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In June, Bloc Party claimed they were on an ‘indefinite hiatus’, yet fans haven’t been left feeling too starved of the London foursome after the unexpected release of EP, The Nextwave Sessions back in August. Before we knew it, news of another project was already on the cards in the guise of Bloc Party Tapes, an eclectic mixtape produced by frontman Kele Okereke.
The release is part of Berlin based record label’s !k7’s tape series, which has previously featured mixtapes from the likes of Foals, the Rapture and The Big Pink. The mixtape will also be available in a limited-edition cassette format.
This incredibly fresh sounding collection of tracks is a real treat for fans of Bloc Party, and lovers of the more left-field side of dance in general. It’s no secret that Okereke is a bit of a ‘dance head’, the mixtape takes us through his intriguing mind, his love for beats and appreciation of post-rock, Afrobeat, dance, electro, house, and ambient.
The mixtape features a Sticky remix of Wiley’s ‘Numbers in Action’, French producer French Fries’ ‘Space Alarm’ and an offering of Bloc Party’s very own track ‘Obscene’, one of the ‘slow ones’ from The Nextwave Sessions mixed by Okereke himself.
We can rest assured and relax in the knowledge that this second solo venture of his isn’t the end for Bloc Party, but very much the opposite. When describing what it felt like to make the tape he compared it to, “having an affair”, and promised that it was for the, “betterment of Bloc Party”, who have always cited dance as their main influence from the very beginning.
