Enkel Apa

Enkel Apa is the combined handiwork of brothers Pontus and Hampus Lindin.

Having dabbled in some production work in his early teens, Pontus' love for making music was rekindled after coming across a battery of electronic staples. The likes of Justice, Kavinsky and the Ed Banger set. After cobbling together a Myspace page and getting his brother on board, the Enkel Apa production juggernaut was complete.

As it's the beginning of the year, let me start off with a prediction: "I truly believe this Swedish duo will hit big in 2008". Aside from the killer production, the old skool vibe, and of course the cute pixelated monkey mascot, Enkel Apa's adeptness at referencing their contemporaries without ever parodying them should see as them a fundamental throughout the coming year.

MP3: Enkel Apa - Selleck DOWNLOAD

MP3: Enkel Apa - Back In The Days DOWNLOAD

...And We're Back

I'm so proud of myself. Not only have I refused to post any music related to the festive season, I've also managed to resist posting one of those cumbersome 'Best Of...' lists that seem so ubiquitous at this time of year. Worry not, nothing of that nature is posted below. Yes, there are rather a lot of Daft Punk remixes out there, and yes I'd say that most are decidedly average. Fortunately, Frenchman F.R.A.C.T.A.L. has restored my faith in the reinterpretation of Daft Punk tunes, after off loading this superb Technologic remix onto his Myspace page. The beat here is nothing short of genius.

MP3: Daft Punk - Technologic (F.R.A.C.T.A.L. Remix) DOWNLOAD

Mylo: Salt Lick

Mylo - real name Myles Maclnnes - is the man responsible for one of the most important records of the noughties: 2004's Destroy Rock And Roll. Receiving widespread critical acclaim (even Elton John is quoted as saying it was his album of the year), the Scotsman's debut was as refreshing as it was retrospective, providing something acceptable to fans across the musical spectrum.

There was however, a track that never made it onto Destroy Rock And Roll: the Toto sampling Salt Lick. Having failed to receive clearance from Toto ("they completely blanked it") Salt Lick never saw the light of day.

Fortunately for us, Mylo is a daring soul. You may remember his unauthorised leakage of two Kyle Minogue tracks that never made it onto her X album. She was not amused. Undeterred, Mylo has done it again, releasing Salt Lick to fans on his Myspace page, despite Toto's disapproval.

It's a real shame that Salt Lick never made the album. It's a superb example of Mylo's trademark slicing and dicing of prime choice samples. See for yourself.

MP3: Mylo - Salt Lick DOWNLOAD (Myspace Rip)

MP3: Toto - Stop Loving You DOWNLOAD

Salt Lick will be removed on Christmas Eve.

Mat Payne Mixtape

Mat Payne's little mixtape for Get Werid Turn Pro was an absolute knockout. Well, the boy has kindly done one for Check The Availability.

If you like what you hear, you can catch Mat at Saki, Manchester, for the M.I.A. after show party.

Oh, and I also have it on good authority that Mat will hopefully be releasing some of his own production work sometime in the new year.

Fil OK - Wink Wink (Blende Remix)
Junkie XL ft. Lauren Rocket - More (D.I.M. Pop Em All Dub Rework)
Duke Dumont - When I Hear Mu'Sic
D.I.M. - Is you (Brodinski Remix)
Klaxons - Gravitys Rainbow (Soulwax Remix)
Brodnski - Bad Runner
Armand Van Helden - Je Taime (Switch Remix)
Krafty Kuts And Tim Deluxe - Bass Phenomenon (Josh David And Reid Speed Remix)
Alter Ego - Why Not!? (Joakim Remix)
Deadmau5 - Stereo Fidelity
Laidback Luke - We Rock Da House
Devil's Gun - Gold Dust (Boy 8 Bit remix)
Dusty Kid - The Riot
Ocelot - Lo Sforzo (Loud Pipes Remix)
Hot Chip - Ready for the floor (Soulwax dub)

MP3: Mat Payne - Exclusive CTA Mixtape DOWNLOAD

BONUS: MP3: Chromeo - Needy Girl (Lifelike Remix) DOWNLOAD

Goodtimes Goodtimes

It's Monday evening, I'm full of a cold, and as I peer outside my bedroom window I'm treated to a landscape caught up in the throes of a typical British winter. What should I be listening to? The Cure? Kate Bush? The Smiths? Something reflective of the scene that meets my eyes. Instead, my room is filled with the ambiance of songs with names like Sunshine, Sunshine and Sea Shanty. Hardly befitting of the situation I find myself in.

Enter London based Goodtimes Goodtimes.

First off, I've never heard a band name that so aptly describes the music behind the pseudonym. For Goodtimes Goodtimes is exactly that. A heady blend of dulcet, sweet sounding folk/blues music that warms the heart, evoking false memories of summers that never were, not for most of us anyway.

Vocally, comparisons to legends Johnny Cash, Tom Petty and Van Morrison, are perhaps unavoidable, but nonetheless never detract nor hinder the experience of listening to the frail, textured tones of Francesco Cinelli, the Roma born driving force behind Goodtimes Goodtimes.

The following songs are taken from the album, Glue, which can be found on the itunes library.

MP3: Goodtimes Goodtimes - Sunshine Sunshine DOWNLOAD

MP3: Goodtimes Goodtimes - Kids DOWNLOAD

Lo Sforzo (Loud Pipes Remix)

I know you all think Ocelot are the best thing since MSTRKFT, so you can understand why I continue to post all things related to the Brit/Yank duo. Here's a fine remix from Loud Pipes which I've been anticipating for a while and which, as you might expected based on previous output, doesn't disappoint. If you want more head over to Finger On The Pulse NYC for a ton of Ocelot based tunage.

MP3: Ocelot - Lo Sforzo (Loud Pipes Remix) DOWNLOAD

I thought this was a joke at first. Looking back, I'd have to agree with my initial assessment. Further investigation reveals Oscar Cash to be Metronomy's live keyboard, saxophone and guitar player. This will bring a smile to your face no matter how bad your day's been. Imagine Muzak for cool kids. For that reason alone, I urge you to give it a 'whirl'.

MP3: Oscar Cash - Golden Skans (Klaxons Cover) DOWNLOAD

And The Winner Is...

I'm a lowly blogger, not a trusted journalist. I make mistakes from time to time. On this occasion I was under the erroneous impression that the below track won the recent Ocelot remix competition. Luckily, I have people in the know who are willing to correct my inaccuracies. The St. Andrew remix was actually a runner up, receiving this little write up from the Ocelot boys:

"This one also was doing a lot for us, the synth solo alone sold me on it. You need to hear it, cause I think you'll hear a lot more from this dude in the future. maybe even on a certain itunes release of a certain double 12"."

For what it's worth I actually think the winner's (which can be found here) are a bit, well, boring. But I don't want to upset anyone so let's pretend I didn't say that.

MP3: Ocelot - Lo Sforzo (St Andrew Calculation) DOWNLOAD

.

In Rainbows

Unless you've been holidaying in outer Mongolia for the past two months, you can't fail to have missed the release of Radiohead's lastest album, In Rainbows. The reason is two fold. Firstly, the release of In Rainbows provided fan's with the longest gap between studio albums in the bands 15 year career. However, the main thrust of media publicity came from the unique nature in which the album was sold to consumers, namely that individuals, aside from a 45p transaction fee, were able to choose the price of the digital download. If you wanted to pay nothing, you payed nothing. your prerogative.

There has been much discussion about the average price payed for the album, with some going as high as £4.00 and others as low as £2.90; a mean of £3.45. If these figures are to be believed, then the album, economically speaking, has been a great success.

According to CNN/Billboard, the average price of a record is £11.61, of which: £4.26 goes to the retailer, £2.29 covers distribution and shipping, £1.47 is taken by promotion, £0.51 covers printing and pressing costs, £0.74 goes on record production, £0.58 on retailer discounts, £0.40 heads to the record label, and £1.36 goes to the artist.

I'm no industry expert, but as far as can tell, Radiohead will have only incurred one of the above overheads, specifically the production costs involved in the making of the record. As In Rainbows was sold via Radioheads website digitally, all the other cost were made redundant, meaning the actual cost of the record was a fraction of what consumers seemingly have payed for it.

MP3: Radiohead - Videotape DOWNLOAD

MP3: Radiohead - Down Is The New Up DOWNLOAD

Two Radiohead related posts in as many days. Huh! That ain't right.

Nude Remixed

As soon as I saw this in my mailbox, I knew that everyone and their mother had already posted it. I pleaded with myself not to join them, if not for that reason, then simply for the fact that I hate that self-serving pillock, Thom Yorke and his sanctimonious band. But hey, it's actually a pretty good record, so I guess it'd be rude not to put it up.









MP3: Radiohead - Nude (Amplive Remix) DOWNLOAD

Chewy Chocolate Cookies (2)

You may remember the swarm of Chewy Chocolate Cookies (who from now on will be referred to as CCC) remixes I posted a little while back. Well, the lads just dropped this BIG sounding Loto remix into my mailbox. For those who don't know, Loto are an Indie/Electro trio from Portugal, who's latest EP, Beat Riot, features collaborations with Peter Hook and Del Marquis of New Order and Scissor Sisters respectively.

Speaking of extended players, CCC are themselves due to drop their own EP, Pepities, this coming January, on Eckler'o'Shock records. One to stick in the diary, right.

MP3: Loto - Back To Disco (Chewy Chocolate Cookies Remix) DOWNLOAD

MP3: Loto - Back To Disco DOWNLOAD

Just a little note on the side to say that I'm now contributing to the wonderful Ohh! Crapp. This is a great music blog run by a guy who been blogging since I was in nappies.

Chromeo: Live

1. The venue seemed to allow aggressive drunks through the door who clearly weren't aware that they were attending a gig and that there was a good possibility that people might just bump into them.

2. During initial technical difficulties, some of the more lairy members of the crowd thought it'd be perfect to reel of their repertoire of Liverpool football chants.

3. There was an extremely obese drunk who made every one's life a misery and who so happened to be in my close proximity.

Even so, In spite of the above hindrances, Chromeo still managed to pull of a performance so stellar, that I can say with some confidence, it was one of the highest calibre gigs I've attended. YOU MUST SEE CHROMEO BEFORE YOU DIE!

MP3: Chromeo - Bonafied Lovi' DOWNLOAD
MP3: Chromeo - Needy Girl DOWNLOAD
MP3: Chromeo - Bonafied Lovin' (LA Riots Remix) DOWNLOAD
MP3: Chromeo - Bonafied Lovin' (Lazaro Casanova Remix) DOWNLOAD