TRM Recommends: Five for February

Just thought I would add a short blog to share some of the fantastic music that is about at the moment.

First up, I might be two days late with the sharing of this charming and elegant offering from the angelic voice of Jessie Ware and the soulful tones of the man Sampha. I have been a lover (pun intended) of this tune ever since hearing it on Dark Sky’s FACT Mix but came to enjoy it even more when seeing the two of them perform it on Monday’s nights Young Turks takeover on the Boiler Room, I implore you to search Youtube in the hope that it gets uploaded as it’s an impeccable performance. Anyway enough of the ramble enjoy their track ‘Valentine’ if you like it as much as I do then you may be interested in the 7” heart shaped vinyl available from the Young Turks record shop .

JESSIE WARE + SAMPHA / Valentine by Young Turks

From the angelic vocals of Jessie Ware to the haunting vocals of Romy Madley Croft of The XX who has provided her talents for fellow Young Turks’ stable mate Creep. I have gone for the remix by a man who had an excellent 2010 with his remix of Drake’s Fireworks receiving a nomination on the Dubstep Forum awards. High quality future garage with strings and vocals remnant of The XX, you can’t go wrong really.

Days (Deadboy Remix) by CREEP

I could fill this post with Young Turks’ related stuff as they are on fire as a label at the moment; I am going to save waxing lyrical about Jamie XX and Gil Scott Heron’s album until next month’s album reviews though and instead change the mood of the piece with some uplifting disco. The Magician offers up a piano-laden dance floor friendly rework of Lykke Li’s ‘I Follow the Rivers’. Free download is available for those interested.

Lykke Li "I Follow Rivers" The Magician Remix by TheMagician

From upbeat disco fun to an R&B slow jam as Jacques Green remixes Cassie’s ‘Must Be Love’ (featuring Diddy), first heard on the Jamie XX mix for Benji B earlier this year, a link for which can be found further down this blog in 3 J’s for January. I was delighted to track this remix down after hearing how well it blends with Mount Kimbie’s ‘Before I Move Off’ and have recently been moving down to the realms of 100bpm to incorporate this track into mixes. Again it is available as a free download, details of how to obtain are on the Soundcloud page.

Must Be Love RMX by Jacques Greene


Last but by no means least, a mix for your aural pleasure is another mix from TRM favourite Fantastic Mr Fox. Having provided this blog’s favourite mix of summer 2010 he was back behind the turntables to deliver another excellent selection of tracks in a bite size airing of 23 minutes.

Tracklist
1. Bjork - Hidden Sphere (Illum Sphere Remix)
2. Gold Panda - Snow and Taxis
3. Blawan - Bohla
3. Usher - Nice And Slow (Bad Autopsy Remix)
4. Jamie XX & Fantastic Mr Fox - untitled
5. Fantastic Mr Fox - Evelyn
6. Julio Bashmore - Battle For Middle You
7. Jamie xx - Far Nearer
8. SX - Bricks
9. Sepalcure - Fleur
10. Airhead - Black Ink
11. Unknown - Transmission

Fantastic Mr Fox Mix for Vice Magazine by Fantastic Mr Fox

TRM Recommends: 3 J's for January

2010 was a fantastic year for music, whittling down all the albums to compile a top ten was extremely difficult. It appears 2011 could be just as, if not more difficult. Three names have jumped out to me opening days of the year and they all have very similar names and are all producing high quality electronic music. Below is a bit of information about each of the 3 J's and a track by each of them.

Starting first with the man who I think is going to end up becoming my favourite artist of the year, despite the fact his album dropping in February I think it's an early contender for album of the year. From what I've heard I certainly hope it gets a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize. James Blake having made a fair few productions and a couple of EP's notably the Kelis sampling anthem of summer 2010 - CMYK, Blake has decided to go deeper and add his own soulful voice in the mix. The track that's really doing it for me is Wilhelms Scream which is hauntingly beautiful.

02 - Wilhelms Scream by indieistanbul

Note: Also worth checking is the BBC Sound of 2011 page for Mr Blake which includes a mesmerising live version of the above track as well as a couple of others and some interviews. The album drops on the 7th February.

Next on the agenda is a man who's DJ Mix for a French boutique was constantly on my iPod over the summer 2010. His band was also without a shadow of a doubt the best thing I seen all summer, well probably all year! Jamie XX has an exciting 2011 in front of him, there is a remix album with Gil Scott Heron about to drop soon from which two tracks have been teased out and they are both extremely strong! I hear he has a solo EP to come out some time in the year too. I would like to see and hope that a Jamie XX/Fantastic Mr Fox collaboration is in the pipe line, which would be mouth watering stuff! The track I've chosen for the blog is something that I just cannot stop playing over and over again is his remix of Adele. The percussion, the vocals and the strings are just arranged so well. It's quite dancey.



Note: Jamie XX recently did a DJ mix for Benji B which is well worth a listen, it includes the above track. It can be found at Pinglewood's blog.

Finally last but by no means least is someone who I have been a bit later getting onto than the two above mentioned artists. He is another with a widely anticipated debut abum dropping in the early part of 2011. Jamie Woon has a distinctive R&B voice laden with soul, not too dissimilar an artist to James Blake. However the smooth soulful vocals are more prominent on Woon's tracks than that of his counterpart yet it is still very much in the realms of the urban soundscape that is what you might call "Post Dubstep". The track I've chosen is actually a remix, as I am a sucker for a Burial remix. If this guy has got Burial's backing he has definitely got mine.



Note. Jamie Woon is playing in Liverpool on the 25th February at The Shipping Forecast.