Tag: Berlin Germany

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Initially formed in Bryon Bay, Australia the members of up-and-coming synth funk/dance pop act Parcels, comprised of Patrick Hetherington, Louie Swain, Noah Hill, Jules Crommelin, and  Anatole Serret relocated to Berlin, Germany after they all graduated from high school to seriously pursue music and to hone their sound in one of the most culturally thriving and diverse cities of Europe. As soon as they relocated, the quintet quickly developed a reputation for a sound that paired slick studio production with deliberate attention to live performance, and as a result the act caught the attention of renowned Parisian electronic label Kitsune Records and the members of world famous electronic music production and artist duo Daft Punk, who caught the band play a set in Paris, and was so impressed by the Australian-born, German-based act that they decided to mentor the up-and-coming act.

Earlier this year, the members of Parcels along with the members of Daft Punk wrote and recorded their latest single “Overnight” in a secret location in Paris, and the single is a breezy, easygoing, summertime anthem that subtly reveals a careful attention to craft, as the band pairs infectious, razor sharp hooks with a sinuous bass line, Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar and shimmering arpeggio synths — and while clearly nodding at Daft Punk’s “Get Ready,” the song possesses a mischievously sensual swagger.

The Bryon Bay-born, Berlin-based members of the band are touring throughout the European Union and the UK during the year and the tour will include two Glastonbury Festival sets this weekend.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few years, you have most likely come across a handful of posts on Simon Green, a Brighton, UK-born, Los Angeles, CA-based DJ, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic music artist, who has written, recorded and performed under the moniker of Bonobo. Interestingly, Green had long been considered part of a movement of producers, multi-instrumentalists and electronic music artists, who specialized in a sleek, hyper-modern and downtempo-leaning electronic music that included  Four Tet, Jon Hopkins, Caribou and others; however, with the release of his critically applauded 2013 release The North Borders Green revealed a decided change in his compositional approach in which he frequently paired electronic production with lush and stunning arrangements featuring organic instrumentation — wth the end result being a sound that possessed a cinematic quality.

The North Borders was also part of a larger, growing trend among many electronic music artists and producers to not only create a much more evocative and nuanced sound but an attempt to remind listeners, fans and critics that there was actual musicality within their productions besides a person haphazardly tapping away at a laptop or turning buttons and dials on a sampler or a processor.

Since the release of The North Borders, Green has been both extremely busy and rather prolific — he released the Flashlight EP at the end of 2014 while during what would turn out to be a two year period of intense touring across the globe. Green somehow managed to find the time to write and recored the material off his sixth full-length album Migration, which was released earlier this year. Naturally, with an album titled Migration, the material thematically focused on migration. As Green remarked in press notes “It’’s interesting how one person will take an influence from one part of the world and move with that influence and effect another part of the world. Over time, the identities of places evolve.” And as a result, the material seemed to possesses a transitory nature — some of the material, including album single “Kerala,” was initially composed while on the road and then was road-tested and revised during Stateside DJ sets. Adding to the album’s transitory nature, it featured guest spots from a number of artists, who have emigrated at some point themselves, including Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based vocalist Michael Milosh of Los Angeles-based indie pop act Rhye, who recorded his vocal tracks while in Berlin, Germany; Australian-born, Brooklyn-based global, indie pop sensation Nick Murphy, formerly known as Chet Faker, who bonded with the British producer over a shared love of disco; Florida-born, Los Angeles-based Nicole Miglis of Los Angeles-based act Hundred Waters; and the New York-based Moroccan collective Innov Gnawa among others. Adding to the album’s transitory nature, Green also employs the use of found sounds that include a Hong Kong elevator, rainfall in Seattle, an Atlanta-based tumble dryer and a New Orleans fan boat engine.

After completing successful tours across both the European Union and North America to support Migration, Green announced the release of a 3 song EP/single package that features album single “Bambro Koyo Ganda,” an analog version of “Bambro Koyo Ganda” that finds Green stripping the song’s production and sound to the bone — retaining a propulsive, undulating pulse and Moroccan-born, New York-based band Innov Gnawa’s vocals and handclap-led percussion, highlighting the hypnotic groove and vocals. EP closing track “Samurai” was written and recorded during the Migration sessions, and consists of a stuttering vocal sample floating over a sinuous production featuring shuffling drum programming and shimmering, subtly arpeggio synth and wobbling low end. And much like the material from the recording sessions it came from, the song should remind listeners of how much Green’s work draws from classic house and soul, while being paradoxically sensual, intimate and yet cinematic.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The 80s Post Punk and New Wave-Inspired Sound and Visuals of Berlin’s A.D. Mana

sentimental records is a Brussels, Belgium-based record label hat specializes in cassette tape-only releases from a variety of post-punk and New Wave-leaning acts all over the world, including the Los Angeles-based post-punk outfit Second Still. The Belgium indie label’s will be releasing the debut EP from Berlin, Germany-based A.D. Mana, an artist, who specializes in a sound that meshes elements of coldwave, post-punk, synth pop and industrial electronica; in fact, the EP’s first single “Take Hold” will immediately bring memories of early 80s New Order (i.e., “Blue Monday” and “Bizarre Love Triangle”), Ministry (i.e., “What About Us?”) and Depeche Mode (i.e., “People Are People,” and “Just Can’t Get Enough”) but with a murky and moody vibe that nods at goth as you’ll hear industrial clang and clatter, shimmering synths, angular guitar chords and a dance floor and arena rock-friendly hook paired with Mana’s aching and tender vocals.
Shot, edited and directed by Sally Dige Jørgensen, the recently released video for “Take Hold” is a decidedly 80s influenced affair featuring black and white sequences of a brooding Mana walking through the crowded rush-hour streets of Berlin, what appears to be someone developing photos of Mana and his intense graze in a dark room and more — and in some way, the video captures and evokes the woozy effect of obsession.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Fittingly 80s-Inspired Visuals for Count Vaseline’s “Russia”

Stefan Murphy is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and the creative mastermind behind the mostly Berlin, Germany-based New Wave and post-punk-inspired recording project Count Vaseline. Interestingly, Murphy started the project during a creative spell — and after a handful of live shows, Murphy went to the U.S. to write and record his Count Vaseline debut Yo No Soy Marinero, a deeply personal effort that focuses on what may have been one of the more difficult times of his own life — and as a result, the album is kind of a debaucherous romp that celebrates both his trials and tribulations and creativity while in Berlin.

Of course, Murphy’s decision to decision to stay in the US was followed by an earth-shattering Presidential election that still has countless people reeling, and his recently released sophomore effort Cascade thematically focuses on the depressingly cyclical patterns of both world history and world politics and the overall sense of pervasive doom; however, the album’s latest single “Russia” is an account of two lovers desperately trying to break free from the constraints and horrors of the modern world. And while deliberately performed at 117 beats per minute — the same beats per minute as Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” — the song manages to sound like what would happen if Duran Duran had covered Echo and the Bunnymen’s “Bring on the Dancing Horses” but with a young Ian McCulloch taking up vocal duties.

Directed by Kevin Brannigan and David Thomas Smith, the recently released video for “Russia” is decidedly an 80s-inspired video — in particular seemingly drawing influence from the music videos for Echo and the Bunnymen’s “Lips Like Sugar,” and “The Killing Moon,” and others, as it features a brooding, Slavic-looking woman vamping and strutting in front of a screen showing images of everyday Russian life while cutting to stock footage of warfare in Russia and elsewhere and of Russian gymnasts.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Husky Performs Their Gorgeous New Single “Splinters In The Fire”

Over the past five years or so, I’ve written quite a bit about the Melbourne, Australia-based indie folk/indie rock act Husky. Initially formed as a quartet featuring is founding members and primary songwriters Husky Gwenda and Gideon Preiss (keys, vocals), along with Evan Tweedie (bass, vocals) and Luke Collins (drums) filling out the band’s original lineup, the quartet quickly received national attention and acclaim after they won Triple J’s Unearthed Contest. As the result of a growing national profile, the band played at The Push Over Festival, one of their homeland’s biggest music festivals and they’ve opened for several internationally known touring acts, including Devendra Banhart, Noah and the Whale, The Shins, and Gotye.
The band’s remarkably self-assured and gorgeously lush full-length debut Forever So was released globally through Sub Pop Records — and the album was interestingly enough recorded in a loving DIY fashion with reclaimed recording gear in an abandoned bungalow near Gwenda’s house. The band’s sophomore effort Ruckers Hill further cemented the act’s reputation for incredibly crafted songs possessed effortlessly gorgeous melodies paired with anthemic hooks; however, as you may recall, with the release of “Late Night Store” late last year, the band revealed a massive change in thematic and sonic direction that was influenced by a lineup change that left the band’s founding duo as its sole members, and from the year that Gawenda and Preiss spent living in Berlin. And one of the first things you’d notice if you had been familiar with the renowned Australian band is that while the material off their first two albums was melody-driven, “Late Night Store” was much more hook-driven and featured Gawenda and Preiss employing the of analog synths and electric guitar in what may have been one of their most rock-leaning songs they’ve written and released. Thematically, the song captured the wild array of sensations and emotions most commonly felt when you’re far away from home — in particular, awe, reinvention, danger, of being in the words of Paul Salopek “a traveler, a man from far away” — while evoking the sensation of wandering around all hours of the day and night from jet lag, excitement, boredom and loneliness from hotel room to cafe, from cafe to bar, from bar to nightclub, observing everyone and everything around you; the strange and profound bond you have with others, who are like you, far away from home and are wandering around with the exact same thoughts and feelings reverberating in their heads.

“Ghost,” the band’s first single of 2017 and the second single off the band’s third full-length album Punchbuzz continued in a similar vein as its preceding single as it features shimmering, arpeggio synths, a propulsive bass line, thundering drumming and a rousingly anthemic hook — and while pushing the sound that won them international attention into a contemporary, rock-leaning take, both “Late Night Store” and “Ghost” are among the most personal yet ambitious songwriting of Gawenda’s career.

“Splinters In The Fire,” the soon-to-be released third album’s third and latest single can trace its origins to a guitar line that had been repeating in his head for weeks while the line “Splinters in the fire, summer days in the smoke” kept making its way into the lyrics had been writing. As Gawenda explains in press notes, there was “something about ruthlessness of fire — and time.” And as a result, the song possesses the wistful and sober mood of one coming to grips with the end of relationships, the passing of time and the acceptance of one’s own mortality; after all, all things pass and all things die, and this is is the way of things.

The duo, along with their backing band released a live video of them performing of the song, shot in the gardens of an old, somewhat abandoned mansion near their residence in Melbourne — and from the video, it’s a big rambling place, in which ghosts and spirits haunt and wander about.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past 12-18 months or so, you might recall that the Spanish-born, Berlin-based singer/songwriter and pop artist Sofi de la Torre quickly became a JOVM mainstay artist. de la Torre can trace the origins of her musical career to when she first began writing songs when she was 14 — and after stints in  Los Angeles and  London, where she signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV and then wrote and recorded her full-length debut. As the story goes, after the release of her debut, de la Torre went through an extensive period of reflection, self-discovery and re-invention, which began with the JOVM mainstay artist experimenting with her sound and songwriting approach. Interestingly, her early experimentation eventually lead her to collaborate with Finnish songwriting and production team Jonas Karlsson and Axel Ehnström and the critically applauded “Vermilion,” which was featured on The Guardian’s playlist and on Grimes’ blog.  The track was then remixed by deep house producers Crom and Thanh and played by Tiesto on his BBC Radio 1 program –- adding to an already growing international profile across the European Union.

Along with a growing international profile, de la Torre has developed a reputation for being rather prolific, releasing two critically applauded EPs That Isn’t You and Mess; in fact, at one point Mess steadily climbed the the Hype Machine charts and was featured in Spotify’s Weekend Buzz playlist. Now, although it’s been a little bit of time since I’ve personally written about her, de la Torre has been rather busy, writing and recording her latest EP Another. Not Me. I’m Done, and the EP’s latest single “D.G.I.T. (Don’t Get It Twisted)” is a collaboration featuring Blackbear and Taylor Bennett that further cements de la Torre’s reputation for deeply personalized songwriting — in this case, writing a song in which its narrator recognizes that because of her selfishness and immaturity, that she almost took a great thing for granted. And as a result, the song possesses a sense of vulnerability, regret and hopefulness — the hope that she hasn’t screwed it all up and hasn’t permanently lost a good thing. But along with that, the song pairs slick yet minimalist production consisting of tribal-like percussion, swirling electronics with de la Torre’s ability to craft a razor sharp, radio-friendly hook.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Stefan Murphy is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and the creative mastermind behind the mostly Berlin, Germany-based New Wave and post-punk-inspired recording project Count Vaseline. Interestingly, Murphy started the project during a creative spell — and after a handful of live shows, Murphy went to the U.S. to write and record his Count Vaseline debut Yo No Soy Marinero, a deeply personal effort that focuses on what may have been one of the more difficult times of his own life — and as a result, the album is kind of a debaucherous romp that celebrates both his trials and tribulations and creativity while in Berlin.

Of course, Murphy’s decision to decision to stay in the US was followed by an earth-shattering Presidential election that still has countless people reeling, and his recently released sophomore effort Cascade thematically focuses on the depressingly cyclical patterns of both world history and world politics and the overall sense of pervasive doom; however, the album’s latest single “Russia” is an account of two lovers desperately trying to break free from the constraints and horrors of the modern world. And while deliberately performed at 117 beats per minute — the same beats per minute as Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” — the song manages to sound like what would happen if Duran Duran had covered Echo and the Bunnymen’s “Bring on the Dancing Horses” but with a young Ian McCulloch taking up vocal duties.

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Nostalgia-filled Visuals for Geowulf’s “Don’t Talk About You”

Splitting their time between London, UK, Gothenburg, Sweden and Berlin, Germany the Noosa, Australia-born duo Star Kendrick and Toma Benjamin can trace the origins of their musical project Geowulf to Benjamin and Kendrick’s long-time friendship, a friendship that started when they were both in their teens; however, Kendrick and Benjamin’s musical collaboration began in earnest, when Kendrick, whose parents were also professional musicians, began seriously pursuing music a few years ago and listed her friend to flesh out the sound of her earliest demos.

With the release of their debut single “Saltwater” the duo quickly received attention across the blogosphere and elsewhere as the single reached over 1 million Spotify streams, reached the Hype Machine‘s top ten and peaked at #4 on the Spotify US viral charts. Building upon the buzz of their debut single, the Australian-born, Europe-based duo’s latest single manages to subtly expand upon the sound that first caught the attention of the blogosphere and elsewhere as Kendrick’s ethereal and hauntingly gorgeous vocals are paired with lushly shimmering and jangling guitar chords in a song that evokes 70s AM rock. And while some have said that the duo’s sound channels Fleetwood Mac, I also hear a subtle nod towards Mazzy Star as the song possesses a lovelorn ache. As Star Kendrick explains in press notes “This song went through a geographical and creative metamorphosis over almost two years. We originally wrote it in Copenhagen, demo’ed it in Stockholm and then revisited it recently when Toma and I were both in London. I guess the song speaks for itself but ultimately it falls in the good ol’ ‘wanting-something-that-ain’t-good-for-you’ vein …”

The recently released music video was shot while the duo was in Berlin with grainy VHS-style filters manages to capture the summery yet nostalgic feel at the core of the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Sofia Kourtesis is a Berlin, Germany-based DJ, producer and activist, who as a producer and DJ has developed a reputation for a sound that possesses elements of tech house, dream-pop, new wave and others while frequently using anything at her fingertips to create something unique — and interestingly enough has been described by some as falling somewhere between the minimalism of Aphex Twin and the ambiance of Jai Paul.

Over the holidays, Kourtesis released a sensual and atmospheric remix of Me Succeeds‘ “Cool Kids” in which she uses a chopped and reversed sample of her uncle’s voice, skittering drum programming and layers of shimmering and  gently undulating synths which gives the original a mischievous yet hopeful air — and a result, a completely different air from the slow-burning and industrial-leaning original.

As Kourtesis explains of her remix “The Cool Kids remix is really energetic and playful, I thought about our new generation, these people who are young and cool on their own special unique form. Kids wanna change things and maybe save the world someday.”

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeously Eerie Visuals for The History of Colour TV’s “Wreck”

Led by its founding member, British artist Jaike Stambach, and currently featuring bandmembers Markus Mocydlarz and Janek Sprachta, the Berlin, Germany-based indie rock trio The History of Colour TV was initially conceived as a solo, experimental multimedia project. With the release of two full-length albums and several EPs released through Bruit Blanc Records and renowned shoegazer label Saint Marie Records, the members of the Berlin-based have developed a reputation for restless expansion and experimentation with their sound as their recorded output has consisted of noise rock, sound collages, shimmering deram pop and recently more straightforward rock — and for extensive touring and live shows across both Berlin and Continental Europe.

As the story goes, earlier this year the trio of Stambach, Mocydlarz and Sprachta set off to Black Box Recording Studio to write and record the material which would eventually comprise their third, full-length effort Something Like Eternity with Peter Deimel, who’s best known for this work with The Wedding Present, Shellac and The Ex. And as you’ll hear on the album’s latest single “Wreck,” the band wanted to focus on a raw, live-like sound; in fact, the band recorded the song with minimal overdubs and as a result, it feels like an accurate representation of their live sound while evoking 90s alt rock — in particular, the song reminds me of Pablo Honey and The Bends-era Radiohead as the band pairs a shimmering yet slightly ragged arpeggio guitar chord-led melody, propulsive and stormy drumming and Stambach’s plaintive vocals signing lyrics recounting the story of a group friendship/group dynamic tarnished by disaffection and apathy.

As the band explained in press notes as a member of the group, the narrator describes feelings of confusion, helplessness and hurt over the members of the group’s inability to figure out a way to positively change the situation. At one point, the song’s narrator implies that the friends wind up in a car crash — leaving the narrator to contemplate both the randomness and the aftermath of an event that nullified any possibility of reconciliation. And as a result, the song possesses a bitter and unresolved sense of confusion, ache and resignation.

The recently released music video while shot in a gorgeous and cinematic black and white begins to slowly reveal a car that’s been totaled in an accident, complete with the effects of several people haphazardly left behind, which gives the video a spectral and eerie vibe.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeous and Wistful Visuals for Ten Fe’s “Overflow”

Hit The Light was recorded at Kompakt Records Studios in Berlin with Ewan Pearson, who has worked with Jagwar Ma, M83 and The Rapture and the album reportedly finds the duo meshing contemporary electro pop, Americana and the renowned Manchester sound — while thematically focusing on renewal, hope and possibility. And the duo’s latest single “Overflow” is a shimmering 80s-inspired synth pop/New Wave ballad with a motorik-like groove that focuses on the end of a romantic relationship and a lost love. And while being naturally wistful over what once was, the song possesses a hopeful message, that heartbreak no matter how profound is a reminder that you once knew and had love in your life, and that you will have heartbreak and love many times over.

Directed and edited by Modu Sesay, the recently released music video is shot in a gorgeous, cinematic black and white and features the band playing the song in their rehearsal space; but it’s cut in between with flashbacks of the band playing a live show in front of an ecstatic live audience, friends and couples having fun, hanging out and catching their friends play live shows — and it suggests that many of these small seemingly mundane things can influence art and the artists who create it.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Giorgio Poti (vocals, guitars), Alessandro Marrosu (bass), Salvador Garza (keys) and Aurelien Bernard (drums), each member of the London-based psych rock quartet Cairobi can claim a multinational heritage, which manages to influence their songwriting approach and sound. And adding to that multicultural influence, the band’s self-produced, self-titled album was written in Berlin, where the band’s lead singer relocated, and was recorded in a series of sessions between Berlin, London, Rome and New York. Interestingly, part of the album’s writing sessions draws from Poti suffering frequent and violently incapacitating migraines. As Poti explains in press notes ““I could either stay still, in silence, eyes shut, or take the medication and hope it worked so I could move on with my day. Even when the medicine worked, it would make me extremely sleepy, so some of the music and lyrics on this record were written in a state of drowsiness. That part wasn’t particularly fun, but maybe it helped me get rid of some filters. Luckily, the headaches stopped after about a year.”

The band started to receive attention across the blogosphere with the jagged and jangling Brit Pop and dream pop-leaning “Lupo,” a single which revealed that the band employed an unusual songwriting technique while still hewing to a lengthy psych pop/psych rock tradition. The band’s latest single “Saint” is a dense, noisy and jangling track that sounds as though it draws a bit from Middle Eastern and Saharan African music with shuffling drumming, chopped up distorted vocals, electronic bleeps and bloops and other effects to create a trippy kaleidoscopic sound. And while still drawing from old school psych rock, the single manages to sound as though it’s a modern, maximalist take on a familiar and beloved sound, complete with an anthemic, arena rock-friendly hook.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Elijah Hook is a Berlin-based soul/pop artist, whose sound meshes elements of old-school soul, contemporary electronic production and R&B as you’ll hear on his latest Sugaboy-produced single “Lights 47” which pairs Hook’s ethereal crooning and Drake-like flow with hyper modern and atmospheric production featuring stuttering drum programming and malevolently swirling electronics in a song that reminds me quite a bit of Steven A. Clark‘s Fornication Under Consent of the King complete with a self-assured swagger.

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Sofi de la Torre Returns with Some Slow-Burning Synth Pop

de la Torre has been rather prolific releasing two EPs That Isn’t You and Mess, both of which critically applauded and received attention across the blogosphere; in fact, at one point Mess steadily climbed the the Hype Machine charts and was featured in Spotify’s Weekend Buzz playlist. Earlier this year, I wrote about “Sit Down” which may have arguably been the Spanish-born, Berlin-based pop artist’s boldest, feistiest song she had released to date while nodding at the work of M.I.A. Interestingly, de la Torre’s latest single “Flex Your Way Out” is a slow-burning and radio-friendly track in which de la Torre’s ethereal yet sultry vocals are paired with moody and sparse production comprised of swirling electronics, twinkling keys, and stuttering, tweeter and woofer rocking beats. Pop artist Blackbear contributes a verse to a song that focuses on a relationship between two difficult and damaged people, who can’t quite figure out how to make it work — or if they should make it work.

The recently released music video continues de la Torre’s reputation for pairing her slickly produced pop with slick music videos — and in this case, the visuals feature de la Torre driving around her gorgeous birthplace of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.