Aeroplane

After a few years of eardrum-hammering from the relentless-banger-addicted sect of the indie/dance crossover scene, acts such as Aeroplane come as a welcome shot of sweetness and light. Hailing originally from the somewhat unlikely region of Wallonia — French-speaking Southern Belgium — the duo of Stephan Fasano and Vito Deluca upends all the old pulsing-electro rules in favor of a sound more nuanced.

Yes, they’ve made most of their bones thanks to a number of remixes for white-hot bands such as MGMT and Cut Copy. But they’ve done so without resorting to the old tack-vocals-on-a-chainsaw method. Aeroplane tracks, both the reworks and the pair’s originals, are positively airy, floating in a far-away universe that passes through galaxies of disco, Italo, Balearic beats, and even a touch of ’80s synth-pop. It’s unabashedly sunny at times, but not sickeningly so. And while Aeroplane shows are epic — as anyone who attended its last Vagabond gig during WMC will attest — unlike the electro all-nighters of the recent past, they won’t leave you feeling used and abused.