GOLD PANDA

Gold Panda returns with "TON UP", a brilliantly stubborn new album released on June 26th via Studio Barnhus: eight raw dance tracks and two warm little interludes worthy of a gas station pit stop, all crafted with the unwavering determination of a producer who knows that 140 bpm is not so much a tempo as a lifestyle. Created with the signature touch of Derwin Dicker, who hammers away relentlessly at his sampler, the tracks on Ton Up carry the raw sound of old-school Hip-Hop instrumentals, filtered through frenzied house music and ready to wreak havoc on any half-decent sound system.

Here, there is no trace of that dreaded "maturity" so often demanded of adored electronic artists after several albums. On the contrary, Gold Panda seems more in his element than ever, carelessly pursuing the physical joys of tension, rhythm and repetition.

TON UP is functional club music, funny and strangely touching, arriving just when the world needed it most.