BAG RAIDERS – WAY BACK HOME (ElectroPop/Indie/Dance – Australia)

Sep 1st, 10 / 0 Comments

After wowing us with their gorgeous single “Shooting Stars”, which was on heavy rotation for months at umstrum||music, Bag Raiders are finally ready to deliver their long overdue and lovingly anticipated debut self-titled album. To help us wait for the aforementioned album, scheduled for release next month, the duo recently releases their massive new single “Way Back Home”, unleashed to radio on August 9. This swirling anthemic affair is a dancefloor call to arms (or hands in the air), with a beautifully moody performance by Martin Solomon from Sydney band Wim, who broods his way through a poignant display of affection, percussion and ecstasy.

Bag Raiders – Way Back Home

Bag Raiders are the combined talents of Jack Glass and Chris Stracey. Together, they have become one of the most sought-after electropop act in Australia. Their aural gems and sonic booms have won them the endorsement of Sydney-based label Bang Gang 12s, sister label to Modular Recordings. Their reputation grew as they were commissioned to  remix tracks by Cut Copy, Midnight Juggernauts or Kid Sister or it just went through the roof upon the release of their signature track “Shooting Stars”. With their DJ gigs all around the world, they reached every dangerous, dark and smokey corner of the world, making them a household name among in-the-know indie kids and club-bound urban youth.

Bag Raiders – Turbo Love

For their debut album, Bag Raiders enlisted a handpicked selection of guest artists: Dan Black, Rhys Taylor (Ted & Francis), Simon Jones (The Holidays), Gisselle Rosselli (the voice behind Flight Facilities’ hit single “Crave You”) and Martin Solomon (Wim). The record spirals into a matrix of colour full of sing-a-long choruses, deep-breath anthems, blissful chill and pure dancefloor energy.

Find Bag Raiders on MySpace. Buy all their music on Bag

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ANNIE – REMIXES (Electro/Synth/Pop – Norway)

Aug 30th, 10 / 1 Comment

No need to introduce Norwegian electropop singer songwriter Annie… Her dancefloor-friendly pop gems have been a mainstay of these pages for the past couple of years so chances are you have already heard a few of her tracks.. Well, the Scandinavian starlet (now based in Berlin) has got some new surprises in store for us.

Last June saw the release of a very special new EP: The Greatest Hit – 2010 Remixes! This EP was released by Loaded Records  to celebrate the 10-year (yes, 10 years!) anniversary of Annie’s first ever single “The Greatest Hit” and it features a handful of new exclusive remixes.

Our way of celebrating this anniversary here at umstrum||music is to bring out of the vaults two of Annie’s most noteworthy remixes. Enjoy!

Annie – Heartbeat (Phones Maximo Mix)

Annie – Anthonio (Designer Drugs Remix)

As a bonus, here is a another remix of “The Greatest Hit”. This tracks isn’t on Annie’s new EP but sure deserves some attention. This version was produced by London-based DJ/producer Clancy, who has also remixed songs by the likes of Little Boots, Housse De Racket and Delphic. Check it out!

Annie – Greatest Hit (Clancy SuperNoir Remix)

Go on and give Annie a shout on her MySpace! She’s a good sport and maybe she’ll get back to you… For more music by Annie, click HERE and HERE and if you like what you hear buy it on Annie

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WAVE MACHINES – WAVE IF YOU’RE REALLY THERE (Electro/Indie/Pop – UK)

Aug 29th, 10 / 0 Comments

Hailing from Liverpool, Wave Machines is a band led by singer songwriter Tim Bruzon. With their blend of alternative electropop, Tim and his mates have charmed all major music blogs and are set to conquer more hearts with their debut LP.

Their music includes rhythms built on melodic sound effects, fun synth sounds and suave falsetto vocals. Think Hot Chip, XTC or The Beta Band, but a little more straight-forward.

The band released their debut album, Wave If You’re Really There, which was recorded in the bowels of the old organ room at St. Brides Church in England. This unusual setting really helped give a unique sound to the debut LP and even gave them a place to practice, perform and even throw concerts.

Wave Machines – The Greatest Escape We Ever Made

Described as a mix-up between danceable disco beats and guitar-driven indie songwriting, the songs that make up their album are generally upbeat and playful. There are a few straight-up indie guitar songs, and then a few disco-y grooves. Entertaining and engaging, this first effort shows great maturity and a clear passion for experimentation.

Wave Machines – Keep The Lights On (Artwork Remix)

Show Wave Machines some love on MySpace and get all news and updates on their official website. You can buy their music on Wave

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I AM UN CHIEN!! @ CROSSOVER FESTIVAL

Aug 27th, 10 / 1 Comment

Parisian electro/rock duo I Am Un Chien!! is Douglas Cavanna and David Fontao, two youngsters with a passion for rock music and a lot of energy! Their sound is raw and direct, the kind of sound that grabs your guts rather than your intellect. No wonder the guys are so comfortable on stage, where they can crank up the volume, shake their heads and share their liberating beats with the restless audience.

I Am Un Chien – Waves

Before their performance at the Crossover Festival, we caught up with Doug, David, Baptiste (IAUC’s live DJ) and José (David’s brother and member of Stuck In Sound)…

- Why did you chose this name?

It comes from a Pixies’ song: “Debaser”. In the chorus, they say “I am un chien andalusia”… It’s a band that really influenced our sound.

- Your music is often described as electro but when you perform live with your guitars and synths you sound more like a rock band.

Well, originally David and I had a rock band. We met in high school and started our rock band. We started making electro music by chance, just because we liked playing around with softwares and making stuff. In the end the result sounds more like rock than electro and on stage we like to keep this energy, be close to the audience, interact with people. We don’t wanna be up there playing with two laptops and that’s it…

- Can you tell us a bit more about the music video you made on chatroulette.com?

Actually it was our friend Pierre who showed us the site back when there were only about 3000 people on it and we found it hilarious. Then another friend Franck, who directs music videos, suggested we film ourselves playing our music on chatroulette just to see the people’s reaction. Three weeks later we did it and then edited the clip in 3 hours and put it up online. Then it all went a bit crazy, we didn’t know what was going on, the video circulated on the net, was posted on twitter and that’s how the buzz started. That wasn’t even our intention in the first place. We just wanted to make a little experiment, make a video with no budget at all, broadcast our music to people all over the world and see what kind of reactions we would get…

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PAUL KALKBRENNER @ CROSSOVER FESTIVAL

Aug 25th, 10 / 0 Comments

Berlin-based producer, DJ and actor Paul Kalkbrenner is a classically trained trumpet player who studied music theory and later switched to electronic music. His first tracks were released in 1999 under the name dB+ and he was subsequently signed to the famous Bpitch Control label founded by Ellen Allien.

As of 2010, Paul Kalkbrenner has tallied up more than 15 years of experience as a producer and live act. His third album Self (2004) marked the beginning of a new era. His melodic sound, with its affinity for grand emotional gestures, obeyed the logic of the dancefloor, but Self introduced a narrative aesthetic, serving as a soundtrack to a film that didn’t exist (at least, not yet).

Paul Kalkbrenner – Atzepeng

In early 2006, German director Hannes Stöhr, an avid fan of Self, decided to get in contact with Kalkbrenner. His idea was to produce a film about a Berlin techno musician during the new millennium, and Paul would compose the soundtrack. The two met, traded ideas and experiences, and soon after began working on the screenplay’s first draft. In the course of their exchange, Hannes had the realization that Paul should not just contribute the music, but that he would be the perfect choice as the film’s star. They decided to title the film Berlin Calling. The film, which offers an authentic depiction of the Berlin club scene and drug culture, received positive reviews and became an underground hit.

Paul Kalkbrenner – Azure

The soundtrack and especially the single “Sky and Sand” broke many sales records. That track in particular went gold in Belgium where it remained in the charts’ Top Ten for weeks. The 2009 DVD release of the film brought Paul to a new, much larger audience around the world. By the end of the year, Paul separated with BPitch Control after a decade-long relationship to take the next steps of his career alone. In early 2010 Paul completed a twelve-city live concert tour throughout Europe, followed by many headlining appearances at summer festivals.

More information and music on Paul’s MySpace. Buy his music on Paul

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AU REVOIR SIMONE – NIGHT LIGHT (ElectroPop/Folk – US)

Aug 24th, 10 / 2 Comments

Electronic dream pop band Au Revoir Simone is Erika Forster (vocals/keyboard), Annie Hart (vocals/keyboard) and Heather D’Angelo (vocals/drum machine/keyboard). Since 2003, the Brooklyn-based outfit have been making subtle, breezy, electrofolk and their sound has been praised by the likes of Q Magazine and NME.

On the heels of their widely acclaimed third album, Still Night Still Light (Moshi Moshi 2009), considered by many as their best work so far, Au Revoir Simone recently released a companion remix album called Night Light. The album takes the twelve tracks included on Still Nigh Still Light, mixes things up a bit, dismantles the original tracks and reassembles them in a multitude of ways. With guest artists such as Aeroplane, Jens Lekman, Neon Indian, Silver Columns and Deradoorian (Angel Deradoorian from The Dirty Projectors), you could hope for a strikingly brilliant album. And more often then not it is. But the remixes don’t always add much to Au Revoir Simone’s elegant synth-pop, which is already a delicate synthesis of many different musical genres. By making these influences more obvious, the remixes sometimes break the spell.

Night Light is still a very pleasant listen and some of the reworks are stunning. Let’s mention Clock Opera’s remix of “Tell Me”, Mack Winston’s remix of “The Last One” and Tanlines’ remix of “Shadows”.

Au Revoir Simone – Tell Me (Clock Opera Remix)

If you like what you hear, check out Au Revoir Simone’s profile on Myspace. Buy the album with bonus tracks on Night

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CROSSOVER FESTIVAL (Nice – France)

Aug 23rd, 10 / 0 Comments

From August 23rd to 28th, umstrum||music will be relocating to the sunny city of Nice on the French Riviera to cover the CROSSOVER Festival. Taking place in eight different locations around town, the festival will feature concerts, exhibitions, DJ sets, movie screenings and performances by some of the biggest names in contemporary electronic music.

For its sixth anniversary the CROSSOVER Festival has gone all out wth an all-star guest list which includes Berlin-based minimal legend Paul Kalkbrenner, Italian electro-punk outfit The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, DJ Koze, electro-reggae crossover artist Major Lazer, German DJ/producer Boys Noize, Parisian hipsters I Am Un Chien, Daft Punk-inspired band Nasser, LA-based Hip-Hop duo Lexicon, H-Tenza, Kevin Saunderson, Orestt, OneLight, Misty Rabbit…

Cut Copy – Lights & Music (Boys Noize Happy Birthday Remix)

Alex Gopher – The Game (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)

Created by the Panda 06 association (the crew behind the Electronic Beach Festival in Cannes), the CROSSOVER Festival is a celebration of cultural diversity, musical experimentation and hybrid artistic projects. It’s a place where artists, music fans and club-goers cross paths and mingle, whether it be on a beach, in a theatre or in a club.

The party starts today and will go on till Sunday morning so hurry up and get your tix HERE and HERE. Tune in to umstrum||music all week for news and reviews!

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saturday nite with… THE PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP

Aug 21st, 10 / 0 Comments

The Phenomenal Handclap Band is a tight-knit aggregation of musicians and artists from Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. At the center of it there are two talented musicians: Daniel Collás and Sean Marquand, who, after years of searching and contemplation, through live performance and the manipulation of recorded music, have finally succeeded in realising their singular musical vision. They have gathered around them talented musicians such as Patrick Wood, Nicholas Movshon, Luke O’Malley, Laura Marin, Quinn Luke, and Joan Tick, enhanced by the remarkable talents of Aurelio Valle, Carol C, Jaleel Bunton, Bart Davenport, Jon Spencer, and Lady Tigra, among carefully chosen others.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band – Tears

Together they have crafted a sound that is equal parts anthemic, dancefloor-oriented and orchestral, borrowing elements from progressive rock, disco, electro, and psychedelia.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band started when Collás and Marquand, two New York underground club DJs, became restless with the concept of playing other people’s music. Both had also been involved in the thriving nightlife scene and had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of esoteric music ranging from Brazilian soul to vintage psych-rock. As a band The Phenomenal Handclap have put together a stunning debut album which is the harmonious culmination of their diverse musical backgrounds.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band – Baby (Clock Opera Remix)

The Phenomenla Handclap Band – 15 To 20 (David E Sugar Replay Remix)

For more info, check out the band’s page on MySpace. You can buy their debut album on The

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FM BELFAST – UNDERWEAR (Electro/Pop/Indie – Iceland)

Aug 20th, 10 / 0 Comments

FM Belfast started out as a duo in 2005, around Christmas time, when Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson and Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir made a song as a present for their friends. What could have been a one-off collaboration actually turned into a full-fledged band the following year  when Arni Vilhjalmsson and Orvar Th. Smarason joined the band. In October 2006 they were invited to play their first full concert at the internationally renowned Iceland Airwaves festival in Reykjavik.

The members now vary from three to eight depending on who can make it. The core of the band is made up of Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson, Árni Vilhjálmsson and Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir and when the stars are aligned correctly they are joined by Sveinbjorn Hermann Pálsson, Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason and Eiríkur Orri (both part of cult Icelandic act múm), Birgitta Birgisdóttir and Björn Kristjánsson. FM Belfast’s debut album How To Make Friends relies heavily on programmed beats and synths, pumped up with the band’s innate sense of fun. The album oozes with a retro 80s vibe and it will make you bop your head till your neck hurts. FM Belfast may reject the traditions of their own county’s music, but they slot very much into the tradition of Icelandic rebellion, and tether it instead to the synths of Scandinavia, pumping them up with their own innate sense of fun.

FM Belfast -- Underwear

Of course FM Belfast are not the first Icelandic band to make electronic music, but their sound is different from that of fellow Icelanders Sigur Rós or Eberg. Their songs are infused with a sense of derision that makes them instantly accessible and familiar. With their lo-fi casio keyboards and simplistic lyrics, the 11 tracks that make up How To Make Friends are not about Iceland’s glaciers and wide landscapes. They are songs for the 21st century, songs for the club. Party on!

Find FM Belfast on MySpace or check out their official site. Buy their music on FM

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MONDKOPF @ PANTIERO FESTIVAL

Aug 17th, 10 / 0 Comments

Back in the days of his Toulouse youth, Mondkopf was just a regular teenager trying to make some new beats with a computer and a whole lot of imagintation. Then he became part of the hugely influential Fluokids family (blog and label) and started to make a name for himself as a producer and remixer. With his remixes for bands such as The Golden Filter, The Teenagers, Caribou or Pony Pony Run Run, Mondkopf received major accolades from his peers and his fan base started growing bigger and bigger.

Pony Pony Run Run – Hey You (Mondkopf Remix) [download it HERE]

On the heels of his early hits, Mondkopf released his debut album, Galaxy of Nowhere, in 2009 on Citizen Records, label owned by cult electro artist Vitalic. With his crunchy beats, complex orchestrations and hypnotic synths, the young artist has developed his own unique sound, taking inspiration from the pioneers of experimental electronica such as Brian Eno, Phillip Glass and Vangelis, as well as innovative American Hip-Hop artists like Timbaland and Jay-Dee.

Mondkopf – La Dame En Bleu

A self-described daydreamer, Mondkopf is a beast behind the decks. His sets are usually intense and full of energy and his set at the Pantiero Music Festival was no exception. Blending together deep rhythms and soulful melodies, the French prodigy shows a peculiar vision of the dancefloor where strong sensations, emotions and futurism take command. Always in perfect synch with the audience, Mondkopf likes to make people react to his music both physically and mentally. His goal: to make people dance… and dream!

Mondkopf – Bones Club

Check out Mondkopf’s profile on MySpace for news and updates and purchase his music on Mondkopf

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