I’ve posted about the wonderful Manchester trio Performance pretty steadily the last few months.  I believe this lot are onto something and I firmly stand behind them in their quest to restore intelligently crafted pop to the top of the pops. This is exactly why I deem it necessary to post a banging reinterpretation of the new single Unconsoled reworked by house maestro Tom Staar who has previously done work for the likes of Basement Jaxx and Fenech-Soler, to name a couple. Turn out the lights, close your eyes and bounce to this.

Performance – Unconsoled – Tom Staar remix by WorkItMedia

I’d been meaning to post about NYC’s Holy Ghost! for some time now but for some reason never got around to it. Allow me to correct that error now since this band is so good and deservedly is making waves outside of the metropolitan area. Their recent remix of Monarchy’s Love Get Out Of My Way was mega and their upcoming tour with Chromeo should definitely turn the party out. A band with a rhythm section this tight should not be kept under wraps, it would simply be criminal. Taken from their just released EP Static On The Wire, this banger called I Know I Hear should be played and replayed often in your playback device of choice right about now. I can’t say enough about the bass-line. Never mind about the rest of the song, it’s the Chic-like bassline that does the deed for me. Bernard Edwards would surely be proud, I would think!

Do the deed and cop the EP here then make sure you see the band live Thursday night at the Bowery Ballroom.

Holy Ghost! on MySpace
Holy Ghost! on Facebook
Holy Ghost! on Twitter

“I Know, I Hear” by Holy Ghost!, taken from the DFA release, “Static On The Wire”

SkiBeatz: Cream of the Planet ft. Mos Def from Creative Control on Vimeo.

Just another Ski Beatz track is straight fire. From the forthcoming 24 Hour Karate School, it’s Cream Of The Planet featuring the mighty Mos Def. What more needs to be said but this is the type of beat that fits Mos like a glove. A simple beat, some jazz samples and let Mos get to work and work is exactly what he does here. This sounds better than anything he did on The Ecstatic and it bodes well for 24 Hour Karate School. Needless to say, that record is a must-own for any die-hard hip hop fan. Recommended.

“Cream Of The Planet” by Ski Beatz featuring Mos Def

It’s been tough being a Lauryn Hill in the last decade or so since The Miseducation… came out and completely rewrote the script and became the template for neo-soul. Universally applauded and sold by the boatloads, Lauryn Hill cemented her place as an artist on the rise, destined for greatness but then something happened. She fell off the face of the earth. If you believe the rumours that piled up, becoming a virtual maelstrom of misinformation and half-truths, the girl went crazy. Hey, maybe she simply felt the pressure was too much to bear and simply decided to take a powder, take a step back, focus on becoming a mother and wife while living happily ever after. It’ s certainly not out of the realm of possibility but that doesn’t necessarily make great copy, I know. Time marched on and slowly but surely new artists took the abandoned baton laying limp on the ground and ran as far as they could with it but the zeitgeist had passed. None could capture the imagination and ears of people across what seemed like every demographic and target market, music elitist or casual listener quite like Lauryn did. I know someone very well is going to comment and refute my statement by mentioning Alicia Keys. Please don’t. She’s simply not Lauryn.

The welcome but ultimately unsatisfying MTV Unplugged 2.0 released in 2002 aside, it’s been a long wait for those of us who still had faith in her talent and hoped that the creative fire would bring her back to the world again. Sure there was the ill-fated Fugees reunion that never happened (and probably just as well), the sporadic live appearances, the random public outbursts but what we wanted was some new Lauryn Hill tunes. It looks like we may just be getting our wish.

Presenting Repercussions, a new Hill track that’s making its way to the nets like wildfire. A simple boom-bap and immediately we’re brought back to Lauryn’s dulcet tones and it’s like she never left us. Smooth and hypnotic, you’ll be swaying your head, snapping your fingers with your hands held high in the air within seconds. Some may call this track “safe” and doesn’t show any real evolution in Lauryn’s sound. Allow me to be one of those who will gladly state for the record that there is plenty of time for her to branch off later but for right now, I’m vibin’. Lauryn Hill’s back and the music world is truly all the better for it.

“Repercussions” by Lauryn Hill

Amazing what a major label can do for your video! Hurts is releasing that old chestnut Wonderful Life as the official second single to be taken from Happiness and with it comes a brand-spanking new video to boot. To be honest with you, there is something about the original video that I love. I will admit this new video is beautiful on its own and the picture of the dancer from the original version was a nice touch though. What say you?

It shouldn’t be too much longer now. The 30th of August brings about the release of Man Alive, the debut record from Manchester quartet Everything Everything. I can’t get enough of their everything-but-the-kitchen-sink sound as it’s beyond clever and offers something different than the other flavours of pop currently bandied about on the blogs or heard on the radio.  Above is the video for new single My Kz, Ur BF (My Keys, Your Boyfriend, if you hadn’t yet figured it out). I’ve loved this track since I first heard it a few months back and properly introduced to this band’s wacky world. While I do love this video, I prefer the original version to this one. I don’t really see the need to have done a new version when the first was quite visually appealing and did the song justice in its own right. Judge for yourself.

Pretty snazzy sleeve for the record as well, wouldn’t you say?

As a dance music junkie, it brings a smile to my face to see that in 2010, a bunch of esteemed veterans have been releasing quality records or are about to make long-awaited comebacks that promise to show the new kids where all this ravin’ started. Enter Faithless, the chart-topping trio that’s been blowing minds and making feet stomp since 1997’s debut record Reverence. When I first heard Imsomnia, I pretty much had nightmares for a week. Once over those, I couldn’t help but marvel at their sound. Put a Faithless record on in a club and it’s an experience like few other acts can provide. It truly feels like your senses are being reinvigorated and the feeling of complete euphoria grabs hold. They’ve been going strong since and recently the trio just released their new record The Dance. Featuring the first single Not Going Home which is a tremendous tune in its own right, the record continues the band’s record of excellence and has much to offer for fans, old and new. Reacquaint yourself with Faithless now.

Faithless on MySpace
Faithless on Facebook
Faithless on Twitter

“Not Going Home” by Faithless, taken from the Ultra release, “The Dance”

Bryan Ferry is better than you. He gets more girls. He still looks good for a man well into his golden years. He also roped in some heavyweights for his brand new record Olympia. This is the first single entitled You Can Dance. This, friends, is baby-making music and nothing less should be expected from the man who helped put the “art” in “artifice” with the legendary Roxy Music. The record itself will feature his old Roxy Music cohorts Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera and…Brian Eno! Throw in Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Mani from the Stone Roses/Primal Scream/Freebass, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers among others and you’ve got a record that should be musically stunning. The record is out on the 25th of October.

1. “You Can Dance”
2. “Alphaville”
3. “Heartache By Numbers”
4. “Me Oh My”
5. “Shameless”
6. “Song to the Siren”
7. “No Face, No Name, No Number”
8. “BF Bass (Ode to Olympia)”
9. “Reason or Rhyme”
10. “Tender is the Night”

“You Can Dance” by Bryan Ferry, taken from the forthcoming Virgin release

Truth be told, the promotional film for the new Klaxons single Echoes does little for me. It’s pretty much a standard-fare performance piece done in a desert which has been done a thousand times before and rarely ever does it illicit much more than a ho-hum. Still a great single though and the video does little to change that opinion at all. Even better news is that the tour dates have been released so get yourselves ready to see the Klaxons come to your city very soon to support Surfing The Void which comes out on the 23rd of August.

September
19 – Hoboken, NJ @ Mawell’s
20 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
21 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
24 – Boston, MA @ Paradise
25 – Montreal, QC @ Cabaret du Musée Juste Pour Rire
27 – Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club
29 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
30 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall

October
01 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
04 – Vancouver, BC @ Venue
05 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
07 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
08 – Los Angeles, CA @ Culture Collide Music Festival
09 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour

Love is ending… Here it is, friends. The promotional film for the new single by the Charlatans. I must say I do like the song a lot. It appears after their brief excursion through their New Order collection on You Cross My Path. The band decided to go back to the future by taking the best bits of their illustrious legacy of their own and giving the younger bands a primer on how the 1990s really got started. Tim Burgess sounds in fine form here and the band sounds re-energized which can only mean good things for the upcoming record Who We Touch.

“Love Is Ending” by The Charlatans, taken from the forthcoming Cooking Vinyl/The End release, “Who We Touch”