The SubmitHub Roundup, Vol. 3

Back again with a third helping of Submithub pickings, and the indie elctronic itch continues to be scratched (as does the good artwork train too I might add). After the last post I dug out my collection of indie electronic stuff and was lamenting the lack of any new La Roux rumblings, well once again someone must have been listening because this 'un landed on my screen today. Got a few minor quibbles with bits of the production front agree with me but it's very well done for the most part. I'd very much like to see something a little more downtempo from them in future, like the more sedate parts of Röyksopp's Junior



The most exciting part of these submissions is finding something you weren't expecting. Given the last few hip hop tagged submissions, I certainly wasn't expecting the lusciously smooth instrumental on show here, reminds me of many a bleary eyed night watching Adult Swim bumps. The lyrical accompaniment is on point too, the content and delivery go hand in hand with the instrumental, and there's a couple lines that hit a little close to home too, which is something that hasn't happened to me since the days of Aesop Rock's Labor Days and The Streets' Original Pirate Material.



Talking surprises, this one came to me billed as deep house, and the intro and art set me up for a relatively chill experience, imagine my surprise when those bombastic, almost brass like synths dive right in around 40 seconds. It's structured pretty nicely too, there's a nice breakdown and switch up around halfway through, and an extended outro, which is a little unusual but brings things to a closure quite nicely. Part of me wants it to be longer but at the same time I want it to stay the bitesize chunk of feelgood electronic that it is.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Tricks 2

Got a few other cool labels to add to the sound-cloud white list, no surprise Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder is there, which is a real blessing because as it turns out there was some Thundercat I had managed to miss about a year back. And thankfully we are not limited to 30 second previews so we call all bask in the funky goodness of Thundecat. Enjoy.



And since I was there I thought I'd share a couple more of my favourites from Apocalypse too. Heartbreaks + Setbacks remains one of the few tunes that I HAVE to listen to all the way through when it comes on, it wastes no time getting ot the meat of things and I will always be all ears.



-Claude Van Foxbat

The SubmitHub Roundup, Vol. 2

Wasting no time getting stuck into more things I'm picking up from Submithub. The first offering this time is on point, As I'm sure you've seen many a time I go seeking out more indie electronic stuff in the vein of Au Revoir Simone and Lykke Li. Well this not only scratches that itch, but also has just a sprinkling of funk and a smidgen of disco throughout, think a little like Breakbot or Chromeo. Another thing about my submithub experience so far is that I have yet to see bad artwork accompanying a submission too, which is a real change from the soundcloud trawls of old. It's just a shame I had to come by it on a rainy day.



The strings make a return again (although not for as long as last time), being replaced around 40 secs in by some almost Rusite-esque backing. It does kinda lose me with the dubstep style drop but I can chalk that mainly up to going to way too many student parties and being far too exposed by that sound. It does manage to bring it back around afterwards tho, the breakdowns between are solid, so props to the producer for not banking on the dubstep to carry the rest of the tune, and I'd definitely be interested in more of the more sedate sound from them.



Speaking of funky bits however, Bluberry Spy has everyone so far beat. It had me from the very start with that bassline, and those little splashes of organ throughout are giving me major Nightmares On Wax vibes in the best way. It's actually something that's been sorely missing from my daily audio diet, and only by hearing this did I realise that. Still, at least I have an outlet for that now, will definitely be keeping tabs for when I need to get my fix.

Vintage Oizo (Part Three)

Not a full in-depth look at an EP this time unfort, simply because there ain't that much more material to get stuck into, it's around '99 and '00 and Oizo's well on his way to taking off. But you already know that, so let's not dilly dally and get into it.

Contrary to the image above, we're actually visiting the Analog Worms Attack EP first, for a B-side that didn't make it onto the LP. The Dead Chair is standard fare Oizo at this point, the samples and rough electro waves in the intro should be enough to tell you that. Still it's a solid addition to the pack if you really dig that era's sound as I do.


Then onto the Last Night A DJ Killed My Dog EP, probably Oizo's most conventional of the lot (which would make sense, it came out in 2000 after the Flat Beat success). It features a whole host of remixes from the likes of Alex Gopher and Demon. And in true Oizo fashion none of these are simply labeled (X Remix) oh no, but more on that in a bit. For now here's the original, same as it appears on the Analog Worms Attack LP.



One of the mixes is by a one Matthew Herbert, someone I've been meaning to cover but getting hold of it is proving difficult. I was introduced to him through his 2001 LP Bodily Functions, a mix of downtempo and house that has little in common with this remix. What you do get is a funky feeling cut-up reworking of the original that is well worthy of being included on a Oizo release.



And finally, one of my all time faves that I have listened to hundreds of times since I picked it up off some MP3 site in the early 00's, the unsettlingly titled Monday Massacre. I prefer it to the slightly altered version dubbed No Day Massacre on the Analog Worms Attack LP, there's not much difference between the two, but in the EP version you get the absolutely gorgeous breakdown starting at 2:29 whereas the LP version has Feadz laying down some scratching over the top of it.



-Claude Van Foxbat