As an old Swedish legend has it, a traveling witch doctor and her disciples were led to a tiny and extremely remote Northern Swedish village, Korpilombolo by an unknown Sami traveller. The reason that the Sami traveller […]
Category: Single Review
New Audio: Phia’s Breezy and Seductive Cover of Radiohead’s “15 Step”
More than enough ink has been spilled on the Oxford, UK-based quintet Radiohead — to the point that delving deeply into the band’s backstory will seem largely unnecessary; however, what I will say is that the […]
New Audio: Introducing Camille TRUST and Her Funky, Swaggering, New Single “Wake Your Body Up”
Born and raised in Tampa, FL and currently located here in NYC, Camille Trzcinski, who performs under the moniker Camille TRUST is a singer/songwriter, whose sound according to her website is deeply influenced by Motown and […]
New Audio: Check Out Starlight Girls Dance-Floor Leaning, New Single “Lodestar”
Over the past five years, the Brooklyn-based sextet, Starlight Girls have developed a reputation for a unique brand of “noir-ish indie pop” and for a live set that employs the use of video projections that includes psychedelic imagery, stock […]
New Audio: Boulevards Cements His Reputation for Funky, Club-Banging Pop With “Honesty”
http://www.npr.org/player/embed/442320383/442326741 Boulevards is the solo recording project of the North Carolina-based Jamil Rashad. Now if you’ve been following JOVM over the past couple of months, you may be familiar with Rashad — but for those new […]
New Audio: Grupo Fantasma’s New Single, “Solo Un Sueno” Reveals A Challenging Yet Accessible Change in Sonic Direction
Since their formation 15 years ago, the Austin, TX-based collective Grupo Fantasma has developed a reputation as being one of the US’s preeminent, independent Latin bands as the collective has been nominated for multiple Grammies […]
New Audio: Indie All-Star, Side Project, Coromandelles’ New Single Channels a Playful Version of Phil Spector and Others
Initially begun as a sort of side project of Tijuana Panthers’ Dan Michicoff, Coromandelles, the project became a full-fledged band when Cold War Kids‘ bassist Matt Maust, Robyn Roth and Naomi Green joined. After recording […]
New Audio: The Tense and Sensual Collaboration Between Melbourne’s The Cactus Channel and Chet Faker
Forming over 5 years ago, the Melbourne, Australia-based funk/soul collective The Cactus Channel have developed a reputation for being one of Australia’s premier funk and soul instrumental bands, as they’ve released two full-length efforts and […]
New Audio: Brothertiger’s New Single, “Out of Touch” Channels Washed Out and 80s Synth Pop
John Jagos is a Brooklyn-based electronic musician and producer, and his solo recording project, Brothertiger can trace its origins to 2009. As a sophomore at Ohio State University, Jagos released his debut EP, Vision Tunnels […]
New Audio: YOKOTA’s Unique Spin on Contemporary Pop
YOKOTA is a somewhat mysterious, young, up-and-coming Sydney, Australia-based singer/songwriter and producer, who quietly released her debut single “Blindside” a single that possessed elements of swing-period jazz, brass band jazz, hip-hop, soul and pop in a densely […]
New Audio: Fever the Ghost’s Psychedelic, New Single Channels Radiohead
Fever the Ghost’s soon-to-be released full-length effort, Zirconium Meconium slated for a September 25 release through Complicated Game Records in the US and Heavenly Records in the UK comes on the heels of their critically praised […]
Originally founded as duo by its founding members Sarah Kinlaw and Bryan Keller, Jr., SOFTSPOT has evolved over the years into a quartet of friends with a long history of collaboration and creativity. Blake Bateh (drums) was recruited to join the band during the writing and recording of last year’s MASS, while Jonathan Campolo (synths) was recruited to flesh out the band’s live sound during the tour to support MASS.
Clearing, the quartet’s forthcoming full-length album, slated for release later this year will mark the band’s first full-length effort as a quartet as the material reportedly focuses on themes of exposition and openness as a means for connection and progression.
As the band explains in press notes, the forthcoming album’s first single “Abalone” stems from a desire for solitude and stillness and a tension between that desire and the urge for outside connection — and as a result, the single is a tense yet spectral song comprised of persistent drumming paired with syncopated bass chords, shimmering guitar chords, twinkling synth chords reminiscent of The Buggles‘ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” swirling electronics and Kinlaw’s lilting and ethereal vocals floating over the tense instrumentation to craft a song that feels like a feverish dream before it dissipates like smoke into the ether.
New Audio: New Order’s Club-Friendly, New Single “Plastic”
In the 35 years since their formation, much ink has been spilled throughout New Order’s history, so delving deeply into their backstory is largely unnecessary; however, what I will say is that New Order may arguably be one […]
New Audio: Check Out M&M’s Funky, Club Banging Remix of Tuxedo’s “The Right Time”
Tuxedo is the collaborative project of Mayer Hawthorne, one of this era’s shamefully unheralded vocalists and Jake One, a Grammy nominated artist and producer. The collaboration can trace its origins back to 2006 when the duo started to exchange […]
New Audio: Native Sons, Shoegaze-Leaning, New Single “Pictures”
With members based in London UK and Brighton UK, the British indie rock trio Native Sons first caught my attention with the release of their first single “Humanise,” which was a breezy bit of Brit pop reminiscent of The Invisible Band-era Travis and […]