Warmer: Delorean.

Photo courtesy of Nacho Algre

I’ve been writing a lot of overdue posts over the past week but this one is the most overdue of all. Delorean are a group that I have been following for a good while now that I have been most remiss in not mentioning before. Coming from Barcelona, the group have been around since about 2000, beginning by making apparently lacklustre indie pop. However, they made a significant stylistic change in their sound just after the middle of the decade, swapping out a few members and bringing in some synthesisers. Their first release with the new line-up was 2009′s excellent EP Aryton Senna, out on Spanish label Mushroom Pillow, showcasing their uniquely bliss-filled, house-influenced style, shot through with a certain attractive European-ism that you very rarely feel when listening to British artists. This upward trend has only continued ever since, culminating with the release of their first LP, Subiza, about 2 months ago on True Panther. It does what the EP does, but on a much larger scale, and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone in need of a pick-me-up. Indeed, listening to Delorean might be one of the surest ways to feel happier about life that there is. What better recommendation is there than that?
We have 2 tracks off Subiza for you to download today – the much-blogged ‘Stay Close’ and the latest single off the album, ‘Real Love’. ‘Stay Close’ is for dancing to, having a faster beat than the more reflective ‘Real Love’. Both are great. Grab them below.

Delorean – Stay Close

Delorean – Real Love

The ‘Real Love’ single release has been given the full treatment, the track receiving 6 different remixes, including ones by Pipedown-favourites The Field and Deadboy. They both pull the track in their particular musical directions, The Field finding a midpoint between Delorean and minimalism while Deadboy takes it towards UK Funky/Garage. Listen below.

Delorean- Real Love by matadorrecs

Also, if you like what you hear, check out this fascinating video, courtesy of Yours Truly, of Delorean playing album track ‘Grow’ and talking about their inspiration.

Yourstru.ly Presents: Delorean “Grow” from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

+BONUS
This is the track that first brought Delorean to my attention – an outstanding remix of good friends Lemonade. Download below.

Lemonade – Big Weekend (Delorean Remix)

Buy Real Love EP here
Buy Subiza here
Buy Aryton Senna EP here
Delorean MySpace
Delorean’s Blog

Mosca Fabriclive Mix.

In the run up to his appearance as a part of the Club Autonomic takeover of Fabic room 3 next Friday, Mosca has put together an 80 minute mix with enough unreleased and forthcoming material to keep even the most up to date trainspotters guessing. Alongside Mosca on the 6th you can catch Untold and of course Autonomic architects Dbridge and Instra:mental.

Tracklist
Blawan – Potchla Vee [Unreleased]
Rubi Dan – Pelvic Floor (Acapella) [Unreleased]
Mosca – Tilt Shift [Forthcoming Fat City]
Deamonds – Tilt Shift Crooks [Unreleased]
Keke Palmer – Super Jerkin’
Equinoxx – Infantry Riddim (Version)
T’Nez – Normal Day (Infantry Riddim)
Kemikal – Hear Mi Nuh (Infantry Riddim)
Navino – Put It On (Infantry Riddim)
Terre Thaemlitz – Radio Freedom
Ramadanman – Grab Somebody [Unreleased]
G.O.D Limited – Bounce
Kismet – Loose Screw [Unreleased]
DJ Deekline & Red Polo – Let It Bump (Hydroz Remix)
Menta – Sounds Of Da Future
Braiden – The Alps [Forthcoming Doldrums]
Seany B – Bass Release
DJ Technics – Hoody Hood Rat
Riva Starr – Maria
Funkystepz – Leave With You [Unreleased]
Dwongo Lab – 60 Seconds
Pariah – Crossed Out
Ramadanman & Midland – More Than You Know
Alison Hinds – Roll It Gal (Acapella)
Doc Daneeka – Hold On [Forthcoming Ramp]
T Williams – Drumstrumental [Unreleased]
Imran Khan – Amplifier
Frankie Bones – Beware
J2K Ft Roses Gabor – Don’t Let It Go [Unreleased]
Mosca – Brand New Polaroid
Loefah – Fire Elements
Jaimeson – Urban Hero
Darqwan – Confused
Tubby vs Footsie – Tiger Style
Joe – Digest
JME Ft Tempz – CD Is Dead (Acapella)
Youngstar – The Formula
TRC Ft Z.O & Bonez – Bang (DJ Q Remix) [Unreleased]
General LOK – Elmo Riddem
CRST – Dance (Mosca Remix) [Forthcoming No Hats No Hoods]

West-End Girl: Best Coast.

Best Coast is Bethany Cosentino from Los Angeles. She loves her cat, Snacks, and makes the kind of guitar pop designed for listening to while chilling with your friends. Her album, Crazy For You came out Monday just gone on Mexican Summer, and its a breezy 30 minutes long, packed with hooks. I haven’t yet given it much time (and probably won’t for a while yet – my Arcade Fire pre-order came in the post today) but I can tell you that lead track ‘Boyfriend’ is a solid-gold tune. Lyrically following the well-worn love-lorn template, ‘Boyfriend’ is nonetheless a great track, and a great showcase for Best Coast’s talent. Download it below, and buy the album from here.

Best Coast – Boyfriend

Best Coast MySpace
Best Coast’s Blog

Flowering: Baths.

Here at Pipedown we have been following West Coast producer Baths for a while now, showing him some love (and giving away the excellent ‘Hall’ and ‘Maximalist’ too) here. Also, fellow Pipedown member SimonSays used Baths’ ‘Mecha Joy’ as the base of a blend with ‘Heaven’ by rapper Declaime – if you haven’t already grabbed this one then I suggest you immediately do so from here. Debut LP Cerulean came out July 6th, and Baths was kind enough to put up my favourite track for free download a couple of days back, courtesy of Stereogum. It is called ‘Lovely Bloodflow’ and has a characteristically skittering beat, some classy piano touches and half creepy, half inspired singing in the chorus. I highly recommend it.

Baths – Lovely Bloodflow

Buy Cerulean here

Eglo Summer Takeover 31/07.

The formidable Eglo Records return this Saturday for their Summer Jam in the basement of The Camp. Performances on the night from Eglo regulars Floating Points, Alexander Nut, Funkineven, Fatima and Shuanise as well as a top secret special guest bringing a touch of West Coast magic. You do the maths.

As promo for the night Alex Nut and Floating Points have put together a mix which goes some way to defining the genre uniting aesthetic of Eglo. Soul, Soul, Soul and a bit more Soul served on a bed of Hip Hop, House, Funk and Gospel.

Alex Nut & Floating Points – Eglo Summer Jam Promo Mix

+

Flyer

Midnight: How To Dress Well.

R ‘n’ B jams sung by ghosts. That is how I would best describe the music of Tom Krell a.k.a. How To Dress Well. Coming from Cologne but currently living in Brooklyn, HTDW constructs his songs from subtle instrumentation and layered vocals. The EQ of his tracks are often pushed into uncomfortable territory in the style of Sleigh Bells but with different reasoning – Sleigh Bells aim to be uncomfortably loud, HTDW aim to be uncomfortably quiet. It is affecting listening – I can’t think of any other act that sounds so full of long nights of longing and loneliness in their music. But loneliness and longing are just as important as good times, and music that celebrates the unhappy is just as worthy of attention as that which look at the joyful moments.
We have three tracks for download for you. First up is ‘Suicide Dream 2′, a track built from just piano and vocals that would be perfect for the end credits of a film with a particularly sad ending. ‘Decisions’ does not actually feature 77 year-old Turkish painter Yüksel Arslan but was inspired by his work. It is a more upbeat track, sounding like a blown-out off-cut from The-Dream. ‘Ready For the World’ is the most cleanly produced of the three, being his debut single, available on 7″ here.

How To Dress Well – Suicide Dream 2

How To Dress Well – Decisions Feat. Yüksel Arslan

How To Dress Well – Ready For the World

Like what you hear? Well, first stop is HTDW’s very own, regularly updated blog, containing enough HTDW music and information for anyone. After that, you can start waiting for the release of his debut LP, Love Remains, out on Lefse Records on September 21st. Tracklisting below:

01 You Hold the Water
02 Ready for the World
03 My Body
04 Suicide Dream 2
05 You Won’t Need Me Where I’m Goin’
06 Can’t See My Own Face
07 Walking This Dumb
08 Date of Birth
09 Escape Before the Rain
10 Endless Rain
11 Lover’s Start
12 Mr. By & By
13 Decisions Feat. Yüksel Arslan
14 Suicide Dream 1

How To Dress Well MySpace

It’s On: Elite Gymnastics.

Confession time. When I first thought of writing this post, I thought Elite Gymnastics were just a minor thing, a group that got lucky with one great track, that track being ‘Is This On Me?’ However, after having now listened to the rest of their output (helpfully all available for free download on their Tumblr), I have come to the realisation that they might be geniuses. I am doing my best to avoid mad hyperbole but these guys seem to have distilled many different musical currents into one uplifting whole in exactly the kind of way that gets me excited. Coming out of Minneapolis and apparently formed over a shared love of UGK (or, at least, UGK-referencing homemade t-shirts), they cite Nine Inch Nails, Washed Out and Pictureplane as influences, but don’t really sound like any of them. If I had to define them, I would say they sounded like jj or Air France if they had enough bass to be found on Rinse FM. This is a group that you can believe in.
While its tempting to put up all their tracks for download here, I have to be selective. First up, we have the aforementioned ‘Is This On Me?’, last track on their debut REAL FRIENDS EP. It starts with synth lines and washes, reminiscent of the Avalanches’ classic ‘Since I Left You’, before dropping into a bass heavy verse about questions of guilt, backed with high-pitched vocal loops. ‘Parachute’ sounds way more like a UK Funky track, some kind of Roska karaoke. The last track I picked is ‘We Fly High’, an emotive mission statement-type track full of memories in the mould of LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Losing My Edge’, with spoken vocals that sound an awful lot like the lead singer of The Teenagers in ‘Homecoming’ despite their completely different content. Grab them all below.

Elite Gymnastics – Is This On Me?

Elite Gymnastics – Parachute

Elite Gymnastics – We Fly High

The duo are currently working on their next EP, Neu! ’92, available on their website when they complete it. Download Scarface-quoting lead track ‘Montana’, courtesy of Pitchfork, here.

+BONUS
Elite Gymnastics took on ‘Come Back To Mine’ by bound-to-be-huge UK female singer-songwriter (and model and drummer for Xenomania, songwriters to Girls Aloud, Sugababes etc.) Florrie. I haven’t heard the original, but this track shares the same wonderfully uplifting chilled out vibe with Elite Gymnastics’ tracks.

Florrie – Come Back to Me (Elite Gymnastics Remix)

Elite Gymnastics Tumblr
Elite Gymnastics MySpace
Read a pretty interesting interview with Elite Gymnastics’ James here, courtesy of Night Drive Miami

Well Spent: Games.

Games are Dan Lopatin a.k.a. Oneohtrix Point Never and Joel Ford from Tiger City. They make brilliant, late 70s/early 80s-sounding instrumental music that reminds me of the sort of thing that used to soundtrack Playstation racing games. Their particular influences are easy to discover in the 6 mixtapes currently available to listen to on their Soundcloud, 4 of which are embedded below. I think their particular brand of soft funk is due a re-invention – expect more groups to come out sounding like Games.
Of the 3 tracks we bring you today, 2 are demos and ‘Everything Is Working’ is their debut single, released August 16th on Hippos In Tanks. Of the trio, my favourite is ‘Planet Party’, a piece of music that literally sounds like it came from the early 80s, not just sounding like it does. This is no bad thing. ‘MIDI Drift’ is a more chilled track, showing a more emotional side of Games. I think ‘Everything Is Working’ is the weakest of the selection, sounding the most modern, but its hip-hop vides are perfect for summer. Grab them below, and be sure to check out the mixtape series, Spend the Night With… Games, embedded below, the first section of which is available for download.

Games – Planet Party

Games – MIDI Drift

Games – Everything Is Working

SPEND THE NIGHT WITH GAMES – Side A by Games
SPEND THE NIGHT WITH GAMES – SIDE B by Games
SPEND THE NIGHT WITH GAMES – Side C by Games
SPEND THE NIGHT WITH GAMES – Side D by Games

Pre-Order Games ‘Everything Is Working’ 7″ here
Games Tumblr
Games Soundcloud

Marching Forward: Forest Swords.

Like seemingly a lot of my favourite musicians, Forest Swords’ M. Barnes day job is as a graphic designer. However, he has the important advantage over the rest of being British as well as being based in England. Hailing from Liverpool, he makes particularly dubby, atmospheric music that is perfect late-night listening. His influences appear to be the work of Pipedown-favourites Mount Kimbie and James Blake but his music is by no means a work of copying these two artists. Indeed, he takes their music and builds upon on, including instrumentation and vocal samples combined to original effect.
We bring 2 tracks to you today – recently released single ‘Rattling Cage’ and Dagger Paths EP lead track ‘Miarches’. ‘Rattling Cage’ is Forest Swords’ ‘Maybes’ – a track that perfectly showcases his sound and will do a great deal for his profile. ‘Miarches’ starts with James Blake-style vocals, but the similarities end there, the bass, vocal and guitar combination being both sinister and strangely comforting. Download both below.

Forest Swords – Rattling Cage

Forest Swords – Miarches

If you like what you hear, be sure to check out the series of truly astounding videos Forest Swords has created for ‘Rattling Cage’ and ‘Miarches’ on his MySpace, link below. There are also some more videos available here.

+ BONUS
Get to know Forest Swords’ musical tastes a little better with this mixtape, compiled for Gorilla Vs. Bear.

Forest Swords – Gorilla Vs. Bear Mixtape (.zip)

Tracklisting
A Grave With No Name – As The Sun Sets
Barrington Levy – Here I Come
Arch M – Mountain Tan
Antelope – Concentration
Erykah Badu – On & On (Arthur’s StarCayzer Remix)
Yoga – Dreamcast
Jeru The Damaja – My Mind Spray
These New Puritans – Canticle
Forest Swords – Visits (Excerpt)
Ducktails – Gem
Liars – You, Drum
King Tubby – Dub Of Righteousness
Forest Swords – Miarches (Remastered)
Forest Swords – The Light (Excerpt)
Madlib – Lifetime Lifeline
Wild Beasts – Hooting & Howling (Forest Swords Rework)
Pariah – Blackfriars
Burial & Four Tet – Moth (Forest Swords Rework)

Buy ‘Rattling Cage’/'Hjurt’ 7″ here
Buy Dagger Paths EP here
Forest Swords MySpace

Kings: SALEM’s King Night.

One track that came to my attention during my near 2 month-long blogging hiatus that I simply have to write about despite the huge amount of cover it has already received is SALEM’s ‘King Night’. The title track of the album, the group released it to begin the promotion journey towards the release date of September 28th (coming out on IAMSOUND) and it is one of the best things I have heard from the group yet. Coming across as a fully-fledged dance track, ‘King Night’ is both scary and romantic, weirdly reminding me of ATB’s 1998 dance classic ’9PM (‘Till I Come)’ but way more epic. I am very excited about this album.

SALEM – King Night

King Night Tracklisting

01 “King Night”
02 “Asia”
03 “Frost”
04 “Sick”
05 “Release Da Boar”
06 “Trapdoor”
07 “Redlights”
08 “Hound”
09 “Traxx”
10 “Tair”
11 “Killer”

+ BONUS
SALEM recently turned their remixing hands to These New Puritans’ ‘Hologram’, off their highly-rated recent LP Hidden. The result is typically murky, featuring the screwed rap thing they do so well. Check it out below.

These New Puritans – Hologram (SALEM Remix)

Pre-Order King Night here
Original Pipedown SALEM post (including free downloads of ‘Frost’ and ‘Whenusleep’)
Check out a mix by SALEM here
SALEM Official Site

• New// Warmer: Delorean. http://bit.ly/cqeZsP # 14 hours ago
• New// Mosca Fabriclive Mix. http://bit.ly/bGLBm5 # 2010/07/30
• New// West-End Girl: Best Coast. http://bit.ly/aEl5X2 # 2010/07/30
• New// Flowering: Baths. http://bit.ly/asFXob # 2010/07/30
• New// Eglo Summer Takeover 31/07 http://bit.ly/cRxGLm # 2010/07/29