Author Archives: James Falk

[Indie-Pop] Sir Sly – You Haunt Me

Posted by James Falk - July 30, 2014

Sir Sly
You Haunt Me

Howdy Ninjas! Now then, Sir Sly may have crept their way onto your musical radar earlier this year with their excellent cover of ‘Marvin’s Room’ by Drake. Or maybe you straight up had no idea about this cover but the name Sir Sly rings a bell somewhere in the back of your mind; well that may well be due to their earlier release ‘Gold’ featuring on the trailer for Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag – a move which catapulted the Los Angeles based indie poppers into the global spotlight.

Well now it appears they intend to stay in this new found spotlight and the release of their debut album ‘You Haunt Me’ will do just that i’m sure – at least if this title track we’ve been offered up is anything to go by.

This song is unusual as it manages to sound lovely and nice – making you feel all warm and fuzzy. But then at the same time the dreamy, melancholic lyrics set off a pang of sadness somewhere inside. The pain of loss is a theme running throughout, something i’m sure everyone one of us can relate to. This mix of emotions is certainly a weird experience but if anything it helps drive home the sheer beauty of this song.

Sir Sly are hitting the road next month for a tour of North America to coincide with the release of their album on September 29th. I would definitely be getting down to one of their shows if it didn’t involve being on a plane for roughly 10 hours and costing me hundreds of pounds I don’t have to get over from the UK, so I’m going to have to let you ninjas go there for me ok?

We’re really expecting great things from this band, make sure to check back towards to end of September when we can bring you the sounds of their whole album.

Alternative/Rock

[House] Oliver Heldens – Koala

Posted by James Falk - July 9, 2014

Oliver Heldens
Koala

Soundcloud

I’m not going to lie, the main reason I jumped at the chance to review this track is because i’ve been away for 6 months in Australia and this song is called ‘Koala’ – it seemed fitting.
Call it fate or call it coincidence that this just happened to come along as I made my return to rainy ol’ England, but either way this tune is so good it seems as though the stars aligned just for me.

Holland’s own Oliver Heldens is no stranger to the EDM scene, his tune ‘Gecko’ dropped last year and drew a huge amount of attention – reaching #2 in the Beatport chart. Some of this attention came from fellow countryman Tiësto, who snapped him up and signed him onto his label at the tender age of 19. Since then ‘Gecko’ has had a reboot and was re-released last month with the vocal services of Becky Hill. A track which is already being proclaimed ‘Hottest Record In The World’ by the BBC’s Zane Lowe.

This time round Heldens has brought us ‘Koala’, another animal themed banger which oozes that melodic, yet plenty heavy, Euro-House style. Starting off somewhat deceivingly sounding almost disco-inspired, this tune ends up going in harder than ‘Gecko’, straying more into the realms of Electro House. This is to be expected from Heldens, his sound is all things House and seems to wander off wherever it wants, into Electro, Deep, Progressive – wherever the Dutchman wants to take it. Thankfully, Heldens accomplishes this effortlessly and the result is really quite something.

It’s early days for this young producer, but he’s already making some serious waves. I for one am very excited to see where he ends up. One things for sure – he’s going places. Give ‘Koala’ just a few minutes of your time and i’m sure you’ll be as hooked as I am.

G’Day!

House

[Alternative] Cosmo Sheldrake – Solar

Posted by James Falk - April 7, 2014

Cosmo Sheldrake
Solar

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Cosmo Sheldrake is a 24 year old producer from London. And a bloody good one at that. Solar is the B-Side to Cosmo’s debut single ‘The Moss’ and it’s about as bizarre as it is incredible – and believe you me, this song is off the incredible scale.

For me a lot of the reason I love this track so much is the weird and wonderful methods used to produce the otherworldly sounds you’re hearing. Sheldrake actually used the Sun as an instrument here. Thats right – the Sun.

In a technique known as ‘Stellar Seismology’, Cosmo used recordings of the Sun, manipulating the sounds to create something that is truly unique. I can safely say I’ve never heard any song before that was composed using the sounds of celestial bodies. It even seems bizarre that we’re talking about the Sun having a sound. But nope – there are producers out there so talented they can use something as seemingly ridiculous as space noise as an instrument. Go figure.

Compared to the Sun the other aspects of this song seem outright mundane. Which is silly considering that Solar also features field recordings of Ecuadorian flutes and the singing of the Aka Pygmy Tribes of Central America.

But that’s not all, to top it all off Cosmo recites a verse from ‘I Woke Up At The Dawn Of Day’ (a William Blake poem) in a bleak and ghostly tone that makes the hairs on the back of neck stand up. I love this song because when you take its individual components, there just seems to be no way it should come together at all. But it does, and it’s fantastic. Enjoy.

Alternative/Rock

[Dubstep] Patrick Reza – Chasing Fire (Ft Natasha Mira)

Posted by James Falk - March 26, 2014

PatrickReza
Chasing Fire (Feat. Natasha Mira) (Free Download)

Download

Hailing from Los Angeles, California; Patrick Reza is a relative newcomer to the EDM business – first breaking onto the scene in 2011. But since then we’ve seen a number of collaborations come our way from the LA Dubstepper – the most recent of which being this little stonker with Natasha Mira.

Now i’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m the worlds biggest dubstep fan – a certain silly haired DJ in glasses managed to spoil that whole scene for me pretty quickly. But every now and again I come across an exception which makes me stop and spin on a dime. Songs that swap the horrid buzzsaw drops that dubstep seems to have to become for huge dramatic soundscapes and perfectly produced audio beauty. Patrick’s track can safely be classed as one of those exceptions.

The dreamy vocals of Mira twinned with the excellently produced driving beats of Reza create something reminiscent of that big room – Seven Lions esque – dubstep style. But theres something else there that transforms it into something new and completely it’s own. Something there that I can’t quite put my finger on that grabs this track and sends it flying into its own dimension.

Dubstep

[Drum and Bass] Taiwan Mc ft. Biga Ranx – Mojo Rydim (Jamie Bostron Remix)

Posted by James Falk - March 3, 2014

Taiwan Mc ft. Biga Ranx
Mojo Rydim (Jamie Bostron Remix)

Soundcloud

Okay, so we all know that every now and again an artist will decide to do a remix competition; release their track then let DJs all over the world muck about with it. Now a lot of these remixes can suck with these kinda comps, but every now and again you get an absolute gem. This is the case with this track.

Jamie Bostron (J Bostron for short) is an up and comer from Glasgow, Scotland. Because of that there isn’t a huge amount we can tell you about the guy. This isn’t the kind of song to suit if you’re having a lazy Sunday but if you feel like taking a break from doing sweet F A then have a listen to this. J Bostron has taken Taiwan MC & Biga Ranx’ new track “Mojo Rydim” and made it his own. Expect elements of that ragga sound, some real nice dubwise beats and a drop that will make you wanna get up and stomp around.