A JOVM annual tradition: Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis.”
Throwback: John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (War Is Over)”
A JOVM annual tradition: John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (War Is Over).”
Throwback: Happy 79th Birthday, Lemmy!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 79th anniversary of Lemmy’s birth.
Throwback: Happy 60th Birthday, Eddie Vedder!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Eddie Vedder’s 60th birthday.
Throwback: Happy Belated 64th Birthday, Luther Campbell!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Luther Campbell’s 64th birthday.
Throwback: Happy Belated 75th Birthday, Maurice and Robin Gibb!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates the 75th anniversary of the births of Maurice and Robin Gibb.
New Audio: Davidé Shares Brooding and Cinematic “Nevrotik”
Davide Orsi is an Italian-born, French-based musician and producer, whose career started in earnest with a stint in Italian psych rock outfit Rubber Eggs. Orsi relocated to Grenoble, France, where he continued his musical career, eventually joining Bleu Tonnerre in 2019. And while with Bleu Tonnerre, he played alongside a collection of French artists including Izia and AARON.
Orsi also started his solo recording project Davidé in 2019. The project, which is inspired by Thom Yorke, Tears for Fears and others sees him blending futuristic and dreamy accents while exploring science fiction themes like dystopian worlds and altered realities.
Orsi’s sophomore Davidé EP, Plasticity, Pt. 2 was released a few months ago. The EP’s latest single “Nevrotik,” is a brooding and cinematic composition featuring glistening synth arpeggios and a relentless motorik groove that sounds as though it were inspired by John Carpenter soundtracks, Magic Sword, Umberto and others.
New Audio: Miami’s Sara Diana Shares Brooding and Sultry “all up in my head”
Emerging 18 year-old, Miami-based singer/songwriter Sara Diana has quickly developed a reputation for introspective and poetic storytelling lyrics and soulful vocals paired with lush, atmospheric production.
Her debut EP, the Tracksion and Camilo Velandia-co-produced Can’t Be Fazed sees the emerging Miami-based artist blending heartfelt lyrics with mesmerizing melodies while exploring themes of love, growth, survival, invincibility and self-discovery. “The whole concept of not being ‘fazed’ is feeling as though nothing can hurt you anymore,” Sara Diana explains. “I’m sure many people have experienced a time in their lives where they feel they are dealing with so much that they can’t be fazed anymore. So this project is simply that. It’s about survival.”
Can’t Be Fazed‘s latest single “all up in my head” pairs a brooding, trip-hop meets alt-pop production with the young Miami-based artist’s yearning and soulful delivery describing the wooziness of love-crazed obsession that will probably result in the narrator’s own madness.
“all up in my head” reveals a remarkably self-assured artist, beyond her relative youth, and with an uncannily innate understanding of human nature and psychology.
New Audio: STRAIGHT RAZOR Shares Dance Floor Friendly “Misery”
While he may be best known for his roles in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof and Inglorious Basterds, Omar Doom has committed most of his creative life to music. Doom’s latest musical project STRAIGHT RAZOR sees him crafting a blend of darkwave, techno and EBM anchored around menacing beats and hypnotic, clockwork melodies.
After a string of standalone singles and remixes, Doom released his STRAIGHT RAZOR debut, 2021’s Vol. 1 EP. He followed up with 2022’s Vol. 2 EP. Last year, he launched his label DOOM VISION with STRAIGHT RAZOR — REMIXED EP, an effort that featured remixes by Gost, Corvad, Moris Blak, Nightcrawler, Destryur and ESA. Destryur released their latest album Dimensions through Doom’s new label.
Doom’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, Casualty was released earlier this month. As Doom explains, creating the album has been a deeply personal journey, as the album’s material reflects and details his frequent battles with anxiety, an experience that can feel like the end of the world. “This album is my way of confronting those struggles and finding beauty in the chaos.”
Now, if you had been on this site earlier this week, you might recall that I wrote about album single “The Curse,” a brooding, club friendly banger that’s a slick mix of 80s New Wave and goth.
“Misery,” Casualty‘s latest single is a tense, dance floor friendly bop featuring glistening synths and tweeter and woofer rattling thump that reminds me a bit of ACTORS and the Artoffact Records lineup — but a bit more industrial and more goth. And its core, it evokes the creeping unease of a narrator, knowing that his anxiety will strike at the most inopportune time.
Throwback: Happy 84th Birthday, Frank Zappa!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 84th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s birth.
New Audio: South of France Teams Up with Little Trips’ Greg Laut on Breezy and Lysergic “Weekend Lover”
Led by Denver-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and creative mastermind Jeff Cormack, South of France is an indie pop project that sees Cormack and collaborators specializing in a groovy, beat-driven take on escapist, vacation pop.
With South of France, Cormack has had his work featured in a number of smash-hit TV shows like Bojack Horseman and Shameless while receiving praise from American Songwriter, NPR, Rolling Stone and others. The Denver-based project has also opened for a list of acclaimed acts including Portugal. The Man, Young The Giant, Flaming Lips, Michigander and others.
Cormack’s forthcoming South of France album My Spirit Animal, My Baggage is reportedly one-part solo album and one-part collaborative effort with a series of vocalists, emcees and musicians. The album will feature two previously released singles:
- “Universal Order,” a a heady yet accessible synthesis of psych pop, world music and hip-hop that’s crowd-pleasing and summery that also features Bilingual (Francophone/Anglophone) emcee Big Samir, who is one-half of The Reminders delivers a swaggering verse for the song’s hallucinogenic bridge and break.
- “Something That You Said” a lysergic, blissed out bit of Tame Impala-like pop that serves s a lush and woozy bed for Big Samir and CRL CRRLL to trade swaggering bars and dreamily soulful falsetto vocals.
My Spirit Animal, My Baggage‘s latest single “Weekend Lover” is a blissed-out lysergic bop featuring a propulsive, rubbery groove paired with lush, swirling textures, twinkling keys and ethereal vocals from longtime collaborator Little Trips‘ Greg Laut. While being a warm and breezy summery blast, “Weekend Lover” may arguably be the trippiest yet most hook-driven song of the forthcoming album to date.
Throwback: Happy 58th Birthday, Chris Robinson!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Chris Robinson’s 58th birthday.
New Audio: LutchamaK Shares Soulful “Want U”
French electronic music producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK has had a busy 2024:
- The JOVM mainstay began the year with a two-track release through Techno Parade titled Job Done, which featured “Job Done,” a glitchy and swaggering bit of techno meets footwork featuring machine gun-like skittering beats, glistening synth arpeggios paired with tweeter and woofer rattling thump. It’s an accessible and euphoric club banger meant to be played loudly and meant to encourage you to dance and sweat.
- He followed that up with Flip the Funk, a four-track EP, which was digitally released through British electronic label Biotech Recordings and featured EP track “Pride,” a lush and soulful bit of deep house-meets-techno that reminded me of house music nights on WBLS back in the day.
- Then there was the standalone track, “Acid Drift” a slick, seamless synthesis of tribal house, deep house and drum ‘n’ bass that slaps hard while being dance floor friendly, which was released through Rue des Trois Rois Records.
- Over the summer, he released the eight-track mini album Great Broken Masses of Land through his own TERMusik. The album featured album opener and album title track “Great Broken Masses of Land,” a trance-inducing, late night, club banger anchored around skittering tweeter and woofer rattling thump and dense layers of oscillating yet melodic synths, a chopped up mantra-like vocal sample paired with his unerring knack for incredibly catchy hooks. “City Energy,” a crowd pleasing, club banger featuring glitchy oscillations, bursts of glistening synths and some industrial, tweeter and woofer rattling thump that showcases an artist, who actively pushes his sound and approach in new directions, while still remaining wildly accessible. And “B Queen V 2,” which featured glitchy oscillations, bursts of glistening and melodic synths, skittering beats and remarkably catchy hooks paired with a dreamy vocal sample.
Last month, the JOVM mainstay released the four-song Lunar Ascending EP, which featured:
- “Lunar Ascending,” a woozily hypnotic banger that’s heavily indebted to Detroit house and a bit of Tour de France-era Kraftwerk.
- “Healing Dub” is a synthesis of trance-inducing dub and house music that features glistening synth stabs with skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling riddims paired with a reverb-soaked patois vocal sample.
LutchamaK closes out 2024 with the C10Cl10O mini-album and the Altered Oceanic Climate EP.
C10Cl10O featured “1989,” a a melodic bit of house that sounds inspired by Larry Levan‘s Paradise Garage DJ sets — but with a modern feel.
Altered Oceanic Climate EP single “Want U” continues the Larry Levan-era deep house inspired vibe with the song anchored around a skittering boom bap-driven groove, atmospheric synth blasts paired with a chopped up soulful vocal sample and a euphoric hook. House music all night long, y’all!