A band I’ve been meaning to feature on this blog for well over a year now, Hong Kong In The 60s finally released their debut album ‘My Fantoms’ digitally on the 2nd of May and will also release it physically on June 6th. Influenced by early electronic pop, 1960s Chinese music and European film soundtracks, the 12 tracks include bittersweet pop songs, dreamlike instrumentals and even excerpts from a mouse opera for children.

Hong Kong In The 60s have made a song from the album ‘You Can Take A Heart But You Can’t Make It Beat’ has been made available for free download from here.

Chaz Bundick, the fellow behind Toro Y Moi has returned with his alter ego Les Sins. Although the sound is recognisable from his earlier release under the Toro Y Moi pseudonym, this single has lost a lot of the trip hop idiosyncracies and it has some some serious commerical potential whilst retaining credibility.

Youth Gone – Les Sins

Lina is accompanied by B side Youth Gone as featured above. Les Sins has a vaguely 80s feel, one of beaches and poorly exposed photographs. It’s an interesting change of pace from this character and it’s looking as though Bundick will diversify his sound further yet. Chaz is currently touring as Toro Y Moi supporting Foals on a UK tour.

Released 18th November 2010.

Botany, in my opinion one of the most unique artists to be featured on this blog to date is to soon release his debut five track EP, Feeling Today. Referred to by Spencer Stephenson himself as hillwave, Botany produces his music from his house atop a hill surrounded by trees and the Texas horizon; it definitely comes through in the music.

With word already of a future full-length scheduled for Spring 2011, you can expect to hear more news of Botany on IMF.

Water Parker – Botany

Spencer’s first encounter with recording came from a Casio and a cassette at age 4. He’s into the idea of recycling sounds and his tracks are reminiscent of a lost age of antiquity buried by modern life. There’s a lucid, tribal quality and the fourth track of the EP and track four, Bennefactress really captures the sound of Four Tet, a sound which I had previously believed to be inimitable.

Released 15th November 2010.

Special Benny, an extraordinary British band I first featured on this blog almost a year ago are finally ready to release their debut ‘Toys’, a largely instrumental 9 track album. Toys has been a long time in the making and nearly didn’t happen at all. Special Benny first released the Rumblestrip EP back in 2006 but the band started to lose momentum as different members followed their seperate paths in life. A send off gig was played and then nothing more until late 2008 when Special Benny discovered a newfound enthusiasm for their music and went onto eventually complete Toys.

Toys opens with Air Filter, an absolutely blinding track released as a single last Autumn that sets the tone for the rest of the album perfectly. Special Benny themselves have said their musical tastes vary greatly and this really comes through in Toys. There’s a certain lucid quality to their sound and it’s hard not to get drawn in by it, particularly in a somewhat repetitive track like Sine and Step. Either way, you can tell right from the first listen how much studio time has gone in to this recording to make Toys exactly what Special Benny had envisaged down to the finest of details. I’m really glad that this band didn’t fall apart before they truly got started, there’s no stopping them now.

Released 6th September 2010.

With the King Felix EP released in April and now this remix, Laurel Halo is still very much active in a scene of her own. In keeping the tightly bound sound of BRAHMS’ whilst adding her own unique, transdimensional qualities to the music, this track has the perfect balance all remixes should have but very rarely do. I’m sure we can expect to see a lot more from both BRAHMS and Laurel Halo in the future.

Below, the video to Laurel Halo‘s remix of BRAHMS’ Another Time.