Gold Panda’s new album on the Ghostly International label — Lucky Shiner — is a daring blend of glitchy and deep electro, as reflected in this single, Snow and Taxis.

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Further, the seventh studio album from the Chemical Brothers, marks the return to the classic, elegant hooks that set the earlier Chemical Brothers’ albums apart. Further brims with epic tracks that transport you to those great days which turned into epic nights. For me, that’s long, unplanned London summer days. This is an album for close listening and reckless dancing.

Having blown away the recent SXSW Music Festival in Austin, two weeks ago, London-based electro-pop trio Chew Lips now have a new album to drive. Unicorn was produced by Dave Kosten (Bat for Lashes) and features impeccably-executed guitar pop that veers from grinding electro-grooves to fevered howls of beat-heavy R&B, all reflected in the first single, the popjestic, Karen.

It’s getting towards that time of the year when ‘The Lists’ start to come out. They are the end product of endless screaming matches over whether 2008 was one to remember, or whether it went down deep. Yes, there are still a few weeks left, but mid-December is a time when the belly rolls out and our musicians carry a stiff whiskey into hibernation. Music-wise, 2007 was a hard one to follow. Hidden amongst all the offensive tripe that made the charts were some real gems: Tinariwen, Panda Bear, Yeasayer, and so on. This year was no different, but missing from the respected lists out there were some classics. Yes, Bon Iver may well have trumped it, followed closely by a whole armada of artists such as Fleet Foxes [White Winter Hymnal, DJ Doc Rok Remix below], Santogold, Vampire Weekend, M83, and others — and most people are in agreement about them. But what about the ones that somehow slipped off the radar? The genre-traversing Richard Swift; tropical Velvet Underground-style Shortwave Set; the knee-quaking sexiness of The Do; the afro-dream pop of School of Seven Bells; the beautifully stripped-down subtlety of Au Revoir Simone [above]; and more, more, more. So if your partner thinks you’re pretty cool, thinks you left the middle of the road years ago, then prove her right this Christmas.

The uber-hip French producer M83 has compiled a Secret Playlist for us in which he props Brian Eno, Julee Cruise, and Tears For Fears’ Head Over Heels: ‘This song was the biggest influence for my new album. Our track, Kim and Jesse, takes a lot of inspiration from 80s bands like Tears for Fears. This is one of my favourites’. Read the rest of M83′s Secret Playlist.

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We love the coolly detached electro mash-up of Brighton group, Fujiya and Miyagi. So we checked in with vocalist-guitarist David Best to find out more about their latest album, Lightbulbs [out on Pod through Inertia], and the place it all started for them — their hometown of Brighton, England: ‘Brighton was just full of wanna-be mods with cravats dancing like they were in Quadrophenia’, he says. ‘It was awful. It seemed to be very unfashionable to be an electronic group back then. Now everybody combines synths with guitars. It makes me want to start a mod group’.
What is your enduring memory of the recording process for Lightbulbs?
‘

My enduring memory is walking from where I lived in Preston Park, up and over various hills with steep gradients until I got to the studio on the other side of Brighton. I’d get a samosa and a can of coke and have a listen to what Steve had done. Then I would walk back’.

Are you still enjoying listening to the album, or have you moved on already?
‘I’ve only listened to it to check that it plays okay. You need to give it a break because the production is so intense you no longer hear the songs, only the details. It was the same with [previous album] Transparent Things. We’ve already recorded an album for joggers to run to and we are thinking about what the next one will be like’.

Curious what had happened to the band Hail Social earlier this year, I started trawling the internet and excitedly uncovered signs of a Dayve Hawke side project – Weird Tapes. Here is what the Philly producer, and only constant member of the Hail Social family, had to say about his new endeavor. How did you team up with Memory Cassette for the mini-EP? ‘We have always known each other and a lot of that music is from a long time ago. I only recently convinced Memory to let people hear it’.

You are leaking loads of material online through blogs. Any plans for an official Weird Tapes release?
‘It’s possible. To be honest it’s more fun to make tracks and get them out to people immediately. I would like to press up some vinyl eventually though…. and I don’t mean like a dance 12″ EP sort of thing, I want to do a full-length LP. I’ve had offers so I’d say it’s probably gonna happen. There is definitely an official Memory Cassette vinyl release coming soon’.

Weird Tapes is ambient, pop, psyche, and disco rolled into one. What do you listen to at home? And what inspires you?
‘I probably listen to old pop music like The Beatles, Motown, Girl Groups etc. more than anything. But I touch on everything at some point, Black Sabbath, Cocteau Twins, Boards Of Canada, Prince, Wire, The Congos, Incredible String Band … I hate to be a grumpy old man, but I really don’t listen to anything new’.

What does Weird Tapes mean?
‘It was the name of a series of Hawkwind bootlegs and is I guess a play on Weird Tales, the old pulp sci-fi/horror journal that spawned HP Lovecraft, and so on, and as I started out with a tape deck, it seemed to fit’.

Listen to the Weird Tapes track, My Babe Walk

Oh man, my eyeballs feel like they’re dropping out of my head. This clip is pyschedelic in a way that platform shoes and polyester shoes could never be. The Faint are the shizz, and that’s the truth.

This interview with James Lavelle gives a fascinating window into the making of the latest UNKLE opus, End Titles, Stories for Film.

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Metronomy are a cool little London-based group headed by producer and remix extraordinaire, Joseph Mount. The sound sits somewhere between Autechre and Vitalic: clanging keyboards and body-gurning beats laced with an undercurrent of ominous electronica. It’s not as inaccessible as much of the more twisted electro-based stuff out there at the moment, although it retains an edge perhaps unpalatable for some ears. Yet there’s a catchiness to it that is clearly roping in the crowds: their live shows are a spectacle, complete with synchronised dancing and flashing costumes. If that floats your boat, they’re playing for free at the Tate Britain, London, on 27 September.

Titled V, Van She’s recently released full length debut is a confident modern rock album, recorded in London with acclaimed English producer Jim Abbiss, who has worked with Arctic Monkeys and Placebo, among others. In this Playlist, bassist and vocalist Matt Van Schie, trawls his crates to give us a rundown on his current musical obsessions.

Kazino / Binary
One note riff my heart out! The bass, the guitars, and that synth line … oooooh. They’re all doing their jobs so well in this New Wave Italo Disco blast. And what a great start it has. It’s pure underground sex! I feel like I’m hanging out in an early 80s Paris nightclub with my drink resting on the stomach of painted naked lady, doing mesculine with less violent clockwork orangers.

Foster Sylvers / Misdemenour
So much soul, so much love, and the little dude was eleven! The Jackson 5 couldn’t do it better. This song makes me happy. It’s a funky drummer’s track. And one of the guitarists just sounds like he’s having a good old jam.

Skill 7 Stamina / 3rd Disco From Home
Speaking of Jamming, I love this short track because it takes me back to my sweaty garage jamming days. The female vocalist in this band also has a rad voice, but you won’t hear it on this song. London, why don’t you love these people more than you do?

Brothers Johnson / Stomp
Just YouTube this and you’ll understand. Let’s disco, baby! But in the good old fashioned way. This is music that you can dance to, without any help. And that bass playing and solo is assome (awesome combined with ass, one of my creations). Slap it hard.

Bush Tetras / Too Many Creeps
Okay, YouTube this one too. I LOOOVE this tune. It opens with a perfect snare roll, and then the counter bass and guitar rhythms make it so cool. The lyrics are even more valid today. They’re one of my favourite bands, and so many people try to do what they did for real. What a time! I wish I was born back then in New York, hanging out with these kids. Ahhhh!! Cool.

Peter Bjorn and John / Amsterdam
This takes me back to my travels down the canals of my motherland with my Uncle, a fat cigar in one hand and a raw herring in the other. These guys are great. They always have really interesting melodies and instrumentation. And really cool production.

Madness / Wings Of A Dove
This is another tune that makes me really happy, like, let’s celebrate living! It’s like no other pop song with its heavy detuned piano, steel drums, and gospel choir. It has an African vibe and it sounds different to all the other Madness I’ve heard. I like it when a band pulls their balls out and tries something new.

Schneider TM / The Light 3000
I don’t like many covers, and to think that I would like a Smiths cover? How could you do it better? Or at least match the genius? Well, I just think this cover of There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is brilliant. It somehow makes it sadder. It’s an electronic wonder. I just want to get my car and drive.

Santogold is simply the hottest thing around right now. We know this because we have her new self-titled album on constant rotation in our office. Which begs the question: how many spins can a CD take? We have two copies of the album to give away to randomly selected Lost At E Minor subscribers. To be in with a chance of winning, simply be a Lost At E Minor subscriber and leave a message under this post saying ‘Santogold is the only damn gold’, or words to that effect. We’ll announce the winners on Tuesday morning New York time. For a teaser of what you’re in store for, check out their track, Your Voice.

Dark and somewhat extraterrestrial, The Preset’s sophomore album Apocalypso has just landed on my desk and I’m beside myself. Starting off with the aptly titled Kicking and Screaming, the boys, true to form, dress their fans in space suits and rocket around the galaxy with techno pop anthems such as My People and If I know You. Halfway along the trip, you’ll discover the inspiration behind the intergalactic soundscape — Prince, Boy George, The Addams Family, and a serious amount of touring in sweaty nightclubs to thousands of fans. I couldn’t think of a better album to play on the first commercial flight into space.

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