In the months since Gold Panda was last mentioned on these pages as having an onstage stance reminiscent of a pornstar ploughing a midget by yours truly, the following has happened*

- He’s been on a US tour with \\Health//
- Featured in all sorts of stush publications
- Got even BIGGERER in Japan
- Made lots of people on twitter type RT
- Played at lots of festivals
- Been remixed by LOL Boys

All pretty whirlwind eh?

However, before Gold Panda gets offered VIP membership to Stringfellows and a date with Holly Willoughby, he must prove himself to be at least close to the forefront of a new wave of artists unafraid to challenge preconceptions of what music can be.

(Sounds a bit like the Hackney version of Karate Kid)

In a rare turn of events, according to a recent press release his debut album Lucky Shiner does just this!

Notown and Ghostly Intl will be responsible for releasing Lucky Shiner either side of the Atlantic on October 11th – for more information visit Lucky Shiner.

You can however download the preceding single “Snow & Taxis” now.

Download: Gold Panda – Snow & Taxis

*Lots else has probably happened too – we’ve just focused on the important bits.

This is the post where the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble cover my favourite Outkast track of alllllll time. Not much more to say.

Download: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – Spottie

This Saturday, one of the oldest Bugs in the tech-house game, Steve has been snapped up as the next ‘A Night With…’ headliner. Having his own prestigious labels Poker Flat, Dessous and Audiomatique means he’s worked with haggard legends like Richie Hawtin, Josh Wink and Matthias Tanzmann. Expect some techno up close and intimate in your face all night in a sweaty den.

Saturday 14th August, Scrutton ‘Scummy’ Street Warehouse. 10am – 6am. £15 advance tickets.

This is the post where the mysterious Dropout Orchestra go all Maurice Fulton on the new single from the ever popular Scandinavian Robyn with typically excellent results.

Download: Robyn – Hang With Me (Dropout Orchestra Remix)

Following last Saturday’s birthday shenanigans we’re right back on it this weekend with the launch of a new night, NEW!

Just to give you a little background on this, when we started Hot Pockets, we did so because we wanted to showcase some of the amazing new music we come across and love.*

Now whilst we’ve been happily doing that, the problem with 7″s is they’re quite expensive to produce, especially if you’re printing lush sleeves and using coloured vinyl, and sadly as we’re hardly Rockefellers, this limits us to putting one 3 or 4 a year.

So alongside the sevens we’ve decided to start doing a quarterly CD compilation, a round-up of all that is new and wonderful, and to go with this we’ll be running a monthly night at 93 Feet East, showing off bands from the compilations and the kind of bands we’d love to feature on the CD**.

Each compilation CD will come complete with a little book featuring interviews and features on the bands, and hopefully should be dirt cheap, so a great introduction to all sorts of new music.

Anyway to kick things off we’ve got quite a monster lineup, with one of our favourite acts to emerge this year Silver Columns, playing live in the man hall. Emerging all mysterious like earlier this year with the falsetto pop genius that was Browbeaten, SC went onto release one of my favourite albums of the year.

Joining them on the live stage is Hot Pockets own :Kinema: who should just about have recovered now from the epic stage invasion at their last London gig and another of our current obsessions, the excellent Danimal Kingdom.

If that wasn’t enough taking control of the decks we’re joined by Kill Em All’s finest the Filthy Dukes, Moshi Moshi DJs, Lovers & Gamblers and thisaintnodisco. As we said it’s going to be B I G.

Right let’s get your week started with a bang, wrap your ears around this Caribou remix of Silver Columns’ forthcomi g new single ‘Always On’, 9 minutes of joy.

Download: Silver Columns – Always On (Caribou Remix)

*We also have massive egos and liked the idea of being record label moguls.

**We’re still putting together the first one so whilst the bands on this lineup are indicative of the kind of bands we want to feature, don’t take it as read that these bands will be on there, little legal disclaimer there…

If you missed out on catching Detachments at our 4th Birthday last night shame on you cos they were fckn great – not least for the conceptual addition of two ballerinas to the live lineup - along with the appropriately named Phenomenal Handclap Band, Matthew Moscow Waites and Simon TINAE Carr.

You mere mortals will be afforded a further chance to see Detachments this Friday 13th in Brixton before they embark on a UK wide tour and enjoy the accompanying fanfare associated with what’s an excellent debut album. The band will be playing at World Unknown the night of throbbing EBM, acid tinged electronic romanticism at Brixton Arches overseen by Andy Blake and Joe Hart.

It’s worth noting that Andy Blake has delivered what is definitely a contender for remix of the year in his 18 minute remix of Detachments new single “Holiday Romance” but your ears will have to wait for that when it drops on September 6th along with remixes from Cosmo and Glaswegian duo T & A.

(watch out for the video for this single done by Stephen Agnew btw)

We do however have a Detachments exclusive in the shape of this rework from World Unknown affiliates Gold Blood of “The Flowers That Fell” which imbues the track with schizoid synthy bliss and a satisfyingly crunchy thump.

Download: Detachments – The Flowers That Fell (Gold Blood Remix)

I know we say this all the time but this week’s guest mix really does come from one of our favourite DJs and producers, Matt Waites. We’ve been lucky enough to have Matt play at several of our nights over the years and he’s always killed it.

Whether remixing the likes of Klaxons, Metronomy and Punks Jump Up as Nightmoves, Shy Child, In Flagranti and Friendly Fires as Moscow or knocking out spacey disco with Nadia Ksaiba as G&S, he’s proved he has a golden touch when it comes to delivering stone cold dancefloor classics.

His Moscow remixes are especially lush (if you’ve yet to check these out, head over to his Soundcloud page now, turn up the volume and enjoy) and his debut Moscow EP, ‘Deep Heat’, is one of the best 12″s you’ll buy this year.

You can catch Matt playing at our 4th birthday party this weekend but before then wrap your ears around this superior slice of disco tackle.

Tracklisting

Todd Rungren – Breathless
CFCF – Snake Charmer (Young Galaxy Remix)
Beautiful Swimmers – Big Coast
Blamma Blamma – Beyond 17 (cage & Aviary Rmx)
Matthew Dear – Soil To Seed
Space Dimension Controller – Journey To The Core Of The Unknown Sphere
Oneohtrix Point Never – Returnal
Monarchy – Love Get Out Of My Way (tim Goldsworthy Dub)
Bryan Ferry – You Can Dance (richard Sen Dub)
I Cube – Grandes Orgues
Harkin & Rainy – Word To The Wise
Ricardo Villalobos – What You Say Is More Than I Can Say (isolee Rmx)
Guilaume & The Coutu Dumonts – Can’t Have Everything
Mugwump – The Congregation
Kool DJ Dust – Side A
JR Seaton – Azklementhyme

Stream from Mixcloud now or download from here.

Well we still can’t share any of the Salem album with you, but they have just sent over this mixtape.

No tracklisting, no info, and to be honest I haven’t even had a chance to listen myself so this could just be some next-level rickrolling, but sod it here you go…

Download: Salem – I Buried My Heart Inna Wounded Knee (Mixtape)

You know when you find your birthday/Christmas presents hidden in a cupboard, and you know you shouldn’t look, but you can’t help yourself and before you know it you’re sat on the floor surrounded by wrapping paper oggling a new train set…

Well that’s kind of how we’ve been feeling about our special guests this Saturday, and frankly the excitement has just got the better of me and I told someone and they told someone and they’re about to tell lots of people so I figured we should come clean.

So… drumroll please, we are unbelievably happy to announce that joining us on Saturday are New York’s The Phenomenal Handclap Band! No strangers to these pages, TPHB are one of the best band’s to have come out of Gotham in recent years.

Described as ‘astronauts of progressive soul, moored at the stellar point where rock, funk and psychedelia bloom into cosmic-disco amazingness’ by The Guardian and with a live set that Clash called “an eye-popping spectacle that overwhelms the senses” this is going to be something special.

Right, that’s a weight off my chest! See you at the weekend!

So the Salem album arrived this week with the kind of security warnings attached you’d normally find accompanying containments of weapons grade Uranium. All of which means you’re unlikely to hear any of it at this little corner of the internet any time soon (hold tight for a full review on a grown up website soon).

Still dry your eyes as what we can proffer up is this brand new Salem remix of These New Puritans new single Hologram. Pitching down the vocals and smearing them over washed out synths, they’ve turned in a short but sweet slice of screwed up ambient crunk that will have you reaching for the Nytol.

Download: These New Puritans – Hologram (Salem Remix)

The single in it’s original form is out on Monday.

As a little 4th birthday warm up I’ll be dropping some proper house business at Curtain Road institution Horse & Groom on Friday as part of the newly founded Fragment night. The Off Modern residents and Moman from Hinterland Festivals are also on the bill.

Get Yer Facebook On

If you like things deeper our friends from Shameless Disco are on the other floor and have the highly rated Ethyl & Flori down to headline.

xx

Come along and party with us this weekend at The Big Chill House, it is our birthday don’t you know.

Silly words aren’t really necessary.

“In a departure from Blamma! Blamma!’s usually more frenetic sound, ‘Beyond 17’ is a blissful slice of uplifting balearica and a fitting, joyful tribute to the multi-talented, versatile producer who created it. With it’s slow build and dare-you-not-to-smile release it will no doubt be the soundtrack to many a sunset or end-of-night sing-a-long in the summer to come. As a bonus also included is a subtle, atmospheric remix from Cage And Aviary.

Blamma! Blamma! were the duo of Martin Cole and Nick DC. They forged a name for themselves in 2007 – 2008 (especially in the blogging community) by making energetic, dancefloor electronica and remixing acts like We Have Band, Maximo Park, The Teenagers, Cazals, Scanners and Naive New Beaters. Unfortunately, at the beginning of 2009, Martin was diagnosed with cancer and sadly passed away last summer. After much soul-searching, Nick decided to try and release some of the music that he and Martin had been working on and finishing some of their uncompleted tracks. After hearing ‘Beyond 17’ his friends Jamie and Nigel, of London act Cage And Aviary, decided they would love to release it on their label The Walls Have Ears in tribute to Martin.”

RIP Martin – thanks for the constant emails about perineum tickling with a feather.

Download: Blamma! Blamma! – Beyond 17

Buy “Beyond 17″ on vinyl with the accompanying excellent Cage & Aviary remix from here.