Album Release: New West – Black Ink

New West has finished their debut album, Black Ink. A melting pot of indie rock, electronic and a hint of soul, Black Ink is a strong album and deserves a little over a million listens. While Chris Zurich (singer/songwriter/guitarist) was working with his producer in Brooklyn, Carl Bahner came to us to record the drums (on our killer in-house DW kit) and then the entire album was mixed here by R&T engineer Ben McGuinn. Countless hours of work have gone into this album and we believe that it definitely shows.

Take a listen to a few of the tracks below and don’t forget to pick up the album direct from the artist on New West’s new website or on iTunes!

Posted by Ben McGuinn, R&T’s resident engineer, on March 29th, 2012.

Artist Review: Casilofi

Warbly, distorted, lush – Casilofi is epic.
 
Someone’s been spying on my iTunes play count and combined all of my favorite instrumental bands into a Dutch guy named Sander van Dijck. The music is a good rendition of the patented “Twinkling melodies over mellow, flowing chord progressions build to tremendous climaxes” style of post-rock, but it has a certain edge to it. The lofi electronic tendencies add another dimension and take the music into a whole other area of hypnotically quivering pads and heavy early 90′s east coast hiphop drum machines. It sounds like a Boards of Canada remix of a Sigur Rós song. This stuff is awesome.
 

All of Casilofi’s music is available as “name your price” downloads here and he has a video for each song here. If you’re a fan of Sigur Rós, Boards of Canada, Explosions In The Sky and/or Telefon Tel Aviv, definitely give Casilofi some thorough listens.
 

Trust In The Hum!
Posted by Ben McGuinn, R&T’s resident recording engineer, on June 13th, 2011.

Album Review: Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts

Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I-IV
Null Corporation
Genre: Experimental Instrumental

Unfortunately, Nine Inch Nails is pigeon-holed by most as devil music for goth kids that spend way too much time sneaking cigarettes and hanging out at Hot Topic. While that may have been partially true 15 years ago, it’s not so much anymore. Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails frontman and main musical force in the pseudo one-man-band, is one of the greatest producers/musicans of modern music; seamlessly melding heavy industrial noise with super melodic pop sensibilities. I could write a whole series of books on Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails, but I’ll spare everyone my fanboy-ism and focus on the work that he has put out.
 
Starting out as a synth-pop band with a melancholy twist, NIN has been through quite a few sonic changes. Reznor’s furthest adventure to the edge of mainstream music came in the form of the quadruple album aural minefield known as Ghosts I-IV. With the help of analog synth guru Alessandro Cortini, programming genius Atticus Ross and master producer/engineer Alan Moulder (a personal hero of mine), Trent Reznor compiled 36 “songs” that were written over an 8 week period. Guest musicians include progressive guitar weirdo Adrian Belew and Dresden Dolls drummer Brian Viglione.

 
The music itself is a melting pot of oriental percussion, abrasive synthesizers, treated pianos and squawking guitars. A schizophrenic album, Ghosts treks through moments of noisy distorted chaos and eerily minimalistic organic arrangements with a few stints of soft, resolving piano (one of Reznor’s sonic signatures). While this album has has been described as a collection of incomplete ideas rather than a complete record, I like to view it in a different light. I see these tracks as photos of the eight weeks of writing – the ideas were conceived and captured then put to bed. The group didn’t allow time to work on one track for 2 months till the song has lost all of it’s original meaning. It’s a raw look into the musician’s mind.

In addition to being a musical experiment into the avant-garde, Ghosts also served as a financial experiment for Reznor. Trent Reznor took a cue from Radiohead’s In Rainbows pay-what-you-want type of marketing and released Ghosts using his interpretation of that pricing idea. Basically, there were 4 options offered, ranging from a free 5-track sampler download to a full-on $300 deluxe boxset package with signed artwork prints and a lock of Trent Reznor’s hair. See this link for a break down of the packages that were offered.
 

Ghost I-IV is an interesting take on the idea of the modern record.
 
For all you nerds out there, here’s a look into NIN’s amazing interactive lighting rig:
 

Artist Review: Tina Dico

I first became aware of this Danish artist’s vocal presence on a release by Zero 7, which we listened to quite often during the conception of my two daughters Milan Shiloh and Paloma Belle.
 
Tina Dico is truly a superstar in the making – just wait and see. I did have the good fortune to catch her solo set at the World Café Live in downtown Philadelphia, however with locals carrying on kibbitzing, finishing their dinners, dishes crashing and silverware being dropped, the attendees paid her no mind. I felt bad for her, she later remarked to a good friend who met her backstage in Germany some derogatory remark about the Philadelphia audience and rightfully so as I was there. She was solo acoustic and spot on perfect.
 
It may take her a little longer in the U.S. to garner the base she deserves as she is not 13 years old or a disney candidate but she’ll get here. Her talent is undeniable. Her voice is absolutely mesmerizing. Her guitar skills are far beyond. Her songs are authentic, reasonably heartfelt and genuine. I am drinking her kool aid and its tasty…and did I mention she is beautiful! Get on her train now and remember you ‘discovered’ her in the Rough and Tumble Daily Hum.
 
Selected listening: ‘Use Me’, ‘One’, ‘Room With A View’, ‘Back Where We Started’, ‘The City, ‘Break of Day’
 
Trust in the Hum!
Posted by James DiLella, R&T Producer/CEO/Founding Partner, on December 20th, 2010.

Album Review: Gary Go – Self Titled

 
Gary Go – Self-Titled
Decca Records / Polydor / The Canvas Room
Recorded 2008 / Released 5/26/2009
Genre: Pop Rock
 
 

This album is amazing!

We are just a little late on this one but better late than never I say. Literally walked into Barnes & Noble booksellers, heard the track ‘Black & White Days’ playing in the store, bought the physical CD and have been drinking the kool aid ever since! Apparently Gary Go had two independent releases before this major label debut. He’s toured with Take That, Mika and Lady Gaga and reached number 22 in the UK albums chart. All unbeknownst to me!

This record is fabulous. His voice is perfect, production is stellar, caliber of the songwriting crème de la crème, lyrics are introspective and poignant. This dude has it all going on!

This is an artist clearly deserving the financial horsepower of major label machinery. I wish I’d discovered and signed him! This is a very strong album and is quite consistent throughout. We havent heard an album this great in a long, long time! Support the arts…Buy it!

Favorite selections: ‘Engines’, ‘Life Gets In The Way’ ,’Honest’, ‘Wonderful’, ‘Heart & Soul’, ‘So So’.
 
Trust in the Hum!
Posted by James DiLella, R&T Producer/CEO/Founding Partner, on December 20th, 2010.