It’s not often you hear some ‘killer harpsichord’ to lead off a cosmic-electro tune, but there’s a first time for everything. Danger’s remix of the Acid Washed self-titled track is a low-key but intense space faring journey to galaxies both near and far, and we love it. The track keeps all systems on ‘dreamlike’ until about 2.50 when a lil’ bass is brought in to kick things into overdrive.

This ‘France on France’ collab will be released as part of a 12″ later this month with remixes also by The Hacker, Mickey Moonlight, Daniel Haaksman, Digikid84, Lazy Flow, Jungle Fiction and Stuff. Have a listen and show the Acid Washed boys some FB love.

Previous posts on Acid Washed, here.

Acid Washed – Acid Washed (Danger Remix)

LA-based Human Life has recently set loose the intriguingly-titled Italo Crimewave, which sounds to me like short documentary following the Crystal Castles duo as they dress up in mafia gear and do dj sets at Sicilian house parties featuring dubious Eddy Huntington tracks. But I digress.

In reality the track doesn’t venture far from the aesthetic of its title, and we’re fine with that. It’s a slow unfolding lightly-synthed breath of fresh air, hearkening back to some Moroder-esque soundscape — packed together with some Italian whispers for suspense.

Human Life also happens to be makers of the original behind one of my favorite remixes of the past months, Grum’s edit of Wherever We Are.  Sharing that one below, too.

Human Life – Italo Crimewave

Human Life – Wherever We Are (Grum Remix)

Our love for Discotexas and its artists is undeniable. First we listened to Moullinex then Xinobi and later Rockets (post). Now, Fred Oliveira of Rockets has a new project called Lazydisco. As Discotexas described it, it’s slightly different dance music with sparkles. We agree. First track “More Tigers” has an uplifting sunny afternoon-esque vibe driven by awesome synths. Gotta love this late summer jam. The hype starts now, get on the bandwagon. We can expect a remix for our previous and beloved guest, Xinobi. That’s gonna be huge.

Lazydisco – More Tigers

There was only one bigger problem with The xx‘s debut album last year, namely that there were no danceable songs. I mean of course, their concept is far from dance music but the huge hype and success make fans crave for club stuff, I guess. Kinda proves my point that there are many remixes floating out there, so producers also feel the need to tackle The xx’s anti-club atmosphere. Delorean, Andy Murphy, Matthew Dear and Death to the Throne all worked on giving The xx some beat-treatment. The last comptetitors to enter the race is LAZRtag, duo from LA. We’ve been following the guys, although lately we haven’t posted anything by them. They reworked Scanners, Passion Pit, etc, with their signature heavy electro, so they are pretty much on the cutting edge. Their remix of xx’s “Stars” is tastefully done, it’s laid-back and relaxing but also has a dark disco feel. They totally get the spirit of the original with the haunting female-male vocal-dialogue and the loneliness of unique guitars sounds and keys. LAZRtag’s own contribution is great, the subte rises in synth and the drops back to vocals and drums make even the 7 mins exciting.

The xx – Stars (LAZRtag remix)

I know, everyone had enough of Ellie Goulding remixes and some probably of Ellie herself. Although she kinda disappeared from the radar lately, hasn’t she? Well, nevermind. Thing is that I would probably not post any more Ellie remixes, unless it’s something really cool. This time, it’s Alex Metric. You probably know how much Kunk loves to drop those grenades that come out from the studio of Mr. Drury, either his Bloc Party remix or “Sabotage” rework, we love it. For God’s sake, he can even make a shitty song like “Stylo” into an awesome and uplifting anthem. It’s not much of a surprise then, that the “Salt Skin” rework is banging and marching through huge drops into an euphoric beat and synth combo that can, I believe, ignite any dancefloor. We’ll put it to the test next time. Thanks for the track to Gotta Dance Dirty!

Ellie Goulding – Salt Skin (Alex Metric remix) [mediafire] // [ysi]

Designer Drugs‘ epic, evil banger, “Drop Down” is well-known to people around Kunk. I’ve never thought that a remix could do justice to it cause it’s such a tight 3 min track. However, Jesse Jamz, assisting DD knows how to transform it. He is really young but in spite of his age he’s already made a name for himself, djing at the coolest parties with the coolest people. His version of “Drop Down” turned into a different banger but still evil and still epic. Another take on the track, but the guy succeded to create an equally vehement and savage beast. It can undoubtedly shake the foundations of any club. Tonight at the Sziget set, we’ll certainly drop it and we expect it to blow up like huge mfing bomb. I wouldn’t say that all of Jesse Jamz’s work is up in the alley of Kunk, but this one definitely appeals to our inner banger-self. This guy deserves the attention and even more if he loses his emo looks, especially the hair.

Designer Drugs – Drop Down (Jessie Jamz Remix)

TMX is one-third of our local Budapest Kollektiva crew, and a producer/solo dj in his own right as well. He’s recently put together a series of mixes with summer in mind — the first of which has our sandal-wrapped feet tapping away. As you can see by the tracklist, it’s filled with some upbeat ‘house-y’, nu-disco and electro faves which works really well for those rare moments when the kunkers aren’t mega-focused on their own mixes. :)

So… download, listen, and give some love for TMX. And if you happen to be in Budapest, catch him at a number of locales later this month and thru the fall.

Full tracklist after the jump:
(more…)

A newcomer to the super-awesome Discotexas label is Douze. He is a ‘young french dude’ creating a really quality array of tracks… generally filed under ‘dance-y synth-y electro post-punk’ however that doesn’t do his work justice. Recently up on his soundcloud is Lovely Blue Eyes. The track takes about a minute to blossom —  at which time the bass kicks in and it because a full-flavored and tasteful pop experience — fading female and male vocals intersect, creating a sad yet positively-moving ode to the human visual apparatus.

Kunk favorite and Discotexas labelmate Xinobi also made a kicking remix of Les Paradis Artificiels, the original of which was a slightly brooding electro track. Xinobi’s version thumps it up with just the right amount of extra drum and bass. Mega-like.

Pick up both tracks via their respective soundcloud accounts.

Douze – Lovely Blue Eyes

Douze – Les Paradis Artificiels (Xinobi Remix)

Just got an awesome mail about a pretty highly bloggable remix. Aeroplane used to be a duo but they had split and Vito De Luca (who’s still Aeroplane) reworked Chromeo‘s new single, “Don’t Turn the Lights On”. Fun fact: both acts played/gonna play this years Hungarian festivals. Chromeo was at Balaton Sound, Aeroplane is gonna be at the Sziget, Meduza stage on thursday around midnight. I’ve missed the Chromeo and gonna miss Aeroplane because of my general bad feeling about Hungarian festivals. Nevermind. So Chromeo’s track became really easy-listening funktro (just coined it for funky-ish electro house) summer jam. Chromeo’s full-lenght Business Casual is gonna drop in September. While you’re waiting (in the US), don’t forget to pre-order!

Chromeo – Don’t Turn the Lights on (Aeroplane remix)

ps. I indeed dislike festivals, however, we are gonna drop a set at the Mappa stage on friday, 11pm-1am. If you’re at the festival, come and dance. Invite below.

KUNK @ Sziget Festival, Mappa Club stage, FRIDAY 11pm-1am

Couple days ago we’ve received a nice mail from Mutantek, an awesome producer from Mexico. What caught my attention is that he tackled The Talking Heads, their classic “Psycho Killer”. One might consider this an act of desecration, we at Kunk hq quite enjoy it. It became a cool, chopped and weird disco track. Love his Minitel Rose and Kavinsky reworks as well. The beat gets you dancing instantly and it’s not only smooth but intelligent too. I think this pleasingly monotonous and atmospheric sound could be his trademark. It was probably shaped by oceans and melting heat. He is part of the Mix Le Fun collective that is a nice addition to the great acts coming from the southern Americas.

The Talking Heads – Psycho Killer (Mutantek remix)

Minintel Rose – Wild Birds (Mutantek remix)

Kavinsky – Nightcall (Mutantek remix)