New Releases - 6th November
Koan Sound – Funk Blaster EP
OWSLA
Koan Sound - Meanwhile In The Future (Original Mix) by 1ReySon
Koan Sound have done pretty well to get snapped up by Owsla – Skrillex's new label – and their first EP packs the punches you'd expect. At 90 BPM it's slower than much of Owsla's output. Heavy mid-range, electronic bass which comes in metallic waves.
There are moments of, dare I say it, relaxation and groove before the bass tears you apart. Especially in the distinctly groovy 'Meanwhile, In The Future'. This EP doesn’t sound as huge and busy as a lot of this type of 'bass' – there is room to breathe. Slick and technical. A solid 4/5
LC
Washed Out – Amor Fati
Domino
Washed Out - Amor Fati by DominoRecordCo
Washed Out make the kind of music that's difficult to get a handle on. Your perception just seems to slide over the surface of it. It's shiny, well polished.
You slide on stocking feet trying to catch the waitresses’ eye to order another vanilla float. The sun is streaming through the window into your eyes and her face is a pale blur. She walks right past you. And then knocks over someone's milkshake – it sails through the air in slo-mo. And then the song finishes. You barely notice. 3.6/5
LC
Brother and Bones – Hold me Like the Sun
Last Step
Did somebody order a tall glass of Diet-Kings of Leon? I'm sure this works a lot better being played live in a spit 'n' sawdust pub, but on record that blues-rock energy that needs to be red-hot and raw is tepid at best.
Dressing the band up in All Saints gear while filming them playing poker and drinking whiskey is a half-convincing smokescreen until you realise that's not a dusty horse-drawn wagon going past in the street, it's the 315 to West Norwood. 3/5
TA
Zulu Winter – Never Leave
Double Denim
Never Leave by Zulu Winter
With a name that sounds like Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead's very worst nightmare, you'd be forgiven for expecting Zulu Winter to come at you with a spear-touting feral bellow.
Instead, apart from a first note that makes me pine for Duran Duran's 'Notorious', 'Never Leave' is a swathe of soaring, shimmering pop that sails along over chuntering, clattering rhythms. It's perfectly pleasant – and the rise to stadium anthem could well be a smooth one – but it doesn't really do it for me. 3/5
TJ
JLS – Take a Chance on Me
Epic
Is anyone else over that tight-jeans-tucked-into-boots look? JLS sure aren’t. They look like Topman’s entire winter collection exploded in the faces in the video for their latest opus.
If, like me, you were hoping that this was going to be a cover of ABBA’s ‘Take a Chance on Me’, you’ll be sorely disappointed. This is just a bland, rnb snooze-a-thon that professes to be about love but is more about making money. Yes kids! Don’t believe what Gordon Smart tells you, JLS are capitalist apologists and should be destroyed. Let’s occupy their house and steal their Wii! 1/5
DH
Got a single coming out and you want us to review it? Email us at Live@spoonfed.co.uk
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