Tag: Adult Karate LXII EP

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the better part of the past 6-9 months or so, you’d likely be familiar with JOVM mainstay producer and electronic music artist KC Maloney, and although he’s best known as being one-half of renowned electro pop act Radar Cult,  Maloney has received an increasing national profile with the release of last year’s LXII EP with his solo side project Adult Karate, a project that expands upon the sound of his primary project a is it draws from several different styles and sub-genres of electronic music — including house, acid house, techno, ambient electronica and others. And building upon the buzz that LXII received, Maloney’s Adult Karate follow up Indoors is slated for a March 31, 2017 and the effort will reportedly see Maloney’s side project taking on a decided sonic departure as the material generally possesses elements of post-punk and post-rock reminiscent of mid 80s New Order and In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy.

“From The Dust,” Indoors‘ first single while being a marked sonic departure, also managed to be a thematic departure as the song is less introspective than the material off LXII; however, the song possessed a swaggering confidence — the sort of confidence that can only come from living a fully-lived in life, in which the song’s narrator has had his heart broken made mistakes, and has found some hard-fought wisdom, by living life in his own terms. And Maloney does all of this in what may arguably be one of the breeziest songs he’s released to date.  The EP’s latest single “Friction” consists of an ethereal, Kate Bush meets contemporary electro pop production featuring featuring thumping 808-like beats, swirling yet ambient electronics and twangy blasts of guitar, shimmering cascades of synths and a swooning hook paired with Maloney’s and Adeline’s breathy cooing. Lyrically, the song continues in a similar vein as its preceding single; but in this case, the song captures the sensation of attempting to break forward from heartbreak or a dysfunctional past, towards a new relationship — with the hope that this time, that blind leap of faith will be result in something different than all the previous ones.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as being one-half of renowned electro pop act, Radar Cult, KC Maloney has received an increasing national profile with the release of 2016’s LXII EP under his solo side project Adult Karate, a project that expands upon the sound of his primary project. And while arguably being a bit more minimalist, the project’s sound and aesthetic draws from several different styles and sub-genres of electronic music — including house music, acid house, techno, ambient electronica and others. Building upon the buzz that LXII EP received, Maloney will be releasing its follow up Indoors on March 31, 2017, and the album will reportedly see the Maloney’s solo project taking a decided sonic departure as the material possesses elements of post-punk and post-rock reminiscent of mid 80s New Order and In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy. Also, as you’ll hear on Indoors‘ first single “From The Dust,” the material manages to also be a bit of a thematic departure. Although the song is less introspective than the material off its predecessor, the new single possesses a swaggering confidence; the sort of confidence that comes from a fully lived in life in which the song’s narrator has loved, had his heart broken, made mistakes and has found some hard-fought wisdom by living a life in his own terms — all while being one of the breeziest and summery songs Maloney has released to date.

Now while being a departure from his previously released material, Maloney’s latest single retains some of the elements that have won the attention of this site and the rest of the blogosphere as the song has a soaring hook, earnest and thoughtful songwriting paired with a sinuous bass line, along with shimmering and ethereal production.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

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.

Synth Pop by William Ruben Helms

 

Perhaps best known as being one-half of electro pop act Radar Cult, KC Maloney’s solo side recording project Adult Karate expands upon the sound that first captured the attention of the blogosphere as his solo project — and although arguably much more minimalist, the project’s sound and aesthetic draws from several styles of electronic music, including house, acid house, techno and ambient. Maloney’s solo debut “So Low” off his forthcoming LXII EP is a collaboration with Toronto, ON-based vocalist Adaline that pairs the up-and-coming Canadian singer/songwriter’s sultry and smoky vocals with a sleek, hyper-modern and minimalist production consisting of gentle cascades of shimmering synths, stuttering drum programming, a Nile Rodgers funky guitar line, wobbling bass line, swirling electronics and an anthemic hook in a breezily club-friendly and radio-friendly track.