Author Archives: TMN Staff

[Future] Varien – Beyond the Surface (ft. Aloma Steele)

Posted by TMN Staff - April 9, 2015

Varien
Beyond the Surface (feat. Aloma Steele)

As he prepares for his debut album out soon on Monstercat, Varien takes a slight left turn away from his usual snarling dubstep drops to take a trip to a realm of future beats. Teaming up with vocalist Aloma Steele again, the Tampa-based producer picks and chooses seemingly incongruent elements to expertly craft them into what is “Beyond the Surface.”

First, Aloma Steele’s tempting vocals contain a duplicitous element to them where listeners do not know the songstress’ true nature. Varien trickles piano keys to lay a tranquil vibe alongside nebulous synth arrays and Steele’s croons. The rising future producer then pulls together a sultry sax, international percussion ensembles, and accented snarls that makes the drops half comforting, half vicious. All in all, its a beautiful offering by Varien as he prepares for his debut LP. Grab the free download above.

Future

[Indie] MS MR – Painted

Posted by TMN Staff - April 8, 2015

MS MR
Painted

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MS MR had a massive year in 2014 with the release of their debut album, Secondhand Rapture, that included chart breaking hits such as “Hurricane.” Returning with a new look, the New York duo is getting a little darker and digging a little deeper. Their new original, “Painted,” that just surfaced marks their new direction. Both sexy and dramatic, the tune incorporates robust vocals, vivacious drums, chic electronic inspirations, and steamy electric guitar chords. Back in with a triumphant return, it is always a risk going a new direction, but these two have executed it flawlessly. We are beyond excited to see what these two have in store next. Buy your copy of “Painted” off iTunes.

Indie

Coachella 2015 – Must See Acts [TMN EDITORS’ PICKS]

Posted by TMN Staff - April 8, 2015

The spectacle and legend of Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival grows with each passing year, and although it has certainly reached a critical mass, it remains an experience worth every bit of the hype. Breaking box office records year after year, Coachella continues pushing boundaries in 2015 with an impressively diverse lineup and the festival’s largest-ever investment in immersive art installations. With the first weekend kicking off this Friday, the set times were finally released, sparking excitement and the usual scheduling dilemmas. To help you navigate these choices, we’ve curated our top must-see acts each day. For those attending, remember to keep good company and prioritize your safety. Just like when choosing from the top casinos fiables selon Cryptonaute — where reliability matters—it’s essential to make smart decisions in the whirlwind of Coachella. Hope to see some of you festival-goers there!

P.S. We didn’t forget the Do Lab! You can find our Do Lab picks on the final page.

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[Progressive House] Oh Wonder – All We Do (Steve James Remix)

Posted by TMN Staff - April 8, 2015

Oh Wonder
All We Do (Steve James Remix)

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Oh Wonder has become one of our favorite’s acts to see blossom over the past couple of months. Their combination of female and male vocal counterparts and monthly release schedule have kept the flow of music in just the right amount, but every release seems to be more passionate than its predecessor (even when we think this is not possible). The indie-electronic pair’s single “All We Do” has received its fair share of remixes, but 16-year-old producer Steve James just blew them all out of the water with his rework of the emotional single.

Despite his youth, Steve James has only been shooting upward with his aggressive yet uplifting remixes of ZHU, Dillon Francis, and many more, but this remix of Oh Wonder by the Pittsburgh producer may be his most gorgeous masterpiece to date. Providing a sentimental piano line to add depth to duo’s heart-wrenching croons, James pours empathy, grief, fervor, and love into a synth toppling that could be defined progressive house and progressive trance. Regardless of the label, Steve James’s remix resembles the early works of Arty and Armin van Buuren who pioneered the progressive trance/progressive house movements.

His remix of “All We Do” is only available for free download for 24 hours so be sure to grab your own copy here before tomorrow at noon.

[House] Frankie Knuckles – The Ones You Love (Sicarii Remix)

Posted by TMN Staff - April 8, 2015

Frankie Knuckles
The Ones You Love (Sicarii Remix)

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The explosion of dance music recently took place in America over the past five years or so with progressive and electro house being the first exposure for the later adopters. If any of you want a little history lesson on the real origins of house music in America, it wasn’t within the past 10 years. It wasn’t even within the past 20.

In mid to late 80s, Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles were DJs at The Hot Mix 5 in Chicago, Illinois where they would play disco, electro funk, electro pop, and house music while spinning on the airwaves. After this, the Chicago house boom occurred with Frankie Knuckles at the pinnacle. His death last year was a devastation amongst veteran dance music fans, but a young producer by the name of Sicarii pays tribute to the late house legend with his new remix of Knuckle’s “The Ones You Love.”

Keeping it deep and emotive, the NYC artist constructed his remix after the passing of the Godfather of House to educate dance listeners to the true roots of the songs they love hearing on the radio. Minimal yet groovy, Sicarii’s remix embodies the saying “less is more” with an eclectic mix of vibrant samples – including crowd sounds from Millennium park, analog synthesizers, and a gritty undertone. With an official remix of Maroon 5’s “Sugar” on the horizon, fans should get to know Sicarii as this will not be the last we hear from him. You can grab the free download for his remix of “The Ones You Love” here.

[Event Recap] SXSW – The Highs and Lows of our Week in Austin, Texas

Posted by TMN Staff - April 6, 2015

Another SXSW is in the books, and as we look back with aching feet, muddy clothes wrapped in plastic bags, and a phone full of video clips and pictures, we’re slowly trying to process everything that went on during this intensely crazy week. It was one to be remembered, that’s for sure, providing ample amounts of “Only at SXSW” surprises, newly discovered artists, and, of course, plenty of BBQ.

In lieu of a lengthy, play-by-play recap of everything we experienced, we’re going to change it up and just cover some of the high and low lights. Our hopes are such that you will not only put some acts on your list for this upcoming year’s touring season, but also learn how to SXSW better and more effectively in the years to come.

THE HIGHS

Our dance card was admittedly jam packed, as you would expect from us. Since we don’t focus on a particular genre, our schedule often looked like a game of Tetris, numerous colored blocks stacking on top of each other quicker than we could anticipate. With that in mind, we tried to divide and conquer, leaving certain ninjas to review their favorite genres.

Mew: We’ve been waiting to see Mew for the better part of a decade. If you could peek into our all-time play count on Spotify, you would notice that “Am I Wry? No” has garnered an absurd amount of plays. Our adoration goes further back than Spotify days though, discovering this act long, long ago.

Their live set was absolutely flawless, with Jonas’ vocals echoing what we’ve heard through our headphones in so many walks around our college campus. It was truly one of those life-affirming shows, reminding us of exactly why we started doing this.

’Satellites (Acoustic)’

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ELEL: This band of relative newcomers stole our hearts, and did so in one of the hardest venues to do so. We caught them in a small hall, that was less than forgiving acoustically. Their ability to overcome that, and still get a crowd of people to dance and smile was notable. “40 Watt” particularly shone bright, giving us a glimpse of their unique harmonic abilities. We can’t wait to catch them on tour, as we’re sure they’ll be bringing this seven-piece to every major city really soon.

’40 Watt’

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[Progressive/Melodic] Calvin Harris Ft. Ellie Goulding – Outside (Anevo Remix)

Posted by TMN Staff - April 4, 2015

Calvin Harris Ft. Ellie Goulding
Outside (Anevo Remix)

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Melodic house recently surfaced onto Internet sound waves, attracting fans of more mild tones with its incorporation of live instruments like guitars, flutes, and others to keep the mood sublime. But with the surge of producers putting their hands into the melodic pot, the genre quickly became flooded with many soundalike tracks that created a need for a new innovative style. Cue in Sweden’s newest star, Anevo.

The young producer has definitely turned some heads with the surprise factor in every production he has released thus far, but his most recent remix of Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding’s “Outside” is one that people should genuinely take the time to listen to. Whether you see it as infusing progressive house into melodic house or infusing melodic house into progressive house, the fact is that Anevo hit it out of the part. Developing a harmonious juxtaposition between Goulding’s soothing croons and serene guitar strums, Anevo strips the euphoric characteristic of progressive house to integrate it into a melodic house sequence to birth something truly refreshing.

This remix is perfect for those late-nights, early mornings, or 3 p.m. coffee breaks where you just need to chill out. Check out the stream above and grab the free download you definitely need here.