News

Playlist: SUNS – A Short History of Electronic Music

• 7th Oct 2015

London based duo SUNS are set to release their ‘We Were Kings’ EP on 16th October, so we asked them to put together a short history of electronic music in 10 tracks. “We quickly realized it was almost impossible” said the band “so here’s 10 tracks from across the ages that are really important to us instead.”

Raymond Scott – Manhattan Research Inc [1950s – 1960s]
We found out about this guy a number of years ago. He created soundtracks in the 50s and 60s for companies like IBM, Vicks, & Sprite using early synthesizers and modulars. He was way ahead of his time and managed to bring some really bizarre sounds into a popular domain.

Talking Heads – My Girlfriend is Better [1983]
This is a classic and had to be included. The video is taken from their Stop Making Sense concert video which they spent about 1 million dollars making. Worth a watch.

Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill [1985]
We connected over a mutual love for this track. It’s just perfect.

Steve Reich – Electric Counterpoint [1987]
Even though technically this track is made up of only live elements I think it deserves a place here due to the influence it has had on electronic music. We re often thinking of this track when creating loops/patterns.

Erasure – Always [1994]
Love the chorus of this forgotten classic.

The Chemical Brothers – Setting Sun [1997]
In our opinion this is a great example of 90s dance music and production at its best.

LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great [2007]
We will be forever inspired by this band. They were brilliant at combining electronic elements with live acoustic ones. Something we embrace in our own work. This great track builds from a sad subject to soaring synth glory.

Jon Hopkins – Open Eye Signal [2013]
This just makes you want to dance with the lights off.

SBTRKT – The Light (feat. Denai Moore) [2014]
This sounds like its been lifted from Thom Yorke’s Eraser album, and given a pop revamped with Denai’s smoky vocal. Win!

Bearcubs – Paper walls [2015]
This song grabbed us immediately. One of our new fav tracks.

Check out the full playlist here: