Oh Land is a peculiar new cinematic electropop Dane who recently sailed across the sea to the artistic haven of Brooklyn, NY. With an opera singer for a mother, a theater organist for a father and Björk’s Homogenic on constant rotation, Oh Land was enraptured by the combination of experimental and classical arts. “My goal is to sound like I’m from 2050, but still feel really classic, like the music is an old friend,” said Oh Land. She spent her days pirouetting as a ballet dancer at the Danish Royal Ballet Academy when an injury forced her to reinvent herself and discover her true talent and passion as a musician. Oh Land soon released her first album, Fauna, which garnered critical acclaim in her homeland of Denmark. Her soundscapes are lavish, crunchy, symphonic, brute and captivated with rhythms that fly apart. She translates the sounds live via her “contraption” – a homemade one-woman-band music box topped with balloon video projections (seeing is believing). Her music is for movement and new songs such as the thumping “Sun of a Gun” and euphoric “White Nights” have proven to make even the most portentous get up and dance. Having been discovered by Epic Records at 2009’s SXSW, she is currently putting the finishing touches on her US debut album and an EP to be released this fall. In anticipation for that release Oh Land also has a great run of remixes for her first single ‘Sun of a Gun’.
2(a) Jon Hopkins - Vessel (Four Tet remix)
Jon Hopkins recently provided an exceedingly lovely remix of Four Tet's 'Angel Echoes', now the favour is repayed as Kieran Hebden overhauls Hopkins' 'Vessel', bringing a deep and organic backbeat to the luscious neo-classical tendencies of the original. As is in-keeping with Four Tet's recent output there's a certain, clubby swing to the drums that proves mightily addictive over the course of this production's seven-minutes. Offering a more compressed, explicitly electronic sound, Nathan Fake shows up with all synths blazing for his remix of 'Wire' on the B-side. It's another quality turn, crammed with squashed beats, detuning pads and eventually, a hooky, predatory bassline.
2(b). Bjørke & Amp Barfod - Superbacon  Big release on Tensnake's Mirau imprint, which has impressed so many of late with the understated murky brilliance of Erdbeerschnitzel. Neither Kasper Bjorke nor Thomas Barford need any real introduction, both are amongst the cream of the Danish crop of electronic music producers. Both have a long standing partnership under the Filur alias, but this Bjorke & Barford marks the debut of a new sound best described as 'symphonic disco trance'. Big room sonics sit deep in the DNA of title track "Superbacon" thanks to ever mutating massive rave line that pulses with invigorating intent throughout. "Cauliflower" follows in a similar fashion, all vintage rave stabs and a procession of thumping drums that only relent to allow the drama of searing strings and expansive bass to unfurl. Extra excitement can be found in the shape of a truly mind pummelling remix of "Cauliflower" from NYC duo Runaway!3. Beth Ditto - Do You Need Someone 
Beth Ditto has created one hell of an electro-disco masterpiece with her debut solo EP, the official cover of which was just released (above)! We were worried, as the Deconstruction Records cover that came out was beyond lackluster. This cover rocks our world, she’s gone all sultry and gothic on us and we love it! With this cover now released we have the total package and it's great to see all is good in the world of Ditto. The ease at which she struts her way through the EP is just astonishing, Simian Mobile Disco provide the production and the result is a win on every level. All four tracks on the EP are gems that could stand on their own.
4. Luft - In High Spirits   Seuil did a lot to champion the unhinged house craziness of dOP way before most people even knew who they were. His Paris label has handed the cer-azy trio many an EKLO catalogue number in the past, and now the band return the favor fresh off the back of the success of their debut album, Greatest Hits. It’s another in a long line of collaborations between these countrymen, the two finest fruits of which stood out not only on dOP’s recent Watergate, but on the house landscape full stop in 2010. 'Prostitute' is an assuredly long and languid workout which fuses the late night, muted neon glow and in-salubriousness of dOP, their instruments and JAW’s vocals, with the finely interwoven, soft focus and heavily EQed, ocean like bottom-ends of Seuil. Woozy beats, off-time hits and long tailed snares lull about in warm, viscous puddles to start, before the spoken word tale of being “in love with a prostitute“ begins to be told. Dampened horns accentuate the forlorn vibe whilst beats almost quiver along, all shimmery edged, broody and full of suspense. Background noises make for a humid, dead of night ambiance all throughout the track which, as time passes, becomes freakier and funkier with bendy tones and loose drums: it's beguiling, nocturnal magic. 6. Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk (Pampa)  Pampa Records is back with its sixth release. This one will be a split 12″ of Isolée and Robag Wruhme who each drop tracks of their upcoming artist albums to be released on Pampa in 2011. Side A: Isolée -Taktell There it is again - the very unique Isolée feeling. The diffused happiness that occurs. Whichever club throughout the world this tune may be dropped, pure euphoria appears instantaneously. “Taktell” is a warm, intelligent timeless piece of music. Yes, it’s totally mesmerizing, melty, melancholic, terrific sound designed Rajko Müller material - that’s Isolée’s real name. This is the kind of music that sounds like it was plucked directly from a dewy-leafed Haribou tree by a one-eyed synthasaurus. It’s taken from upcoming Isolée album 'Well Spent Youth', to be released on Pampa Records on January 28th, 2011. Side AA: Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk Robag Wruhme, by no mere coincidence, is also preparing his latest full-length album Thora Vukk, to be released in late March 2011. Robag´s festive anthem “Thora Vukk", here in a special 12″ edit, raises highest expectations on the upcoming longplayer, which guarantees the most exceptional & beautiful material that the world has seen in a long time. On “Thora Vukk” THX-sounds meet frenzy-melancholy, tardiness on focused half metallic reverberations and half fairy-tale make-out sessions. This is the kind of dance music, that reflects the belief in the movement perfectly. 7. Guti & Dubshape - Every Cow Has A Bird 
8. Will Saul and Tam Cooper - Room in your Heart (rhodesless dub)  To celebrate the 50th release from Will Saul’s Simple imprint, the label boss teams up with long-time studio partner Tam Cooper to bless us with not one but two EPs that will see in their half-century milestone in style. In a scene where releasing on vinyl is becoming an all-to-common rarity for new labels, it’s comforting that one so diverse and consistently inventive as Simple is still championing the format and not merely surviving but flourishing. The label’s output reads like a most-wanted list of innovative and creative producers, from Gui Boratto, Steve Bug and Fink to Motorcitysoul, Sebo K and Mathew Jonson, and on this pair of EPs the duo gift us four new tracks and a slew of marvellous remixes. The second EP begins with Room In Your Heart, an old-fashioned vocal houser that centres around an insistent vocal, full of brio and energy and unashamed funk as keys play off the guitar licks in style. Getting Closer, the final of Saul and Cooper’s quartet of new tracks, riffs around a guitar note, enveloped in deep chords and classic percs, a sunshine-inducing delight that blows the winter grey away. Remixes of Room In Your Heart come from NY’s red-hot Wolf + Lamb and their cohort Slow Hands, transforming it into a slice of sultry modern disco, putting the vocal centre stage. There’s also a Rhodesless Dub that focuses on the groove, bringing out the piano to great effect. The double EP is a triumph, leaving the listener spoilt for choice with a set of new Simple gems, proving that there’s as much life in the label as there was back at its first release in 2003, and showing that Saul’s lost none of his skills as either a producer or A&R. With music like this around, on a label that’s such an obvious labour of love for its tireless founder, it’s comforting to know that house music feels like it’s in good hands. 9. Marc Romboy & Stephan Bodzin - Atlas (Gui Boratto Remix)  Marc Romboy and Stephan Bodzin released their new EP in late 2010 that included remixes of their previous hits like "Callisto", "Atlas" and "Luna". It leverages once again the release of their first album "Luna" which will be released on February 2011. After the excellent EP "Triton", the crazy German duo is once again on the front of the electronic music scene, for the delight of our ears. This EP has been released under the label of Marc Romboy: Systematic Recordings. This tech-house EP follows the "Triton EP" which was the first single from their upcoming album "Luna". In addition to this album there will be a special edition with twenty exclusive remixes by Moritz von Oswald, Chris Liebing, Joris Voorn, Minilogue, Gui Boratto and many others. The EP "Drei Monde" is the perfect illustration. Regarding the remixes, the track that we really appreciate, will be for sure playlisted by many DJs across the globe. The Brazilian producer Gui Boratto, is still at the top of his form. This original track "Atlas" was released in 2006, with one of the lesser-known titles of Bodzin and Romboy "Hyperion". The title is just as good as the first one, with simple and very effective melodies it's slightly softer in its rhythm, with a mixture of house samples and blues guitar that sneak into a dark and beautiful linear production. 10. Dillion & Amp Coma - Aiming For Destruction 
BPitch Control's Werkschau (“Showcase”) compilation fills the electronic pop void left by the 2010 non-appearance of a Buzzin' Fly compilation and a similar kind of collection that once upon a time might have come from Morr Music. Make no mistake: Werkschau isn't instrumental electronica or ambient soundscaping but clubby electronic vocal pop with one eye focused on the dance floor and the other the radio. A culmination of the label's twelve-year existence, the release features BPitch Control associates of long-standing as well as new faces, and while a number of the contributors are, as expected, Berlin-based, many call other European countries as well as North and South America home. That all sounds promising enough, but while there's a generous amount of superb material on offer, there are also some less stunning tracks that could have been left out.
Let's start by highlighting the collection's best cut “Aiming For Destruction” from Dillon & Coma (Dominique Dillon de Byington and Kompakt act Coma) digs into its lithe and snappy tech-house groove like a stalking lothario intent on seduction making you rendered dizzy by its inclusion of loopy carnival organ melodies. Though this piece might appear deceptively simple in structure, 'Aiming for Destruction' exemplifies a masterful command of melodic form in this fun and light-hearted tech-house stepper.
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