Alec Empire might be best known as part of Atari Teenage Riot, though as producer of Patrick Wolf’s forthcoming The Bachelor, he has demonstrated his transformative power of his production. As heard on Wolf’s first single, “Vulture,” the alt-folk singer has taken a darker and more industrial turn on this collection. Empire has remixed the second single, “Hard Times,” which you can download via RCRLBL. The video, above, was shot in NYC this spring, directed by Michel Gondry devotée Ace Norton.
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With his first release three years, Tiga returns with Ciao!, physically released today in North America, an album that is equal parts electro as it is MTL death disco. While lead single “Shoes” could become his biggest hit to-date, its catchy chorus and easy punctuated rubberband bass belie the rest of the album’s distortion and anti-pop songwriting. Collaborating primarily with Soulwax for production and composition, Ciao! takes on more of a mission than its predecessor. This is not an introduction, this is the artist in the middle of the night at the peak of his form. It’s bolder, it’s a little colder, and it is 100% original – none of those much-loved covers make their way on here. “Luxury” will likely be the next hit, and the James Murphy-co-penned and produced “Gentle Giant” will be a fan favorite. Whether he’s referencing Nabokov on “Speak, Memory” or making a booty call on “Sex O’Clock” Tiga’s beats are so solid you forget he’s probably trying to subvert everything you hold dear. It’s the nearly 11 minute “Love Don’t Dance Here Anymore,” however, that reveals who Tiga really is: disco don extraordinaire.
She’s opened for Santogold, CSS, and Late of the Pier, but while she has elements of each in her style (Santi’s deadpan delivery, CSS’s blinky 80s-ness, LOTP’s angsty), thecocknbullkid (née Anity Blay) definitely has her own style. IAMSOUND releases her debut EP, Querelle, in North America this August, and the four tracker will hopefully presage a mind-blowing debut. One of the tracks from Querelle, “I’m Not Sorry” is streamable via her 
