Category: house music

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: ADRIANNA Shares Earthshaking Banger “Never Never Land”

ADRIANNA is a British-based electronic music producer, DJ and singer/songwriter, who is known for electrifying live performances and a dynamic and captivating production style that sees her seamlessly blending hard-hitting beats with powerhouse vocals while actively pushing sonic boundaries.

Last year’s “Wild Electric” showcased her signature style of pulsating rhythms and energetic melodies, which led to it charting on the Beatport Hype Charts, as well as widespread support from fans and DJs alike globally. Acid house pioneers 808 State remixed “Wild Electric,” along with a series of other renowned producers and acts.

Adding to a big year, ADRIANA made the rounds of the global festival and party circuit, playing headlining sets at Creamfields and Blue Marin Ibiza, as well as playing opening slots for Patrick Topping and Alan Fitzpatrick.

She also hosts a monthly, globally syndicated radio show, where she curates a mix of the latest tech house and techno tracks. Airing on the second Saturday of every month, the show offers listeners a taste of her unique sound and musical vision.

The rising British-based producer, singer/songwriter and DJ’s latest single “Never Never Land” is a club and festival banger, anchored around earth rattling 808 thump, skittering hi-hats, glistening synth arpeggios paired with her insouciant delivery. Sonically, “Never Never Land” brings to mind a synthesis of old school deep house, Marie Davidson and others with a world dominating swagger.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Janzen Shares a Lush, Club Friendly Banger

Janzen is an electronic producer and artist, who has developed a reputation for crafting an upbeat and vibrant fusion of techno and electronic dance music paired with catchy lyrics that’s inspired from both underground rhythms and mainstream trends.

The rising electronic music producer and artist’s latest single “Just a Kiss” is a slickly produced and lush Ibiza-meets-French touch banger, inspired by Martin Garrix and Armin van Buuren, featuring glistening synth oscillations, tweeter and woofer rattling thump paired with a sultry and longing vocal, describing a life-changing kiss with a lover — or love interest — that they’ve been desiring.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mexico CIty’s Granito Shares a Hypnotic, Trance-Inducing Banger

Granito is a 33 year-old, Mexico City-based electronic music producer, who specializes in a minimalist, trance-inducing take on dark, underground house music. His minimalist production approach is groove/dance first, melody last, as he explains that he feels as though he’s defending minimalist electronic music in a culture where vocal-led music controls the mainstream.

The Mexican producer is currently putting the finishing touches on the material which will comprise his 16-track full-length debut slated for release later this year. In the meantime, Granito’s latest single “Pluto” is a hypnotic banger that sounds a bit like a synthesis of Kraftwerk, A Nation of Millions Can’t Hold Us Back and Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Black-era Public Enemy and industrial techno as bursts of glistening and arpeggiated synth stabs cut through wailing, ambient drone and skittering beats.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: LutchamaK shares a Glitchy, Club Banger

French electronic music producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK begins 2025 with the Want U Back EP. Released through Brique Rogue, the five-song EP features an eclectic assortment of material with the JOVM mainstay bouncing around American Techno, Break Acid, Tech House and 80s Italo disco. 

Earlier this week, I wrote about Want U Back single “Stack 104,” a track that saw the French JOVM mainstay meshing elements of glitchy house with old school breakbeats and meaning synths to create a song that’s swaggering yet deeply soulful.

The EP’s second and latest single “Hibiscus,” continues in a similar vein — glitchy house but anchored around skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling thump and bursts of vocoder’d, radio fuzz-like vocal samples. It’s a big, club banger meant to get your ass moving.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: LutchamaK Shares Glitchy “Stack 104”

French electronic music producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK begins 2025 with the Want U Back EP. Released through Brique Rogue, the five-song EP features an eclectic assortment of material with the JOVM mainstay bouncing around American Techno, Break Acid, Tech House and 80s Italo disco.

Want U Back‘s latest single “Stack 104” sees the French JOVM mainstay meshing elements of glitchy house with old school breakbeats and menacing synths to create a song that’s swaggering yet soulful.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Single: coiro and ALSO ASTIR Team Up on Lush “Don’t Let Go”

coiro is a São Paulo-born and-based electronic music artist, who’s dreamy deep house-meets-techno sound creates a calming ambiance that simultaneously engages and mobilizes listeners by stirring up emotions in a similar fashion to that of nature. For the Brazilian electronic music producer, he uses his music to escape the tumult and density of his homeland’s largest city.

ASTIR is an evocative artist who specializes in a sound that’s ethereal, raw and envelope the listener in a world of introspection and atmospheric beauty, one that seems him thriving on the delicate balance between minimalism and emotional intensity. Thematically, his work focuses on inner turmoil, personal growth and the search for connection in an often-fragmented world. ALSO ASTIR is a sort of side project that sees the artist creating a more expansive and experimental approach to electronic music that sees him exploring broader, more dynamic soundscapes, characterized by intricate synth layers. bold production choices and delicate melodies. The result is a sound that feels deeply personal and cinematic.

Since its inception ALSO ASTIR has collaborated with a collection of acclaimed artists including Adriatique, Yotto, AVIRA, Nuage and BAILE and has released material through Armada Music, Anjuna, Enhanced Music, Get The Sound and X Recordings that have amassed over 16 million streams across DSPs. Adding to a growing profile, “Forget,” a collaboration with Yotto and AVIRA has reached Shazam charts globally, resonating with audiences at festivals and elsewhere. Additionally, he was named Shazam’s Breakthrough Electronic Artist of 2025.

The two rising electronic music producers and artists recently teamed up on “Don’t Let Go” a woozily lush and percussive banger featuring glistening synth oscillations, chiming percussion and skittering beats paired with vocals that are delicate and yearning. The result is a track that’s sensual and cinematic while reminding me a bit of Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Anish Kumar and Hagop Tchaparian Team Up on Percussive and Vibey “Kino” EP

Anish Kumar is an eclectic DJ and producer known for blending the musical influences of his South Asian heritage with an intriguing array of electronic styles.

Hagop Tchaparian is a British-Armenian producer, whose full-length debut, 2022’s Bolts featured ten songs of deeply personal rhythm-driven music that meshed techno with field recordings of his travels through Armenian and Mediterranean culture.

The two individually acclaimed, electronic music producers teamed up on the two-track EP KINO, which was mixed by Pearson Sound and was released through the pair’s KINO imprint, after they road-tested the material at various warehouse venues and festivals. “Part 1,” and “Part 2” are dense, percussive batches of woozy house that at points feels soulful, meditative and irresistibly dance floor and festival friendly.

“A couple years ago I was shown Hagop’s debut single ‘GL’. I remember having my mind blown and thinking to myself ‘Jesus, I didn’t even realise you were allowed to do this,'” Anish Kumar says in press notes. “It’s so tense, so instantly gratifying and unashamedly bold. We texted some ideas back and forth for a while and soon got to meet in person at an insanely rammed show in Brixton – Four Tet, Skrillex & Fred Again. were playing. I was surprised and excited to see that Hagop had bounced a version of one of the ideas on his phone. It was like ‘oh man, he actually wants to do this. I’m gassed.'” From there we continued to work on the tracks whenever & wherever our paths seemed to intersect, whether it be in Dalston or San Francisco. We started to test them out around festival season, at our first back to back together at Glastonbury and then at a packed Airbase stage at Lost Village. It was nerve-wracking to take on these slots but doing it together made it feel epic. Playing out the tracks allowed us to know where to make changes in mix & arrangement. Coming off the back of Lost Village we finished the tracks and were very fortunate to have the tracks mixed by Pearson Sound. It was around then that Kieran (Four Tet) started playing Part I (the first track) out and gave us his valuable feedback on the mix, which was relayed to Pearson Sound for some final adjustment. We both independently got to witness Kieran drop the track at massive warehouse venues – Hagop at Portola in San Francisco and myself at Drumsheds in London. We both were texting each other whilst losing our minds about how incredible it was to hear the tracks in that scale of a venue, it had a real cinematic quality. The sense of awe and vastness transpired into the release and gave it its imprint: KINO.

“It started as a chance text exchange via a mutual acquaintance and we first met properly in a packed Brixton rave. This first conversation couldn’t have been in a better context and amid the bass and bodies, it was clear that Anish was different,” Hagop Tchaparian recalls. “What sets him apart is a rare combination: humble/thoughtful with deep musical knowledge paired with genuine openness to new ideas, all underpinned by the technical ability to bring these visions to life. His distinctive style permeates everything he touches, from production choices to visual aesthetics. Our collaboration evolved organically, and a natural exchange of ideas began. It was exciting to start to collaborate but also laid back and comfortable to such an extent that I totally lost track of who had created which parts of the tracks we were making together, demonstrating that we were completely on the same wavelength. The collaboration morphed into Anish and I playing back to back at some festivals that were really fun and vibey even emotional at times. We had some special moments and were also able to give our tracks their first proper public airing. The project took shape through late-night conversations – in pubs, during long drives after shows, and even while wandering through the Science Museum and even when I invited him back to my house and he ate all my bread. As momentum built, others began picking up on the tracks, and having them mixed by Pearson Sound felt like the final piece falling into place. The project evolved into something neither of us expected and seeing the reaction when it was played at Drumsheds and Portola festival almost felt like it wasn’t our track.”

There’s a limited run of white label vinyl which will be available in selected record stores and online.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 51st Birthday, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates French touch pioneer Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s 51st birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Total Fucking Darkness Shares a Banger

Besides being an awesome band name, Total Fucking Darkness features:

The trio’s latest single “Desolation Boys” is a slick yet chaotic synthesis of Tweekend-era Crystal Method and Come With Us-era Chemical Brothers-like big beat, LCD Soundsystem and deep house with glistening synth arpeggios delivered with a nihilistic, tongue-in-cheek absurdity. And it slaps so fucking hard that it sounds like it could be played at clubs in Manchester and Berlin back in 1999-2006 or so.

Created in the final hours of a manic, 72-hour writing spree with McFall flying in London, “Desolation Boys” encapsulates the band’s volatile energy. The song is anchored around spontaneous, stream-of-consciousness-like lyrics and a raw vocal take where Campbell can be faintly heard yelling “go fuck yourself,” mid-chorus. Who is he yelling at? Himself, perhaps?

The song reflects the band’s ongoing exploration of themes like the futility of existence, the exciting pointlessness of class war and the rejection of everything that doesn’t BANG.

The accompanying video features edited footage of a concert somewhere in Berlin, pro Palestine protests and UCLA’s dance team, a country dance team, an old pun rock show and other pop detritus.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: TONNUP Shares 90s EDM-Inspired, Club Friendly “SpyMaster”

TONNUP is a mysterious and emerging American electronic music producer and artist. Late last year, they shared “I’m So Into You,” a club banger anchored around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering beats, tweeter and woofer rattling low […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Combo Chimbita Shares Trippy and Meditative House-like “Dímelo”

Acclaimed New York-based Latinx group Combo Chimbita — Carolina Oliveros (vocals, guacharaca), Prince of Queens (synths, bass), Niño Lento (guitar) and Dilemastronauta (drums) — features members of New York-based Colombian folk collective Bulla en el Barrio, and in some way is a sort of related side project.

Combo Chimbita have publicly cited Sun Ra‘s Afro-futurism as a deep influence on their work and overall aesthetic — with the New York-based Latinx group crafting their own take, one, which they’ve dubbed Tropical Futurism. “The idea that the future doesn’t necessarily have to be this super white Western high-tech Star Wars stuff; that the indigenous ideas and culture of people of color, people of Latin America, can also represent a magical and substantial future,” Combo Chimbita explain. “It’s a vision that maybe a lot of people don’t necessarily think about often. The old and deep knowledge that indigenous people have of the land has been neglected for many years as part of capitalism and colonization.”

The band can trace the origins of their genre-defying global sound, which features elements of cumbia, electro pop and Afro-futurism to their late night, experimental jam-driven, year-long residency at renowned, Park Slope, Brooklyn-based world music club Barbés.  Those exploratory jam sessions eventually lead to their self-recorded full-length debut, 2016’s El Corridor del Jaguar. 

2016’s Lily Wen-produced sophomore album Abya Yala found the band further establishing their Afro-futurism-inspired take on cumbia and other traditional Colombian folk styles. Eventually, the acclaimed New York-based outfit caught the attention of ANTI- Records, who signed the band to the label and released their third album 2019’s Ahomale and their fourth album 2022’s IRE.

Recently Combo Chimbita signed to New York-based label Wonderwheel Recordings, who released their latest single “Dímelo,” their first release on the label, and the second in a series of recordings they did with renowned producer Victor Axelrod, a.k.a. Ticklah. “Dímelo” is a dreamy and mediative bit of Larry Levan era-like cumbia featuring a glistening cumbia-influenced rhythm guitar, jazz-influenced hi-hat driven drumming and a strutting bass line, shimmering synth arpeggio bursts and a remarkably catchy hook seemingly guided by Oliveros’ hypnotic wailing.

“Dímelo is an internal dialogue, a sonic representation of what it feels and sounds like to choose yourself. ‘Cuando por fin yo me elegí (I finally chose myself)’ is a phrase that repeats consistently throughout the track. “It’s an honest song,” says Carolina Oliveros, “that speaks on what it means to understand that for however much you may love someone, you can’t force them to love you the same way- that that is love you have to give yourself.”

For the band, in many ways, it’s the first trade in a return to the band’s roots and a hint of what’s to come from them sonically.  

The track will be available on 7″ alongside a remix by Busy Twist in March.

Directed by Andrea Buritica, the accompanying video for “Dímelo” features th members in front of the band in front of projections of VHS fuzz, New York, lighting storms, flowers and more. It emphasizes the trippy yet meditative nature of the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Augu Shares a Banger

Augu is a mysterious and emerging Lithuanian electronic music producer. His latest single “Foreigner” synthesizers elements of John Carpenter film soundtracks with deep industrial house and Kraftwerk-like minimalism into a dance floor friendly, club banger.

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms
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Live Concert Photography: Winter Jazzfest 2025: Lion Babe at Baby’s All Right 1/11/25

Live concert photography of Lion Babe performing at Baby’s All Right during Winter Jazzfest.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Jody Vukas Teams Up With Ariana Celaenio on Lush and Plaintive “Fade”

Since the late 90s, electronic music label head and artist Jody Vukas has been a mainstay in the American electronic music scene for a sound that features elements of tribal house, progressive house, tech house and techno.

Vukas’ begins 2025 with “Fade,” a lush, pop-leaning club and lounge friendly collaboration with Ariana Celaenio that pairs her plaintive and ethereal delivery with glistening synths, a driving groove and skittering beats.

As Vukas explains, the song tells a young woman’s story of the fallout from a ad relationship — and it’s done with a verisimilitude that feels as though it comes from lived-in experience.