After his very successful tracks ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Rain’, multi-talented German DJ and producer, Quantor is back again with another powerful offering entitled ‘Ocean’, just for your listening pleasure!
A voyage at the speed of light, gliding effortlessly and resonating with the expanse and depth of its subject matter, is brought to a standstill by the intervention of godly wails giving the track a celestial shine.
From its position on high, ‘Ocean‘ aims to stand on the shoulders of giants this year. You won’t want to miss it!
Grammy-nominated live-electronic trio RÜFÜS DU SOL have announced their fourth full length studio album ‘Surrender’ and released its third single, ‘On My Knees’ on Rose Avenue and Reprise / Warner Records.
‘Surrender’ sees RÜFÜS stridently building their own world; an album written on their own terms. The band’s electronic roots offer a proud point of separation from other stadium selling live artists, even as they write songs and play to crowds that break the traditional glass ceiling for dance acts.
‘On My Knees’ is a brooding insight into RÜFÜS DU SOL’s darker tendencies, toying with honest emotions and aching lyricism, demonstrating what makes them so unique in the electronic space. While previous single ‘Alive’ gave a glimmer of hope, and ‘Next To Me’ a yearning for love and romance, ‘On My Knees’ has an anguished sense about it, playing into the powerful title of ‘Surrender.’
The band reference the industrial sounds and sonics of Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails, coupled with the lyrical intensity on which their career has been built.
Tyrone Linqvist hauntingly sings “If you could see me now, I’d probably let you down… Looks like I’m on my knees again, feels like the walls are closing in.”
James Hunt comments — “For this song we had a lot of fun writing something that was darker, driving and a little more edgy. It’s definitely one of the most banging tracks on the record – we referenced some of our favourite club music for the drum programming and had fun envisioning the time when we could finally play this live. It had an amazing reaction at our Red Rocks shows last month which was really special for us.”
RÜFÜS DU SOL is a band synonymous with tension, they came together through the push and pull of the dancefloor, have a live act whose passion lies on the dancefloor, and lyricists who spill their personal pain for thousands to dance to. From the opening keys of ‘Next to Me’, through the propulsive chug of ‘On My Knees’, the record inhabits a world that is deep, lush, organic, yet electronic.
This world building has been RÜFÜS DU SOL’s focus since its inception, its name meant to evoke an otherworldly destination, a future point the band dreamed of arriving at from their bedrooms in Sydney, and, later, recording studios in Berlin and LA. This vision was vital to Surrender, as the band wrote songs to transcend the intimacy of the world they built together, in a DIY ground floor Hollywood apartment studio. The result is a record that is bolder, braver and more far reaching than anything they have done before.
The accompanying music video was filmed in August during a unique Red Rocks Amphitheatre show rehearsal. The band’s creative director, Alex ‘Katzki’ George, collaborated with Ruff Mercy, an animation director and artist based out in the UK to create visuals/animations on top of the video, giving the project a darker 90’s rave vibe. Ruff Mercy has worked with artists such as Thom Yorke, Disclosure, Run The Jewels and big brands such as Nike, Apple, Adidas and many more.
Alex ‘Katzki’ George comments — “We had been fans of Ruff Mercy for a while and started talking to him during lockdown last year. At first we were bouncing ideas of what could be possible if we couldn’t leave our rooms. After a lot of back and forth it all came together pretty quickly and we ended up shooting the video during a twenty minute gap at our Red Rocks show rehearsals.
It was the first time the band had played it live as well as the first time we’d seen it and it took on a life of its own. It felt very raw, but like us in our element.
There was a really great energy in the room from all these people who were there working on our live show, and switching tracks in order to shoot this seemed to get the best out of everyone (our lighting and live show team, as well as Leah who managed to capture the kinetic electricity of the song.)
We were all pretty tired from long days in the rehearsal space but once we found a window to shoot in – Jon, James and Ty gave these charged performances in the short time we had.
It was so captivating that what we thought was going to be a full animation clip became mostly a performance clip. It felt really great being able to share this with Ruff and see him do his thing.
It felt like making music. Sharing tracks across the world and getting another artist’s take on it.”
As the band returns to the stage for their North American tour and array of festival performances, they experience once again the immense demand for their live return. Two sold out nights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre; 70,000 fans waiting to see them play across three nights at the Los Angeles Banc of California Stadium; festival appearances slated at Governors Ball, Austin City Limits, III Points; and a host of shows dotted around the south west United States act as a stark reminder to their influence on the global music scene.
Agoria has announced his fifth LP, ‘.dev’, set for release on November 12th via his Sapiens label. The album sees the French polymath known for his forays into visual arts and tech, as well as electronic music production and DJing, deliver a project that will land on vinyl, digital formats, and an AI player created by ARCA and Jai Paul collaborators Bronze.
‘dev.’, Agoria’s second LP for Sapiens following 2019’s ‘Drift’, kicks off with the haunting, synth-driven ‘What if Midday Was At Midnite’ featuring French vocalist Blasé. Epic yet gritty and restrained, ‘What if Midday Was At Midnite’ is the Haute vocalist delivering his most memorable and otherworldly performance to date and the follow up to Agoria’s biggest hit, ‘You’re Not Alone‘.
As with all of the forthcoming singles from the LP, ‘What if Midday At Midnite’ arrives with a regenerative NFT inspired by L-systems developed by sixties biologist Aristid Lindenmayer and created in collaboration with coder Johan Lescure.
View the NFT for ‘What if Midday Was At Midnite’ here.
‘.dev’ is yet another collaborative piece from Agoria, aka Sebastien Devaud. As well as Blasé and STS, who return after featuring on ‘Drift’, Devaud has worked with Domino’s Ela Minus, flamenco innovator Niño De Elche, and the unique hip hop delivery of Rome Fortune across the LP, with additional collaborators including Sacha Rudy and Oscar winner (The Sound of Metal), Nicolas Becker.
Sonically, the LP is Agoria presenting a kaleidoscopic haze of cinematic and evolving electronica that touches on house, techno, electro, hip hop, and beyond but beneath the aesthetics, ‘.dev’ is the work of an artist who is asking himself questions in order to create worlds out of his answers.
Beyond looking to question the very systems of the traditional album format, his holistic approach to AI and NFT’s within the thematic world of his work are laid out front and centre through the visual and conceptual identity surrounding the album.
Agoria’s ‘.dev’ is set for release via Sapiens on November 12th 2021 – pre-save HERE.
Enter the ‘Insane World’ of Belgium’s dance music jewel Maxi Meraki – actually it’s not as crazy as that, being a deep melodic roller, but the faintly somber vibe in deep concentration, provides ideal salvation for a recovering clubbing community.
Ethereal vocals strike out to apply a short sharp shock to the system, an almost out of body experience adding to the calm travelling of synth projections and withdrawn piano harmonies. The comfortable drifting makes Meraki’s world an ideal chill-out target, while the unfolding low key drama demands the edge of your seat.
Emerging from the club scenes of The Netherlands and Belgium before mixing with the major players of Ibiza over land and sea, Todd Terry, Roger Sanchez and Mark Knight have all thrown their weight behind Maxi Meraki’s dancefloor movements.
Never standing still, with the Antwerp native adding slight twists in style to wherever he lands, Meraki’s blooming back catalogue includes a spot on Tensnake’s True Romance Records, and this year’s artwrk release ‘Way Too Long’, a hit with support from Pete Tong, Claptone, BLOND:ISH and Jamie Jones.
Fine, fresh and fierce, Melsen and Hoved have got it on lock, racing one another to the beach on an XL-sized, postcard perfect anthem. The Be Yourself dream team has the heart of the dancefloor as its #1 priority, pampering with the delicious punch of pianos and kick drums cannonballing off the top board, and guided by honeyed vocals putting you at ease. Sent squealing off into the distance as sundown with the top down beckons, don’t delay when ‘California Dream’ comes calling.
Those honeyed vocals belong to Romanian singer-songwriter Helen: comfortable amongst a variety of styles – both reflecting and diverging from an education in jazz – and with a stream count blazing its way into the millions when lending her skills to the works of Curbi and It’s Different. Backing the stats has been prominent support from blogs and publications such as Complex, Clash and Vice.
Melsen prides himself on groovy basslines, funky melodies, a sunny outlook and remembering that “the most important thing is to go into your studio and mess around”. It’s a mentality that has collected credit from Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, Nicky Romero, R3hab, David Guetta, Hardwell, Alesso, Martin Garrix and Bingo Players.
His run of beats so far in 2021 has showered speakers with nothing but positive vibes – the sunkissed ‘You’, the release of joy found on ‘Alone’, and ‘Try Again’ balancing the purposeful with the emotional.
In a year that went against the norm for so many reasons, Hoved bagged over three million streams on Spotify in 2020 and a nomination for Best Upcoming Artist at the Future House Music Awards. Norwegian duo KristofferHoland and Christian Hoff told the world of their skills on their Be Yourself Music release ‘Don’t Worry Bout Me’, having become a fixture on the Big & Dirty label while fully pushing themselves to achieve the simple goal of “creating energetic, upbeat house music”.
One of the most-talented DJs, producers and singer-songwriters nowadays, Mats Westbroek has just unveiled his brand new track entitled “Miracle”, just for your listening pleasure.
Built on an oasis of calm – the imagery of a lone hilltop saxophonist holding a model pose is immediate – the positive vibrations of ‘Miracle‘ shimmer and smoulder with the sun in its sights.
The 19 year old Mats Westbroek perfects the balance of chilled house to kick back to and suspending the dancefloor in a perfect moment.
As the horns drift into vapour, gentle but sure pianos back warm keys, and nostalgia is paired with an understated assertion – spacious on top, with ample drive beneath. An essential dawn chorus.
Leading technology company Pollen Presents has teamed up with one of Los Angeles’ leaders in underground electronic music Framework for an immersive clubbing getaway. Going by the name Framework Cabo, the event will bring together leading house and techno names from around the globe from December 9-13 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Throughout four days and four nights, guests can take part in pool parties, club events, morning yoga, and beach activities in a tropical destination setting. This will take place at ME Cabo, which will serve as the headquarters and hotel for this unique vacation-style experience.
The lineup for Framework Cabo will include some of global dance’s biggest names like Berlin-based South Korean dance icon Peggy Gou, Bronx duo and Ibiza favorites TheMartinez Brothers, German super-producer and Innervisions founder Dixon, and Ukrainian duo ARTBAT.
The bill continues with UK house and disco’s prodigal son DJ Harvey, the eclectic tones of SG Lewis, Copenhagen-based experimental pop trio WhoMadeWho, the Brooklyn-based SAGA soundtrackers Bedouin, Israeli film director and DJ Ariel Vromen, Berlin favorite Perel, leader of Detroit’s next-generation DJ Holographic, and more.
This is the first curated travel experience from Framework, who are behind Sound in Los Angeles and a bevy of high-profile projects including Coachella’s Yuma stage and the festival’s official underground hideouts at Zenyara and beyond, Art of the Wild at Wynn Las Vegas, and the newly minted Vermont Hollywood. This overseas expansion charts new territory for an independent brand that has earned its name through a forward-thinking approach to music booking.
Packages include a four-night hotel stay, along with access to all previously noted experiences including pool parties and events. Additional add-on experiences include boat parties, adventure excursions, whale watching, a golf tournament, and more.
For more information about the event, including payment plans, package upgrades, and FAQs, visit pollen.co to stay up-to-date with the latest in lineup, pricing, and event news.
One of the most talented duos in the electronic dance music industry have just released a brand new EP entitled ‘Go Re Nue’ just for your listening pleasure.
Super Flu are former gunslingers who are addicted to music. Randomly they got the chance to challenge their colleague Johannes Albert to a duel. But Johannes has his unerring 303 with him. The mysterious dealer Monaberry sells them an elixir, which guarantees them accuracy and top 10 chart positions.
During the duel, all 3 artists quickly realize that everyone has taken the same elixir. They agree on a common EP and are happy about this fact, because a won duel leads to the fact that one can never go the wrong way with this EP.
The much anticipated new edition of MOGA Festival will feature world-class DJs such as Behrouz, Birds Of Mind, Cc:Disco!, Daox, DJ Tennis, Gusta-vo, Gescu B2B Maher Daniel, Matthew Dekay, Mr. Id and many more from the 6th to the 10th of October 2021.
This year it takes place in Costa da Caparica, Portugal rather than the usual location of Essaouira, but still allows all dreamers and dancers to be reunited under another Atlantic skyline with endless wellness and music to make for an immersive experience.
Since its creation in Essaouira in 2016, the spirit of MOGA Festival has been deeply inked by nomadism, curiosity, and discoveries. As a matter of fact, Essaouira was once named Mogador by the Portuguese and as a reminder of this ancient history, Morocco and Portugal decided that the cities of Essaouira and Caparica in Almada would become sister-lands. It was obvious that this year that connection had to be explored.
Marked by old traditional villages, endless sand beaches, incredible sunsets and seagulls watching the return of the fishermen, Caparica feels like a home away from home for MOGA and so will make a very special location for this year’s 4th edition.
Over the past years, MOGA Festival has united people from all over the world and backgrounds into a community – self-proclaimed the #mogatribe.
Wellness is genuinely central to the festival’s identity and so this year again the boutique event will focus on the union of body and soul, designing an à la carte experience that is a fusion of electronic music and a myriad of extra goings-on. These include three special beach parties, yoga events, surfing, biking, hiking, food, talks, free events and many more surprises to come.
The festival will take place in various locations along the waterfront with venues and full line-up to be announced soon. The first wave includes Behrouz, Birds Of Mind, Cc:Disco!, Daox, DJ Tennis, Gusta-vo, Gescu B2B Maher Daniel, Matthew Dekay, Mr. Id and more.
This month, Bucharest was to welcome DJ and producer Armin van Buuren to Constitution Square, Bucharest for one of his biggest European solo shows to date, “Sound of Bucharest”. Sadly, due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the Romanian capital, event organisers ALDA and Bucharest Town Hall have come to the decision to postpone the show until 24 September 2022.
Back in June, the Sound of Bucharest concept was well received, as one of the worlds most beloved artists, Armin van Buuren, joined Allan Hardenberg and the mayor of Bucharest to unveil the revolutionary new music event. With the potential of seeing one of their favourite artists again, the anticipation had been building amongst fans ahead of the first edition of the event, originally scheduled to bring them joy on 25 September this year.
Having dedicated an entire year to organising the show, ALDA considered every measure possible to ensure the event could go ahead safely, but circumstances have been taken out of their hands. The world we are living in today still offers up terrific challenges and a rise in Covid-19 cases in Bucharest caused concern ahead of Armin‘s joyous return to the city. The safety of ticket holders remains ALDA‘s top priority and, therefore, the organisation believed it in the interest of everyone involved to postpone the event until next year.
“Romania, I was so excited to see you again & feel your beautiful energy! But it is what it is & we have to look forward no matter what happens, while keeping everybody safe. Let’s make each other a promise: we will meet next year and create together a show that will be remembered forever. Take care & stay safe until then!” – Armin van Buuren said, addressing his fans following the news.
Despite his disappointment, the Dutchman still looks forward to reconnecting with his loyal fans in what will be a very special show in Romania next year. The trance music titan and multiple winner of the No.1 DJ title, still craves that incredible feeling of performing in front of the Bucharest fans for the first time in 7 years, ensuring the event is an unmissable one. Looking toward the future, leading concept developer ALDA aims to bring the Sound of Bucharest back to Romania every year, with other major international artists set to follow in van Buuren’s footsteps in years to come.
All current ticket holders who register for 2022 will be guaranteed tickets for next year’s show. Fans can register now via the link. The biggest European solo show, Sound of Bucharest, will champion Armin van Buuren next year on 24 September 2022, in Constitution Square, Bucharest.
