Duran Duran's "Free To Love" Dropped Today

 I have been a Duranie for a really, really long time.  I used to park myself in the basement of our suburban split level home and toodle away at my artwork to the radio playing, "Hungry Like The Wolf."  I remember grooving to the entire "Seven And The Ragged Tiger" experience.  I think my first copy of "Rio" and the self-titled first album came from Columbia House well after the fact.  I was the one who had every Arcadia video on VHS courtesy of MTV, and I waited with baited breath for the world premiere of "Notorious", finger hovering over the VCR's "record" button.  As the last note rang out, my brother-in-law, who was present for the occasion, said aloud, "Not what you were expecting, was it?".

I am not going to lie.  The title track and lead single, "Notorious," was not the same as, "A View To A Kill."  It certainly was not "Is There Something I Should Know?"  But thanks to video recording technology, I was able to watch the video again and again, and it quickly became my personal song of the year in 1986.  Such is the life of a lifelong Duranie.  Everybody expects another "Rio" but has to settle for a "Wedding Album" or something else.  And after four decades, you know, some Duran Duran songs will fail to impress you after 20 plays, but lots will become favorites after just a few plays.  If you're lucky, you will know immediately when they're going to score a future number one on the first play.

So... the above is advice for the dozens of "fans" who are commenting on official channels that they think the newest offering is not enough.  Through the miracle of modern technology, I was able to replay today's new video several times, and on the 2nd listen, I have decided that "Free To Love" is a definite banger and future classic for the boys from Birmingham.  Note to self: never EVER read the comments!  Some "fans" seem to forget that Duran themselves have cited Chic as one of their primary influences.  "Free To Love" is EXACTLY what I would expect from the first double-billing effort from both the band and Nile Rogers, who is given equal credit on the new song.  It's very much Nile Rogers meets Duran Duran, without Nile having to endure production credits and flavouring a song with his style.  "Free To Love" is very much a Nile Rogers song as much as it is a Duran Duran song.  I mean, do the math... two artists making one song.  Did you expect this to sound like, "Hold Back The Rain"?

I give the above critique as a wide-eyed Duranie, who has not loved every single song the band have made in 40+ years.  I am seriously not a fan of, "You Bad Azizi", I can do without their remake of, "Ball of Confusion," and I really forced myself to put up with, "Someone Else Not Me."  "Free To Love," for me, does not fall into that category.  To be fair, I wish this was issued 29 years ago in place of, "Skin Trade," billed at the time as the "best Duran Duran song ever."  And I LOVE "Skin Trade."  Crap, I wish the entire "Notorious" album sounded like, "Free To Love" instead of a Nile-produced Prince Album.  And I think "Notorious" is in their top five albums of all time.  

Duran Duran, in the 2020's, is a beyond-mature band, who has the power to lean into any slice of influence, mood, or flavour that defines the DNA of the band.  Dear haters, if you can't give the song a second or third listen, then at least know your Duran Duran history.

If this happened in the 80's, professional critics would be saying that the new song is contrived or nothing to be taken serously.  Meanwhile, the band, at their height, wasted no time creating escapism for a world waiting for the bomb to drop.  In 2026, where we are dealing with a dark world infected with bots, war, and fascism, it's kinda fucking nice to have a sweet, glittery piece of disco-influenced Duran Duran for a possible hit of the summer.  Thank you Duran, thank you Nile.  Next up... Reportage!

From Troop Groop to Vaporwave... Skeeter84's Debut

Branching out from his lifelong career with pop sensations Troop Groop, Dave, now going by the name, "Skeeter84" has issued his first EP in the Signalwave genere of Vaporwave.

Wait, what, exactly is Signalwave?

Dear reader, use Google.  Must I explain everything?

"Hareyakana omoide", also known as, "晴れやかな思い出", or, "Sunny Memories," is a bizarre journey into sampled sound.  Taken almost entirely from 1980's Japanese television commercials and programs, Skeeter's debut is as much jarring as it is intriguing.  

"It was an accident that the first several tracks were only 47 seconds long.  Sounded like a challenge, so I made the rest of the tracks the same way," said Skeeter, of the oddly specific run times.  

The songs range glittery to stuttering, but they definitely transport you to... someplace that only could exist in the corrupt data banks of an 80's era space satelite.  While not groundbreaking, it's definitely a trippy landscape of sound and imagination.

"I've wanted to get into Signalwave for a while," Skeeter stated in an exclusive interview with New Beat Hound.  "I was the kid who sat up all night listening to the radio, and sometimes the signals were crossed, and a gentle flip of the dial yielded surreal results.  I wanted to capture that feeling of being parked in front of Dad's short wave set, just to see what you can hear and discover."

"Hareyakana omoide" is available for download on Skeeter's Bandcamp page.

Troop Groop is BACK with Nuclear Betty Ford

Troop Groop has always been a bit of a quirky, "do-it-yourself" sort of band, who made novelty pop songs out of everything from Casio keyboards to home recordings of a barking dog, which, incidentally, came long before Casio ever added a barking dog sample to one of their sampling keyboards in the 1980's.  The band bubbled in the underground of college scene in Connecticut for about five years before disbanding in 1991, or at least so we thought.  As of last week they are back with a new, idiosyncratic single entitled Nuclear Betty Ford, an homage to the late and great First Lady, and is also a bit of a send-up to their signature style.  It's MUCH more polished than any of their previous work, though it's not pop perfection by any means, it's fun.  There has been no formal statement from the band about any new material, i.e. a forthcoming album or EP, but we hope this is a sign that we have more to look forward to from Troop Groop.

Grum: Something About You

Grum, a.k.a. Graeme Shepherd, is an electronic musician and producer, who hails from Edinburgh, Scotland.  He debuted in 2010 with the release of his album Heartbeats, which earned him several accolades, including a number one spot on the US iTunes dance chart, and being named Best Electronic Artist of the year byn iTunes UK.  With so many electronic artists out there, vying for your attention (and quite possibly, a couple of your dollars), searching for good music can be like searching for a needle in an enormous digital haystack.  Of course, there are critics everywhere, and so much really boils down to personal taste.  Well, in the case of Grum, the awards are justified, and his tunes out there on Beatport and SoundCloud, are well worth it.  His compositions are smooth, lush, and futuristic.  Imagine if Vangelis and Kraftwerk got together and some sort of love child.  All hail Deadmaau5, but he'd better watch out for Grum.

Grum's follow-up album, Human Touch, has been forever and a day in getting here.  His latest single, Something About You, has been out on Beatport for only two days, and it's already gotten over 1000 listens.  It's got a wonderfully light, rich, futuristic sound.  It's easy on the ears but makes you want to get right up and dance.  If you've not heard of this guy, do check him out and explore his back catalog.

Check out Grum's new single, Something About You, on Soundcloud below.

GRUM · Something About You (Radio Edit)

Introducing.... Grapefruit Sound Lab!!

Introducing Robert Cotnoir, Shawn Muldoon, Andrew Deitch, and Philip Caporaso Jr.  Together they are Grapefruit Sound Lab!

There is something about discovering new music, and there's something even more wonderful when other people discover it for themselves.  We stumbled across Grapefruit Sound Lab back in 2013 when they held their record release party for their first album, 1031 during SpookyBear Weekend in Provincetown, MA.  The guys of Grapefruit Sound Lab were there to promote their new disk, and they were warm, fun, and exuded talent.  Their music was electrifying, refreshing, and adventurous.  They lit up the Wave Video Bar with the sound of their Halloween-themed epic, and accompanying full-length video.  It was pretty clear that these guys wanted you to dance, and they meant business. 

At some point while the boys were working on their follow-up release, 21st Century Man, various Grapefruit Sound Lab dance remixes suddenly began popping up on DJ turntables across the east coast.  Case and point, on a return trip to Provincetown in early 2015 for a weekend getaway, I was happily surprised to hear a remix to Horseman in the middle of a late night dance party.   The Paramount Nightclub resident DJ, Chris Racine, mixed the song into his set flawlessly, and the guys just ate it up.  It's so exciting to hear your favorite music out at the club, and with these guys I could have guessed that it was just a matter of time.

Anyhow, after many months of waiting, Grapefruit Sound Lab finally put out a collection of these remixes, called, Fruits of Sound (The Remixes), which arrived just in time for summer.  Included in this set are two remixes for each of these great songs:  Horseman, TrumpStomper, and Pazuzu.  And as if this wasn't enough, when the Supreme Court ruling on Marriage Equality came through in June, Grapefruit Sound Lab wasted no time in giving us Love Is Love: the President's historic remarks on the occasion set to dance music, in only the way that these guys can give it to us.

Bottom line:  Grapefruit Sound Lab are going places and they want to take you with them.  Do check them out on Soundcloud, and if you like them, go out to iTunes and buy a few tracks to support them.  Visit their website here.

Grapefruit Sound Lab · Get It Right

Grapefruit Sound Lab · Horseman (Rack Mix)

Duke Dumont: Ocean Drive

Duke Dumont has been around for a while as a producer and remixer, but he finally broke thru in 2012 with his first solo EP releases.  Since 2013, he has been tearing up the dance floor on both sides of the Atlantic with smashes like Need U (100%) and I Got U.  Coming up on October 2, his next EP, Blasé Boys Club Part 1, will be available for digital download and can be pre-ordered from his website.  To whet your appetite, Dumont released the first single, Ocean Drive on July 30th.  It's a bit of a departure from his house-oriented work, but it's fresh, airy, and definitely danceable.  Give it a listen on Soundcloud:

New Politics: Vikings!!

We just love New Politics.  They have a fun, young, party sound that makes you want to get up and dance.  New Politics is what you get when you add one part electronic pop,  one part punk, and one part something else.  However you slice it, they are fun, fierce, and they have their eyes set on conquering America.  You probably know them best for their hit songs Harlem and Tonight You're Perfect.  Last year they toured their second album, A Bad Girl In Harlem, with their first headlining tour in early 2014; afterwards they opened for Paramore and Fall Out Boy (which Frankly, we think they stole the show).   They recently released their third album, Vikings, on August 14th, with two singles being released well in advance.  Their first single off Vikings was Everywhere I Go (Kings & Queens), which was released nearly a year ago on September 2, 2014.  The second single, West End Kids, was released on May 15th of this year.  Get their new album NOW on their website (in digital and CD).   Sample their new songs and past hits below.  If you want to hear them live, they are touring North America right now!!

West End Kids:

Everywhere I Go (Kings & Queens):

Tonight You're Perfect:

Harlem: