Tag: 100% Silk Records

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

CASCINE · Roland Tings – Lights On The Headland

 

Rohan Newman is a Melbourne-based electronic music artist and producer, best known as the creative mastermind behind the acclaimed recording project and JOVM mainstay Roland Tings. Back in 2012, Newman caught the attention of renowned, Los Angeles-based electronic music label 100% Silk Records, who released his debut EP.  Since the release of his debut EP, Newman has become one of Melbourne’s biggest names while releasing material through the aforementioned 100% Silk Records, Internasjonal and Sony Records that has has found him expanding upon and experimenting with his sound and songwriting approach.

Last year’s Salt Water was a cohesive and introspective album inspired by Newman’s 18-month stint living on the Southern coast of Victoria, Australia, surrounded by rugged coastlines and verdant rainforests. Newman’s latest Roland Tings effort, First Wave EP is slated for an August 14, 2020 release through Cascine Records. Written in isolation shortly after the Salt Water sessions, the EP’s material is a marked shift from its highly collaborative predecessor, an effort that featured live drummers and vocalists. As Newman says, First Wave signals a return to a more instinctive approach — the same ethos that guided him while he crafted some of his earliest Roland Tings work.

“It took me a long time to find a way to come back to this more solitary way of working,” Newman explains. “After my first few records, I felt like I had really exhausted all the possibilities of working by myself, which is why so much of Salt Water was about collaborating and pushing further into new sounds. I felt a lot of pressure to go beyond what I had done before, so the goal of that record was getting others involved and trying to make something that was new to me.”

Although dramatically different from Salt Water, Newman’s forthcoming effort continues to draw inspiration from his coastal surroundings. The EP’s latest single “Lights On The Headland” is centered around glistening synth arpeggios, stuttering and swirling beats, rolling bass, hot flashes of snare and a sinuous melody — and while evoking shimmering sea creatures effortlessly swimming just under the surface, the track possesses the sort of free-flowing effortless feel that reminds me of Between Two Selves-era Octo Octa.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Mariatti · Other Vibes

Mariatti · Variable Speed Of Life

Andrea Mariatti is a young, emerging Italian electronic music producer, electronic music artist and DJ, who can trace the origins of his music career back to when he was 12. He started creating and making music from his laptop. By the time Mariatti turned 15, he was releasing albums under the name Andrea Dub — and building upon a growing profile, some of his work was played by a number of DJs across the European Union.

After high school, the young Italian producer studied at SAE Institute, Milan, eventually earning a degree in Audio Production and Creative Music Industry, which helped him pushed the boundaries of his technical limits. The last couple of years have been pretty busy for Mariatti: three years ago, he returned to his hometown, where he built a studio, so he could work on music every day.

Two years ago, the up-and-coming Italian produced signed with NBM Music Agency, who helped him sign with Deadmau5′s mau5trap Records, who released music from his latest musical projects Thin King and his latest solo project Mariatti. Additionally, he founded Recall, a live events brand whose mission is to create and foster a community of passionate people about electronic music with his friend and colleague HolyU. Mariatti has also been busy working on new material, including his two latest singles — “Other Vibes” and “Variable Speed of Life.”

“Other Vibes” is slickly produced bit of trance-inducing house, centered around wobbling and arpeggiated synths, skittering beats, vocoder’ed and distorted vocals and an infectious hook — and while being a forward-looking yet crafted bit of electronic music that subtly nods at New Jack Swing, the track as the Italian producer explains in press notes is dedicated to Recall’s motto, with a focus “on the continuous research of inspiration from the sounds and the people, who enjoy the craft.” “Variable Speed of Life” is a straightforward yet brash club banger centered around a lush production featuring layers of shimmering synth arpeggios, thumping beats, twinkling and atmospheric electronics. Sonically, the track reminds me of Octo Octa and 100% Silk Records.

”Variable Speed Of Life’ is my second independent release and its title came from the quarantine experience: for the first time in our lives we got more aware about the flow of time and it’s importance,” Mariatti says.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Rohan Newman is a a Melbourne, Australia-based producer and electronic music artist, best known in electronic music circles as Roland Tings, and back in 2012, as a relative newcomer, the Australian producer and electronic music artist caught the attention of renowned electronic dance music label, 100% Silk Records, who released his debut EP.  And unsurprisingly, thanks to the cosign from the renowned Southern California-based label and the international attention he received, Newman quickly became one of Melbourne’s go-to producers and DJs, performing at some of the city’s most raucous house parties and basement jams. With an even larger profile, Newman quickly signed to renowned Norwegian electronic music label Internasjonal, founded by alt-disco, electronic music star Prins Thomas, and the label released Newman’s 2015 full-length debut, an album that Triple J named their Feature Album of the year.

Newman’s sophomore Roland Tings effort, Each Moment a Diamond was released earlier this year, and the material revealed a subtle yet decided change in his songwriting approach: Newman rented a studio located in Melbourne’s industrial backstreets and treated the entire songwriting and production process, much like a 9-5 job in which he deliberately developed a routine around a repetitive and dependable schedule — every morning, Newman ate the same breakfast, rode his bike along the same route to the studio, spent hours writing and revising and when finished, he’d hang out with the same group of friends at the same places. “Being at the studio all day every day was psychologically demanding. For each good idea I had, there were maybe 30 bad ones, which is hard to face when you look back on months of work and realize the majority of the material will never make the record. Eventually though I was able to see each ‘failure’ as a crucial contribution to overall whole,” Newman reflected in press notes.  “The routine also allowed me to grasp good ideas when they surfaced -– when something was different, when something sounded great, I quickly noticed and was able to follow each thread. Another valuable realization from this process was knowing when to stop, when to let go of an idea, power down the studio, get on my bike and head home.”

Now if you were following this site earlier this year, you may recall that I wrote about two of Each Moment a Diamond’s singles — the Zonoscope-era Cut Copy inspired house music track “Higher Ground” and the Larry Levan-era house meets Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves-like track “Garden Piano.”  Interestingly, Newman has managed to make 2017 an extraordinarily busy year, as he just released follow up single “Eyes Close,” a song  inspired by his recent relocation from Melbourne to New South Wales’ Central Coast, and the song which features layers of shimmering arpeggiated synths,thumping, tweeter and woofer rocking beats and twinkling, cosmic ray-like electronics will further cement his reputation for crafting sleek, assertive yet chilly house music; however, unlike his previously released material, this particular single manages to swoon with a sense of exhilaration and freedom, as though a weight as been slowly lifted — or of closing your eyes on a sunny day, craning your head towards the sun to feel its warmth on you, and then opening your eyes to bursts of light.

As Newman explains in press notes, “I wanted to make a song that would capture what I could only describe as cold euphoria. The exhilaration of being feeling untethered after a long time in the same routine. The intoxicating smell of eucalyptus after a long time in the city.” He continues,  “I wanted to make something that captured the beauty of that coastal landscape in winter. The way the trees on the windward side of the headland grow with twisted branches, braced against the southerly storms. I wanted to make something that sounded like total release, coming out of a dark place into somewhere filled with light.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Classic House Inspired Sounds and Visuals of Moon King’s “Ordinary Lover”

Initially begun as a solo recording project of its Toronto, ON-born creative mastermind, primary songwriter, multi-insrumentalist and producer Daniel Benjamin, Moon King may arguably be best known for the several year period in which Benjamin collaborated with Maddy Wilde (vocals, guitar); but with Wilde’s departure last year, Benjamin has returned to his roots — recording as a solo project. Coincidentally, Benjamin also relocated to Detroit, MI around the same time as Wilde’s departure, and spent that year working and living in the Detroit neighborhood of Hamtramck. .

Benjamin’s stint in Hamtramck inspired a new batch of material, Hamtramck 16, a mixtape that not only documents his arrival into a new, unfamiliar place, it also is a radical change in sonic direction and songwriting approach, as the material on the mixtape captures the Canadian producer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s growing obsession with electronic dance music. And while in Detroit, Benjamin began collaborating with local artists and musicians, until he formed a new band — with the intention of crafting a sound that currently draws from disco, classic, Detroit house, synth pop — and even pop.  Mixtape single “In & Out” found Benjamin pairing his dreamy falsetto with a dance floor-friendly production that channels Nile Rodgers-era Madonna (i.e.,  “Lucky Star” and “Holiday“), Tom Tom Club (i.e., “Genius of Love“) and Larry Levan-era house as a driving groove is paired with fluttering, shimmering and cascading layers of synths, a sinuous bass line, four-on-the-floor-like beats and a razor sharp hook. And much like the sound and period, Benjamin is drawing from, the song manages to be incredibly accessible; in fact, if it wasn’t for the subtly modern production, the listener may have been tricked into believing that the song may have been released in 1983.

The mixtape’s second and latest single “Ordinary Love” is a much more straightforward production and song as arpeggio bursts of keys, tweeter and woofer rocking 808s and swirling electronics are paired with Benjamin’s falsetto vocals — and while seemingly influenced by Nu Shooz’s “I Can’t Wait” and classic house, the song manages to reveal a subtly modern production sheen that nods at Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves and the 100% Silk Records roster. 

Directed by Bronwyn Ford, the recently released music video manages to be a spot on ode to late 80s and early 90s dance music videos, as the video features a diverse and eclectic array of club-goers dancing to the club-baning track; and it’s shot on similar grainy video that will briefly trick some viewers into thinking that they’ve stumbled on to some rarely played house music gem. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Initially begun as a solo recording project of its Toronto, ON-born creative mastermind, primary songwriter, multi-insrumentalist and producer Daniel Benjamin, Moon King may arguably be best known for the several year period that it was known as a duo featuring Maddy Wilde (vocals, guitar); but with Wilde’s departure last year, the project has managed to return to its roots. Coincidentally, Benjamin relocated to Detroit, MI around the same time as Wilde’s departure  — notably, the Detroit neighborhood of Hamtramck, where he spent the better part of a year.

Benjamin’s stint in Hamtramck inspired a new batch of material, Hamtramck 16, a mixtape that not only documents his arrival into a new, unfamiliar place, it also is a radical change in sonic direction and songwriting approach, as the material on the mixtape captures the Canadian producer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s growing obsession with electronic dance music.

Finally having some time to himself after years of relentless touring, Benjamin began collaborating with local artists and musicians, until he formed a new band — with the intention of crafting a sound that currently draws from disco, classic, Detroit house, synth pop — and even pop.  Mixtape single “In & Out” found Benjamin pairing his dreamy falsetto with a dance floor-friendly production that channels Nile Rodgers-era Madonna (i.e.,  “Lucky Star” and “Holiday“), Tom Tom Club (i.e., “Genius of Love“) and Larry Levan-era house as a driving groove is paired with fluttering, shimmering and cascading layers of synths, a sinuous bass line, four-on-the-floor-like beats and a razor sharp hook. And much like the sound and period, Benjamin is drawing from, the song manages to be incredibly accessible; in fact, if it wasn’t for the subtly modern production, the listener may have been tricked into believing that the song may have been released in 1983. The mixtape’s second and latest single “Ordinary Love” is a much more straightforward production, as arpeggio bursts of keys, tweeter and woofer rocking 808s and swirling electronics are paired with Benjamin’s falsetto vocals — and while seemingly influenced by Nu Shooz‘s “I Can’t Wait” and classic house, the song manages to reveal a subtly modern productions been that nods at Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves and the 100% Silk Records roster.

The mixtape is slated for an August 4, 2017 release through Arbutus Records and Benjamin, along with his backing band will be on a mostly American tour throughout August and September to support the new effort, and it includes a September 8, 2017 stop at Silent Barn. Check out the rest of the tour dates below y’all.

 
TOUR DATES
08/11 – Baby G – TORONTO, ON 
08/12 – PN, MONTRÉAL, QC
08/18 – El Club, DETROIT, MI
09/02 – Schubas, CHICAGO, IL
09/03 – The Bishop, BLOOMINGTON, ID
09/04 – MOTR, CINCINNATI, OH
09/05 – Double Happiness, COLUMBUS, OH 
09/06 – Sound Hole, PHILADELPHIA, PA
09/07 – Charlies American Cafe, NORFOLK, VA
09/08 – Silent Barn, BROOKLYN, NY
09/11 – One Caroline, SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 
09/12 – Bard College, ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY
09/13 – House Of Targ, OTTAWA, ON
09/14 – Le Cercle, QUEBEC, QC

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last month, you may have come across a post on Rohan Newman,  a Melbourne, Australia-based producer and electronic music artist, best known in electronic music circles as Roland Tings. Back in 2012, while as a virtual unknown, the Australian producer and electronic music artist caught the attention of enowned Los Angeles, CA-based electronic dance music label, 100% Silk Records, who released his debut EP.  And unsurprisingly, thanks to the cosign from the renowned Southern California-based label and the international attention he received, Newman quickly became one of Melbourne’s go-to producers and DJs, performing at some of the city’s most raucous house parties and basement jams. With an even larger profile, Newman quickly signed to renowned Norwegian electronic music label Internasjonal, founded by alt-disco, electronic music star Prins Thomas, and the label released Newman’s 2015 full-length debut, an album that Triple J named their Feature Album of the year.

Each Moment a Diamond, Newman’s soon-to-released sophomore Roland Tings album reveals a change in songwriting approach, with Newman renting a studio located in Melbourne’s industrial backstreets and treating the songwriting and production process as a 9-5 job, in which Newman developed a routine deliberately based around a repetitive and dependable schedule: every morning during the writing and recording of the album, Newman ate the same breakfast, rode his bike along the same route to the studio and hung up with the same friends at familiar places.  “Being at the studio all day every day was psychologically demanding. For each good idea I had, there were maybe 30 bad ones, which is hard to face when you look back on months of work and realize the majority of the material will never make the record. Eventually though I was able to see each ‘failure’ as a crucial contribution to overall whole,”Newman reflected in press notes.  “The routine also allowed me to grasp good ideas when they surfaced -– when something was different, when something sounded great, I quickly noticed and was able to follow each thread. Another valuable realization from this process was knowing when to stop, when to let go of an idea, power down the studio, get on my bike and head home.” Certainly, when you deal in a creative world, some of the lessons Newman learned while writing could be useful. . .

“Higher Ground” the first single off  Each Moment a Diamond was a collaboration feating the breathy and sultry vocals of Nylo  in a percussive, Zonoscope-era Cut Copy inspired house music track, featuring shimmering arpeggio synths, thumping beats, an rousing and soaring hook, and about 3/4s of the way through some Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar are added in a slickly produced song that focuses on the urgently swooning passion of first love.  The album’s second and latest single “Garden Piano” sonically owes a debt to classic, Larry Levan-era house music and Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves, as the song is based around a slick production featuring thumping yet highly processed processed beats and shuffling drum and industrial cling and clatter are paired with twinkling, arpeggio synths and warm, funky blasts of Nile Rodgers-like guitar. And much like the preceding single, “Garden Piano” is a certified club-banger of a song that manages to possess a deliberate yet soulful feel.

Newman will be embarking on a extensive North American tour to support his newest album, opening for Warp Records’ stalwart Clark and Ghostly Records’ Com Truise and that tour will include a May 25 stop at Warsaw. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.

Tour Dates

 

May 1 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room @ The Observatory

May 2 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst Atrium
May 4 – Portland, OR – Holocene

May 5 – Vancouver, BC – Imperial

May 6 – Seattle, WA – Neumos

May 7 – Eugene, OR – Wow Hall

May 9 – San Francisco, CA – Mezzanine

May 10 – Santa Barbara, CA – Soho Music Club

May 11 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater

May 12 – San Diego, CA – The Belly Up

May 13 – Santa Fe, NM – Meow Wolf

May 14 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater

May 16 – St. Louis, MO – Firebird

May 17 – Nashville, TN – Exit In

May 19 – Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall

May 20 – Boston, MA – Together Boston Music & Arts Festival

May 21 – Hamden, CT – The Ballroom

May 23 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar

May 24 – Philadelphia, PA – Coda

May 25 – Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw

May 26 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount

May 27 – Toronto, ON – Velvet Underground

May 28 – Detroit, MI – Ghostly Intl/Warp Movement Afterparty @ The Shelter

May 30 – Pittsburgh, PA – Rex Theater

June 1 – Indianapolis, IN – The Hi-Fi

June 2 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop

June 3 – Chicago, IL – Concord Music Hall

June 4 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Café

June 5 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown

June 6 – Kansas City, MO – Record Bar

June 7 – Dallas, TX – Trees

June 8 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall

June 9 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk

June 10 – Mexico City, MX – Sala Corona

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Rohan Newman is a Melbourne, Australia-based producer and electronic music artist, best known as Roland Tings — and in 2012, the Australian producer, who was then a virtual unknown caught the attention of renowned Los Angeles, CA-based electronic dance music label, 100% Silk Records, who released his debut EP. Unsurprisingly, as a result of his connection to the renowned label, Newman quickly became one of Melbourne’s go-to producers and DJs, performing at some of the city’s most raucous house parties and basement jams. Adding to a growing national and international profile, Newman was signed to renowned Norwegian electronic music label Internasjonal, founded by alt-disco, electronic music star Prins Thomas, and the label released Newman’s 2015 full-length debut, an album that Triple J named their Feature Album of the year.

Each Moment a Diamond, Newman’s much-anticipated sophomore Roland Tings album reveals a change in songwriting approach, with Newman renting a studio located in Melbourne’s industrial backstreets and treating the songwriting and production process as a 9-5 job, in which Newman developed a routine deliberately based around a repetitive and dependable schedule: every morning during the writing and recording of the album, Newman ate the same breakfast, rode his bike along the same route to the studio and hung up with the same friends at familiar places.  “Being at the studio all day every day was psychologically demanding. For each good idea I had, there were maybe 30 bad ones, which is hard to face when you look back on months of work and realize the majority of the material will never make the record. Eventually though I was able to see each ‘failure’ as a crucial contribution to overall whole,”Newman reflected in press notes.  “The routine also allowed me to grasp good ideas when they surfaced -– when something was different, when something sounded great, I quickly noticed and was able to follow each thread. Another valuable realization from this process was knowing when to stop, when to let go of an idea, power down the studio, get on my bike and head home.” Certainly, when you deal in a creative world, some of the lessons Newman learned while writing could be useful. . .

“Higher Ground” is the first single off Each Moment a Diamond, and the song is a collaboration featuring the breathy and sultry vocals of Nylo in a percussive, Zonoscope-era Cut Copy inspired house music track, featuring shimmering arpeggio synths, thumping beats, an rousing and soaring hook, and about 3/4s of the way through some Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar are added in a slickly produced song that focuses on the urgently swooning passion of first love. And while being a club-banger, the song manages to possess a radio-friendly vibe.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Known as the head of trendy, taste-making, French indie electronic music label Roche Musique and as a highly-regarded, up-and-coming electronic music and artist, whose production and sound possesses elements of house, R&B, hip-hop and nu-disco, Kartell, along with labelmates and friends Kaytranada, Stwo and Bondax are at the forefront of a “French touch” electronic music revival, which has also helped the Paris-based producer, electronic music artist and label head develop a growing international profile. And adding to a growing international profile, Kartell has remixed the work of Karma Kid and Lianne la Havas, collaborated with a number of renowned artists and producers, including Flares and others, as well as a busy touring schedule that included more than 100 dates across Europe, Asia, North America and South America.

Sapphire and Tender Games Kartell’s last two EPs were released to critical praise — and his soon-to-be released EP Last Glow, which his label Roche Musique will be releasing will further cement his reputation for slickly produced electronic music as you’ll hear on the house music and R&B-leaning “5 A.M.” And as you’ll hear on his latest single, Kartell employs the use of stuttering and cascading blocks of shimmering synths, boom bap-like beats, a chopped and cut soulful vocal sample to craft a song that feels sinuous and sensual and nods at Octo Octa and the 100% Silk Records roster — but with a populist, late night, club-banging feel.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Roland Clark is a renowned Atlanta, GA-based house music producer, songwriter and vocalist who has recorded and released material under several different aliases including Houseboy, Keita, Jesus Jackson, People, Roland Clark Presents: Digital Pimps, Dark Clark and South Street Player, as well as releasing material under his own name. Clark has also been a member of Leviticus and Urban Soul — and has collaborated with Bob Sinclair, Todd Terry, Roger Sanchez and Fatboy Slim; in fact, “Song for Shelter,” borrows a sample from DJ Le Roi’s “I Get Deep” featuring Clark.

However, at their heyday Urban Soul was not just influential, they were commercially successful — the act had hit the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play Charts seven times during the 90s. And if you were in a club in the early 90s, you’d likely know of “Alright” one of Urban Soul’s biggest song. Skittering drum programming, thick, cascading synth chords and soulful yet ethereal vocals bubbling and floating over the mix. Although the song is now 25 years old, it manages to sound as though it could have been released within the few years — as though someone like 100% Silk Records.

Electronic music producer and artist Alexander Technique is best known for his time helping pioneer both the term and idea of the “mash up” with Princess Superstar when they launched DJs Are Not Superstars Records, where they both mixed rock, techno and 90s hip-hop, as well as releasing material under several genres and subgenres of electronic music including the work of Larry Tee, Harvard Bass, Etienne De Crecy, Zoo Brazil, Sia and others. Technique is also the co-founder of Drop Ready Records. The renowned producer, remixer, electronic music artist and label head recently remixed Urban Soul’s classic “Alright.” And as Technique explains in press notes “”The remix was originally about 7 minutes long but after playing it for Todd Terry and my label partner Pedro, they both suggested that I make it longer. Todd even got in and played some keys towards the end…”

Interestingly, the Alexander Technique remix pushes the song towards the 21st century as it pairs Clark’s soulful and sensual crooning with a dense and super slick production that sounds as though it channels both a John Carpenter soundtrack, if filtered through hyper modern European house music as layers of shimmering synth, layers of buzzing synth, are paired with explosive flashes of cymbal and skittering drum programming.