Over the last few months I’ve written quite a bit about Chapel Hill, NC-based experimental/post-hardcore punk/new wave-leaning trio Milemarker. Initially comprised of Al Burian, Dave Laney and Ben Davis, the members of Milemarker quickly developed a reputation in indie […]
Category: electronic rock
Last month, I wrote about the Chapel Hill, NC-based experimental/post-hardcore punk/new wave-leaning trio Milemarker. Initially comprised of Al Burian, Dave Laney and Ben Davis, the members of Milemarker quickly developed a reputation in indie and underground music circles for explosive life shows and for material that possessed adventurous arrangements and instrumentation. And with their 1999-2007 touring lineup with featured bounding members Burian and Laney, along with Roby Newton (vocals, synths), the trio eventually played over 1,000 shows across North America, Europe and Japan supporting 2000’s Frigid Forms Sell and 2001’s Anaesthetic, opening for the likes of Wire, Mission of Burma, At The Drive-In, The Hives, Thursday, The Blood Brothers, International Noise Conspiracy, High On Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cave In, Les Savy Fav, Spoon and a lengthy list of others.
After the release of 2005’s Ominosity, which featured drummers Tony Lazzara and Noah Leger, as well as arrangements from siblings Beth and Tim Remis, the band went on an extensive US and European tour in 2008 with founding member Ben Davis, which included appearances at SXSW and Fusion festivals; however, by 2009 Laney had relocated to Hamburg, Germany and began to focus his energies on his post-Milemarker project Auxes while Burian had relocated to Berlin to pursue a literary career. Interestingly, in 2015 the founding duo of Laney and Burian had started playing a series of live shows featuring Lena Kilkka (keys, vocals) and Ezra Cale (drums). Just in time to celebrate their reunion, Lovitt Records will be releasing a re-issue of the band’s seminal 2000 release Frigid Forms Sell and the re-issue is not only the first time the album appears on vinyl in 16 years, it’ll include 7 previously unreleased tracks, including one which was premiered on Brooklyn Vegan. And the digital version will include demo versions of several album tracks. But interestingly, this year will be an even bigger year for the band as Overseas, the band’s first album in some time is slated for an August 26. 2016 release — while embarking on their first US tour in over 8 years (and you can check out tour dates below).
Last month’s post featured “Carrboro” the first single off the band’s forthcoming, new album had the band pairing a throbbing and insistent bass line with a quickly morphing song structure that alternates and meshes between dreamy psychedelia, tense, angular post-punk, New Wave and prog rock — and in a expansive and mind-altering fashion. The album’s second single “Conditional Love” pairs buzzing and angular guitar chords, a driving motorik groove, layers of shouted vocals and vocals fed through vocoder, and an anthemic hook in a song that sounds equally inspired by Nine Inch Nails and as by Garbage; however, with a prog rock bent.
Tour Dates:
08/11 Charlotte NC @ Milestone
08/13 Atlanta GA @ The Wrecking Ball ATL
08/14 Nashville TN @ The End
08/15 St. Louis MO @ Off Broadway
08/16 Milwaukee WI @ The Cactus Club
08/17 Minneapolis MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
08/19 Chicago IL @ Empty Bottle
08/20 Lansing MI @ Mac’s Bar
08/21 Cleveland OH @ Now That’s Class Lounge
08/22 Philadelphia PA @ The Boot & Saddle
08/23 Allston MA @ Great Scott
08/24 Brooklyn NY @ Shea Stadium
08/25 Brooklyn NY @ Saint Vitus
08/26 Washington DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
08/27 Carrboro NC @ Cat’s Cradle
Comprised of Paul Bancell (vocals, guitar), Ben Saginaw (bass) and Chris Samuels (synths, samples, drum machines), Detroit-based trio Ritual Howls have developed a reputation for a sound that possesses elements of industrial electronica, goth, rockabilly, and others — although when you hear “Scatter The Scars,” the latest single off the trio’s third full-length album Into the Water, the dark and foreboding single manages to sound as though it drew from Joy Division and Ministry as a throbbing bass line is paired with industrial clang and clatter, bursts of shimmering and twangy guitar chords, swirling and atmospheric synths and a driving motorik groove with Bancell’s Ian Curtis-like vocals. The lyrically barbed song stings like a series of hurled rebukes, doubts and accusations from a lover– and just underneath the surface the song evokes the sense of paranoia, self-doubt, uncertainty and fear that can naturally come about during those moments in which a relationship feels in doubt and there’s a part of you that can’t quit tell if it’s your perception of events based on past heartaches, if it’s reality or some completely fucked up combination of both. And interestingly enough, the trio manages to pair that tense and paranoid feeling to what may arguably be their most unintentionally club friendly song they’ve released to date.
The Detroit-based trio are currently embarking on a tour with POP1280 and YOU and it includes a couple of NYC area stops. Check out tour dates below.
Ritual Howls Live Dates:
06.24 Chicago, IL @ Burlington Bar *
06.25 Indianapolis, IN @ State Street Pub *
06.26 Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s *
06.27 Columbus. OH @ Summit *
06.28 Brooklyn, NY @ Alphaville ^
08.02 Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
08.12 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
* w/ YOU.
^ w/ Pop. 1280, YOU.
Comprised of Kacee Hedit, Benny Tamblyn and Oli Kirk, Adelaide, Australia-based indie rock/indie electro pop trio Flamingo have developed a reputation both locally and nationally for a sleek, downtempo electronic sound with the release of their first two EPs, with their second EP Drip Drip being released to widespread critical praise. And as a result, the trio not only embarked on their first national tour with stops in their homeland’s largest cities — Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and their hometown — they’ve found their profile growing opening for Bonobo, Rüfüs, Giraffage and The Kite String Tangle, as well as appearances at Splendour on the Grass and Groovin’ the Moo.
Interestingly, the trio’s latest single is about a topic that has been in the international spotlight for some time — refugees, who arrive by boat to a new and perhaps unforgiving and unwelcoming land. And as the band’s vocalist Kacee Heidt explains “Leaving your home and everything you have ever known to travel to the other side of the world in search of a life free from tyranny and devastation with nothing but your family and the clothes on your back. This is one of the hardest things a person can possibly go through and something most Australians couldn’t possibly imagine.” And as a result, the song portrays refugees with a profound sense of empathy — an empathy the the members of the band feel has long been missing from their national conversation on the issue. Sonically speaking, the trio pairs shimmering guitar chords, skittering beats, gently undulating synths and Heidt’s plaintive vocals singing lyrics that point at asylum seekers’ plight with a bitterly sarcastic irony at its core, opening suggesting that those who were desperate enough to risk everything for the chance at asylum need not just the most empathy but the most assistance.
New Video: The Surreal and Whimsical Visuals for American Monoxide’s “Hot Lava Express”
Directed by Caleb Gutierrez, the recently released video for American Monoxide’s “Hot Lava Express” features a dream-like sequence that seems influenced by the visuals in Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer,” “Big Time” and “Digging in the Dirt” videos as the sequence employs the use of stop-action animation until the video’s protagonist wakes up and sees his friends hanging out at a barbecue in his backyard. It’s a whimsical and playful video that belies the song’s abrasive nature.
New Video: Check Out This Live Studio Footage of John Carpenter Performing “Distant Dream”
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the better part of the past year, the renowned director, screenwriter, producer, editor and composter John Carpenter has quickly become a mainstay artist after last year’s critically and commercially successful album […]
New Audio: The Arena Rock and Dance Floor Friendly Extended Mix of New Order’s “The Game”
Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over its six year history, you’d know that I’m a proudly unabashed New Order fan. Music Complete, which was released last year marked two milestones for the band— as it was […]
New Video: The Surreal and Dreamy Visuals for Face + Heel’s “Pier Video”
Comprised of Luke Taylor and Sinead McMillan, Welsh duo Face + Heel have had their previously released work praised by several major media outlets and blogs including Hillydilly, Pigeons and Planes, The 405, Dummy, The Line of Best Fit, Notion and Crack Magazine […]
New Video: JOVM Mainstays La Femme Return with Psychedelic, Egypt-Inspired Visuals for “Sphynx”
Comprised of founding members Marlon Magnée (keyboards), Sacha Got (guitar), Sam Lefevre (bass), Noé Delmas (drums) and Lucas Nunez, along with a rotating cast of vocalists including current lead vocalist Clémence Quélennec, lara Luciani, Jane Peynot and Marilou […]
New Video: The Neon Bright and Surreal Visuals for Deep Sea Diver’s “See These Eyes”
Perhaps best known as an accomplished side person, who has spent several years as a touring member of The Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon and Beck‘s backing band, the Seattle, WA-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jessica […]
Last year, the renowned director, screenwriter, producer and composer John Carpenter released his first album of non-soundtrack-based music, Lost Themes to critical praise from an impressive array of major media outlets including The Guardian, The New York Times, The Times, Uncut, The Wire, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, Pitchfork, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, Artforum, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone and others. And as a result, the album was one of the most commercially successful albums released in Sacred Bones Records history, as the album debuted on the Top 100 Charts in both the UK and US. Unsurprisingly, the album, which was recorded with Carpenter’s son Cody Carpenter and his godson Daniel Davies strongly confirms what cinephiles, sci-fi fans and Carpenter files have asserted for countless years — that the director’s work was not only years ahead of its time but that his work has managed to continually influence contemporary electronic music. In fact, artists like Red Traces and Umberto have released works that frequently seem indebted to Carpenter and his film scores.
Building on the buzz and success that Carpenter and Sacred Bones Records received after the release of Lost Themes, the director and the indie record label released Lost Themes Remixed, an album that featured remixes from the likes of Zola Jesus, Silent Servant, Foetus‘ JG Thirwell, Skinny Puppy‘s ohGr, PAN Records‘ Bill Kouligas, and Uniform. (In fact, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few months, you might recall that I wrote about Uniform’s dance-floor ready remix of Carpenter’s “Vortex” and Zola Jesus and Dean Hurley’s techno-leaning rework of “Night.” But interestingly enough, Carpenter has been incredibly prolific, as Sacred Bones and Carpenter will be releasing a sequel to Lost Themes, Lost Themes II on April 15.
The material on Lost Themes II is inspired and informed by a change in the creative process with Cody Carpenter, Daniel Davies and the acclaimed producer writing, working revising and recording in the same studio — and with all three collaborators working together, the result was a more focused effort, completed on a compressed schedule, in a similar fashion to Carpenter’s earliest films. Additionally, the material is much more nuanced and lush, as the trio of collaborators added acoustic and electric guitar to flesh out the material, as well as add texture. Last month, I wrote about Lost Themes II‘s first single, “Distant Dream” pairs John Carpenter’s unmistakable minimalist synths with live drums, bursts of angular guitar and bass chords, and swirling electronics in a moody and tense composition that sounds as though it could be part of a taut, psychological thriller set in a dystopian future. Lost Themes II‘s second and latest single “Angel’s Asylum” pairs layers of dramatic and twinkling and undulating synths and ambient electronics with buzzing power chords and four-on-the-floor drumming in a composition that has the trio quickly building upon a theme but with subtle variations until a gently strummed acoustic guitar section paired with ambient electronics and synths and a gentle layer of twinkling synths form the composition’s coda. In many ways the song goes from an extremely dark and rock-like intensity to an ethereal beauty that arches heavenward at the end.
Originally known as a member of Baltimore, MD-based act Lake Trout, Andy Shankman is a grizzled music industry vet, whose solo recording project Jumpcuts began after an intense flurry of songwriting that had Shankman along with co-arranger Gideon Briedegam initially composing material on guitar and then slowly transposed to synthesizer — and then recorded and produced by Rob Girardi, best known for his work with Beach House and Celebration’s David Bergander at Lord Baltimore Studios. And the result was Shankman’s debut effort, Electrickery, an effort that was praised for its meshing electronic production with live instrumentation including guitars, synths and classically trained-based string arrangements, which generally pushes his material towards synth rock with a pop-leaning sensibility.
“Electric Shadows” is the latest single off Shankman’s forthcoming sophomore effort Fiber Optic Bondage, slated for a March 25, 2016 release and the single has Shankman pairing propulsive tribal-like drumming with layers of churning synths, abrasive, industrial clang and clatter and Shankman’s plaintive crooning to craft a dark and uneasy song that sounds indebted to Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Blanck Mass an others — complete with a claustrophobic sense of introspection that feels as though the listeners were diving into the deeply fractured psyche of the song’s narrator.
Over the course of last year, Detroit, MI-based duo Gosh Pith have become JOVM mainstays while gaining a rapidly growing national profile for a sound that possessed elements of hip-hop, electro pop, stoner rock, dub, trap music, drum ‘n’ bass and other genres — and for a songwriting approach that generally focused on capturing and evoking a specific feeling or sensation, rather than a concrete narrative. Interestingly, over that same period of time, the prolific duo have been experimenting with their sound and songwriting approach as their overall sound has become increasingly warmer and R&B-leaning with guitar taking a much more prominent role on subsequent releases.
Now you may recall that the duo closed out what turned out to be a huge 2015 with the release of “Gold Chain,” the first single and title track off the duo’s forthcoming EP, Gold Chain, which is slated for a February 26 release through B3SCI Records and with a set opening for Girlyboi at Rough Trade. Earlier this year, I wrote about the EP’s second single “K9,” a single that continued where the first single left off as skittering drum programming, wobbling bass, guitar chords fed through reverb and delay pedals and sultry hip-hop and R&B inspired vocals in a way that subtly hints at Timbaland — but much more atmospheric. The EP’s third and latest single “New Balance,” featuring Martez continues to be a gentle expansion and revision of their sound as the duo pair swelling and undulating synths, trap and wobbling, footwork-inspired beats, spectral atmospherics with chopped up vocals briefly busting out of the ether and explosive bursts of guitar in what may arguably be the most shimmering yet propulsive track the duo have released to date.
New Video: New Order’s New Video for “Singularity” Captures a Slice of Daily Life in West Berlin During the 1980s
As an unabashed New Order fan being able to write about them is not only a great personal and professional thrill, it constantly reminds me that first and foremost I’m an obsessive fan — and it’s my […]