Tune Tape Tuesdays #27

Judging by the amount of you on Facebook posting YouTube clips and exasperated statuses, I'd say it was exam time. We all know at this crucial time of our lives, we need a cracking set of tunes to get us through the dark days spent in a depressing library to drown out the anguished weeps of our fellow students as they try and get through a years worth of notes in a few weeks. Or days, in my case. Think of me as your musical guardian angel, winging you the newest music across the vast space of the interweb. No need to thank me, just credit me in your graduation speech.

Lately, I've been really getting into progressive house. The best thing about this genre is that the songs are long, with slow, gratifying crescendoes, which you can stick on, work, and not change for at least a few pages of notes. In light of this, my top tune this week is a remix by Robin Schultz of MÖWE's track, Blauer Tag, which, if my stunted German is correct, translates as 'Blue Day'. Although we haven't physically had many of these lately, this song streams into your eardrums like a little ray of sunshine with it's feel-good beat and happy saxophone riff. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face and a skip in your step whether you're walking to an exam, or celebrating your last. Next up is a slightly more introspective Prog House track, Tusindfryd by Morten Granau. With its hypnotic bassline and Moroccan-like chanting, it will hopefully get y'all concentrating on the task in hand - ie. (whisper it) your exam. If you enjoyed (who didn't) Disclosure's huge track, White Noise (featured on LBeLB before it was cool...just sayin'), then check out MNEK's take on it, which replaces AlunaGeorge's vocals with a male soul-singer's. It might divide some opinions, but it's an interesting interpretation nonetheless. Imogen Heap - probably most famous for her work on the OC Soundtrack c.2005 - is back, with Headlock, reworked by Him_Self_Her into a mesmerizing House track, perfect for sticking on and getting in the zone. If you want some motivation to get your head down and get out of that exam, play Bronx Night Dub's remix of Viceroy & French Horn Rebellion's Friday Night, a super little Electonic track guaranteed to get you psyched. Bring on the afterparty. Next up is some guilty-pleasure pop served up by Empire of the Sun and OneRepublic, respectively. Walking on a Dream is a hard act to follow, but I think they've got pretty close with Alive - stick it on and get in touch with your inner teenybopper. OneRepublic has been one of my favourite chart-regulars ever since they teamed up with Timbaland on Apologize (remember that corker?). They've recently released If I Lose Myself. Embrace the cheese. Embrace. It. If you want to feel a little less guilty about listening to them, have a play of Culture Code's Dubstep remix of the same song, which injects the track with a touch more respectability. Although the same remix is probably going to be on your 16-year old sister's iPod. If you can live with that, then so can I. From Dubstep to Trap, Team Bayside High have released a remix of Wild Belle's (wahey, namesake) Keep You, which basically rapes the original with some obese wobbles and masochistic breaks. Get your bassface on. Although I'm not a huge fan of Moombahton, I couldn't help but include Koshen's track, Gal A Bubble, in which he doubles up with Major Lazer (pron. May-Jah Lay-Zah), Bro Safari and ETC!ETC! (actual band name, not just me being too lazy to name the rest). As Flo Rida would say, "Get Low". For something that sounds less like an assault on your eardrums, stick on Nova Scotia by Magic Man, an ethereal synth-pop track that will have you dreaming of long summer nights and ice-cold beers. Tom Odell's got to be one of my favourite solo artists at the moment, and this week, his song, Another Love gets treated by Felix Jahen, getting turned into a snappy Prog House track. Felix has worked really well with the original rhythm of the song, making the transformation pretty seamless. Nice work. For some happy Chillwave, have a listen to Rudi Zygadlo's remix of Electric Guest's This Head I Hold (the original featured a few weeks back). Like a piece of Cubist art (who's been revising...) Rudi breaks up the original, twists it around, and puts it back together in a totally fresh way. If you like that, check out Giraffage's new track, Music Sounds Better With You, in which he gives Stardust's classic tune a similar reboot. Indie lovers, I haven't forgotten you. Get your fix with Jim Guthrie's The Rest Is Yet To Come, and Freddie Dickson's The End. They're both showcases of the new Indie sound, which I think is pretty 'Creme Fraiche'. Enjoy - and GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL!




Annoyingly, there's no Widget for Freddie Dickson's song. Click HERE to get redirected to the Soundcloud page.




Love,
Belle x