Tom: Ah! Madeon. Best known amongst internet types, incidentally, for his astonishingly good live-mashup “Pop Culture“.
Tim: Ooh, that is good, but I first heard this when I woke up to it recently and grouchily thought “why the hell is Radio 1 playing this is the daytime, when they should be playing Ed Sheeran or someone equally dull?” Then, when I was more awake, I heard it properly, and enjoyed it. (Oh, and if you’re wondering, it’s pronounced mad-ee-on. French, you see.)
Tim: It occasionally verges near territory where I’m thinking “Oh God, what a racket,” but it stays fairly melodic throughout so I actually find it more of a fairly good, fairly aggressive, dance tune. The vocal bits strike me as a bit odd, though, or at least the second batch does.
Tom: Oh, they worked so well for me. That first vocal section reminds me – and this is perhaps the highest compliment I’ve ever paid on this blog – of the legendary Rob Dougan‘s Furious Angels. It’s the first music in ages that has made me actively sit up and take notice. When the beat kicks back in, not so much: but that threatening, moody, building vocal section is just incredible.
Tim: The singer’s from an American indie band, for no particular reason that I can discern, and while the first bit, like you say, is pretty good, the sudden near-muting of the massive triumphant instrumental stuff for a dull-sounding voice to jump in and close the track sounds like a bit of an anti-climax, really.
Tom: It really is. I was expecting one last repeat there. I was, quite literally, bracing myself. That’s a shame.
Tim: That aside, though, it’s lovely to thrash around drunkenly to.
Tom: It’s the kind of track you throw your hands up for even though no-one’s telling you to.