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TOM VEK

September 11th, 2011 by Dave Ruby Howe | No Comments | Filed in Hyperbole

For my money (and whatever that’s worth), Aroused was probably the best cut from Tom Vek’s comeback LP, Leisure Seizure, with Vek’s winning brand of dusty-basement indie dance taking us right back to 2006 when everything was much simpler and rosy. It seems like the Modular gods (Godular?) have thought the same thing as Aroused has been plumped out with a bunch of remixes fit for blogger consumption. There’s no great revision of the original but those chiming tubes still sound pretty great.

Aroused (Lime Headed Dog Remix) by Tom Vek

Aroused (Esser’s ‘Pleasure Seizures’ Remix) by Tom Vek

Aroused (Tom Vek’s Sub-Edit) by Tom Vek

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AGE OF CONSENT

August 31st, 2011 by Dave Ruby Howe | No Comments | Filed in Hyperbole

Two of 2011′s most on-point British bands unite (again) for a stormer of a remix with the bonus presence of FOE to boot. It’s like a Velvet Revolver meeting for twisted electro youths. Returning the favour after Age Of Consent remixed their tune When O When, the Is Tropical lads lay the stomp down on The Beach with brutal synth buzzes, clattering drums and some good pacing too. This is great stuff.

Age Of Consent – The Beach (Is Tropical Remix ft. FOE)

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HOT HORIZONS

August 19th, 2011 by Dave Ruby Howe | No Comments | Filed in Hyperbole

Hot Horizons sound like the start of something special bubbling up in the UK that moves against the driving, jangly guitar stuff that the nation’s youth population has been into for the last 10 years or there abouts. Slow, subdued songwriting and arrangements that I guess would be considered ‘pop’ were that not a signifier of Cher Lloyd et al in 2011.

All Of This by hothorizons

Crying by hothorizons

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AGE OF CONSENT

August 8th, 2011 by Dave Ruby Howe | No Comments | Filed in Hyperbole

I remember posting about Age Of Consent back when they were remixing another great UK group, Is Tropical, and I’m stoked to see they’ve gone onto even better things with new single The Beach which crashes and tumbles with man/machine drum bashes, weathered synthesizers and that urging vocal. The clip’s particularly good too, though the dude could use a little L’Oreal for men.

The Beach by ageofconsent

YouTube Preview Image

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IS TROPICAL

July 24th, 2011 by Dave Ruby Howe | No Comments | Filed in Hyperbole, Writing

I’ve made my love of Is Tropical pretty clear by now on this blog but that’s also extended to some freelance work recently where I’ve reviewed their debut LP Native To. I’ve been digging it quite a bit and it grows a little stronger with each listen. There are some clear Klaxons vibes around which I do mention but for the most part Is Tropical sound like they’re having so much more fun than the Klaxons ever did.

Is Tropical – I Think We’re Alone (Demo)

Is Tropical – South Pacific (Weekend Wolves Remix)

Originally published in triple j magazine

Is Tropical
Native To (Kitsune/Cooperative)
Rating: 7/10
Download: “South Pacific”

With handkerchiefs obscuring their faces you might think Is Tropical are more dense art-rockers but on debut LP Native To the UK group just wants to make goofy pop. Opener “South Pacific” is a cruisey jam with bright synth washes and thin, strangled guitars, the languid “Lies” gets hit with alternately plush and razor-blade electronics and “Zombies” crashes about wildly. Even under the layers of their brash noise adventures Is Tropical’s hooky gifts still peek through.

Originally published in The Canberra Times

Is Tropical
Native To (Kitsune/Cooperative)

With roughshot guitar licks colliding with offbeat electronics and trippy, fuzzy vocal refrains Is Tropical’s debut LP Native To comes with more than its fair share of Klaxons vibes – made ever more apparent by a shared label in Kitsune. But while the comparisons abound, Is Tropical come with far less game-chaging hype and crippling anticipation than the Klaxons lads did back in 2006 and Native To fares better because of it.

Coming along a couple of years after the much maligned ‘new-rave’ boom has served the UK trio well as underneath their face-obscuring balaclavas it seems Is Tropical are unconcerned about being the band of the minute, instead they’re happy to throw out all their ideas, polished and not, and see what sticks. Most of it does like the summery synth jam South Pacific, the robotic disco pop of Think We’re Alone, or Oranges with its mess of distorted guitar waves and cascading bass drums. They won’t change the world but Is Tropical aren’t even trying.

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IS TROPICAL

May 27th, 2011 by Dave Ruby Howe | No Comments | Filed in Hyperbole

It’s clear that Is Tropical are the business right now and before they get down the gritty end of releasing their first record and having their mugs slapped across the NME every other week the Kistune lads have pumped out this remix for old mate Talking Pictures. It’s all thumping beats and wonky electronics. Very nice.

Talking Pictures – Mirrors (Is Tropical Remix)

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METRONOMY

March 24th, 2011 by Dave Ruby Howe | No Comments | Filed in Hyperbole

Let’s take a minute to appreciate this, yeah?

So ‘She Wants’ did nothing much to me on first listen. There was that distinct feeling of anticipation going into it and I was foolishly hoping for something as excellent and giddy as ‘A Thing For Me’, but in its place was something strangely cold and sparse. Bummer.

Since that first meeting I’ve been gradually unwrapping ‘She Wants’ and discovering it is indeed a totally special little single and a great introduction into Metronomy’s ‘The English Riviera’, which is likewise a stylistic switch-up from ‘Nights Out’. The single is never hurried, rather it twists forward with the low-slung bass and steady guitar strikes while the drums patter quietly under the dense production and a solo tambourine casts out a death rattle. Then of course there’s those drowsy synth throbs and Joe Mount’s enriched vocal performance adding a little bit of gothic drama to the minimal track. It’s the closest thing you’ll get to a good and new Cure song any time soon.

Metronomy – She Wants

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ALI LOVE

December 18th, 2010 by Dave Ruby Howe | No Comments | Filed in Hyperbole

I remember when Lost In The K-Hole emerged from some dark, sweaty corner of the blogosphere and Ali Love was the dude of the minute, proclaimed as some kind of club-minstrel revolutionary. Yah, that didn’t really take off did it? No biggie, the guy’s been on the comeback trail since then and his new single Moscow Girl is a very nice change of pace from that original firestarting tune.

Smooth synths shimmy next to slick rhythms and some 808 ticks or something that sits wonderfully in between gay Euro-pop and sophisticated disco. Definitely worth it.

Ali Love – Moscow Girl (Extended Mix)

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MONARCHY

October 28th, 2010 by Dave Ruby Howe | 1 Comment | Filed in Hyperbole

Old favourites Monarchy are at it again on the remix tip, this time polishing off a gold dipped rerub for the latest OMD single, Sister Marie Says. And when I say OMD I do of course mean Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, certified legends of the electronic age. So yeah, it must’ve been a nervous thrill for them to take apart the stems and add their own sheen to the tune. Thankfully, Monarchy are perfectly suited to an OMD remix and their take is light, bouncy and neck deep in pristine electronics.

OMD – Sister Marie Says (Monarchy Remix)

Jamiroquai – White Knuckle Ride (Monarchy Dub)

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IS TROPICAL

October 27th, 2010 by Dave Ruby Howe | No Comments | Filed in Hyperbole

It’s been a bit of an Is Tropical bender around here recently with a couple of blog posts and I even brought South Pacific to The King over the weekend to give the tune a spin on national radio. Now we’re back again with South Pacific which has just been given the green light for bloggers to go nuts on by Kitsune. So yeah, more love. And it’s justified. Grab it if you haven’t yet.

Is Tropical – South Pacific

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