POPSHOP RADIO 002

It's not like your calendar doesn't already have a huge red circle around this Thursday marked POPSHOP, but just in case you were somehow unaware, there is indeed an amazing evening of pop and electronic sounds transpiring this Thursday eve at Tammany Hall. We've got The Knocks. We've got Penguin Prison. We've got Like Diamonds. We've got Lightwaves. And we've got a crippling addiction to hot jams and good times. To ring in the occasion, The Knocks have put together a brilliant little mini-mix featuring the artists involved Thursday and other generally amazing tracks, available for streaming and download via Soundcloud below. Get involved, the transition from "Golden Train" into the '96 Bulls remix of "Dancing With The DJ" is kind of the fucking best. Tracklisting, ahoy.

1. "Locomotive"- Alex Winston
2. "Manners" - Icona Pop
3. "Golden Train" - Penguin Prison
4. "Dancing With The DJ" (Monsieur Adi/96' Bulls Remix) - The Knocks
5. "Helena Beat" - Foster The People
6. "In This Together" - Like Diamonds
7. "What Am I Supposed To Do" - Treasure Fingers
8. "Loveliest Creature" (Lightwaves Remix) - Savoir Adore

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE.

It was nearly 18 months ago that we first declared our love for Australia's Gypsy & The Cat and their triumphant single "Jona Vark", so we're thrilled to see it finally getting the official campaign it deserves through RCA in the UK. And even more thrilled to find that with that campaign comes a brand new remix from our beloved Starsmith, who's been quiet on the remix front as of late concentrating on his debut solo album. It's one of his more interesting remixes to date, trading four-to-the-floor beats for stuttering piano chords and nimble synth flourishes, bringing a dramatic weight to the dancefloor previously absent from his mixes.

MP3: "Jona Vark" (Starsmith Remix) - Gypsy & The Cat [exclusive]

UNDER THE BLUE.

There's a new thing. Lightwaves is the name, and the sound is some of the freshest electronic pop coming out of NYC at the moment. Our introduction comes by way of his debut remix, for Brooklyn darlings Savoir Adore's brilliant new single "Loveliest Creature" (cop the beautiful original here), in which Lightwaves and Savoir come together under the trees, lost amidst an enchanted forest of sprightly synths and neon fairy lights. Catch Lightwaves on the decks at Popshop next week in his NYC debut.

MP3: "Loveliest Creature" (Lightwaves Remix) - Savoir Adore [exclusive]

POPSHOP002: PENGUIN PRISON + THE KNOCKS.

The Popshop debut went down a storm earlier this month, with over 1000 people RSVPing to fill the 350 capacity room at Tammany Hall. With a line around the block for nearly two hours, the cops were summoned to break up the crowd so apologies to anyone who was turned away. Fortunately all future Popshop shows will be ticketed events, so anyone left out of the cold at the launch party will be able to purchase tickets and ensure their entry. Fortunately for anyone who missed out, our friends at Jackpot In The West were on hand filming the event and have put together an amazing "trailer" of sorts for Popshop which you can and should view below. We've also set up a dedicated Tumblr page for Popshop, which you can find HERE.

So moving onwards and upwards then, without further ado we're pleased to announce the February edition of the night, featuring a co-headlining takeover by The Knocks and Penguin Prison with support coming from NYC up-and-comers Like Diamonds live and the amazing Lightwaves on the decks all night long. It's all going down at Tammany Hall the first Thursday of the month (February 3rd), with Absolut on board once again hooking up the drink specials throughout the night. Tickets are $10 in advance and can be purchased online HERE, or $13 on day of show available for purchase on the door. The show will likely sell out though, so we'd advise you move fast and purchase online to ensure entry on the night. Full running order below:

08:00pm: Doors // 2-for-1 Absolut cocktails
09:00pm: Like Diamonds
10:00pm: Penguin Prison
11:00pm: The Knocks
12:00am: Lightwaves (DJ)

Going to be a LARGE one, let's go NYC.

THIS HOUSE IS FALLING APART.

We hit Vegas for the bank holiday last weekend, and while listening to The Killers as we cruised into the Sin City was a little too cliche even for us, we found the next best thing in Walk The Moon via our friends at All Things Go. Formed in 2009 in Cincinnati over a mutual love of Local Natives and Animal Collective, they combine the nowhere town ambition and anthemic hooks of their aforementioned Sam's Town forefathers with an endearing Midwestern charm and a knack for addictive pop melodies. "Anna Sun" is the triumphant lead single off of their 2010 self-released full length debut i want! i want!, and with its stadium-sized chorus and brilliant accompanying music video it's one of the biggest songs we've heard from an unsigned band in an age, the kind of stuff British A&R dreams and major label bidding wars are made of. The band play NYC tonight at 9pm at Pianos, any A&R's who aspire to be good at their jobs might want to be in attendance.

MP3: "Anna Sun" - Walk The Moon

KEEP TRYING TO RUN AWAY.

So now that we've all had some time to come down in the wake of New Years and get our heads about ourselves, we suppose it's time we introduce you to some of the exciting new acts we've got passing through our ranks in the year to come. First up in the Neon Gold Class of 2011 are Australia's Strange Talk, who's debut EP will see the light of day as our first full-fledged CD and vinyl release in the coming months.

Like the perfect hybrid of Friendly Fires and Phoenix with a bit of that Down Under electro touch thrown in for good measure, the Aussie four-piece are one of the most polished and exciting new acts we've heard in ages. Bursting onto the scene late last summer already fully equipped with an arsenal of stadium-ready anthems, the spectacular "Climbing Walls" is their first formal offering, all shimmering synths, cascading bass surges and expert delay pedal use. The kind of guitar band Neon Gold dreams are made of, Strange Talk look set to do big things in 2011 and we're pleased to report that "Climbing Walls" is only the very tip of the iceberg, so get acquainted below and watch this space closely for more in the months to come.

MP3: "Climbing Walls" - Strange Talk

NEON GOLD + CANTORA PRESENT: CANTORA GOLD.

Some of you may remember a little CMJ launch party we did with the Cantora Records bros back in October at The Jane hotel, and anyone who came out and got down will likely be pleased to hear we've decided to make a regular thing of it. It's called Cantora Gold and it's going down every couple of Mondays (or whenever we get our shit together really) at The Jane. The first one is popping off this Monday with resident DJ Austin Peters doing his thing on the ones and twos and a very special guest DJ set from everyone's favorite arena-folk heroes Mumford & Sons. It's free entry with drink specials galore and $5 beers all night long, honestly there's quite literally no better way you could possibly spend your Monday night.

PICTURE MY PROPHECY.

We're endlessly proud of our DC (via London) heritage, so there's little that makes us happier than hearing fresh new noise coming out of the Chocolate City, an area vastly underrepresented in the nation's music scene in recent years. So it's with great pleasure that we introduce you to newcomer Brenton Duvall, an 18 year old production sensation representing hard for the DMV that reminds us of a young Xaphoon Jones, with his wise-beyond-his-years production savvy and a keen ear for mashups that flow so naturally it's hard to believe they weren't originally conceived by the artists involved that way. Here's a fresh double-drop intro to Duvall's work, featuring the amazing "Against A Mad World" - which finds Tupac getting mixed up with Gary Jules over an ominous original beat from Duvall - and "Ambien", on which Lil' Wayne and Trina get tripped up over a stripped back version of Passion Pit's "Sleepyhead".

MP3: "Against A Mad World" - Brenton Duvall
MP3: "Ambien (Sleepy Trip)" - Brenton Duvall

MY HEART IS HEAVY.

Having gradually come up through the UK live circuit over the last few years and cut her teeth at London's legendary Communion club nights, Kyla La Grange looks primed to make the jump to the next level in 2011, with debut single "Walk Through Walls" set to become her introduction to the masses in early March. Aesthetically, she's not miles away from our own Mr. Little Jeans, her powerful, ethereal vocals taking center stage on the track over booming drums and rousing guitars. La Grange's voice swoops and soars over the mix, culminating in an uplifting call to arms of "get up! get up! get up!" in the chorus that's equal parts urgent and visceral, firmly establishing "Walls" as a bona fide anthem-in-waiting for the wistful indie set.

MP3: "Walk Through Walls" - Kyla La Grange

GET THE HELL OUT IT'S MY NIGHT.

Our homegirl Alex Winston is basically The One, so it's with great pleasure that we announce the imminent release of her debut EP Sister Wife on HeavyRoc. There's not a weak track on the EP, but it's the title track that's our favorite song from Winnie to date. We've loved "Sister Wife" since she first sang it to us over 4am whiskeys in her apartment a few months back, and The Knocks-produced finished version is one of the best tracks 2011 has produced thus far. I mean, it's pop music for polygamists, WHERE CAN YOU GO WRONG? Answer: you can't.

MP3: "Sister Wife" - Alex Winston

SO I DON'T FALL THAT WAY.

Foster The People already owned our 2010 with one of our favorite songs of the year in "Pumped Up Kicks", a track that seems destined for nigh-on omnipresence in 2011 once Columbia gets a proper campaign behind it and it sees a proper release January 25th as part of the band's self-titled debut EP. With the EP date looming heavy on the horizon, the band have released brand new track "Helena Beat" into the wild and it is a stone cold jam, everything we could have hoped for and more for the band's follow up to "Kicks".

MP3: "Helena Beat" - Foster The People

THAT'S WHAT WE CALL IT.

We first introduced you to Grouplove (then known simply as Group) last March via the world premier of their triumphant anthem "Colours", which now 12 months on is set to become the band's debut single when it sees release via our sister label Chess Club next month. The original still sounds every bit as vital and refreshing now as it did when we debuted it last spring, but now breathing new life into it is the literally amazing Captain Cuts remix, another Neon Gold premier courtesy of the band's drummer/producer Ryan Rabin and his writing partner Ryan McMahon. Simply put, this is MASSIVE - all monumental bass surges, staccato piano stabs and frontman Christian Zucconi's frantic vocals running rampant across the mix as the original is transformed into an empire-toppling pop behemoth. The Captains even throw in a little stretch of epic dubstep wobble in the mix about halfway through that just comes out of nowhere to completely change the game and knock the listener for six. Seriously, we know the year is only seven days old and it's a bit early for Best of 2011 proclamations, but we'll be stunned if we hear a better remix in the next twelve months. Get involved.

MP3: "Colours" (Captain Cuts Remix) - Grouplove [exclusive]

POPSHOP. THIS THURSDAY. IT'S HAPPENING.

Hope everyone's getting some solid recovery time in this week from New Year's Eve and the holiday break because we're about to do it all over again this Thursday at POPSHOP (only... bigger?). It's all popping off at 8pm with two-for-one cocktails courtesy of Absolut, then BRAHMS and French Horn Rebellion tearing it up at 9 and 10 respectively, before MNDR hits the stage for her headlining set at 11pm. Then Chiddy Bang's own Xaphoon Jones will be taking us until the early hours on the ones and twos with enough hot jams to reduce the dancefloor of Tammany Hall to smoldering ash by dawn. Entry is on a first-come-first-serve basis for the first hour and as the venue approaches capacity we'll only be allowing in names from our RSVP list, so be sure to RSVP at POPSHOP@neongoldrecords.com to make sure you're covered. And now for something to set the tone for the evening, the amazing Twelves radio edit of French Horn Rebellion's signature jam "Beaches & Friends", a track we can't wait to hear live again on Thursday after it absolutely destroyed the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival a few weeks back.

MP3: "Beaches & Friends" (The Twelves Radio Edit) - French Horn Rebellion