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The golden rays of May has left us and while our friends in the West are enjoying the summer glaze, we in Southeast can never be sure how the capricious wind will blow these days, despite an all-year tropical hot air. Today’s weather itself is playing a variable humour with blazing sunshine at mid-day only to meet with a slurring thunderstorm and heavy downpour late afternoon. To match the shifty weather, I can’t listen to anything else but these songs, which bounces off rays of elusive sunshine as much as it weighs heavy like a brooding cloud. They all have the raw and real vibe, which is just what I like.

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*Please note that the streaming audio currently works on IE and sometimes Firefox. It is annoying, yes, but I’ve given up trying to make it work consistently on both ;p

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Black Kids – I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You

With a name that catchy, could you resist not finding out how it’ll sound like? I’ve been hooked on its unpolished sound and slobbering, lo-fi guitars. What’s appealing is not just the immediacy one feels with the pop recall, but the lyrics in which frontman Reggie Youngblood sings, “You are the girl that I’ve been dreaming of ever since I was a little girl”. Playful or confused?

They released just four tracks in their demo EP, “Wizard of Ahhhs” (released August 2007) – surely not enough to satiate, but the little they have done was enough to create a heated hype over what “next big things” they are – aside from the scorching Robert Smith comparisons, Rolling Stones listed them among the ten “Artists to Watch in 2008”.

The Kids were promptly packed into their touring bus before labels started a bidding war. And now we’re hearing that they’ve got a debut album, Partie Traumatic, releasing this July 7th. Did the internet buzz force them to peak too early? Or will we be able to count on their hullabaloo to actually sound good and consistently so?

Anyway this isn’t an analysis on the Black Kids. Just listen to the song and see if it doesn’t make you wanna sing-along out loud too.

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Santogold – Shove It (feat. Spank Rock)

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There’s nothing I can possibly say about Santogold that you have not heard or read before. If you’ve not heard of Santhi White aka Santogold, then you must have been playing inside a cave. Let’s just say, the hipsters adores her and the world is catching up.

Her debut self-titled album, “Santogold”, highlights a few of my favourite playas like Switch and Spank Rock, among other nifty collabs with Freq Nasty, Diplo, Disco D and Trouble Andrew.

On first impression, it is easy to compare her with electric rap queen, M.I.A., but Santogold offers a shining eclecticism and diversity that’s different from M.I.A’s club gems. The dub-infused record has multiple clashes of ska, punk, rock and hip hop wired through some excellent keyboard magic (of the synth and laptop kind). The opener, “L.E.S. Artistes” has been glorified as the album’s best track. But I’m liking “Shove It” today. It is reggae rockin, perfect for the warm drizzle after the hammering rain.

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Mystery Jets – Young Love

Oooh wa wa weeee – That was my first reaction. Simply love the track for its simplicity and retro vibe, which wouldn’t be out of place in a 60’s hits compilation. “One night of love, nothing more nothing less, one night of love to put my bed in a mess” is what they sing in “Young Love”, with folk darling Laura Marling. Quite the hippie. And won’t you just listen to the guitars and rolling drums, and imagine having fun in the rain on an unending field of green, green grass? So incredibly Bohemian. Well, unlike the video, that’s how I imagined it.

The track is off their second album, “Twenty One”, produced by hot rockin producer, Erol Alkan. Which more than guarantees some unforgettable songs. They’ve also recently been signed by Dim Mak this year. And that itself does the share of inviting the mobsters and make touring even more fabulous.

Some adorable facts about the Mystery Jets – they hail from a whimsical-sounding place called Eel Pie Island in England (I wonder if that has anything to do with their playful sound?). And get this – singer Blaine Harrison shares the band with his 50+ years-old dad, Henry Harrison, who is the guitarist. Real cool..

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Jamie Lidell – Rope of Sand

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His latest and highly acclaimed album, “Jim”, is no doubt in the funk-soul tradition, but I am liking “Rope of Sand” which is more fitting for today’s mood. It is lounge-y but immensely soulful in that it reaches out to your heart, deep. Maybe it’s also the lyrics that’s speaking to me - “The wind don’t care which way it’s blowing, so where are you going, time to give up.. so many things I don’t understand, but there’s one thing that I know, when everything is a rope of sand, we should be learning to let it go.”

It is elegant, easy listening with a punch of depth. I love it. Sensational breakthrough, for a nerd turn GQ-looking experimental EDM producer turn scruffy soulful singer.

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Pony Pony Run Run – Boy Girl Surrender

It’s hard to listen to anything else if you’ve got a summery anthem like this on repeat almost every other day. It’s a dancefloor bomber, this one. Unlike many of the gritty electro we’ve been hearing from the other French outfits, this is one electro pop that doesn’t try to sound overtly disco punk. Of course it’s a little too early to tell if they’re able to keep up with expectations, after all they have only released an EP with 3 tracks. And with the latest track, Boy Girl Surrender, it is A-Ha meets Cut Copy – won’t change the world but if you’re looking for something to indulge your soles, this is a great start. Get the track here (not my link, btw).

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El Guincho – Fata Morgana

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If you don’t fall in love with every track in El Guincho’s Alegranza! then I suppose you don’t like carnivals and don’t fancy imagine living in one. I do, I do like everything childlike about songs coming out from the merry-go-round, the lights on the ferris wheel, the clownish games, the cotton candies. And it is easier to imagine one under the Spanish stars with Alegranza, and easier still to imagine some intoxicated dancing with its syncopated Afro beats.

For a good 50 seconds, the opening to Fata Morgana lulls you with its strings and chimes, and then it catapults into a thrilling staccato followed through by some maddening chant that makes you feel like you’re bopping up and down a carousel. I’ve not heard anything as colourful and harmonious as fireworks in a clear summer sky.

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The Black Ghosts – Any Way You Choose To Give It

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I can listen to this all day. Not exactly a new song, but in view of an up-coming album, this could provide an idea of what’s on the horizon. Love the bouncy dance-pop melodies against the dark electro-breaks and indie-sounding vocals, courtesy of one Simon Lord.

Simon Lord was one part of the original Simian, before he left and the rest of the band decided to add “Mobile Disco” to their new name and became one of England’s best dance act. That’s his voice on one SMD hit, “I Believe”.

Now part of the duo The Black Ghosts, Simon Lord teams up with DJ Theo Keating who was from Wiseguys – remember the club favourite, Ooh La La? I can’t really wait to hear the new album from this duo. But right now, I wanna know, how many times will you play this track? I’ve played it all day, almost every day.

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