The next single to be unleashed from Solarstone's outstanding artist album 'Touchstone' is out right now called...err, Touchstone! News on that and the very latest releases on the Solaris network...

Solarstone's last album was nothing short of genius with music inspired from all walks of electronic life. Without literally entering the mind of Rich Mowatt you could never really understand how he created the musical masterpieces that littered the LP. Next best thing though is his 'Touchstone' mind map which dissects each track and what influences Rich took on board during its creation. Think of it as an electronic ‘Touchstone’ solar system looking deep into each record and how Solarstone came up with the concept, including just what pieces of music back in the past inspired him. Check that out below as well as all the very latest releases on his Solaris label network news on his brand new single ‘Touchstone’, which is out right now.

Solarstone's Touchstone MINDMAP!

Directions: Head in through the cranium, take a hard left at the first set of synapses you come to (careful not to step on his brainstem control – they’re important!) and make your way right the way down the cerebral cortex. You’ll know when you’ve got to the right place because you’ll see something that looks a heck of a lot like the images below and right!

This is where Richard’s brain stores ALL the information about his Touchstone inspirations. Using the directions above doesn’t make it the easiest to find though, so to make it simpler you can just click this direct router here and it’ll take you straight there. When you get there you can explore all the tiny minutiae permutations of Solarstone’s musical mind, the inspirations and influences that led to the creation of ‘Touchstone’. Spin it around, pan it about; using this tool will allow you to look at them from any angle you wish and you'll be able to read about artists you know; artists you’ve heard of and - just possibly - one or two for the first time! The Solarstone Musical MINDMAP™ could possibly be the coolest thing on the whole wide web right at this instant in time. Enjoy the experience!!!

Touchstone: The Single

Each one of his artist albums has its ‘Seven Cities’ touchstone and ‘Touchstone’s is - yes, you guessed it - ‘Touchstone’! Since Solarstone debuted it at the Once Upon A Night, er (here we go again!) night at the O2 Arena in London’s docklands, the track has been building heat like a reactor ready to go south. A massive Club Mix from Richard has given it the nitrous shot injection and barely 3 days after it went into promotion Armin van Buuren played it as Single of the Week on ASOT. Plenty more plaudits have followed. DJ Mag called it “energy-inducing” & “the next evolutionary step in the ‘Seven Cities’-‘Solarcoaster’-‘4Ever’ saga”, whilst Mixmag said it that it was: “essentially the summer of ‘99 recalibrated and refined for 2010”. Some pretty spanking Aly & Fila, Forerunners and Cassino & Laben remixes are also doing the rounds and ‘Touchstone’ (the single remember!) is available exclusively through Beatport now.

The Beijing & Beyond… (Stopping Off In LDN & IBZ!)

With floor & festival rocking duties recently completed in Indonesia & Malaysia, and at Belgium’s headspinningly-large Tomorrowland, Richard is looking forward to a giving summer 2010 the send off it deserves. At the start of September he’ll be making a return to Taiwan and China (on the 10th and 11th), and then the following week it’ll be the turn of London’s The Gallery @ Ministry of Sound to get some Touchstone flavour in its ear! Last and by no means least it’s ‘the big A’: Amnesia, Ibiza and Cream for that final run to the sun!

Touchstone Widgets - Have A Solarstone Rmx Named After You!

They’ve caused a bit of a sensation over the last couple of months… At one point it seemed that there was barely a corner of the internet you couldn’t turn to without one popping up. We even spotted one on some Goth fella’s site! We’re talking of course about Solarstone’s Touchstone widgets (and accompanying competition). Stick ‘em on your website, stick ‘em on your MySpace, Facebook or wherever you like and take part in an incredible competition (with an awesome unique prize)… even while you’re sleeping!!!! Every time someone clicks on one of your widgets you score points. If you have the biggest tally on competition close day, you’ll be having a Solarstone remix named in your honour and you’ll take your place in dance music history! Now here’s the real deal – if you have a good social network following it’s never too late to start, and never to late to steal that grand prize (or some really lovely runners up ones!). Click here to start – who knows – it could be you… or you… or you…

THE LATEST FROM SOLARIS NETWORK

Forerunners - Futura EP
'Brenden LaBonte' aka 'Forerunners' drops a double-whammy of peak-time, blissed out trance music for Solaris. As ever, Forerunners neatly side-steps any of the genre's tiresome clichés with these two immaculately produced tracks. DJ Mag said of 'Ronin' that it: "has a rarely-equaled, heart-stopping beauty to it" & was "brilliantly built", "surprisingly powerful" and that "there’s no other score for it but 10 out of 10".
Click here to listen to this release

Pit Stoner 'Flying Paper Plane'
Experimental being the word of choice for this release by the mysterious Pit Stoner. We have 4 very different mixes from Pit Stoner (abstract), Piotro (Microprog), David Call (Big Room Progressive Trance) and Michael Badal (Melodic Trance). Check out the label website at moleculerecordings.com for all that there is to know and all that there is to be!

Robbie Nelson 'Shangri-La'
Robbie Nelson is one of the most respected figures in the world of trance, with a super-solid release history stretching back to the very early 90's. Shangri-La' is his follow-up to the mighty 'Aviator'. This record is a proper hairy-chest moment, in terms of what he plays in his DJ sets 'Shangri-La' is right up at the top end of the adreneline chart. Full-on banging techy trance with a familiar ethereal vocal sample in the 'Original Mix'. We've included a handy dub mix too. Click here to listen to this release.

Solar Energy - 'Close To Heaven' (Original, Sied van Riel & Dennis Dekker Remixes)
This is the very second release on the worlds very first - and only - social network record label. Polish producer / sound designer Lukasz Szyda aka Solar Energy's previous outing on a Solarstone label was 'Wanna Feel What You Fee' on Crashing Waves in 2009. Sied Van Riel (chosen by the Swarmers for remix duties) delivers his trademark punchy sound, keeping faithful to the original melodies. Swarmer and former Dynamic Sense member Dennis Dekker turns in the prog trance mix for the package which weaves layers of smooth sounds around a laid back groove. Finally, Lukasz himself adds a gentle poolside-orientated Chillout mix which completes the SWARM002 package.
Click here to listen to/buy this release.

SOLARSTONE'S TOP FIVE

01. Solarstone - Touchstone (Club Mix) (Solaris)
02. Pit Stoner - Flying Paper Plane (David Call Mix) (Molecule)
03. Forerunners - Ronin (Solaris)
04. Alexander Popov - Vapour Trails (Jahawi Remix) (solarSwarm)
05. Alpha 9 - Come Home (Original Mix) (Aleph)