JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Def Leppard bassist Rick Savage’s 65th birthday.
Author: William Ruben Helms
William Ruben Helms is a Corona, Queens, NYC-born and-based African American music journalist, freelance writer, editor, photographer and founder of the DIY, independent music and photography site, The Joy of Violent Movement. Over the course of the past two decades, Helms’ writing and photography has been published in Downbeat, Premier Guitar Magazine (photography), Consequence, The Inventory, Glide Magazine.com (words and photography), Publisher’s Weekly, Sheckys.com, Shecky’s Bar and Nightlife Guide 2004, New York Press, Ins&Outs Magazine, Dish Du Jour Magazine, Aussie music publication Musicology.xyz (photography) and countless others, including his own site.
With The Joy of Violent Movement, Helms specializes in covering music with an eclectic, globe-trotting, and genre-defying perspective that’s deeply inspired by and informed by his birthplace and home, arguably one of the most diverse places in the world. Since its founding back in 2010, The Joy of Violent Movement can proudly claim readers across the US, Canada, the UK, The Netherlands, France, Australia, and several others throughout its history.
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New Audio: Silk Daisys Shares A Shimmering Christmastime Original
Atlanta-based dream pop/post-punk duo Silk Daisys — James Abercrombie and romantic partner Karla Jean Davis — have been making music together for some time, but their Silk Daisys and Damon Moon co-produced debut will be their first, official release. Interestingly, the Silk Daisys name has been around even further, with Abercrombie using the name on Soundcloud for about a decade to upload random covers and the occasional original song.
“We recorded our album over two weeks with Damon Moon (Bathe Alone, Sleepers Club) at this studio Standard Electric Recorders in Atlanta. Damon was awesome to work with,” the duo says. “We spent a ton of time just talking about music the three of us love and sharing songs back and forth. We’d name some obscure part of a song as a reference and he’d get it immediately, and dial in the tones perfectly. Damon also played drums and percussion on the album. The three of us produced it together, and it was all really collaborative and fun.”`
The Atlanta-based duo’s full-length debut is slated for a Friday release, and will feature the previously released Halloween-themed “Haunted House,” a track that seemingly channels Pygmalion and Souvlaki-era Slowdive, and “honeymilk,” a contented sigh of a tune that’s one-part 90s shoegaze fuzz and one-part 60s bubble gum pop.
Just before the release of their self-titled debut, the Atlanta-based duo release a Christmas season original and standalone track, “it’s just like xmas,” an effortless blend of old-timey holiday tunes and Cocteau Twins, anchored around shimmering guitar and the timeless hope for a better, more peaceful world for all of us.
“I wrote this one on Christmas Day last year. There’s always a moment of calm in our house after the initial excitement of Christmas morning, and I find myself playing guitar or piano during those moments and thinking about the year we left behind and the year ahead,” the band’s James Abercrombie says. “I thought a lot about our kids, and I thought a lot about the kids who were currently living in countries that were being torn apart by war. The song ended up being a simple wish for peace, a calm all over the world like the ones I so often take for granted on Christmas afternoon.”
Throwback: Happy 92nd Birthday, Lou Rawls!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 92ned anniversary of the birth of the legendary Lou Rawls.
Throwback: Happy 81st Birthday, John Densmore!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates The Doors’ drummer John Densmore’s 81st birthday.
New Video: Marie Céleste Shares Surreal and Dream-like Visual for Ethereal and Yearning “2 goélands”
Rising Montréal-based quintet Marie Céleste — Simon Duchesne (vocals, guitar), Philippe Plourde (keys), Olivier Tremblay (bass, vocals), Zachary Tremblay (guitar) and Guillaume Sliger (drums) — can trace their origins back to when the band’s members where high schoolers in Alma, QC during the 2010s. The French Canadian quintet’s sound draws from the diverse influences of its members blending elements of folk, indie pop, art rock, electronic music and world music.
For years, the quintet was content with playing just one show a year. Their songs — shaped by progressive rock roots — often stretched to ten minutes or more. But when they relocated to Montréal back in 2023, the band decided it was time to level up. Initially, the goal was simple: earn enough to cover their rehearsal space. Montréal proved to be much more than a backdrop — it became a catalyst for the quintet.
Canada’s second largest city has one of world’s more eclectic and vibrant music scenes. Immersed in their adopted hometown’s scene, they met a collection of musicians and set their sights on playing Les Francouvertes, a pivotal showcase festival that would end up changing everything for the band: Local tastemaker label Bravo Musique discovered their radiant, joy-tinged tape on prog pop, which at this point was much more refined and focused.
Last year was a breakthrough year for the French Canadian quintet: Bravo Musique released their debut, Feux de joie, which amassed over 800,000 Spotify streams, was supposed with a EP release show at La Sala Rossa and a few months later, a sold-out show at Fairmount Theatre.
Feux de joie‘s highly-anticipated follow up, the Amaury Pluvinage-produced Tout ce qui brille is slated for a March 13, 2026 release through Bravo Musique. The French Canadian quintet’s forthcoming sophomore effort will reportedly feature material that sees the band pushing their sound in new directions while anchored around a seamless fusion of acoustic and electronic textures. Thematically, Tout ce qui brille will celebrate human connection, the relationships that shape and sustain us, and the joy and vulnerability that come from being seen and held by others. The result is an album that radiates with warmth, friendship, community — and much more importantly, healing.
Tout ce qui brille‘s second and latest single, “2 goélands” is a broodingly meditative track featuring gentle layers of twinkling keys and atmospheric synths, stuttering drum patterns serving as a lush and dreamy bed for Simon Duchesne’s yearning delivery. Evoking the sight of soaring seagulls by the shore, “2 goélands” seemingly channels Cloud Castle Lake‘s gorgeous and cinematic 2018 effort Malingerer and Amnesiac-era Radiohead.
Lyrically, the song explores a relationship that has been damaged somehow but not irrevocably so; it’s a relationship that can be repaired, if both sides truly want that relationship to work and can see past their disagreement — or their current impasse.
Directed by Félix Simard-Tanguay, and set in suburban Quebec, the accompanying video for “2 goélands” features the members of Marie Céleste in surreal, dream-like scenarios that evoke and emphasize the song’s thematic concern of relationships on the brink — but eventually the disputes are settled with a handshake.
Throwback: Happy 70th Birthday, Billy Idol!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Billy Idol’s 70th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 72nd Birthday, Shuggie Otis!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Shuggie Otis’ 72nd birthday.
New Audio: Jennifer Marley Shares Swaggering Banger “It’s Callin’ Me”
Jennifer Marley is an emerging DJ and electronic music producer, who has been remarkably prolific over the past 18 months or so. Her latest single “It’s Callin’ Me” is a swaggering tech house track anchored around the sort of driving bass line and club rocking thump reminiscent of Bubba Brothers and LutchamaK — while being simultaneously euphoria-inducing.
News/Announcements: Shoutouts to Patreon Patrons, Creatives Rebuild New York and Asian Arts Initiative
Earlier this year, I announced that JOVM had to go on a forced, indefinite hiatus. For a significant portion of this year, I just couldn’t financially manage all the various subscription fees to keep this site going.
In the two months prior to the hiatus, my business plan was pulled and the site was broken and essentially disappeared. Over a decade worth of music, arts and culture coverage were lost in the ether — seemingly forever or until I could figure out subscription fees. It also meant that whatever money I was making through ad revenue, disappeared, too.
So, it meant taking some time to figure out what I could do and what was next. With all the unexpected free time I had without JOVM-related work, I admittedly went through a bunch of different emotions. For the first handful of days, I felt extremely depressed. Getting out of bed, showering and putting on clothes was difficult.
By the third or fourth day, I realized that I needed to do something different or I’d fall into a very deep hole. I wound up going on several long walks with my Canon R6 Mark II in hand. It kept me busy. Hell, it kept my mind busy on something else. And initially at least, it didn’t matter if the photos would be shared anywhere or not. But I did wind up sharing them on Instagram — because that’s what you do, right?
Now, remember JOVM has been a daily part of my life for over 15 years. And it’s been a daily part of some of your lives for much of that period, too. Being able to return to this work — for me and for you, dear reader — has been a great joy.
As always, there are some folks that I need to thank.
First, the Patreon Patrons, who have supported me through over the course of the past few years:
Sash
Alice Northover
Bella Fox
Jenny MacRostie
Janene Otten
I must thank my pal and colleague Adam Bernard for chatting with me about JOVM and the site’s hiatus last month. You can check out the interview, in which I talk about how important it is to support independent journalists here: https://adambernard.blogspot.com/2025/09/saving-one-mans-movement-convo-with.html
I have to thank the helpful, hardworking and dedicated folks at Creatives Rebuild New York. I’m proud, gratified and humbled to have been included in their 18-month Guaranteed Income for Artists program. Understandably, being included was also deeply vindicating. Someone out there thought my work — this very work! — was worth supporting financially. Obviously, the funds from it have managed to keep this labor of love going during one of the most uncertain periods in recent human history, while lessening some of the normal financial pressures of being an American artist, creator and journalist.
I also found out about Asian Arts Initiative’s Sound Type Workshop through Creatives Rebuild New York. So, I just can’t thank those folks enough. And I’ll forever be in their debt.
I must thank the folks at the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia for selecting me for the Sound Type Music Writer Workshop. Being a part of the inaugural cohort was an honor.
I also have to thank my man John Morrison, Philly’s preeminent music journalist for the support and encouragement.
Last but not least, I have to thank a friend, who will remain anonymous upon their request for their generosity and support. JOVM’s return would be impossible without you and I can’t thank you enough.
Now, I must remind y’all, that The Joy of Violent Movement is a completely independent and completely D.I.Y. media outlet. Over the course of this site’s 15+ year history, I’ve used my fiercely independent stance to cover music with an eclectic and global perspective that a lot of other publications just don’t have — and will likely never have.
To that end, I could use your support to continue to keep bringing you my unique global perspective on music. There are a number of ways that you can support this work.
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I know that a lot of folks are struggling to make ends meet in an uncertain and tumultuous economic climate. So there are other, non-financial ways in which you can support this work.
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Throwback: Happy 85th Birthday, Chuck Mangione!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 85th anniversary of the birth of Chuck Mangione.
New Audio: Smag På Dig Selv Teams Up with Viktoria Søndergaard on Thumping “Vik’s Rawcore”
With the release of last year’s full-length debut, SDPS, Copenhagen-based jazz punks Smag På Dig Selv (SPDS) — Oliver Lauridsen (tenor sax), Thorbjørn Øllgaard (baritone sax, bass sax, vocals) and Albert Holberg (drums) — firmly cemented their reputation as one of most boundary pushing groups out on the contemporary Danish scene. With a sound that’s an explosive, party starting mixture of acoustic techno, punk energy, jazz and 90s EDM, the Danish trio have begun to make the round of the international festival and touring circuit, playing sets at Roskilde Festival, SXSW, The Great Escape, Eurosonic, Winter Jazzfest NYC and Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage.
SPDS’s highly-anticipated sophomore album is slated for a March 2026 through Stunt Records. The album will feature the previously released, TMI Tammi-produced “Let’s Go!,” a mix sneering, in-your-face punk attitude, ambient electronics, pulsing beats, thunderous Viking drumming and modal-influenced jazz that’s mind-bending, mischievously unhinged yet accessible and dance floor friendly.
The album’s third and latest single, “Vik’s Rawcore” sees the rising Danish trio collaborating with vibraphonist Viktoria Søndergaard on a track that’s a mischievous blend of jazz lyricism and the relentless, industrial-inspired club rocking thump of drum ‘n’ bass while adding a gorgeous sense of counterpoint and texture.
The composition was inspired by Oliver Lauridsen’s time in Holland, where he became immersed in the local underground scene.
New Audio: TRAITRS Returns with Propulsive and Anthemic “i was ill, you were wrong”
With the release of their first three albums, 2017’s Rites and Rituals, 2018’s Butcher’s Coin and 2021’s Horses in the Abattoir, Toronto-based coldwave duo TRAITRS — longtime friends Sean Patrick Nolan and Shawn Tucker — firmly established a sound that blended horror-based imagery with anthemic choruses and cinematic, atmospheric soundscapes. And during that time, the duo evolved from bedroom artists selling cassette tapes to amassing millions of streams globally and playing hundreds of shows internationally.
The Canadian duo’s highly anticipated Josh Korody-produced, Matt Colton-mastered fourth album Possessor is slated for a March 13, 2026 release. According to the band’s Shawn Tucker, Possessor is “the most personal record I have ever written.” The album was written during Toronto’s coldest winter months, informed by storm battered days and a heavy emotional landscape. The pair focused on capturing precise moods, with lyrics serving as the material’s driving force with the surrounding soundscapes grew to mirror the bleak beauty of the writing process.
Possessor will feature the previously released “Burn In Heaven,” a track that channels The Cure, Bauhaus, Depeche Mode and Cocteau Twins, while showcasing their unerring knack for crafting rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses. The album’s second and latest single “i was ill, you were wrong,” continues a remarkable run of brooding and cinematic material. And while channeling a synthesis of New Wave and goth in a way that brings The Cure and New Order to mind, “i was ill, you were wrong,” is a chilly yet achingly heartfelt and intimate tune that showcases the duo’s rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses.
Thematically, the song examines humanity’s denial of its mortality and the complicated structures we build to distract ourselves from the fear of the inevitable, including the fragile bubbles we often create to shield ourselves from the one deeply universal thing that impacts us all — death.
“I felt that song connected me to everything and everyone, it is the one thing we all share and have in common,” the band’s Shawn Tucker says. “It is also a wake up call to live the life you want to live. We only have one chance at this so go dance in the rain.”
Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Matt Cameron!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Soundgarden and Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron’s 63rd birthday.