Two from the UK

Both of these tracks are advance singles of British artists, and are promising beginnings for musicians with limited quantities of released material.


November brought us Jamie Woon, the buttery smooth vocalist on the track "Night Air" really establishes some nice nocturnal atmospheres, his falsetto working well with the gentle slow dance groove underneath. The track is co-produced by the once mysterious Burial, who revealed himself to the world a couple years ago as some dude named Will Bevan. In any case, his production here works perfectly for a spooky night ambiance, which is no surprise considering he made two albums of beats that sound like an abandoned South London street feels. Untrue, for example is very much a must listen. Burial's heavy atmospherics create great space, and I want to hear more from Woon too, almost like a less flamboyant Antony Hegarty voice but with similar seductive qualities. Burial also did some work on Woon's other notable track "Wayfaring Stranger", but that effort is more in line with Burial's established sound. This sleek jam leaves me wanting more, and it's already been remix fodder for the likes of Deadboy, Becoming Real, and SiLa. Keep your eye out for Woon's full-length, due in 2011.

Jamie Woon - 'Night Air' by Last Gas Station



I've been feeling Jai Paul for a while, but there is surprisingly little on the internets about the guy (except for this awesome picture). The hype has been building for some time now, but still no releases! His track "BTSTU" hit the blog-hype echo chamber back in March, but since then, it's been tough to find any news about him, aside from the fact that he's a 21-year-old from London. The wobbly bass drives the tune along, while not getting in the way of Paul's voice, whispering the surprisingly aggressive lyrics (e.g. "Don't fuck with me" on repeat). There's something crazy infectious about this one, I've spent entire days humming "Don't fuck with me" to myself, and this is all we really know about the guy! A remix by Jai Paul did surface, a track he did of Emiliana Torrini's "Jungle Drum". That track is an uptempo banger with crazy synths that step aside for Torrini to belt out the hook, then come crashing back in most wonderfully. I gotta know more about this Jai Paul character, no doubt.

Jai Paul - BTSTU by snipelondon

Emiliana Torrini - Jungle Drum (Jai Paul Remix) by the burning ear