Brooklyn-based producer and songwriter Devonté Hynes aka Blood Orange is quite brilliant if you ask me. His music has strong references to the 80s, in particular, Prince –  which is fine in my book! I first fell in love with his song “Suthpin Boulevard” and then discovered the album Coastal Grooves. The video for the single, “Champagne Coast,” is beautiful and lo-fi, and the song is a great summer soundtrack… mellow melancholia with a little spike of anthemic flavor. And here’s a tip: Check out Devonté’s blog here; he is quite stylish, too!

Danish post punk duo, Reptile Youth, is the riot, the dream – what the 21st century revolutionaries have been waiting for. Yes, my expectations for this band are sky high! Their debut full length, produced by David M. Allen (The Cure, Sisters Of Mercy) and Marc Ralph (Hot Chip) is set for a release this September, but here is the second single, “Black Swan Born White,” remixed by Mark E. Mark E is a UK based electronic producer that seems to outdo himself on every release. This is a great take on the original, and I will surely be playing this version out all summer. Hurry up! There’s a free download for the first 100 lucky ones!

Bless,
Kasper

Kenton Slash Demon is one of the most promising new talents out of Denmark. The DJ/production duo (also part of the band When Saints Go Machine) have gained great attention, without releasing a lot of material. Their sound is both organic and futuristic, and their obvious skills take their productions further than the typical frame and dramaturgy of a club track. While we wait for their debut album, here is the track, “Matter,” off the second EP from their The Schwarzschild Solution trilogy, which is a couple of years old but still deserves some attention. Malthe Fischer from Danish psych pop outfit “Oh No Ono” features with his mystic vocals and delivers a final signature to this great track. Enjoy!

As our beloved HUGO Artists Nina and Kasper already mentioned in their introductions, we had a fantastic photo shoot with them in Paris a couple of days back. Despite that day’s tight schedule for our 2 busy bees, the mood was joyous throughout the day and we think that the pictures turned out pretty, pretty good! And for all of our dear friends here on the blog who couldn’t be present, we shot a little video recap of the day. But hey, where just getting started here, so make sure to check back frequently for more Nina and Kasper!

Sonar Festival is always in the middle of June. It’s one of the best festivals in the world, and even though I’m not attending this year, I thought it would make sense to present you with a little something from Spain. New York dance rockers, The Rapture, have been one of my favorite bands since James Murphy produced their album, Echoes, and Pional is one of my new favorite rising Spanish producers; so putting the two of them together was destined to turn out great. The fact that Pional has remixed my favorite track from the latest Rapture album just makes it even more obvious to post here on the HUGO Blog.

Have a great day everyone!
Cheers
Kasper

Hey, everybody! It’s time for a nice treat! Trentemøller recently released an amazing cover version of a classic Gun Club track with the Danish singer Marie Fisker, who he also had along on his recent worldwide live tour. Along the way on the US part of the tour, they also shot a lot of video, which now has ended up as this epic band on the road movie. Gives me goosebumps every time I see it! Enjoy the video and press download as quick as you can, only the first 100 get it for free! Ciao!

Kasper

The US production duo Still Going (Eric Duncan of Rub n Tug and Liv Spencer of House of House fame) just started their own label, and this is the debut release. I have been following Still Going’s music since they did the first 12″ on DFA, and their sound is best described as timeless disco with a psychedelic twist of house. “D117″ is just one of those tracks that floats and takes you on a journey… perfect for the summer and those early morning DJ sets…

Greetings from Copenhagen,

Kasper

Hard to believe it, but this month’s podcast is our fifteenth. We feel like we should be getting birthday cake or something… We’ll happily settle for good music instead, though. This month, we’ve got james from Night Works, Bear In Heaven, Yacht, Ditt Inre, and a whole bunch of other great music makers. You can stream it right here, or you can download the podcast by following this link.