Greedy, Wilbur is setting out on his own. And his remix of Age of Consent's "Heartbreak" is quite a start. It's a sure-fire bet in the left of center lane of house/disco music. Be sure to check out Wilbur's mix tape on his Soundcloud page.

Holy Other Announces Tour and Debut LP

Expect to be seeing a lot of the Holy Other in the near future. A master at combining R&B, UK garage, and house Holy Other is coming off the success of his debut EP With U and is set to release his debut album, Held(8/28, Tri Angle records). With U was about the breakdown of a relationship, while Held is about the lulls and lifts in a relationship, the moments when one wishes to be held and the moments when one must hold. Check out Holy Other's "Love Some1" track below to get a sense of how firm the artists hold is.
Holy Other also announces a series of summer tour dates. The tour will take Holy Other all over Europe, and on September 1st the artist will be making a very special stop at New York's PS1. A little known group called Atoms For Peace will be playing, too.

Beach House - Lazuli (Official Music Video)

Beach House release an official music video for their single "Lazuli" off of their latest critically adored record, Bloom. To call Beach House's music 'impressionistic' is, like all critical groupings, a bit limited, but this particular classifying is not too far off. The visuals are equally as impressionistic: There look to be three story lines in the video for "Lazuli", but it's unlikely you'll be entirely driven to follow any of them. What goes right to your blood vessel is the rich color palette chosen for the video: Bold blues, hushed purples, and peeled reds: all unfolding and unraveling almost spontaneously.

Edwin van Cleef - Nala (Summer Best Pals Mix)

Edwin Van Cleef's "Nala" gets a different spin from Summer Best Pals.  The group speed up the tempo of the original to a degree designed to never induce lassitude. In other words, it's just right for summer. We've heard little from Summer Best Pals, but we've heard enough in "Nala" to get us excited.  If this is what we'll be hearing, we'll be looking closely for more. 

Kool A.D. (feat Himanshu) - Gwyneth Paltrow (Video)

Kool A.D. and Himanshu release a video for "Gwyneth Paltrow". The track takes up the instrumental to Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar's "The Recipe", and Kool A.D and Himanshu ride the sample to a far degree than Kendrick and Dre. Whereas Kendrick Lamar's record was mainly an excuse to introduce himself to a wider audience (the kind of people who may not like "Cartoons & Cereal", whoever those heartless people are), Kool A.D and Himanshu put the sample right to their chest. Put plainly: this is a track all about weed. It's the upbeat version of "I Feel Like Dying". It's unlikely this video can be watched without the presence of a certain herb. We can't begin to guess why the track is named Gwyneth Paltrow, but, somehow, that's the least off-kilter thing in here.

M83- Reunion (The Naked and Famous Remix)

M83 get the remix kick from The Naked and Famous. The Naked and Famous worked on this while touring in New Zealand. This remix might send the EQ through the ceiling. The remix is heavy on the strumming and the reverb---maybe making M83's "Reunion" the first power ballad that is actually good. Check out this reunion track for the first time below.

The WIG & Panooc - Car (men?)

The WIG & Panooc drop a brand new mix in "Car (men?)". It's no surprise that this track is meant to be performed (more on that later) because it is immensely visceral. The track begins with a steady hissing backbeat, and a quizzical, searching electronic effect. The track turns into something else near the 4:00 mark, adding layer upon layer of bursting bubbles--and even what sounds like a fire alarm. Even a timeless piece of classical music joins the fold at one point. The mix will appear in August for toUch Performance Art's AcousticElectronica.

Moonlight Matters - Come For Me (feat. Gustaph)

Moonlight Matters releases "Come for Me (feat. Gustaph)." The track is a furious, relentless burst of joy. Moonlight Matters takes up one of the most glam of vocal samples with the most crushing of drums. Moonlight Matters' debut Come for Me EP will be released on June 18th. Color us excited.

Exclusive Premiere: The New Division - Opium (2 Hearts and Chemicals Remix)

Scotch & Murder is proud to present an exclusive track: A 2 Hearts and Chemicals remix of Opium by The New Division. The track is an essential exploration of everything we love: Atmospheric and audacious, cerebral and cool.We love to give our listeners the best deals and cuts we can, and in this 2 Hearts and Chemicals record, you're really getting two excellent tracks for the price of one. The first section of the track begins with a bold, sparse circular effect, swirling around vocalist John Kunkel's bitterweet lament about what the best of music can do: "Come in handy for a bad day". The swirls build, and the hushness becomes fuller, swelling with confidence to look up from the gaze of the shoes. The second half of the song breaks into what can only be described as a filmic outpouring: Supremely pitched strings amid cool electrocism, sweetness that boils but never bubbles over. Listening to this moment is one of the things that remind you why you're so obsessed with this music in the first place, and we're happy to have the privilege to present it to you. Download: The New Division - Opium (2 Hearts and Chemicals Remix) only at SMM. 

The New Division - Opium (2 Hearts and Chemicals Remix)

Four Tet - 128 Harps

The incomparable Four Tet pitches us his latest, "128 Harps".  The track, like the best of Four Tet's work, is near impossible to categorize. It begins with a swelling bass effect that would rival the tops in electro/house. It then evolves into an almost Far East swell of, well, harps. Then, an inspired, almost b-boy vocal manipulation of 'yep yep yep yep yep yep' invades. "128 Harps" is many things, including this: thoroughly enjoyable throughout.

Taragana Pyjarama - Lo Ng (Original Helter Mix)

Taragana Pyjarama releases Lo Ng, a hammering (in the literal sense of the word) electro track. "Lo Ng" is a slow burner, built on what sounds like an alternating swinging door/knocking effect. It's brilliantly disquieting. To go full Skelter would be too obvious. This one likes to linger.

Stevie Wonder - Superstition (SIMØNE Remix)

SIMØNE remixes a stone cold classic: Stevie Wonder's "Superstition".  The result is as weird and joyful as that one time Stevie Wonder did a soundtrack for an aquarium. "Superstition" gets electrified, and electrofied. Previously it was the Motown Funk that put the suspicious creek in your spine. Now its the Moog Slink.

F.O.O.L - Vision (Bestrack Remix)

Bestrack remixes F.O.O.L's "Vision". If you have any doubt that this electro record is a hit, check out what one user wrote on the Souncloud page. I quote: "How do I buy this? Money is shivering in my pockets'. How often does one read something like that? Your money would be warm here, and your cerebellum is not too cold either. This post has been endorsed by dead presidents and electrifying precedents.

College feat. Electric Youth vs Phoenix - A Real Hero & Fences (Alcala Mash-Up)

Alcala releases one of those things that is such a good idea, so essential and enjoyable, that you wonder why you never thought of it before. Why not combine some of the best stuff from the Drive soundtrack (in this case, "Real Human Being") and combine it with the best of Phoenix (namely, "Fences") and see what you get? The result is especially great. Recently the director of "Drive" has spoken about possibly making a "Drive 2". It would focus on a villain driver. We'd like to submit this song with this idea: A mastermind, relentlessly solitary driver who can combine all cool soundtracks electronic with scary ease.

Juveniles - Through The Night (Yuksek remix)

Yuksek does a remix for the lovely French band, Juveniles. 'Lovely' was the word used by Yuksek in the SoundCloud page. Take one listen to the magnetically dark 80's mix and you'll see it's a different kind of loveliness. This is a loveliness of power and strength, not daisies and demure. The remix will be out on the 11th (digital) and the 18th (vinyl) and will also feature Breton and Pegase.

Lifelike and Popular Computer - Getting High (Remix)

Final DJ's humbly submit their set of remixes for the Lifelike and Popular Computer series. The track is classified as 'synth love', which is an understatement. The track is a sandwich of synths, plump funk ones stacked right on top of gleaming dance ones. The vocoder from the original remains, but the rest is all Final DJ's. And what an all the rest is.

Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape 2

Stellar instrumental mixtape dropped today by Clams Casino.  The mix features some his finest work including trakcs done for A$AP Rocky, Lana Del Rey, Washed Out, and The Weeknd. The mix also includes clammy clams' very own previously unreleased track Human.  You can download the full mix here. Check it. 

Clams Casino - Human

Ryan Riot - Loading Procedure (Original Mix)

Ryan Riot releases an original mix of "Loading Procedure". The artwork and its dense dimensions might not express it, but "Loading Procedure" is an immediately danceable synth-wave. Snap drums, delicately pitched vocals, dance excellence throughout. This is music for fun, of course, but its funny that it takes up a mechanical process that has reached its own digital counterpart: Waiting for something to load. This is the kind of music that can mind the gaps and fill the spaces, load and unload.

Aeroplane May 2012 Mix

Aeroplane unleashes his mix for the just passed month of May. The mix features artists like Tanner Ross, Baio, Rory Phillips, and more. If you're looking for a theme, the mix begins with Tanner Ross' "Straight to the Moon", and ends on the Ross Phillips' "Cosmic Fluff". You'll go everywhere from Mars to dark matter, Venus to Voltron in-between. Intergalactic Planetary.

Boys Noize - Donnastag

Boys Noize release the slick "Donnastag". The first half of the songs name (ad the first half of the song)  recall the glittering dance vibes of Donna Summer. The other half, more jagged and unkempt, reminds one of Big Boi's famous line about watching a "stallion with skates on" dance. Awkward, but too surreal not to be cool. Even stallions sans skates would dance to this record.

Brodka - Dancing Shoes (Kamp! Remix)

Brodka gets the remix treatment from Kamp in the glittering "Dancing Shoes".  The mix is on point. Or, more appropriately, en pointe. "Dancing Shoes' has a finely arched, wavy but never wavering synth to guide it through. It's Kamp doing camp, in the best way.

Shook - Love For You

Shook releases a slow funk-electronic burner. "Love For You" sounds like a curious mix of P-Funk and G-drive. This track is the comfy side of computer love. It's the loving from a boxy (but still cute) Windows PC, not a sleek and flightly Mac. You can pre-order Shook's set "Distorted Love/Love For You" on the artists bandcamp.

Maribel - Jezebel Jive (Keep Shelly in Athens Remix)

Keep Shelly in Athens remixes Maribel's "Jezebel Jive". The mix comes equipped with Keep Shelly in Athens usual impeccable atmospherics. This one includes perhaps the most elastic, bending synth you're likely to hear. And true to Keep Shelly in Athens' resistance to typecasting, the very next moments surge into an almost trip-hop track: crushed drums and boom bap. The legend of Jezebel held that right before her death she put on her finest look. That's this remix: Sinking and dark, but going down in style.

Capcom - Pulse EP

Capcom sets his ticker on the Pulse EP, a strong three song set of popping electronica. The EP is sprawling, despite its small stature. Opener "1981 (Forgive)" is one of the best records the Cocteau Twins never made. "Broken Shell" is an intricate faberge record with enough electronic meticulousness to justify its namesake. "Save Me" is perhaps the most immediately accessible, a perfectly contemporary power club track. Pulse EP comes strongly recommended.

Adventure Club Dubstep - Wait

Adventure Club Dubstep, a dubstep duo from Montreal, release "Wait". In case you were worried that these dubstep experts would be too coldly removed from thrashing indie rock, you'll be pleasantly surprised when you recognize the vocal sample. Adventure Club Dubstep bring the Yeah Yeah Yeah's early hit "Maps" to 2012, and under the ever growing umbrella of dubstep. The results are fun, and actually not that far removed from the sounds of YYY's last record. It's blitzful.

Work Nights - Boogie Lights

Work Drugs make a record for those who live their nights under seedy lights. Writes Work Drugs: "Boogie Lights" is dedicated to Anna LePierse, one of our oldest friends who left sailing college in the Keys to pursue her dreams of "making it" in Hollywood. After a few years she found her calling....out in the valley...and well the rest is history. We wish her all the best." The track is a decidedly low key and relaxing affair, nestling comfortably in its pop electronic roots. "Boogie Lights" is the latest single from Work Drugs' upcoming album Absolute Bearing, due for release on Bobby Cahn records in July. I'm a star, I'm a star, I'm a star.

Catching up with Jesse Ruins (Remixes)

Jesse Ruins has gone on a remixing rampage. Below are remixes of Linda Mirada's Secundario, Teen Daze's The Future, and Brothertiger's Lovers---and they're all killer. The "Secundario" remix finds Jesse Ruins minding the gap---it's a master study in tempo and timing, with the icy vocals cooling over at just the right occasion. "Lovers" is a forceable, synth heavy wicked-liquid track. And the remix of "The Future" is a clicking, seductively anticipatory record with warm bass and chilled overtones. All killer, no filler.

RAC - Hollywood (ft. Penguin Prison)

RAC and Penguin Prison climb the hills of Hollywood. The song is a power prop staple about that most unfortunate of happenings. Your friend has, as they say, 'gone Hollywood'. The condition is particularly lamentable because one has to be gorgeous just to survive. And that precarious balance, between a million dollar look and a two dollar budget, is the vibe that Hollywood gives. It's a sheening, bright track with a slightly sinister underbelly.

Plump DJ's vs. Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule the World

Plump DJ's release a tribute to a favorite band of theirs (and ours), Tears for Fears. The track is less a face off and more of a kiss-off: A lovingly arranged, unapologetically frenetic elegy to a most influential band.  Plump DJ's write that this track is meant to be played at the end of a set, from the very beginning to the very end. It's easy to get lost in a mix and hear the din of another song calling you to skip to it, but let this one play. We trust it won't be too difficult.

Dark Inc. Live at Sullivan Hall

Come out to Sullivan's Hall tomorrow night for a Scotch and Murder event. Dark Inc. will be bringing their mix of dub, classical, nu-jazz, and drum and bass. The duo split their time between New York City and Italy, and their output is the wonderful product of a perpetually stylish nomad. The group's aesthetic is a remarkable confluence of the sounds scabrous and slick---a perfect backdrop to a thirsty Thursday. The Dark Inc. event at Sullivan's Hall begins at 10:30 tomorrow. Tickets are a steal at $10.

Summer Camp - Always

Summer Camp release "Always", the title track off their forthcoming EP. The track is a cascading discotech record with a grnarly guitar in the middle. Summer Camp have thrown seemingly disparate influences against the wall, and they're sticking wonderfully in "Always". This is an unabashed summer record---remarkably anthemic and fit for nearly any occasion. If wedding receptions actually played good music, this would be on their playlist. We'll always have "Always", and we'll have more to savor on the EP's July 9th release.

Mumbai Science-128 Memories per Minute Video Series

Mumbai Science, the Belgian techno duo of Maarten Elen and Jonas Kiesekoms are involved in an exciting new project-a tour diary the likes of which we haven't seen before. In collaboration with aooa.tv, Mumbai Science are 'capturing instants of their tour life in somewhat epileptic fashion, on the rhythm of their own tracks'. Mumbai Science comment: "The series is some kind of tour diary, capturing the awesome and less awesome moments on the road. There are no rules to it. We just read in a psychological research paper that keeping a journal enhances your life and well being. We really understand ourselves better now".  If you post the 128 Memories per Minute Video on your Facebook, you've got a shot to win a limited edition Mumbai Science Unified Theory Trilogy Vinyl Picture Disc. Check out the trailer below, and remember to follow along. You have no clue what you'll find. And neither do Mumbai Science.

Simian Mobile Disco - Unpatterns

Simian Mobile Disco have released their latest album, Unpatterns. The album has the familiar Simian off kilter, energetic bent, but this time the bend is particularly sinister.

Unpatterns finds Simian Mobile Disco in a taut and paired down place:Listen to the narrow opening of 'A Species out of Control', which sounds like an army of trumpet playing red ants furiously marching along. Or the coldly elongated vocals on 'Your Love Ain't Fair', a breathless track backed by mock operatic strings lying beside a grimy backbeat.  Or the deceptively prickly synths on 'Interference', perhaps the most immediately danceable track on here- but still rumbling with a sense of all control slipping from tightly fisted hands.

The tracks on Unpatterns are longer than previous Simian Mobile Disco releases, and this album is notably absent on guest vocals. The album is noticeably unadorned in surface fireworks, and the joys here are in the careful textures that Simian Mobile Disco create: Raw, ranging, and accessible in the best way: Unpatterns comforts the disturbed, and disturbs the comforted.

Le Youth-Night Swimming Mix (Exclusive mix for La Nuit)

Le Youth releases a stunning Night Swimming Mix for LA disco/house party throwers, La Nuit.  The mix includes cuts from Falcon Punch, Only Children, Donna Summer, and more. Instructions for the mix: 1. To be played at level 9 2. To be played poolside 3. To be played in large speakers among friends. Absolutely no work or seriousness allowed. Swim good.

Work Drugs-Swimmer Girl

Work Drugs releases Swimmer Girl. The track sets a late afternoon meditating by the pool scene that would make Phoebe Cates jealous. It's a fine summer sedative. Check out Work Drugs's youtube channel for the Swimmer Girl video, including a NSFW version. We're looking forward to seeing Work Drugs on September 23rd at Glasslands Gallery.

Lifelike & Popular Computer - Getting High

Lifelike and Popular Computer gives us Getting High, a ripping Nu-Disco cut. The track is uncanny in its resemblance to the tops of the 80's. This kind of track is what the vocoder was made for. Turn up your personal computer and do The Clone dance; it'll be almost life-like. And buy Getting High from the Beatport link below.