Enlightened Listening for May 24

This week's Enlightened Listening features several superb EPs, a couple exceptional remixes and a whole heap of fire. We start with Qrion and Spencer Brown linking up for a beautiful EP on Anjunadeep, before upping the energy and groove with Detroit Swindle's sense-tingling Rhythm Girl Swing. Next up is Prins Thomas who puts his space age magic touch on Cooper Saver's "Star System." Following that are three equally awesome EPs, all of the darker, more banging house variety. Hotfire leans towards the G-house side especially with "Criminal," and while Matroda very much follows suit, his 4 tracks bring a bigger, more ominous magnitude, best noted in "Another Day." Rounding out this thunderous trio, Magnificence electrifies with each of the first three tracks doling out diabolic drums and drops, while the final "Encore" offers up an expansive, quieting denouement. Jumping back into explosive energy Buku goes ballistic with absolutely no remorse. Changing gears with the tempo and flipping Lemaitre on their head, Coucheron whips up a wildly twisted trap banger. Finally, Duke & Jones team up with Lucchii for the jaw dropping "Deception," equally likely to make your backbone slide or break your neck. Get all of this new music via playlist below and find individual releases at the bottom.

Spencer Brown & Qrion - Sapporo EP

Detroit Swindle - Rhythm Girl Swing EP

Cooper Saver - Star System (Prins Thomas Remix)

Hotfire - Do Or Die

Matroda - The RED Tape: Side B

Magnificence - II

Buku - To Ya Brain

Lemaitre - Smoke (Coucheron Remix)

Duke & Jones x Lucchii - Deception

Enlightened Listening for April 13

Here we are again, another fantastic Friday of releases, even though it's the unlucky 13th. We've been treated to a tremendous selection with big names like Joker and Destructo; personal favourites like Robotaki and Coucheron; and those that I'd never heard Karim Sahraoui and Shmuck The Loyal. As always there's a heap of house, some fun funk, and electronic music of all kinds. This Friday also marks the release of ABSOLUTE.'s Harmony EP, but I've already written about that here. So buckle in for another edition of Enlightened Listening, enjoy the playlist, and read brief descriptions below.

DJ Seinfeld - Sakura
Despite his name, this is no joke. Absolutely massive atmosphere throughout. An incredible mixture of world influenced electronic, house and techno. Each and every track is a wicked weapon, but my favourites are "Sakura" and "Battery" for the strong sweeps and delectable drums respectively.

Chrome Sparks - Chrome Sparks
The albums coming out this year are proof that this format is not dead. The lead track "Rocket" propels you into Chrome Sparks' world, and his genius takes over from there. It has a cooly crafted future feel, with a wonderful mixture of laidback lush, bounding bass and strong storytelling.

Karim Sahraoui - Plenitude
Excuse my ignorance for not knowing Karim before, but I'm definitely on-board now. This is the kind of long-form deep house that I absolutely love: simple, subtle and strong. "Born Again" is sheer brilliance. It swings, slaps and brings a smile to my soul, especially as the piano creeps in in the second half. I would not be surprised if my infatuation with it lasts through the summer or longer.

Deetron - Choose Me (ft. Steve Spacek)
Walloping warm house, with just the right vocal breeze. Another aspirational summer tune.

Fehrplay - Malnati
Anjunabeats never disappoints, and Fehrplay's latest is fulsome fire. I'm starting to notice a trend in my selections today (and most days), I'm searching for feel good tracks. And this one is rapturous.

Joker - Anamorphic
The trend of feel good may die here, but this is one of the biggest and best tracks I've heard in a long, long time. On par with his undying classic, "Tron," this one roars to life, proving dubstep is not dead. Rather I think it'll inspire many more to take to its wobbling waves of wonderment. A truly epic creation.

Oliver ft. Sam Sparro - Last Forever (Destructo Remix)
Whereas the Lifelike version kept closer to the original, with his french house vibe, Destructo props the tempo up a touch and makes it more friendly for the North American DJ crowd. An oomph-ridden edit.

Robotaki - Science
We've heard all but two of the tracks already, and were already wowed. The intro, "Trial" welcomes us to the bubbling lab where this all takes place, with the conclusion, "Satisfied," sending us off in spectacular fashion. And perhaps that's the best way to describe this EP: fashionable, chic and swank.

Kideko - Good Thing
Get me that GIF of the woman on the floor grabbing for the bed (here). It takes less than 5 seconds for me to assume that position after pressing play. So good it hurts. Holy funky grooves Batman!

Will Clarke - Take A Seat
Did I jump the gun on both the life alert and holy Batman references? Probably should've saved them for the wobs on this one. It shouldn't be called "Take A Seat" but rather "Fall To The Floor;" that's what this freaked-out track will cause you to do. Make sure you're near a soft surface for this one.

Shmuck The Loyal - Not Alone
A new name to me, but a sound that will always be close to my heart. Electronic music for me will always be about the apocalyptic battle between humans and machines, and this one nails it.

Lemaitre - Machine (Coucheron Remix)
Whereas the above sees the machine beat out humanity, Coucheron has calmly quelled the uprising and enslaved technology. Funky flourishes and rips, as I'm taken back to seeing Lemaitre and Coucheron on the now fateful date of November 8th 2016.

Coucheron - UFO

Norway's Coucheron has become a favourite of mine after seeing him open for Chet Porter and Lemaitre, nearly a year ago. At that time he was gearing up to release "Loud" and "Puzzled," and since then has added his unique brand of bouncy future pop funk to Kehlani's "Undercover." Today he returns with a brand new original called "UFO." It took me approximately 15 seconds to be beamed up by the brilliance of the otherworldly awesomeness. Like his previous productions it oozes with a funk appeal, while finding itself firmly in the future. I'm reminded of Datarock's post punk propensity, which just a touch of Chromeo/Oliver-esque disco groove. It's the kind of killer electronic creativity that I crave, and I find so astonishingly absent in the ultra sterile future bass we're getting at the moment. "UFO" is a nonstop thrill-ride through the stars, and a delightful diversion from the doldrums of meh mainstream music. Climb aboard the spacecraft via Spotify or iTunes, and be sure to follow Coucheron below.FOLLOW COUCHERON: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

Kehlani - Undercover (Coucheron Remix)

I'm always intrigued by who pop artists have remix their tracks, it can be very telling (not necessarily of the artist themselves, but of their management). The best is when they find a remixer who not only fits the original artist's sound, but is also on the rise. It shows serious knowledge and allows for artistic progression. That is the case here with Coucheron getting the call to take on Kehlani's "Undercover."

You may remember Coucheron as someone I wrote about in my multipurpose post (TBT/show review) showcasing Louis La Roche's remix of Lemaitre's "Splitting Colors." His, at the time, forthcoming originals "Puzzled" and "Loud" caught my attention right away, as did his "CoCo" remix, largely for his brilliant blend of poppy funk, RnB and feels laden future bass. I had no idea who he was coming into the show, but by the end had found a new and reliable purveyor of quality productions.

It is that synthesis of sounds and styles that I'm so partial to, that makes Coucheron and his "Undercover" remix something I know I'll be coming back to all summer long. Right from the originally Akon lead line, the track oozes with a never-ending nostalgia, that somehow manages to remain fresh. The percussion and almost trampoline-like bass bounces lead the love Kehlani so craves in her lyrics. It's at times delicate striding through simple guitars riffs, while other times it devolves into an all kinds of epic future bass jam session. This is one of the coolest remixes you'll hear all summer, props going to Coucheron for the production, and Kehlani and her team for giving him the opportunity.
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Throwback Thursday: Lemaitre - Splitting Colors (Louis La Roche Remix)

Tuesday night was unbelievably busy on twitter, obviously as a result of the election, but I was tweeting almost exclusively about an incredible show at Velvet Underground, with Coucheron, Chet Porter and Lemaitre. The latter, I only came to know though one of my favourite remixes, from one of my favourite artists, Louis La Roche. His "Splitting Colors" remix features the classic touch that takes the Brit, Brett Ewels, and transforms him into the nu-disco/funk/French house producer that we know and love. It's bright, bleepy, poppy and powerful, and as a cherry on top it features steel pans. Those little riffs add another level of catchiness to the already earworming production; there's no denying its awesomeness. Of course seeing Lemaitre live is the impetus behind this post, and while I essentially went to this show because I never turn down a chance to see Chet Porter, I was beyond impressed with both Coucheron and Lemaitre. In fact it was Coucheron, who came out of the back corner, grabbing a guitar and absolutely shredding a solo on "Splitting Colors" in the video below.

Lemaitre themselves were an absolute joy to watch, as the duo of Ketil Jansen and Ulrik Denizou Lund went back and forth between multiple instruments seemlessly, showcasing incredible versatility. Their energy was immediately infectious, as they had the crowd jumping in unison, mere minutes into being on stage. They were tremendously positive despite the dark pretense of the American election results pouring in throughout the night, looming as a dark cloud in many minds. It didn't help that throughout his set, Chet came on the mic asking if Hillary had won yet, to which the crowd continually groaned, "No." That aside, it was an awesome night of music, from Coucheron's excellent opening set to the overwhelming love to and from local, Chet Porter, through to Lemaitre's powerful live performance. While there's no proper way to illustrate either Chet or Lemaitre's live sets, I've compiled a short list of tracks Coucheron played, with of course a few missing due to their unreleased nature.

Throwback Thursday: Louis La Roche - Peach EP

For this week's installment of my TBT series, it is my pleasure to reintroduce the world to one of the greatest debut EP's ever released, the funky, disco-inspired, revitalized french house Peach EP from none other than Louis La Roche, ironically a Brit named Brett Ewels.

I can still vividly remember sitting in my friend's bedroom listening to his music, while he scrolled through his playlist of new music before he stopped the music dead, excitedly saying "oh shit, you have to hear this, it's so new and fresh, and no one knows who it is." Clicking on a track called "Love," with the artist name TB, who he said was rumoured to be Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk. The thumping bass at the start of the track was quickly overtaken by sultry synths and a Michael Jackson sample. Full of warmth and promise we were overcome by the track's intoxicating and inescapable vibe.

About a month later I got a Facebook message from my friend, saying that "Love" wasn't a Bangalter track, but actually some 17 year old named Louis La Roche, and it was part of a 5 track EP, Peach. I immediately headed to google to get myself some Peach, and what I found quickly became my most played EP of the year, from one of my new favourite artists. Full of funky, nu-disco numbers Peach, and the title track (my favourite from the EP) will forever remain firmly entrenched in my psyche.

I cannot confirm nor deny that I reacted the same way as the people in this video, when I first heard "Peach." But I can confirm that my friends and I did boogie down to Louis' EP repeatedly, gobbling up everything we could find of his. The beauty of the Peach EP not only lies in the radical and revolutionary sounds that Louis brought to the table but the wide range of samples, and sounds he puts to use throughout the EP. No track sounds like another yet each has an intrinsic tie to the next.

Over the years, Louis has remixed countless tracks and released several EPs, always able to maintain his original aesthetic and artistry, while continuing to carve a path of his own. Other standout tracks from that time are his A-Ha remix, his original "Malfunction," his Jean Jacques Smoothie remix, his remix of The Knocks and Fred Falke, his Lemaitre remix, and his two side projects: Paddywaggle "Bash Your Brains"and EWE "Lingo."

If you want to find out more about the story behind "Love" I highly recommend a stroll down memory lane with this blog post from Solid Goldberger, complete with links to download the entire EP.

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