Amelia Airhorn is an unique collaboration between the New York-based blogosphere champion electronic music production and artist duo The Knocks and nu-disco producer Skyler Spence. As the story goes, the trio connected when Spence opened for The Knocks during their Feel Good Feel Great, North American headlining tour, and when the tour finished they spent time working at the The Knocks’ HeavyRoc Studio mixing snippets of classic soul and disco with YouTube apocrypha and random bits of obscure, movie dialogue — and as you’ll hear on the trio’s loving homage to New York, “NY is Red Hot,” the trio’s aesthetic is a hedonistic, lysergic and wildly anachronistic, groove-based collage that nods at Studio 54 disco and late 90s – early 00s French house music — in particular Stardust‘s “Music Feels Better With You” and Homework-era Daft Punk.
Tag: Daft Punk
New Video: The Retro-futuristic 80s Inspired Visuals for The Legends’ “Summer In The City (Living Is For Somebody Else)”
So if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past 12-15 months or so you’ve seen the name Johan Angergård as a result of his various electro pop projects including — Djustin, Club 8 and Acid House Kings, and he’s also known as the founder and label head of renowned Stockholm, Sweden-based electro pop label Labrador Records; however, the acclaimed electro pop producer and label head, has had an equally accomplished solo career with his solo recording project The Legends — including 2009’s noise pop-leaning self-titled effort and 2015’s It’s Love, which featured lead single “Keep Him.” That same 12-15 month period has been an extremely busy and prolific period for Angergård: Djustin and Club 8 released long-awaited album and he released a series of critically applauded singles off his recently released full-length effort, Nightshift has revealed a decided change of sonic direction for his The Legends project, as his sound went towards a swaggering, neon-colored, retro-futuristic sound reminiscent of 80s Giorgio Moroder, Computerworld-era Kraftwerk, early house and Holy Ghost!’s Crime Cutz, and Homework-era Daft Punk as heavily vocoder-processed vocals are paired with tweeter and woofer rocking 808s, processed cowbell and layers of arpeggio synths as you’ll hear on the propulsive and summertime, club-banger “Summer In The City (Living Is For Somebody Else).” And while breezy, the song’s breezy quality is deceptive; at the core of the song is a bittersweet, sad sack narrator’s loneliness and heartbreak over being alone during yet another summer in the city while everyone else seemingly has someone in their lives.
The recently released video for the song is a pastiche of early 80s animation, including a lengthy Japanimation segment reminiscent of Pole Position and Voltron. Certainly, if you’re a child of the 80s, the video is remarkably fitting and will bring back some warm memories of easygoing, neon-colored summers.
Comprised of founding members Victor Martinez and Nick Mariotti, along with Steven Doman, the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock trio Paloma can trace its origins to when both its founding members started the band in a small, bedroom studio deconstructing ideas over and over and over again while the duo had been balancing the need to make ends meet while expressing their irrepressible need to be creative; however the band’s sound and aesthetic didn’t coalesce until they recruited Steven Doman to fully flesh out their sound. And with the band’s forthcoming debut EP Luna, the band’s sound draws a bit from the classic Southern California sound, as well as a variety of renowned artists including Beach House, Daft Punk, The Weeknd, Tame Impala, Pond, Gum, Dumbo Gets Mad, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, and Earth Wind and Fire — although with “Touch,” the EP’s latest single finds the band pairing a propulsive and sinuous groove, a brooding New Wave-like moodiness and achingly plaintive vocals, creating a sound that reminds me a bit of Hands‘ dreamy and excellent 2012 EP, Massive Context and Milagres‘ impressionistic 2011 debut Glowing Mouth. In a similar fashion to those albums, the song manages to be emotionally ambivalent and confused, capturing the vacillating thoughts and emotions of its narrator.
As the members of the band explain about their new single, the song is about a diamond in the rough, a somewhat tramp-like sort, who doesn’t quite know how to believe in themselves until he meets a princess – – for him, at least — that did believe in him. When they both turn to real life, there’s a part of him that’s banking on the idea that in some ay they’re only halfway through the film, that the story isn’t finished yet. And as a result, the song possesses an unresolved tension.
New Video: JOVM Mainstays The Penelopes Return with an 80s New Wave and Synth Pop Inspired New Single
Comprised of Paris-born, London-based duo Axel Basquiat (composer, vocals, bass) and Vincent T. (production, sound engineering and keys), The Penelopes are an indie electro pop act, production and DJ duo who have developed a reputation for propulsive, Giorgio Moroder-like remixes of Lana Del Ray, Pet Shop Boys, We Have Band, Night Drive, The Ting Tings, Alt J and others, and for their own original material, which critics have compared favorably to the likes of Daft Punk, M83 and Air. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past 3 years or so, you may have come across posts on their remixes of The Ting Tings “Do It Again,” Alt J’s “Hunger of the Pine” and an anthemic, club-banging cover of Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” that managed to retain the song’s sense of longing.
The duo released a new single package featuring their cover of Bowie’s “This Is Not America,” which received airplay on KCRW, along with several remixes, including Miguel Campbell’s remix, which received airplay on Nemone’s BBC 6 show, and a new, original song “Tina.” The duo’s latest single “Tina” manages to be a decided refinement of the sound that captured both the site’s attention and the rest of the blogosphere; in fact, while retaining a dance floor friendly feel, the song manages to decidedly leans in the direction of 80s New Wave and synth pop — in particular, I’m reminded a bit of Simple Mind’s “Don’t You Forget About Me,” as “Tina” possesses an rousingly anthemic nature that belies a swooning Romantic nature.
The recently released video cuts between footage from Asia Argento’s directorial feature film Misunderstood, starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and footage of the band performing the song in a studio, shot in a striking, film noir-like black and white.
New Video: Watch the Paris Symphonic Orchestra’s Instrumental Rendition of Uppermost’s “Constellation”
Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past three or four months, you’ve come across a handful of posts featuring the Paris, France-based electronic music producer and electronic music artist Behad Netjabakshe, best known as Uppermost. And as you may recall, Netjabakshe has an internationally recognized profile for material he’s released through a number of renowned labels including Sony BMG, Ministry of Sound, BugEyed Records, Starlight Records and his own Uppwind Records — with singles like “Equivocal” landing at number 3 on Beatport’s electro house charts in 2009, and his Biscuit Factory EP landing at number 1 on the JunoDownload electro-house charts. Additionally, Netjabakshe has received attention for his remixes of Daft Punk, deadmau5, Burial, Crystal Castles, Jonathan Coulton, Syl Johnson, Congorock and others — and he’s had his work playlist by a nubmer of superstar producers and artists including Tiesto, Armin van Buren and Steve Angello.
Last week saw the release of the Paris-based producer and electronic music artist’s latest full-length effort, Origins 2011-2016, a massive 23 song LP, which features some of the French producer and electronic music artist’s most popular songs, including Flashback,” “Beautiful Light,” “Reminder” “Mistakes” as well as a new material including the shimmering and anthemic M83-channeling singles “Thousand Colors,” and “Emotion,” the Pink Floyd-channeling, cinematic “Reminder,” and the 45:33 and Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundsystem-leaning “Alive.” To celebrate the release of the album, Netjabakshe shared a swooningly gorgeous and cinematic rendition of “Constellation” performed by members of the Paris Symphonic Orchestra that retains the lush, cinematic quality of the original.
If you’ve been frequenting this site over the last few months of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, you’ve most likely come across a couple of posts featuring the , Paris, France-based electronic music producer and electronic music artist Behad Netjabakshe, best known as Uppermost. And as Uppermost, Netjabakshe has received attention internationally for material released through a series of renowned labels including Sony BMG, Ministry of Sound, BugEyed Records, Starlight Records and his own Uppwind Records — with singles like “Equivocal”landing at number 3 on Beatport’s electro house charts in 2009, his Biscuit Factory EP ranked first on the JunoDownload electro-house charts.And adding to a rapidly growing international profile, Netjabakshe has had his work playlisted by superstar producers and artists such as Tiesto, Armin van Buren and Steve Angello. Netjabakshe has also received attention for his remixes of Daft Punk, deadmau5, Burial, Crystal Castles, Jonathan Coulton, Syl Johnson, Congorock and others.
Uppermost‘s soon-to-be released full-length effort Origins 2011 – 2016 is a 23 song LP that features some of the French producer and electronic music artist’s most popular songs, including Flashback,” “Beautiful Light,” “Reminder” “Mistakes” as well as a new material including the shimmering and anthemic M83-channeling singles “Thousand Colors,” and “Emotion” and the Pink Floyd-channeling, funky and cinematic “Reminder.”Origins 2011 – 2016‘s latest single “Alive” will further cement Netjabakshe’s reputation for slickly produced synth pop as the Paris-based electronic music artist and producer pairs layers of shimmering, arpeggio synths with a sinuous bass line, Nile Rodgers-like guitar and and a rousingly, anthemic hook; however, where two of the album’s singles were reminiscent of M83, the album’s latest single leans a bit more towards 45:33 and Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundsystem, thanks to a club-friendly and accessible style.
Over the past couple of months you may have come across a couple of posts on Behdad Netjabakshe, Paris, France-based electronic music producer and electronic music artist, best known in electronic music circles as Uppermost. Netjabakshe has received international material for material released through a number of renowned labels including Sony BMG, Ministry of Sound, BugEyed Records, Starlight Records and his own Uppwind Records. And adding to a growing internationally recognized profile, Netjabakshe’s “Equivocal” landed at number 3 on Beatport’s electro house charts back in 2009, his Biscuit Factory EP ranked first on the JunoDownload electro-house charts — and he has had his work playlisted by superstar artists and producers such as Tiesto, Armin van Buren and Steve Angello, as well as received attention for his remixes of Daft Punk, deadmau5, Burial, Crystal Castles, Jonathan Coulton, Syl Johnson, Congorock and countless others.
You may remember that the Paris-based producer and electronic music artist’s forthcoming full-length album Origins 2011-2016 is a massive 23 song LP that features some of the Frenchman’s most popular tunes — including “Flashback,” “Beautiful Light,” “Reminder” “Mistakes” as well as a ton of new material including the shimmering and anthemic M83-channeling single “Thousand Colors,”and the Pink Floyd-channeling, funky and cinematic “Reminder.” “Emotion,”Origins’ latest single much like “Thousand Colors” will likely remind some listeners of the aforementioned M83 as the song features layers of cascading and shimmering synth chords paired with a soaring and anthemic hook and a sinuous bass line — with a swooning and Romantic heart at its core.
Live Footage: Uppermost Performs Reminder in Paris
Now, if you’ve bee frequenting this site over the course of the past month or so, you may recall that I previously wrote about Behdad Netjabakshe, Paris, France-based electronic music producer and electronic music artist, best known as Uppermost. Netjabakshe has received international material for material released through a number of renowned labels including Sony BMG, Ministry of Sound, BugEyed Records, Starlight Records and his own Uppwind Records. Adding to a growing internationally recognized profile, Netjabakshe’s “Equivocal” landed at number 3 on Beatport’s electro house charts back in 2009, his Biscuit Factory EP ranked first on the JunoDownload electro-house charts — and he’s had singles playlist by renowned artists and producers such as Tiesto, Armin van Buren and Steve Angello. Additionally, he’s received attention for remixing the work of Daft Punk, deadmau5, Burial, Crystal Castles, Jonathan Coulton, Syl Johnson, Congorock and countless others.
Netjabakshe’s forthcoming full-length effort Origins 2011-2016 is a massive 23 song LP that features some of the French electronic music artist and producer’s most popular songs such as “Flashback,” “Beautiful Light,” “Reminder” and “Mistakes” as well as a ton of new material including the shimmering and anthemic M83-channeling single “Thousand Colors,” that possessed a bit of muscle and forcefulness. The French electronic music artist and producer recently released live concert footage performing the cinematic, shimmering and funky “Reminder” in Paris. Interestingly, while the retro-futuristic gently nods at both M83 and Pink Floyd, the song manages to sound as though it should be part of the soundtrack of a sci-fi thriller.
New Video: JOVM Mainstay Tobacco Returns with Another Abrasive Yet Anthemic Bit of Electro Pop with Surreal Visuals
Sweatbox Dynasty, the long-awaited follow-up to Ultima II Massage was released earlier this year and you may remember that I wrote about Sweatbox Dynasty’s first two singles “Gods In Heat,” and “Human Om” and while furthering his burgeoning reputation for scuzzy and abrasive electronic music; however, just underneath the murky surface of both singles, there’s a breezy and dreamy melodicism that adds a strange sense of calm, as well as a darkly mischievous sense of humor. And the album’s third and latest single “Dimensional Hum” continues on a similar vein as the album’s preceding singles as a gorgeously, twinkling synth melody floats over layers of buzzing and grinding synths while vocals fed through vocoders and distortion slash and burn through some of the muck and grime.
Adding to the grimy, almost low-budget feel of the song, the recently released music video follows an escaped prisoner as he skareboards to freedom with a cheap, Halloween-themed wig as a disguise.
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.”
Preview: Full Moon Festival
Matte Projects is a creative production company that focuses on the conception, production and promotion of music-related events, perhaps more famously known here in New York for creating the Full Moon Festival six years ago, a carefully curated festival and dance party, largely inspired by Thailand’s world-renowned full moon parties. And although it’s been a couple of years since JOVM has covered the Full Moon Festival, its sixth year marks a return to Governor’s Island for two days of partying, art installations, and dancing from early afternoon to late in the night with one of the most enviably gorgeous views of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty around – and under this month’s blue moon, no less.
Culinary Delights
Although I’m a music blogger and journalist first and foremost, I fucking love food – I mean, who doesn’t right? – and when I covered the festival back in 2014, one of the best food highlights was The Brooklyn Star’s fried chicken waffle cone. Picture a waffle cone stuffed with popcorn fried chicken on top, mashed potatoes and coleslaw and topped with your choice of honey sriracha sauce (which was frankly the best thing I’ve ever had) or a ranch-based sauce.
Two years later and I’m still talking about it; that’s how fucking good it was – and I might kill someone to have another one.
(Photo Caption: Brooklyn’s fried chicken waffle cone may be the reason the terrorists hate us. And the person who came up with it is a genius.)
This year will continue the festival’s reputation for culinary delight as Matcha Bar, Mile End, Best Pizza, Pokito, Pig and Khao, Clean Shave Ice and Chalk Point Kitchen will all host pop-up stands throughout the festival. I’m starting to salivate over the possibility of some pork belly Adobo, pastrami sandwiches, pizza – well, all the food, really. And whatever weight you put on, you can sweat it off dancing all night.
Music
Full Moon Festival’s sixth edition may arguably have one of the most musically diverse lineups in its history and some of the must see sets will include the following:
Day 1, August 20, 2016
Led by its creative mastermind, producer and electronic music artist Aaron Jerome, SBTRKT (pronounced as “Subtract”) has developed an internationally renowned reputation for remixing the work of M.I.A., Radiohead, Modeselektor, Basement Jaxx, Mark Ronson and Underworld, and for releasing two critically applauded full-length albums, a few EPs and a number of singles – all of which have either received airplay or have been playlisted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6. Interestingly, throughout his recording and performing career Jerome has preferred to be as anonymous as humanly possible and during live shows he’s been known to perform wearing modern interpretations of native and indigenous society ceremonial masks designed by A Hidden Place, as well as performing with frequent collaborator Sampha.
Earlier this year, Jerome announced a new project that he described as a “non album,” a collection of songs specifically designed to be an ongoing listening experience, while bringing new music to fans in a faster fashion than the traditional album cycle.
Born Terrence Thornton, Norfolk, VA-based emcee Pusha T is perhaps best known as one-half of critically applauded and commercially successful hip-hop duo Clipse, with his brother Gene “No Malice” Thornton. And with the help of their friend, Norfolk, VA-born producer, multi-instrumentalist and eventual mega-hit artist Pharrell Williams, the duo quickly exploded into the national scene with the release of their 1997 full-length debut Exclusive Audio Footage. And as a result, Pusha T has made a number of guest spots over the years including on Kelis’ “Good Stuff,” Nivea’s “Run Away (I Wanna Be With You),” all while recording three more albums as a member of Clipse, including the duo’s critically applauded and commercially successful third album Hell Hath No Fury. After the duo’s fourth album, they announced that Clipse would be on hiatus while each individual member would pursue solo projects and other creative endeavors.
In 2010 Pusha T was signed to Kanye West’s GOOD Music and made guest appearances on a number of labelmates’ releases including “Runaway” off West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and West’s GOOD Fridays singles series and as a solo artist Thornton has collaborated with an increasingly lengthy list of artists and producers including Swizz Beatz’s Monster Mondays series, Lloyd Banks’ H.F.M. 2 (Hunger For More 2), Future, Tyler the Creator, Jay Z and others. Interestingly, over the last few years Thornton has been incredibly prolific, releasing a handful of mixtapes and his solo debut, My Name Is My Name. Adding to a growing profile, last year Kanye West personally appointed Pusha T to take over the reins at GOOD Music. And we should be expecting a full-length in the near future.
Born Nkosinathi Maphumulo, the internationally acclaimed, eThekwini, South Africa-born and Johannesburg, South Africa-based producer and DJ Black Coffee can trace the origins of his recording and performing career to when he majored in Jazz Studies at Technikon Natal. While as a student there, he worked as a backup singer for Madale Kunene before forming an Afro-pop act S.H.A.N.A (short for Simply Hot and Naturally African) with classmates Mnqobi Mdabe (Shota) and Thandukwazi Sikhosana (Demor). The somewhat short lived act was signed to Melt 2000; however, his DJ and production career explored when he was selected as one of two South African participants during 2003’s Red Bull Music Academy – and with an increased buzz around him, he released “Happiness,” which was featured on the DJs at Work compilation; in fact, by the release of his sophomore effort, Have Another One, Black Coffee had become a household name in South African electronic circles for a propulsive, forceful tribal sound and for putting on locally-based artists and producers, all of whom have started to receive attention across Africa, Europe and elsewhere.
Adding to a rapidly growing international profile, Black Coffee has played at some of the world’s biggest and most renowned clubs and stages including Southport Weekender, Panorama Bar, Circo Loco and Boiler Room and has made appearnaces at a number of music festivals including SummerStage, ADE and Red Bull Music Academy in his hometown of Johannesburg, Coachella, Ultra Music Fesitval and others. I’ve seen the brother do his thing live and he’s arguably one of the best electronic music arists, producers and DJs in the entire world. And as much as I want to see some of the other acts on the bill – i.e., Marcus Marr, Santigold and others – I think that Black Coffee may well be worth the price of admission.
Day 2, August 21, 2016
Largely influenced by James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Devo, reggae, Fela Kuti and a ton of Nigerian music, Philadelphia, PA-born singer/songwriter and producer Santi White is best known under the monikers Santogold (which she performed under between 2003-2009) and Santigold has throughout the course of three full-length albums Santogold, Master of My Make-Believe and her most recent effort, 99¢ has developed a reputation for a sound that has at times been compared favorably to the likes of M.I.A. as her work sonically manages to blur, mesh and completely destroy genre lines as you’ll hear elements of techno, house music, dub, reggae, alt rock and others while ironically commenting on our sociopolitical zeitgeist. Interesting, as the result of a growing national and international profile, White has collaborated with an equally impressive list of artists and producers including Diplo, Jonnie “Most” Davis, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O., Switch, Q-Tip, TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, has opened for the likes of Jay Z and Kanye West during their co-headlining tour, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the aforementioned M.I.A., Bjork and has a number of singles make prominent appearances in ad campaigns, including a 2013 campaign for Honda Civic among others.
Comprised of Matthew Correia (drums), Spencer Dunham (bass), Miles Michaud (vocals, guitar) and Pedrum Siadatian (guitar), Los Angeles-based indie rock sensations Allah-Las can trace their origins to when three of the four band members worked at renowned record store Amoeba Music. Formed back in 2008, the Southern California-based have received both local and national attention for a sound that draws entirely from the 60s and includes elements of folk rock, psych rock, surfer rock and garage rock – while firmly establishing themselves as part of a burgeoning retro/garage rock scene that includes The Mystery Lights, The Black Angels, Raccoon Fighter and others.
London, UK-based producer, electronic music artist, multi-instrumentalist and DJ Dhas received international attention over the last few years for a number of critically acclaimed singles released through renowned dance pop/electro pop label; in fact, “Brown Sauce” was mentioned in Pitchfork’s Tracks while “The Music,” appeared in the major motion picture Pusher and landed at number 3 on Spin Magazine’s Best Dance singles in 2013. And if you were frequenting this site over the course of 2015 you might recall that Marr collaborated with internationally acclaimed indie pop artist Chet Faker on an EP that featured the slickly produced Daft Punk and Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson leaning track “The Trouble With Us.”
Now if you’ve been frequenting this site over the course of its six-year history, you’d know that the New York-based neo-disco/electronic dance music/funk collective ESCORT have been mainstay artists. And over that same period of time, the collective founded by producers Eugene Cho and Dan Balls featuring frontperson Adeline Michele as members of a core group of five that frequently expands to 17 for live shows has received local and national attention for an incredible live show of funky, danceable tunes, their two full-length albums and for their frontperson’s incredible stage presence, cementing their reputation as a must-see live act.
Tickets are still available — and for a two day festival out on gorgeous Governor’s Island, the tickets are pretty affordable. [Purchase Tickets]
JOVM will be there to cover the festival. Expect some live tweeting, a lot of Instagram and more. And if you weren’t following me, here are the socials:
Twitter: @yankee32879 and @williamhelms3rd
Instagram: @william_ruben_helms
With the release of “River of Nile” and “Low Pressure,” Wild and Free, the electronic music production and artist duo comprised of Drew Kramer and George Cochrane have received praised from a number of major media outlets including XLR8R, Spin Magazine and Indie Shuffle for a sound that pairs tribal-leaning percussion, shimmering synths and ethereal vocals — all while effortlessly meshing disco, house and electro pop as you’ll hear on their latest single “Life On Jupiter.” And although the single will further cement their reputation for their club-friendly and expansive sound, it also will further cement the duo’s reputation for a slick production technique that subtly channels the motorik groove of Kraftwerk and the propulsive grooves of Daft Punk and Giorgio Moroder but with a sweaty and mischievous air.
New Video: The Creepily Uneasy Visuals for Tobacco’s “Human Om”
Sweatbox Dynasty, the long-awaited follow-up to Ultima II Massage is slated for release this summer, and as you may remember I wrote about “Gods In Heat,” the first single off the album. I think that single will further cement his burgeoning reputation for crafting scuzzy, abrasive and anthemic electronic music as he pairs layers of abrasive industrial clang and clatter, skittering drum programming, surface-level analog tape hiss and sizzle, a chanted mantra and an infectious hook; but with a subtle dreamy element that nods towards psych rock. The album’s second and latest single “Human Om” pairs layers of buzzing, whirring synths, industrial clang and clatter, mathematically precise handclap-led drum programming and mantra-like lyrics fed through vocoder. Interestingly, the song displays a dreamy and breezy melodicism just underneath the murky surface and as a result it gives the song a darkly mischievous feel; but while radiating a strange sense of calm.
Directed by the artist himself, the recently released music video employs the use of distorted rubber masks of celebrities, politicians and other characters nodding over the song’s distorted beats and superimposed over a variety of scenes and scenarios — and it gives the video a nightmarish, surreal logic while it lulls the viewer into an uneasy hypnotic state.
Certainly, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year or so, you’d likely be familiar with electronic music artist and producer Tobacco, who is perhaps best known as the frontman of renowned indie act Black Moth Super Rainbow. As a solo artist, Tobacco has developed a reputation for crafting an abrasive yet anthemic sound — while seeming as though he wants to channel Daft Punk, The Black Keys, Kraftwerk and Boys Noize — but from some dystopian future in which rusty, poorly maintained machinery and instruments whirr to grinding halt.
Sweatbox Dynasty, the long-awaited follow-up to Ultima II Massage is slated for release this summer, and earlier this year, I wrote about the album’s first single “Gods In Heat,” a single that I think will further cement his burgeoning reputation for crafting scuzzy, abrasive and anthemic electronic music as he pairs layers of abrasive industrial clang and clatter, skittering drum programming, surface-level analog tape hiss and sizzle, a chanted mantra and an infectious hook — but with a subtle dreamy element that nods towards psych rock. The album’s latest single “Human Om” pairs layers upon layers of buzzing and whirring industrial synths, mathematically precise handclap-led drum programming and chanted lyrics fed through vocoder with a dreamy psych rock-leaning melodicism that subtly lightens the murkiness.