I’ve been doing a lot of commuting these days–driving, mainly. And somewhere in between Twittering with Tila Tequila, eating cheese sandwiches, and keeping my feet positioned at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, I find that sometimes I simply do not have the time to negotiate a playlist swap mid-travel. It’s like, helloooo…I’m inconvenienced over here!

Luckily, Kaskade has seemingly heard of my plight and provided an answer for those of us folks in it for the long haul: The Grand.

With his new album, Kaskade has unleashed a wealth of clever club cuts and dancefloor re-rubs from artists like Pnau, Mischa Daniels, and Tommy Trash, as well as favorites from his last effort Strobelite Seduction like “Move For Me,” “Step One Two,” and “Angel On My Shoulder.”
It’s a moody and engaging set as Kaskade is want to provide; a brilliant compromise of breathy, aerial vocals and crafted beats that catapult his work into a state of euphoria. Don’t believe me? If the Plumb track doesn’t have you crying at the discotheque, you’ve been reading the wrong blog.

Not only are the individual songs gorgeous, the album itself moves together as one seamless mix that refuses to break until its final moments. This is true, heaven-sent trance at its finest, and you’d be an absolute fool not to invest in this one.

LOCK IN!

DL: Pnau – With You Forever (Dirty South Remix)
DL: Plumb – In My Arms (Kaskade Extended Mix)

To purchase The Grand or hear more from Kaskade, click below!

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Now if only my other summer dance anthem would leak in rich HQ form.
When love takes over, yeah-ee-ah…

Durr…Nearly forgot. Just because I wrote it for my final Queerty round, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist as a proper review in its own right!

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Australia is good for only two things: Kangaroos and Dannii Minogue. However, it seems the country can now add another element to the list: Glam-rock dance-pop.

After trailblazing efforts made by fellow Sydney artists The Presets and Sneaky Sound System in 2008, Empire of the Sun is now charting their way into a reg’lar Australian Invasion.

Luke Steele (The Sleepy Jackson) and Nick Littlemore (Pnau) comprise Empire of the Sun, a glam-dance-rock outfit on the brink of something brilliant. And judging by the eccentric garb the duo dons, the word “outfit” isn’t to be taken lightly–The band’s bringing the Bowie like no one’s business.

Single choices are obvious here, including “Walking On A Dream,” a soothing, synth-fused stroll between Arcade Fire and Cyndi Lauper‘s “Time After Time.”

“We Are The People” is another standout; a summery, ’90′s-esque rush of energy recalling Jennifer Paige‘s “Crush.” (Remember her?!)

Most of the album flourishes within a seductive landscape of vintage electro-swagger and guitar strums. It’s only on the final moment, “Without You,” that the band teeters too far into nostalgia, playing like the background song from every prom scene in every 1980′s teen comedy–ever.

Still, not everything’s so serious: “Delta Bay” lifts the robot from Daft Punk‘s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” and adds a few hand claps, while the plop-happy “Swordfish Hotkiss Night” and its hook-heavy contents promises to slosh ’round your mind long after the album fades.

So board up the windows and hide the vegemite–The Aussies are coming.

Click above to check out the “Walking On A Dream” EP NOW!