Local electro/house producers Roguewaves have a brand new track they’ve just released to the world. Although one half of this duo is currently residing on the other side of the planet, they are definitely not on hiatus and are working hard in the studio despite the long distance between the duo! 

Ruins is a melodic piece with some nice vocal talent contributed by Keeley Bumford. The synths pierce nicely through the song and almost hint at trance, while the squeaky clean percussion keeps it grounded well below the tempo of a standard trance song, at around 130 bpm. Ruins gets it’s point across fairly quickly and doesn’t linger around at all. Definitely a serious piece, and should hopefully be the first of many from this duo.

Be sure to check out their blog, trustboston.com, for more info on their upcoming DJ and production work.

Download “Ruins” Here.

If you’ve been keeping up with Soul Clap’s recent production work, you should know by now that they’ve been on a bit of a New Jack Swing roll lately, injecting it into much of their recent tracks in a way I honestly have never heard before. Their most recent freebie, courtesy of The Fader, goes back almost twenty years in time to grab Hi Five’s R&B classic “I Like The Way (Kissing Game)” and give it a re-examination.

03 Kissing Game by Soul Clap

Soul Clap’s remix keeps much of the feel and harmony of the original version. The actual verses from the original aren’t used here, just the chorus itself in the breakdown (which is really all the listener needs). Before and after this fulcrum point, the chorus is nicely filtered and reverberated in the background (making it distinguishable without competing against the drums and bassline). Nicely done.

BXXVII (nlytn’s This Ones For N.Y. Mix) by nlytn

Some minimal/tech house business coming straight out of the Mixtill6 Records stable. One of Lenny Sosa’s recent pieces, this remix of BXXVII is slated for an upcoming digital release on their imprint. Overall there’s some really cool juxtaposition of sounds going on here, sample-wise. Many of the drum hits, atmospherics, pads, even the bassline used share common ground with an upfront offering on the likes of a label such as Drumcode or M_nus.

However what makes the song interesting is Lenny’s decision to use a massive, heavily distorted kick, which sonically actually has more in common with a hardcore track! When I listened for the first time, I honestly had no idea what sort of song this would be as the first few bars consisted of just the kick alone. When the other elements of the song come in, the kick gets pushed to the background but continues to drive the song throughout it’s several build-ups all the way to the end, a lengthy nine minutes later. The risers used in the breakdowns are also not commonplace in minimal/tech house, although I have found that in the past few years, they are in fact being utilized more often than ever before. 

Overall, an interesting piece that doesn’t stagnate in one place for very long. There is a lot of space in this song for the atmospherics and risers to work with the listener, and nothing feels overtly chaotic or forced anywhere within.

In this brand new track by local house producers Soul Clap, they send out a very clear message that there is nothing wrong with slowing the tempo down just a bit. By living life in the 120 bpm lane here, they create a lot of open space to allow the listener to take in all the bits and pieces of Grown ‘N’ Sexy that are going on under the hood. The highlight is the breakdown in the middle, which cleverly sneaks in some awesome 1980’s synth stabs that give way to the kickoff of the second half and an 80’s styled piano solo! (Did Bruce Hornsby make a guest appearance here? haha) Definitely a track that nicely balances a serious feel with a playful twist, Grown ‘N’ Sexy is a good track either to wind down a DJ set or for iPod listening to calm your nerves when you’re stuck on the green line while they’re experiencing “technical difficulties”. Get Soul Clap’s full 4-track Definition EP on Airdrop today, easily their strongest work yet!

Grown-N-Sexy by Soul Clap

Many thanks to label founder Lenny Sosa for pointing me in the direction of this site! Mixtill6 is a Boston based label who’s output slants towards the glitchy, synthesized world of tech house and minimal. They have been up and running for a little over a year now and recently launched their site, which includes a fully functioning blog along with plenty of gallery goodies including mix downloads, links to purchase tracks, and photos.

Mixtill6’s roster includes a small handful dj/producers, including Morgan Stoner, NLYTN (Lenny himself), GH, and Orion Keyser. On the homepage there are links to download about a dozen tracks from their back catalogue. I can describe their sound as very deep and melodic, some of the tracks by GH and NLTYN almost lean towards trance in terms of the pad and string arrangements.

Lenny/NLYTN’s “Avenus of the Strongest” has a contemporary feel that takes advantage of a nice grunged-up electro bassline contrasted against a higher pitched, lo-fi sounding lead. It even opens with a few licks on guitar that quickly fade into the background as the bassline kicks in, never to be heard again. 

Mixtill6 has a few releases marked on the calendar for late 2009; be on the lookout for them via their site.

They also have a soundcloud account run by Lenny/NLYTN where tracks are uploaded on the regular. Be sure to check out his recent W.F.O. mix, which includes a nice representation of the sound they’re working towards!

W.F.O by nlytn  

1. Black_Forest – Sobar Gorziza_Remix
2. Daddy_Diego Fabrizio Maurizi OriginalMix
3. Dekode_ Alex Gori Original_Mix
4. Notte_- Felipe Velez Original_Mix
5. Santiago De Chile – Alex Young, Shella Original
6. Yebo Yebo – Ahmet Sendil Remix
7. Good Times – Mark Knight, Funkagenda Original Mix
8. Vanilla – Jan Zyabovski Original Mix
9. Pills and Champagne – Discount Rhinos
10. I Remember – Caspa Remix
11. Kepler_Koen_Groenevleds_Second_Approach_Remix
12. Meccanismo_- Felipe Velez Original_Mix
13. Couch_- Worakls Original_Mix