Simian Mobile Disco x Put Your Hands Together

There’s a lot of talk about how the boys running Simian Mobile Disco have gone and grown up with their new album, Unpatterns; released to almost unanimous critical acclaim a couple of days ago. People are praising the uncompromising, extended house and techno jams that make up the albums impressive sixty minute running time, while a small minority seem to think that they’ve just forgotten to add the hooks that made their name in the first place. 

It’s undeniable that Shaw and Ford has moved to the deeper side of house music; but they’ve made no secret of this transition. These are men who spend the vast majority of their time holed up in a studio or DJing across the globe, rather than worrying about the intricacies of live performance and hit-making. Perhaps the best example of this commitment to dance music is Put Your Hands Together, Simian Mobile Disco’s seven-minute long swan song to house music.

Stream the entire album over on soundcloud.

10 plays

Kindess x House

Poor old Adam Bainbridge hasn’t had an easy ride from the music press. They don’t seem to like his vintage jumpers, or his girly hair. He’s far too tall for NME and he did the unthinkable in signing to a major. Their main gripe, however, seems to be simply the time it took for him to get an album out.

When the video for Gee Up first appeared on the internet circa 2009 it was a curious slice of disco-infused lo-fi and, despite people’s best efforts, not a lot else. There were no live dates, no interviews, and precious few press shots. That’s not to say this was a deliberate attempt at forced anonymity; in interviews Bainbridge has stated that there simply wasn’t anything else to the project at the time. The mystification of hazy hype bands by blogs and magazines can, at times, be forced and sometimes a demo is just that; a demo, not an indicator of musical depths hitherto untapped by popular music. 

There’s a brilliant gag in the (brilliantly) revamped video for Gee Up in which an industry type bemoans that this sort of stuff “would of been better two years ago”. Detractors are keen to lump Kindness in with the ailing generation of chillwavers but ‘World, You Need A Change Of Mind’ sets itself apart from Washed Out and Co in both it’s slick French production and a wholehearted embrace of all things disco. Songs like Doigsong and album centerpiece It’s Alright brim with an unabashed groove not seen since the late 70s.

Take a listen the mellower sounds of House above, which broods like a Hot Chip jam run by Jai Paul, and seek out the whole album if you feel like that track just doesn’t have enough in the way of saxophone solos.

55 plays