Erik Burg
Girl Unit
It’s been a few years since the release of Girl Unit’s “Wut,” but the repercussions of that club-stomping single are still being felt in 2012. Girl Unit’s label Night Slugs has launched into massive stardom, making each release even more anticipated than the last. With the label’s popularity still on the rise, Girl Unit will release their newest EP this week. Club Rez EP might not have the genre-defining single like “Wut,” but the EP does an amazing job of remaining consistent and progressive both in terms of the label’s expectancy and Girl Unit’s past precedent. Listen to preview clips of each track below.
Read full review of Club Rez EP – Girl Unit on Boomkat.com ©
Still Going
Even though Still Going‘s latest effort “D117” has been available on wax for well over two months (and mostly sold out by now as well), the single just now received its long awaited digital conversion. Not much to celebrate here, but any chance I get to bring up a project from Liv Spencer or Eric Duncan is a momentous occasion. “D117” is, to my ears, perfect. The hollowed bellowing of Lizzy Yoder on vocals, the slow, funk-inspired build, the grand and amazing keyboards at the track’s peak, combined with the artist’s seemingly signature guitar rhythm makes for an incredible experience. Still Going have been at this sort of thing for years, and they never cease to amaze.
Simian Mobile Disco
With the release of Simian Mobile Disco’s fourth studio album imminent, more new material from the duo is being made available in anticipation. “Your Love Ain’t Fair” premiered on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio show this past week, and just as the videos for “Put Your Hand Together” and “Seraphim” got us excited, so did the sneak peek of this new track. Unpatterns is out May 14th on Wichita Recordings. The single for “Your Love Ain’t Fair” will follow in June but the other details surrounding the release are unknown.
10-20
There’s no denying the sudden popularity of cassettes the past few years, and 2012 appears to be no different. The plastic, unreliable, all-around awful medium for music is home to one of the most intriguing electronic releases of the year thanks to Broken 20‘s new project. Broken_60, the cassette-only label of Broken 20, just released 10-20’s Magnet Marsh, a brilliant mix of soundscapes and dusty beats that sound like they’ve been left to warp in 90 degree heats for too many summers. Magnet Marsh succeeds thanks to the collage of sounds and image-conjuring peacefulness found throughout the record, so even though it’s not on vinyl or Beatport charts, this release is absolutely worth owning. Broken 20 recently posted this inspired explanation for the cassette foray as well. Go get four AAs for your Walkman.
General Strike
Danger in Paradise is a record I was turned onto years ago, rather serendipitously, through people more well informed about the history of music than I. It’s a discovery I’ve come to cherish over the years, and even though it’s very limited in terms of electronic instruments, Danger in Paradise has become an tremendously influential record to modern producers, and for that alone it’s worth celebrating. Staubgold is reissuing the album, which you can order here.
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Jake Renn
Vee Hua 華婷婷
Navi Esparza