Ewan Pearson presents his third compilation, which as compilations should, shows that Ewan Pearson is man of great taste and reminds you of the quality and quantity of electronic music that is out there.

Compilations are usually divided into two camps: those consisting of Topshop compilations full of handbag house and those that are so obscure they even come as a surprise to their record label.

This belongs to the later, released on influential german label, Kompakt. There are a few names here known to outsiders of the electronic scene, but it demonstrates the considerable talent to be found within the racks of anonymous-looking 12″ singles.

Like many of the finest compilations it is hard to identify the highlights due to the fact that it is impeccably mixed.

Starting off with serenity of “Bird On Tree” it draws the listener into a journey that surprises, informs and engages throughout, the gentle atmospheric synthesised strings and submerged chords combine with the triggered beats to great effect.

Personal favourite Equilibrium combines with the distorted soulful “Shiroi” to create a quirky new groove that only true connoisseurs can appreciate – like many of the best CD”s “We are proud of are choices” develops and improves after several listens.

Ewan’s ability with Ableton Live and a load of obscure tracks makes for an enthralling listen – you’re never quite sure where it’s going, but you’ll definteley enjoy the ride.

Ewan Pearson – Kompakt Session, Mar 2010 from R.fm at Letsmix.com.

Delphic have managed to justify the hype around their debut album, their ability to marry dance-floor electronics and rock in perfect harmony – with the talents of their producer Ewan Pearson – means that that the hype of the last 18 months was well-founded and ‘Acolyte’ is a excellent debut album.

I have no doubt that in a few years Delphic could become a massive international act and could definitely produce a piece of music that will incapsulate the sound of an entire summer – these might be lofty predictions but with their undeniable ability of learning new and intriguing techniques (just listen to their DJ sets) they might not be the finished product, but are laying all the necessary foundations to be a massive success.

So much has been made of their similarities to other famous Manchester bands – for me this is unfair, sure they share common ground but who doesn’t. What sets Acolyte apart from the many other debut albums is the dance floor veneer that has been applied by ex-Londoner Ewan Pearson, who now resides in the heart of of dance music, Berlin. His ability to add numerous flangers, delays, loops, beat repeats and noise mangling effects in a delicate and thoughtful manner is a true testament to the sound and abilities of Delphic and their producer Ewan Pearson.

The first five tracks are quite simple the best intro to an indie album I have ever heard. Clarion Call emcompasses high-energy rushing synths via Richard Boardman, powerful catchy-vocals and epic drums are all tied together with the pop ‘n’ clicks of Berlin. An impressive start.

Their first real anthem comes via the ever-pleasing ‘Doubt’ a mangled vocal loop makes up the basis of this track with a spine-tinglingly euphoric vocal chorus – this has long be a fan favourite and will feature in Delphic performances for many years to come.

‘This Monetary’ starts of fairly conventionally, but then the dance-floor kick-drum rears it magnificent head and metal percussive drums take over for a fast-pace tribal breakdown which combines with the chorus and snyths in perfect harmony.

Dark horse ‘Red Light’ is possibly our favourite track from the non-singles and manages to capture the euphoric nature of the opening salvos. Glitchy subtle percussion combine with the synth hook – what ever Ewan Pearson has done he has done it right.

‘Counterpoint’ is possibly Delphic’s strongest song with an undeniable vocal that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and take notice. Matt Cocksedge unleashes and mesmorising guitar solo which fits neatly with the pulsating drums and high-pass filters.

And to finish off the album ‘Remain’ takes us down a notch, it’s a slower, more emotive singing from vocalist James Cook, but brings you down to a gentle finish from the dance-floor epics that have come before it.

Delphic’s debut doesn’t disappoint in any way, sure their are a couple of weaker tracks on the album, but this is true of every album I have ever heard. On paper they have all the components to be even bigger – a fantastic vocalist James Cook, Manchester’s best drummer Dan Hadley, multi-instrumentalist Richard Boardman who is alaways looking for next piece music tech and a lead guitarist Matt Cocksedge that purest will love.

We have unreleased remix of Counterpoint from Manchester producer Lumino Music.

Enjoy and please support Delphic by buying their Debut album ‘Acolyte’ which is released this week.

Here is the fantastic video of Delphic’s third single ‘Doubt’ which will be released alongside their album Acolyte on January 4th 2010.

www.myspace.com/delphic

The eagerly awaited initial line-up Snowbombing 2010 has just been announced for the mega festival in the Alps in Mayerhofen, Austria.

Vitalic, James Zabiela, Ewan Pearson, Adam Beyer and The Revenge will all play at next year’s edition of the Austrian festival.

With 625 KM’s of pistes, Austria’s steepest piste, a 3286m glacier and an award-winning terrain park – Snowbombing has been a massive success over the years and 2010 promises to be the best yet.

The jewel in their electronic crown for this next year’s event will be Vitalic Live, which should draw heavily on material from this year’s Flashmob LP while including classic tracks such as his breakthrough hit “La Rock 01.”

Most of the dance music action is going on behind the decks with, Brodinksi, Kris Menace, Riva Star, Jack Beats and Fake Blood will all be bringing their own variants on electro house.

Ewan Pearson, Sasse, Slam and Adam Beyer will cater to the more house and techno savvy of the crowd.

There will be plenty of other activities culminating in a huge fancy dress street party, which always promises to be one of the highlights of the festival.

Prices start at just £279. Call 0845 331 3061 or visit www.snowbombing.com for more information.

Kitsune’s Maison tour kicks off tonight at the Manchester Academy with Delphic and Two Door Cinema Club – tickets are a ridiculously cheap £7.50.

Having triumphed at some of the UK’s key festivals this summer, Delphic augmented their status amongst fans and journalists alike as the band most destined for great things in 2010.

The band release their second single ‘This Momentary’ through the notoriously astute French label on September 7th having previously appeared on the seventh instalment of Kitsune Maison in the shape of a remix. This provides the first opportunity to sample the fruits of recording sessions with producer Ewan Pearson.

Kitsune Mini Mix

Delphic are the latest band to try and navigate the windy roads of hype and success. They comprise of James Cook (vocals), Matt Cocksedge (guitar) and Richard Boardman (multi-instrumentalist) Dan Theman (Drums) and have been tipped by many for great success through the usual channels of hype and word of mouth.

But this is all about to change with the help of major label Polydor who have snapped them up and put them on the road to success with their own Label, Chimeric.

The band were originally called ‘Snowfight in the City Centre’ minus their current lead singer (James Cook), but decided that they wanted to achieve more creative control and this lead them to form Delphic.

It all started when they were showcased on Manchester’s very own Channel M, and now the band is currently embarking on a whistle stop tour with Bloc Party throughout many major European cities. They have also just completed a couple of dates supporting The Streets where Mike Skinner liked them so much, he leant them one of his prize drum machines.

The band is very much influenced by the kings of old Manchester music with their first two tracks ‘Counterpoint’ and ‘Doubt’ drawing from many influences, including Manchester’s healthy dance and DJ scene. So if and when you go and see Delphic, which you should, you will get an experience that you might not expect, with the music never stopping from song to song. You will experience a band playing electronic music; more Soulwax than Oasis.

The band plans to release their first single on limited vinyl through R&S, an old school Belgium techno label, along with some impressive remixes coming from Paul Woolford, Ewan Pearson and up and coming tech-house producer Lumino. They could well have a tune of the year on their hands, getting them noticed in both the Indie and Dance circles, which is the Holy Grail for them in terms of breaking the usual band mould.

Delphic also has one of dance music hottest talents producing their album, which will hopefully be ready in time for the summer. This producer is none other than Ewan Pearson – an Englishman who has made the switch to Berlin, which is arguably the hottest Dance music scene of the moment.

We got the chance to pick the bands brains about all things music a few hours before they embarked on their Bloc Party tour.

Harderbloggerfaster: Tell us a bit about ‘Snow fight In The City Centre’?
Matt: Well we got a bit of attention but it wasn’t the music that we really wanted to make. Eventually we thought if we made it we wouldn’t be very happy.  So we felt it was a natural progression because we wanted to change it up a bit, so we got James in who we knew him before but wasn’t part of the band.

We planned a lot about how we wanted the project to go and more importantly what sort of music we would make.  We wrote a lot down before we even started making the music and I think that was really important.  We kind of all sat down and said if we would make any type of music what would that be?

HBF: When will the album be out?
Matt: Either before or after the summer but hopefully the summer.  When the tour has finished we are going to meet up with Ewan Pearson and we can’t wait.  Originally when we were working on the album with our engineer Dan Hume we managed to get a lot done, but we felt we couldn’t get it sounding like we wanted in our heads, and that was when we decided we would get Ewan in who could bring it altogether for us.  We met Ewan and Bruno his engineer and really like what we heard and as you can tell we are really excited – it’s been along time coming.

HBF: How do see the tour going with Bloc Party?
Matt: The tour is a great opportunity for us to get a foothold in Europe and that’s great, so hopefully we will get some European fans before we have even released anything.

HBF: How did you get signed?
Matt: Well, we knew Dan Parrot from Channel M, and he recorded us doing a little half hour set which managed to find it’s way down to London and then it all went a bit mental getting phone calls every 15 minutes, but it was cool.  Then after that we wanted to get the right team around us and that’s where Polydor came in – the right management is very important.

4THBF: Tell out readers about some of your influences – do you like being labelled a Manchester band?
Matt: Well a lot of people say we sound a lot like New Order, which again is cool – we are very proud to be a Manchester band because it has such a good music heritage and we really want to be a part of that. You can’t be in a better place than Manchester if you’re an up and coming band.

HBF: Tell us about the video for ‘Counterpoint’?
Matt: The video was produced by a French dude called Hans and was filmed in Paris – We love it!

HBF: If you were stuck on a desert Island what three CD’s would you take?
In Rainbows – Radio Head
Carl Craig – The Carl Craig Sessions
The Beatlist Sessions

Check out Delphic at

www.myspace.com/delphic

www.delphic.cc

Delphic – Counterpoint (Lumino Remix)

www.myspace.com/luminomusic

http://soundcloud.com/luminomusic