Download: Rihanna - "We Found Love" (Star Slinger Refix)

After yesterday's Mount Kimbie remix the generous Star Slinger, pulls out yet another treat from his seemingly bottomless gift back. This time it's Rihanna's "We Found Love" that gets refixed and the results are astonishing.  As expected the vocal gets chopped up and the beat is in the red.  Listen to or download below:   

Rihanna - We Found Love (Star Slinger Refix) by Star Slinger

Download: Mount Kimbie - "Before I Move Off" (Star Slinger Refix)

Leaving no stone unturned, Brit beatmaker Star Slinger offers up yet another bootleg refix (check out his recent refix for Drake's "Over My Dead Body" here) just in time for Christmas.  Star Slinger applies his characteristic vaccum pumped, ultra-compressed beats all over Mount Kimbie's "Before I Move Off" from their brilliant Crooks & Lovers LP.  Listen to or download the track below:

Mount Kimbie - Before I Move Off [Star Slinger Refix] by Star Slinger

James Blake and Mount Kimbie live at the Warehouse Project (Manchester, 26.11.11)

James Blake live

As previously announced, last Saturday Red Cup was in Manchester to witness and cover the R&S Records night at the Warehouse Project.  First off, let's get one thing out of the way: while last summer we also covered an R&S night here in Athens and we also recently travelled to Paris for the Pitchfork Festival and the We Love BoomBox event...this one night in Manchester was far superior in every way starting from the venue, the sound and the organization, all the way to the line-up, the crowd and the overall vibe.  The nostalgic aesthetic of the venue was reminiscent of spontaneous old skool raves while at the same time the organization of the Warehouse Project ensured a smooth night with almost no queues (except for the smoking section!).  The sound in both rooms was loud with thunderous trouser shaking low-ends and clear high-ends.  As for the crowd, one immediately had the sense that they were there for the music - a testament to Manchester's thriving music scene.

As for the line-up the obvious highlights were Mount Kimbie and James Blake who performed live one after the other, and even together for an all too brief moment.

Mount Kimbie live

Mount Kimbie are known for their engaging live shows mostly due to the fact that they actually perform their songs rather than making minor tweaks to a pre-sequenced set.  Usually a typical post-dubstep outfit would sit behind a laptop and bop their heads, leaving us struggling to catch a glimpse of a facial expression in the glow of their screens as the only form of crowd interaction.  This was not the case with this duo who were improvising their tracks on stage, looking to eachother for cues, banging away at all sorts of midi-controllers and even reconstructing textures and sounds on the fly through the unconventional use of an electric guitar. 

Mount Kimbie live

From the opening track "Carbonated" the show was as gripping to watch as it was to listen to.  The duo closed off their set in a typical manner with "Maybes" yet with the (expected) surprise appearance of James Blake on stage to add some vocals and have a go at the gear, who upon getting up exclaimed "this reminds me of old times" (watch the video below). 

James Blake live

Next up was James Blake.  We've said a lot on this blog about the this man's music and while we've been unabashedly praising a lot of his earlier work we've been slightly skeptical as to the vocal turn evident on his latest LP and EPs.  All these concerns were immediately cast aside once we witnessed the sheer power of his voice in combination with a stripped down live set-up (James on the synthesizers, a guitarist who also was triggering some samples and a drummer with an acoustic and electronic kit).  

James Blake live

Songs that we might have skipped over on the LP sounded immense, while he breathed further life into record highlights such as "Limit to Your Love" and "The Wilhelm Scream".  Older, vocal-less and more electronic tracks such as "CMYK" were also given the live treatment to astonishing results (watch the video below).  Needless to say this was one of those unique and memorable live music experiences that forced us to look back at the artist's work and convinced us of his vision. 

In sum, achieving a live performance that is comparable or even surpasses the recorded material is a rare accomplishment in the world of electronic music.  Nonetheless, Mount Kimbie and James Blake have managed to do just that.  

Admittedly, we spent the rest of the night going back and forth between the rest of the acts trying to get as much in, albeit in a more casual way.  Lone's set sounded interesting as always and James Blake's DJ set in the smaller room was based around some banging dubstep tunes, yet he also dropped Drake's "Headlines" which was a welcome surprise.  All in all we really couldn't have asked for more from a night like this.  We're looking forward both to another event at the Warehouse Project as well as another opportunity to see the R&S roster live again.


For more photos and videos head over to the relevant facebook photo album or our youtube channel.

Photos and footage by Vanessa Keen

Red Cup goes to the Warehouse Project - R&S Records night

Red Cup are known fans of the R&S records roster and were thrilled to see a label dedicated event featuring Lone and Pariah here in Athens (see our coverage of the night here if you haven't already).  Now we are even more excited to announce that we will be travelling to Manchester this Saturday 26th of November to cover the R&S Records night under the auspices of the Warehouse Project. The line-up includes live and dj sets by such 'post-dubstep' Red Cup favorites as James Blake (live and DJ set), Mout Kimbie (live set), Lone, Pariah and Blawan (for the full line-up head here).  Surf in to see plenty of videos and photos, as well as a round-up of the event soon.

James Blake and Mount Kimbie Live