If We Don’t Believe
March 28, 2008
Maybe it’s just me getting older but DJs seem a lot younger these days… Although they do say the earlier you start the better you’ll get, so maybe it’s good news? And as The Who always said; the kids are alright.
Cliches aside, French DJ and wonderkid Surkin is doing better than alright. Active since 2006 he has already remixed tracks for Klaxons, DJ Mehdi and Chromeo among others and is one of the busiest DJs on the Paris scene. Still only 21 years old, the baby-faced maestro looks like he’d struggle to get past the average bouncer let alone take up residence on the decks.
‘Next of Kin’ is a cool slice of House beginning with an ominous opening chord before bursting into an arms-in-the-air anthem as bright as a sky full of neon. Combining chopped-up lyrics, a wailing siren and 80s synth with 21st century beats, Surkin shows that retro can still sound fresh.
Ma Ma Ma Ma
March 16, 2008
Instrumental dance music often gets criticised for sounding repetitive yet last year’s breakout dance act The Field took repetition and ran with it, layering endless 4/4 rhythms to create hypnotic walls of sound.
The relatively unknown Coralcola adopts a similar style, basing Heath Ledger on the ’80s song Life in a Northern Town. The rhythm structure is almost therapeutic, leaving the listener both relaxed and energized - dazed and buzzed as if hit by a tranquilizer dart whilst drinking red bull.
The Quiet of the Nighttime
March 9, 2008
Death may not be the rosiest of titles for an indie pop song but new boys White Lies are steadily building a following with hits to their myspace page gathering pace, setting things up nicely for the April release of their debut single ‘Unfinished Business’. They’ll undoubtedly be popular with moping students plus 30-somethings hankering after sounds from their youth.
White Lies tap into that vein of epic emotive songwriting popular in the UK during the post-punk period before Britpop reared its head. This influence actually results in it sounding a bit dated (’Death’ could have been plucked straight from Joy Division or Echo and the Bunnymen’s stables) yet when it’s as well crafted as this, the lack of originality doesn’t do much harm at all. Bands that wear influences on their sleeve are always more interesting than those who hide them.
Whether White Lies build on their early promise remains to be seen but if they can move away from dirge-filled anthems they’ll start appealing to a lot more than the student crowd and hangers-on from the Hacienda days.
