Based in Copenhagen, Tomas Barfod released his debut solo album Salton Sea back in 2012, after about ten years of musical experience as part of WhoMadeWho and four albums as Filur, an electro duo he started with his old friend Kasper Bjørke . His solo success paved the way for his sophomore album, Love Me, which features a string and brass section and musicians like Here We Go Magic’s Luke Temple and long-term collaborator Nina K on vocal duties.
While still keeping his debut’s intimate delicacy and beautiful sense of fragility, this follow-up is also more audacious. From the start Barfod was acutely aware that in order for these songs to come to life they needed to have vocals, even if piecing it all together was like finishing a puzzle. Love Me is many-textured, endlessly rewarding, an organic-sounding electronic album utilising real heart and soul.
Here is a gorgeous remix of single “Busy Baby” by Oliver Nelson.
More info on Tomas Barfod’s Facebook. Buy the music on
Haerts is a five member indie pop group based in Brooklyn. Founding members Nini Fabi and Ben Gebert grew up in Germany, meeting as teenagers when they were on a swim team together. They moved to the US to study and ended up settling down in New York to make music, like many other young musicians who seek out Brooklyn as the backdrop to their musical dreams.
Ever since they wrote their first song, the band’s creative core have been moved by the same passion and unwavering desire to find their own sound. “Benny is still the guy that’s the foundation in the songwriting, he’s on that composition element and I’m still the one more interested in melody and words,” Fabi says. Gebert agrees. “I would literally never write lyrics. It wouldn’t occur to me.”
Haerts released their first EP, Hemiplegia, in October 2013 and has toured with bands such as Shout Out Louds, Washed Out and Atlas Genius. You can get tour dates and more on their official website or Facebook.
German DJ/producer Jan Blomqvist has been dubbed as one of the most interesting and promising young artist in Berlin at the moment. He describes his music as a mixture of Radiohead, Muse, Bodi Bill, Stephan Bodzin and James Holden – a beautiful balancing act between melancholic, melodic electro-pop and euphoric minimal techno.
For over 7 years he was the singer, bassist and songwriter of a band who rocked North Germany with a dark melodic grunge-rock sound. After moving to Berlin, Jan discovered a real passion for electronic music and he soon decided to quit the band in order to explore new sounds and influences. He traded his guitar for a synth and never looked back! As a solo artist he has released countless singles and EPs with labels such as Stil vor Talent, Dantze, Hive-Audio or Miteinandermusik.
More info on Blomqvist’s Facebook. Buy the music on
If you’re in need of some glammed-up discopop to get your saturday off to a flying start, look no further! Listen to this clap-along, sparkly tune by Californian production duo Classixx! Featuring funky bass lines, sun-kissed synths and deliberately unaffected vocals by LCD Soundsystem’s iconic singer Nancy Whang, “All You’re Waiting For” is a perfect mix of 80s disco, old-school funk, and modern beats.
The song is taken off Classixx’s highly acclaimed debut album, Hanging Gardens, out now on LA-based independent label Innovative Leisure.
When asked to describe his music, German beatmaker Christian Löffler explains that it’s a subtle mix of melancholy and euphoria, “connected by a gloomy spirit, which is minted by a warm sincerity”. Löffler recorded his debut album, A Forest, while living in a small house in the woods near Usedom, in Northern Germany, and you can really feel the closeness to nature. Sounds of leaves and breaking waves surface through layers of polished beats, creating an intimate and mysterious atmosphere.
A very new aspect in Christian’s work on this album is the use of vocals. In the track “Feelharmonia” Christian collaborates with the Danish musician Gry Bagøien and creates a hypnotic track in which the vocals slowly develop into really sung words.
On “Eleven” he works with Mohna, singer of Hamburg based band Me Succeeds, and uses her fragile voice throughout a whole track.
