Since the beginning of this magazine that we have been receiving great electronic tracks. For some reason, we didn’t post about those submissions because we felt they should be integrated into a specific mood. We are now building that mood with a monthly post focusing the best of indietronica. Because we want to also give our support to other types of arts we invited Wilson Gracart to illustrate it. This is Electromental – part 2.
Miqui Brightside – 19 More Days
Miqui Brightside is a Madrid based DJ, produced and photographer. Their latest single entitled 19 More Days was released around one month ago and is a song about the lockdown. But just not another song. Encapsulating the electronic feeling of being inside, with gentle reminders of the outside sonority, this is a slow-building but very progressive track that packs a lot of power and a sense of hope too. The track comes with a stunning video by US photographer and director Melania Brescia, encapsulating the experience of being stuck in our houses for a greater cause, and how each and every one of us evolved differently and most of the time to a sort of unexpected place. 19 More Days is also a very danceable song, one to chill and one that can serve as a meditation help. Sounds gorgeous every single way you listen to it.
Lil White Bitch – Rock Music
Rock Music is not really a rock song. But that part you already knew as we include it in an electronic compilation. The song is what we can describe a mix of electronics with Lo-Fi Pop that can sound both Nirvana and Daft Punk. Yep, you read it well. And it can also sound a bit like what Blur did on Song 2. Rock Music is also a track with the goal of fighting against teenage suicide and lost consumerist souls. And they call it crack-rock or zit pop. It is contagious as hell.
What began as a Halloween Party in 2016 turn into a serious musical project entitled Lil White Bith. They describe the track has if “Avril Lavigne, Blink 182, and McCauley Culkin had a crack orgy while “Barbie Girl” played repeat on a busted boombox.
Bonobo – BrightonTapes 01
Bonobo has no need for introductions in both the indie and commercial worlds. Their latest release BrightonTapes 01 is a beautiful and surprising mix of electronics. Incorporating cultural vibes and also sounding a bit Massive Attack-ish, this unreleased demo created 20 years ago is still so listenable and gorgeous nowadays that perhaps because of that it sees the light of day. The track’s name comes from his small room in Brighton once upon those days. A song that makes us feel like we are on a distant trip, and we are sure that was part of his goal when making it so long time ago.
Noti – 85 km/h
Noti’s first instrumental production is just partially electronic. Based on regular instruments like the guitar, midi-drums, and a clear and paced beat, 85km/h is a beautiful voyage illustrated by a video of car traveling at the same speed in the Swiss scene. Produced during lock-down and part of a 5-track EP, 85 km/h is presented as an “ode to poised motion” and it feels that way. A constant speed that even though not very fast, sounds steady, pulsating, and contagious.
Vaarwell – New Woman (RLGNS Remix)
Sometimes a remix is just a remix, others it’s a religion. RLGNS take on Vaarwell’s strong angelic New Woman, is almost a new other song, without being totally. It is like Vaarwell has gone a bit madder, and a bit big bassier. Keeping Vaarwell’s slow magic at the beginning of the track, and Margarida’s angelic vocals throughout, they sort of get the song high on bass (pun intended). The power is so evident that you really should listen to it with your headphones. The neighbours walls on feel the treble (as much). The mighty treble. This not just a remix, but the work of RLGNS.
Urchin – Break In
Urchin is a jazz-turned indie musician that incorporates a lot of electronics in his songs. With one of his references already feature in this selection (Bonobo), it makes us feel that someway the world has gone full circle. Break In is a marvelous track that finds in a very energetic guitar its highlight (the final sequences are just incredible), but until it gets there we are so well supported by some very modern but tasteful vocals that guide the song from start to end. A pacy and steady drum-based beat is clear from around the middle of the song, pacing everything up and easily passing the energy to the listener. Part of his new EP, this must be the most appropriate Friday-sounding track we could post about. Take a deep breath and let yourself go by this:
Vasco Completo – Pack Your Bags
Pack your Bags debut single for Monster Jinx is a gorgeous and airy pace trip in or out of ourselves. Featuring a piano at first it quickly introduces a guitar that makes its way into the central part of the track. Pack Your Bags vibes on a very slow-building flow that at quickly turns from slow into the zone. We truly feel that by the second half of the song everything sounds so smooth that we even feel some punk in there. Easy listen right here.
Malana – Candy
Just like the sea, Malana’s latest track entitled Candy is a peaceful rendition of electronics that both gives us the calm and the feels. Described as “sincere and unashamedly vulnerable” it is in its genesis a track about the unhealthy dependence of others. Inspired in the novel “Candy: A Novel Of Love and Addiction” this is a track incredibly light and well vibed in terms of mood. The track makes use of sampled film dialogues mixed with a guitar to establish its dreamy melancholic atmosphere.
Dustice – Move
Ready for power? We are happy to introduce Dustice’s Move:
“Dustice is a new uprising electronic project with several key features never basically known before. The musician, unlike many others, is not much into public fame stuff, therefore he created his alter ego, a little mischievous monster who does all the things that the sound producer cannot and thus, making the whole music act unique.”
If Dustice can be described in this way, Move is hard to describe but very easy to party two. You will feel it soon you enter the first drop of the track. The immense power in the track must be impossible to ignore – even for people who are not typically into UK Garage-. Quite a short song – especially for the genre – its length induces us into listening to it more than once every time. And we could easily imagine this playing on loop on one of those clubs that seem so distance right now… The bass lines are just crazy, and once you’re hooked you have nowhere else to go.
You can listen to all these tracks (and previous others) in our ElectroMental playlist on Spotify or here: