Charleston - Provocateur

London’s Good Bait blog/label delivers it’s second release early this summer – an EP from Charleston entitled ‘Red Hearts of Gold’ / ‘Provocateur’ featuring remixes from Youandewan, Chamboche and Stavrogin.

Founded by Ben Coates and Tom Cater mid-2011, Good Bait quickly established itself as a blog of discerning musical taste, with Ben’s taste in house/techno/electronica sitting alongside Tom’s penchant for guitars/bands.

Charleston’s first single for Good Bait, released earlier this year, picked up an admirable love from just a handful of promos. Picking up plays on BBC6 Music and 1Xtra, the band’s hook laden, edgy indie pop shone through and it’s second release, ‘Red of Hearts of Gold’ / ‘Provocateur’ is the perfect follow up.

As immersive as it is instant, ‘Red Hearts of Gold’ is a rousing, dense number that showcases vocalist Lily Gaskell’s talents with orchestral gusto. ‘Provocateur’ flits from ethereal aggression to half tempo drops, indulging everything between in a rhythmic drum and synth onslaught.

Youandewan, a producer who is no stranger to toying with preconceptions, turns in a futuristic deep house version of ‘Red Hearts of Gold’ that draws on almost-there Juno 60 keys and dubbed vocals and chords. A surefire summer bomb, it’s some of the Leeds-based producers finest work to date.

Stavrogin, a fresh talent still feeling love from his release on Courtship Records late-2011, delivers a slow- burning, beats orientated remix of ‘Provocateur’ that allows Gaskell’s voice to sour above a stripped back combination of mechanical and organic beats.

Finally, the hotly tipped deep house producer Chamboche turns in a moody, stompy yet beautiful interpretation of ‘Red Hearts of Gold’ that uses loose, chopped loops and lingering vocals to sit around an infectious tapestry of synths. It’s a closing mix that shows the producer’s talents to the full.