Sorry for the delay guys and gals, but between climbing Mount Everest, paddling up the Nile river and winning three gold medals at the Paralympics in Beijing I really couldn't find the time to update this blog...Anyway, now I'm back and I'll continue to post regularly about exciting new music.
That said, here is my first musical offering for this late summer; Elke.
Elke is a brand new band from Australia's Gold Coast consisting of four guys (Dave, James, Joel and Zak).
They kinda come out of nowhere, but they definitely take you somewhere!
Their inspirational melodies and heavy, pondering rhythms coupled with interesting lyrics and superb vocals are really destined for great things.
Their influences reach from Cut Copy to Midnight Juggernauts and Cure. If you're into one of these bands you should absolutely check out Elke!

Download:

• Elke - The Melt
• Elke - Till I'm Gone

• MySpace: myspace.com/elkebandau
  

Brazilian pioneers of baile funk "Tetine" are releasing their 8th studio album "Let Your X's Be Y's" on Soul Jazz Records.
The duo consists of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Eliete Mejorado and her partner in crime Bruno Vermer, both hailing from São Paulo.
The brazilian duo moved to London in 2001 and since then promoted the baile funk movement in the UK. They released several compilations and also did a quiet popular radio show called "Slum Dunk" on Londons underground station "ResonanceFM".
Though they stayed true to baile funk and ghettotech, the new album is heavily influenced by synth-pop bands from the early 80's like Joy Division or Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Tetine's new sound can be described as a mixture of ghettotech and baile funk flavoured with a raw punky energy.

Download:

• Tetine - I Go To The Doctor (CSS Remix)
  

• Tetine - Let Your X's Be Y's (on Soul Jazz Records)
  

• MySpace: myspace.com/tetine
• Homepage: tetine.net
• Soul Jazz Records: souljazzrecords.co.uk
  

Stefan Pruett and John O'Keefe are Peachcake, a electro-pop duo hailing from Phoenix, Arizona.
Their sound relies heavily on synthesizers and drum machines, a local newspaper describes them as follows: "Peachcake serves up electronic party music for the indie rock crowd." That's basically the concept of their debut album and I think they really could hit the mark with it. Their lyrics are very jocose and their live shows involve equipment destruction, forming chanting circles with the audience and spontaneous comedy shows.
Their debut "What Year Will You Have the World?" releases November 11. In the meantime you can listen to some of their new songs on PureVolume or download their brand new song "Stop Acting Like You Know More About Internet Cafe Than Me" here on youngbohemians.

Download:

• Peachcake - Stop Acting Like You Know More About The Internet Cafe Than Me (right click, save as!)
  

• Peachcake - We Should've Never Released This (iTunes)
  

• MySpace: myspace.com/peachcake
• PureVolume: purevolume.com/peachcakes
  

Emerging from the New York electro rock scene the band Automatic Duo combines quirky synthesizer melodies with rock'n'roll guitar riffs and danceable beats.
Responsible for this massive sound are Chance Drzewucki, Matt Rockteacher, a pair of Brooklyn based musicians who list influences from Prince and Ray Charles to the Flaming Lips.
Their debut album "Fake History for Outlandish Times" sounds surprisingly fresh.

Download:

• Automatic Duo - Ain't Got A Lover
  

• Automatic Duo - Fake History (artist homepage)
  

• MySpace: myspace.com/automaticduo
• Homepage: automaticduo.com
  

SWEAT.X is a South Africa based project from rapper Spoek Mathambo and producer Markus Wormstrom.
Last October they released their first EP "Ebonyivorytron" which was very well received by the underground.
Tagging this sound as Miami Bass or Hip House doesn't cut it. Ghetto-Rave is a much better description for this smart, dirty and overpowering music.
This spring they toured through Europe and raised a lot of attention among the urban hipster crowd.
Their new EP titled "187" will be released sometime this summer on Try Harder Records.
They also announced a tour of Europe in September, of
Australia in October and of the US in December.

Download:

• SWEAT.X - Jack
  

• CITINITE
  

• MySpace: www.myspace.com/sweatx

Mathias Modica is one of the two masterminds behind Gomma Records, a German label which releases mostly disco related dance music (read: Headman, Tomboy, WhoMadWho).
Under his moniker Munk he produces some of the funkiest disco music I heard in a while.
Contrary to all those would-be revolutionaries out there trying to invent something new, Modica sticks with the old, but trusted formula of sweaty beats, sexy grooves and vocals that are smooth as butta baby to create his futuristic interpretation of an era of bad perms, chunky platform shoes and white satin suits.
Today he releases his new (and second) album "Cloudbuster on, Gomma Records.
The whole LP sounds pretty analog, which is a compliment, obviously he brought some of his old drum machines and synths out of the closet.
A song that particularly caught my ear was the funky opening track "Live Fast Die Old", interestingly featuring Italy's most talked about actress Asia Argento on vocals.
The Rapture and Busy P from Ed Banger teamed together to deliver a top notch state of the art remix.

See the video to "Live Fast Die Old":



Download:

• Munk - Live Fast Die Old (Ed Banger Allstar Remix)

• Amazon
  

• MySpace: myspace.com/munkfromgomma
• GommaRecords: gomma.de
  

NRK, a trio hailing from São Paulo(Brazil), have released their first EP "Radical" as free download on their homepage.
It comprises 5 sick smash hits for the dancefloor which are proof enough of their talent.
The EP progresses in mostly upbeat fashion and is jammed with interesting ideas and arrangements. The band uses a lot of live instruments and combines them with some sugar coated dance beats to create some stunning original tracks.
Their music is influenced by local dance hero Edu K. and James Murphy's DFA sound.

They'll properly release the EP on June 12th.

Download:

• NRK - Radical EP
  

• MySpace: myspace.com/gonrk
  

Does it offend you, yeah? are James Rushant (Bass), Dan Coop (Keys), Morgan Quaintance (Guitar) and Rob Bloomfield (Drums) from the UK.
Don't let the long band-name scare you away because this is really high class guitar-driven Indie-Electro!
James and Dan, were already producing and DJing when they eventually decided to make some tracks together. They stuck their first song "Battle Royale" on their MySpace and as it was really well received they did a track every week until they started getting noticed by record labels.
They have been picked up by Virgin Records and fired out a brand new live show including the two new members - Morgan and Rob.
Their debut album "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into" is a filthy electro punk fracases reminiscent of Justice, Daft Punk, and The Prodigy.

Download:

• DIOY - Let's make out
• DIOY - We are Rockstars

• iTunes (US)
• iTunes (Europe)
  

• MySpace: myspace.com/doesitoffendyou
• Homepage: doesitoffendyou.com
• MySpaceTV: video for "Epic last song"
  

Let me introduce you to the newest phenomenon in the nu-Rock-Rave-Electro-Dance scene.
Superpose are Paula Felitto (Vocals) and Isaac Varzim (Computers, Guitar, Keys) from the beautiful island of Floripa in the south of Brazil.
They deliver a slice of tough pounding beats with some simple lines of melody at the core. Abrasive synths and memorable guitar riffs blend wonderfully into one another.
The Portuguese vocals are okay though I can't get crazy about them either.
The production is very solid and the song structures are well developed and thought out.

Last week they released a new track, called "Calvin Klein".

Download:

• Superpose - Calvin Klein

• Superpose - Sorry

• Superpose - Say Yeah

• Superpose - Beautiful

• MySpace: myspace.com/superpose

Big Space a.k.a. Space Vein has been making beats and rapping for the past 10 years. He's originally from Lesotho but has now made his home in Johannesburg where he met his partner in crime Spoek Mathambo.
Together they formed the Slush Puppy Kids, an offspring of dirty grime funk.
The two new tracks "Beep Beep" and "Slushed Out" are banging! They mix up grimey basslines and filthy dubstep drums with some ill rhymes.
Spank Rocks über-hip booty bass beats acted as a model for this new crew from Johannesburg but the Slush Puppy Kids sound is tailor-made for people who are already out for some new exciting shit.

Download both songs and more legally and for free on Big Space's My Space page.

The Mixtape "Slushed Out Vol. 2" is on it's way and will soon be available on their My Space.

I got a mail from Chew Fu pointing me at his new hot as hell mixtape "My palms is out" which I really urge you to download legally and for free here.
Chew Fu is a supa dupa remixer from Brooklyn, NYC. He remixed tracks for numerous top artists including 50 cent, Beastie Boys, P. Diddy, Snoop Dog and T.I.
He's so hood and so good. His trademark is having the ability to take a Hip Hop track and tailor it for the dance floor.
He really kicks ass on this mixtape, which is full of wicked new tracks he made, and if it doesn't make you dance I don't know what will.

The mix includes the single "Shake you thang" from Doug E Fresh & Chew Fu himself.

Have a look at his My Space.

Dutch wizz kid ESTAW has landed in New York City and rocks the boat.
There has already been a lot of buzz around his extraordinary remixes last year and now his debut EP "Break It Down", featuring vocalists J-Cast & A-Clay and remix masters Herve, Detboi & Chew Fu, is released on Brooklyn Zoo MBC.
He delivers top-notch, electro-influenced house music that is ready to heat up any dance floor but his love for Hip Hop and R&B still shines through the whole record. The nearest style I can think of is Armand Van Helden's older stuff like "Funk Phenomena".
Now that the New Rave hype is over, Estaw could takeover and call his stuff Urban Rave...

"Break It Down" was released on April 28th as digital download on iTunes & Beatport.

Download legally and for free the song "Break it down" here.

Checkout his Homepage , My Space for more freebies.

See him live:

James Pants heralds from a small, isolated hometown in Spokane, Washington, where he locks himself up in his garage and makes some of the funkiest music you’ll hear this year.
On his debut album "Welcome" he moves from Funk to Electro to Indie and marries punky, lo-fi production aesthetics with electronic riffs and swinging beats. His self-produced sound remembers me of James Murphy and his LCD Soundsystem.
In a recent interview with XLR8 he says: "I take this music seriously but humor is the way I like to get ideas across. Because who's going to take some white kid from Spokane doing '80s boogie seriously?"
I do and you should too because James Pants is a producer we'll hear a lot of in the future.

Checkout his My Space.

Download his single "Kash" here.

Update: Jamie Strong from Stones Throw Records just sent me a mail saying that this summer James Pants will be on the road opening up for Jamie Lidell:

May 25: Vancouver – Jamie Lidell Tour @ Richards
May 27: Portland – Jamie Lidell Tour @ Berbatis
May 28: SF – Jamie Lidell Tour @ Bimbo’s
May 29: LA – Jamie Lidell Tour @ El Rey
May 30: LA – Jamie Lidell Tour @ El Rey
May 31: Tuscon – Jamie Lidell Tour @ Rialto
June 2: Denver – Jamie Lidell Tour @ Bluebird

You can also catch him DJing or playing his stuff live:

May 8: LA – Dance Right @ La Cita
May 9: SF – I Can’t Feel My Face @ Amnesia
June 13^th: Toronto – Move @ Wrongbar
June 14^th: Chicago – Move @ Sonotheque

Album drops on May 27th on Stones Throw Records

Checkout the video for "Do a couple of things":

"Think Twice" is a electro-punk band from Paris formed by Jean-Christophe Couderc (Boards and electronic effects), Benoit Raymond (Bass) and Macdara Smith (Vocals/Trumpet).
The sound is a mix of dance music and rock, along with "The Clash" influenced punk elements.
After a four year gap Think Twice are back on tracks with their second album "Coco Killed Me" to be released today on Dialect Recordings.
The album narrates a tormented future love story of the aspiring retro rock star Neverbeen and the wannabe waitress Coco.

Visit their My Space.

Buy their new album on Play.com.

See them live:

Free Blood , a duo comprised of Madeline Davy and John Pugh, describe their sound as "The soundtrack for parties gone awry".
The first three years saw Free Blood strictly as a live phenomenon playing smaller venues and house parties around the Brooklyn And Manhattan boroughs.
In 2005 the band began collaborating with notorious production duo known as the Brothers (Josh Ryan and Eric Emm) and since then released 2 EP's "Part 1" and "Part 2"
The latter has been released a week ago and features to new songs "Grumpy" and "Royal Family".
Their sound could be described as electro/soul/disco oddness of the very finest kind, it sounds like Gnarls Barkley is meeting Jamie Lidell in Hot Chips studio.

Visit them on My Space.

Downoad "Grumpy" here and "The Royal Family" here.

Buy the EP's (vinyl or digital) here.

You can currently catch Free Blood on tour across North America opening for Hot Chip: