Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?

Barring an assortment of late summer releases, which might well happen, it seems as if the heavyweights of electronica have taken a step back this year, leaving room for the ignominious to have a chance at the spotlight, blog or otherwise. Some have risen to the occasion while others have fallen by the wayside, in spite of their best intentions.

Blog backlash has come to those who are expected to perform and fail, which yours truly thinks is fantastic, yet others have won praise and accolades not entirely deserved which has prompted me to, in my heart of hearts, remember my sad prediction of this "new touch" regime coming to an end sooner than later, especially when the standardbearers who brought it so high now bring it to mediocrity.

Of course, trends die, not the music, and with that pessimistic outlook behind me, I do have a couple gems that have been ringin' in my ears non-stop.

The first one is a song by UK favorites The Feeling tittled Love It When You Call as remixed by Lo-Fi-Fnk. In typical Lo-Fi-Fnk fashion, it's a playful song, with blues-clues bass and electronic elements partaking with the samples of the original song, which itself swerves through an agonizing high-pitched guitar rhythm, with bubbly synths and slow drums, subtle voicecoders and lead vocalist Dan Gillespie Sells soft and poignant lyrics about mis-directed love. Peep it:

The Feeling - Love It When You Call (Lo-Fi-Fnk Remix)

The next one comes from an unlikely source, although when I really consider the people surrounding him, I've no idea why. It's a song called "Losing Sight" by Xinobi, who irked me by using a sample by Rockwell (if you have to ask, you don't deserve to read this blog) but has since redeemed himself in my eyes on the strength of this song. The chipmunk voice is somewhat annoying, but the song starts out tempered and then bombastic, so maybe Alvin, Simon and Theodore serve to lighten the mood. The end of this piece, somewhat similar to labelmate Moulinex's style, is my favorite part of the song, forgiving the drumkit for the droning synth in the background:

Xinobi - Losing Sight

Thanks to Discodust for the track.

That's it for today's post, a bit doomsdayish if you ask me, but not without fondness in recollection. If this is indeed the beginning of the end, then I plan to enjoi the band playing on as the Titanic sinks, and probably with a smile on my face.