http://www.noizemag.com/index.php en ronn@spongeworks.com Copyright 2013 2013-05-09T17:48:11+00:00 http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/play_hard_ep http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/play_hard_ep While this EP dropped almost a year ago, it’s only in the last few months that they’ve finally had the mainstream spotlight aimed at them, and Krewella’s playing hard with all that attention. The gays will immediately be drawn to the name (c’mon, it’s phonetic Cruella), but it’s the sound that really appeals.  An amalgamation of dubstep, electro, house and rock, Krewella’s sound takes from everything awesome and filters it through a pop sensibility, yielding a candy-sweet product. Ke$ha-level vocal production, dynamically varying sonic atmospheres and instantly obsess-able melodies merge in a 6-track EP that feels like a full length. The Chicago trio, composed of sisters Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf and producer Kris “Rain Man” Trindl, got their start in the warehouses of the underground rave scene and are now topping the Billboard chart with their runaway single “Alive.” Look for them on their recently extended “Get Wet or Die Trying” tour and the follow-up remix EP Play Harder. 2013-05-09T17:52:22+00:00 http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/ora_ora http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/ora_ora Rita Ora is a little shit starter and, thus, awesome. Her lead single “How We Do (Party)” essentially sums her up, lyrically: “I get that drunk sex feeling/ Yeah when I’m with you… I wanna party and bullshit/ And party and bullshit.” Following some dabblings in acting and singing competition shows, Rita got her start the old-fashioned way: singing in bars. Then, following an A&R encounter, she was flying across the Atlantic to meet Jay-Z. Ya know, that old story. Flash forward to 2012, Rita released her debut album Ora in her native U.K. featuring collaborations with will.i.am, Ester Dean, Drake, The-Dream, Kanye West and Stargate. Her sound is what Rihanna’s would have been had she been based in Europe, and the sheer power of the album is incredible. The album has yet to be domestically released, but following the release of “How We Do” to radio recently, you can bet it’s coming. Get excited and get crunk. 2013-05-09T17:51:35+00:00 http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/true_romance http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/true_romance Another of the seemingly zillions of talented, non-mainstream artists that emerged from the MySpace era and is finally getting her fifteen minutes, Charli XCX is a delicious combination of influences and intentions. Looking like a young, pre-dread Ani DiFranco, with the voice that’s a mix of Tegan & Sara and Jade Starling of Pretty Poison, Charli XCX sites disparate cinematic influences like The Craft, Carrie, Party Monster and Clueless, and reveals a center composed of rebel, follower, groupie, visionary, brazen bitch and fragile girl. The sound is a dense, layered electro pop employing “sweeping synths, crunchy beats, emotive vocals, coy raps” and cheeky lyricism like Lily Allen gone meta. Growing up in an unconventional home, her childhood included art school during the day and avant garde performances in the U.K.’s rave scene at night. At the astonishingly young age of 20, Charli XCX has emerged a seasoned artist with an album that truly reflects all it took to get here. 2013-05-09T17:50:47+00:00 http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/the_red_room_ep http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/the_red_room_ep A seemingly impossible feat, indie L.A. trio DWNTWN immaculately translates delicate acoustic pop into dreamy yet danceable synth pop. Composed of Jamie Leffler, Robert Cepeda and Jerrod Bettis, DWNTWN looks like a bunch of L.A. hipsters and sounds like the love child of Daft Punk’s Discovery album, Canadian artist Lights, and Depeche Mode. This 4-track EP brilliantly frames the group’s brand of breathy melancholia, blending naked emotions and lamentations atop beats and synths that can simultaneously lull for private listening and wallop over stadium speakers. The explanation of what the red room is never gets made clear, but based on the lyrical content throughout, someone broke someone’s heart and it wasn’t pretty. Look for their new track “Move Me” closing out the Kitsune America 2 compilation. 2013-05-09T17:48:11+00:00 http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/paul_oakenfold http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/paul_oakenfold A year after re-launching the groundbreaking Perfecto label with We Are Planet Perfecto Vol. 1, Paul Oakenfold releases an even more epic masterpiece: the grandly named Four Seasons. Composed of the seasonally titled mixed sets that had been individually released each quarter of 2012, Four Seasons is 12 hours of music; each installment includes a continuous mix as well as each track individually and unmixed — as if further proof were needed that, just because House mixes have gone the way of the podcast, trance and progressive House are alive and well in the same format we have come to know and love. As with all of this master’s mixes, his true strength lies in his track selection and ability to discern truly outstanding music. For those who recall his Essential Mix World Tour, Four Seasons’ epic-ness is very similar to this from a decade ago. 2013-02-15T10:57:59+00:00 http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/heal http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/heal Loreen could be the next big thing in U.S. pop if she can just manage that tricky jump from European phenomenon to awareness in America’s crowded music scene. From instantly catchy melodies to over-the-top drama of instrumentation and a Bjôrk-esque vocal dynamism, Loreen is a musical powerhouse guaranteed to make devoted fans of serious popsters — if only they get the chance to hear her. Heal is the debut album eight years in the making following her participation in Swedish Idol 2004. Back in the public eye after representing Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest 2012 and winning with “Euphoria,” the time is now to overcome past inertia and catapult her to well-deserved superstardom. Heal is a perfect pop album for our time: 12 tracks of radio-ready dance tracks (“My Heart Is Refusing Me,” “Euphoria,” “Sober,” “Breaking Robot”), hooky ballads (“Everytime,” “Do We Even Matter,” “Heal”) and beat-heavy mid-tunes (“Crying Out Your Name,” “Sidewalk,” “If She’s the One”). If the Fates are just, this woman will get exactly what she deserves: total U.S. radio domination. 2013-02-15T10:55:59+00:00 http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/everything_is_expensive http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/everything_is_expensive Although she hasn’t quite broken Sade’s record for ten years between albums, the seven years between the release of each of her three albums still marks pretty intense hiatuses. Her “usual” at the bar should be a 7&7. Esthero began in 1998 as a champion of the late-‘90s trip-hop movement with Breath From Another. She returned in 2005 with an almost schizophrenic eclecticism on Wikked Lil’ Grrrls to declare she was “sick and tired of the shit on the radio … I see Britney on my video screen, I want something more.” Now in 2012, released entirely on her own through PledgeMusic, the aptly titled Everything Is Expensive is probably the clearest image of the real Esthero yet. In the midst of label-less limbo but with the total freedom to create without catering to the suits, the amalgamation of melancholy and aimless creativity are apparent — but in a good way. To define the sound would be nearly impossible as it changes almost from track to track, but to give it a visual metaphor: It’s really hippie organic granola, mixed with the mess of screws and bolts at the bottom of a toolbox; add to that the contents of a junk drawer and a deck of naughty novelty cards. The album is genius, meandering, crude, lush, startlingly beautiful and above all, honest. 2013-02-15T10:54:59+00:00 http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/18_months http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/18_months If 2011 was the year of David Guetta, this double-disc masterpiece is proof that 2012 was the year of Calvin Harris. If Guetta became a household name, Scottish producer/singer/songwriter Calvin Harris has been a bit less visible in his collaborations, instead letting the featured artist take center stage, supported by his productions. America and Europe have been completely engulfed in Harris’ sound for well over a year now, but many have no idea that their favorite pop artist only sounds the way they do because of Harris’ hands on the console. 18 Months is his third studio album, comprised half of hugely successful singles like “We Found Love” featuring Rihanna, “Let’s Go” featuring Ne-Yo, “Sweet Nothing” featuring Florence Welch, and “Feel So Close.” The other half is all future hits, but the whole plays like a yearbook of weekend party snapshots. What defines Harris, and probably what’s afforded him some anonymity, is his ability to highlight his guest artists’ brand while creating tracks that are trademark without being formulaic. Additional guest spots include Kelis, Example, Nicky Romero, Ellie Goulding, Tinie Tempah, Dizzee Rascal and Ayah Marar. 2013-02-15T10:37:59+00:00 http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/onomix http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/onomix Yoko Ono is one of those people — part artistic visionary, part public figure, part crazy — who can’t help but create. Since changing her moniker to simply Ono with her big switch to the world of club music in 2001, she has produced, alongside all the biggest names in remixology, a steady stream of standout music that ranges from motivational, controversial, progressive, poetic to just plain odd. Most of the tracks were collected on the 2007 album Open Your Box, but in this new set, she presents her material in a format that suits it. Onomix is a continuous two-disc DJ mix retrospective that chronicles the tracks predominantly in their dub formats as opposed to the full vocal mixes, which conveys a dreamy, late night acid-trip atmosphere — all throbbing beats and swirling hooks over singing/talking/moaning/screaming. In other words, it’s exactly what afterhours should be. The set includes remixes by everyone amazing, including Ralphi Rosario, Friscia & Lamboy, Bimbo Jones, Tom Novy, Danny Tenaglia, Dave Aude, Basement Jaxx, Richard Morel and Eric Kupper. 2012-11-02T20:38:23+00:00 http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/you_once_told_me http://www.noizemag.com/index.php/articles/zingles/you_once_told_me This is a 10-year-old dream come true. Originally a collaboration of producer Josh Gabriel, singer/songwriter Mavie Marcos and guitarist David Penner, Andain first came into dance music’s consciousness with Josh Gabriel’s remix of the sultry, brooding “Summer Calling,” included on Tiësto’s album In Search of Sunrise 3: Panama. A gorgeous blend of acoustic elements and electronic production, in the group’s original format Andain provides moody, downtempo electronica with gentle vocals and intimate words. But as with many similar groups, it’s the remixes that garnered it widespread attention. And when the Gabriel & Dresden remix of the career-defining second single about a woman lamenting all the freedoms lost by a cursory marriage, “Beautiful Things,” first hit Clubland in 2003, every DJ recognized that something special had arrived. Between a reformation of the group’s members and demands by other projects, the planned forthcoming album was put on hold despite the momentum. Only now are we finally seeing the products of the pairing of Gabriel and Marcos. Current singles in rotation are “Turn Up the Sound,” “Much Too Much” and “Promises.” 2012-11-02T20:37:26+00:00