Watch: xxxy - "I Know This Can't Be Love" (Music Video)

Check out this straightforward video for xxxy's "I Know This Can't Be Love" about a bouquet flowers bursting into flames.  The track revolves around a pitched-up r&b vocal and a shuffly beat similar to the sound of Sepalcure.  Watch below:

SBTRK - "Surely"

SBTRKT's "Surely" was available as a bonus track on a separate 7" released only with the limited edition of the masked producer's self-titled debut LP and is NOT a new single as many other sites have mistakenly announced.  For those that didn't manage to get a hold of it you can finally listen to it below in all its massive glory:

Watch: Ifan Dafydd - "Treehouse" Music Video

Ifan Dafydd, once rumored to be a James Blake alias, is back with an official video for his track "Treehouse".  The video is essentially a panda version of Daft Punk's "Da Funk" in which the hero was a man with a dog mask.  The track is a superb mix of dreamy atmospherics, melodic vocals and crisp drums.  Listen and watch below:

Download: YADi - "Sahara Heart" (Dam Mantle remix 320)

Glasgow based Dam Mantle reworks YADi track "Sahara Heart" into an epically cavernous post-dubstep that is as poppy as it is experimental.  A very interesting listen from this young producer whose work has been on our radar since we first heard one if his earliest tracks "Rebong".  Listen to or download for free "Sahara Heart" (Dam Mantle remix 320) below:

YADi - Sahara Heart (Dam Mantle remix 320) by BOILER ROOM

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

Mathew Jonson - "Dayz" (dBridge cold blooded remix)

dBridge offers up another incredible track in the form of a 'cold blooded' remix for Mathew Jonson's  "Dayz" on Crosstown Rebels available here as an exclusive download.  dBridge engages his early Warp and d&b influences into that melodic slow cooked sound that was evident on "Decayed", one of our favorite tracks from this year. Listen below:   

Salva - "Yellowbone" (Shlomo and 2KWTVR remix)

Salva is a Californian producer whose music has been getting a whole lot of much deserved buzz for quite some time now.  His EP "Yellowbone" is releasing today and this remix of the title track by Shlomo and 2KWTVR is a definite highlight.  The track is a reverb drenched slab of electronic goodness filled with chopped vocals (a go-to technique these days) and catchy little synth hooks.  Listen to it below along with another track by Salva called "Komodo", which is also featured on the EP:

 

Salva - Komodo by FoFMusic

Watch: Sepalcure - "Pencil Pimp" Music Video

It's an exciting time for underground electronic music.  Genre boundaries are becoming more and more obsolete as many artists are consciously transceding their niche scenes and combining elements from various fields of electronic music.  This seems to be happening at all levels, be it the more obvious macro level of wider genres such as dubstep and techno (see artists such as Martyn, Guy Andrews and Scuba) or micro levels of sub-genres rapidly bouncing influences back and forth.  Sepalcure's "Pencil Pimp" (aka Travis Stewart of Machinedrume and Praveen Sharma of Braille) belongs to the latter category.  The track is a interesting combination of stripped back high-treble bass music with a Mount Kimbie shuffle with vocal snippets treated in a ghost-hop witchy kinda way, similar to Holy Other's work.  Watch their video for "Pencil Pimp", which also works on multiple levels visually, below: