Category: music video

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Canadian Duo FORCES Releases a Bombastic Yet Intimate New Single

Over the past few months, I’ve written a bit about the rising synth-based act FORCES. Although it’s a relatively new project, it’s centered round the 20+ year collaborative and romantic relationship between its creative masterminds — Jess and Dave — who may be best known in their native Canada for their previous project, The Golden Dogs. And with Golden Dogs, FORCES’ creative duo wound up working with a virtual who’s who of contemporary, Canadian indie rock including the then-future members of Zeus, Wax Atlantic and Brave Shores, along with Taylor Knox and Stew Heyduk — while opening for Sloan, Feist, Bloc Party, The Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, Thurston Moore and Roky Erickson.

In 2017, Jess and Dave went into the studio and began working on what they thought would be the next Golden Dogs album — although in some way, deep down they both realized that they kind of knew that it wasn’t. What they started working on was a decided and radical sonic departure from the driving rock sound they’ve long specialized in and were known for. At the time, they found that they were increasingly drawn to a number of a different production styles including The Dead Pets, Liquid Liquid, New Order, The Cure‘s Close to Me and Timbaland. Interestingly, as a result, the duo, which currently splits its time between Montreal and Toronto began to openly experiment with synths, beatmaking and funky rhythms.

As they began changing their sound and approach, Jess boldly stepped up into the role of frontperson, taking on a sultry vocal approach paired with layered, punchy female-led harmonies while Dave began to focus on guitar textures and melodies. The material that they started to write during this new phase was centered around metronomic loops and electronics rather than the drum-bass guitar arrangements they had long relied on. Now. as you may recall, I’ve written about the projects first two singles: the glittering, club banging “Stay On Me,” and the early 80s Madonna-like “Step In A Sway.”  Building upon a buzzworthy profile, the Canadian duo’s latest single is the bombastic, grunge rock-influenced “Say It Now.” Starting with dissonant chords, boom bap-like drumming, the track is centered around a quiet-loud-quiet grunge rock song structure featuring a rousingly anthemic chorus and achingly intimate lyrics. And while sonically the song will bring Beck and Dirty Ghosts to mind, the track is an urgent call to the listener that seems rather fitting considering the state of our world right now — simply put, if you have feelings for someone, it’s best if you say it not and shoot your shot, because you may not have a chance later.

Directed by the band, the recently released video for “Say It Now” was shot on an iPhone and features the duo (mostly headless) performing the song in their video — with playful and mischievous nods, including subtitles in different languages, and footage superimposed on their amps. 

“What do you do when in you’re in coronavirus isolation?” the band asks. “Make a video! May this track to bust out of your speakers, and then pull you in nice n close. We hope it can be a reminder – to us and others – that in any loving relationship, growth and change are inevitable. Keeping the lines of communication open – don’t hold anything in. But, be kind, be honest and speak without ego.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Dream Syndicate Releases a Haunting Meditation on Time and Mortality

Over the past year or so, I’ve managed to write quite a bit about the acclaimed Los Angeles-based psych rock act The Dream Syndicate. Tracing its origins back to the 80s, the band which currently features founding members Steve Wynn (guitars, vocals), a critically applauded singer/songwriter and solo artist and Dennis Duck (drums), along with the band’s most recent members Mark Walton (bass) and Jason Victor (guitar), the members of the acclaimed psych rock act will be releasing their latest effort, The Universe Inside through Anti- Records on April 10, 2020. 

Officially, their third reunion-era effort and their seventh overall, the forthcoming album will reportedly be one oft he most mind-bending and trippiest efforts they’ve released to date — and for the first time in their storied and lengthy history. every song on the album is a group songwriting effort. Musically, the material draws from each individual member’s eclectic interests and passions: Dennis Duck’s love and knowledge of European avant garde music, Jason Victor’s love of 70s prog rock, Mark Walton’s experience in Southern-friend music collectives, Chris Cacavas’ interest in sound manipulation and Wynn’s love of 70s jazz fusion. Recorded in one session, the band recorded 80 continuous minutes of soundscapes. “All we added was air,” Wynn explains in press notes. So, aside from vocals, horns and a touch of percussion here and there, every instrument is recorded live as it happened.

Last month, I wrote about the album’s sprawling and epic first single “The Regulator.” Now, as you may recall, the single clocked in at a little under 21 minutes and was sort of seamless synthesis of Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson-era Miles Davis, motorik groove-driven prog rock and 60s psych rock — thanks to droning electric sitar played by The Long Ryders‘ Stephen McCarthy, a sinuous bass line, soulful sax flourishes by Butcher Brown‘s Marcus Tenney. Adding to a lysergic vibes, Wynn’s vocals were fed through vocoder and ghostly effects and then buried within the trippy and funky mix.

“’The Regulator’ is a microcosm of the entire record,” Wynn explains in press notes. “It was just a formless, trippy mass as we all started playing together. There was an early 70’s drum machine—a Maestro Rhythm King, the same model used on There’s A Riot Goin’ On—with Dennis locking in and setting the pace. Stephen grabbed an electric sitar because it was the first thing he saw. Jason and I were kicking pedals on like lab monkeys in a laboratory and Mark was a lightning rod, uniting all of those elements into one tough groove. I collected a list of random, unconnected lyric ideas that I kept on my phone. I tried them all out in random order in my home studio just to see how they would feel and that one-take test run is the vocal you hear! There’s just so much lightning-in-a-jar, first take excitement on this record.”

The Universe Inside’s second and latest single is the brooding and atmospheric “The Longing.” Centered around shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars, a propulsive bass line, jazz-like drumming and Steve Wynn’s imitable vocals, “The Longing” is an eerily prescient meditation on morality and the passage of time that manages to capture and evoke things I’ve personally felt over the past year or two — and that many of us have felt recently: the creeping realization of one’s mortality; the sense that there will be some degree of unfinished business — both professionally and personally; the mournful and uneasy feeling of being adrift, alone and frightened in an uncertain world. 

“A friend of mine once said, ‘You ought to write a song about longing,’” the band’s Steve Wynn says of the song and its title. “This was a few years back but it stuck with me and when I was listening to minutes 20 through 28 of the improvisation that became The Universe Inside I knew that the suggestion had finally found its proper home. This section of music — that followed in real time the part that became “The Regulator” — felt so mournful and lost and adrift and confused, much like longing itself. You think you know where it’s at? The longing is stronger than that.”

Directed by the band’s longtime visual collaborator David Daglish, the recently released video for “The Longing” is a cryptic yet gorgeous meditation on yearning, memories and the inevitable (and unstoppable) passage of time. “Our resident visual interpreter David Dalglish picked up on that feeling for a video that connected hauntingly to that feeling of distance and memory. And now?  Suddenly it all feels very much of the moment. A chasm, sleepless for day and days, rootless, unsettled and alone.  All that’s left is the longing,” the band’s Steven Wynn explains in press notes. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Israeli-French Psych Rocker MAGON Releases an Animated Visual for Anthemic “Same House”

Earlier this year, I wrote about the Israeli-born, Paris-based psych rock singer/songwriter and producer MAGON. The release of “The Streets,” off his latest album Out in the Dark quickly established his unique sound, which he has described as urban rock on psychedelics. 

Album single “My Reflection” was a cocaine-fueled, glam rock-like track centered around a chugging motorik groove, angular and slashing guitars and MAGON’s ironically detached vocals. And although the track may bring The Strokes to mind, it possesses an unvarnished, post-modern self-awareness.  “‘My Reflection’ is one of the most introspective songs on the album,” MAGON wrote to me in an email. “It resumes my life up and evokes my life philosophy. it’s also one of the rare songs for which I wrote the lyrics fully before composing it.”

“Same House” continues in a similar vein as its immediate predecessor: chugging motorik grooves, buzzing and slashing guitars, and an arena rock friendly hook paired with MAGON’s ironically detached vocals — but unlike it’s predecessor, it builds up into a frenzy before closing out with a gentle fade out. And while it may be the most David Bowie and T. Rex-like singles of the albums tracks I’ve heard, the song is written about bitter and achingly personal experience.

“I wrote ‘Same House’ after breaking up with my ex. We’ve been together for 10 years and still lived in the same house after the breakup for about 6 months until I was able to move out,” the Israeli-born, French psych rock singer/songwriter, guitarist and producer says in press notes. “It was a very complicated and crucial time in my life and my music was my best friend more than ever. It was at the time that I began my solo project as Magon, and in a sense it was perfect timing because I had so much to say and needed to create a new life for myself. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album Out in the Dark because it succeeds, in my opinion, to transcend a very deep and personal story in a very light and entertaining way. It’s also pretty much sophisticated musically but feels quite smooth and easy, which is the way I like things to be.”

Directed by Amit Jakie David, the recently released video for “Same House” plays out the central story of the song: a  couple, portrayed by puppets, living together and throughout you can sense the bitterness and resentment between each other. Eventually, it explodes in a fiery conflagration — almost as expected. Certainly, if you’ve ever experienced a bitter end to a longtime relationship, the video and the song will feel familiar. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Shabazz Palaces Return with a Lysergic and Hypnotic Visuals for Futuristic “Chocolate Soufflé

Since the release of their critically applauded full-length debut, 2011’s Black Up, the Seattle-based act Shabazz Palaces — emcee and producer Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler and multi-instrumentalist Tendai “Baba” Maraire — have managed to continue Butler’s relentless desire to reimagine what hip hop should and could sound like while boldly proving that they’re the heirs to the astral imaginations of Sun Ra, George Clinton, Octavia Butler and Alice Coltrane. Interestingly, as a result, Butler has collaborated with an eclectic collection of like-minded, critically applauded and forward-thinking experimentalist including Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Battles, Animal Collective, Clipping. and others — and he has toured with the likes of Radiohead and Lauryn Hill.

Now. as you may recall, the act’s forthcoming Don of Diamond Dreams is slated for an April 17, 2020 release through Sub Pop Records, and the album is reportedly a sort of futuristic manifestation of ancient myth, featuring robotic and vocodered vocals, warped auto-tune and alien-like synthesizers while drums speak the universal language. The end result is material that meshes and blurs the lines between hip-hop, dub, soul, funk, Afro-pop, experimental and ambient music and even pop. And although their forthcoming album continues a prolific run of meticulously constructed albums, its creation and creative process was centered around improvisation and instinct, balancing the cerebral with the automatic: Butler would jot down phrases and ideas on his phone and eventually started to shape them into amorphous, abstract and expressionistic verses. 

Some of the album’s material is shaped by Butler’s reflection on being a parent and watching his son Jazz receive international renown as the rapidly rising artist Lil Tracy. There’s  interplay between father and son, with Butler absorbing the sound of today but filtered through his own unique, fractured lens, freestyling with the wisdom and experience of age — and the passion of someone, who believes (and knows) that he still has something to prove to those youngins. And while as self-assured and as confident as ever, the album captures an act boldly attempting something new.

Earlier this month, I wrote about “Fast Learner,” the album’s glittering and thumping first single. Featuring a prominent guest spot from Purple Tape Nate, the track was centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, wobbling and tumbling bass lines and heavily vocodered and reverb-drenched vocals, the track is a lysergic-tinged and semi-retrofuturistic take on trap that’s continues the duo’s forward-thinking 37th century hanging out around Juptier’s rings in a badass spaceship take on hip-hop. “Chocolate Soufflé,” Don of Diamond Dreams’ second and latest single is another lysergic and 37th century take on synth funk and trap centered around shuffling beats, glistening and wobbling synths paired with Butler’s wildly inventive and complex wordplay. 

Directed by David Shields and James Nugent, the equally lysergic and retro-futuristic visuals for “Chocolate Soufflé” features a series of trippy video collages created by David Shields, James Nugent and Ishmael Butler, Snapchat and Instagram-filtered footage of Butler. Much like the accompanying track, the visuals take you into a different universe — one full of wild possibilities. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Nya Bloom Releases a Euphoric Club Friendly Anthem Paired with Hallucinogenic Visuals

Aaron Perez is a Hemet, CA-born, Los Angeles-based electronic music producer and artist, who’s work is influenced by Thrice and Circa Survive, as well as the flies of Christopher Nolan, The Wachowski Sisters and Trey Edward Shultz. His solo recording project Nya Bloom, which was influenced by a series of traumatic and fucked up events including bankruptcy, a bad break up and his best friend’s death, attempts to merge two completely separate worlds to create a fully immersive multimedia experience. Interestingly, his debut EP and short film Exhale finds the Icon Collective College of Music grad taking the viewer through a hero’s journey — while paying homage to Joseph Campbell’s work. 

Thematically, Exhale focuses on the deconstruction and dismantling of identity and deeply-entrenched beliefs by trueing through the dark and uneasy spaces where fear and insecurity reside. The EP’s latest single is the swaggering and euphoric “Alright.” Centered around a sinuous bass line, shimmering synth arpeggios, a rousing and enormous hook, a huge drop and Perez’s plaintive falsetto,  the slickly produced song is a summery club banger that manages to be incredibly radio friendly. “‘Alright’ was made when I was going through a big transition, personally and musically,” Perez recalls. “It just fell out of my head in one night after a big dry spell. There was a big relief that came with it, the song just puts me in a good mood and I needed that at that time.” 

Although, the single is the lead single of his forthcoming EP, it’s actually part three of the accompanying four part film series that features motifs of love, loss and acceptance while finding respite in a breath. Interestingly, the recently released video directed by Taylor Jade of Jaded Productions follows our protagonist (Perez) holding a business card that has directed him to a suburban office park building. When he enters, he encounters a svengali type character, who gives a metaphysical speech before offering our protagonist a drink that takes him to a weird, hallucinatory world in this suburban office park in which he encounters a dance troupe led by a younger doppleganger and more. It’s trippy and recalls The Matrix but while capturing the euphoria at the heart of the song. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Carriers Releases a Hallucinogenic VHS-Styled Visual for “Another Guy”

Over the past handful of years, Cincinnati-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Curt Kiser played in a number of national touring bands while meticulously crafting his own work as a songwriting and solo artist — in step with his own development as a person. Kiser’s latest project Carriers can trace its origins back to 2014 — and since then, he has collaborated with a collection of friends and associates including The National‘s Bryan Devendorf and The Afghan Whigs‘ John Curley, who have helped him bring his sound and vision to life.

Kiser released his Carriers full-length debut Now Is The Time For Loving me, Yourself & Everyone Else was released last year through Good Eye Records, and the album thematically found Kiser taking stock of life, death and his relationships — all while being grateful for being around another day. “Overall it’s about what we have and remaining present, while still being able to have an honest perspective of the past and our future,” Kiser explained in press notes. “I’ve personally found a lot of peace in just working hard and staying focused on what I’ve got going on, trusting, rather than being consumed with striving. This record process has taught me a lot about patience. Life will continue to teach me to have more. I’m just trying to accept what happens and handle it the best I can. Patience is forever.”

Album single “Another Guy” is a shimmering, brooding and hook-driven bit of guitar pop, centered around a deceptively uptempo arrangement, and deeply personal, confessional songwriting — and in a way that recalls Dire Straits and Tom Petty but with an aching sense of heartache and loss. 

“When you’re writing a song and in the midst of capturing what is inspiring it, you usually don’t think about anything else but just staying focused on that moment and letting the song appear and become realized. At least, that’s how it happens for me,” Curt Kiser says in a lengthy statement.

“‘Another Guy’ is a song that I knew I needed to write but I never knew if anyone else would really hear it beyond some close friends and family. It’s a song about a dream I had that holds a lot of weight and significance for me. While trying to tell the story of this one, I’ve had trouble coming up with the right words to do so. How do you explain a spiritual encounter and fully convey what it meant for you?

“I was lifted into the air, saw a statue of Jesus break apart, come to life and we had a conversation. It was pretty weird. I think I’m okay with letting this song speak for itself. It was a dream. It was extremely vivid. It changed my life & my overall outlook of myself and the depths of the supernatural realm. It opened me up to new possibilities and something I had never been shown before while also confirming some things I’ve held as truth.

I know what it means for me and when people hear this song, I hope that you can feel something similar to what I felt while having the encounter and that it changes the atmosphere wherever you are.”

Directed by Polish filmmaker Sztuka Naiwna, the recently released video for “Another Guy” was filmed on fuzzy, VHS-styled visual that’s hallucinogenic and feverish while possessing a wistful air.  “The idea of a video began in August, a fews days before the song’s premiere,” Kiser recalls in press notes. “I received a message from an Instagram user in Poland, Sztuka Naiwna, offering to create a video for the song. He said he’d heard it on David Dean Burkhart’s playlist and was really moved by it. I was cautious since I wouldn’t be able to work very closely with him, but after a couple months he sent over an edit and I loved it. I think he really captured something special for Carriers’ first music video.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay San Mei Releases a Wistful and Nostalgic Visual for “Cry”

Throughout the course of this site’s nearly ten year history, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering the Gold Coast, Australia-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and JOVM mainstay Emily Hamilton, the creative mastermind behind the acclaimed and rising indie rock act San Mei. Initially beginning as a synth pop-leaning bedroom recording project, Hamilton quickly received attention from this site and media outlets like NME, Indie Shuffle, NYLON and Triple J. Interestingly, her debut EP Necessary found the Aussie singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and JOVM mainstay moving towards a much more organic sound inspired by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Cat Power, Feist and others.

Hamilton met songwriter, producer and musical phenom Oscar Dawson at BIGSOUND a couple of years ago, and the pair immediately hit it off. According to Hamilton, taking Dawson on as a producer and collaborator found the duo refining ideas, exploring different soundscapes and laying down the foundation for her — and in turn, San Mei’s — sonic progression. As Hamilton explains in press notes “[Dawson and I] hit it off straight away and it seemed like he understood where I was coming from, even if I had trouble conveying certain ideas in the demos I made at home.” Hamilton’s Dawson-produced sophomore EP Heaven was a decidedly shoegazer-like affair, featuring arena rock friendly hooks, big power chords and shimmering synths. Adding to a growing profile, last year Hamilton opened for the likes of G. Flip, K. Fly, Ali Barter and Jack River in her native Australia, went on an extensive national headlining tour and played nine shows across six days at SXSW.

Her third EP Cry  was released last Friday through Sydney-based etcetc Recordscontinues Hamilton’s ongoing collaboration with Oscar Dawson — and interestingly, the four song EP finds the Aussie JOVM mainstay drawing from the harder guitar-driven work of The Kills, Metric, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs as well as the synth-driven pop like Grimes and Lykke Li. The EP’s latest single, title track “Cry” establishes the EP’s overall tone and sound — a hook driven, shimmering take on dream pop centered around atmospheric synths, reverb-drenched guitars and what may arguably be her most direct and personal songwriting to date. And much like her previously released material, the song reveals an incredibly self-assured songwriter, crafting some of her most earnest and ambitious material. It shouldn’t be surprising that she’s building a much larger international profile.

“I wrote ‘Cry’ when I realised it had gotten to the middle of the year already, and time was flying like crazy,” Hamilton explains in press notes. “It made me think, I hadn’t really been paying attention to what was happening around me in the present, and only been thinking about the future, wishing time would hurry up so I could get to that next thing. I think when we’re young, we lament all the things we don’t have, or how we’re not where we want to be yet. We could actually end up wishing our time and youth away. This song is a reminder to myself to stop, breathe and appreciate this stage of my life and everything it has to offer.”

The recently released video features Hamilton working at a mundane and soul-sucking day job at a restaurant. We’re introduced to her appearing bored and restless at a soul-sucking day job. And as she takes out the garbage, she suddenly decides to take off for a drive, enjoy the small things and not come back for a while.  Her travels include having her car break down and having a friendly mechanic fix her car, a stop at the beach and to an arcade. But as the video progresses, we see Hamilton smiling with a deep appreciation and joy — a marked difference from when we’re first introduced to her. 

“‘Cry’ is about longing, daydreaming, wishing for more and for a better day,” Hamilton explains in press notes. “While it’s important to me that people are able to relate to the type of restlessness that can often bring pain, I wanted the video to feel wistful and celebrate the idea that you can break free from your own mindset if you just let go, breathe, and find some joy in the present. The moments at the arcade, on the beach, driving to nowhere in particular are all reminders to stop and enjoy your youth while it’s here. Just be grateful for today.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Brooklyn’s Holy Hive Releases a Playful Visual for Mournful Single “Broom”

Holy Hive is a Brooklyn-based soul act featuring:

Paul Spring, a St. Cloud, MN-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter and guitarist. Spring spent his formative years studying ancient languages, poetry and classical guitar before making a name for himself as a folk artist, who self-released seven albums, including a well-received children’s album Home of Song.
Homer Steinweiss, a Brooklyn-born and-based drummer, who has played, toured and recorded with a who’s who of contemporary music including Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars, The Jonas Brothers, St. Vincent, Charles Bradley and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings– before settling into a highly-south after session player.
Joe Harrison, a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist who has played with Frank Dukes and Charles Bradley.
The band can trace its origins to when Spring and Steinwess met on a Minnesota farm through their respective girlfriends, who actually are cousins. Steinweiss and Spring soon began a long-distance friendship, which, over time developed into a folk music recording project. Harrison, was working at a studio assistant at The Diamond Mine Studios at the time and he started to sit in on the duo’s sessions, eventually joining the band as a full-time member in 2015 when the band began recording as Holy Hive.

In 2016 Spring relocated to New York and the members of Holy Hive were invited to tour with JOVM mainstay Lee Fields. That tour dramatically changed their approach and sound: after the tour they began exploring the relationships between the traditions and lyricism of folk and the aesthetics and rhythms of soul music — by seamlessly meshing them into something anachronistic yet uniquely theirs. And with a new sound, they began honing their sound with a year-long monthly resident at Red Hook, Brooklyn-based dive bar Sunny’s with a rotating cast of collaborators. Then they spent the next couple of years working on folk and soul inspired material that thematically focused on love and loss.

The end result is the band’s long-awaited full-length debut Float Back to You. Slated for a May 29, 2020 release through Big Crown Records, the album is the follow-up to their critically applauded debut EP Harping and a string of well-received singles. Recorded at Diamond Mind Studios, the album was produced by the band’s Steinwess and consists of 10 originals, a cover of Honeybus’ “Be Thou By My Side” and a re-working of the old Irish folk standard “Red is the Rose.” The album also features an impressive array of guest stars including Mary Lattimore (harp), El Michels Affair’s Leon Michels (sax, keys), The Shacks’ Shannon Wise (backing vocals), The Roots’ Dave Guy (trumpet), Nick Movshon (bass) and Spring’s wife Sophia Heymans (piano).

Float Back to You’s latest single is the shimmering and mournful blue-eyed soul meets 60s folk-like “Broom.” Centered around shimmering guitar chords, a steady backbeat, a gorgeous yet soulful arrangement and Spring’s aching falsetto, the song can trace its origins back to their first tour with Lee Fields. “At the time, we were a folk trio with nylon guitars playing Nick Drake inspired arrangements,” the band’s Homer Steinweiss recalls in press notes. “These songs did not go over too well with the So-Cal soul audience. Inspired by Lee’s music, we saw a need to write a more soulful song to appeal to them. After covering Donnie and Joe Emerson’s ‘Baby’ in San Diego, Joe made some chords, Homer laid a beat and paul activated the falsetto to make this tune.”

Directed by Sesse Lind, the recently released video for “Broom” is shot on a Long Island City, Queens industrial rooftop — and we follow the band’s Homer Steinweiss as he kind of jazzercises to the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Deal Casino Releases a Brooding Single Paired with Cinematically Shot Visuals

I’ve managed to spill a bit of virtual ink covering the Asbury Park, NJ-based indie rock band Deal Casino over the past couple of of years of this site’s almost ten year history. And as you may recall, the Southern New Jersey-based act — childhood friends Joe Parella (vocals), Jon Rodney (bass) and Joe Cowell (keys, guitar)  — formed back in 2013 and released a series of EPs before releasing 2017’s self-titled full-length debut to critical praise from Stereogum, New Noise and others. 

The members of Deal Casino released their sophomore album 2018’s LLC. And from album singles “Happy People,” and “Baby Teeth,” the JOVM mainstays managed to expand upon the sound, approach and thematic concerns that won them attention and praise across the blogosphere with the material walking a tight-rope between lo-fi bedroom recordings and studio polish while thematically focusing on living in a uncertain, horribly fucked up world.  Building upon a growing profile, the band has made appearances at Governor’s Ball, Firefly, Sea.Hear.Now., and The Front Bottoms’ Champagne Jam. Last year, they supported LLC through tours with The Wrecks, Badflower, The Happy Fits, The Parlor Mob and The Technicolors– and it included the band’s first European tour with the aforementioned Badflower. 

2020 began with the release of a cover of Frank Sinatra’s iconic “My Way,” a tour to build up buzz for their then-unreleased five song EP Woof and the release of the EP’s first single “Chicken Head.” Interestingly, while the single retains the hook-driven nature of the band’s previously released work, it reveals a decided change of sonic and thematic direction. Influenced by the members’ lifelong obsessions with Pixies and Radiohead, the material draws from the band’s experiences over the past two years. And as a result, the material may arguably be the most introspective they’ve written and released to date. Interestingly, “Chicken Head” is a slow-burning and brooding track centered around boom bap-like drums, buzzing guitars, atmospheric synths, Parella’s plaintive crooning and an enormous hook. In some way, the track — to me, at least — manages to evoke the uncertainty and unease of current moment, as well as the utter weirdness of being an artist at this juncture.

The recently released, cinematically shot video for “Chicken Head” features the members of the band in a classic, black convertible Oldsmobile with concert amps hooked up to the backseat, driving around suburban emptiness. At some point, we see the band goofing off and doing donuts in an empty parking lot. Of course, through the video, the members of the band look like the coolest dudes on the face of the earth.  

The band recently announced that they’ll be going on a Quarantour, in which they’ll team up with local bands to give fans a unique concert experience through Instagram Live. Of course, merch will be available to help support the bands in a difficult time — and there’ll be the option to donate to Feeding America. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the “120 Minutes” era MTV-like Sounds of Auckland’s Lexytron

Lexy is a Manchester, UK-born, Auckland, New Zealand-based singer/songwriter and guitarist who claims Greek, Persian and English heritage — or as she described herself as a young girl, “Half Greek, half Persian, half English.”Much like countless other musicians, her passion for music was stoked when she learned piano and violin as a girl.The British-born, Kiwi-based singer/songwriter and musician is the creative mastermind behind the emerging recording project Lexytron. 

Lexytron’s full-length debut Something Blue was recorded in London with City Reign’s Mike Grice and the album reportedly finds the emerging singer/songwriter crafting material with roaring riffs, lush strings and soaring choral arrangements in a  way that seamlessly meshing rock and classical music — while being an an indie rock girl’s guide to love, loss and lust. The album’s latest single “Blue” is a decidedly 120 Minutes-era MTV-like alt rock song centered around jangling power chords, soaring strings and the British-born, Kiwi-based artist’s plaintive vocals. 

Directed by Lexy and Mike Grice, the recently released video is an intimate, DIY video of the emerging singer/songwriter on the shore of Lake Pukaki, located on the New Zealand’s South Island. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing Emerging French Rapper ACHIM

ACHIM is an emerging French emceee, who hails from Marseille, France’s La Castellane neighborhood. Initially built as a council estate in the 1960s for French refugees of the Algerian War, the neighborhood is now home to roughly 7,000 residents, who are mostly second-generation French citizens. The neighborhood is plagued by high unemployment, drug trafficking, prostitution and arms smuggling. Naturally, the emerging artist’s work draws from life in La Castellane — and is a portrait of life in a hardscrabble neighborhood, struggling to survive.  (Perhaps unsurprisingly, Marseille is known for being especially corrupt and brutal to its poor.) 

“Mets dans l’assiette,” ACHIM’s debut single is some twitter and woofer rattling trap, centered around an eerie looped sample of a twinkling piano figure, stuttering beats and an enormous hook, paired with the emerging French rapper’s effortlessly self-assured flow. Frankly, this cat may have a big future ahead of him. From what I understand, the song is actually pretty deep. Thematically the song focuses on the paradoxes of our world. 

Co-directed by the emerging artist and his friend Alexandre Lhote, the recently released video references Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, Botticelli’s map of hell and several other paintings, while being centered around contradictions and paradoxes. Sometimes ACHIM is alone, sometimes he’s with his crew — and the result is trippy. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Mexico’s Glass Cristina Releases a Mesmerizing New Single

Led by founding members Bernardo Castilla and Lorenzo Engell, the rapidly rising Mexican electro pop act Glass Cristina was formed in Barcelona in 2016. Their five song, debut EP Circle Line, which featured attention grabbing singles like “La Reina De España” and “Dancing With the Devil” received attention in their native Mexico and elsewhere — despite the fact the material was unmastered and mixed at home, because the duo couldn’t afford to pay for professional mixing. But their debut EP established their sound: lush and atmospheric textures paired with soulful melodies while drawing from neo-sou, funk and electro pop. 

The band was on a hiatus when its founding members were living in different countries but in 2017, the band reconvened and expanded with the addition of Enzo Aquino (bass, synths, backing vocals), who has helped the band achieve a more organic live set. Last year the band performed at Sziget Festival with the likes of The 1975, Jungle, Twenty One Pilots, Foo Fighters and others. Along with that, the trio have been busy writing and recording their forthcoming album Nudity, Slated for a May 22, 2020 release through Vegan Caníbal Records, an imprint of Blanco y Negro, one of Spain’s most successful indie record labels.  Reportedly, the album is a result of a period of profound self-discovery through incessant work and composition — while showcasing the trio’s dedication to evolving their sound and identity. 

Nudity’s latest single, “Bali” is an atmospheric yet club friendly song centered around shimmering synths, blasts of Nile Rodgers-like guitar, a sinuous bass line, tweeter and woofer rocking beats an an enormous hook — and while arguably being one of the most hypnotic tracks on the album, it possesses a subtle jungle vibe that reminds me of early Doomsquad and others.  Interestingly, the song is a brooding ode to heartbreak and betrayal as the song essentially sets up a story about the swooning first pangs of a new relationship and its inevitable accompanying heartache. But instead of wallowing too deeply in bitterness, the song is meant to inspire the listener to get up and to dance, dance, dance it all away. 

The recently released and incredibly cinematic lyric video for “Bali” is fittingly set on Bali and features two masked figures dancing seductively in lush and verdant forests — and the result is something truly mesmerizing, 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Birmingham AL’s Wray Releases a Brooding Visual for Shimmering and Cinematic “Jogging/Neon Forming”

Wray is a critically applauded Birmingham, AL-based indie trio — David Bown (bass, vocals), David Swatzell (guitar, vocals) and Blake Wimberly (drums)  — that can trace its origins to its members’ shared decade-plus history in Birmingham’s indie and underground scenes. Interestingly, with the act’s first two albums — 2014’s self-titled debut and 2016’s Lynn Bridges and Wray co-produced sophomore album Hypatia, the Birmingham-based trio received praise from the likes of The New York Times and Mojo for their adventurous, genre-defying sound and approach. Adding to a growing profile, they’ve also made appearances on MTVu and Daytrotter. 

Slated for a June 5, 2020 release through their longtime label home Communicating Vessels Records, the band’s long-awaited, self-produced dual record Stream of Youth/Blank World thematically is an exploration of personal dichotomies: hope and pessimism, wildness and composure, joy and pain. Recorded at Communicating Vessels Birmingham area studio, the band experimented, wrote, revised and recorded the material at their own pace. Sonically, the material further establishes the band’s reputation for crafting a shimmering New Wave-like take on shoegaze that seems indebted to NEU!, Faust, Can, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, and even The Cure. 

“Jogging/Neon Forming,” Stream of Youth/Blank World’s brooding and cinematic latest single is a perfect example of the sound that has won them acclaim: centered around a motorik groove, shimmering synth arpeggios, plaintive vocals and a rousingly anthemic hook, the song feels like an ethereal yet lingering fever dream. At its core is an achingly wistful nostalgia for a past that we simply can’t get back — and considering the current state of the world, the song’s overall feel and vibe feels powerfully relevant. 

Created by Barbara Baron, the recently released video for “Jogging/Neon Forming” was hot on a grainy VHS-like tape and features a lonely woman in a laundromat and briefly in a park — and throughout there’s a sense of loss. 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Tel Aviv’s Red Axes Releases a Hook-Driven Club Banger

Red Axes is an acclaimed Tel Aviv, Israel-bass electronic music production, electronic music artist and DJ duo of Dori Sadovnik and Niv Arzi. Over their decade together, the Israeli duo have specialized in a sound that they’ve dubbed punk-electronica, influenced by their backgrounds in rock and their enthusiasm for contemporary club sounds. Interestingly, throughout their run together, the duo have developed a reputation for restless experimentalism: they’ve released deep house material on Crosstown Rebels Records and Permanent Vacation Records and have even performed live sets with a 12 member band while releasing two albums and dozens of 12 inches. They’ve also released material throughI’m A Cliche Records and their own Garzen Records. 

To celebrate their tenth anniversary together, the duo will be releasing their forthcoming, self-titled album through Dark Entries Records. Slated for a May 8, 2020 release, the album is reportedly their first batch of material specifically conceived and written as an album-length listening experience with the songs flowing through a variety of stylistic and sonic detours. highlighting their ears as keen and adventurous listeners and DJs. The album’s first single is the swaggering. late 90s-early 00s electronica banger “Sticks and Stones.” Featuring a vocal contribution from Adi Bronicki, who rhymes and sings with an in-your-face swagger, the song is centered around a slick production featuring buzzing guitars, thumping beats and layers of electronics. Sonically, the track may remind some listeners of Tweekend-era The Crystal Method, The Chemical Brothers and others. 

Directed by Sergei Rostropovich, the recently released, cinematically shot video follows Lea Prinz on a wild, booze-fueled night throughout town with stops at several bars, several liquor stores with a cathartic ending at an enormous club. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Moaning Releases a Brooding and Introspective Single

Throughout the past handful of years of this site’s almost ten year history, I’ve managed to spill a lot of virtual ink covering rapidly rising Los Angeles-based post-punk trio and JOVM mainstays Moaning. Now, as you may recall the members of the band — ean Solomon (vocals, guitar), Pascal Stevenson (keys, bass) and Andrew MacKelvie (drums) — have been friends and collaborators in Los Angeles’ DIY scene for the better part of a decade through music and other creative pursuits in different media: Solomon is also a noted illustrator, art director and animator while Stevenson and MacKelvie have played in or produced and engineered acclaimed and rapidly rising acts like Cherry Glazerr, Sasami and Surf Curse.

With the release of 2018’s self-titled, full-length debut, the JOVM mainstays received attention from a number of nationally and internationally known media outlets including The Fader, The Guardian, DIY Magazine, Stereogum, and others for a moody and angular post-punk sound that — to some ears — recalled the likes of Joy Division, Interpol and Preoccupations. The trio’s highly-anticipated Alex Newport-produced and  engineered sophomore album Uneasy Laughter is slated for release tomorrow through Sub Pop Records. Reportedly, the album is a much more collaborative effort than their self-titled debut, and the material find site band brightening the claustrophobic and uneasy sound of their debut a bit, by replacing guitars for synths and beats.

Thematically, the album focuses on the everyday anxieties of being a somewhat functioning human in the madness of our current century — with the material touching upon the deeply personal and the universal. “We’ve known each other forever and we’re really comfortable trying to express where we’re at. A lot of bands aren’t so close,” the band’s Andrew MacKelvie says in press notes. Sean Solomon, who celebrated a year of sobriety during the Uneasy Laughter sessions adds “Men are conditioned not to be vulnerable or admit they’re wrong. But I wanted to talk openly about my feelings and mistakes I’ve made.”

Over the past couple of months I’ve written about three of the album’s previously released singles: the brooding, 80s New Order-like single “Ego,” the cynical A Flock of Seagulls-like “Fall In Love,” and the bleak yet explosive, guitar-driven ripper “Make It Stop.” “Connect the Dots,” Uneasy Laughter’s fourth and latest single is a brooding and atmospheric track, centered around shimmering synths, a soaring hook, Solomon’s achingly plaintive vocals, squiggling blasts of guitar, and an angular and expressive guitar solo. And while continuing a run of New Wave-like material, “Connect the Dots” may arguably be the most personal and introspective songs of the album. “The song is about realizing you need help and being brave enough to ask for it. It’s a misconception that asking for help is a sign of weakness. In reality it’s one of the hardest things you can do,” the band’s Sean Solomon explains in press notes.

Directed by Campbell Logan, the recently released video for “Connect the Dots” uses some mind-bending computer animated graphics. “I created this video with the intention of inspiring self-forgiveness, something I think we should all practice,” Logan says. “Making it gave me the opportunity to practice an approach that I like to call Filmmaking Simulation, which is a process of doing film production using virtual cinematography, set design and performance. The result is photorealistic and mimics live action. We had an extremely quick turnaround on the video, but were able to complete it in a little over a month, and despite these hurdles I’m so proud of it!”