It had appeared the attention surrounding British synth pop duo La Roux was beginning to die down. Flame haired singer Elly Jackson and behind the scenes co-writer Ben Langmaid have been busy in the studio working on the follow up to their eponymous debut, but it appears one celebrity fan was keen to revisit their Mercury Prize nominated album. A new remix of ‘In For The Kill’ has surfaced, with Kanye West adding a typically boisterous rap, announcing his arrival with “I’m going in and I’m going hard”. It seems Kanye has been watching a few too many Twilight movies, as the tracks title inspires a vampire obsessed theme to his verse.
While it will be hard to top Dubstep pioneer Skream’s remix of ‘In For The Kill’, Yeezy has certainly given the track a further lease of life. There’s no word on a release for the remix, but fans will have another opportunity to hear Elly Jackson collaborate with the rapper on his forthcoming album track ‘All The Lights’ – which features a plethora of musical talent including Sir Elton John, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, John Legend and Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie. Look out for it when Wests’ ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ is released later this month.
Major Lazer, the Caribbean project of über producers Diplo and Switch, has teamed up with last year’s British synth pop revelation La Roux to create ‘Lazerproof’, a free mixtape available through Mad Decent website.
Celebrating the young Brit stars’ break into the US market with their UK Number 1 hit ‘Bulletproof’ – which is on its way to become one of the biggest hits of the summer season stateside – Major Lazer has reworked some of the tracks on La Roux’s debut album and thrown in some high profile collaborations from the likes of Gucci Mane, Gyptian and Drake, shaping up an interesting clash of two very different musical worlds.
Fan Death cropped up on our radar at the start of the year after their delectable Erol Alkan produced single, ‘Veronicas Veil’, started appearing in the CD wallets of some of Europe’s most discerning DJ’s. Since then, despite some promising live shows, we’ve heard very little from the band in the way of new music. Thankfully that’s all about to change with the releases of a new EP coming soon on Pharmacy Recordings.
The lead single from the EP is set to be ‘Reunited’, a stirring electro pop number which has equal shades of Italo pop, Pet Shop Boys style voiced synthesizers and Yazoo-esque vocals. It may be yet another repackaging of the 80’s synth pop that La Roux and co. have been peddling but when it’s done this well it’s far from unwelcome.
The video for ‘Reunited’ is also a bit special. Resembling something of a hallucinogenic drug trip through the British countryside, the video features a mind melting array of freaky characters – including an unconvincing Prince impersonator, a random long haired kilt wearer and a group of sexually ambiguous characters that look as though they’ve escaped from the most ill conceived fancy dress party imaginable.
You can check out the video above and download the track for free here.
As always around this time of the year, talk turns to who will be the likeliest contender for the 2009 Mercury Music Prize. After Elbow’s win last year capped off an amazing rise in the bands profile, talk of the fabled “Mercury Curse” has somewhat died down – Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand have all continued to release rapturously received albums after winning the prize in recent years.
This year sees the inclusion of several female artists who have all been subject to varying levels of hype in the past twelve months, from NME darlings La Roux and Florence and the Machine to blogosphere favourite Bat For Lashes. The list also sees the, somewhat surprising, inclusion of popular acts such as Glasvegas and Kasabian. The award is often criticised for ignoring populist tastes; a critique that simply cannot be aimed at this years shortlist.
As always there are cases for each candidate. Friendly Fires have shaken free their early Nu-Rave copyists tag and released a great collection of songs. The Horrors have made one of the most surprising albums of the year; surely the Shoegaze revival sounds of ‘Primary Colours’ deserves the accolade? Then again, the outsider can sometimes steal it. Will Sweet Billy Pilgrim surprise us all? The list is already causing debate around the Shazam music team. Who is your money on?
Bat For Lashes – ‘Two Suns’ Florence And The Machine – ‘Lungs’ Friendly Fires – ‘Friendly Fires’ Glasvegas – ‘Glasvegas’ The Horrors – ‘Primary Colours’ La Roux – ‘La Roux’ Led Bib – ‘Sensible Shoes’ The Invisible – ‘The Invisible’ Lisa Hannigan – ‘Sea Sew’ Kasabian – ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ Speech Debelle – ‘Speech Therapy’ Sweet Billy Pilgrim – ‘Twice Born Men’
We recently encountered electro-pop outfit Modernaire thanks to their ultra catchy single ‘Faites Vos Jeux’. The track evokes the twisted pop of Metronomy, if they were fronted by two sassy young ladies. The, currently unsigned, Manchester based four piece have slowly building their reputation trekking across the country supporting the likes of The Ting Tings, Friendly Fires and Who Made Who (click here to listen the bands remix of the aforementioned Belgian’s ‘Keep Me In My Plane’).
If you’re a fan of the recent rise of female electro bands like La Roux and Little Boots, then you should head to their Myspace and show them some love.
This week Pitbull tops the Shazam Pre-relesae Tag Chart with his huge reggaton/electro hybrid, ‘I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)’. The record takes its main hook from 90’s house classic ‘The Bomb’ by The Bucketheads – a record which in turn samples ‘Street Player,’ an obscure track from American AOR rockers Chicago. Already massive in the USA and across Europe, ‘I Know You Want Me’ is sure to be a summer anthem in the UK. New releases come this week from Jamie T, Cascada and red haired chanteuse, La Roux
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