1. The Ting Tings – “Great DJ” (Calvin Harris Remix) (mp3 via Check the Availability)
While the British duo’s recent SF live show was enjoyable enough, it was also a bit disconcerting due to the prominence of the backing tape. But this remix by an ’80s-loving producer turns “Great DJ” into an epic floorfiller, without a care in the world.
2. James Combs – “Barely Contained” (buy on iTunes)
LA singer-songwriter Combs balances a tense, PJ Harvey-like arrangement with a dreamlike whisperiness on this swaying, triple-time track. It’s great, but one wonders, is it a conflict of interest when a KCRW producer gets KCRW’s “Today’s Top Tune”?
3. Neon Neon – “I Told Her on Alderan” (mp3 via Pop Tarts Suck Toasted)
Who knew that when you put together a Super Furry Animal and Boom Bip, they’d sound like the Cars and sing about Star Wars. Actually, that would have been as good a guess as any.
After the jump, yes it offends me, and French techno that sounds like American hip-hop!
4. Does It Offend You, Yeah? – “With A Heavy Heart (I Regret To Inform You)” (mp3 via Cause=Time)
With a band name only a blogger could love (sigh), and enough angular new-wave references to make Franz Ferdinand blush, they would offend me, if they weren’t so infectious and ecstatic. “Heart” starts off dancey, then erupts into near-heavy metal levels of intensity.
5. Alan Braxe – Addicted (mp3 via Disco Delicious)
Hey, French techno! Mais oui, Braxe is from France, but on this track from the new Kitsune compilation, he seems to be channeling Timbaland. There’s a stomping half-time breakdown and clear-as-a-bell synths, and it’s about as far from his distortion-by-numbers French colleagues as you could get.
Photos courtesy Columbia Records, Jamescombs.com, Rex Records, and under a creative commons license from Flickr users haveweallgotthebends and animalvegetable.
