JAYMO & ANDY GEORGE have never floated my boat as radio djs but when they get in the studio they can certainly bust out a tune. New track ‘Remember’ is their best production to date, or at least that’s the message my ears are sending to my typing fingers right now. This latest slab of Jandy G (see what I did there?) goodness is a top notch (did I just say ‘top notch’?) piece of four to the floor House music, me like, a lot.

No surprise that a homo sapien as predisposed to funk as I is loving the new DAFT PUNK track, what with DP, PHARREL & NILE RODGERS representing something of a wet dream to me (possible shouldn’t mention wet dream in the same sentence as DP). ‘Get Lucky’ is a track that pushes no boundaries yet totally delivers in a timeless could be as home in ‘77 as ‘13 kinda a way. It also has a knack of sounding just like you’d hope a DP, PH & NR track would sound, and as for that lyric, ‘we stay up all night to get lucky’ that could will be the line of summer 2013.

Let’s chat about a band, albeit one who ooze the potential to make you dance almost as much as the dancefloor booty above. WONDER VILLAINS are a new bunch of glamorous criminals to me, hailing from the northern part of the Emerald Isle their track ‘Blonde’ has caught my attention with its very ‘Something-I-Can’t-Quite-Put-My-Finger-On-Vibes’. It’s a great Indie-Pop track, that simple really, let’s not over analyse at this late hour.

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JAYMO & ANDY GEORGE: https://soundcloud.com/jaymoandandygeorge
DAFT PUNK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxp0PFoIdmU
BLONDE: http://outpostmusicpr.amazingtunes.com/tunes/178567

NIGHT WORKS + ERAL ALKAN EQUALS NIICCCEEEE. Possibly a slightly clumsy analysis but I normally associate Eral with peaktime sonic goodness, often of a very loud in your face variety. His reworking of ‘Long Forgotten Boy’ shows how inaccurate that mental assumption is, this is an absolutely blissful, give me a hug I love you man piece of House Music. Emotional.

On a not too dissimilar tip CHRIS MALINCHAK’s ‘So Good To Me’ pushes the emotional buttons even more intensely, this is the sort of track if played at the right moment that can actually see the phenomena of sound waves push you to tears. Isn’t it amazing that music can do that? This is a track that could definitely do that, do not listen to when needing to appear manly.

Might as well keep the theme going ey? SWTICH has done an exceptional job sculpting LONDON GRAMMAR’s ‘Metal & Dust’ into an absolutely gorgeous piece of blissed out four to the floor House Music. If House isn’t your thing I probably lost ya two paragraphs ago, as you’re still with me you’re probably one of those human beings who will find this yet another piece of sonic beauty that could move ya to to tears, in fact I’m now welling up myself just like everytime Jenny leaves in Forest Gump.

Love you man.

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NIGHTWORKS: https://soundcloud.com/erolalkan/night-works-long-forgotten-boy-erol-alkan-rework
CHRIS MALINCHAK: https://soundcloud.com/chrismalinchak/so-good-to-me
SWITCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJxUhURowcw

You know I like GORGON CITY, like really like, and it looks we could have a Disclosure situation on our hands. By which I mean crossing over from the underground not a pair of teenage brothers having their absolute time of their life as girls no doubt throw themselves left, right and centre. In a year when the Dis-teens can go Top 10 I see no reason why ‘Real’ shouldn’t, YASMIN is on vocal duties.

The search feature denies it but I’m sure you and I have spoken about LULU JAMES before, we have haven’t we? Yeah I thought so. Well let’s carry on that chat, man her new track ‘Closer’ is one sassy piece of Dubby House Funk (yeah you know that well known genre Dubby House Funk) complemented perfectly by a chic black’n’white vid. She might be a bit too chic for the mainstream, although with the afore mentioned Dis-teens plus fellow b’n’w video lovers Aluna George all breaking through this might actually be precisely the right moment for Lulu to become absolutely mahoosive.

RETRO STEFSON is a new name to me, one I’m keen to get more familiar with. ‘Glow’ is a piece of New Music that ticks a lot of MD boxes… Groove? Check. Soul? Check? Random Scandavian video? Check. Looking forward to hearing more from these guys.

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GORGON CITY: https://soundcloud.com/gorgon-city
LULU JAMES: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVtuluGSG7Y
RETRO STEFSON: https://soundcloud.com/retrostefson/retr

This would be the moment at which I grovel about my recent blogging lameness and then look back over the last two months. Ranting on about how FOALS have done it again or how I can’t believe Bowie has still got it, but we never look back on Brand Nu so I will not mention that I am loving the return of the YEAH YEAH YEAHS as well as everything DUKE DEMONT touches at the moment. Instead we’ll jump straight to the present with an eye as ever on the future, oh and we definitely won’t mention JAMES BLAKE either.

A lot to love for ‘Auroa’ by SUNLESS 97. It’s just so damn smooth, and sexy and other adjectives that normally make my skin crawl when used to describe music, but they are accurate in this context, in a good way. This track is so relaxed, so effortless, so nonchalant, like The XX if they sounded happy. It’s the cool girl at college going out with the 27 year old who every now and again throws you a smile that makes you wonder, ‘maybe just maybe’. Absolutely love this, a track to chill to, to party to and to recover to.

April last year I decribed  INDIANA as, ‘A unique, emotive, raw talent that I think can go all the way’. Check her new track and vid ‘Bound‘ below, think I’m sticking with my original description, stardom beckons no doubt.

I like Woodkid, we’ve discussed this before, and when he gets SEBASTIAN on the remix I like him even more. Seb’s reworking (Yeah Seb man, my buddy Seb) of ‘Run Boy Run’ is the dog’s gangly bits.

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SUNLESS 97: http://vimeo.com/59588096

INDIANA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQvvTjZIYBo

WOODKID: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYxNeYNZ9DM

BONDAX have got singer de jour KILO KISH on their latest production ‘It’s You’, it works. Here laid back vocal style perfectly complimenting their relaxed almost syncopated beats.

On a different and yet simultaneously slightly similar vibe have you checked out SUSANNA SUNDFOR before? A friend of mine tipped me off to ‘White Foxes’ which has a similar confident, erry, ‘removed’ aura to BONDAX whilst being a very different piece of New Music. This is a distinctive track, I guess a contemporary Scandinavian Kate Bush wouldn’t be a million miles away as pointer.

And now time for something completely different. It is the festive period after all so lets sign off with something less likely to make you want to kill yourself. ALEX MILLS has pop star written all over her vocal chords, ‘Reverse and Rewind’ would have been a big hit five years go. Right now it possibly doesn’t have enough of a Getta-Electro vibe to it (thank G), which to my ears is a good thing.

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BONDAX: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq1Ao5dRj7Y
SUSANNE SUNDFOR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCIaj-oLi28
ALEX MILLS: https://soundcloud.com/ego-management/alex-mills-reverse-rewind

The GORGON CITY REMIX of Clean Bandit’s ‘Nightingale’ is right up my electronic avenue. Sounding totally 2012 but also with more than a hint of Sarf Landan ‘98 it’s got the groove, it’s got the swagger and it’s got the aloofness of that hottie who keeps ignoring you.

I saw TOM ODELL live last week, he delivered a  performance that’s near impossible to describe without reverting to phrases you’ll have heard so many times their meaning is devalued, the linguistic equivalent of mass money printing. So at risk of being labelled a music reviewing Mugabe his voice is epic, his performance as spine tingling as you’d imagine from the record and he is no way an ‘Another Love’ one hit wonder. I must add also as a lover of strong woman I’d love to meet the girl in his video, wow to the zer.

KAPPA GAMMA are destined for big things (oops another cliché). For me a big sign of a band on the up is when at every gig you hear a new track that’s as good as anything they’ve written before, and that is very much the case with KG. Just back from their first tour (which I suspect will have tightened up the performance of the afore mentioned collection of ever improving tracks) if forced to pick a fav I’d say ‘Just Another’, obviously this will change when I next see them.

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HEAR/ BUY THE TRACK:

TOM ODELL – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwpMEbgC7DA

CLEAN BANDIT – http://soundcloud.com/i-d-online-1/clean-bandit-nightingale

KAPPA GAMMA – http://soundcloud.com/kappa-gamma

‘We Will Wake’ by SEASFIRE is one of those rousing anthemic tunes which currently makes me feel great everytime I hear it, but with the potential to ‘turn’ (by which I mean I could end up hating it in six months time). For now the love is strong leaving me feeling warm and fuzzy inside everytime I hear this track, oo-er.

She had me at the first note of the track, then that ridiculously moody bassline kicks in and I feel love blossom in my heart, then arrives the vocal and I’m ready to propose. NADINE SHAH’s ‘Aching Bones’ is almost militaristic in its aural precision, a seductive weapon of mass destruction. Minimal, moody and sexual, this is one fucking hot piece of New Music*.

PEACE have grown on me since first seeing them live in May, I confess my ears may have been corrupted from giving them a fair hearing by all the hype not to mention the scenster outfits. New track ‘Wraith’ is as good as previous single ‘Bloodshake’, in itself a good sign. They seem to have the music industry machine behind them, that and the fact they’re writing decent songs should see them make it, and stick around for a while too.

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SEAESFIRE: http://soundcloud.com/seasfire/we-will-wake-seasfire
NADINE SHAH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkg-BZI-WRA
PEACE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8W33shTHdI

*  That’s actually been floating around a while I understand from those more informed than I.

I’m such a bell-end at times, how do I (feel free to interject and disagree with the bell-end assertion by the way) keep forgetting to mention one of my favourite tracks of the last couple of months? Only just hitting 50k views on youtube I’m gobsmacked that ‘The Giver’ by DUKE DUMONT hasn’t smashed into more mainstream conscious yet. Such a big, big piece of club, love it.

On a somewhat different vibe I’ve always had a soft spot for KATE NASH, both in her mainstream days and her current ones.
Kate’s latest song ‘Fri-end?’ is another Riot Grrl Pop Nash-up (see what I did there? I know, I know) of the finest (and angriest) quality.

‘Shelter Song’ by TEMPLES ozes Sixties vibes, this is a very old skool piece of brand New Music. Dangerous territory to some but just like bands such as Tame Impala they absolutely nail it creating a sound that is authentic and free of cliche, seeking inspiration from the past rather than simply mimicking it.

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DUKE DEMONT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoyDZD7e6Us

KATE NASH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUW2pugyIAw

TEMPLES: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs4i41cOv0s

Female fronted French bands could be my new favourite thing, following Hyphen Hyphen a few weeks back I’m getting hyped about LCMDF (Le Corps Mince de Francoise), the only problem with the theory is that LCMDF are actually Finish. Female fronted European bands could be my new fav…

‘I Go Insane’ is part of LCMDF’s new ‘Mental Health’ EP (see what they did there?) so the extent to which I love the track, not to mention how euphoric it makes me feel, is possibly slightly inappropriate baring in mind the implied inspiration. Hey why complicate things? I’m sure the lyrics are deep and meaningful, for me I’m just caught up in a great catchy Indie-Pop track.

Pretty awesome that the totally awesome disc jockey JULIO BASHMORE looks like he’s going to have a cross over hit, although what does that mean these days? That he’s going to get mainstream radio play? Big wow when you’re track has had nearly a million views on you tube! As clichéd as it sounds ‘Au Seve’ has been doing it in the clubs all summer. Could it become the least likely Xmas Party anthem ever? Doubt it, but here’s hoping.

‘Benediction’ is a track by the combo of HOT CREATIONS and ALI LOVE, another record with club heritage looking likely to join the likes of Mr Julio and peeps like Disclosure in bringing good music back into the mainstream and onto daytime radio. If it’s not your thing then so be it but for me this song is so on the money, making me feet tap, me bum wiggle and my mind drift to a sunny beach rave, probably on Ibiza. Love this.

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LCMDF: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx85qLrlMVE

JULIO BASHMORE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnigNbYVQJE

HOT NATURED & ALI LOVE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXx1CLAJ-OA

Could good pop music be on the way back? I hear the green shoots of recovery with authentic singer songwriters like JAKE BUGG invading the Top 10, friends turning off the radio when the latest piece of bastardised Electro Pop comes on not to mention the return of individuals who like and sound like pop stars, remember that RONIKA artist we discussed a while back?

BIGKids are making great pop music. Fun, accessible and as clichéd as it sounds funkIE. Everything I have heard by them puts a smile on my face, even the tracks that verge on guilty pleasure territory. Stand out track so far for me is ’Heart Sing’.

On a somewhat different vibe is the hypnotic funk groove of the DAPHNI Remix of Cos Ber Zam’s ‘Ne Noya’. I love House Music like this, so perfect it can work in the warm-up, as a reflective moment in the peak of a set or even in the chill-out after, one mother flippin dextrous piece of four to the floor.

Back on the renaissance of pop vibe JACOB BANKS sounds like a man with cross-over potential, with more than a hint of Liam Bailey about his vocal his track ‘Kids On The Corner’ hits the pop music sweet spot. It’s a really ‘nice’ track, not in patronising ‘love you like a brother’ way that you might get from a girl, but in a 100% good human being kinda way.

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HEAR/ BUY THE TRACK:

BIGKids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLt3k6IXfR8
DAPHNI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpFLKu43Ax0
JACOB BANKS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7PgEO1Ok9w