Archive for March, 2015

Just saw this song drop today on Rush Hour, looked it up and it seems like this is the original release in 1991. If you want a copy from back then be ready to shell out over $200.00 on discogs.

Smooth with the delivery is all I can say across the board for Fort Romeau, whether its DJing or this album making every moody addition count. Give this album a spin, you won’t regret any moment.

Like many others, Ghostly became enamored with Fort Romeau’s idea of “slow listening,” the concept of enriching relationships with music through careful attention and focus. His understated take on deep, groove-friendly house started pushing this practice three years ago, when the producer’s debut LP, Kingdoms, appeared via 100% Silk. The native Londoner, born Mike Greene, has evolved considerably since then, finessing his sound over the course of three breezy 12″s, one EP, and lengthy DJ sets at some of the best clubs in Europe—not the least of which were Berlin’s famed Panorama Bar, London hotspot Plastic People, and Robert Johnson in Frankfurt. Those years Greene spent immersed in his craft and new inspirations have generously informed the eight stunning productions which comprise Insides, Fort Romeau’s long-awaited sophomore album.

“Playing in those clubs definitely had an affect on how I approach composition and pacing,” Greene shares. “I want to allow things to breathe and develop gradually over longer track lengths, rather than cram everything into four or five minutes.” His patient methods are a central component to the billowy house music on Insides, though this isn’t an indulgent album of gratuitous buildups and tiresome breakdowns. Each production is pointed and purposeful, as the artist crafts every second of analog electronics with rich detail, nuance, and refinement.

Throughout Insides, Fort Romeau guides us down misty corridors lined with supple synth pads, quietly thumping kicks, and elastic low-end sequences reinforced by an emotive confidence. Thick dancefloor cuts like “All I Want” and “Folle” are built on such satisfying elements—sounds so full-bodied, you’d swear they’re knocking against your bones. This, too, is by design. “I wanted to make sure all the songs have a tangible quality,” says Greene of his LP’s physicality, “to make texture and grain become as important a part of the vocabulary as timbre and pitch.” This was accomplished with an arsenal of machines, including his Moog Voyager, Yamaha DX7, Roland Juno-6, and Korg 770, a vintage synth he describes as having “so much presence and vitality, it almost feels like it’s alive.” Equally important to the weighty presence of his music is meticulous post-production. “The record was mixed on an analog desk and mastered to tape,” Fort Romeau elaborates. “These processes are as much a part of the sound as
the synths and sample sources themselves.”

There is also a deep stylistic eclecticism to Insides, and coming from Greene, this was galvanized by deep cuts he discovered while digging to find music for his extensive DJ sets. Old kosmiche, disco, and early electronic records are among the strongest influencers, and Fort Romeau used them as an impetus for creation. “It’s those strange and wonderful tracks that you find on the b-side of an old record that sparked my desire to make something new,” he shares, “but it’s very important for me never to feel like I’m making a pastiche.” Indeed, the sleek expanse of “Lately” and the title track’s jacking grooves take cues from buoyantly cosmic dance music. And yet it’s the personality of a young artist coming into his own that makes Insides such a graceful collection of house music, one that only further enriches the soul over time.

Support here: Vinyl

Tycho just finished some dates with Shigeto and now have Beacon as support, dates below of the upcoming Alt-J run. The photos above give you a little catch up on whats been happening, the tire blow out from this morning was a bit of a bummer but the guys pulled through. Keep up with the photos on the Tycho facebook.

Tour Dates

MAR 27 | Royal Oak, MI | Royal Oak Music Theatre
MAR 28 | Toronto, ON | The Danforth Music Hall
MAR 29 | Indianapolis, IN | The Vogue Theatre
MAR 31 | Columbus, OH | Newport Music Hall
APR 01 | Cleveland, OH | State Theatre at PlayhouseSquare #
APR 02 | Pittsburgh, PA | Benedum Center #
APR 03 | Raleigh, NC | Red Hat Amphitheater #
APR 04 | Atlanta, GA | Chastain Park Amphitheatre #
APR 05 | Birmingham, AL | WorkPlay
APR 06 | Nashville, TN | Grand Ole Opry #
APR 08 | Oklahoma City, OK | Chevy Bricktown Events Center #
APR 11 | Indio, CA | Coachella
APR 17 | Berkeley, CA | Greek Theatre #
APR 18 | Indio, CA | Coachella
MAY 21-24 | Bradley, CA | Lightning in a Bottle
JUN 11-14 | Manchester, TN | Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
JUN 18-21 | Dover, DE | Firefly Music Festival

# – w/ Alt-J

Tickets and more info.

The Math is the third and final single from Pale Blue a.k.a Mike Simonetti forthcoming The Past We Leave Behind album, out April 14th on 2MR/Captured Tracks. Such a nice surprise to see this pop up on what most people thought as a pretty strict indie rock label, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

We have a very limited quantity of special-edition covers available featuring ISO50 on the limited edition (100 copies) cover. Check them out here.  We could only get our hands on 40 of the 100 printed with this limited cover.

We’re doing a 50% off sale on everything in the shop in for the one-year anniversary release of Awake.

Sale runs until Thursday morning at 8AM PST. Get on it now, prices haven’t been this good since…ever.  A great time to fill in your Tycho collection or get those t-shirts/prints/studio editions you’ve been drooling over.

Really excited to announce our SXSW party along with Unholy Rhythms for Hype Hotel’s Feed The Beat series. 5 days of music curated by music bloggers, celebrating 10 years of Hype Machine. Our day is the 21st from 12pm – 5pm, come say Hi!

March 17-21
1100 East 5th Street
Austin, TX

“The Stasi offices in Berlin have been frozen in time since they were stormed by activists on January 15th, 1990, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall three months earlier.”

– Motherboard

Brené Brown asks – “What would you try if you knew people would never say ‘this’ about you?”

One of the biggest struggles for any creative is how to handle fear. The fear of criticism, comparison and scarcity. Some may think it’s best to ignore the chatter and just shut those people out. Instead Brené takes a different approach…

Step inside the arena and find out how she handles the critics.

– Chad Kamenshine

Now onto the brighter side of the NHL logos and branding. The worst logos list was easy compared to the best. I fit in a few into the top just based on necessity ala a well crafted unique font and a aesthetics that the general public would lean towards.

#5 San Jose Sharks
Starting off with the Sharks logo, it has appeal right away to a younger crowd, its fitting for the area the team lives in and it has a modern take which i’m not against. The reason I put it in the top 5 was because it might have that modern speedy look that I might complain about BUT there is reason here, its a shark breaking through a hockey stick, its a fast creature unlike lets say the Blue Jackets logo there was no reason. Also, it looks like someone took the time with the details and pulled it back a bit to find balance and I can appreciate that.

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins
This one might be a hard one to have people agree with me on. I personally thought it was iconic and it simplified the penguins image for the better. The problem I have with the current Pittsburgh Penguins logo are the old school equipment he’s wearing, if it was more timeless i’d probably like it more. I love the wings here and the bit of yellow on the neck, it shows off that detail is doable in a simple logo.

#3 Hartford Whalers
Classic. Hands down maybe the best executed sports logo for a designer that has to work under the these circumstances: a whale mascot and a team called the Whalers. Do you see the H for Hartford? And we thought the FedEx arrow was special. What a fluid effort, too bad they are now the Carolina Hurricanes, who have a horrid brand.

#2 Edmonton Oilers
So you’re getting paid to do a logo for a sports team, probably a dream job for many designers. You’ll probably want to make it your own and be remembered for your best effort, right? so probably on the top of your list would be a custom font and this designer knocked it out of the park.

#1 Colorado Rockies
When you can take the States flag and transplant it into a team logo and hand in something literal but also create something that can look great on any piece of merch then i’m all in. The designer that created the MLB Colorado Rockies probably will always feel 2nd best. This is bold, grabs your eyes, its for all ages, a city can be proud of it, the uniforms looked out there but one of a kind.