Author Archives: Matthew Bloss

[Synth-Pop] ROOM8 – This Place Again ft. Polina

ROOM8
This Place Again (feat. Polina)
L.A. based electro-pop duo ROOM8 have steadily been on what Vegas gamblers like to call a “heater”. Recently the pair have been dropping single tasty morsels in the lead up to the release of an EP later this fall, namely “No Hard Feelings” last month,  and now “This Place Again”. The pair aren’t skimping on guest star power either, utilizing the incredibly fitting vocal stylings of Russian-bred Polina who has strewn those breathy reverberations for the likes of Tiësto, Eminem, Steve Aoki and one of our favorite electro staples: Felix Cartal’s “Don’t Turn On The Lights”. Without a doubt, the pairing of ROOM8 and Polina has resulted in a pure, 80’s washed pop single that’s been hooked on this writer’s office monitors since first listen. ROOM8’s deft use of loopy acid synths against Polina’s incantations and what sounds to be an analog set of drums works together beautifully, and has us throwing around that weighty “Summer Anthem” tag pretty freely. Let us know if we were right, and stream “This Place Again” above.
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[TMN Premiere] Brothertiger X Rose Quartz – Pleasure & Pain

Brothertiger X Rose Quartz
Pleasure & Pain

Two of our absolute favorite indie and pop blurring entities, Brooklyn’s Brothertiger and Denver’s Rose Quartz, have come crashing together this morning, and we couldn’t be happier with the result. “Pleasure & Pain”, our joint effort in examination, has actually had quite the lengthy path before seeing a full release this morning. Rose Quartz lead vocalist and songwriter Ethan Converse, and Brothertiger’s heart and soul John Jagos first layed down their saccharine sweet synth-pop collaboration during last year’s Underground Music Showcase in Denver, CO before either of the two had begun recording with their current, full band iterations. As for the tune itself, Converse’s delicate yet direct refrain leads things off atop a wiggling piano lead and what is unmistakably a heavy dose of Jagos’ analog synth work before reeling on vocal duties himself for “Pleasure & Pain”‘s sticky chorus. While this one may reflect an earlier glimpse of the pair’s musical psyche as opposed to the more dynamic and involved directions we’ve seen things arc with both bands, we’ve been absolutely hooked and reminded why we fell so hard for both groups in the first place.  And, as if we could be any more excited about this year’s UMS (read our preview and check out our playlist here!), in anticipation of both Rose Quartz and Brothertiger’s performances they’re giving away “Pleasure & Pain” completely on the house from Rose Quartz’s Soundcloud page here. Stream “Pleasure & Pain” in the form a brand new and shiny ‘TMN Premiere’ above, and for our friends joining us at UMS 2015, be sure to jot down both set times for Brothertiger and Rose Quartz listed below.

UMS Performances:
Brothertiger – Thursday, July 23rd – Eslinger Gallery @ 11pm
Rose Quartz – Saturday, July 25th – Main Stage at SSFCU @ 5:30pm
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[House/Indie-Dance] Dusk Til Dawn – Sit And Wait

Dusk Till Dawn
Sit And Wait (Radio Edit)

While we’ve mostly become familiar with PRMD Music on behalf of more EDM-centric, mainstream fare; the label has been gradually extending its reach into all corners of the house music spectrum as of late. Their latest example of underground savvy comes in the form of an indie-deep hybrid club shot; Australia based Hungarian duo Dusk Til Dawn’s remake of Sydney Youngblood’s “Sit And Wait”. Dusk Til Dawn’s version toys inside of much deeper dance structuring than the disco tipping original, instead laying its focus on earthy pads, filtered claps and a penetrating bassline, which gives the pair a completely unique alternative to Youngblood’s. Hopefully we’ll be getting more glimpses into both Dusk Til Dawn and PRMD’s more emotive club side, but until then, pace your Monday and stream Dusk Til Dawn’s remake of “Sit And Wait” above.

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[Dance/Electronica] SMLE – Every Chance You Get

SMLE
Every Chance You Get

SMLE is a duo we’ve fallen head over heels for in the last year or so. We’ve featured and heavily consumed pretty much their entire catalog of remixes from their cover of Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good” to most recently having the pleasure of premiering their remix of Vaults’ “One Last Night” just a few weeks ago, as well as loads in between; and I think it’s pretty safe to say much of our eclectic staff has happy devoured at least a slice of SMLE’s repertoire in the process. Today, SMLE moves forward in a big way, in essence, from scratch after completely wiping out their Soundcloud and starting fresh with all new original music. “Every Chance You Get” -a tune encapsulating all of that previous success behind layers of analog instrumentation in the form of funky guitar lines, a vibrant synth progression and a booming underbelly-  is the first to surface from SMLE 2.0, and a great one at that. On top of that, everything put out by the pair is performed and recorded live which is a breath of fresh air in today’s overly saturated dance climate, and we’ve been skipping gleefully to their new incarnation from the moment we came into contact with it. Do your ears a favor, and stream “Every Chance You Get” above.

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[Denver Giveaway] Win Two Tix + Meet & Greet w/ Jonas Rathsman @ Club Vinyl – Saturday, 7/18

Jonas Rathsman
Wolfsbane + Denver Ticket Giveaway and Meet & Greet!

The greatest T.V. series in history, Seinfeld, once stated that “Tuedsays have no feel”. Well, today our aim is to change that by giving our astute readers something to feel happy about. And what better way than with world conquering house producer Jonas Rathsman? Recently, the frequent French Express cohort (among an impressively swelling list of other notable imprints) layed down one of the most buzzed about Essential Mixes of this calendar year for Pete Tong’s lauded BBC Radio 1 show, shortly after dropping one of the biggest tunes of his career “Wolfsbane” (listen above), to create a fire which hasn’t stopped blazing since. This Saturday at Club Vinyl in Denver, CO, we’ve teamed up with our friends at TheHundred Presents to giveaway a free pair of tickets to his Mile-High City slated performance, as well as an exclusive meet and greet with King Rathsman himself, guaranteeing an incredible night of tasteful dance music and defaced debauchery.

Rounding out the bill is a b2b set from another TMN favorite Falcon Punch (hear his latest remix which was featured today here) and Denver’s Fun Factory in the form of: Falcon Factory. Be sure to get there early and tune your cochlear cavities for Jonas Rathsman’s two-hour performance.

Entering our contest is beyond simple! Just “like” Jonas Rathsman, TheHundred Presents and The Music Ninja‘s Facebook pages, and comment below on why you’re excited or deserve to win. That’s it! We’ll notify our winner Friday, the day before the show to set up our meet and greet with Jonas Rathsman. Good luck.

There are a few rules, of course:
– The event is 16+, so tell all your friends to increase your odds of winning!
– You are responsible for your own transportation.
– You must bring a valid form of ID to pick up your tickets at the Club Vinyl box office.
– You must find a TMN representative and let them buy you a drink (perhaps a Red Bull for our non legal friends?)

Start commenting and check out the rest of Jonas Rathsman’s U.S. tour dates below!

Jonas Rathsman Tour Dates:

July 16            Verboten                     Brooklyn, NY

July 17             Audio                           San Francisco, CA

July 18             Vinyl                            Denver, CO

July 19             Woogie Weekender     Silverado, CA

August 7         Sound                          Los Angeles, CA

August 8         Splash House              Palm Springs, CA

August 9         Outside Lands             San Francisco, CA

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[Deep-House] Allies For Everyone – Bunker (Allies For Everyone Alternate Mix) [TMN Premiere]

Allies For Everyone
Bunker (Allies For Everyone Alternate Mix)

It’s always a treat to start a day with a little bit of sexy deep-house. So when NYC stationed electronic producer Brian Suarez, better known as Allies For Everyone, dropped his latest revision on us -itself an alternate take on his own track “Bunker”– we knew it would be a perfect door-opener this morning. We’d already heard AFE’s original mix, and while by no means was it anywhere near a letdown, today he’s arrived with an even more introspective and gripping glimpse of the shape-shifting single. On the Alternate Mix, Allies For Everyone dials back a clubbier approach, instead focusing on a more subdued yet utterly captivating low end, rumbling hook, and a gorgeous ad-lib cut of the original vocal stems to create a dark and deep tune that just plain oozes sexiness. Our day is already screaming for a taste of proper deep-house and Allies For Everyone delivered our presription with a bullet.

“Bunker” will also be touched up by their labelmates Nightriders and Jay Hill, but we’ll be busily consuming AFE’s edit until then.

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[Future/Deep-House] Class Actress – GFE (SNBRN Remix)

Class Actress
GFE (SNBRN Remix)

It’s been far too long since we checked in with one of dance music’s fastest rising commodities (well… May really but who’s keeping track?), SNBRN.  During the time we’ve been covering the burgeoning producer, we’ve seen him spread nearly every facet of the underground house game to a rapidly expanding fanbase, whom may have never had the pleasure of experiencing such an intoxicating sound without him. From SNBRN’s deeper iterations, to those housiest of indie-dance originals, and some funkified G-House in between, we’ve only seen a steady rise in both consistency and quality while tackling the Southern Californian’s addictive catalog.

Today we got our hands err… ears, on SNBRN’s latest offering, a dark and groovy remix of Class Actress’ “GFE”  and were yet again hooked on another earworm. While the original, which was produced by one of electronic indie music’s most respected artists Alan Palomo (of Neon Indian and VEGA acclaim), plays a little more buoyantly, the tune here takes a murkier turn under the guise of a dark, commanding bassline, weighted drums and flitting chords; which, set against Class Actress’ soaring lush falsetto and Palomo’s malleable stems plays like a melting pad of butter on a thick stack of hotcakes. We’re hoping to hear this one in the midst of a late-night club bender very soon, but for now, stream SNBRN’s “GFE” remix above.

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