Wankelmood

Berlin based DJ and producer Wankelmut had a major hit on his hands last year with his remix of Reckoning Song by Asaf Avidan & the Mojos. He had heard the track in the US got inspired to turn it into One Day, and the internet hit it became. End of the year Wankelmut produced his first DJ-Mix entitled Wankelmoods Vol. 1, which includes One Day/Reckoning Song. Now he’s ready to chart again, this time with his own My Head Is A Jungle. The track features Australian singer Emma Louise. Fellow German producer Solee and Danish Kasper Bjoerke both produced exquisite remixes, giving the dance track a more funky, neo-house groove. Worth checking out! The label announces there more remixes to come. Here’s the official video.

Hot Shot: Azekel

Azekel – That Feeling
(Azekel)
Directed & edited by Daniel Onyia & David Ansah
>  None (Promo Single) (THNDRLGHTN Recordings)

A good year: The 1975

Manchester’s Indie band The 1975 are releasing new music on May 20th. The 1975 are set to release their forthcoming full length album later this year, co-produced by Mike Crossey, who has produced albums by the Arctic Monkeys and Foals. The band formed in 2002 but changed line-up and their name along the way. Healy, originally the drummer stepped in front of the mic to replace the first singer as he left the band. That’s when Daniel, born in Brussels, joined. The current name of the group was adopted only last year. It comes from an inscription in a secondhand book.
The band’s first EP Facedown was released that same year. The debut single, a demo version, The City was picked up by BBC and gave the band their starting ground. But it was Sex, off the EP with the same title, that attracted a larger following. With musical influences ranging from Sigur Rós to Talking Heads and Michael Jackson, the group explore alternative rock coated in a black and white visual, both troughout their art work and videos. Following a 3rd EP Music For Cars, comes IV, the band’s next set, which will include a definitive version of The City. The latest single Chocolate is getting extensive international airplay. Watch the video directly below. More black and white realness after the jump.

Cococure: Keys & Maxwell

While eagerly anticipating BlackSUMMER’snight, the second part of Maxwell’s trilogy, we were pleased to here his voice on Alicia Keys’ latest. Fire We Make, the next single to be taken from Alicia’s Girl On Fire album, now has a video, directed by Chris Robinson. Set in a New Orleans hotel, the heat is on. Keys needs some cooling, not just for the blistering heat. The track does not make me boil, but Maxwell looks and sounds smouldering. The “Urban Hang Suite” teased fans already with a partial track list of SUMMER’s and a snippet of his new song Gods. In wait of a full single release, this video can go on heavy rotation. Bring in  bucket of ice before you watch it. Consider yourself warned…

More Great Gatsby

The Soundtrack to the upcoming Baz Lurhmann movie The Great Gatsby promises to be outstanding. Jay Z overlooking the whole project seems to deliver, despite the fact that Mrs Carter and André 3000 are recording Back To Black doesn’t please a bunch of Winehouse fans. An official soundtrack sampler has been released, revealing 30-second snippets of each of the songs, the Beyoncé cover excluded. After the jump however, you’ll find another audio sampler, which allows you to listen to a sneak peak. Another remarkable remake is Beyoncé’s Crazy In Love, in a swing version performed by Emeli Sandé, who also contributed a track to Danny Boyle’s latest Trance.
And for those who simply can’t get enough of Lana Del Rey‘s vintage escapades, you will be thrilled to hear Young and Beautiful. The track will become the first official single to be taken from the Soundtrack. If this track is anything to go by, both the film and its musical setting got us eagerly looking forward to seeing the result. You can listen to the superb song in full after the jump, as well as Florence + the Machine’s contribution Over The Love.

Back To Black – Beyoncé & André 3000
Bang Bang – Will.i.am
A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got) – Fergie, Q Tip & GoonRock
Young And Beautiful – Lana Del Rey
Love Is The Drug – Bryan Ferry with The Bryan Ferry Orchestra
Over The Love – Florence + The Machine
Where The Wind Blows – Coco O. of Quadron
Crazy in Love – Emeli Sandé and The Bryan Ferry Orchestra
Together – The xx
Hearts A Mess – Gotye
Love Is Blindness – Jack White
Into the Past – Nero
Kill and Run – Sia

Daft Punk Get Lucky with Rodgers & Pharrell

On Friday French electro duo Daft Punk released their long-awaited first single of the upcoming new album Random Access Memories, out on May 20. Get Lucky premiered in its entirety Dutch radio station 3FM. The disco-esque track, quite unlike much of their other releases, features Chic’s Nile Rodgers and vocals by Pharrell Williams. Opinions are divided, but surely this song will have you dancing in no time. On its release day, Get Lucky had the biggest streaming day for a single track in the US and the UK, a record previously held by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ Thrift Shop and Bastille’s Pompeii respectively.
Prior to Daft Punk, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo were in punk band Darlin’, together with Laurent Brancowitz, who later became part of Phoenix. The duo released its critically acclaimed debut album Homework in 1997, though Da Funk became their first commercially successful single in 1995. Other smash grooves include Around the World, One More Time and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.  Daft Punk also let’s us take a look at the collaborators behind Random Access Memories, in The Collaborators, a series by The Creators Project with direction from Ed Lachman. Watch all Episodes on TheCreatorsProject.

Lana serves Summer Wine

Not that long ago we introduced Lana Del Rey’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s Chelsea Hotel No. 2. Here’s yet another new clip, starring the 26-year-old singer and her man Barrie-James O’Neill, frontman of Scottish band Kassidy and Lana’s boyfriend in real-life. The song Summer Wine is a remake of a 1967 Nancy Sinatra track, originally a duet with Lee Hazlewood. Since Blue Velvet came along, Lana seems passionate about overhauling more vintage music and giving it new life. Her breathy vocal does conjure a retro feel and works perfect on such tracks. Again, so does the video. Play it here and take a trip.

 

 

Hot Shot: Macklemore

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft Ray Dalton – Can’t Hold Us
(Ben Haggerty)
Directed by Ryan Lewis, Jason Koenig and Jon Jon Augustavo
>  The Heist (Macklemore/Warner)

New Mavis & Tweedy

The Staple Singers’ member Mavis Staples released her last solo album You Are Not Alone in 2010. Produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, the album was praised by anyone into heartwarming Gospel, Rhythm & Blues or Soul. Meanwhile, word of a new album has been spreading. One True Vine, once more a Tweedy production, will be out June 25th. Tweedy and his son Spencer also played almost every instrument used on the recording. You can find the album’s track listing when you continue reading. The album includes  a cover of Low’s Holy Ghost, and a cover of Funkadelic’s Can You Get to That, which you can already preview here.

Like Lucy Rose

High time to put English singer-songwriter Lucy Rose in the spotlight. According to Vogue magazine Rose is “one of indie music’s breakout stars for 2012.” Lucy only took her music outside of her living room and began performing with other musicians when she moved to London at the age of eighteen. That’s when she met front man of Bombay Bicycle Club Jack Steadman. After becoming friends she was offered to perform vocals on a song Jack had written. She contributed backing vocals on the Bombay Bicycle Club albums Flaws and A Different Kind of Fix. Last year Rose toured extensively with Bombay Bicycle Club and Noah And The Whale. She staged at many a festival, including Reading Festival. Her solo debut album Like I Used To was released in September 2012 on Columbia Records. It includes the singles Middle of The Bed and Scar, released in 2011, and Red Face, Lines and Bikes, released last year. The latest song to be picked as a 7” is Shiver. Many of Rose’s videos are shot by close friend Orestes Mitas. Here’s the funny video for Bikes. Catch the new vid after the jump.