SHREM'S CAROUSEL OF ÜBER NERDINESS: January 2015

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Crème de la crème: TOP 20 BEST OF JANUARY 2015

20 (N) "HOTFOOT" - Doldrums (Sub Pop Records)

19 (N) "Le Pilote" - Exotica (Chambre 404)

18 (N) "Apocalipsi" - Jansky feat. Defled (Primeros Pasitos)

JANSKY 'APOCALIPSI' from Joan Guasch on Vimeo.

17 (N) "Color Decay" - Júníus Meyvant (Record Records)

16 (N) "Filthy Believer" - BEA (BEA1991)

15 (7) "On The Regular" - Shamir (XL Recordings)

14 (N) "Won't You See" - GL (Plastic World)

13 (N) "Biggest Joke Of All" - Fatima (Eglo Records)

12 (N) "The Lava (Jolie Chérie Remix)" - Equateur (Nouvelle New Wave)

11 (N) "You Can Shine" - Andy Butler feat. Richard Kennedy (mr.intl)

10 (N) "101 Reasons" - J-Felix (Tru Thoughts)

9 (N) "All On You" - Jessie Ware (Island Records)

8 (16) "Vicious Love" - Midnight Magic (Soul Clap Records)

7 (N) "The Great Elements" - Mahaut Mondino (unreleased)

6 (N) "Où Tu Veux" - Jolie Chérie & Valli (self-released/free download)

5 (N) "Delirious" - Susanne Sundfør (Sonnet Sound)

4 (N) "Stonemilker" - Björk (One Little Indian)

3 (N) "Christine" - Christine and the Queens (Because Music)

2 (N) "Aerobic Lambada" - Zhala (Konichiwa Records)

1 (N) "Invisions" - Luca C & Brigante feat. Róisín Murphy (Hot Creations)

Friday, January 30, 2015

SHREM'S FUTURE ANTHEMS: "THE LAVA (Jolie Chérie Remix)" - Equateur

It hasn't even been 2 weeks since my favourite Parisian synth-pop trio Jolie Chérie premiered their delicious new single "Où Tu Veux" and they're already serving us another electro anthem in the making. Their rendition of Equateur's "The Lava" is a classic French Touch recipe with a Balearic twist and irresistibly summery vibe. Right next to Vii's "Ton Goût Des Garçons", Kavinsky's "Nightcall" and Black Strobe's "Me And Madonna" among Jolie Chérie's most enjoyable remixes to date. A dancefloor winner, big time!

And here are the other remixes I mentioned above. Let's party!

Thursday, January 29, 2015

CHOON OF THE DAY: "DELIRIOUS" - Susanne Sundfør

Norwegian songstress Susanne Sundfør returns with "Delirious", the 2nd single announcing the release of "Ten Love Songs". Röyksopp's frequent collaborator stuns with her most astonishing offering to date as "Delirious" electrifies with a powerful melody, impressive vocal harmonies, spectacular production, exquisite string arrangements and multi-layered effects. Synth-pop fierceness and one of the most promising tracks to emerge so far in 2015. "I wanted to write a cinematic song about love and power. It started off with just the beat and bass and as I developed it I added the strings and more and more vocal arrangements, until I felt the message was clear enough." - Sundfør explains in the official press release.

Monday, January 26, 2015

SHREM'S LATE MONDAY NIGHT SESSIONS: "YOU CAN SHINE" - Andy Butler feat. Richard Kennedy

Following the vibrant collaborations with the most flamboyant selection of vocalists, the likes of Antony Hegarty, Shaun J Wright, Kim Ann Foxman, Nomi Ruiz, Aérea Negrot, Krystle Warren, Gustaph, John Grant or Rouge Mary, Hercules & Love Affair's Andrew Butler recruited the velvet voiced Gospel powerhouse Richard Kennedy, to serve his most recent house effort. "You Can Shine", which premiered today on Pitchfork, is the first of the 2 new tracks which Butler, the "enfant terrible" of the House scene, intends to release under his own name rather than his Hercules alias. "You Can Shine" and "Personality Track" are out February 23 on vinyl, March 16 on Beatport, and March 30 on iTunes and other digital stores via his own label, mr.intl.

As Mr Hercules explains in the official press release, "Whilst Hercules has a collaborative, collective approach, Shine goes for a more direct approach, a stomping, uplifting club 12" but it's me so it will still have something of Hercules about it."

"I wanted to tap into the gospel tradition, for there to be a testifying quality to the record,” he continues. “Richard and I talk in the lyrics about putting ego aside and allowing people around you to shine. You shine when you acknowledge other people's shine, even, if you will, the creator's shine. I hope we've created something new. House is often soulful but you very rarely hear a big gospel-inflected voice paired with booming, doomy techno."

SHREM'S CLUB BIZARRE INTRODUCING: "AEROBIC LAMBADA" - Zhala

The Swedish Modern Rave diva and Robyn's protégé, Zhala, who stole my heart last year with "I’m In Love" (among Top 10 Best Tracks of 2014) is back with another one of a kind, unstoppable electro moment. I've already listed Zhala alongside Ibeyi, Yumi Zouma and Shamir as one of the hottest newcomers last year so unsurprisingly I am really hoping Konichiwa Records are planning to release her debut album sometime in 2015. Hyper-energetic, bizarrely tribal and inescapably hypnotic, "Aerobic Lambada" adds an extra layer of fascination to the artistic intrigue that is Zhala. I am a huge fan.

Friday, January 23, 2015

SHREM'S GUILTIEST OF PLEASURES... VOL. 39: "VICTIM OF PLEASURE" + "I JUST CAN'T WAIT (The Cool And Breezy Jazz Version)" - Mandy Smith

"I JUST CAN'T WAIT"
RELEASE DATE: 1987
CHART PEAK: JPN #1, ITA #9, NOR #9

"VICTIM OF PLEASURE"
RELEASE DATE: 1988
CHART PEAK: ITA #11, CHE #28, DEU #49

Thursday, January 22, 2015

SHREM'S DOUBLE TROUBLE: "FILTHY BELIEVER" /// "WE'RE LIKE THE HARD BORN" - BEA

"Filthy Believer" and "We're Like The Hard Born", two songs taken from BEA's exquisite "Good Thinking" EP, both echo trip-hop reminiscences of the late 90's. Mono's elegant "Formica Blues", Vanessa Daou's "Zipless" and Crustation's "Bloom" all came to my mind while listening to this truly exceptional set of songs. BEA comes from The Netherlands and likes to keep things cool and low-key in the virtual reality of internet, remaining admirably independent, unpredictable and inconspicuous. A rare talent.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

SHREM'S FUTURE ANTHEMS: "OÙ TU VEUX" - Jolie Chérie

How did I survive a whole long year without at least one single by favourite French act Jolie Chérie remains a mystery... The last time we heard from the Parisian electro pop trio was December 2012 when the band was kind enough to premiere their "One, Two, Three" single here on my Carousel. Now Jolie Chérie are back with "Où Tu Veux" a surprising collaboration featuring Valli, a French singer popular back in the 1980's with her band Chagrin D'Amour. The single is what Jolie Chérie does best, a delicious crossover between perfect pop moment and oldskool flavoured club anthem with a pinch of mandatory "French Touch". "Où Tu Veux" is accompanied by a delectably old-fashioned and stylish black & white video directed by Jean Paul Routier. Voilà!

Plaisir De France serves the first official remix of the song, taken from his Remix collection "État des Lieux":

Friday, January 16, 2015

SHREM'S CLUB BIZARRE INTRODUCING: "APOCALIPSI" - Jansky feat. Defled

Jansky is an electronic duo from Palma, Mallorca whom I discovered in 2013 with their mysterious debut EP "Un Big Bang A La Gibrella". Jaume Reus and Laia MaLo are serving another intriguing slice of bizarre techno POP with "Apocalipsi", half whispered and half sung in Catalan just like their previous recordings. The track is announcing the arrival of their new LP "éSSER ElèCTRIC". It's throbbing, it's hypnotic, it's unsettling in an eerily seducing way. Electronic poetry made in Spain. It was bound to end up in my Club Bizarre.

The video was directed by Joan Guasch.

JANSKY 'APOCALIPSI' from Joan Guasch on Vimeo.