Make way for electro lo fo.

James Figurine creates lo fi beats with relaxing deep-voiced locals on top. He often goes by Dntel, which may or may not be a shortening of the phrase ‘Don’t Tell.’ He also performs with the group Figurine (where he draws his name from) as well as with the Postal Service.

If I don’t find some remix of this song soon, I might just take up DJing on my own.

Pase Rock blends electro and hip hop. Check him out especially if you are an M.I.A. fan. Not sure if he brings as much spandex to his shows though.

Ratatat is baaaaaaaaaack.

I love their sound. They’re almost like trip hop meets Trans Siberian Orchestra. Pieces of this song sound like original Nintendo games too.

Ratatat is a New York City based electronic music duo, consisting of guitarist Mike Stroud and synth/keyboardist Evan Mast.

They’re yet another successful musical Skidmore alum, along with Garrett Dutton of G Love and the Special Sauce, though they didn’t start playing together until after college. They released their first and self titled album in 2004 (my favorite), in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Stroud’s powerbook.

They’re supposed to put on a stellar live show. I hope they make it back to San Francisco soon.

Jams Simliar to Ratatat – Shempi

DJ Mehdi – Pocket Piano
LCD Soundsystem – Tribulations

Considerably more relaxing than their other jams, the song Knights barely includes vocals from singer Alice Glass.

Ethan Kath operates the synths for Crystal Castles. He is rumored to have used an Atari 5200 sound chip as an oscillator. Whatever that means..

Their live act is rounded out by drummer Mike Bell.

Formed in Toronto, Crystal Castles is particularly popular in the UK and Australia. They have also toured the US with The Presets.

Similar Jams:

Listen to LCD Soundsystem – Tribulations
Listen to The Knife – Like a Pen

For a Smoother Sound:

Listen to DJ Mehdi – Pocket Piano
Listen to Mylo – Otto’s Journey

With a bigger sound than their song Like a Pen, the jam Heartbeats will get everyone listening to The Knife, a critically acclaimed pair of DJs from Sweden.

There’s been plenty of remixes of this song, probably most listened to though is the cover by Jose Gonzalez, who turns this pounding club anthem into a morning-after hang over cure.

This is one of the few electro songs that I listen to that also has a music video that I enjoy. Now that I think about it, all music videos by The Knife are worth taking a look at. Enjoy.

Norway has quite the music scene. We’ve got Datarock bringing the electro rock ruckus, Madcon bringing the dance hip hop ruckus, and now we’ve got Royksopp bringing the ambient techno alternative to ruckus.

Royksopp also recorded a song for a Geico commercial

This song sounds like a cross between Mylo’s Otto’s Journey and The Knife’s Like a Pen

The Knife is the musical project of two siblings from Sweden – Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer. They have been recording music since 1999, and released the album Silent Shout in 2006.

What’s with the ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ masks? Good question, but their may be a connection between these masks and the band’s reluctance to appear publicly.

In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy their laptronica music, probably conceived, tweaked, and perfected in a small dark basement, somewhere in the Swedish countryside.