Articles tagged with indie dance

#3 – The Party Line by Belle & Sebastian

The new Belle and Sebastian LP, Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance, is yet-to-be released, but the lead single is already out and, much to my pleasant surprise, it’s an all-out eletro-disco tune. Sure, the band has dipped its toes into this territory before (see “Electric Renaissance” from their debut Tigermilk for a less-than-subtle nod to New Order), but never before have Belle & Sebastian sounded so ready to hit the dance floor. The track opens with a filter sweep, lifting like a curtain on a track full of Stuart Murdoch’s signature melodicism, but this time with disco syncopation and synth flourishes in tow. Fingers crossed that we’ll be hearing more like this when the new album drops in January 2015.

Dutch producers Kraak & Smaak first blipped on my DJ radar last year when they dropped a boogie-funk edit of their single “Dynamite” (intoning the synth & rubber groove of the genre’s forefathers, Zapp & Roger), which was perfect for taking parties from that early-first-or-second-drink vibe to the let’s-turn-this-place-into-a-sweatbox-frenzy peak-hour set. Now they’re back with a new track, “Built for Love,” featuring Romanthony on the mic (the voice on Daft Punk’s “One More Time”), which has a nice, nighttime, cool-breeze sound to it, but I’m putting my cash on this Psychemagik remix. The UK duo forfeits the open-air approach of the original for a production packed tight with sound, heavy with a 4/4 disco-house pulse. I bet it can take an open-air dance floor and pack it tight with bodies, too.

Psychemagik’s remix of “Built For Love,” as well as the original single and remixes by Roach Motel, are available as an EP on Beatport.

– Spoolwork

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Piano house has had a huge comeback (much moreso than sax house), but even with Juan Maclean and the Rapture crafting piano house anthems, you might find difficulty breaking piano house classics with a rocker crowd.

Allow me to introduce Mr. Andrew Weatherall. In the early 90’s he was a sought after remixer and producer who worked with My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream and the Happy Mondays. In 1990, New Order recorded a theme song for the English 1990 World Cup team, which would go on to become their only #1 hit in the UK. The band turned to Weatherall for remix work.

Weatherall’s formula was simple:

1) Give more space to Bernard Sumner’s unmistakeable, anthemic vocals, throw in a little of Hooky’s bass for good measure.
2) Add heaps of Madchester-y percussion loops and big, bouncy beautiful pianos.

You might think this would lead to some strange hybrid of New Order and Ce Ce Peniston, but it works brilliantly for anglophiles and pianophiles alike. Grab a copy, it’s not hard to find if you know where to look.

/// Brian Blackout