Over the last few months I’ve written quite a bit about Chapel Hill, NC-based experimental/post-hardcore punk/new wave-leaning trio Milemarker. Initially comprised of Al Burian, Dave Laney and Ben Davis, the members of Milemarker quickly developed a reputation in indie […]
Category: Video
New Video: Indie, Experimental Electro Pop Supergroup’s Latest Pairs a Tight Groove with Deeply Empathetic Lyrics and Visuals
Interestingly, the album’s latest single and album title track “Our Puram,” has a narrator, who describes the sense of ecstasy and belonging that members of the Rajneeshpuram community felt and the gaping sense of dejection and hopelessness when they were forced to return to what they felt were dreary, ordinary, meaningless lives. While sonically, the trio pair distorted four-on-the-floor-like breakbeats, layers of wobbling and distorted synths, twinkling keys, distorted and droning guitar chords and mournful horn notes held together with a motorik-like groove that builds up towards the song’s last half/last third or so. It’s arguably the trio’s most mournful song but paired with one of the deepest and trippiest grooves they’ve released to date, while retaining a cinematic quality.
The recently released video features found footage that provides an intimate peek into the daily lives and practices of the Rajneeshpuram community and it gives the song a deeper, empathetic feel as it reminds the viewer and the listener of the subject’s essential humanity.
New Video: The Devil Makes Three’s Reefer Madness-Like Visuals for Their Sun Records-Inspired Cover of Muddy Waters’ “Champagne and Reefer”
Redemption and Ruin‘s latest single is a slightly slowed-down, twangy, Johnny Cash, Sun Records-era-leaning cover of one of my favorite Muddy Waters tunes “Champagne and Reefer” that retains the original’s wicked sense of humor and gleeful debauchery. And interestingly enough, the recently released music video features a ton of old Reefer Madness-inspired movie footage of people smoking, getting high, partying hard, hooking up and generally just having a shit ton of fun; in fact, so much fun that I think I might want to join them.
Live Footage: The Mystery Lights Performing “What Happens When The Devil Turns You Down” on Daptone Records’ “Live From The House of Soul” Video Series
Daptone Records recently released some gorgeously cinematic, black and white shot footage of The Mystery Lights performing “What Happens When The Devil Turns You Down” as part of their “Live From The House Of Soul” video series. And the song is comprised of layers of guitar chords fed through reverb, an incredibly dexterous guitar solo reminiscent of Robby Krieger’s solo in “Light My Fire,” and propulsive yet subtly jazz-like drumming paired with Brandon’s falsetto singing lyrics about a surreal encounter with the devil.
New Video: Gonjasufi’s New, Cinematic Visuals and Sounds
Ecks’ soon-to-be released effort Callus is reportedly his most soul-baring and cathartic material released to date as the album thematically is about embracing pain, hurt and anger to create something that could potentially resonate with someone else. The album’s fourth and latest single “Vinaigrette” finds the renowned producer and electronic music artist pairing layers of abrasive and droning synths, propulsive drumming, wobbling and buzzing guitar and equally wobbling bass, industrial clang and clatter with Ecks’ croaky, aching vocals singing a song that’s actually quite playful. As Ecks explains in press notes “The truth is I wasn’t trying to get too serious with this song. It was recorded when the world was in a better place, hence the mood is light. I imagined a runway model struggling with her own skewed perception. A girl who was trying to run away from herself, only to find out she only has herself at the end of the day.”
The recently released music video is shot in a cinematic black and white for the first 2/3rds of the video and nods at Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, Vol 1. and others, as it features a contemplative female protagonist, who hits the road and literally runs away only to be hopelessly trapped within her own subjective interiority. No matter what, her own thoughts, memories and perceptions follow her along, and in a subtle fashion the video will remind the viewer that the only one you’ll ever have is yourself.
New Video: The Woozy and Trippy Visuals and Sounds of Amber Arcades’ “Turning Light”
According to de Graaf, “Turning Light,” Fading Lines’ latest single is about time, continuity and the magic in that; about being the protagonist in your own story while simultaneously being a supporting player in the lives of everyone around you and about how those roles and lines intertwine.” And as the Dutch singer/songwriter and musician explains the recently released video “captures these sentiments in a continuing movement (a.k.a. the most basic dance I could think of – and probably the only one I am capable of” and it continues throughout the video uninterrupted while locations, perspectives and even boundaries between moments fade and seem to collide into each other.
Sonically speaking, de Graaf and her backing band pair rapid fire, four-on-the-floor drumming, swirling and shimmering strings, twinkling electronics, a driving bass line and de Graaf’s ethereal vocals singing lyrics that reflect the relativistic nature of time and as a result, the woozy single manages to sound as though it draws from shoegaze and Brit pop equally.
New Video: Introducing the Surreal Visuals and Club-Banging Sounds of Austin, TX’s Holiday Mountain
Holiday Mountain’s latest single “Coffee and Weed” is a trap house-leaning club banger consisting of sparse, twinkling synths, stuttering drum programming and pairs it with Patiño’s swaggering yet mischievous flow about being lazy and bullshitting with some coffee and weed after presumably partying your face off, along with a chopped and screwed vocal sample and wobbling low end to craft a song that’s both ridiculously and ironically post-modern while being a slow-burning club banger.
The recently released video manages to be simultaneously surreal and sensual as it features the duo hanging out in outdoor tubs — Kagle looks like a luchador while Patiño is in a neon green two piece bathing suit, strutting, vamping, twerking and swaggering through the video.
New Video: The Bittersweet Visuals for Fleurie’s Gorgeous, Swooning and Anthemic “Sparks”
Certainly, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past 12-18 months or so, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts on Canton, MI-born, Nashville, TN-based classically trained pianist and singer/songwriter Lauren Straham, who writes, records and […]
New Video: The Lighthearted and Ironic Visuals for Adult Karate’s “So Low”
If you’ve been frequenting this site a bit over the past few months, you may be somewhat familiar with KC Maloney, who is perhaps best known as being one-half of renowned electro pop act Radar Cult, and his solo side project Adult Karate, which expands upon the sound that his primary project gained across the blogosphere — and while arguably being much more minimalist at times, the project’s sound clearly draws from several styles and sub-genres of electronic music including house music, acid house, techno and ambient electronica. “So Low,” a collaboration with up-and-coming Canadian singer/songwriter Adaline was the first single off Maloney’s LXII EP. And the single consists of Maloney’s sleek, hyper-modern and minimalist production featuring gentle cascading of shimmering synths, stuttering drum programming, led by finger snaps, a wobbling bass line, swirling electronics, wobbling low end and an anthemic hook featuring duetting boy-girl vocals towards the song’s last third — but with Adaline’s sultry and smoky vocals propelling the song forward.
The recently released music video features a man awkwardly preparing for a date with a beautiful woman, and an already uncomfortable meeting goes even worse when the man rebuffs his date’s advances — that is until they share a moment of some super white people dancing and some surreal lighting effects; however, the video ends with a wildly ironic twist.
Live Footage: Beach House Performing “Rough Song” on Charlie Rose
Interestingly, although released last October, Thank Your Lucky Stars was recorded during the same two month period as its predecessor Depression Cherry and continued an ongoing collaboration between the band and co-producer Chris Coady. Naturally, both albums build upon similar aesthetics, making them inseparably companion albums. Now you may remember that I recently wrote about “The Traveller” off Thank Your Lucky Stars. The duo were recently on Charlie Rose’s show where they performed a gorgeous and aching version of “Rough Song.”
New Video: JOVM Mainstays Crocodiles Reveal a Bittersweet, Aching New Single and Visuals
The album’s first single “Telepathic Lover” possesses a bittersweet ache that comes from the recognition that people are weak, damaged and fucked up, that connection and love may seem like illusions, that life is full of struggle and suffering — and although while jangling, the stripped down approach allows the ache at the heart of the song to be viscerally felt.
The recently released music video features the duo performing the song in an empty studio and was shot on grainy VHS tape but it pulls out to show a couple watching the video, while just behind them they are first passionately in love before viciously and bitterly fighting, leaving behind at least one person to be heartbroken, confused and struggling with lingering ghosts.
New Video: Atmosphere Returns with Their Most Politically Charged Visuals and Sounds to Date
The act’s soon-to-be-released seventh full-length effort Fishing Blues will feature collaborations with DOOM, Aesop Rock, Kool Keith, The Grouch and others and it features one of the most politically charged songs they’ve released to date “Pure Evil,” one of the uncanniest and frightening portrayals of the banality and stupidity of unadulterated evil and brutality that I’ve heard on record — and they do so while humanizing an evil soul to the point that you can kind of see how easy it is to become evil.
The recently released and extremely cinematic music video manages to evoke old-timey Westerns as it features an evil cop riding through the harsh beauty of the desert after he’s committed a heinous act off screen with no remorse or consideration of what he’s done; in fact, the only thought he seems to have is self-preservation at all costs.
New Video: The Surreal and Playful Visuals for Izzy True’s “Mr. Romance”
Renowned punk label Don Giovanni Records released the band’s debut EP Troll last year, and their much-anticipated full-length debut Nope officially released today, and reportedly draws from frontperson Isabel Reidy’s experiences dropping out of school, returning back home to deal with mental illness and a desire to find a cathartic and joyful way to combat them all — and ultimately, about loneliness, hating yourself and then leaning how to actually like yourself. Much like the album’s first single “Total Body Erasure,” the album’s latest single “Mr. Romance” consists of a scuzzy, classic rock-leaning that sounds as though it owes equal debts to Marquee Moon-era Television, The Rolling Stones and Pretenders; however, unlike the preceding single, this single manages to deal with the anxious confusion about one’s self and who and what they should want and love, with a self-effacing irony — and in some way, the song’s narrator knows those answers will be difficult to come by, especially if you’re strange.
The recently released video features Isabel in an aluminum jump suit, playing and singing the song, drinking and making out with a variety of people and a shit ton of glitter and makeup.
New Video: The Film-Noir Sounds and Visuals of Seattle’s Evening Bell
The recently released, film-noir-ish video features the band’s Hart Kingsbery and Caitlin Sherman as a pair of haunted and star crossed, almost lovers, whose love may never be completely consummated despite their efforts — and it features a ton of lonely and contemplative, late night driving in gorgeous, vintage cars and waiting around in idling cars for someone, who may not be paying attention or want them. And as a result, it gives a swooning, Romantic song a bittersweet tinge of unfinished and unfulfilled business.
New Video: Party and Fuck Around with Madrid’s Indie Rock Sensations The Parrots
Recorded at Paco Loco Studios in El Puerto de Santa Maria in Cadiz, Southern Spain, The Parrots’ latest single is reportedly inspired by the members of the band drinking beers and Horchata, eating Moroccan delicacies and feelings of deep friendship and loyalty and as a result the song possesses a shuffling, intoxicated feel of elation and adventure — the sort that would come about when you’ve drunkenly stumbled along a new best friend. Sonically, the song will further cement the Spanish trio’s growing reputation for raw and shaggy garage rock as Garcia’s passionate howls are paired with a shuffling and jangling garage rock chords, propulsive drumming and a throbbing bass line, and in some way the song sounds as though it could have easily been released in 1962 or so.
Directed by Pablo Amores, the recently released music video features the members of the Spanish quartet drinking 40s, looking for the next party and goofing off in the streets — and it serves as a reminder that the Spanish quartet are a wild, rollicking party.