Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site throughout the course of its seven year history, you may have come across a post or two featuring the up-and-coming New York-born and now Los Angeles-based pop artist and multi-instrumentalist  Beca. Receiving classical training at Juilliard, the New York-born, Los Angeles, CA-based pop artist forged her own path away from her formal training as she sought out opportunities to explore avant garde electronic music, compose for amplified string instruments and NYC’s underground club culture — all of which had been influences on her and her later work.

Since 2012, Beca has released two EPs through British label This Is Music Music, Ltd., self-released her full-length debut Ecliptic in 2015 and worked with Midnight Magic‘s Morgan Wiley. Beca has received praise from the likes of Flaunt, Galore Magazine, Lucky Magazine, received airplay from over 50 stations nationally including NPR’s “The Essentials” and KCRW, and she’s had her work remixed by the likes of Ashley Beedle, Klic, Night Drive and others.  Along with that, Beca was once a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition and the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. And adding to a growing profile, the up-and-coming artist has played at CMJ, SXSW, Miami Fashion Week, Sundance Film Festival, POP Montreal and NXNE and she’s toured across the US, Europe and Mexico.

Beca’s latest effort, the Blake Robin and Fabian Ordorica-produced, six song EP, In Deep Love is slated for release on September 15, 2017 and the album finds the up-and-coming New York-born, Los Angeles-based artist further cementing her reputation for crafting material that draws from 80s and 90s synth pop paired with lyrics influenced by mythology, classical music, film, art, romantic stories and her own personal life. EP title track and lead single “In Deep Love” is a shimmering and propulsive, club-banger that sonically seems indebted to Giorgio Moroder-era disco and 80s freestyle but while dance floor friendly, the song is under-pinned by a bitter heartbreak — the realization that you may have to let go of someone you love and accept the idea that there won’t be a future with that person. And while it may be painful, it’s the best thing for both people involved.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Idaho Falls, ID-born and currently Portland, OR-based Aaron Chapman and Idaho Falls, ID-born and currently Los Angeles, CA-based John Bowers, the synth pop duo Nurses have developed a reputation for a creative restlessness with the project seeing several different iterations rooted in making the strange seem familiar and the familiar seem strange; but interestingly, that restlessness seems inspired by the restlessness that the duo bonded over in the first place. After leaving their isolated and predominantly Mormon hometown, the duo have spent time on a rural California fan, a van in Chicago and an attic in Portland before the members of the duo relocated to Portland and Los Angeles respectively. And naturally,  as a result the duo find themselves collaborating at a distance and through the internet.

Interestingly with the release of the critically applauded albums Apple’s Acre and Dracula saw the band receiving a growing national profile, as they toured with the likes of Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, The Mountain Goats, The Tallest Man on Earth and others; but they also received attention after the A$AP Mob freestyled over the beatfreestyled over the beat from “You Lookin’ Twice” for Pitchfork’s Selector.

Since then the duo has developed a reputation for being reclusive; however, Naughtland which is slated for an October 7, 2017 release will be the first bit of recorded output the duo have released in over six years with the album’s titled being derived from a series of conversations the duo had during the writing and recording process about the origins of ideas and inspiration, and whether were generated internally or plucked like fruit from the street of some independent non-place. Reportedly, the material on the forthcoming Naughtland will further cement the duo’s reputation for plumbing the stranger depths of the human condition as the material thematically focuses on ephemerality and materiality, life and death, love and terror, the struggle for self in the duality of contemporary identity and so on, essentially admitting that life is confusing and complicated array of paradoxes and uncertainties — and that hell, that’s okay.

The album’s first single, album opener “In The Mirror” is arguably one of the strangest yet most accessible songs I’ve personally heard this year as the duo craft a sound and production that pairs swaggering, twitter and woofer rocking beats, twisting and turning synth chords, a lysergic-fueled guitar solo, R&B-like falsetto crooning and a soaring and anthemic hook that can be seen as celebrating the impermanence of life or celebrating nihilism. Sonically the song has been accurately described as a Dr. Dre-like production set in a David Lynchian nightmare — and that shouldn’t be surprising as the song possesses a feverish vibe.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Spaghetti Western-tinged Sounds and Visuals of Bermuda Angels

Comprised of Ben “Bermuda’ Jones, who splits his time between Nashville, TN and 29 Palms, CA; and Sophie Kadow, who splits her time between 29 Palms, CA and New York, NY, the electro pop duo Bermuda Angels fell in love and wrote an album together, while living in a secret room in the East Nashville, TN-based music venue The East Room. Besides writing, recording and playing music, the duo are involved in a number of creative pursuits — Kadow is a painter, while Jones owns The East Room and focuses on a number of writing pursuits. 

The duo’s self-titled album is slated for release on September 29, 2017 and the writing and creative process managed to be both fruitful and chaotic — creating while being romantic partners, moving across five different states (CA, NY, TN, WV and ME), recording in multiple makeshift studios including a taxidermy/oddities shop, two basements, a garage, a chain and two houses. And according to the duo’s Bermuda Jones, “the album was partly inspired by our surroundings and landscapes. We explored the extremes of the weather spectrum in the US and spent a winter in Maine on Mount Desert Island surrounded by snow and windstorms, and freezing cold, working on our sound. A few months later, we spent our summer in an adobe in the desert in Joshua Tree, CA in incredible heat, working on our sound some more.  You could literally fry an egg on a rock outside.

“We were also inspired by the excitement and turmoil of forming our relationship and planning our future together.  This seeped into the songs and overflowed throughout the album.  Developing our trust was important throughout the process and it comes in many forms.  Do I trust the other to follow through, to be honest to themselves and to me, to be faithful, to try his or her hardest, to create good music, to be understanding, to improve, to give support, and most importantly, to keep coming back. “

“On The Run,” their self-titled debut album’s latest single will further cement the duo’s growing reputation for crafting Spaghetti Western-tinged electro pop reminiscent of Betty Black and Daughn Gibson with a sultry yet cinematic vibe; but the song is under-pinned with a swooning romanticism, as the song (and video) as the duo’s Sophie Kadow explains is about being in love with Bermuda Jones” — and  in particular about being in love for the first time and allowing yourself to be both intimidated by love and vulnerable.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Ariadne Loinsworth is a Trondheim, Norway-born, Oslo, Norway-based electro pop artist, singer/songwriter and producer, best known as ARY, who quickly emerged into the contemporary Norwegian pop scene with the release of her Carl Louis-produced debut single “Higher,” a single that was A-listed by Norway’s P3 Radio. Building on the buzz she received, Loinsworth continued her collaboration with Louis with the release of her second single “Telescope,” which was also A-listed by P3.

Released earlier this year, Loinsworth’s single “Childhood Dreams” reportedly found the Trondheim, Norway-born, Oslo, Norway-based artist, producer and singer/songwriter further developing her sound and songwriting approach, as the song thematically focused on her own development an artist. And since the single’s release, it has accumulated more than 10 million streams across the major streaming services and has seen international radio airplay from BBC Radio 1 and Beats 1, as well as playlist adds in Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Poland.  Adding to a growing international profile, Loinsworth has been tipped for success by the likes of The FADER, Pigeons & Planes, Interview Magazine, Nylon, The Line of Best Fit, The 405 and others; but along with that she has also developed into a skilled producer, producing some of her own work.

“Already There,” Loinsworth’s latest single may arguably be the most pop-leaning and club-friendly track that the up-and-coming artist has released to date as her sultry, self-assured, jazz-like vocals are paired with a stuttering drum programming and tweeter and woofer rocking beats, shimmering arpeggio synths and a soaring hook; but under-pinning the song is an earnest and swooning romanticism.

As the up-and-coming Norwegian pop artist recalls in press notes “Often when I’m writing, I feel like things are taking an eternity, but this song somehow wrote itself. I remember when I got home from the studio with the first outline of the song, and I didn’t want to stop listening to it. I think it’s the first proper pop song I’ve written. It’s also worth mentioning that it was my first love song.

“I think love is hard. It’s hard to find a new way to describe it, and it’s hard to put something so powerful but simultaneously invisible into words without being overly dramatic. I get the feeling that it’s almost a bit taboo to write about love these days,” she continues. “Or shameless love, anyway. There always has to be something blocking a relationship — whether it is a broken heart or just that you want a one night stand, or whatever. It seems like that it’s not cool to simply like someone, you know? Just having a good time. But I am. I’m having a shamelessly good time.”

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their first two EPs, Gloomy Tunes and Crushed, the Portland, ME-based indie rock trio Weakened Friends, comprised of Sonia Sturino (vocals, guitar), Annie Hoffman (bass), and Cam Jones began receiving quite a bit of buzz for a sound that  clearly draws from power pop and 90s grunge rock. And in fact, over the past year or so the band has seen a growing profile as they played this year’s SXSW and have shared stages with the likes of CHVRCHES, Silversun Pickups, Beach Slang and Juliana Hatfield, essentially adding themselves to a growing list of contemporary fuzzy guitar pop-leaning acts that include JOVM mainstays Dead Stars and others.

“Hate Mail,” the trio’s latest single is a rousingly anthemic, mosh pit friendly “fuck off/don’t you come back here/you were the worst thing that ever happened to me/good riddance” song, perfect for anyone who’s gotten out of a miserable and toxic relationship — with some semblance of their dignity and sanity intact, and the sentiment is complimented (and emphasized) with a fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming and howled, distorted vocals. While the song will further cement their growing reputation for crafting 90s grunge rock-inspired power pop, the song features the Maine-based trio collaborating with Dinosaur Jr.‘s J. Mascis, who contributes his imitable guitar sound to the proceedings.

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Israeli Trio Tatran Performing “The Elephant” at TEDER.FM

Tatran is a Tel Aviv, Israel-based instrumental trio, comprised of  Offir Benjaminov (bass), Tamuz Dekel (guitar) and Dan Mayo (drums), that has developed a reputation in their homeland for a sound that draws from jazz fusion, classical music, avant-garde compositions, post-rock, electronic music, post-punk and a rather eclectic array of genres — and for a live show, rooted in improvisation. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site throughout the summer, you may recall that the Tel Aviv-based trio’s recently released effort No Sides revealed that the members of the band decided upon a complete and radical shift with their songwriting approach. For years, they had a long-held practice of deliberately composing and painstakingly revising their compositions; however, No Sides was a live recording of a show with the members of the band hitting the stage without anything prepared or mapped out with the hopes that they could grab an hold on to “the frequency of inspiration, allowing the music to present and unfold itself in real-time through our unmediated communication, with the energy and presence of the people in the room.” 

And as the members of the band explained in press notes, everything about the project from its concept, through the performance and its eventual release revolved around trust — trust in the power of immediate expression, in the moment, in each other and in the communication with the audience. 

“The Elephant,” the Israeli trio’s latest composition will further cement the band’s growing reputation for seamless genre-mashing as the song features a swaggering and strutting bass line paired with dexterous and lysergic-fueled, jazz fusion-inspired guitar and stomping boom-bap drums work within a loose, twisting and turning jam-based composition — and interestingly enough, while being incredibly funky, the composition clearly nods at prog rock and jazz fusion in a way that should remind some listeners of King Crimson — or of Return to Forever. 

The band released some recently recorded live footage shot during a performance at TEDER.FM, and it should give you an intimate sense of what their live set is like. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Wistful and Summery Visuals for The Coathangers’ “Perfume”

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few years, you’ve been made familiar with the Atlanta, GA-based punk trio and JOVM mainstay act The Coathangers. Currently comprised  Julia Kugel (vocals and guitar), Meredith Franco (bass), and Stephanie Luke (drums), the members of the JOVM mainstays have released five full-length albums in their decade and change time together, with each album finding the band refining their sound and songwriting approach while balancing and retaining a brash, raw, seemingly spontaneous simplicity with a feral urgency and biting irony.  With their last two full-length albums — 2014’s Suck My Shirt and last year’s Nosebleed Weekend, the trio wrote what may arguably be the most direct and forceful material of their growing catalog; but they’ve managed to pair that feral energy with rousingly anthemic hooks and a radio-friendly sensibility. 

Earlier this year, the band released the Parasite EP and the material on the EP finds the Atlanta-based JOVM mainstays balancing the unbridled, raw duty of their debut and the increasingly nuanced radio-friendly sensibility of their last two albums as you would hear on the EP’s first single “Captain’s Dead;” however, this particular post focuses on “Perfume,” off last year’s Nosebleed Weekend is some more jangling, sneering and hook-laden punk — but with a underlying bitter wistfulness that should feel familiar with the impending end of summer. 

Directed by J Trav, the recently released video for “Perfume” begins with the members of The Coathangers driving in an old 70s car to the beach, where they hang out with an adorable dog and then cruise around on a boat in a gorgeous and stylistic video; after all, who doesn’t want to spend time hanging out with cool women who kick ass? 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Brooding Visuals for Beliefs’ Buzzing and Abrasive, Industrial-Leaning Single “Comb”

Currently comprised of founding members and primary songwriters Jesse Crowe and Josh Korody, the Toronto, ON-based indie rock duo Beliefs have released two well-regarded full-length albums over the course of their seven years together — 2013’s self-titled debut and 2015’s Leaper. And although the band has gone through a series of lineup changes throughout their history, the band can trace its origins to a shared love of late 80s and early 90s noise pop and shoegaze. However, the recently constituted duo’s forthcoming, third full-length album Habitat, which is slated for a September 22, 2017 release through Hand Drawn Dracula Records. The album, which was engineered by the duo’s Josh Korody and mixed by Holy Fuck’s Graham Walsh features guest spots from Leon Tahenny, who’s played with Austra, Death From Above 1979 and Owen Pallet on drums and reportedly finds the band completely destructing, remaking and remodeling their self-conscious shoegazer-based sound to pursue an uncompromising new sound and vision, a a way for the band to find their own unique voice and sound. And interestingly enough, the period in which a band finds their own sound and voice may arguably be one of the most exciting and pivotal periods for any band. “I hope that’s the case,” says Crowe. “That’s always how I feel about bands, too – when you listen to something and it seems like it’s leading to a whole other element of a band, when you feel like you’re in the hallway about to open the door to a whole other space that this band is creating. And I hope that that’s what happens with us. We have no real plans at this point. We don’t want to be a ‘shoegaze’ band anymore.”

Interestingly, Habitat was the first time that the band’s founding duo had written an album together, and as Crowe continues, “we wrote 80% of it in a room in four days wth no previous material. It’s as spontaneous as can possibly be” — with material being derived from extensive jam sessions. Adding to the spontaneous nature of the material, the album was recorded and tracked in 16 days and was recorded with no grand design or plan at play; however, interestingly enough the material manages to be influenced by each individual member’s unique interests and obsessions while gravitating towards unfamiliar instruments and instrumentation. Lately, Korody has had an increasing interest in modular synths and avant industrial  sounds, partially influenced by his solo recording project Nailbiter while Crowe had been listening to a great deal of 90s hip-hop — in particular, Portishead‘s Third.  “It’s a dark record, for sure,”  Crowe says of their new album. “I feel like we were drawing a lot more from, like, me being a Goth teenager and Josh only wanting to listen to Aphex Twin and me only wanting to listen to Portishead’s Third for the last year and stuff like that. But also it was time to embody the elements of being a ‘wall-of-sound’ band with some space and the idea of being able to be quiet when you should be quiet, and you can’t do that with three guitars. There’s no space. It just becomes all push and no pull.”

Now, as you may recall I wrote about album single “1994,” a sleek and atmospheric Xiu Xiu, Antics-era Interpol-leaning single that was reportedly a sort of sequel  Leaper‘s “1992,” thanks in part to a song that eschews a traditional song structure; in fact, much like Antics, the song is focused on creating and sustaining a particular mood than whether a chorus should be placed in a particular part of the song or not. “Comb,” Habitat’s latest single is a noisy and abrasive, industrial and mosh pit worthy track consisting of layers of buzzing synths paired with forceful and propulsive drumming and shout worthy, nihilistic lyrics. And while nodding at Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, the song has an almost dance floor friendly stomp at its core. 

Directed by Andrew Matthews and Ivy Lovell, the recently released video for “Comb” features Crowe and Korody with the members of their touring band performing the song  at Toronto-based music venue Baby G under shadowy lighting and strobe lights.