Aurgasm

electropop // dream pop

Melbourne-based Helen Croome, better known by her stage-name Gossling, sings tales of love and heartache. Harvest Of Gold (2014) is a blend of whimsical harps, playful leftfield pop and disco glamour that brings to mind Danish electro-pop sirens Oh Land and Hannah Schneider. Yet it is Helen’s hypnotic voice that sets her apart. Her dreamy, eerie child-like delivery is distinct and perfectly layered with heart-warming musical arrangements.

Gorgeous and ambitious debut.
Gossling – Harvest of Gold
Gossling – A Lover’s Spat
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bedtime beats // pajama pop // indie folk

Shawn James Seymour and Yoshimi Tomida make up the husband and wife duo, Lullatone, from Nagoya, Japan. Lullatone’s first album was comprised of lullabies written by Shawn for Yoshimi, and their freshly recorded album is a collection of new lullabies for their child, Niko. Their appropriately self-dubbed “pajama pop,” is a playful blend of whispered vocals, unique instrumentals and carefully spaced beats. For the album, The Bedtime Beat, they mixed the ambient sounds of bedtime rituals, such as splashing bathwater and gentle snoring. Notably, in the song “Goodnight Train” they used a xylophone played with a violin bow to imitate the chug-chug of a train. Conceptual but not distancing, their comforting and alluring sound is far from boring. Rather, Lullatone’s songs are delightful gems that capture the familiar essence of home.

Sweet homemade lullabies.

Lullatone – The Bathtime Beat
Lullatone – Goodnight Train
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Rock & Roll // Beats

If the ’50s had sampling, New Zealand export Willy Moon would be a flashback. But at the age of 23, his brash mix of rock & roll’s early days and contemporary sampling turns the clock forward to a bold new charm. Before settling into his new home of London, UK, this autodidact ditched school at 16 and shaped his raw sounds with sojourns in Valencia, Morocco, and Berlin; evolving from hip-hop and club into sonic sledgehammers having sole-blistering effect. Willy’s supercharged collage of well-known samples, combined with his unique retro vocals, makes a fiercely catchy package, and his visual style looks equally well mastered in a slick ‘Rat Pack’ refined naughtiness.

Smokin’ hot throwback beat explosions.Willy Moon – I Wanna Be Your Man
Willy Moon – Railroad Track
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electronic // post r&b

Designs similar to Atupele’s Pictures on Silence have intrigued me, but there is a quality in this 20 y/o’s Michigan Malawi purpose that lava lamps me to a greater plane – liquidating my conscious inside an orb of electronic bass and faint promiscuous echo. Slow Koreless to a hibernating burrow then resurrect in soulful bounty.

Heavy beat patterns your mind spotless.
Atu – Let Me
Atu – The Duo ft Sango
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electronica // glitch

Mitchell Nordine describes his Mind Tree outlet as “expressing the blissfulness of child-like naivety and nature, mixed with the beautiful and raw emotion connected to nostalgia. A journey of new perspective that subtly yet strongly guides thought and emotion.” Set sail on a glitchy, spacey, cinematic Melbourne sea.

Endless possibilities.
Mind Tree – Mother Nature
Mind Tree – Glóa Stafur
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danish pop // vocal electronica

Following the recent international success of Oh Land and Fallulah, it’s safe to say that Danish songstresses take the current electronic-infused pop tendencies beyond the too common synths-plus-strings clichè. Copenhagen-based Hannah Schneider’s sophomore album Me Vs. I (2012) combines classic singer-songwriter tradition, perfect pop sensibility and Nordic electronic soundscapes. In the standout track “Me Vs. I”, featured below, Hannah’s mesmerizing vocals are emphasized by endless layers of electronic sounds and sample-collages.

Mesmerizing Nordic soundscapes.

Hannah Schneider – Me Vs. I

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electronic // downtempo

Supple beats marry shimmering coral chords in seaside bliss amid warming, caressing petals of sky to rendezvous your senses and massage on contact. Transposed emotions from Melbourne form piano flute cloudscapes, dazzling luminous sunsets, and curious blips washed in reverb flowing uptempo or downbeat. Jack Vanzet’s Voyages blossom into euphoric rewards for your ears, and his Unfinished Business is a 19-minute dopamine symphony of calming awe.

Dreamy audio estuary.
Thrupence – Synchronous Bloom
Thrupence – Folds
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Turntableism // electronic

C2C are a turntable act from France who are expanding into original music production. If you are into turntableism this band cannot be a stranger, having won the DMC team championship 4 of times in a row. If you’re not such a fan of people standing behind record players bobbing their head and moving their hands swiftly and accurately, fear not. Listen to ‘F.U.Y.A’ & ‘Down the Road’ and discover there’s more to turntableism than just rythmically moving a record forward and backward. Also check out ‘Tribute to Louis Armstrong’ which sees a fully scratched up rendition of Mack the Knife.

Scratched up tunes laced with deep bass.
C2C – Down The Road
C2C – Mack the Knife (Tribute to Louis Armstrong)
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quirky soul // electronic

Kinny is a dame with personality & soul, originally from Canada, she now finds her home in scandinavia. Trained as a classic vocalist, she released Forgetting to Remember with electronic music producer Espen Horne in 2006, showing off the match between her unique vocal stylings and Horne’s original production. A few years later Kinny saw her debut solo album Idle Forest of Chit Chat produced by a multitude of producers (Quantic, TM Juke & Diesler, a.o.). With that album, the seeds were planted for a new collaboration with production duo Souldrop. They produced two tracks on Kinny’s first, of which the Darondo sampling ‘Water For Chocolate’ is included below. After battling and overcoming a severe OCD-induced breakdown following a traumatic incident, Kinny has now released her second solo album Can’t Kill a Dame With Soul produced entirely by Souldrop. ‘Up/Side/Down’ is a good example of what you’ll find on the album, showing how she deals with her OCD through musical and lyrical expression.

Unique Soul with OCD (meaning Obviously Cool Dame).
Kinny – Water For Chocolate
Kinny – Up/Side/Down
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Cleaning barn stalls on the farm is often accompanied by my Uncle’s radio playing AM stations, and fresh sounds from generations passed inspired me to make a mix where current electronic trends resemble classic gems. Open your ears to 60’s pop, swinging electric beats, rumbling jazz, hazy noir, retro boogie, school band funk, swanky smooth sensations, robotic soul, and a safe moon landing. 2002 ErrorFM

donthink – Classick #57 (58min):

1. Nancy Sinatra – These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ [1966]
2. Cujo – Popsicle [2002]
3. Defcon 5 ft Bluu – Goodbye [2002]
4. Louis Prima – Jump Jive an’ Wail (Tranquility Bass Remix) [1956 / 1999]
5. DJ Git Hyper – Just Face It [1997]
6. Henry Mancini – Lujon [1959]
7. Anjali – Lazy Lagoon [2000]
8. Fingathing – Come on Girls [2000]
9. Mo’Horizons – Do the Boogaloo [2001]
10. Shirley Ellis – The Clapping Song [1965]
11. DJ Shadow – The Newborn Hippopotamus Jazz Rock Machine [2000]
12. Louise Vertigo – Où est la Femme? [1998]
13. Jazzanova – L.O.V.E. and You & I ft David Friedman & Paul Kleber [2002]
14. Michael Jackson – Ain’t No Sunshine (SSY Remix) [1972 / 2001]
15. Avia – Exil Exit [1998]