Skrillex: ruining dubstep for everyone since 2010. I’ll put my hands up and admit that I did enjoy him on my first couple of listens, but it’s quickly become clear that his repertoire consists entirely of abrasive wobble-bass. Thankfully, while the explosion of mainstream dubstep sounds pretty stale, there are still some artisan producers out there taking it in a more innovative direction. London-based James Blake springs to mind, and London-based Ben Ash (Two Inch Punch). Now we have London-based Bobby Tank to add to that roster. Looks like you’d best leave this scene to London, America – we’re the original, and we’re still the best.

Where listening to Skrillex is sort of like scratching the inside of your windpipe with a serrated knife, listening to Bobby Tank is more like spreading chocolate on yourself and kicking back on a chaise longue. In fact, the only real difference from that is that in real life, rather than kicking back, it makes you want to move your feet. Like Blake and Ash, he eschews filtered saw bass in favour of a smoother, deeper sound – rather than relying on a gimmick to get the frat boys waving their beers in the air, he goes for this old-school thing called groove.

Nowhere is that more apparent than on one of his many stand-out tracks, “Sexy Thang”. A more appropriate title has quite possibly never been used before. While his latest numbers have mainly sat in low-tempo dubstep territory, his earlier tracks – “Sexy Thang” included – have a very definite disco and French electro influence. His favourite musician is Michael Jackson; his favourite musical era is the ’80s (just look at the artwork). There are moments in amongst the vocal slices and slap bass samples when you could almost be listening to Justice or Daft Punk. And I’m talking “Discovery” era, here.

Bobby Tank bears almost as much similarity to the sliced-and-diced glitch-hop of Young Montana? as he does to his fellow Londoners, and above all it’s this that makes me so excited to hear more from him. He’s taking dubstep in a new direction (albeit one that’s very conscious of its roots). We’ve tried infinite monkeys; it’s time to let some musicians take over. Add to that the fact that when he feels like it he can unleash synth symphonies worthy of M83, and you have yourself one helladelicious musical pie.

Label talks are apparently in progress as I write, so given that and the straight-up quality of the tracks, expect to hear a lot more from Bobby over the coming months. You can stream a generously large selection of his tracks below, but I urge you to follow up the links for more. I have almost nothing bad to say about him, other than that it’s a shame he didn’t name himself Booby Tank. Now that would be a sexy thang.

Connect with Bobby Tank – Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud

This post is a “QuickPick”.

QuickPicks are my attempt at getting all of the music that’s sent to me that I like (or just music I like but have no words for because it’s so awesome!), out into the dubya dots, picked quickly. Less for you to read, more for you to hear.

Artist: Joneses
Genre: Mashup, Remix
Links: Soundcloud | Tumblr

I’ve misplaced my leg-warmers. Normally this wouln’t really bother me – quite the opposite – but I feel naked listening to Big Black Delta without them. The solo side-project of Los Angeles-based Mellowdrone’s founding member, Jonathan Bates; BBD knocks out dark, retro electronica that suggests more rock bassists ought to take time off from their day-jobs. Having worked with M83 on a remix of Daft Punk‘s “Fall” (from the TRON: Legacy OST), he’s seen something of a meteoric rise of late. Turns out M83 and Daft Punk are both kind of a big deal. Who knew?

The sound’s likely to be a bit divisive, I imagine. If you like stupidly fat synths, lashings of side-chain, and snare reverb tails that last a lifetime, you’re going to love it. If you don’t love it, then you’ll probably hate it. If there’s one thing that BBD is not, it’s understated. It’s big, it’s broody, it’s dark, and you can like it or lump it.

Debut album “BBDLP1″ (Jonathan doesn’t exactly piss about when it comes to naming things: the preceding EP was titled “BBDEP1″) is very much a continuation of the same direction. What really sells it are the quality of the song-writing and his voice. Underneath all the layers of synth are propulsive melodies and brilliantly hooky basslines; Jonathan has something of Ian Curtis about him that suggests BBD is a look at what might have been.

The biggest stylistic shift on the album is “Dreary Moon”, but for all it’s nice to take a break from the driving pace, it felt a little underwhelming. Far more satisfactory was the similarly slow, but much more engrossing and atmospheric “PB3″. Perhaps not everyone will agree with me – “PB3″ is, after all, nearly six minutes of one long note, while “Dreary Moon” does actually have a melody – but the latter track felt much more like the breather the album deserved.

I guess it’s a mark of Jonathan’s background in rock that I was put in mind of The Bravery, although “BBDLP1″ is much more consistent than any of their offerings to date. You might also describe it as a considerably darker Starfucker, as he blends fairly conventional synth instrumentation with far from conventional melodic prowess. The synths themselves, though, are textbook Gary Numan. That said, the overall feeling I got from highlights such as “Huggin & Kissin” and “IFUCKINGLOVEYOU” was like nothing quite so much as Brighton’s doom-laden Sealings, and their formidable “2 Cups“ (make sure your speakers are at full or you won’t get the proper head-exploding-like-a-melon experience).

BBD has pledged an impressively regular stream of releases, so keep your eyes peeled. “BBDLP1″ was free to download for the first week of its release, so Jonathan has a track record of generosity… Either way, his tunes are certainly worthy of a dime. If you need further proof, you can stream both of “Huggin & Kissin” and “IFUCKINGLOVEYOU” below.

Connect with Big Black Delta – Facebook | Twitter | Website | Soundcloud

Huggin & Kissin by Big Black Delta

IFUCKINGLOVEYOU by Big Black Delta

This new track “Drive” by Daft Punk is actually from way back in 1994 when they were sending demos around to various labels.

One such label they sent it to was Scottish electronic label Soma Recordings who ended up releasing their debut LP. Recently the label were going through some old stuff they had sitting around (probably shiny helmets, empty cans of Tennents, black leather suits……) and found a box with some tapes in it, one of which had this song on it that for one reason or another was never released.

As the label celebrate their 20th anniversary they’ve decided to put this new unheard Daft Punk song on the compilation along with some of their favourite tracks they’ve released in the last 20 years.  ”Drive” was played on BBC Radio One this afternoon and you can hear it below, and head over to their site can grab the 3 disc compilation.

Connect with Daft Punk - Facebook / Twitter / Last.fm

Buy the album from Amazon – Vinyl / MP3 / CD

One of the fundamental goals of running a music blog is to introduce people to new music.  The primary method of doing this is to highlight new releases, either via up and coming bands that show potential or tried-and-true musical mainstays that generally please the masses.  Lost in this growing blogging race are the building blocks that got us to where we are, the albums that sounded like the hot new thing before the hot new thing was even a thing.  So, in an effort to spotlight some artists or albums that might not have hit Hype Machine lately, Listen Before You Buy will be doing a series of “Flashback” posts throughout 2011. Each of the posts will focus on an album that came out one decade ago, in the year 2001 – a year that, a decade later, seems like some sort of turning point.  After all, 2001 was the year The Strokes saved rock & roll…

More than any other album I can think of, Daft Punk’s 2001 masterpiece “Discovery” is about as close as any host can come to a party in a box. Everything is in there, all you have to do is press play and you have the next hour planned out. You don’t need to put anything on shuffle because the order is pitch-perfect. It’s a “set it and can’t forget it” experience, the sound of sheer joy incarnate.

It’s interesting to note in hindsight just how wrong everyone, including myself, has been at judging the tastes of the masses in music. Pitchfork’s original review of “Discovery” is blatantly condescending in retrospect, but despite the progression of Chicago House and French neo-disco at the time, it would be hard to imagine someone predicting this album’s level of success before it happened.

I’ve listened to this record so many times that every song was at one point my favorite. Now I’m on the other side and just can’t pick one. “One More Time” is anthemic, as are many other songs. “Short Circuit” feels dropped in from a different world, let alone a different decade, and still slides perfectly into place among the other gems all over the record. “Digital Love” is often the song I choose to introduce the uninitiated into the Church of Daft Punk, but really just listening straight through should do the trick.

While we’re on the note of singling out individual songs, I’ll still go to bat with anyone who thinks Kanye West’s sample of “Harder Better Faster Stronger” is better than the original song, because they are just plain wrong. I like “Stronger” but it takes the song completely out of context. “Discovery” has only been properly labeled a concept album with some distance, and each song can’t really be separated from its place within this work without damaging it, if only slightly.

“Superheroes” has the sounds of a laser battle embedded in the background, “Voyager” floats on the strength of that lulling up and down trill over the drumbeats, and the list goes on. There are positive things to say about every single track on this album because it exudes positivity. Even in the softer moments, the whole thing is so damn bright that it can do nothing but inspire happiness.

Nobody said Daft Punk was completely original, but their blend of disco, house, and electronica elevated the appeal of those genres to the masses. Girl Talk gets a lot of credit for taking so many songs and linking them together in somehow glitch-y coherent fashion, but Daft Punk will always rest at least one solid position above Gillis for creating their own sounds instead of skillful cutting and pasting. Justice released a very well-received debut, but they have so much damn pressure on their backs to do something on the level of Daft Punk, and after evidence their live shows are recorded hit the internet, they slipped quite a bit, such is the degree of difficulty for what Daft Punk makes look easy.

Great and terrible things emerged from “Discovery”: I can’t think of a single person who enjoys the remixes from “Daft Club”, but at the same time I can’t name anyone who’s watched “Interstella 555” with anything other than a giant grin on their face. That film joined a very small category of movie-musical projects along with Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” as near-required experiences beyond listening to an album. “Something About Us” becomes a much more touching song, eschewing the love clichés of its lyrics, when set to that gorgeous tribute sequence. If you haven’t seen the film, seek it out now, and preferably with a bunch of friends and some mood-altering beverages and the like. Its pastiche of science fiction, b-movies like “Xanadu” and “The Apple”, and “Jem” level magical stage production values made it an altogether engrossing piece of cross-genre expression.

Daft Punk have never been able to match the level of insanity, ferocity, or popularity they reached with “Discovery”, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It’s a joyous record, and combined with cherry-picked songs from other albums Daft Punk managed to have their cake and eat it too on “Alive 2007” which combined the best of everything jumbled up with an absolutely amped live crowd. Still, “Discovery” remains their definitive statement packaged in one place, a message of joy and dancing sent out over the airwaves to anyone looking to party at anytime.

Connect with Daft Punk – Facebook / Twitter / Last.fm

Connect with Benoit & Sergio: Facebook | Website | Soundcloud

This post is a “QuickPick”.  QuickPicks are my attempt at getting all of the music that’s sent to me that I like (or just music I like but have no words for because it’s so awesome), out into the dubya dots.

Any time I get sent music that I like I “star” it in Gmail and then go back and listen to it a day later.  If it’s still as good as it was a day before then it goes up on the site, but sometimes I get backlogged and can’t get through writing up pieces for each artist and stay on top of the game, so hopefully this will alleviate some of the logs of rear.  You’ll still get the MP3s, pictures, links and fresh fruit that you’ve come to know and love around here, you’ll just get less of my inarticulate musings (win for you!).

Artist: Joneses
Genre: Mashup, Remix
Links: Soundcloud | Tumblr

Joneses – “Girls Around The World” (Beyonce vs. Daft Punk vs. Dev)

One thing that always amazes me about music is how new stuff gets written every day. With a handful of notes, artists still manage to create new songs and tunes and only occasionally do you hear something and think, “That sounds like…”.

Some artists look beyond the usual music scale and find other ways to push the musical boundaries. Nowhere is this more evident than in electronica where the beeps and whistles of the everyday can be transformed into music that sounds futuristic, otherworldy and sometimes, distinctly odd. One only has to look at artists like Aphex Twin and Daft Punk to see where the music can take you.

Jacob 2-2 is a Brooklyn-based producer who is beginning to show a talent in this direction.  With just 2 EPs to his name, “Cabazon”, where this track comes from and “Gifted Child”, released last year, he is already catching the attention of names like Com Truise. Both EPs display his exceptional talents of making lush soundscapes out of those electronic sounds and samples.

Listening to some of the tracks is like eavesdropping on computers chatting away to each other whilst others have fantastic little dance beats and rhythms that you can’t help doing freaky little robotic dances to.

“Brainstorms” is one of the danceable tracks and it reminded in places of my old ZX Spectrum. A positive cornucopia of bleeps, beeps, whirrs and whistles over a funky backing this is full on, Friday night at the computer nightclub, dance music. If he releases it as a single and it doesn’t have a collection of old personal computers breakdancing there’s no justice in the world.

Head on over to his bandcamp page to download the EPs and keep an eye on this one.

Connect with Jacob 2-2: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp

Jacob 2-2 – Brainstorms

This post is a “QuickPick”.  QuickPicks are my attempt at getting all of the music that’s sent to me that I like (or just music I like but have no words for because it’s so awesome), out into the dubya dots.

Any time I get sent music that I like I “star” it in Gmail and then go back and listen to it a day later.  If it’s still as good as it was a day before then it goes up on the site, but sometimes I get backlogged and can’t get through writing up pieces for each artist and stay on top of the game, so hopefully this will alleviate some of the logs of rear.  You’ll still get the MP3s, pictures, links and fresh fruit that you’ve come to know and love around here, you’ll just get less of my inarticulate musings (win for you!).

Artist: Joneses
Genre: Mashup, Remix
Links: Soundcloud | Tumblr

Crystal Castles Vs. Daft Punk – “Da Funk Is Empathy” (Joneses Edit)

While I wouldn’t consider myself an electronica aficionado, like fellow LBYB writer Leisha, I do enjoy a good mix when I hear it.  This new artist, Robot Science, or Charlie Yin as he’s better known to his classmates, is a student at UC Berkley.  Yin sounds like your typical Chinese-American undergrad (despite being freakishly tall for an Asian, 6’2″), however, he’s got a whole other side to him that drops insanely inventive tracks.

I wouldn’t mind having him for a dormmate.  Need music to study?  Ask Yin to play “Plush.”  Need music to sleep?  Play the mellow track, “Shine.”  Having a party?  Turn up “Daggers.”

What peaked my interest (aside from our mutual love of “thick, sturdy, structurally sound sandwiches”) was Yin’s creativity by mixing traditional electronic beats with everyday noises – telephone key strokes, children playing, birds chirping – and throwing in some sounds that make you feel like you’re in a Mario Bros. video game.   On the music end, I hear Daft Punk, The Album Leaf and Justice influences but with a twist.

Yin likes to keep it real, claiming that a career in music for him is unlikely (hence his unyielding and studious nature that led him to study abroad in Taiwan).  I can’t predict the future, but if he keeps turning out albums like Good Luck and his debut album, Doodads, I wouldn’t rule out a career making music.  Press on, Yin…press on.  Check out all of his music on his Bandcamp page.  You can also listen to a remix he did of Toro Y Moi’s Talamak below.

Connect with Robot Science – Facebook / Myspace / Bandcamp

Toro Y Moi – “Talamak” (Robot Science Remix)
Robot Science – “Daggers”
Robot Science – “Plush”