Author Archives: Matthew Bloss

Hot Chip DJ Mix September 2017 [TMN Premiere]

Posted by Matthew Bloss - November 2, 2017

Hot Chip
HOT CHIP DJ MIX SEPTEMBER 2017

Perhaps one of the most iconic live electronic outfits operating in any capacity of the music world today, London bred synth-pop superstars Hot Chip, have long been a shiny apple in both this writer’s, and TMN’s eyes (or ears for that matter). In advance of a looming November U.S. DJ tour, two of the Hot Chip’s gangs most formidable members, Joe Goddard & Felix Martin, have put together a healthy amount of tunes to tune your cochlear cavities in advance of what will no doubt be a bevy of eclectic sets from the pair. Their latest mix flirts with slices of R&B, reggaeton, soul, synth-pop, jazz and indie including a handful of effective groovers and obscure tracks from the likes of Addison Groove, Roman Flugel, and Omar S ft. Nite Jewel, all through the scope of a dancefloor, and they’ve come up aces with another worthy addition to their mix catalog. The tracklist for Hot Chip’s latest DJ mix can be found below, as well as all dates dotting their forthcoming U.S. tour. For our stateside friends with a pension for uniquely programmed, genre jumping dance parties, don’t miss Felix & Joe’s DJ iteration of the group coming in November.

Hot Chip (DJ tour) featuring Joe Goddard and Felix Martin:

Nov 10th || Output || Brooklyn, NY

Nov 11th || Lot 613 || Los Angeles, CA

Nov 15th || Terminal West || Atlanta, GA

Nov 16th || Club Here I Love You || El Paso, TX

Nov 17th || It’ll Do || Dallas, TX

Nov 18th || Smart Bar || Chicago, IL

Nov 19th || U Street Music Hall || Washington, DC

Nov 22nd || Mezzanine || San Francisco, CA

Nov 23rd || Fortune Sound Club || Vancouver, BC

Nov 24th || Neumos || Seattle, WA

Check out the full tracklisting after the jump.

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[Video] Porches – Find Me

Posted by Matthew Bloss - October 24, 2017

Aaron Maine’s Porches music project has proved itself a critical darling after the excellent 2016 LP Pool and its demo based sister release Water. Porches has undergone a complete musical symbiosis from the folk inspired pop of 2013’s Slow Dance in the Cosmos, and after having recently announced the January 19 release of The House, the third full-length album from the New York based group, they’ve released its first music video backing the single “Find Me”. Aurally, “Find Me” is an icy track with its lyrics touching on anxiety, escape and isolation. Not new subject material for Maine, but one that he has shown an ability to convey flawlessly in his brief songwriting career. A signature array of vintage synths permeate the tune’s breathing space, rising and falling behind shuffling hi’s and greasy bass, resulting in that beautiful indie-pop aesthetic we’ve grown accustomed to from Porches. In video form, the visual theme is wound tightly to Maine’s psyche, focusing primarily on his physical from in the process.

Watch the video, co-directed by Maine himself, and Nick Harwood below, and revisit our review of their 2016 live show in Denver here. The House is available for pre-order now on iTunes, Bandcamp and from their label Domino Records’ online shop with a limited run of pale-yellow translucent vinyl complete with a fold-out poster, CD, cassette, and digital download.

MOHA – A-Side [TMN Premiere]

Posted by Matthew Bloss - October 16, 2017

Moha
A SIDE

Soundcloud

Featuring eclectic, up and coming artists with prominent potential is the lifeblood around here at TMN. Which is why, when we came across the first single from French-Senegalese artist Moha‘s debut LP FIT, the appropriately titled alt-pop R&B burner “A-Side”, we knew we had to jump all over it and get it into the ears of our readers.

Immediately, Moha’s unique musical fusion of African, French, and US influenced sounds is apparent, riding along elegantly picked guitar and shifting percussion which dive head first into a sea of gently raspy vocal reverberations. They way Moha so effortlessly wraps those gauzy vocals around its tightly wound production is quite consuming. As muted horns unfurl into “A-Side”‘s catchy chorus, it’s quite difficult to not stay stuck throughout its duration. Like his following, which has shunned the typical social media directed aesthetic and outside influence, Moha builds his music organically, layering his own playing on multiple instruments with powerful songwriting to create a sound and album that we are enthusiastically anticipating the release of. Until the full release of FIT, enjoy Moha’s “A-Side” served up fresh as a TMN Premiere above.

[Tech-House] Ross Kiser & Black/Tuesday – Ancona EP [TMN Premiere]

Posted by Matthew Bloss - July 3, 2017

As we roll into Fourth of July weekend here stateside, it’s only fitting that we share some tasteful, party-appropriate, speaker jack with our readers. As is our civic duty, we’ve unearthed yet another superb set of tracks for your afterhours club focused listening to land upon. Denver based producers Ross Kiser, formerly of Need & Necessity acclaim, and rising duo/label/fashion collective Black/Tuesday have called upon their collaborative force on the Ancona EP, which finds a home on the Lee K helmed Circulate Records.

Featuring a pair of tunes, “Ancona” and “Developing Story”, Ancona‘s aural combination of Kiser & Black Tuesday work symbiotically to pull their sounds into newer territory than we’ve seen on past releases. The EP’s title track rides on layered techno and acid house synths while wonderfully fragmented vocal samples and lurching bass swells flit around its edges to bring together a beautifully cohesive production. On its B-side, “Developing Story” finds its anchor in the form of a jackin’ set of shuffled hi-hats, encased around a thumping kick-clap, and a hypnotically simple synth progression. Kiser’s proper, soulful house roots and Black/Tuesday’s tastefully tinny, metallurgic minimalism coalesce effortlessly, and as we’ve heard rumblings of more collaborations between these three, you can expect the Ninja gang to be all over it. For our DJ contingency, you can cop both of these tunes on Beatport, but until then, stream the Ancona EP below.

’Ross Kiser & Black/Tuesday – Ancona’

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’Ross Kiser & Black/Tuesday – Developing Story’

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[Event Preview/Playlist] The Underground Music Showcase – Denver, CO

Posted by Matthew Bloss - June 16, 2017

The 17th anniversary of one of Denver’s most storied music events, The Underground Music Showcase, is just around the corner. What began as a one-night performance featuring just four bands, The UMS has steadily exploded into to a four-day music and art festival featuring hundreds of performances. As the time draws nearer to what will no doubt be another incredible weekend pf performances, it’s time to get our readers familiar with this year’s crop of (mostly) burgeoning artists spanning a plethora of genres and sounds. While this recent slate of participating artists is the second wave, we can assuredly expect one more run of performers to be added to this year’s bill, so stay tuned!

This year’s bill features one of the more eclectic, varied lineups we’ve been privy to for a number of years, including a seemingly heavier focus on displaying the myriad talent spread across The Centennial State (that’s Colorado ya yokels). On the top end of things, The UMS features an incredible slate of headlining performances from the likes of Nika Roza Danilova’s influential avant-pop project Zola Jesus, New Orleans based Benjamin Booker‘s raw brand of blues/boogie/soul/rock, Red Fang‘s primal-yet-refined stoner-metal, John Jagos’ lofi pop alter-ego and TMN darling Brothertiger, and the smoothly subdued vocal stylings of Esmé Patterson. In addition to the already excellent pallet of headliners, The UMS also will be presenting countless sets from some of our absolute favorite Colorado artists including Flaural, Povi, RUMTUM, Slow Caves & Dragondeer. To get your ears tuned for next month’s festivities, check out our preview playlist below and get your learn on if you haven’t already. Tickets are still on presale, so hop to it and pick up a 4-day pass on the cheap here!

’Benjamin Booker – Violent Shiver’

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’Brothertiger – Beyond The Infinite’

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’Zola Jesus – Exhumed’

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’Esmé Patterson – Green Green’

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’Red Fang – Blood Like Cream’

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’Slow Caves – Glares’

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’Povi – 4am’

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’Flaural – Culture Ghost’

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’RUMTUM – Coastal Hustle’

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’Dragondeer – When I See You’

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[Indie-Pop/R&B] RÓSA – Without You

Posted by Matthew Bloss - June 5, 2017

RÓSA
Without You

Soundcloud

Near the tail end of last year, Orange County, CA-based indie-pop trio RÓSA took our ears hostage with their debut 2016 EP Gypsy Queen. RÓSA’s developed songwriting and crystalline, synthetic sonority once again hit this writer like a ton of bricks when the triumvirate unveiled the first single from sophomore EP, Wasteful, due out on June 30th, “Without You”. “Without You” leans on a vocal-centric aesthetic from lead singer Will Winters, propped up on a bed of subtle yet sophisticated arpeggiated synths, snares that snap like a twig under combat boots, and modal harmonies that flit all over their instrumental landscape. We’ve been drawing comparisons to acts as big as TMN darlings The 1975 to Aaron Maine’s lush Porches project, which for this writer is the biggest stamp of approval we’ve thrown out in some time. We’ll be waiting patiently for the rest of Wasteful, but until then, stream “Without You” above.

[Event Review] Project Pabst: Denver 2017

Posted by Matthew Bloss - May 30, 2017

In just its second year in existence as a four city national event (Denver, Portland, Philadelphia, Atlanta), the barley-pop funded Project Pabst has quickly cemented itself as one of the hottest tickets in each town it lays it Laser Horse inspired hooves. Always an eclectic lineup, in its brief run Project Pabst has consistently boasted a mix of both established and upcoming acts spanning myriad genres from Tame Impala, STRFKR, Violent Femmes, FIDLAR, Duran Duran & Iggy Pop to A$AP Ferg, Danny Brown, K. Flay & Big K.R.I.T. to name but a few; and this year’s Denver date served only to stoke the already vibrant fire within our Ninja hearts. It was yet another excellently curated day in Denver’s hipster bastion of the RiNo neighborhood, and we’ve got plenty to dish about the second Denver Project Pabst date.

As always, the day kicked off sprightly at 2:00 p.m. behind a choice segue into the beautiful day with a frenetic performance from Chicago indie rock outfit Twin Peaks. In a rather short span beginning in 2013, Twin Peaks have rapidly evolved from a hectic, sloppy group of teenage rockers into a firmly polished five piece with the ability to command a stage with the best of them. Twin Peaks cycled primarily through fare from LP’s Wild Onion and Down in Heaven including staples like “I Found a Way”, “Making Breakfast” and “Holding Roses”, but more than made sure to satisfy their diehards as well with a few cuts from debut long player Sunken. With the day’s first performance under our belts, it was time for some $3.00 PBR and a jaunt to the other end of Larimer Street for a little slice of scuzzy L.A. rock duo Deap Vally.

Read Our Entire Project Pabst Review After the Jump!

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