Hype Monitor: Spitzer, Air France and Kasai All-Stars

[Rolling_Stone]

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. The Band: Spitzer The Buzz: French electronic duo with no interest in escorts and a penchant for music that sounds like bright green sine-waves. Listen If: You have a fondness for fat keyboards and skinny beats. Key Track: The remix of Kylie Minogue's "In My Arms," which sets the Aussie diva's soulful vocals against spitting synths. The Band: Air France The Buzz: Bright pop duo deliver everything the Swedes have taught us to expect: sweeping synth-strings, sweet pop vocals and skyrocketing synthesizers. Added plus: Air France are more subdued than most. Listen If: You fondly recall St. Etienne, or like music that implies more than it states outright. Key Track: "June Evenings," which buries a light, heavenly melody under layers of fizzy atmospherics. The Band: Kasai All-Stars The Buzz: Endlessly inventive Congolese outfit is the second band selected for the mighty Congotronics series, and their blend of bustling thumb pianos, ecstatic chants and otherworldly rhythms is a long, gleeful trip into the surreal. Listen If: The words "you've never heard anything like this before" are your idea of ultimate praise. Key Track: "Quick as White," whose sublime morse-code rhythms quickly turn space age and spectacular.

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