Animals Have Feelings’ third and latest single is a shuffling and kaleidoscopic collaboration with Earl Sweatshirt “Mirror” that also features a surreal array of obscure 60s psych rock and 70s soul samples paired with boom-bap beats paired with Earl Sweatshirt dexterous inner and out rhymes — some dealing with issues of identity vs. how others perceive you and more.
Category: Video
Live Footage: Floating Points Performing on KEXP Radio
Interestingly, as Shepherd announced his tour and the forthcoming release of Kupier, Shepherd released live footage of him and his backing band performing “Silhouettes I, II and III,” “Argente” and “Kupier” in KEXP’s studios last month. Naturally, the live footage should give you a good sense of a live Floating Points set — including as the announced joked a visual display behind the band, which included floating points; but it also should cement Shepherd’s burgeoning reputation as an sonically challenging and inventive composer, whose material also manages to be trippy, expansive and mind-altering while being approachable.
The live session includes a rather revealing interview in which Shepherd discusses the origins of Floating Points, his influences, how he met the members of his backing band and his incredible 10,000 album record collection.
New Video: Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra Bridges the Sounds and Cultures of the African Diaspora with Funky Grooves
Album title track “Bade Zile” employs the use of propulsive and complex polyrhythms paired with call and response voodoo chants, a driving groove and swirling electronics to craft a sweaty and funky free-flowing jam that subtly nods to reggae and funk while directly and overtly nodding to Afrobeat and traditional Haitian music in dizzying and seamless fashion.
The recently released music video was primarily shot in Port-au-Prince during Fete La Musique and it captures the island nation’s stark poverty, its people’s beauty, dignity and pride, some gorgeous voodoo relics and the musicians of the Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra in the rehearsal room and on stage jamming, as well as the audience at the festival rocking out and enjoying the proceedings. And the entire time I watched the video I couldn’t help but be awed by such a proud, beautiful people, who have suffered so greatly.
New Video: The Breezy Visuals and Sounds of Quebec City’s Men I Trust
With the release of their sophomore full-length effort Headroom, the newly constituted quartet began receiving international attention as their material landed on Hype Machine’s charts, as well as several Spotify and SoundCloud playlists. Building on the increasing buzz around the Quebec City-based quartet, their first single of 2016, “Humming man” was released to critical praise across the blogosphere; however, I suspect that the act’s latest single “Lauren” may arguably be their breakout single as the band pairs a sinuous and sleek bass line, shimmering guitar chords and skittering drum programming with hauntingly ethereal vocal melodies to craft a song that sounds as though it were equally influenced by 70s funk and R&B, 80s synth pop and contemporary electro pop. Interestingly enough, the song sounds as though it should have been released through Cascine Records, a label that specializes in releasing silky smooth and breezy 70s and 80s inspired pop while being the sort of song you’d do a little two step to in the club.
The recently released music video follows an extremely fair skinned woman bicycling down a country road while hinting at the follow-the -bouncing ball/karaoke-styled video which fits the song’s breezy yet sensual air.
New Video: The 80s Inspired Visuals and Sounds of Brooklyn’s Very White
Comprised of Washington State-born and Brooklyn-based Aaron Hamel and Texas-born and Brooklyn-based Brent Nettles, indie rock duo Very White can trace their origins to when the duo became roommates and discovered that they each were musicians. And as the story goes, the duo decided to start a band named after a playful joke the duo had shared that some will probably find a bit offensive — but they decided to roll with it.
Produced by friends Taylor Johnson, best known for his work with Robert Schwartzman; Tyler Halford, best known for his work with Foster the People; and Mckenzie Smith, best known for work with St. Vincent, the duo’s debut EP Make Believe is slated for release later this week — June 24, 2016 to be precise. The EP’s latest single “Howl with Me” is a moody and plaintive song that reminds me a little bit of Yukon Blonde and several other contemporary indie rock bands as the duo pair propulsive drumming with atmospheric synths and twangy guitar chords while thematically, the song wistfully focuses on love — from the perspective of someone whose relationship seems to have either ended or have been on the rocks for some time. And at some point, the narrator who longs for his lover and for what once was.
New Video: The Gorgeous and Psychedelic Visuals and Sounds of The Galaxy Electric’s “Please Come Home Soon”
Last month, I wrote about “Temporal” off their recently released full-length everything Everything Is Light and Sound, a single that had the duo pairing Caruso’s gorgeous vocals with twisting and turning synth chords, bop-era jazz syncopation and a sinuous bass line filtered through gentle layers of reverb and echo. And as I wrote last month, the single simultaneously focused on both the nature of time and our experience of it while evoking a similar vision of the future presented by the 1964 World’s Fair — a hopeful world that has used science and technology to solve humanity’s greatest problems in an efficient and timely fashion. The album’s latest single “Please Come Home” continues in the same path as its preceding single — although it’s slightly less jazz-leaning; however, more importantly, the song manages to possess a plaintive longing and heartache, as its narrator is begging her lover to come home because they’re so desperately needed.
New Video: The 80s Horror Movie-Inspired Visuals for Zig Zags’ “Giving Up The Ghost”
With the release of their debut effort In The Red, Los Angeles, CA-based thrash punk trio Zig Zags –-comprised of Jed Maheu (guitar/vocals), Caleb Miller (bass/vocals), and Dane Arnold (drums) — quickly received attention for a blistering, face-melting, no-bullshit thrash metal/thrash punk aesthetic that sounds as though it owes a massive debt to early 80s Metallica, Slayer,Iron Maiden and others. Last month, I wrote about album single “The Sadist,”a single off the trio’s recently released Running Out of Red that helped to further cement the trio’s reputation for pairing scuzzy, face-melting, mosh-pit friendly power chords guitar pyrotechnics, propulsive drumming and shouted vocals. Unsurprisingly, the album’s latest single “Giving Up The Ghost” continues on the exact same vein as “The Sadist” — although the latest single manages to directly channel Kill ‘Em All and Ride the Lightning-era Metallica in such an uncanny way that the songs manages to sound as though it could have been released in 1983.
The recently released music video is deeply indebted to cheap 80s horror flicks as a denim vest wearing zombie stalks an adorable, little skateboarding badass, who narrowly escapes him — in true horror movie fashion.
New Video: The Psychedelic, 1980s Leaning Visuals for Promise Keeper’s “Porous Silk”
With the release of Side Decide” and other singles, London-based producer and electronic music artist Promise Keeper started to receive attention across the blogosphere for a sound that possesses elements of classic Chicago house, blue-eyed soul and 80s electro pop. And his latest single “Porous Silk” will further cement the British producer’s 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 –while being reminiscent of a slightly downtempo and house music-leaning version of Nu Shooz’s “I Can’t Wait.”
The recently released music video employs the use of a grainy, VHS-styled psychedelia as the video follows its brooding protagonist observing ancient Greek-inspired art, drinking wine. Visually, it looks as though it could have appeared on a version of Ralph McDaniel’s Video Music Box back in 1987 or so.
New Video: The Donkeys’ Shoegazer/Psych Rock-Channeling New Single “No Need For Oxygen”
In order to build up buzz for their upcoming cross country tour, which includes an early August stop at Baby’s All Right, The Donkeys released a live video performing their moody and stunningly gorgeous, shoegaze-leaning new single “No Need for Oxygen” which has the band pairing shimmering keyboard and guitar chords, propulsive drumming, a with plaintive and aching vocals in an expansive song structure that owes a debt to classic psych rock as it does to prog rock and held together with an impressive and gorgeous guitar solo.
Check out tour dates below.
New Video: Pop Star Nicole Wray Returns with a 90s Hip-Hop Soul and Classic Soul Channeling and Deeply Personal, New Single
Queen Alone may be Nicole Wray’s first full-length effort in some time; however, Wray is reunited with the original backing band from Lady Wray’s early days, along with Big Crown Records’ Leon Michels and Daptone Records Tom Brenneck handling production and as Wray explains in press notes the album is a “reflection of my soul. It’s who I am today. ” And as a result, the material on the album is inspired by the singer/songwriter’s life. The album’s latest single “Do It Again” is reportedly is a story about a failed relationship, as well as the story of a cherished and revered intimacy that the song’s narrator is desperate to re-enter regardless of the consequences on her heart and soul. Sonically speaking the song manages to channel What’s the 411 and My Life-era Mary J. Blige and bolstered by the Daptone Records famed horn section paired with silky smooth vocals.
New Video: The Dario Argento-Inspired Visuals for Preoccupations’ Latest Single “Anxiety”
Although they received a massive amount of attention across the blogosphere with the 2014 release of their self-titled full-length debut, the Calgary, Alberta-based quartet originally known as Viet Cong actually formed in 2012 and can trace their origins […]
New Video: The Surreal and Whimsical Visuals for American Monoxide’s “Hot Lava Express”
Directed by Caleb Gutierrez, the recently released video for American Monoxide’s “Hot Lava Express” features a dream-like sequence that seems influenced by the visuals in Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer,” “Big Time” and “Digging in the Dirt” videos as the sequence employs the use of stop-action animation until the video’s protagonist wakes up and sees his friends hanging out at a barbecue in his backyard. It’s a whimsical and playful video that belies the song’s abrasive nature.
New Video: Check Out the Gorgeous and Thoughtful Tribute to the Human Soul in Oddisee’s Video for “Brea”
Washington, DC-born and Brooklyn-based emcee and producer Amir Mohamed el Khalifa, best known to hip-hop heads as Oddisee has developed a reputation for being a former member of The Low Budget Crew, as a current member of Diamond […]
New Video: The Triumphant and Anthemic New Single from Irish Actor and Singer/Songwriter JD Kelleher
JD Kelleher is perhaps best known in his home country for his roles as Willie Pearse in the TV mini-series 1916 The Forgotten Seven and Breandán Mac Gearailt in Irish soap Ros na Rún and for being at […]
New Video: The 80s Public TV-Inspired Visuals for Bad Sounds’ “Avalanche”
“Avalanche,” Bad Sound’s latest single was co-produced by Duncan Mills, and on the single the band pairs fuzzy guitar chords, angular bass chords, electronic bleeps and bloops, a motorik-like groove, and a rousingly infectious hook in a song that sounds as though it was indebted to Damon Albarn’s work with Blur and Gorillaz, complete with a particularly British sense of humor — wryly ironic and self-effacing; but while possessing a subtly contemporary take on a very familiar and beloved sound.
The recently released video is a glorious and ridiculous take on 80s educational TV — think of the counting and reading segments on Sesame Street, The Electric Company, 3-2-1- Contact and Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity” complete with psychedelic interludes and cheesy 80s graphics.