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. https://www.joyofviolentmovement.com https://www.joyofviolentmovement.com/shop https://www.instagram.com/william_ruben_helms Twitter: @yankee32879 @joyofviolent become a fan of the joy of violent movement: https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement support the joy of violent movement on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement hire me for headshots, portraits and event photography: https://www.photobooker.com/photographer/ny/new-york/william-h?duration=1?duration=1#
Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Therman Munsin is an up-and-coming New Jersey-born and based emcee who  teams up Hempstead, NY-based emcee and producer Roc Marciano on the Marciano produced “Frivolous Wardrobe,” a track off Munsin’s forthcoming full-length effort slated for release in early 2017. And the track features the two emcees trading braggadocio-filled bars over a sparse production featuring shuffling drum beats paired with a shuffling guitar and bass line sample. From the track, it’s evident that Munsin and Marciano possess an undeniable creative chemistry — and we can hope that this collaboration with continue with new street rocking shit.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Arguably best known for a stint in Bob Pollard’s Guided by Voices in the 90s,  and for  writing and cowriting some of the band’s most beloved songs off some of their most revered albums, Tobin Sprout has also spent time as a solo artist, who has five previously full-length albums under his belt. Now, as you know the classic 90s Guided By Voices lineup had reunited over the past decade and then split up again with the various members focusing on a variety of creative pursuits — and for Sprout, it meant a renewed focus on his solo career.

The Universe and Me, Sprout’s sixth full-length, solo effort is slated for a February 3, 2017 release through renowned indie label Burger Records and the album reportedly focuses on the search for one’s place in the cosmos — and how the acceptance of aging makes such a search desperate and urgent. Additionally, material on the album focuses on maintaining a childlike curiosity and wonder. In fact, much of the material is the result of a seven-year “gestation” period that included Sprout unearthing lost recordings and demos and digging through his boyhood memories from his Michigan home studio where he had recorded the material, live with his new backing band, capturing a first thought, best thought kind of recording sessions. In fact, through the sessions Sprout and company focused on feeling — instead of production.

Interestingly, The Universe and Me‘s first single “Future Boy Today/Man of Tomorrow” was an unearthed recording that was initially written and intended for Guided By Voices — and in many ways while sounding as though it should have (and could have) been a great B side, the song captures a childhood obsession with comics and superheroes and the uncertain transition to adulthood, complete with the bitter acceptance of uneasy compromises while you try to find a purpose for your life — but with a sly winking sense of humor that belies the grungy and super serious, 90s alt rock sound.

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Up-and-Coming London-based Band The Severed Limb’s New Single and Video Reveal a Decided Change in Sonic Direction

Building upon the buzz they’ve received, the sextet recorded their latest single “Bela Lugosi” on two-inch tape at the all analog Chuckalumba Studios in Dorset, UK, and interestingly their latest single is a decided change in sonic direction as the band which once used accordions, washboards and acoustic guitars have taken up a 60s garage rock-leaning sound, complete with a shuffling swagger as the band pair angular guitar chords, twisting and turning organ chords, and a propulsive backbeat. As the band explains in press notes about their evolution. “We didn’t want to associated with bands at festivals, who wear waistcoats, so you mutate and survive.”

The recently released music video features footage of the band playing in front of cool lighting displays and cuts in between with classic and found footage from classic horror movies — some including a few movies that featured Bela Lugosi, himself.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past 18-24 months or so,  Berlin, Germany-based producer, electronic music artist and DJ Lennart Richter, a prolific artist and producer, who has released a series of singles through a number of renowned electronic music labels including Sleazy G, East Project, G-Mafia Records, GUN PWDR, Ensis Records, Blue Dye, Mondal Recordings and others has become one of a long list of this site’s growing mainstay artists — all while further cementing his reputation across Europe and elsewhere for composing, writing and releasing singles that explored the gamut of electronic music subgenres such as deep house, nu-disco and others with a slick, crowd-pleasing, club-rocking production. And unsurprising, Richter had several Beatport Top 25 releases under his belt, including his Berlin Brawling EP landing at  #10 on the Beatport Indie Dance/Nu Disco Charts.

Earlier this year, the Berlin, Germany-based producer, electronic music artist and DJ released an incredibly slick remix of Yes‘ “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” which retained the original vocal track but paired with a densely layered production that featured handclap-led percussion, slowly cascading synths — and while retaining something of the song’s original feel and spirit, turning the song into a mid-tempo club banger. Richter’s latest single “Still Hawt” is a retro-futuristic, 80s-inspired synth rock instrumental track that has the German producer and electronic music artist employing the use of shimmering layers of cascading analog synths paired with some blistering guitar work by Slync. Sounding as though it could have been part of a John Carpenter movie soundtrack, the duo manage to pay homage to a familiar sound while possessing a subtle yet contemporary slickness.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Splitting their time between London, UK, Gothenburg, Sweden and Berlin, Germany the Noosa, Australia-born duo Star Kendrick and Toma Benjamin can trace the origins of their musical project Geowulf to a friendship that started when both Kendrick and Benjamin were in their teens; however, the duo’s musical collaboration began when Kendrick, whose parents were also professional musicians, began seriously pursuing music three years ago and enlisted her friend to flesh out the sound of her early demos.

With the release of the debut single “Saltwater” earlier this year, the duo quickly received attention across the blogosphere and elsewhere — the single reached over 1 million Spotify streams, reached the Hype Machine‘s top ten and peaked at #4 on the Spotify US viral charts. And building upon the buzz that “Saltwater” received, the Australian-born duo’s latest single “Don’t Talk About You” subtly expands upon the sound that first caught the blogosphere’s attention as Kendrick’s ethereal and hauntingly gorgeous vocals are paired with lushly shimmering and jangling guitar chords and a 70s AM rock vibe. Now, while some have said that the duo’s sound evokes Fleetwood Mac, to my ears I also hear quite a bit of Mazzy Star; but at the core of the song is a lovelorn ache — and the sort of ache over something that the song’s narrator recognizes will be awful for her but wants anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Introducing the Arena Rock-Friendly Prog Rock of California’s Strawberry Girls

With the release of their 2015 release American Graffiti, the California-based instrumental trio received a growing national profile as the effort landed at #22 on Billboard’s New Artist charts, and they followed that with a busy live show schedule that included touring with Dance Gavin Dance and CHON. Adding to a busy schedule, the members of the band managed to begin work on their forthcoming effort Italian Ghosts, which is slated for a February 17, 2017 release. And as the band’s Ben Rossett says in press notes “Italian Ghosts is a testament to how much we’ve grown as a band, and what we believe is our best sounding experience as of yet.” The album’s first single “Vanilla Rainforest,” as the band’s Zac Garren explains “pulls from lots of different influences, like dub reggae, hip hop, electronic and progressive rock;” and while being an arena rock friendly, headbanger, the song also possesses a jazz fusion-like sense of improvisation, as the song feels as though it captures three musicians in complete simpatico jamming as hard as possible.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the 2015 release of their excellent, sophomore effort Manual, the Brazilian psych rock quartet Boogarins quickly became a JOVM mainstay artist. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year or so, you’d recall that the internationally acclaimed psych rock quartet can trace their origins to when its founding members, Fernando “Dino” Almeida and Benke Ferraz started playing music together as teenagers in their hometown, the central Brazilian city of Goiânia. Interestingly, the music that the duo of Almedia and Ferraz began to write and eventually record quickly revealed a unique vision of psych pop that drew from their country’s incredibly rich and diverse musical and cultural history  — but with a decidedly modern viewpoint. And unlike a number of contemporary rock bands in their native Brazil, Boogarins were among one of the first, who wrote and sung lyrics completely in Brazilian Portuguese.

The release of the band’s full-length debut As Plantas Que Curam reverberated throughout Brazil as it was a massive critical and commercial success — without the support of a major label or a publicity firm pushing the album. As the band rose to national prominence, they started to receive larger international attention, and as a result they’ve played some of the world’s largest and most popular festivals including   Austin Psych Fest, Burgerama, Primavera Sound Festival, as well as playing headlining shows in clubs in London, Paris, Barcelona and New York. And while touring to support their their full-length debut, the members of the quartet had began writing and revising the material that would eventually comprise Manual. Now, interestingly enough, the material on their sophomore effort was specifically conceived as a diary or dream journal, which gives the material a deeply personal, almost stream-of-consciousness-like feel; but it also reveals a band that has become increasingly sociopolitically conscious as the album’s lyrical content also draws from the complex socioeconomic and political that affected their homeland’s communities before, during and after the 2014 World Cup — namely that entire neighborhoods and communities were being razed for massive commercial developments that helped multinational, global corporations and their interests make money hand over fist instead of uplifting those who desperately needed uplift.

During a rather busy bit of international touring the Latin Grammy nominated act, the quartet holed up in house near Austin, TX‘s SPACE Studios for most of the summer, and they spent their time writing and recording new material in between a several weeks along Austin club residency. the band’s latest single “Elogio a Instituição do Cinismo” (translated into English, the title is “Praise the Institution of Cynicism”)is a decided sonic departure as the band incorporates the use of thumping beats and breakbeats, swirling and whirling electronics, abrasive and buzzing guitars to create a malevolent and angrily brewing storm of sound that’s paired with vocals that manage to be both dreamily placid yet pissed off. While being hallucinatory, the song manages to be a rowdy, furious almost dance floor-like stomp, revealing a band that’s readily and aggressively pushing psych rock and Brazilian rock into strange, yet excitingly new directions.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Melbourne, Australia-born, New York-based drummer Jim White, who’s best known as a member of the internationally acclaimed instrumental rock act Dirty Three and for collaborating with an incredible list of equally renowned artists including PJ Harvey, Nina Nastasia, Cat Power, Bill Callahan a.k.a. Smog and others; and beloved Crete-born vocalist and laouto player Giorgos Xylouris, the son of renowned vocalist and lyra player Psarandonis Xylouris, best known for leading the Xylouris Ensemble, the world music duo Xylouris White can actually trace their origins to when the renowned Cretan and his ensemble was touring Melbourne in the early 1990s. At the time, White was a member of Melbourne, Australia-based avant rock band Venom P. Stinger when he had met and befriended Xylouris, who later would collaborate with the members of Dirty Three whenever he was in Australia –and interestingly enough, the members of Dirty Three had at various points have publicly cited the renowned Cretan and his father as influencing their sound and approach.

And although White and Xylouris had known each other for quite some time, it wasn’t until 2013 that they decided to collaborate as a duo, a process which was accelerated when White played with Xylouris and Psaradonis at an All Tomorrow’s Parties festival that was specially curated by Nick Cave. Interestingly, the duo’s long-held mutual admiration has influenced how they the write and perform music — and in some way, it’s almost as though the duo is dancing together, as at any given point, they could be accompanying and leading each other, simultaneously and in a very fluid fashion. Interestingly, the duo’s debut Goats was influenced by Xylouris’ poetic analogy for their creative approach “Like goats walking in the mountain. They may not know the place, but they can walk easily and take risks and feel comfortable. Really, the goats inspired us.”

The duo’s sophomore effort Black Peak furthers their goat analogy as the album’s title is derived from a famous Cretan mountain, and the album, which was “recorded everywhere,” as Xylouris says in press notes and produced by Fugazi‘s Guy Picciotto reportedly has the band expanding upon their sound while focusing even more on ancient traditional sounds while having a subtly modern take, as the duo pushes each other harder, as you’ll hear on the rollicking and stomping album title track “Black Peak.”

The duo will be on a Stateside and Australian tour throughout November and December, and it’ll include a November 18 stop at National Sawdust. Check out the tour dates.

 

Tour Dates

Nov 15 – Northampton, MA – Iron Horse Music Hall

Nov 16 – New Haven, CT – BAR Nightclub

Nov 17 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre

Nov 18 – Brooklyn, NY – National Sawdust

Nov 20 – Somerville, MA – ONCE Lounge

Nov 22 – Burlington, VT – Arts Riot

Nov 23 – Montreal, QC – La Vitrola

Nov 24 – Wakefield, QC – The Black Sheep Inn

Nov 25 – Toronto, ON – The Drake Hotel

Nov 27 – Detroit, MI – Third Man Records

Nov 29 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle

Nov 30 – Washington, DC – DC9

Dec 1 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Café

Dec 2 – Louisville, KY – Zanzabar

Dec 3 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen

Dec 4 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern

Dec 18 – Melbourne, Australia – Melbourne Recital Centre

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their firs three singles — the achingly vulnerable “What Do You Think They’ll Say About Me,” the part torch song, part wistful and tender farewell “I’m Already Gone” and the slow-burning Quiet Storm-era R&B inspired pop song “Find Me Out,” the Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based electro pop duo ACES, comprised of  Russ Flynn and Alexandra Stewart received quite a bit of attention across the blogosphere for a subtly modern and atmospheric take on early-to-mid 80s synth pop.

As Stewart explains in press notes, the Brooklyn-based synth pop duo’s first single of 2016 “I Could Be Your Girl” “is the true ACES getaway track, but today, I’m not sure where we’re headed. ‘I Could Be Your Girl’ is about being honest with yourself and realizing when you deserve more. It’s about embracing that change and still wanting to love anyway. I hope it can be a voice for all of us doing some self-reflection right now . . . the future is female!” Their latest single pairs Stewart’s breathily tender vocals with Flynn’s atmospheric production consisting of gently trembling synths, hi-hat flashes, swirling electronics — and as a result, the song possesses a swooning quality but just underneath the surface there’s a palpable sense of trepidation and uncertainty.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Tinariwen Return with a Hypnotic and Triumphant New Single

Last month, I wrote about Elwan’s first single “Tenere Taqqal,” a slow-burning and hauntingly gorgeous song that possessed an understated yet aching longing for a way of life and for a home, which as Thomas Wolfe once wrote and the members of the band recognize, they may never be able to return to and will never have again. And certainly while there’s a tacit acknowledgement within the song that life continues onward as it always does, there’s also a brooding and pensive urgency within the song that comes from the members of the band recognizing that they have a sacred and profound duty of ensuring that something of the old traditions could be preserved and passed on to future generations. The album’s second single “Sastanàqqàm” is as the band’s Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni explains “an ode to the Sahara and its Nomads. It expresses the needs of the traveller as he crosses the desert on his mount. Essential needs: find water and a way to preserve it, find a good mode of transport. But also the love-hate relationship with the desert, the natural elements and the certainty that we will always go back to it.” Pairing those sentiments with a shuffling and deeply hypnotic groove and a propulsive and stomping percussion give the song a hopeful and downright joyous feel. At it’s core it’s the hope and promise of returning to the ancestral homeland — of its smell, of seeing beloved sights, of returning to the place where your ancestors have lived, played, prayed, wandered, hunted and died.

The band and their label have done a kind favor by providing an English translation of the song’s lyrics, which you can check out below.

Sastanàqqàm Lyrics

SASTANÀQQÀM

I QUESTION YOU

TÉNÉRÉ, CAN YOU TELL ME OF ANYTHING BETTER THAN TO HAVE YOUR FRIENDS AND YOUR MOUNT,
AND A BRAND NEW GOATSKIN, WATERTIGHT,
TO FIND YOUR WAY
BY THE LIGHT
OF THE FOUR BRIGHT STARS OF HEAVEN,
TO KNOW HOW
TO FIND WATER IN
THE UNLIKELIEST OF PLACES, AND ENLIST THE MOMENTUM OF THE WIND
TO HELP YOU MOVE FORWARD

TELL ME, TÉNÉRÉ
HOW YOU AND I
CAN REMAIN UNITED,
WITH NO HATE FOR EACH OTHER.
TÉNÉRÉ, I CAN NOW ADMIT THAT
I HAVE TRAVELLED FAR THROUGH THIS WIDE WORLD.
TÉNÉRÉ, I GIVE YOU MY OATH
THAT AS LONG AS I’M ALIVE,
I WILL ALWAYS COME BACK