download: here
myspace: here

remember, set me free is not free! support phonat here

phonat (or as his mother knows him, michele balduzzi) is a 21 year old italian producer/sampler extraordinaire. he has recently been gaining incredible momentum worldwide. already touting more than one track on hed kandi’s nu disco compilation and loads of radio 1 airplay, it’s safe to say we will be seeing big things from michele. he is signed to mofohifi records.

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his style of cutting and chopping samples is highly unusual. maybe phonat can write a guide. the “how to manipulate an uneditable, already existing vocal/guitar riff, and recreate it into something unrecognizably fresh and new by just replacement” guide. I think I’d buy it! its a skill I can safely admit, as a producer myself, I don’t have nor know where to start. the guide is currently unavailable, but you can buy phonat’s music on beatport or follow him through space.

thanks aleks@discodust! this tune way funky, tried and true to french house. knightlife’s production is super clean and polished as well. french express stamp of approval!! for some reason it’s not hard to get lost in this robotic disco cut.

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newly released. show yo support — knightlife myspace / beatport

been following him since his remix of ‘nightdrive with you’ by anoraak, and have since been hoping our bri`ish boy GRUM would give us nothing less of his uplifting synth-pop style.

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such a long song title, damnit. poor grum is riding backseat! thanks to sam for discovering this badazz release

p.s. don’t your eyes feel funky while reading this because of the above graphic?

for someone who started an ever growing trend, his disappearance seemed confusing. alan braxe breaks the silence with his comeback remix of the indie band ‘The Orange Lights.’ I know shit about them other than that they are from the UK (thanks wikipedia!). what I do know about this tune is that it is a kickass job of a remix by sir braxe, published on Hed Kandi’s Nu-Disco 88 (2009).

when I saw alan’s name in the tracklist, I was contemplating whether to check it out or not. pressing play cautiously, not expecting too much, I was shocked within the first few seconds. every playing second was like forgiveness for all those silent years and releases that fell short for me. thanks for staying true to the sound, alan.

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what happens when you mix a casio social club with a diogenes club..? you’ll probably get some quality 80s throwback!

I wasn’t hooked until I gave the tune a proper play from start to finish. now it’s getting the repeat treatment! lesson learned — don’t skip through new songs. can you understand someone’s speech if you skip around without reading or hearing it from the start? :]

french express favorites casio social club and diogenes club strike yet again to present ‘she takes my breath away‘ — an easy listener for that easy lover. the production is a collaboration between the two, with justin winks (casio) on the vocals. the breakdown wins it for me!

unfortunately I can’t offer a download by request of justin winks, but be sure to look out for this one

casio social club vs diogenes club – she takes my breath away

these guys are definitely doing something right to be featured here for a second time so soon. if I could somehow show you how much I love their sound I would write about all their tunes, but I can’t. so I’ll throw you a taste test to see if you’re as hooked I am.

the two golden ears that have recently been putting out some cool as ice tracks are justin winks (casio social club) and matthew williams (the diogenes club). having met through the wonderful internet stalking medium we know as myspace, such magic was allowed to happen! both in the scene for ages, they have just recently let their deep 80s affinity shine bright. fairly newcomers to the discohouse scene, i’m sure they won’t have any problems being welcomed with the fire they’ve got here:

CASIO SOCIAL CLUB – Count Your Lucky Stars (The Diogenes Club Remix)

the diogenes club dusts off a 20 years old bassline with their prominent sampling of madonna’s ‘lucky star’ moog synthesized bass, kicking you way back into the 80s. melodically cruising down the 6 minutes tune is a real enjoyable trip, and with soft synths gliding and bending through and past your ears, it’s hard not to dream about vibrantly lit skies and waving palm trees. not to mention the class production. hope you guys enjoy

unfortunately I cannot offer the download links, but I urge you to check out more of their tunes on beatport and support this emerging act. make sure to especially check out ‘SDI’ and my personal favorite ‘jaunt’ :} (no relation to the post below)

all this time I didn’t know batman was actually closer to me than i thought. i just discovered him hiding in my friendslist. no, not gotham city’s guardian. italian funkster ‘le batman‘.

i’m not sure where he was keeping this bomb, but i dont intend to keep it hidden much longer. when I heard the track start (call hooters 1278. haha), two artists flashed through my mind. crydamoure and le knights club. before I got a chance to finish my thought, the kick drum stomped right in, quickly shattering whatever the hell I was thinking about writing. besides the funk, he happens to sample a prank call between arnold and hooters hotline as random as it may seem. regardless, this tune is way hypnotizing, hooking you with these phased vocals and chopped samples floating from ear to ear, topped with a driving bassline. close your eyes and reminisce 10 years back. le batman‘s sound is really giving you a true taste of french touch.

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coming way out of dublin, ireland is the spankin duo known as hystereo, quickly gaining popularity in the electro house scene. i’ve known these two for a while now (they were the ones who actually got me into fred falke & friends), and i’ve witnessed them transform their style from clean to monster. over time they have redefined their music as raw and heavy, more in tune with the style of daft punk’s homework… but what i’m going to share with you here is one of their earlier works from 2001 called ‘gonna love you‘. this track didn’t get much attention as it was one of their first releases, and I didn’t want to see it stay hidden in dust. takin you back to the 80s is the brilliantly sampled zapp & roger’s ‘heartbreaker’ . the bass strikes along with the vocals in a very cassius-styled way. hystereo will take you on a trip with this one. check them out, they’re a ton of fun.

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i don’t know if you’ve realized, but french house has been pretty much dormant for the past few years. whatever the reasons are, indie-house has been stealing the limelight, getting bigger and badder than its older and forgotten brother — disco/ french house. with all the trendy bass guitar twangs accompanied by a bombardment of harsh noises, the scene has almost forgotten about that funky filtered sound which we all grew off of.

but a fairly new face out of the UK hopes to change all that. this is louis la roche, and his mission is to bring back french house. this guy’s been producing since he was about 15, and he’s only 18 to date. he is part of the very promising newer generation of french house artists that we hope to see a lot of good come from.

louis wears his sounds with pride, and you can hear it. built and bred off of oldschool french house, his sound is so impeccably french that one of his tracks was mistaken for and named as one of ‘thomas bangalter’`s. louis samples michael jackson’s ‘falling in love’ to achieve a track that is simply so hard not to fall in love with. after a few months of confusion, it was finally cleared to be la roche’s track, and not banglater. this guy definitely has our vote. show him some love, hit his myspace! and keep a wide-eyed watch for louis the rock.

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