Scot producer Burns has certainly announced his presence on the British scene, leaving his mark already via head-turning remixes of tracks by some of the bright young things of the last few years, including Ladyhawke and Passion Pit. This double-CD mix album follows a number of releases, with the latest, the ‘So Many Nights’ EP, attracting a lot of chatter in the internet dance music community. While the first disc is very much an enjoyable foray into house and techno territory, ideal for anyone looking to recreate that clubbing feeling away from the dance floor, it is this album’s second disc which provides a real insight into who and what Burns is. Hence on disc one we have classic floor-filling acts like Armand Van Helden’s ‘Ski Hard’ and a hot remix of Gossip’s ‘Heavy Cross’, while Burns gets truly diverse on disc number two, displaying a taste for quirky French dance-pop in the bubblegum-coated form of Yelle’s ‘Ce Jeu’ and funk-tinged house on his own ‘Heartbeats’, amid a myriad of other styles. Ultimately it is a trance reworking of Empire of the Sun’s ‘We The People’, ending proceedings on a high, which shows just what BURNS is capable of.
After humble beginnings with a Yamaha keyboard in her bedroom (the place to launch a pop career these days, by all accounts), the tail end of 2009 finds ‘the good natured’ (aka 18-year-old Sarah McIntosh) releasing her second EP. Still with only the aforementioned old keyboard to provide the electric pulse for her affecting, sometimes dreamy musings on life and loss, McIntosh has created a sound that’s stripped down and honest; less funky and polished than Ladyhawke, but warmer than Ladytron and more leftfield than Lily Allen. Opener ‘I Pray’ finds McIntosh pushing out a hook large enough to snare a shark; just try and resist that uplifting chorus. Go on, I dare you. Next, ‘Your Body Is A Machine’ ushers in moody, apprehensive organ-esque keys; elsewhere the beats polymorph in style from cheap electro to drum‘n’ bass. McIntosh’s strength is in writing songs that are simple and accessible enough to lure the listener in at first glance, but are also strong enough to hold up to repeat listenings. Throughout, McIntosh pulls off vocals that are emotional, even forlorn, without withering away into glumness or irritating the ear. One to watch this year; here’s hoping she never bins the keyboard.
