Tag: Blur

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of brothers Martin (vocals, guitar) and Mads Rehof (bass), along with high school friends Jacob van Deurs Formann (guitar) and Frederik Lind Köppen (drums), the Copenhagen, Denmark-based quartet Communions can trace their origins to when the Rehof Brothers returned to their native Copenhagen after spending several years in Seattle. The Danish quartet initially received attention across the blogosphere, including the site where they’ve become mainstays, for crafting shimmering and plaintive guitar pop songs that sonically owed a debt to The Smiths; however, instead of the material possessing Morrissey’s bitterly ironic lyrics, the Danish quartet’s material possesses a swooning Romanticism — the sort evoke the urgency of first love.

The Copenhagen-based quartet’s much-anticipated full-length debut Blue is slated for a February 3, 2017 release through renowned indie label, Fat Possum Records and from the album’s latest single “It’s Like Air” reveals a band whose songwriting and sound has evolved, while retaining many of the elements that first won the band attention across the blogosphere as the band pairs the swaggering, enormous power chord and anthemic hook sound of 90s Brit Pop — i.e., The Verve, Blur, Oasis and others — with swooning and urgently Romantic lyrics. And although the song will further cement their reputation for writing material that evokes the fervent passions and confusion of youth, the heart and soul of the song, as well as the entire album is about the fact that both life and love are ultimately about taking a leap of faith, even when you may be scared out of your mind about the end result.

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Featuring primary and founding members Ryan Needham and Liza Violet, along with a rotating cast of friends, collaborators and others, the Leeds, UK-based indie rock band Menace Beach received both national and international attention with the release of their full-length debut Ratworld and its follow-up Super Transporterreum EP — both of which were praised for an off-kilter, buzzing and fucked up take on 90s rock. Now, if you had been frequenting this site last year, you may recall that I wrote about “Ghoul Power,” the first single off Super Transporterreum EP, a song that tales a story about a pocket-sized, alien thou, who soaks up your darkness and anxieties –but after hanging out with the members of Menace Beach, who take him to way too many parties and shows, the alien winds up as a pale, sweaty  mess. Sonically, the song seemed to draw from Pixies, The Breeders and L7 while evoking a lurching fucked up, nauseating haze.

Written while in Ibiza and recorded in Sheffield, UK with Russ Orton, who’s worked with M.I.A., Arctic Monkeys and The Fall, the band’s forthcoming sophomore effort Lemon Memory was partially written as a way to lift a citrus-based curse that the band’s primary duo believe was placed on their house and as a way for them to forge their own sound and identity. The album’s latest single “Give Blood” begins with a couple of false starts before noisily chugging along in earnest with layers of scuzzy power chords fed through effects pedals and tons of feedback, propulsive and thundering drumming and an anthemic hook in which Needham and Violet sing about death — all while sounding as though the song were inspired by Blur and psych rock.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Joy Room is a London, UK-based indie rock quartet, who all went to school together and bonded over their mutual love of Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Last Waltz. Their swaggering, debut single “Late at Night” manages to nod at the 90s Brit Pop/alt rock of Blur and others, as layers of power chords, thundering drumming paired with lyrics that describe the loneliness, bitterness and feelings of loss , self-flagellation and denial that come as the result of a bitter breakup.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

 

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of months, you might recall that a couple of months ago, I wrote about the Bath, UK-based indie pop quintet Bad Sounds. With the December 2015 release of their debut single “I Feel,” the British quintet quickly emerged into the British scene as the single received praise from the likes of The Line of Best Fit and Vice Noisey, and received airplay from BBC Radio personalities Zane Lowe, Phil Taggert, Annie Mac and Huw Stephens. The Bath, UK-based quintet’s second single “Avalanche,” which I wrote about a couple of months ago, had the band pairing fuzzy guitar chords, angular bass chords, electronic bleeps and bloops, a motorik-like groove, and a rousingly infectious hook in a song that sounds as though it was indebted to Damon Albarn‘s work with Blur and Gorillaz, complete with a similar wry, self-effacing irony.

Recently, British electronic music artist and producer ThisisDA recently released a wildly inventive rework of Bad Sounds’ “Avalanche” that retains only a small but recognizable portion the song’s hook through the use of a subtly chopped up vocal sample paired with enormous, tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap beats, swirling electronics, shimmering synth cascades, a sinuous bass line and a couple of emcees spitting fire over a swaggering, funky and trippy production that manages to sound equally inspired by the aforementioned Gorillaz and others.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Although he’s performed in a number of renowned Japanese acts including Flipper’s Guitar, multi-instrumentalist and electronic music artist Keigo Oyamada is perhaps best known to international audiences with his solo recording project Cornelius, which was named as a homage to the character in Planet of the Apes; in fact, with the 1997 release of his full-length solo debut Fantasma, Oyamada received attention for a cut and paste sound that was compared to the likes of Beck and The Beastie Boys but paired with the sort of orchestral arrangements, samples  and production techniques that reminded some of Brian Wilson. And as a result of the interest around his work Oyamada quickly became a highly-sought after producer and remixer, who worked with the likes of Blur, Bloc Party, MGMT, James Brown and others. Adding to a growing internationally recognized profile, Oyomada has played in Yoko Ono’s re-formed Plastic Ono Band and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra. And in his native country, Oyomada has co-produced and co-written for up-and-coming Japanese artist SalyuXSalyu. And interestingly enough, Oyomada has contributed music to Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Ghost in the Shell Arise. 

Fantasma had been long out of of print until Lefse Records recently released a re-mastered version of the album, complete with unreleased bonus tracks, including “Taylor,” a genre-meshing and genre-busting song that possesses elements of hip-hop breakbeats, funk, soul, glitchy electronica and random vocal samples. Sonically, the song manages to be challenging while being accessible enough to be played at a rave or an enormous summer festival.

Oyomada will be making his first Stateside performances in over 8 years over October and September, where he’ll be performing the material off Fantasma. Check out the tour dates below.


Tour dates:

8/4 Oakland, CA – Fox Theater

8/6 Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum Theater

8/8 Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theater

8/10 Denver, CO – Gothic Theater

8/12 Eau Claire, WI – Eaux Claires Festival

8/13 Chicago, IL – Park West

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The 80s Public TV-Inspired Visuals for Bad Sounds’ “Avalanche”

“Avalanche,” Bad Sound’s latest single was co-produced by Duncan Mills, and on the single the band pairs fuzzy guitar chords, angular bass chords, electronic bleeps and bloops, a motorik-like groove, and a rousingly infectious hook in a song that sounds as though it was indebted to Damon Albarn’s work with Blur and Gorillaz, complete with a particularly British sense of humor — wryly ironic and self-effacing; but while possessing a subtly contemporary take on a very familiar and beloved sound.

The recently released video is a glorious and ridiculous take on 80s educational TV — think of the counting and reading segments on Sesame Street, The Electric Company, 3-2-1- Contact and Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity” complete with psychedelic interludes and cheesy 80s graphics.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the December 2015 release of their debut single “I Feel,” the Bath, UK-based indie pop quintet Bad Sounds quickly emerged into the British scene as the single received praise from the likes of The Line of Best Fit and Vice Noisey, and received airplay from BBC Radio personalities Zane Lowe, Phil Taggert, Annie Mac and Huw Stephens. “Avalanche,” Bad Sounds’ latests ingle was co-produced by Duncan Mills, and the single has the band pairing fuzzy guitar chords, angular bass chords, electronic bleeps and bloops, a motorik-like groove, and a rousingly infectious hook in a song that sounds as though it was indebted to Damon Albarn‘s work with Blur and Gorillaz, complete with a similar peculiarly British wry, self-effacing irony — but with a subtly contemporary take on a familiar and beloved sound.

Adding to a growing national profile, the Bath-based quintet will be touring the UK festival circuit with appearances at The Great Escape and Dot to Dot, among others. Check out the tour schedule below, if you’re in or around the UK.

Tour Dates:

20 May – The Great Escape, Brighton
28 May – Dot To Dot, Bristol
12 June – Field Day, London
2 September – Festival No. 6, Portmeirion

 

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Courtney Barnett’s “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go To The Party” Channels 120 Minutes-era Alternative Rock

With the release of I’ve Got a Friend Called Emily Farris EP, How to Carve a Carrot Into a Rose EP and the double EP The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas (which, from my understanding is a […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Spanish indie rock band Parlement initially began as a solo recording project of founding member and primary singer/songwriter Stefan Robert. The act slowly expanded when Robert began recording with producer and bassist Raul Parra. Flagon […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Spanish indie rock band Parlement initially began as a solo recording project of founding member and primary singer/songwriter Stefan Robert. The act slowly expanded when Robert began recording with producer and bassist Raul Parra. Flagon […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Dominic Sennett, Edward Ibbotson, Micky Osment, and Samuel Fry, the London-based quartet of Life In Film have built up quite a profile in their native UK and across the rest of the world […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

A Q&A with Secret Colours’ Tommy Evans

When the Chicago, IL-based Secret Colours released their debut, self-titled effort and their sophomore effort Peach last year, they were a sextet, which is highly unusual for most rock bands. But between the after effects of the release of Peach and […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

The Reading UK-based band Tripwires recently released the official music video for “Shimmer,” the latest single off their new album, Spacehopper, which will be released on June 17th and interestingly enough the track kind of reminds me […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

a Q&A with the Valery Trails’ Andrew Bower

So I recently spoke with the Valery Trails’ lead vocalist and songwriter Andrew Bower. In this Q&A we talk about how the band writes and records material with two members of the band being in […]