Pierre for Tune Love

And the final entry of my Top 5 Best Albums of 2011 is…. druuuuumroooolllllll… Teenage Bad Girl! The duo from France emerged during the golden era of French Touch 2.0, A.K.A. French Kiss, circa 2007. They are pure electro children and many questioned how they would evolve as the genre was fading around 2010. 

Well, Backwash is their take on music as a whole, a real tour de force of what they can achieve by manipulating machines and synths. Somehow, they achieved to mix most genres with their very own electro style. You want electro-pop? Keep Up With You. You want electro-rap? Jumping Judas. You want electro-techno? The Wave. You want electro-boogie? Boogie Toy. I could go on like that with all 12 songs that compose this album. In a nutshell, Teenage Bad Girl released one of the most audacious and varied electronic album of 2011, for us to enjoy!

I selected Keep Up With You as an introduction to the album. As catchy as it gets!

Scratch Massive - Waiting For A Sign (Feat. Koudlam)

Number 4 on my top 5 albums of 2011 is Nuit De Rêves by French duo Scratch Massive. The duo signed a beautiful dark album where nostalgia meets a world class electronic production. Sometimes anchored in the past with references to The Doors, sometimes sounding as the world was falling apart, they surely know how to set an ambiance. I chose the song Waiting For A Sign, a thrilling post-apocalyptic anthem which will surely please the fans of the genre! The album really works all together. It is best listened to in your bed, eyes closed.

Art Vs. Science - The Experiment

The third choice of my Top 3 albums of 2011: Art Vs. Science début album The Experiment. A well-chosen name because the 13 songs that compose the LP are all about experimenting. Prog-Rock, Electro-Rock, Futuristic music, whatever you call it, Art Vs. Science’s music is definitely out of norms. But beyond the genre itself, it’s probably the energy that comes out of the album that makes it special. All of the songs are energetic, sometimes a bit stupid, simple and complex at the same time. They remind me a bit of Nirvana in some ways, it might be the careless attitude. I saw the Aussie trio earlier this year at a festival and their performance was mind-blowing. Despite being a young act, Art Vs. Science behave like rockstars, chugging a beer during the bridge of a song. 

I chose Magic Fountain as an introduction to The Experiment. The 5 minute-long jam, told as a tale, is pure raw energy. Careful, not for the faint!

Justice - Audio, Video, Disco

So, the end of the year calls for lists! Here is my Top 3 albums of the year, in no particular order. It’s fair to say 2011 has been a magnificent year for music, especially electronic. Many great artists have released long-awaited début albums (Sebastian & Surkin to name a few) while others got much anticipated follow-up albums out. My Top 3 is a bit special because I chose 3 artists who somehow took everyone by surprise because they were expected somewhere and ended up in a completely different direction, taking everyone by surprise. 

The best example of this was probably the much-anticipated sophomore album Audio, Video, Disco from French duo Justice. Described by themselves as medieval and stadium-rock tailored music, the opus is galaxies away from their dancefloor killer debut album Cross. The duo compares the two albums saying that Cross was made for the night and the clubs while Audio, Video, Disco was made for the day and nature, which in a way sums up very well the two antinomic albums. 

Horsepower opens the album and after an epic intro and sounds like Gaspard and Xavier unleashing the dogs of war. I chose to stream Canon, my favourite track of the album!

Air feat. Victoria Legrand - Seven Stars

I guess your Monday will be smoother with Air’s brand new song Seven Stars. It features Victoria Legrand from Beach House and it’s all pretty epic, just as space travel.

Air’s new album Le Voyage Dans La Lune is inspired from the 1902 movie and drops on February 7th 2012. This is the follow-up album from the amazing Love 2 which was released back in 2012. Need!

Miami Nights 1984 - Ocean Drive

Your music Delorean is once again here for one epic journey! Today, we go back to 1984, in Miami to be precise. Are you ready to embark?

Miami Nights 1984 is another 80’s-synth-obsessed dude from Canada. But who can blame him? They sure knew how to make thrilling music back at that time! Ocean Drive is your journey through time and space, driving a Testarossa along winding roads overlooking the deep ocean…

M83 - Midnight City (Who Killed JR Remix)

2011 was one fantastic year for French indie band M83. Their single Midnight City took everyone by surprise and filled a huge spot for feel good music left by MGMT and their sophomore album Congratulations.

Anyways, South African electronic rising star Who Killed JR gave this masterpiece the required electronic treat. True to the original song, David Anderson A.K.A. Who Killed JR gave it what it takes to hit the dancefloors! Congrats!

Chateaubriand - Vision Of Funk

One quick post for this quick track from 17 year-old boy Chateaubriand from Bordeaux, France. This 2:30min-long piece of Funk will take you by surprised and will be on repeat before you even realise it! 

It sound all Louis La Roche-esque to me which is great compliment of course!

What’s more? It’s a free download!