JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates B52’s co-founder Fred Schneider’s 74th birthday.
Category: singer/songwriters
Throwback: Happy 89th Birthday, Syl Johnson!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 89th anniversary of the birth of Syl Johnson.
Throwback: Happy 90th Birthday, James Cotton!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 90th anniversary of the birth of James Cotton.
Throwback: Happy 110th Birthday, Willie Dixon!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 110th anniversary of the birth of Willie Dixon.
New Video: L’Eclair Teams Up WIth girl named GOLDEN on Languorous and Glittering “THE GLITCH”
With recorded output that includes 2018’s full-length debut, Polymood, 2019’s Sauropoda, 2020’s Noshtta EP and 2021’s Confusions, the acclaimed Swiss-based group L’Eclair, founded and led by Bulgarian-born siblings Stef and Yavov Lilov firmly established themselves as masters of mind-bending, cosmic-leaning groove.
Along with two live sessions for KEXP, which amassed over 900,000 views combined, the Swiss-based group have built up an international following, while landing on the playlists of adventurous listeners and DJs seeking deep grooves.
Meticulously crafted over the past four years, the acclaimed JOVM mainstays, highly-anticipated and recently released fourth album Cloud Drifter is a decided and radical departure from the Belgian group’s long-held instrumental approach with the album’s material featuring vocals from a wide and eclectic array of frequent collaborations that they’ve worked with over the past few years, including including Pink Slifu, Girl Named GOLDEN, Gelli Haha, A Ghost Column, and more.
Having toured with The Cinematic Orchestra and W.I.T.C.H. — including writing and recording W.I.T.C.H.’s 2023 effort Zango and The Cinematic Orchestra’s forthcoming album this year, as well as production work with Varnish La Piscine and Maston, the Lilov brothers have assembled a vast network of likeminded musicians. And across the entire album, they keenly curate a cohesive vision incorporating many disparate contributions.
In the lead-up to Cloud Drifter‘s release, I’ve written about three of the album’s singles:
- “ODESSOS,” featuring Phoebe Coco and A Ghost Column
- “VERTIGO“
- “REPLICA M001,” featuring Pink Slifu
CLOUD DRIFTER’S latest single “The GLITCH” feat. girl named GOLDEN is anchored around a slow-burning, languorous disco groove that serves as a lush bed for girl named GOLDEN’s dreamily yearning cooing.
The accompanying video for “THE GLITCH” features kaleidoscopically edited super 8 filmed footage of girl named GOLDEN performing at The Sultan Room, life on tour and in the studio with the acclaimed Belgians.
New Audio: Develour Shares Lush and Breezy “Celle qui”
Mysterious and mischievous French artist Develour emerged into the Francophone indie pop scene with the release of “La Part des Agnes,” a song which saw him quickly establishing a sound that he playfully dubbed “French touch disco,” a sound that draws from and features elements of chanson, soul, funk, disco and pop.
“La Part des Agnes” and the French artist’s second single “Un Matin,” which I described as a breezy and summery bop built around a swaggering and infectious 80s-inspired groove, appeared on his debut EP, 2023’s Vert Galant.
The emerging French artist forthcoming sophomore EP will feature the previously released “Dealer d’Amour,” a dreamy and lush song that prominently features Developer’s yearning, achingly plaintive cooing, and the EP’s latest single “Celle qui.”
“Celle qui” continues a run of lush and breezy, hook-driven tunes, featuring glistening synth arpeggios, a supple and funky bass line serving as a lush bed for the French artist’s yearning delivery. While breakneck and infectious, thematically, the new single, as Develour explains focuses on the fantasies and stories we tell ourselves while deeply fascinated with a potential love interest. He goes on to say that the song sonically and structurally plays on the contrasts between the longing and self-doubt in the pursuit of a desired one.
Throwback: R.I.P. Walter Scott
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the life and music of The Whispers co-founder Walter Scott.
New Audio: Dream Bodies Shares Shimmering, Brooding, and Dance Floor Friendly “Circle of Light”
Steven Fleet is a Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, poet, writer and artist, who has been in several music projects that have allowed him to play shows across the US, the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic. He is also the creative mastermind behind the solo recording project Dream Bodies. With Dream Bodies, Fleet crafts “witchy, dreamy, gothy, post punk, dream pop, cold wave with poetic, philosophical lyrics.”
The Los Angeles-based artist’s recently Dream Bodies debut EP, Circle of Light features the previously released “Dream Hangover,” and the EP’s latest single, EP title track “Circle of Light,” a dance floor friendly bit of post punk/coldwave featuring skittering beats, squiggling, reverb-drenched guitars and broodingly atmospheric synths serving as a dark yet lush bed for Fleet’s sonorous baritone.
Fleet explains that the song’s lyrics focus on occult themes, and a liminal space between light and darkness, life and death. This new single, along with its predecessor helps introduce Fleet’s mystical, occult oeuvre.
Throwback: Happy 70th Birthday, Mick Jones!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates The Clash’s and Big Audio Dynamite’s Mick Jones’ 70th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 62nd Birthday, George Michael!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 62nd anniversary of the birth of George Michael.
Throwback: Happy 64th Birthday, Curt Smith!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Curt Smith’s 64th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 59th Birthday, Hope Sandoval!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Hope Sandoval’s 59th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 96th Birthday, June Carter Cash!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 96th anniversary of June Carter Cash’s birth.
Musings: The Masters of War
The Masters of War are up to their nefarious bullshit yet again.