JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 59th anniversary of the birth of Sinead O’Connor.
Category: covers
New Video: Saint Avangeline’s Lovingly Cinematic and Ethereal Cover of Madonna’s “Frozen”
Saint Avangeline is a rising Atlanta-based artist, who over the course of two albums and a collection of singles has crafted a body of work that’s deeply rooted in her personal journey with mental health struggles, domestic and growing up queer in the South, while offering an unabashedly honest exploration of inner turmoil, rage, hope and resilience. “Most songs are like a diary for me,” the Atlanta-based artist explains. “Exploring my mental health struggles. Trauma, intense feelings. Like sucking the poison out.”
Over the course of the past few years, she has amassed a rabid fan base, while amassing almost 80 million streams on Spotify, 2.3 million monthly Spotify listeners and almost 5.5 billion streams on TikTok.
Earlier this year, the rising Atlanta-based artist shared “Limerence,” a slow-burning track that seemingly nodded at a cinematic, fever-dream-like take on Stevie Nicks and Kate Bush.
Saint Avangeline closes out 2025 with a meditative, ethereal and lovingly faithful take on Madonna‘s 1998’s hit “Frozen,” which also serves a reminder of how spellbinding and remarkably cinematic the original song is. The Saint Avangeline “Frozen” cover is accompanied by a cinematic visual, shot in the Mojave Desert, much like the original, that lovingly draws from and nods at the original.
“A classic from a legend! I think this is one of Madonna’s most gorgeous pieces, and I wanted to pay tribute to her and her monumental impact on the music industry,” Saint Avangeline says. “She has influenced so many artists of this generation, including myself. I had no idea that she would revisit this album only a few weeks after I recorded this! We shot the video in May 2025 in the Mojave Desert in the same location Madonna shot her original music video back in 1998!”
New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Thundercat Tackles A Diana Ross Smash Hit
Since the release of 2020’s critically applauded It is What It Is, the acclaimed JOVM mainstay Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner has remained quite busy. Attention grabbing collaborations with Tame Impala, Gorillaz, Silk Sonic, Kaytranada and Justice have maintained his presence in the music realm. But he’s also branded out into acting with a role in Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett.
Continuing his foray into the realm of television, the JOVM mainstay appeared as a featured musical guest on the rebooted Yo Gabba Gabbaland on Apple TV+. He joined Yo Gabba Gabba! for a NPR Tiny Desk concert. And he appeared at the show’s Coachella set both weekends.
Adding to a large and growing profile, he’s appearing and playing in GAP ads — and he has joined Steve Lacy and Red Hot Chili Peppers on stage.
This year, the acclaimed artist has released two standalone tracks, “I Didn’t Wish I Didn’t Waste Your Time,” and “Children of the Baked Potato” feat. Remi Wolf. His third and latest single sees him tackling the Diana Ross‘ Nile Rodgers and Bernie Edwards penned 1980 smash hit “Upside Down,” arguably one of the sexiest pop songs ever written. Anchored around Thundercat’s muscular, Jaco Pastorious-styled bass lines, the JOVM mainstay’s take on the beloved tune is simultaneously woozy and ethereal while retaining elements of the dance floor friendly original.
New Audio: Gloin Teams Up with Sunglaciers on a Unique Cover of “Bucket of Blood”
Toronto-based post-punk outfit Gloin — longtime friends John Watson (guitar, vocals), Vic Byers (bass, vocals), Simon Lou (drums, vocals) and Richard Garnheim (synths, guitar) — formed back in 2018 and at the onset was a means for the band’s members to convey their shared passion for engaging and visceral live performance.
Since their formation, the band has gone on a handful of North American tours, making the rounds of the North American festival circuit with sets at SXSW, Freakout Fest, New Colossus Festival, Sled Island, Treefort Music Fest, West Fest and FME while also sharing the stage with a number of renowned acts including Snapped Ankles, Osees, Amyl and The Sniffers, Brian Jonestown Massacre, A Place to Bury Strangers, Orville Peck, Moon Duo and Night Beats.
Throughout, the Canadian band has put precedence on delivering unforgettable live shows, driven by improvisation and experimentation, with the musicians trusting their instincts that louder is always better. And as a result, the band’s live sets are sweaty and cathartic.
The Toronto-based outfit self-released their debut EP, 2019’s Soft Monster. The EP caught the attention of Montréal-based label Mothland, who signed the band and released their 2022 Dylan Frankland produced full-length debut, We Found This, which was mixed by Graham Walsh. Inspired by Sonic Youth and Lightning Bolt, the album featured pop melodies and beautifully noisy arrangements, anchored by a distorted rhythm section that offers urgency but also soothing grooves.
The band’s Polaris Music Prize long-listed sophomore album All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry) was released earlier this year. Described by the band as “dancey, but scary,” the album’s material sees them revamping their noise rock-driven sound, adding further elements from darkwave, industrial, and post-punk.
The album sees the band tackling themes of bewilderment, dread and anger, while being anchored around bombastic rhythmic constructs, savvy arrangements and fervid melodies. All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry)‘s material are solemn tracks about perseverance and self-determination that are cleverly subverted through sarcastic commentary.
“We wrote the whole album as a collective, influenced by shared experiences. Half was written electronically with usually one person bringing in ideas that we all elaborated on together,” the band says in press notes. “We jammed a lot, finding things we liked that we later pieced together, while also saving pieces that we might be able to plug into a future song. One method for a few of the song was for all of us to write a complete piece, and then switch up instruments.”
Just as the Toronto-based outfit is about to embark on a UK and EU tour, released a unique double single “Buckets of Blood.” “For this release, Gloin asked us to reach out to over acts on Mothland to see if they would cover their song ‘Bucket of Blood’ with only the instrumental version and lyrics for reference,” Mothland’s Phillipe Larocque explains. “So basically Sunglaciers and We Owe did not hear Gloin’s version until their album dropped. We really dug this ‘blind cover’ initiative. We love it when moths collaborate with other artists from the label. It often pushes them to work outside their comfort zone and reinforces the bonds inside our community.”
The first release from the double single, “Bucket of Blood” feat. Sunglaciers retains the tense, Gang of Four-like post punk disco feel of the original but while being a Vulcan mind-mend — to the point that this version sounds as though it could have been a B-side on the Calgary-based outfit’s 2022 effort, Subterranea.
New Audio: Swedish Instrumental Outfit Automatism Shares Languorous Cover of Kraftwerk’s “Neon Lights”
Swedish instrumental psych rock outfit Automatism — Hans Hjelm (guitar), Gustav Nygren (guitar), Mikael Tuominen (bass) and Jonas Yrlid (drums) — will be releasing their long-awaited fourth album Sörmland Friday through German-based label Tonzonen Records.
Five years have passed since the release of 2020’s Immersion. The hiatus wasn’t completely voluntary, so when the band reconvened in September 2023 to begin the creative process for their fourth album, it felt like a special occasion for the band — much like a family reunion. Recorded in a former chapel in the Swedish rural county of Sörmland, the building’s high ceilings and open atmosphere helped set the overall tone of the soon-to-be-released album. As they were recording, they could see the verdant landscape from the building’s tall windows, which inspired them to name the album after the province.
Sörmland‘s latest single “Neon Lights” is an instrumental take on Kraftwerk‘s “Neon Lights.” Clocking in a roughly the same time as the original, which appeared on 1978’s The Man-Machine, the Automatism rendition slows both the tempo and melody down, giving the song a languorous and dreamy, psilocybin-fueled buzz.
“Another one of those occasions when the best stuff comes out when you stop trying,” the band’s Mikael Tuominen says. “We had been working on a version of ‘Neon Lights’ for a while, even played it live, that was much closer to the original in feel and tempo. We did a couple of recordings of that version and they were okay. Then, without deciding anything, we just fell into playing the theme really slowly and softly, and again, luckily enough I hit the red button. First it was almost as if we didn’t take it seriously, but soon we entered the zone, and listening to the versions back to back there was no question of which one to choose.”
New Video: Kassa Overall Shares a Coltrane-like Take on Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)”
Kassa Overall is an acclaimed Seattle-born and-based Grammy-nominated, Doris Duke Artist Award-winning, jazz drummer, emcee, vocalist and producer, who as a child drum prodigy taught himself to make beats on an MPC and ASR 10 he acquired at a Seattle Police Department auction. Over the course of his 20+ year career, Overall has firmly cemented a unique sound that sees him seamlessly blending jazz, hip-hop and avant-garde experimentation across six, critically applauded mixtapes and albums that actively pushed genre boundaries while being engaging and accessible.
His last effort, 2023’s ANIMALS explored the complexities of his identity as an artist and as a Black man in America, while featuring collaborations with an eclectic array of artists including Danny Brown, Lil B, Vijay Iyer and JOVM mainstay Nick Hakim.
Adding to a growing profile as a sought-after collaborator and one of contemporary jazz’s most exciting artists, Overall has toured and recorded with Geri Allen, Jon Batiste, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Terri Lynne Carrington and Gary Bartz. His production work can be heard on albums by the likes of Theo Croker, Arlo Lindsay and Danny Brown among others.
The acclaimed Seattle-born artist’s fourth album CREAM is slated for a September 12, 2025 release — both digitally and on vinyl — through Warp Records. The album reportedly sees Overall paying homage to the twin passions of his youth — hip-hop and jazz drums in the tradition of Elvin Jones. The eight-song album sees the acclaimed musician and producer transforming beloved, hip-hop classics by The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets and Juvenile into rhythmically adventurous, witty and sublime jazz-inspired standards.
“This album is almost a boomerang response to all my previous work. No edits, no overdubs no samples or drum machine,” Overall says. “Just a great group of musicians playing together. It just so happens that the compositional material we are drawing from is rap records I grew up on!”
Last month, I wrote about CREAM‘s first single, a breakneck 15/4 Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie-era bop-like arrangement of Digable Planets’ 1992 smash-hit “Rebirth of Slick,” that manages to pull out and restore the swing of the original sample, Art Blakey‘s “Stretching.”
CREAM‘s latest single “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)” is a Giant Steps/Love Supreme-era Coltrane-like arrangement based on the classic, beloved 1993 Wu-Tang anthem that manages to dissolve the long-held boundary between spiritual jazz and golden age hip-hop. Remade in a minor blues in 3/4 time, Overall’s take on the song manages to pair spiritual jazz’s deep and thoughtful soulfulness and golden era hip-hop swagger in a way that’s hypnotic and remarkably cinematic.
“Their whole energy was an alternative to the get-the-money-shiny-suit mentality. For me, the original ‘C.R.E.A.M.’ was a commentary on ‘Get Money,’” Overall says of his love of Wu-Tang. “It was realism. It pointed out everyone’s scrambling and striving to get ahead, but it also nodded at something beyond that. You could transcend and even control the material world through a higher divine nature.”
Overall sees the transcendent message of Wu-Tang Clan, John Coltrane’s spiritual pursuit of music, and his own praxis as fundamentally connected. “I heard stories of ‘Trane’s band playing in clubs with eight people and they would be playing like their life depended on it, driven by the spirit and purpose of the music,” said the Seattle-based drummer. “People see us as entertainers, trying to be seen, trying to get money, but we are also trying to get to some deeper work.”
Overall just finished a run of the European festival circuit. He’ll be embarking on a lengthy Fall 2025 tour, playing clubs and festivals across North America, Japan and Europe. The tour includes a two-night stand at the Jazz Gallery. The full list of dates are below. Tickets and more can be found on his website, here.
Kassa Overall Live Dates
July 2025
11th – Siligo – Sardinia, IT
12th – Gaeta Jazz Festival – IT
13th – North Sea Jazz Festival – NL
17th – Gretchen – Berlin, DE
18th – Bari Jazz Festival – IT
19th – WROsound – Wroclaw, PL
September 2025
3rd – Solar Myth – Philadelphia, PA, USA
4th – Mannys – State College, PA, USA
5th – Otis Mountain Get Down – Elizabethtown, NY, USA
6th – De La Luz – Holyoke, MA, USA
8th – The Falcon – Marlboro, NY, USA
9th – Cafe 939 – Boston, MA, USA
10th – Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club – Portsmouth, NH, USA
12th – Jazz Gallery – New York, NY, USA
13th – Jazz Gallery – New York, NY, USA
14th – Keystone Korner – Baltimore, MD, USA
16th – Snug Harbor – Charlotte, NC, USA
17th – Missy Lane’s – Durham, NC, USA
18th – Missy Lane’s – Durham, NC, USA
October 2025
8th – Blue Note Tokyo – Tokyo, JP ***NEW***
9th – Blue Note Tokyo – Tokyo, JP ***NEW***
10th – Blue Note Tokyo – Tokyo, JP ***NEW***
23rd – Minaret – Los Angeles, CA, USA
25th – Earshot – Seattle, WA, USA
31st – JazzKlub – Frankfurt, DE
November 2025
3rd – Lower Third – London, UK ***NEW***
6th – Mladi Ladi Jazz – Prague, CZ
8th – Rockit – Groningen, NL
New Audio: Los Angeles’ Swimming Bell Lovingly Tackles Beck’s “The Golden Age”
Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and musician Katie Schottland is the creative mastermind behind Swimming Bell. Earlier this year, she released her five-song Rob Schnapf-produced EP Somnia through Perpetual Doom.
Somnia invites listeners to an ethereal sonic realm, a sort of underwater dreamworld where melodies drift effortlessly and rhythms pulse like ocean currents. Schottland envisioned the EP as an escape from the crushing weight of reality, a space where listeners could feel suspended — as though they were floating — between wakefulness and dreaming. Collaborating with Schnapf, Schottland embraced a much more percussive approach, allowing textures and rhythms to guide the listener through the material’s shimmering soundscapes.
“I wanted this EP to feel like sinking into water, where everything is softened and suspended,” says Schottland. “Given all the stress and tension in the world, I wanted to make a feeling of escape – something hypnotic and transportive. Rob and I explored percussive layers in a way that felt both grounding and dreamy, creating movement within.”
Her first single since the release of Somnia EP is a gorgeous and lovingly faithful cover of “The Golden Age,” off Beck’s critically acclaimed and beloved 2002 effort Sea Change. “Sea Change has always been one of my favorite albums. I love the production so much,” Schottland says. “I’ve wanted to cover ‘The Golden Age’ for a long time and when my pedal steel and keyboard players lit up at the idea too, it felt right. Rob Schapf produced this version, and we kept it minimal and open, letting the song unfold naturally.”
Musings: The Masters of War
The Masters of War are up to their nefarious bullshit yet again.
New Audio: Detroit Punks The Lowcocks Share a Cheeky Cover of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”
Founded back in 2017, the Detroit-based punk outfit The Lowcocks have established their own sound while sharing stages with several national touring acts, including The Casualties, Total Chaos, Nekromantix, The Koffin Kats, Menstrual Tramps, GBH, The Suicide Machines and The Exploited.
The Detroit-based punks latest single is a deliriously fun and cheeky, straightforward bruising cover of Dolly Parton‘s beloved 1980 smash-hit “9 to 5.” If you somehow didn’t know, “9 to 5” is a defiant feminist anthem, capturing the ambition, chutzpah and the bitter frustrations of its narrator/songwriter. But what makes it truly great is that what the song expresses and evokes is something that generations of working women know exactly what Dolly is talking about in the song. And in some small way, The Lowcocks cover feels like a passing of the torch for a younger generation, who will have to maneuver and fight an altogether different yet similar fight.
New Audio: Gan Shares Flirty and Summery “Infinity”
Gan is a rising, French Mediterranean-born, New York-based electronic music producer and artist, who has received attention for bending modern beats and production informed by the New York scene with his French and Mediterranean heritage.
The rising New York-based producer’s latest single is a slick and flirty take on Jaymes Young‘s “Infinity” that turns the smash-hit into the sort of summery, house/Afrohouse take on the song that could simultaneously rock grown and sexy lounges, rooftop parties and the club.
New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Kelly Finnigan Teams Up with Chicago Soul Legend Renaldo Domino on a Deep Soul Cover
Acclaimed singer/songwriter, musician, producer and Monophonics frontman Kelly Finnigan teamed up with Chicago‘s Renaldo Domino for a cover of Buffalo-based duo Samson & Delilah‘s 1967 song “Keep Me In Mind.” The Finnigan and Domino cover, which features an All-Star cast of some of the soul scene’s best players was recorded entirely to tape in studios between the Bay Area, Chicago and Ohio during the recording sessions for the JOVM mainstay’s most recent solo album, last year’s A Lover Was Born.
The Finnigan and Domino rendition sees the pair and their collaborators tightening the original’s groove just a bit while retaining the original’s spirit and feel in a remarkably loving and straightforward period specific manner. And much like the original, the song’s mid-tempo groove-driven arrangement serves as a lush and funky bed for the pair’s uncannily soulful harmonizing, which in some way rekindles memories of Sam and Dave, and the like.
The standalone single was released digitally through Colemine Records. The 7″ 45RPM vinyl will be available on May 23, 2025. You can pre-order the vinyl or stream on your favorite DSP here: https://colemine.lnk.to/clmn260
New Video: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers Perform “Wild Thing” at The Record Plant, 1982
Originally airing only once on MTV in February 1983, the Cameron Crowe directed Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party is a fun, candid and fast-paced film that captures Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers as they finish, promote and tour their groundbreaking Long After Dark album, their third and final album with the legendary Jimmy Iovine.
Nearly 40 years after the film had become folklore to fans, musicians and the music industry, the tapes from Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut were finally found. Interestingly, this also coincides with the Tom Petty Estate opening up the vaults and sharing previously unreleased music and some never-before-seen and rarely seen, remastered films from one of the band’s prolific and commercially successful eras — 1982 to 1983.
Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party was restored from its original 16mm source tapes and is exclusively streaming on Paramount + in the States, Canada, UK, Australia, Latin America, France, Italy and Germany, marking the first time that the now-fully restored version of Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut is widely available to international audiences.
The Tom Petty Estate has also released newly restored footage of Petty and company performing a rollicking and boozy, barroom blues-meets-Damn the Torpedoes-era Petty and Heartbreakers-like rendition of The Troggs‘ beloved and oft-covered 1966 rendition of “Wild Thing” filmed at Los Angeles-based studio The Record Plant in 1982.
Directed by Justin Kreutzmann, the video, which now boasts newly remastered audio, features footage of the band’s performance at The Record Plant, filmed for French TV program, Houba Houba, alongside never-before-seen footage originally filmed by Cameron Crowe for Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party.
Along with long-awaited release of Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party, Geffen/Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) just released the digital only Heartbreakers Beach Party: The Soundtrack, which includes 35 songs from the film with tracks from Long After Dark (Deluxe Edition).
Throwback: R.I.P. David Johansen
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the life and music of David Johansen.
Throwback: Happy 75th Birthday, George Thorogood!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates George Thorogood’s 75th birthday.