Feeling Foxy

Kitsuné, everyone's favorite fashion brand cum music label, has been on the grind lately. In addition to their seasonal Compilation albums, they've been putting out singles for up and coming artists left and right. Additionally they've been working on some pretty cool campaigns incorporating more music into their fashion, and vice-versa. August saw them release the Romanticise EP from Australian songstress Chela, who you may remember from last year's collaboration with our man Goldroom. Romanticise totally encapsulates the Kitsuné "sound" - bright synths, disco beats, and summer vibes. Fellow Aussies Gold Fields did a remix of the single, and it's quite a catch. Don't take my word for it - download it for free below.

But one EP is never enough for the label, who also put out Digitalism's new Lift EP two days ago. Veering from their pop roots and into more hardened electro territory, the EP's first single Electric Fist sees the German duo collaborating with Canada's Blood Diamonds. The end result is a fiery one two punch of pulsing beats and crackling distortion. If you're looking for a pretty solid 2008 throwback, look no further. (Ah, the good old days.)

Last, but certainly not least, Kitsuné have been expanding their always-rocking Club Nights to more cities around the globe, and this post comes just in time to remind you of a big one happening in New York City tonight. This time, Kitsuné teamed up with Matte Projects to bring us a crazy awesome lineup including Digitalism, Classixx, Plastic Plates, and Le Youth. Matte are the guys who put on summer's Full Moon Festival, at which we had wayyyy too much fun (seriously…it got aggressive), so we've got high hopes for tonight. Get your last minute tickets here, and I'll see you on the dance floor.

Romanticise (Gold Fields Remix) - Chela

Somebody Loves High Society

We're high society.

By this point, it should be well-known fact that LOOSE L!PS is a huge fan of Neon Gold. It's one of our favorite labels, and some of our favorite people to party with. So when I received an invite to the latest and greatest Popshop (their monthly bi-costal dance party/live music extravaganza) and saw an artist on the bill I was unfamiliar with, I immediately did a Google search -- cause if NG is booking it, it's bound to be good. Betty Whoturned out to be the kind of playful, synth-driven power pop the Goldies are so good at cultivating, and I was hooked. Scrolling through Google Images I had a nagging sense of "I swear I know this person", and after some sleuthing realized why: Betty Who and went to school together. So, internet: Root for the LL Home Team and check out Betty Who. Grab some songs below and if you're in NYC, catch her next Friday at Brooklyn Bowl. It would be rude not to.



Somebody Loves You - Betty Who


High Society (The Soundmen Remix) - Betty Who

Where Have You Gone [Cause This Is Not Enough]

If I say I want it back, would you meet me with the same eyes?
These days seems long, where have you gone?

A year or so ago, Soundcloud underwent a huge interface revamp. They introduced a shuffle feature, and whenever the song you were listening to ended, the site would shuffle you to a random "related" song from any one of the thousands of accounts they hosted. The only problem was 99.99% of the time this random song was completely unlistenable. An accidental case of "where is that open window playing music I have too many windows open AGH" led me to discover that it seems they've finally figured out their algorithms, and instead of shuffling me to nu-jazz flute recordings, Soundcloud has started delivering gems.

Today the site read my mood/mind as it started playing a dreamy pop song from a band called Carousel. Turns out these guys are from LA and the shuffle couldn't have come at a more serendipitous time, as their new EP, Palms, is set to be released just around the corner, on August 5th. With breezy melodies and that circa-2008-Dreamwave vibe, Carousel gets an immediate addition to my list of indispensable poolside tunes. A round of applause for Soundcloud, everyone, and lend your ears to Carousel.

Old Single:
Where Have You Gone - Carousel


New Single:

Be Cool (EMiL Remix)

You know what's really hit-or-miss? Remix videos. And by that I mean they usually suck. It's one thing for a remix to be able to stand alone as a piece of music, but for it to be worth its weight in jpegs as well? That's a veritable unicorn. So it seems fitting then, that the thing to inspire LL out of the figurative ashes of the internet is one such figurative unicorn.

Our friend EMiL (of Emil & Friends -- yeah he's pretty popular) just dropped his remix of Phoenix's Be Cool, and whipped up a whole video from scratch to go with it. We're not talking your typical indie "boy meets girl and they go on a road trip" type shtick, but something fun and summery and colorful and--dare I say--magical. Don't take my word for it, watch for yourself below.

Phoenix - Be Cool (EMiL remix) from Emil on Vimeo.

Be Cool (EMiL Remix) - Phoenix


Bonus:
Be Cool (Breakbot Remix) - Phoenix

Swim And Sleep (Lindstrom Remix)

I wish that I could swim and sleep like a shark does
I'd fall to the bottom and I'd hide til the end of time

All songs previously in my "blog/share with the world" queue got pushed back due to the release of a new Lindstrøm remix. If you've been following this blog for any amount of time (or since the beginning - holler to all five of you), you'll know that if I subscribed to any religion, it would be Lindstrømism. He's just perfect. Or rather…his music is perfect. I was especially taken by his latest remix endeavor as it saw him collaborating with one of my new favorite bands (one who's bandwagon I am admittedly late to jump on), Oregon's Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra are a psych-rock band making waves with their 2013 sophomore album, II. For ease of reference's sake, UMO sound like Tame Impala with less fuzz, breezier melodies, and more accessible lyrics. Take the experimental out of psychedelia, and you have UMO - a nice place to be, if I'm to judge. But forget rock for a minute -- Lindstrøm's rework of their 2012 single Swim and Sleep (Like A Shark Does) takes a lilting melody and turns it intergalactic disco spectacular. Still with me? Check it out.

Bonus: The original, oh so sweet, single.
Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark Does) - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Penny

You're my perfect little...penny

Is 2013 the year that garage rock officially "comes back," or was that 2012? Whenever the date, Hanni El Khatib is a welcome genre contributor. This spring sees him releasing his sophomore album, Head In The Dirt, produced by the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach (insert approving head nod here). While the album's first single was a raucous, messy affair - shaped by a charging drumline and growling guitars - the second single Penny is a sunny, organ-drenched love song.

Penny shines on its own, but label-mates Classixx took it and did more than polish it up - they turned it into an entirely different creature altogether. A bright, even cute, rock tune is transformed to a deep disco slow burner under their touch. A total 180, but wildly successful. Stream the original below, download the remix, and be sure to look for Head In The Dirt on Innovative Leisure later this spring.

Penny (Classixx Remix) - Hanni El Khatib

Fade Away (C2C Remix)

Joe Bonomo

Recently I've been feeling a bit disenchanted with electronic-based music. Then I realized that I'd forgotten about the French. Those sly bastards are still so on top of the game, its almost as though their a genre unto themselves: incomparable to the rest of the "production" world. One of the best examples of this is Vitalic (née Pascal Arbez), who I have unrelentingly held as the second-greatest French producer (after Daft Punk, naturally) since I first caught wind of him back in the noughties. Listen to any piece in his catalog and you'll catch the perfect bass lines and tight drums that, while providing a solid backbone to each piece, never teeter towards overindulgent.

Vitalic's latest album, Rave Age was released in November. The EP for his second single, Fade Away, will be up for purchase by the end of the month. In the meantime, stream the C2C (another French act and LL favorite) remix of the single below.

Bonus: The greatest remix of the greatest song from Vitalic's last album.
This is seriously indispensable.
Poison Lips (Captain Flash Remix) - Vitalic