sorry yall, been outta commission for a bit…had my body and spirit pushed to the limit, on the highway to the danger zone, and work’s been givin’ me the gut/kidney punch combo, but still i keep on truckin’. posting may be sporadic for the next week but ill do my best to keep feeding yr ears.

This is noise electro. Shouted/fuzzy vocals, grinding/biting synths and glitchy effects. DIRTY, the best filth for yr ears. Like Crystal Castles but less 8-bit & more grimy & faster/more bumpin’. CAVEAT: the songs kind of blend into each other, which is the album’s kryptonite…but it’s fun, you could probs (even totes) thrash to this.

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Who are Diamond Vampires? A crazy ass disco band with a free album, that’s who! It’s basically disco heaven. Or maybe mysterious disco, secretive disco, or walking in a dark alley late at night disco…

I recommend Friday Nights as a starter, so you realize how cool this album is. It’s ridiculously understated evil disco wonder. Go at it. Check out their site (to download the album, but also to just look at the cool looping model shot videos).

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Here’s another (meta)disco release, and one of the all-around best albums of the disco revivalism in the past few years, and it comes off Eskimo Recordings. This music is disco couture, carefully woven to create the best beats and non-beats around. Some of the best songs are the ones without “slow” in the title, but all of them are top-notch. This has been really highly praised recently, and with good reason, so do yourself a favor and check it out. Album is at 320 kbps too, and the cover art is beautiful, as it is for all their singles - check their myspace for more.

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This is a really INCREDIBLE album from Dan Lissvik, one half of equally awesome Balearic krautrocky guitar disco revivalists Studio. All the tracks are untitled, so I had it titled as they would be on the record itself (A1, A2, B1, B2, etc…). Correspondingly, it’s hard to tell you which songs are truly badass, but that’s because ALL of the songs are. No, seriously. This is a dance party like you’ve never heard it. It’s almost hard to describe…it’s otherworldly music, but not in a tacky “making fun of otherworldly music” way, but genuinely new and wow. I can’t describe this very well. If you like Studio, Can or Neu!, get it.

The album’s at 320 kbps, so you have NO excuse to not get it (unless you have a small hard drive). I think the intermission track is A4.

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This has got to be one of the top releases of the last decade, and I believe it is one of the best releases of the millennium thus far. It’s slow, funky and crazy original “meta-disco” (my new favorite last.fm tag). This is how I previously described it: “The best genre I could classify this as would be ’stoner disco.’

Seriously.

Like some teenage Balearic surrealist warrior said “fuck society i’m gonna disco” but caught too caught up with all the sour diesel coming in from up north and wound up feebly but brilliantly smoking hir way out of the middle of the dance floor. Excellent song “Free Rider” clocks in at 4.20 minutes, “Too High To Move” adds a touch of humor and class, while the closer “Keep On Rolling” is the perfect plush melody for any comedown. I strongly recommend this album for the most frivolous of Fridays.”

Enough said.

The album’s at 320 kbps, perfect for playing super soft or ultra loud!

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This is just straight up awesome pop. His voice sounds like Prince (esp. on the first track). The first song will put you in a good mood NO MATTER WHAT (unless you are weird). It’s sparkly bright and incredibly addictive synthpop, and he’s on the same label (Hybris) as Kalle J, Familjen, and others. This is a fun album. His name means Jewel (yay I know Swedish!). The album is indeed a gem.

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The Embassy - Tacking

Same story as The Tough Alliance. The Embassy is a balearic synthpop duo that has released albums on record label Service (same as TTA until they got too cool for school). There is almost no way to not like this band if you like any of the previous posts. It’s really perfect synthpop oh my god I’m just now realizing how perfect. Yeah, it’s awesome. Below are links to their most recent albums, Tacking and A Compact Disc Including The Embassy. Their debut, Futile Crimes, is excellent as well and if there is interest expressed I’ll post it too. Enjoy! You now don’t need any music for quite a while, this is obsession-prone material, trust me.

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What can I say about The Tough Alliance that hasn’t already been said? They are essentially the masters of balearic synth pop with disco krautrock feelings, and have been so for quite some time. They are from Gothenburg, Sweden, along with every other cool artist in the world, it seems. From Gburg as home base they run a label called Sincerely, Yours, which has acts such as Studio and Air France signed, two equally kick-ass bands in their own right.

To celebrate their balearic synthpop genius, I’ve decided to post their discography. It has every full length (Escaping Your Ambition, A New Chance, The New School) and several EPs (Make It Happen, New Waves, Holiday), all of which will make you wonder what took you so long to find out about this band and what pop could possibly improve upon this.

It’s a big file (250 mb), but well worth it.

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Before my balearic pop megaposts from its mega-artists The Tough Alliance and The Embassy, I’m going to whet your appetite with two offerings from some balearic synthpoppers on the Hybris label. This one is from Kalle J, a kid who is astonishingly young for such talent. I will re-post what I had previously written of this album: This is brilliant balearic synthpop. fake steel drums and bongos in some songs, pulsing synth lines in others. it’s a good old swedish synthpop, and by that it is sort of the pinnacle of pop. good for fans of (as i am): the tough alliance, the embassy, gentle touch, le sport, juvelen, familjen, and others (i will post some of those later). seriously, if you only listen to a handful of pop albums this year, this one should be it. it’s weird how some albums open with the best song (which i think is a totally understandable practice; why open with a crappy song and then wait for a while till it gets good) and then there are some like this, which opens with an ok few songs, but these are quickly blown out of the water by the incredible set of songs from Din Egen Delivery Service through Burt Ward, and with a wonderful closer in Aldrig Fel. Also, I have no idea what he’s saying or what any of the song titles are (Swedish people help me in the comments!). On second thought, maybe the first two songs are just a little less good than the rest of the whole album. Whatever, just get it.

Word. I still agree. Juvelen’s up next, and then I’ll post everything else I wrote up there.

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This is the experimental ambient album from Ohad Benchetrit, someone I’ve long thought to be the brains behind the brilliance of Do Make Say Think, Broken Social Scene, and other BSS-related projects. Of course it is always a team effort, but there’s something about his instrumentation (listen to Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn to hear what I mean) which makes me think he is one of the most incredible musical geniuses of our time. And he’s got an awesome name too. You can tell that he has matured into genre-less music with this album, which in parts can be defined as ambient, acoustic guitar, found-sound, experimental, IDM, what have you. The point is that he has explored so many styles that he is now able to sit down and create his own, and he does so beautifully. Every song I hear someone stitching together a sonic blanket, where melodic sound textures are held together by the daily rhythm of his thread. I hope you will enjoy this as much as I have.

Here’s what Arts-Crafts (the label) had to say of the new release:

“Arts & Crafts announces the signing and debut release from Years, a beautiful and inspired self-titled album due for release May 5. A true visionary of compositional soundscaping, Ohad Benchetrit, provides an immense soundtrack and illustration of his accomplished production and guitar proficiencies.”

For fans of: first BSS album Feel Good Lost, DMST (especially the acoustics on You, You’re A History In Rust), BSS, any sunny, hopeful and down-to-earth ambient IDM that inspires you.

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This leaked a few days ago and I was SO ECSTATIC that it did that I didn’t even listen to it until right now, as I’m sharing it with you. It is the sophomore effort of unstoppable nu space disco wunderKINGS Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas. Although I haven’t listened all the way through yet, it seems to have a slightly more kraut-rock/yacht-rock beachy flavor to it where their debut was more traditionally space-disco influenced (think a dash of Studio in place of Daniele Baldelli). That being said, it is still an all-over epic cosmic disco album, and L&PT continue to push the boundaries of this exciting and (re)newly popular genre with their measured additions of rock instrumentation alongside lush cosmic synth loops. This album will make your year. Have at it.

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This is a blissful balearic pop album from a band out of Sweden called Boat Club. The band name and album title are perfectly descriptive, there’s almost nothing more you need to know - the album makes you feel like the title. There’s no excuse not to have it when spring is just coming about. For fans of: The Tough Alliance, The Embassy, Air France, etc…

Every track is incredible, as it sadly clocks in at only 30 minutes long (6 tracks). But no need to wait for a full-length - bliss is at your fingertips!

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This is a brand new album from venerable Italo cosmic disco master/founder Daniele Baldelli. If you liked his historic Cosmic, The Original, then there is no reason to not try this - it’s his first album of fully new material in a looooong while, and I have a hope that it will pave the way for a space disco revolution on the dancefloors over the next few years. Snap it up and dance it out!

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Hey all - sorry for the lack of new posts for a while..we (who run this site) all had a pretty BIG weekend and didn’t quite have the time to update, even though weekends are the time to do it. Expect a whole host of balearic synth pop and disco releases coming from me soon (including Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas’ brand new sophomore album, II, as well as a NEW Daniele Baldelli album), along with some dubstep, minimal, shoegaze, IDM, psych/folk, hip-hop, and other stuff later (depending on what I listen to to get me through this week). If there are any requests, even for new things (too new to be on the shelves, for instance), drop ‘em in the comments and I’ll do my best to get it to you.

NOTE: I will never post any Prince albums because the blog will be gone the day I do so - the new album(s) are available to purchase at Target for $12, which is totally worth it, but if you need a link just let me know and I can point you in the right direction.

Cheers!

Grace Jones is a goddess born out of the Paradise Garage and runways of Paris. She defined the post-disco sound of the late 70s with her albums Warm Leatherette and Nightclubbing, and she made a comeback this past year with Hurricane, her first album of original material in 20 years. It is KICK ASS. Aeroplane did a remix of William’s Blood, which you should hit up for sure.

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Grace Jones: Reclaiming primitivist stereotypes or reinforcing them?

This came out last year, it’s by Kleerup, a famous producer for Sweden who came to prominence for me with his writing/production of Robyn’s “Every Heartbeat,” which appears on this album as well. This is probably one of the best albums from a producer that I’ve heard in a while. I listened to it the entire summer, on repeat. He has a lot of guest vocalists (Neneh Cherry!) who simply add to the beauty of his electronic instrumentation. It’s just really lush and wunderfull electronic disco-y pop.

Too bad he looks so crap on the cover. Seriously, man, clean up a bit.

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(sry best pic i could find)

AWESOME. Got ivory pluckin’ strings jangling along, like the early 19th-century. A smokey bar, the man in the corner hammering on the keys, sirens cause the sky’s coming down on us. It’s music in black and white, like the way old movies are in black and white…classy and organic.

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PS I was listening on a train and I thought all those gloomy folks started singing along. but no, they weren’t (just goin’ crayzee)

Nostalgic montages of better days (old times are always better, amirite? will this rocky era be referred to with a grin and a twinkle?)…pretty instrumental pieces. Music your folks can grieve after they’ve tossed you into the earth. (sorry to bum yall out). maybe music for stroking yr chin to, for thinking about life, the universe, and everything. what does it all mean?? dim the lights and tell me.

Fav track: Horseshoes & Handgrenades

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I don’t actually really like this band, but maybe just cuz i’m in a pissy mood. It’s kind of harder disco(f/p)unk shit, idk, i feel like it’s a little overdone. it’s just kinda…brash and vulgar (just like their second album title). so whatever - get it or not…your choice

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So this is Aeroplane. They are also on Eskimo Recordings, kickass nu disco label with Lindstrøm on its roster, among others. They remix a ton. Their own songs are good too. Here they are (i was too lazy to go drag the remixes into the folder so you’ll have to find them yourself which shouldn’t be hard considering these guys are the shit recently). They did a song with Kathy Diamond. It’s on here. They don’t have that much out yet until their full-length, which is inevitable, so this will have to do for now. Check out DISCODUST for a great remix they did of Grace Jones’ “Williams Blood”

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