Ewan Pearson has been playing in the sexy shadow of Disco since the late ’90s. From releasing deep, techy singles on Soma to building up his remix portfolio with all manner of pop stars and electronic-music upstarts, Pearson has proved himself to be a 21st-century, dance-prod powerhouse. Needless to say, with EP twiddling the knobs, the newest Junior Boys single makes me feel nothing short of euphoric. The Canadian Electropop duo always write from the heart, and “Hazel” is no exception. On Pearson’s extended Disco edit the synth lead slow burns into Jeremy Greenspan’s homage to an inscrutable lady with hazel eyes. She can’t seem to settle into a relationship or a home; the perfect love song for a generation of feckless wanderers who won’t commit to relationships or cities. I especially love the top of the final minute when Pearson forces panned squelchy synths to bounce around the tonic. Its a lovely moment of contrived improvisation.

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When I used to sing more, specifically with my college a cappella group, my friend Graham, now the guitarist for the virtuosic rock outfit Bryan Scary and The Shredding Tears, used to exhort precision by invoking “quiet intensity.” When you’ve got sixteen wily boys to wrangle, evocative language becomes essential, but quiet intensity can be a means of describing fleeting moments of brilliant vocal technique in recorded music too. Bon Iver, who by now has gotten so much attention that I need not delve into lead singer Justin Vernon’s bio, blessed the world with a couple new tracks in late January, one of which is beyond perfect. “Woods” has that polished digital quality that Imogen Heap achieved on “Hide and Seek” a couple of years ago. Sick sick sick. Makes me want to cry, and to sing, and to hug my loved ones so tight they gasp for breath.

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La Roux, whose album is set to be released on Polydore this March, is actually a duo. Surprising since the fiery-flocked lead singer, Elly Jackson, has done a pretty swell job mugging across the blogosphere these last couple of months. I first heard the track “Quicksand,” a sumptuous slice of punch-flavoured, at times deliberately detuned, electropop, on Radio One a couple of months ago. It has since been released on a Kitsuné Music compilation, igniting a nifty little brushfire beneath the Jackson and her partner Ben Langmaid. I’m really digging the new single, “In For The Kill,” which is set for a proper release mid-March. Dubstep poster-boy Skream lends his chops to the knobs on this bass-bin rattling “ravey” mix. I love how Jackson’s voice sounds kind of child-like and out of control, like she’s so excited to belt the creepy lyrics she might burst.

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Wtf is the deal is with our boy Tiga? His shit is so hit or miss I often forget to check it out, and then I’m off the tip when he drops something really heavy, deft, or, in most occasions, eminently forgettable. His most recent release, “Mind Dimension,” certainly rides the former descriptor. Dropped in late January, It’s already reached anthemic status and we’re barely cracking March. Perhaps it was his wise decision to limit the vocals to the mystical “every time I look into your eyes I see the future” callout, more likely it was the benefit of working with a genius collaborator (Jesper Dahlback). I’m loving the jam, and totally itching to hear the rest of his forthcoming album Ciao! The first track I’ve been able to snag off it, besides the aformentioned, is the Castro-ready disco number “Love Don’t Dance Here Anymore” It’s a proper amyl nitrate-fueled backroom shredder with dark burbling acid bass, wicked latin percussion and a two-minute intro that’s so gay it will frost your tips. I want to play this one on repeat forever.

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When times are flush its hard to make Trip Hop stick in a crowded marketplace. Just ask Leeds-based quintet Stateless, who’s 2007 album, preceded by the 2005 single “Bloodstream,” quitely faded into obscurity despite being produced by then-hot Adele/Sneaker Pimps wiz kid Jim Abbiss. I have yet to fully get down to the full release despite being totally captivated by the aforementioned single, and especially with its remixes (as is to be expected of me). It is a quiet, emotional sort of record, with flitting pianos that seam to drown in their own warmth. The Pilooski rework foregrounds a set of dissonant disco toms and brushes gently through the piano motifs, pumping the tempo on the vocals and relishing the four-four thump of a live kick. This is an end of the night track.

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Club Action, the breakout hit by Tampa-based Homo Hoppers Yo Majesty, hardly needs an introduction. Its been banging on speaker boxes for over a year now, most often in the form of the New Zealand-based Bag Raiders‘ Enya-biting remix. It popped back into my head this winter when I finally tracked down the delicious Stanton Sessions III, released towards the end of 2008. The Stanton’s take on the track is in line with the rest of the mix – Dark UK Garage verging on Grime with dollops of pumping Baile Funk. I love that the UK Breaks massive is heeding the call of Rio. Just as Portuguese/Angolan Kuduro emerged in 2008 as its own thang (see Buraka Som Sistema’s Black Diamond), Baile Funk has freed itself from the confines of the Americas to bust the production chops of House heads around the globe. This is New Wave and Bass-inspired Southern Hip Hop filtered through the lens of a ganja-soaked strobe light.

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There’s something very special about the Clazziquai Project. I was turned onto them when they showed up as a recommendation on my emusic frontpage – the bots thought I’d be interested in the Shinichi Osawa remix of the track Prayers. I am, of course. Osawa is one of the most technically proficient remixers out there – and a beacon of what is undoubtedly set to erupt as an Asian Acid Jazz/House/Electro moment. But the Clazziquai Project is a particularly Korean phenomenon, emerging as a pop tour de force after having their songs featured in My Lovely Sam Soon, a 2005 Korean mini-series. This Fantastic Plastic Machine remix of “Our Lives,” highlights the syrupy vocal harmonies and linguistic hybridity of the group. Brash synths wind around each other across different registers while chunky piano chords chirp underneath.

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There’s nothing I can say about Kissy Sell Out’s masterful new bootleg of R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming,” off 1992’s Automatic for the People, that would do the tune justice. Its a stomping, pounding slab of piano-driven ghostfunk. Whether Nightswimming is really about latent homosexual tendencies or AIDS or just a skinny dip in Athens GA, the whole package of evocative memes makes your skin crawl with joy. I’m not sure about the Bmore label, but it doesn’t really matter anyway. Call it Bmore, call it achey-breaky Pop, call it the best way to confuse a floor full of hipsters and elate a bunch of dorks; I can’t freaking wait to play it out.

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Jazz is one of those idioms that doesn’t come easily to everyone. I’m not a Jazz head by any means, but I’ve certainly come around to a little bit of equanimity in my appreciation for Jazz. Where once the ambling solos, indirect melodic focus, rambling uneven tonal patterns and blue note syncopation, drove me up the wall, I’ve found a certain satisfaction with the music through learning its vocabulary and history. One of the things that can be said unequivocally for Jazz vocalists is that she must have an unflinching command of her instrument; its timbre, its range and its pitch must be mastered. Otherwise audiences are unable to transcend the lyrics. When I pump Ella, Sarah Vaughan or Jon Hendricks on my stereo, I try and train myself to hear the voice as if it were just another horn stepping out from the big band. This could be why José James is such a joy for me to listen to – he plays his voice like a horn. New York City, and the history of Jazz born there, shape James’ first release for world-acclaimed DJ Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label. The Dreamer is the title track and easily my favorite. Another standout from James’ album is Spirits Up Above, reworked here by Simbad. José James performs for FREE at 5PM on Tuesday, July 8th at The Providence Black Repertory Company as part of Sound Session 08. Tickets for all performances on sale now at Arttixri.com

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There is something burbling up in Brooklyn. Its one part straight island Rasta, one part BK brand Nubia and one part UK hoody culture. On Brooklyn Anthem, Team Shadetek managed to harness some of the Burrough’s most cantankerous beas and vocals for an explosive celebration of hybrid Black music. Featured on the tune is none other than Gize Burrows, aka 77Klash. Most famous for penning the unstoppable Skallawa riddim – Turbulence’s “Notorious” was the nearly ubiquitous hit of a couple summer’s ago that made the infectious, bass heavy backing track famous – 77Klash (pronounced Double-Seven Klash) is known for his unwillingness to play by Dancehall’s genre conventions. On Brooklyn Anthem, Klash and Noble Society’s Jahdan tear through a heavy, badman riddim replete with squelchy acid bass and spooky synthetic strings.77Klash performs at 11PM on Tuesday, July 8th at The Providence Black Repertory Company as part of Sound Session 08. Tickets for all performances on sale now at Arttixri.com

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