“Sit Down,” de la Torre’s latest single is arguably the boldest, feistiest and most in-your-face song she’s released to date — while being a fresh take on the sound that won her international attention. Comprised of a production that features wobbling and stuttering synths, tweeter and woofer rocking boom bap beats paired with de la Torre’s sultry and swaggering, self-assured vocals the song sound as though it draws from M.I.A.’s incredible work, contemporary electro pop and hip-hop. The recently released music video manages to visually draw from M.I.A.’s work while subtly poking fun at fashion shoots and commercials.
Category: Indie Electro Pop
With the release of their critically acclaimed full-length debut La Allianza Profana and its follow-up, Serpiente Dorada, Peruvian electronic duo Dengue Dengue Dengue quickly received international attention for a sound that possessed elements of traditional cumbia, dub, dancehall and techno — and for being at the forefront of an expanding electro cumbia movement.
Siete Raices, the duo’s long-awaited sophomore, full-length effort is slated for release later this month through Enchufada Records, and the effort takes its name from a traditional Peruvian liquor — a potent beverage brewed from several jungle plants with mystical, aphrodisiac properties. Now, if you stumbled upon this page over the past couple of weeks, you may recall that I wrote about “Guarida,” a single that had the renowned Peruvian duo collaborating with vocalist Sarah Van. And the single revealed an act that has expanded upon the sound that first captured attention as the Peruvian duo paired hauntingly ambient production consisting of gentle layers of shimmering and undulating synths and skittering drum programming — nodding at the fact that the Peruvian duo methodically carefully craft and shape their work to evoke particular moods while drawing equally from ancient traditions and contemporary production; in fact, it shouldn’t be surprising that their material doesn’t sound like anything you’ve heard on contemporary radio — or anyplace else really.
Siete Raices‘ second and latest single “The Enemy” consists of a production that subtly hints at El Dusty’s nu-cumbia as the song consists of a glitchy and distorted vocal sample paired with a cowbell-led percussion, a languid, looped keyboard sample that twists and turns around the song’s hook while being subtly danceable. But just under the surface, there’s something that feels subtly menacing and uneasy.
Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past month or so, you may recall that I’ve perviously written about London-based producer and electronic music artist Promise Keeper. And with the release of “Side Decide” and other singles, the British producer and electronic music artist has received attention across the blogosphere for a sound that’s indebted to classic Chicago house, blue-eyed soul and electro pop; in fact, “Side Decide” has Promise Keeper pairing breathily cooed vocals with a mid-tempo, dance floor friendly production consisting of twinkling and shimmering synths, staccato drum programming and swirling and ambient electronics. Interestingly, the British producer and electronic music artist’s latest single “Porous Silk” will further cement his already burgeoning reputation for crafting slick, dance-floor friendly pop as androgynous yet sultry cooed vocals are paired with a production consisting of a sinuous bass line, Nile Rodgers-like guitar chords propulsive and stuttering drum programming, twinkling keys and shimmering synths. Sonically, the new single evokes the sensation of silk running across naked skin — cool yet pliant.
New Video: The 80s Inspired Visuals and Sounds of Finland’s Beverly Girl
With the release of “Contagious” Finnish trio Beverly Girl have started to receive a bit of attention internationally for an electro pop/funk/R&B/freestyle sound that immediately channels nostalgic memories of the 80s — while simultaneously comparing quite favorably to a number of contemporary artists including Rush Midnight, St. Lucia, Dam-Funk and others but incredibly club friendly. Or simply put, a sleek production consisting of sinuous bass lines, shimmering cascades of synths and propulsive boom-bap drums are paired with sultry vocals and a ridiculously infectious hook
Los Angeles, CA-based electro pop artist Adam Finkel, best known as Alek Fin has worked with a number of Los Angeles-based producers and artists including Robot Koch while Moscow, Russia-based producer Sergei Galunenko, best known as Galun initially crafted a career collaborating with a variety of Russian artists as a renowned beatboxer — and interestingly enough Finkel and Galunenko’s collaboration can trace its origin to when the duo were individually included on the same blog’s Top 100 Tracks of 2013. As Galunenko explains in press notes, geographical distance wasn’t an issue, “I found him and I knew I wanted to work with him. I thought we could really add something to each other’s music, despite us leaving 6,000 miles apart. Finkel was equally impressed by the Moscow-based producer’s “manipulation of vocal percussion and inspiring melodies.”
The duo’s previous collaboration together Golden, Blinding was critically applauded and with the recently released Strannik EP, which will further cement the duo’s reputation for crafting a sound that effortlessly blended electro pop/electronica and chillwave; in fact, the duo’s sound has been favorably compared by some of my colleagues to the likes of Bonobo, James Blake, Future Trend and Deco Child. And when you hear Strannik‘s latest single “Ionosphere” you’ll see why as Finkel’s plaintive and ethereal vocals are paired with an atmospheric production consisting of shimmering synths, stuttering drum programming, wobbling low end and ambient electronics in a song that’s eerily spectral while gently nodding at Portishead and others.
Comprised of Leo Paparella (vocals, synths) and brothers Eric Promani (drums, synths) and Greg Promani (guitar), Los Angeles-based electro pop trio Iconique have quickly exploded across the blogosphere and elsewhere as their previous single “Step Into The Mood” was praised by Gawker and Surviving the Golden Age, was featured on Hype Machine and received radio airplay on KUCI and KCHUNG. And honestly, that shouldn’t be surprising as the band’s sound has been described by some of my colleague as a “synthesis of influences like Prince, David Bowie and Chic.” Interestingly, the trio’s latest single “Sitting Pretty” sonically seems as though it draws from Roxy Music, The Human League, Howard Jones and others as Paparella’s sultry speak-song and crooning is paired with a sinuous bass line, shimmering synths and propulsive drumming; in other words, it sounds as though it could have been released sometime between 1980 and 1983.
As the band’s Leo Paparella explained in press notes “‘Sitting Pretty’ is both a celebration and critique of vanity. There’s very much an innate cruelty to glamor. It operates out of exclusivity, which keeps its scope woefully narrow and out of touch. And I bet that’s why people want it so badly.” And as a result, the song possess a subtle yet palpable sense of menace and anxiousness under the clean, hyper-modern and danceable sheen.
Live Footage: Oakland, CA-based Duo Introflirt Return With Another Dark, 80s Inspired Electro Pop Song
Introflirt’s latest single “Orange Light” has them pairing undulating and cascading layers of synths and propulsive drum programming with Benjamin’s crooning and sonically, the song sounds indebted to 80s synth pop — in particular, Depeche Mode, The Human League and New Order but with a modern production sheen. And much like their previously released singles, the duo’s material thematically speaking the song focuses on the fractured psyche of its narrator, a narrator, who seems plagued by an overwhelming sensation of disappointment and frustration, repressed feelings and desires finally bursting out at an inopportune time.
With the release of his critically applauded full-length debut, Brooklyn-based electronic music producer, DJ and artist Krycek saw a growing national profile; in fact, Buzzfeed, Fresh Beats 365 and others compared the Brooklyn-based artist’s sound to Nine Inch Nails and CHVRCHES. And although to some extent those comparisons are fair, as you’ll hear on his latest single “My Limit,” Krycek’s sound possess a swaggering sensuality that owes a debt to hip-hop and trip hop as the song nods at Sneaker Pimps, Portishead and Tobacco while sonically, the Brooklyn-based DJ, producer and electronic music artist pairs woofer and tweeter rocking, boom-bap beats, funky and angular burst of guitar, murkily atmospheric synths and wobbling low end with his sultry and breathy vocals.
New Video: The Surreal Dali-esque Visuals for BRAIDS’ “Companion”
Over the course of three full-length albums and their latest EP Companion, Montreal-based electronic act BRAIDS have developed a reputation for restless experimentation, which has resulted in each of their recorded efforts sounding different from each […]
Comprised of Kristin Henry (vocals) and Brad Boettger (production), Seattle, WA-based duo NAVVI have developed a reputation for crafting brooding and propulsive electro pop; in fact, the duo have had their work appear on a compilation curated by renowned French electronic label Kitsune, and they’ve received press from a variety of media outlets including NME, Brooklyn Vegan, Impose, The Line of Best Fit and Jay Z’s Life+Times, among others. Building on the early buzz they’ve received, the Seattle-based duo will be releasing their long-awaited full-length debut Omni later this week through Hush Hush Records.
Now earlier this month, I wrote about “Close,” Omni‘s gorgeously minimalist electro pop first single thad the duo pairing Henry’s sultry and intimately with a sleek and hyper-modern production consisting of crisp, yet stuttering drum programming, ambient, swirling electronics, bleeps, bloops and boops, layers of shimmering and buzzing synths. and a propulsive groove while reminding me quite a bit of BRAIDS’ Flourish//Perish and Octo Octa’s Between Both Selves; in other words, the single possess a bracing and icy chill that belies an urgent and swooning Romanticism. Omni‘s second and latest single “What Reason Do We Need?” will further cement the Seattle-based duo’s reputation for crafting chilly and atmospheric electro pop as you’ll hear stuttering and skittering drum programming, swirling electronics, trembling bleeps and bloops and beeps and tweeter and woofer rocking beats paired with Henry’s sultry yet ethereal vocals. Sonically, the song reminds me a bit of Bear in Heaven‘s I Love You It’s Cool but with a plaintive Quiet Storm-like sensuality at its core.
New Video: The Surreal 70s and 80s Found Footage-based Visuals for DBFC’s “Automatic”
Comprised of its frontmen Manchester, UK-born and Paris-based David Shaw and Paris-born and based Dombrance, along with Guilluame Rosel (percussion) and Victor Paillet (bass), the Paris-based electronic music collective DBFC emerged onto the French electronic music scene with the release […]
Queue, an indie rock quintet with members split between Philadelphia and Washington, DC is comprised of five college friends — Olivia Price, Tyler Ringland, Aida Mekonnen, Dan Snelling and Steve Vannelli — who were all originally in other bands, and decided that they needed to write music together. Interestingly, the decision to work together coincided with graduation and adult responsibilities, which eventually forced the members of the band to write and collaborate via the Internet. After about a year writing and recording demos, the members of the Philadelphia and Washington, DC-based quintet convinced at Degraw Sound Studios in Brooklyn to record the material that would comprise the band’s forthcoming self-titled EP, slated for a late June release.
With the release of “Falling Into Skies,” the first single off their self-titled EP, the indie rock quintet quickly received praise across the blogosphere, and as soon as you hear “More,” the second and latest single off the forthcoming EP, you’ll see why: the quintet pairs a gorgeous and melancholy melody with folky, strummed guitar chords, shimmering synths, propulsive drum programming and percussion and swirling electronics in a n ethereal yet buoyant song that effortlessly meshes electro pop with singer/songwriter folk; in fact, as the band’s Olivia Price noted to the folks at Consequence of Sound, lyrically the song captures the inner monologue of a narrator, who is in the middle of a crippling identity crisis as they desire something much better and not only has the narrator need to accept that actually getting that something better can actually require a ton of effort, they also have to accept that sometimes all of that effort can be for naught. And as a result, the song conveys a bitter and uneasy jumble of emotions.
New Video: Check Out Neon Indian and Friends’ Funky and Breezy Cover of Prince’s “Pop Life”
As a child of the 80s there is a rather lengthy list of songs, artists and albums that have profoundly influenced and transformed my life — in particular David Bowie, Talking Heads, Madonna, DEVO, R.E.M, […]
Over the six year history of this site, I’ve written quite a bit about New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rene Lopez, one of JOVM‘s earliest mainstay artists. And throughout that time, Lopez has uncompromisingly refused to be pigeonholed into one particular genre — the New York based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has managed to mesh salsa, boogaloo, old-school hip-hop, meringue and electronica into one cohesive whole on E.L.S. (short for Electric Latin Soul); salsa and 7os Brazilian music on his most deeply personal effort Paint the Moon Gold; and slinkily seductive synth-based R&B and funk, inspired by Prince, The Gap Band, Rick James, Chic and others on Love Has No Mercy and its subsequent releases. This shouldn’t be surprising as Lopez has told me in an interview, he grew up in a household where salsa, merengue and disco were frequently played — and his first band The Authority was deeply influenced by his love of Prince and funk. So in some way, Lopez has come back full circle.
Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year in particular, you’d likely know that Lopez is among a handful of artists who has focused on a single of the month series. While on one level, such a phenomenon points to the death of the album, it also allows artists to be creative without concerning themselves with the strict thematic and lyrical structure of an album — but with fairly strict deadlines to compete and release material. Lopez’s latest Jam of the Month, “Run Run Baby,” is a sleek, slinky and sensual synth-based pop/R&B that strikes me as a modernized version of Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones” if covered by Dam-Funk as Lopez’s sultry crooning is paired with shimmering and wobbling synths, skittering drum programming.