90′s inspired house sound on this track from The 2 Bears, who released their full length album, “Be Strong” today.  The 2 Bears are a London-based musical duo formed in 2009 composed of Joe Goddard (of electronic band Hot Chip) and Raf Rundell.

The 2 Bears – Get Together

The 2 Bears: Be Strong (OUT NOW!) by The 2 Bears

Digging that 80′s DX7-esque bassline on this joint —  Micheal Jackson would be  proud.

Jacques Lu Cont – Church

Daft Punk influenced filter disco house action from Silva Hound.  Can only imagine this sounds fantastic on a really loud system.

Silva Hound – Sapphire Shores (ft. Marika Bedford)

Soundcloud

Calm, casual house along the lines of  Thievery Corporation from 24 year old Malaysian singer, Yunalis Zarai (aka Yuna)

Yuna – Live Your Life

Yes, another solid track from The 2 Bears, injecting some old school house sound in this one.

The 2 Bears – Work

Work by The 2 Bears

Fantastic reminder of summer with it’s tropical house flavor.  Taken from Perseus free EP, Russian Girlfriends.

Perseus – Cool Runnings

Short Bio:

PERSEUS | http://facebook.com/perseus1980 | http://twitter.com/perseus
Alternatively, you can download the full EP with art (by Jean Charles Frémont), here: http://french-express.com/perseus/FE010.zip

This is the tale of young Perseus. Just a few moons ago, Perseus opened The Magician’s Magic Tape 12 with his retouch of “New Life.” After noticing the people’s desire for 112bpm tropical flavors, The Magician descended upon the lands of Mycenae and challenged Perseus to undertake a quest only fit for demigods. The Kraken? Medusa? No — that’s ancient history. The undertaking was fairly simple: if Perseus could craft 3 magical originals, he would share them with the masses. And so it happened, Magic Tape 15 was met with “Russian Girlfriends,” followed by “Cool Runnings” in tape 17, and finally “Running Back To You” in tape 18.

The people prayed, day after day, asking for Perseus to unlock his music and share it with them. And so it was, through the help of his “fly” stallion, Pegasus (or in alternative universes, “The French Express”), they heroically unchained the EP, for the masses to fully consume & enjoy.

All which remains from the great epic is the highly-coveted, highly-demanded 3-track EP, in heavenly 320kbit quality. It is yours, for keeps… Tweet about it, post about it, share it, blare it. This EP will be live on Beatport soon, for those wanting to hang 10 and catch a few .WAV’s.

FE010 / Perseus – Russian Girlfriends EP by FRENCH EXPRESS

I somehow missed this gem of  disco pop tune when it hit the net earlier this year.  O-well, better late than never.

Penguin Prison – Multi-Millionaire

Penguin Prison

Ready for some French House?  Well, here ya go.  From the EP of the same name, is this Daft Punk inspired house track.

Louis La Roche & Patrick Alavi – Number One (ft. Josh Jakq)

The best cover of this Smith’s song too date.  Dalminjo gives this Smith tune a warm, breezy feel that’s wrapped in a cool house beat.

Dalminjo – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (Ft. Anja Oyen Viste) 

Joe is back with another killer track and this time he teams up with Valentina with a deep moody house track with glitched out vocals and stutters.  Short history lesson on Joe Goddard, he is one of two voices for Hot Chip and recently joined forces with Raf Rundell for their project, “The 2 Bears“.

Joe Goddard – Gabriel (ft. Valentina) Removed Per Request
Joe Goddard feat. Valentina – ‘Gabriel’ by Greco-Roman

The 2 Bears – Bear Hug

Rimer London – Love Dagger (ft. Cata Pirata)

Bio:

Influenced by Sly Stone, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Acid House, Giorgio Moroder and Kraftwerk, producer Rimer London from Amsterdam, bought his first synthesizer when he turned 16 and started making tracks with 2 tapedecks, a drum machine and his new synth.

After playing several instruments in as many different bands, Rimer hooked-up with Bas Bron, a.k.a. Bastian, Seymour Bits, Gifted and many other guises, and the two formed electro-techno cooperation Comtron. Their first album, Follow The Money was released in 2007 through the Rush Hour imprint in Amsterdam and received rave-reviews. The album got noticed by Kraftwerk who invited them to play as their support act.

In the same year Rimer got signed to Magnetron Music and released his first solo E.P. Sugar Booger under the Rimeroni Vumani alias.

In 2008 Rimer (now under the name of Rimer London) formed Electro-pop group Le Le together with graphic designer/producer Parra and rapper/singer Faberyayo from the popular Dutch band “De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig”. They first released the single “La Bouche” with a quick follow up double A-sided single called “Skinny Jeans” and “Hard” it was an instant hit, both songs found themselves in high rotation on Dutch and Belgium television and radio and the formation took off. The third single called “Breakfast” gave them international fame and dj’s all over the World picked it up. Their debut album Flage on Magnetron was a huge success and got a worldwide re-release in 2010 by German label Gomma.

Meanwhile, Rimer was slowly cooking his solo-project, Rimer London. The very well receivedIntercity E.P. was released in 2009 and two tracks from it have made it to the self titled album that’s about to see the light. Go Away and Intercity showcased Rimer’s deeply rooted love for Italo and Techno and he continues on that path. But there’s so much more to the Rimer London album, Pop, Dub, Wave and House as can be heard on the 2010 single release of Squaring The Triangle. Very well constructed but never turning into producers-music. Leaving you with a melancholic feel, the type of melancholy that leaves you both happy and sad.

Video:

Rimer London featuring Cata.Pirata – Love Dagger

Charming 8-bit melody kicks off the track with the persistent ”Bounce” said on the down beat, which is quite addictive.   Then explodes in full synth glory, with the lead soaring over the bead of house beats.  Also dig the retro flavor cover art  as seen above.

Calvin Harris – Bounce (ft. Kelis) radio edit

Bounce

Off of Benny’s latest release, “Electroman” is sweet slice of electrohouse which features the soulful voice of Gary Go.  Gary Go is an automatic love to collab with Benny for me.  There are other collaborations on the new album, which are very mainstream oriented and not really my cup of tea, like  T-Pain on the title track, “Electroman”.    However the brightest points on the album are all three tracks that feature Gary Go – most definitely there is a chemistry there between the two of them.

Benny Benassi – (Cinema  ft. Gary Go)

Uplifting, deep, and oh so perfect for a sunny day.

Funkysober – Sunshine Into My Life (ft. Sharlene Hector)

Press Release:

Funkysober
feat. Sharlene Hector
SUNSHINE INTO MY LIFE

Press Release

Released by: VG Records
Release/catalogue number: VG001
Release date: May 30, 2011

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Bear Hug is a fun and catchy old school style house jam from duo Raf Rundell and Joe Goddard (also a member of Hot Chip), under the guise of “The 2 Bears“.  Bear Hug is the first single from there recent EP, The Bear Hug EP.

The 2 Bears – Bear Hug

The 2 Bears – Bear Hug EP by The 2 Bears

Yes yet another wonderful track featuring the vocals of Anthony Hegarty, who by the way is no stranger here on Audiodrums (read here and here).  This time, he has teamed up with Jessica 6 on this 90′s esque house track.

Jessica 6 – Prisoner Of Love (ft Antony Hegarty)

Bio from Peacefrog:

 

Formed in 2008, Jessica 6 is a hypnotic Brooklyn-based trio that pushes the boundaries of nu-disco and R&B. “It all started when Nomi [Ruiz] brought over a kick-pattern and a song she’d written called ‘Fun Girl’,” recalls Jessica 6 bassist Andrew Raposo of the band’s conception. Ruiz (the band’s front woman), Raposo and Morgan Wiley, Jessica 6’s keys and synth master, originally met while performing with Hercules and Love Affair.  “We were enjoying listening to each other’s music beyond Hercules. It was really just about having fun,” says Raposo who first met Wiley in college before joining the now defunct DFA produced hip-hop act Automato together. “Then Nomi came in with hundreds if not thousands of songs her laptop.”

What started as playful, improvised studio sessions soon turned into a tight sound none of the three musicians could ignore. Ruiz, who had been contemplating another solo album, soon realized, along with Raposo and Wiley, that the three were best matched as band. “It’s kind of like Fleetwood Mac,” Ruiz says of the energy and extreme connectedness shared by Jessica 6’s members (sans the romantic warfare, of course). Raised in Sunset Park on the melodies of Janet and Michael Jackson, as well as the power anthems of Mary J. Blige, Ruiz immediately bonded with Wiley and Raposo over freestyle and underground hip-hop–nuances of which punctuate Jessica 6’s debut LP.

A reduction of folk, Britney Spears circa ‘Blackout,’ Cuban-mafia fashion and the works of Dario Argento, Jessica 6 is a cross-pollination of various dark, campy and dramatic themes. “We were staying up and watching a lot of horror movies about breaking taboos and the irreligious, while at the same time looking to sweet romances and high-camp,” Raposo says of the album’s evolution. The band’s moniker, of course, pays tribute to a lead character in the hyper-sexed cult-classic “Logan’s Run.”  ‘Jessica 6′ is the film’s rebellious heroine who flees from an authoritarian underground world in search of freedom and autonomy.

For the members of Jessica 6, this musical endeavor has been a similarly liberating experience.  It is proof that, unlike a core belief held by the oppressive government in “Logan’s Run,” life does not in fact end at 30. Jessica 6 may bear all of the fresh, optimistic undertones of a recently conceived live act, but its members’ respective industry experiences make for an especially mature sound and exceedingly tight live show. “We developed our personal relationship live, on stage” Raposo says of the band’s ties. “Morgan and I have been playing together for over a decade, and Nomi was next to us every night with Hercules for over a hundred shows.”  It’s this familial likeness that not only lends the band’s members the freedom to push boundaries and bounce inspiration off one another.  It makes for an emotionally-charged and entrancing live performance–Jessica 6 signatures which are not lost on the band’s very evocative premiere LP.
- Alisa Gould-Simon

 

Funky smooth is the order of the day from Plastic Plates, this remix is pure sun.

Body Language – Social Studies (Plastic Plates Remix)

Body Language EP

Earth (aka Urður Hákonardóttir) is best known as the former singer from Gus Gus (listen here), who also sang one of my favorite Gus Gus tracks, “David“ .   She has now set her sites on releasing her first solo full length with the help of  Gus Gus bandmate Biggi Veira and house artist Oculus.

Earth – WhyYouWanna (Removed per request)

Since I’ve digging the crates here, I found this number from Air Frog that was released back in 2000.   This track is a MONSTER with a wicked bassline.

Air Frog – Bon Voyage

Going back in the day (circa 2003) for this deep house number from one Justin Martin.   Fun bouncy sticky bass and well placed vocal snippets carry this track.

Bio from Discogs:
Justin Martin’s sound is both – melodic and tough. Justin first gained international acclaim for his single (“The Sad Piano”) on Ben Watt’s Buzzin’ Fly label. The single made its way into many A-List DJ crates as well as jumping on to Pete Tong’s Buzz chart, being selected as a “sureplayer” by DJ Magazine, and being dubbed “single of the week” by Update magazine in the UK. Justin Martin has established himself as the next generation of San Francisco house with the skills to hang with the current masters. Also, Justin Has been nominated as “Best Breakthrough DJ” by the 2004 international House Music Awards.

Justin Martin – The Fugitive