Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as a member of the internationally renowned indie electro pop act Miami Horror, Aaron Shanahan’s solo side project Sunday, much like his primary project’s most recent album All Possible Futures possesses a sound that draws from the time they spent writing and recording the album in California. And his latest single “Only,” pairs his tender and plaintive vocals with a breezy production consisting of gentle layers of shimmering and chiming synths, thumping dance-floor friendly drum programming, angular Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar to craft a song that evokes the last precious warm blast of summer, while (gently) nodding at the Cascine Records roster and Random Access Memories-era Daft Punk, as the song possesses a subtle bittersweetness at its core.

As Shanahan explains in press notes “In the aftermath of relationships with other people we can be challenged in reflection to what they meant and what we are. Through these deep interactions and opening of the hearts, we hope that we can learn from lessons given and heal by connecting to something deeper. This song is about process.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Patiently Surreal and Gorgeous Visuals for Mark Pritchard’s Gorgeous Collaboration with Thom Yorke, “Beautiful People”

Warp Records released Pritchard’s latest effort Under the Sun earlier this year, and from all accounts the album has Pritchard maintaining the lush and accessible production style that has won him international attention — but while crafting material that may arguably be the least club and dance-floor ready he’s released to date. Interestingly, one of the album’s singles is”Beautiful People,” a lush and ethereal collaboration with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke that pairs Yorke’s plaintive and aching vocals with a slow-burning production that possesses an almost painterly quality as it consists of an airy and gorgeous, looped flute sample, steady yet tribal-like drum programming and cascading layers of shimmering and undulating synths. In some way sonically speaking, the song meshes the ancient and tribal with the contemporary in a way that’s spectral –and in fact, in some way the song reminds the listener that ghosts linger and have a way of haunting your life in unexpected ways. That shouldn’t be surprising because as Pritchard explained in press notes “The original instrumental to ‘Beautiful People’ is a personal song about loss, hopelessness and chaos, but ultimately the message is love and hope. Thom’s contribution to this collaboration captured perfectly what the piece is about. . .”

The recently released video is a stunningly gorgeous video that follows its hooded, central character as it hikes and explores scenery that possess an otherworldly beauty before revealing that the character is a sort of Thom Yorke avatar. As the camera pans out in a cinematic fashion, it manages to reveal how small and insignificant its central character is the proceedings at hand — that is before some amazing gravity defying action at the end. Much like the song that inspired it, the video possesses a patient yet intense quality.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Sylvan Esso Return with a Dance-Floor Ready New Single

Heath and Sanborn return with the first bit of new material in two years with their latest single “Radio,” being the A side of the forthcoming “Radio”/”Jump Kick Start,” which is slated for an November 18 release. “Radio” has quickly become a staple of their live shows and a fan favorite — and interestingly enough, the song is arguably the most brash song they’ve released; but, it also manages to be both a refinement and expansion of the sound that first caught them attention. Heath’s sultry vocals are paired with a slickly propulsive and dance floor-friendly production consisting of layers of cascading synths, wobbling low end, stuttering drum programming, and as a result the song sounds as though it were nodding at Soft Metals’ swooning and sensual Lenses and Giorgio Moroder.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Earlier this summer, I wrote about Melbourne, Australia-based indie rock/shoegaze act Flyying Colours and if you were frequenting this site then, you may recall that the the Australian band was initially formed by its founding duo, childhood friends Brodie J. Brummer and Genna O’Connor. And with the release of their first two critically applauded EPs, the act received national attention for a sound that possess elements of shoegaze, psych rock and grunge. After recruiting new members Melanie Barbaro and Andy Lloyd Russell to flesh out their sound, the members of the newly constituted quartet went into the studio to write and record the material that would eventually comprise their forthcoming full-length debut, MINDFULLNESS, which is slated for a September 23, 2016 release through Club AC30 Records.  

Over the past year or so, the Australian shoegazers have seen a growing international profile as “Not Today” and “Running Late” off their second EP ROYGBIV received airplay from several renowned radio stations across the globe including KEXP, BBC Radio 6, RRR and FBi among others, and as a result, they landed at number 47 on the CMJ Radio Top 200 and Amazing Radio charts,  as well as praise from the likes of Clash, 405, Stereogum, Wonderland and NME. And adding to a growing internationally recognized profile, Flyying Colours has toured with Pinkshinyultrablast, Johnny Marr, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and  A Place to Bury Strangers.

Whereas MINDFULLNESS‘ first single “It’s Tomorrow Now” was a noisy and towering squalor sound that had the Melbourne, Australia-based quartet pairing buzzing power chords, some incredible guitar pyrotechnics, a propulsive motorik groove and an anthemic hook in a song that sounds as though it were channeling The Jesus and Mary Chain, the album’s latest single “Long Holiday” is a hazily, expansive song in which shimmering guitar chords played through reverb, delay and other effect pedals are paired with a propulsive rhythm section and a rousingly anthemic hook while sonically sounding as though it were indebted to RIDE, A Storm in Heaven The Verve and The Smiths.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: The Cinematic Sounds and Visuals of Boise, ID-based Electronic Act Magic Sword

Earlier this year, the masked producer and his masked collaborators partnered with Steve Angello’s Size Records for Volume One’s follow up, a series of episodic EPs, which are accompanied by a comic that tells another chapter in the story of The Keeper with the first of the EPs, Legend was released earlier this year and the second of the series will be released later this year. The act recently appeared on GoPro’s Done In One series, and not only does it give you a great sense of the act’s incredibly dramatic live set, it also gives you a good sense of why the act has started to receive the attention they have — their sound manages to bear a resemblance to John Carpenter’s futuristic soundtrack and to French electronic act Chateau Marmont, as their sound possesses a cinematic quality; in fact, it sounds as though it should be part of a post-apocalyptic/retro-futuristic thriller.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Alfred Brown IV (vocals), Justin Smith (guitar), Anthony Rivera (drums), Chris Conde (bass), DANGERS is a Los Angeles, CA-based hardcore punk band, who have developed a reputation for doing things completely in a DIY fashion since their formation in 2005. In fact, since their formation, the quartet have played basements, garages, living rooms, squats, banquet halls, high school auditoriums, Adriatic beach resorts, abandoned Soviet furniture factories and public park gazebos across the US, UK, Australia, Japan and Southeast Asian — and releasing their first two critically applauded full-length efforts through their own label, Vitriol Records; however, the band’s forthcoming third full-length effort, The Bend in the Break finds the band releasing the album through Topshelf Records. And the material on the album finds the band attempting to expand and grow their sound in a way that shows growth while not breaking it.

Interestingly, the album’s blistering and snarling new single “Kiss With Spit” has the band pairing layers of scuzzy and acidic guitar chords, thundering drumming, a persistent bass line and howled vocals in a way that sounds reminiscent of Melvins, Metz and Nirvana — in particular, think of “Dive,” “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” and “Breed,” complete with a tense, mosh pit worthy fury.

If you’re out on the West Coast throughout late October, check out the tour dates below. In the meantime, we’ll be awaiting some East Coast dates for the band.

 

TOUR DATES
* = w/ with Super Unison

OCT 20 – San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside
OCT 21 – Oakland, CA @ 1234 Go! Records *
OCT 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ All-Star Lanes *

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Creepy Film Noir Visuals and Tense, Uneasy Sounds of No One Mind

As you’ll hear on “Tiger” No One Mind’s latest single, layers of angular, buzzing guitars, a propulsive, throbbing bass line and rapid-fire drumming is paired with venomous lyrics full of recrimination, bitter accusations and spite and it comes from a deeply personal and fucked up place that should be familiar to anyone who has felt as though their heart was stomped on by someone close to them — including the miscommunication and misunderstanding, pettiness and deceit that adds a razor sharp edge to the feeling of deceit and loathing at the core of the song while pairing it with a song structure that feels dimly familiar yet alien.

Directed by Zoe Dehmer, the recently released video for “Tiger” is an film noir-like video that follows a pair of two young girls — presumably sisters — who appear as though they’re under the influence of hallucinogens as they wander around a suburban town, explore each other and mess with each other, while hinting at something deeply menacing and cruel just under the surface.