LIKE FIRE AROUND THE BRIM.

Friday nights in NYC used to be all about The Knocks' Mr. Jpatt tearing up the decks at Antik, the highlight of which was always his immaculate blend of Passion Pit's "Sleepyhead" and The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back". Then when Xaphoon Jones moved to New York and witnessed the magic, he took it one step further and turned Jpatt's segue into a full length track, which he's been playing out around

CAN YOU FEEL IT.

Headed into SX there were already a few bands destined to be the talk of the town come week's end - Walk The Moon, Foster The People and James Blake all come to mind - but for us the real superstars of SXSW 2011 were Athens, Georgia's own Reptar. Their People Are Cool Y'all EP from late 2010 was already one of our absolute favorite releases of the past 12 months (honestly, it's kind of a

WASH OUT THE RAIN.

We know next to nothing about Black Light Dinner Party, other than that they hail from Boston and are coming correct with more of the fresh electronic pop sounds we've come to expect from the Northeast in recent years thanks to bands like Passion Pit and Dom. You can hear shades of both in their sound, with emotive vocals reminiscent of Miike Snow and a top notch production sound - West Coast

WHERE TO RUN.

UPDATE: Apparently the remix we posted last week was sent to us prematurely by Sony, and Vito wanted some more time to throw some studio magic at it. That said we were still very much all about it and it topped the Hype charts in spite of its work-in-progress status, but now the real deal finished product has hit our inbox and it's bigger and better than ever. To quote Vito himself: "I hope you

GOLD019: THE NAKED + FAMOUS

Last month we pulled back the curtain on our favorite track of the year and quite possibly the biggest single we've ever released, so we're pleased to announce that the Young Blood 7" from The Naked & Famous is now available for preorder from the Neon Gold Shop and our friends at Puregroove. Like Passion Pit if they fucked with guitars and had an anthem-of-a-generation like "Kids" or "Sweet

HIGHER AND HIGHER AND HIGHER.

Things have been kind of quiet on the Penguin Prison remix front while dude's been hard at work finishing up his debut album - which y'all should be warned is sounding completely and utterly amazing - but now he's back with a fiery new remix of our beloved Neon Gold alumni Passion Pit. Putting to bed any concerns that his remix muscles might have atrophied over the past few months, the track is a

FALL BACK IN LOVE EVENTUALLY.

Quite possibly our favorite new band of the year and architects of the essential summer anthem 2010 has been waiting for, The Naked & Famous emerge from Down Under as New Zealand's next (first?) great hope for international pop stardom. Like Passion Pit if they fucked with guitars and had an anthem-of-a-generation like "Kids" or "Sweet Disposition" in their arsenal, the song is a breath of fresh

USA IS FOR LOVERS.

There's a synth-pop epidemic taking over Massachuesetts and we're totally down with it. Carrying the torch lit by former Neon Gold alumni Passion Pit and Yes Giantess, Worcester newcomer Dom threatens to outshine both of them with his debut Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP, out on Burning Mill Records next month. The whole thing is nothing short of amazing, but it's lead track "Living In America"

IN OUR NATIVE LANGUAGE.

Now that Passion Pit is kind of cruising on its own steam, its members have found time to balance touring obligations with a number of side projects. Nate's still rocking shit as Shuttle and will have his debut album out on Ninja Tune before the year is out, Jeff and Ayad are taking over the Ableton DJ circuit as the Wet Bandits (catch them crushing Miami if you're at WMC this weekend), and Ian's

WALK ON WATER.

Oh man, this is so so good. Coming out of absolutely nowhere are Think About Life with what is easily one of the most amazing singles of the year in "Havin' My Baby". It's like a fucking spiritual awakening, all the best parts of TV On The Radio and the chipmunk soul of Graduation-era Kanye West, thanks to frontman Martin Cesar's urgent falsetto and the best use of a sample in indie pop since

A RHYME AND A DREAM.

When we last checked in with Chiddy Bang, they were having one of the biggest coming out parties of the year with their massive remix of MGMT's "Kids" lighting up the blogs and turning all kinds of heads in the music industry. Now their back with a slightly refined line up and a fresh debut mixtape for the masses, The Swelly Express, sampling the likes of Passion Pit, Ratatat and Sufjan Stevens

WHO BROUGHT YOU DOWN NOW.

There's been no shortage of Aussie love in these pages of late, but Tim & Jean have just rolled up without warning brandishing a massive slice of blissed-out synth-pop that warrants even more Oz-related gushing. Taking the best parts of Passion Pit and Yes Giantess and mixing them up with a healthy does of 90's boy band nostalgia, "Come Around" is a technicolor blast of late-summer euphoria

COME ON DO IT AGAIN.

Our latest single on Neon Gold comes courtesy of Australia's favourite son Gotye and hits shops this week, and to celebrate the occasion we're here to drop the hotly anticipated Passion Pit remix of the stellar A-side, "Learnalilgivinanlovin". Keeping the throwback guitar and drums of the original intact, Passion Pit take the blueprint laid down by Gotye and dress it up in all manner of synth

GOLD 007: GOTYE

As previously professed, Gotye is one of our favorite artists of all time and one of the reasons we're even messing about in this whole music biz thing in the first place. Thus, we're deeply honored to be releasing a very special, very limited edition 7" run of his smash hit "Learnalilgivinanlovin" that will step out as his first ever physical release in the US. The track's already been released

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL YES MATE VOL. 1

Neon Gold's favourite son Starsmith (née Fin Dow-Smith) has been tearing it up all year, from his flawless work with the magnificent Ellie Goulding to his consistently brilliant remixes for the likes of Marina & The Diamonds and Little Boots, and he's straight up the best new pop producer in the game as far as we're concerned. Thus, we're thrilled to be premiering his debut minimix right here on

GOLD 005: WOLF GANG

And so the relentless onslaught of summer releases continues. Not unlike previous Neon Gold all-stars Passion Pit and Yes Giantess, the story of Wolf Gang began with Max McElligott penning massive pop anthems in the solitary confines of his bedroom. Having since formed a band around him, he's now set to take his craft to the world stage, and "Pieces of You" is the debut single before they no

BLUE FLOWERS HITS NYC.

We've mentioned Blue Flowers - the legenedary West London club night turned singles labe - before in these pages, and we're over the moon to announce our upcoming collaboration with them as they seek to launch the Blue Flowers brand in NYC. The original night quickly became West London's premier club night and saw everyone from Jamie T and Noah & The Whale to Adele and Laura Marling cutting their

STARS BURNING HOLES RIGHT THROUGH THE DARK.

The nicest weather we've ever experienced in London, it's been a glorious weekend of Pimm's in the garden, dining al fresco and soaking up cosmic rays all about town. It's the perfect time, then, to revisit our most listened to summer anthem of last year, "Sleepyhead", through Run Toto Run's magical interpretation of the amazing Passion Pit original and our first ever release here at Neon Gold.

BURNING INCANDESCENTLY.

Leaving the technicolor dancefloors of "Sleepyhead" and "The Reeling" behind, "Moth's Wings" ebbs and flows as one of Passion Pit's most impressive works to date. A step in a more mature direction for the band, "Moth's Wings" displays a more restrained vocal from Michael Angelakos in place of the off-the-wall shrieks and wails found on Chunk of Change (not that we didn't love those, mind you).

DREAMT IT DRY.

To be perfectly honest, we don't love "The Reeling", the lead single off of Passion Pit's forthcoming Manners, but that's really only because we've been spoiled by the rest of the tracks compiled on their amazing debut full length. The recently unveiled video, on the other hand, is most definitely something to write home about. Perhaps the finest music video we've seen all year, the clip was