When someone hears the phrase “German techno duo,” the first image summoned up is likely that of Dieter from Sprockets. Kraftwerk created the unfeeling, robotic stereotype attached to German synthesists way back when they invented synth-pop, but it was Mike Meyers who forever codified the idea in the minds of Americans that Germans + synthesizers = disaffected, androgynous aesthetes who are too cool to care much about anything (except their pet monkeys).

The Hamburg duo Digitalism is working hard to overcome that image. Not only have they graced their second album with the reasonably emotive title I Love You, Dude, but the music they create is a far cry from the man-machine music pioneered by Kraftwerk. On “2 Hearts,” Digitalism mix synthesized guitars with a go-for-the-throat uptempo pulse that would impress even Dieter with its passion.

Lyrically, Digitalism aren’t afraid to get all emotive. “These two hearts will make it last,” vows vocalist Jens Moelle as he imagines being cast away with the object of his affection. Moelle is such a romantic idealist that he’s certain the mere touch of his hand is enough to open that other person’s eyes to all that is wonderful in the world. The guy is quite the sweet talker.

It’s a pretty far cry from “Your story has become tiresome” or any of Dieter’s other catchphrases from Saturday Night Live, which seems to be Digitalism’s aim. German dance music has had a reputation of being emotionless at best or homicidally angry at worst for decades now. With “2 Hearts,” Digitalism shows that German techno musicians can be just as goopily romantic as anyone else, and do so to a catchy tune.

If you liked this song, you should also check out:

Ninca Leece “Funny Symphony”

Torpedo “Waiting for the Fall”

Friska Viljor “Wohlwill”

Okay, here goes: The Wake, New Order, Bauhaus, Gary Numan, and The Bravery walk into a bar…

Los Angeles foursome Abe Vigoda may have a silly name, but their music doesn’t fool around. It’s as steely and dark as it is retro and ’80s inspired–like The Postal Service’s brooding, goth step-sibling. The band’s fourth LP, Crush, will be released on September 21st by PPM, whose roster is fleshed out by similarly oriented groups such as No Age, Mika Miko, Wavves, and Liars.

Our first taste of the new effort is “Throwing Shade,” a song which is by turns artificially skittish and sleekly propulsive in the new New Romantic style of groups like Interpol and Editors. Its verses are stabbed by unexpected prickly synth glissandi. A drum machine jackhammers a beat with all cylinders firing, steam practically seeping out from between the bolts–only to be outdone by a more random and more sonically foregrounded inorganic drum fill.

Vocalist Michael Vidal’s work still lacks a certain polish, but he understands the tone and tenor of this aesthetic more than most of his peers. Abe Vigoda teeters on the verge of introducing too many ingredients into “Thowing Shade” but keeps things from becoming overwrought by moving the track through various levels of intensity. Indeed, keeping things moving along is a big theme here; “Throwing Shade” is a restless number, which gives it an engaging flow that makes it easy to listen to over and over.

If you liked this song, you should also check out:

Shadow Shadow Shade “Is This A Tempest in the Shape of a Bell”

Beaujolais “All My Exorcisms”

Sneaky Sound System “When We Were Young (Juan Maclean remix)”

Along with The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, and Radio 4, !!! were one of New York City’s best gifts to dance floors during the 2000′s. After the revivalism of Joy Division’s moodier branch of the post-punk family tree at the turn of the century, the stage was set for its funkier, sexier cousin–the bough which forked out from the likes of Talking Heads and P.I.L. Some folks proclaimed !!!’s 2001 self-titled debut and its follow-up, 2004′s Louden Up Now, “dance-punk.” Others thought “post-punk” sufficed. Most didn’t really know quite how to slap an appellation on the band’s groove-heavy freak-outs but in the end, it didn’t matter: to hear !!! was to immediately understand what they were all about (and probably to love it, too).

Nic Offer and his crew were always more interested in edginess than their contemporaries, a trait that may have unfairly kept them in the shadows more than their peers, but they were likewise also more preoccupied with the primal energy of dance music in its myriad shades. “AM/FM,” the lead track from their fourth LP, Strange Weather, Isn’t It? (to be released August 24th courtesy of Warp), lays this idea out for everyone to hear. Within one song we hear a delayed synth riff and percussion layers plucked from the height of The Happy Mondays’ reign over the Madchester scene, an elastic bass line borrowed–in spirit–from the death disco of predecessors such as Delta 5 and Gang of Four, and cooed female vocal harmonies which evoke Giorgio Moroder and the Italo kids.

Where the bouillabaisse of inspiration is concerned, these influences make for a hearty stock. While “AM/FM” never gets as crazy as previous tracks such as “Hello? Is This Thing On?” or “Intensify,” it does deliver the same party-ready sensibilities and, just maybe, a slightly more mature approach to the songwriting craft than their first three albums.

If you liked this song, you should also check out:

Something Fierce “Empty Screens”

HEALTH “Die Slow”

Pablo “Hey Luci”

Where does one classify a band like Los Angeles’ HEALTH, who are due to release their highly anticipated second full-length on September 8th via Lovepump United? Where in the generic taxonomy does the churning, burning groove of a track like “Die Slow” fall? If the shoegazers in Moose and Adorable had been privy to the much-improved dance music revival of the late ’00s, perhaps they would have beaten HEALTH to the punch on a track like this, but the fact remains that they didn’t. HEALTH has been blazing their own trail since their inception in 2005, and if “Die Slow” is a precursor to what awaits listeners on Get Color, it seems they have continued marching to the fucked up noise of their own, different drum.

“Die Slow” fades in to a stutter of digital delay, a “How Soon Is Now?” for a generation raised on Daft Punk and Girl Talk instead of Pet Shop Boys and Shop Assistants. It is a song with no brakes, and when the drums enter moments later, they do so with a wallop like Curve used to do–the drum beats deep and weighty. The vocals are that impenetrable slurry Slowdive did so well, a visitation from another realm, and although the prevailing tones are tetanus-laced shards, there are layers of ecstatic harmonies glimmering beneath. Is “Die Slow” a song to jump off a cliff to? To have E-fueled orgies to? To have bang around in your headphones on the subway ride home? Is it a love letter to 2009? Yes, indeed, my friends–and so much more.

If you liked this song, you should also check out:

Plant Plants “She’s No One”

August MP3 Rewind