Author Archives: TMN Staff

[House] Rich Furniss – Game On


New York’s house maestro Rich Furniss has just came out swinging with his masterful original “Game On.” The disco inspired gem is just the right kind of song you need for your playlists as the weather starts to warm up.

Right from the start, you already know just how groovy things are going to get. Rich’s alluring production takes a minimal approach, but he manages to add a certain level of complexity with a plethora of sounds and samples dancing and weaving through the mix. If there was one record we’d deem to call this year, it’d be this one. With a couple of heaters out already this year, Rich is setting himself up nicely to make a major splash once this year is through. Make sure to add “Game On” to your playlists and stay tuned for more!

PS, if you’re still into downloads you can get this one free!

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[Soul/Gospel] Aliana Lohan – Without You

Singer, songwriter and actress Aliana Lohan is making her return to music with the soulful cinematic single “Without You.” This gospel inspired original sees her soar and re-establish her space within music after a public hiatus, although Aliana has been working her magic behind the scenes continuously writing.

“Without You” is powerful, yet chill with orchestral instrumentation that gives the song a larger than life feeling to it. Aliana’s performance is stunning, at first luring you in with a subtle verse that explodes into a hook that will leave you with goosebumps. As the weather starts to turn cold, this is just the right kind of song you want to cozy up with as you stay warm inside. Expect more from Aliana as we move into the new year as she has some other releases already locked in. On top of that, she’s also set to return to acting in an upcoming Christmas romantic comedy alongside her sister Lindsay. Big moves incoming!

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[Future Bass] KANA-BOON – Silhouette (Tokyo Machine Remix)

Sony Music Asia has a new endeavor that is proving to be quite the cultural powerhouse. Sakura Chill Beats is Sony’s new Youtube channel where they are highlighting talent from across the world by giving them the exclusive opportunity to officially remix some of anime’s biggest hit theme songs. Their latest is from Tokyo Machine, who took on KANA-BOON’s hit song “Silhouette” which is the theme for the internationally acclaimed Naruto.

Tokyo Machine delivers a smash hit of a remix that certainly lives up to the legendary status of the original song. We totally understand that music in another language can be hard for some to enjoy, but Tokyo Machine really did a number on this one and created something that sounds so fun that it’s hard not to enjoy. So go on ahead and drop this one into your gaming, driving, partying or whatever other kind of playlists that you got rolling.

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[Folk/Pop] David Frank – When You Know (You Know)

David Frank
When You Know (You Know)

It’s always a pleasure to share a smash hit debut from a new artist and that’s just what we have here from California’s David Frank. Just a head of his wedding in a few weeks, David has dropped his folk pop anthem “When You Know (You Know).” This is for all the lovers out there!

Catchy from start to finish, “When You Know (You Know)” establishes David as a strong new act that has potential to make it as far as anyone. He’s already established himself as a super songwriter working with the likes of Kygo, Merk & Kremon and more, but now David gets to shine on his own, and boy does he shine. Even if you’re not coupled up with a partner, “When You Know (You Know)” still pulls at your heart strings. Drop this one in your Summer playlists and let your friends know that David Frank is here and he’s got plenty more to come.

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[Indie Alternative] Little Dume’s “Human” Leads Global Citizen’s #VAXBECAUSE Campaign

Malibu’s Little Dume (the band, not the beach) is making waves with their latest alternative anthem “Human.” Not only is this record leading a charge toward the debut album as a quartet, but it’s also principal in Global Citizen‘s international #VAXBECAUSE campaign whose aim is to raise awareness about vaccine equity.

“Human” is a smash hit all around and is deserving of such an illustrious partnership for a great cause. In this day and age, if you’ve got a great song and a meaningful yet fun AR filter challenge, you can cover a lot of digital ground. Armed with such, Global Citizen is taking a stand in a major way, especially given the fact that on May 8th they’ll be going live for their Concert to Reunite the World. Hosted by Selena Gomez, this massive show will feature performances by Foo Fighters, Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Vedder, J Balvin and more.

Check out “Human” below and make sure to join in on the #VAXBECAUSE challenge on Instagram!

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New Zealand’s Four Greatest DJs

For a country with such a small population, New Zealand has produced some of the world’s finest DJs over the years. Here are four of the greatest.

Zane Lowe

Auckland-born Zane Lowe is as well known for his television-presenting and radio-DJ career as much as for his music production and live DJ skills. After moving to the United Kingdom in 1997, Lowe came to prominence hosting shows on XFM and MTV Europe before landing a global music show on BBC Radio 1. As a live DJ, Lowe has enjoyed an international career touring with bands like Muse, Kasabian, and The Prodigy, and playing festivals like Coachella, Future Music Festival, and Glastonbury. He has also regularly DJ’d at Ibiza and Mallorca Rocks. Lowe’s discography includes remixes of Snow Patrol’s In the End, Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip’s Look for the Woman, and Kasabian’s Vlad the Impaler.

If you want to try out your own remixes for fun, a good place to start is the popular DJ Hero video game. You can mix tracks from a selection of more than 100 songs across numerous genres. And if you are in the mood for some more DJing fun, check out the DJ Wild slot game, which is available at Casumo online casino.

Nanotek

New Zealander Nanotek, whose real name is Mark Christiansen, is an international dubstep and drum and bass DJ and producer. He began his involvement with music during his teenage years when he played cool electric guitars under 500 and drums in heavy metal bands before discovering electronic and industrial music in the mid-1990s.

When he moved to Wellington in 2003, he was introduced to music by the likes of Photek, Dylan, and Dom & Roland, who became major influences in his hard darkstep sound. Nanotek’s break came in 2006 when Dylan, the owner of Freak Recordings, signed his two tracks Deadly Force and Acid Burn to his sister label Obscene Recordings. The two tracks gained attention from such recognized DJs as Counterstrike, Tech Itch, and Current Value, and it was not long before Nanotek received a global audience.

P-Money

Hip-hop DJ and producer P-Money came to prominence with his second studio album, 2004’s Magic City, which reached number two on the RIANZ New Zealand Singles Chart. The album contains the single Stop the Music, featuring New Zealand rapper Scribe, which gave P-Money his first number one song. The album contains many collaborations with both international and local artists, including Skillz, >Akon<, and Grandmaster Roc Raida. In 2003, P-Money scored another hit with Scribe with the smash hit track Not Many.

For someone who started out in student radio and DJ competitions, P-Money has certainly come a long way. Over the years, he has won numerous awards, including Best Producer, for Scribe’s multi-platinum album The Crusader, and Songwriter of the Year at the New Zealand Music Awards in 2004.

Mark de Clive-Lowe

Now based in Los Angeles, Mark de Clive-Lowe was born and raised in Auckland. He began playing piano at the age of four and developed an interest in jazz via his father’s vast record collection. During his teenage years, Mark de Clive-Lowe collaborated with local R&B and hip-hop artists.

In 1998, he moved to the United Kingdom. It proved to be a good move. He soon became a regular collaborator with other producers like Attic, Bugz, and Restless Soul. Not before long, de Clive-Lowe helped to develop the UK’s broken beat movement, which blends jazz, funk, electronics, and world music. Amazingly, throughout his career, he has been involved with more than 200 releases, including collaborations with Omar, Shirley Horn, and Lauryn Hill.

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How to Create an Ideal Playlist for Online Learning


Know What you Like
The first step in creating a playlist is to know what you like. Remember that not everyone likes the same things. What is acceptable and useful to some people could be distracting and annoying for you. You need to keep that in mind. There is no right or wrong way to do this!

Look and listen to the music you like. Try and remember your previous experiences with it when you were studying. Were you distracted by it, or did it help you focus? If it helped you focus, it is a good contender for a study list. Remember that if the music on your list is something that you don’t like, it can be very distracting. That’s the opposite of the goal you want to achieve! You want to pick music that you like, which is why you should focus on the music you regularly listen to first.

Knowing what you like is the key, as it will form the base of your studying playlist. You can’t branch out into new ideas if you don’t have a good music starting point.

Have a Look at Different Music
A playlist for studying doesn’t have to be static. You can always look for new music to put in it, if that is what you want.

If you want to do this, it’s best to do it from your existing musical tastes. If you like trance, why not try another genre of electronic music? If you like classic rock, why not try progressive rock? If you like baroque music, you will probably like romantic music. And so on. Widening your listening can give you some great new ideas for your study playlist. It can also introduce you to entirely new musical genres to use throughout your life and activities!
Looking at what other people do is always helpful when you are looking at expanding your own musical tastes. Why not start with some articles on what music is known to help people study? If they have music on there is similar to what you like, you can easily try it. You might like it, and you might not. Either way, you can find new music to try in your own playlists. More than that, expanding your music journey can lead you to a new genre you can listen to for the rest of your life!

Ask Other People’s Opinions
You may just be creating a playlist for your own use. In that case, do what you want – the only person you need to please is yourself. However, you might find yourself in the position of creating a study playlist for multiple people. If that’s the case, then you will need to talk to people and find out what they want.

You can buy essays online and enjoy listening music then. You need as much information as possible before you start making your playlist. You will need to find a way to please everybody with your playlist. Try and find out who likes what, who doesn’t like what, and try to compromise. You might have to mediate between people who hate each other’s music! Just remember that the end goal for everybody is the same – to get some good studying done.

You should try and approach this study playlist by keeping things simple. Take all the genres that are similar to each other, and start finding tracks that you like. This will allow you to create a playlist that satisfies everybody, and yet is not too jarring. Any tracks that are too different from each other will likely pull you out of your studying headspace.

Put it all Together
When you have all the music you feel you want or need, put it together. Remember that the best study music playlist is one that enhances your studying. You shouldn’t find yourself actively listening to the music at any point. The music should help you focus on your work. When you are putting your playlist together, try and keep the genres together, if you can. This will serve two purposes. It will keep your attention focused on your studying by avoiding any sudden changes in music. If the music only gradually changes, then you won’t get any sudden shocks.

When you put it all together, you need to decide how you are going to do that. Are you going to make a YouTube playlist? That would make the creation process a lot easier – you simply take YouTube videos of appropriate songs and add them to your playlist. You might prefer another music platform, such as iTunes or Spotify. It all depends on your needs. Which would be better for you? Choose, and then work on a playlist in that format. From there, you could take it one step further and start a podcast! Make sure to do your research to review very popular streaming mics.

On the other hand, why not use all the music platforms you want to? Each one can have different applications, and you will never be without your study music.

Listen to It Before you Play It
Before you confidently move on with your life with the best study playlist, listen to it all the way through. You might find that music which works well in concept doesn’t work so well when you actually hear it. Your idea of good studying music might turn out to be too distracting. Listen to it all the way through, and then make adjustments if you can.

You might find that you want to make two playlists. You can split your music up into a more sedate playlist and a more active playlist. One for quiet studying, and one more pumped up music for when you need to get your blood flowing. This can come in very handy when writing essays, for example. Listening to your playlist before you debut it can solve a lot of problems. If you are making a playlist for a group, listening to it first can help you spot any problems before they come up.

Happy Listening!
The question of the best music to study to has no real answer. It depends on what helps you, so your list should have music that helps you. Whatever happens to your list, try and have fun while you make it. Studying doesn’t have to be purely work – have fun!

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