Tag: D’Angelo

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Alpines Chilly Yet Urgent Call to Action on the Environment

Comprised of Bob Matthews (guitar, production) and Catherine Pockson (vocals, piano), the London-based electro pop duo Alpines formed in 2010 and since their formation they’ve quickly built up a national and international profile as they opened for the likes of  The Naked and The Famous, Emeli Sande and Florence and the Machine — eventually signing to a major label. Once their stint within the major label system ended, instead of being overwhelmed by a sense of bitter resignation, they self-released their first two, critically applauded full-length albums 2014’s Oasis and 2016’s Another River. 

The duo’s soon-to-be-released third, full-length album Full Bloom is slated for a November 16, 2018 release through Untrue Records and the album reportedly channels some of the duo’s core influences — in particular, Prince, Aaliyah, Frank Ocean, Lauryn Hill, Aretha Franklin, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Kelela, 90s rave culture and Massive Attack; while lyrically the material touches upon growth, change, ecology, the every day challenges of love, acceptance and hardship. And as a result, the material finds the duo examining the inner and outer complexities of modern life, and our insecurities and vulnerabilities in a a profound mature fashion. Initially, the material was built around a basic piano idea, that they expanded upon within their Kingston-Upon-Thames studio. As the duo says, “There are tracks that lean more towards Catherine’s love of classic singer-songwriters and soul music, and others that are inspired by left-field producers and rap.”  Additionally, the material draw from Netflix’s The OA, the work of architect Rachel Whiteread, contemporary fashion and art, as well. 

The chilly yet soulful, “Full Bloom” is the album’s latest single, and the album title track is centered around Pockson’s soulful, pop belter vocals and a 90s soul meets house music-like production consisting of subtle yet lush layers of arpeggiated synths, twinkling keys, a classic house music breakbeat and a rousingly anthemic hook. And as a result, the song sonically brings Snap!’s “Rhythm Is A Dancer,” Black Box’s “Everybody Everybody” and Soul 2 Soul’s “Get A Life” among others. Lyrically, the song focuses on the fact that while things may seem difficult, that right now is the time to get it together, and save the Earth because time is a-wasiting; if we don’t, we’re all done for.  “The title is in reference to the beauty of the natural world which is so fragile,” Alpine’s Catherine Pockson explains in press notes, “as well as a nod to what we feel we have achieved musically,” after several years of graft and struggle. The song is inspired by a recently UN Climate Change report that said we have maybe a good decade or so before we irrevocably alter the environment — for the worse. “The song is about the climate crisis, our love of the earth, and how time is really running out,” states Catherine Pockson, “The refrain ‘everything has to change” is both a plea for definitive action, and a wake-up call to those who have yet to accept the reality. If we don’t completely change our way of life within the next few years, the damage to the natural world will be irreversible – some of it already is.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Introducing the Boundary Pushing Sounds of Ottawa’s Garçons

Comprised of Nigerian-born, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada-based singer/songwriter Deelo and Canadian-born, Ottawa-based producer and director Julian Strangelove, the up-and-coming electro pop duo Garçons can trace their origins back to when the duo initially met back in […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Million Miles’ Sultry and Jazzy Cover of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ “Beggin'”

Over the past year, I’ve written a bit about the Paris-born, London-based singer/songwriter Sophie Baudry, whose solo recording project Million Miles is the culmination of a life-long love affair with soul music. After completing her studies at  Berklee College and a stint as a recording engineer and studio musician in New York, Baudry returned to London, where she felt an irresistible pull to write music inspired by Ray Charles and Bill Withers. On an inspired whim, Baudry decided to make a trip to Nashville, where she spent her first few days wandering, exploring and reaching out to strangers, as though she were saying “I ’m new here and I’m a songwriter and i’m looking for people to collaborate with.” As the story goes, Baudry wound up having chance meetings with local songwriters and producers Robin Eaton and Paul Eberson and within an hour or so of their meeting, they began writing material that eventually became the French-born, British-based singer/songwriter’s Million Miles debut EP, Berry Hill, which was recorded over the course of a year during multiple sessions at Robin Eaton’s Berry Hill home studio. And from EP singles “Can’t Get Around A Broken Heart” and “Love Like Yours,” Baudry quickly received attention across the blogosphere, as well as this site, for an easy-going yet deliberately crafted, Sunday afternoon, Soul Train-like soul that nodded equally at the aforementioned Bill Withers and Erykah Badu and Jill Scott.
Recently, Mahogany Sessions invited the French-born, British singer/songwriter to participate in their Covers series in which she contributes a sultry and jazzy soul-like cover of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ “Beggin'” that sounds as though it nods more towards Brown Sugar-era D’Angelo, giving the classic song a modern interpretation without erasing the song’s plaintive and urgent need. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

With the release of their first two singles a cover of Pharrell Williams‘ “Frontin‘” and their Amin Payne-produced debut single “Love Trick,” the Melbourne, Australia-based R&B/Future Soul act La Hazel, comprised of Lucas Miller, Matty Lansdown, Tim Chambers and Anand Sivamalai quickly received attention nationally and elsewhere; in fact, with the release of their cover of “Frontin’,” the Melbourne-based Future Soul act built an online following and played with a number of local acts including Blasko, Zil, 1/6, SO.Crates, Tino, Aaron Creigh, Tail Sing, Noti, Class A and others. Along with that they were included on an international line up of up-and-coming hip-hop acts that included Canada’s Xolisa, New Zealand’s Raiza Biza, and American acts A1 Krashn and Paco while the acts were on tour in Australia. Their official debut, “Love Trick” quickly racked up 30,000 views within the first four weeks of its release on Facebook.

Building upon a growing profile, the Melbourne, Australia-based Future Soul act recently released their second and latest single “Begging” is a slinky and sultry bit of synth-based funk that interestingly enough reminds me of Melbourne, Australia-born, Brooklyn-based Nick Murphy, fka Chet Faker — with hints at D’Angelo, The Roots, Dam-Funk and others, but with rousingly anthemic hooks; but under-pinning the song is an irresistible, yet frustrated carnal need. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Ben Roth (vocals, guitar, synth), Lance Umble (bass), Zach Dimmick (guitar, synths) and Jonathan Angle (drums), the Seattle WA and Tacoma, WA-based indie rock quartet bod is arguably one of that area’s more accomplished bands as the band features former and current members of several renowned indie bands including Oberhofer, EZTV, Telekinesis, Sloucher, Crater, and BOAT. The recently released True Cinnamon EP is the second release from the band, since their formation in 2013 and the EP’s material reportedly is an aggressive exploration inwards, a sort of adult re-calibration of their sound and thematic concerns, in which they realize the dark and uncertain realities of a world in constant turmoil — and to be constantly overwhelmed by it while drawing influence from a broad variety of artists including D’Angelo, Deerhoof, Can, Cate Le Bon, Bjork, Big Star and others.

True Cinnamon‘s latest single, EP title track “True Cinnamon” is an anthemic bit of Brit Pop-leaning psych rock that reminds me of The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Stone Roses while nodding at Radiohead and others, thanks to a rousing, arena rock friendly hook and blistering guitar work; however, the song possesses a twisting and turning structure and an explosive sense of unpredictability   — both of which evoke a sense of being awoken from a pleasant dream and experiencing a sudden, world-altering, nightmarish trauma.

Although the band recently released True Cinnamon, they’re finishing up work on a full-length album, produced by Telekineses’ Michael Lerner, slated for a fall 2017 release.

 

 

 

 

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Growing up listening to an eclectic variety of music including Patti Labelle, Jill Scott, Bob James, Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo, Bjork and The Black Crowes among others, up-and-coming, Edmonton, AB-born, Toronto, ON-based soul artist Tanika Charles quickly developed a reputation locally as an emerging solo artist, whose puts a modern spin on the classic Motown soul sound — frequently meshing it with swaggering, hip-hop-like beats and deeply, confessional and honest lyrics, reminiscent of Mary J. Blige, Kelis and others. And as a result, within Canada’s soul scene, Charles has largely been considered her country’s next big thing; in fact, interestingly enough, over the past couple of years Charles transformed from being an emerging solo artist to being a commanding performer and bandleader, as well as one of the scene’s staples. Adding to a growing national profile, Charles has collaborated with Estelle, Lauryn Hill and Macy Gray, and has made regular appearances on CTV, Global and CBC Radio.

Produced by Slakah the Beatchild, best known for collaborating with Drake, Charles’ latest single “Soul Run” is the first single off her self-titled, full-length album, slated for an April 7, 2017 release through Italian soul label, Record Kicks, and the single will further cement the Edmonton-born, Toronto-based singer/songwriter’s burgeoning reputation for crafting confessional lyrics based around her own personal experiences with “Soul Run” based around Charles’ experience of feeling trapped in an emotionally abusive relationship in rural Canada — until she decided to “borrow” her then fiancée’s car and left for Toronto to start her music career, never looking back. Considering the personal nature of the song, Charles as the song’s narrator expresses regret over her own foolishness that wound up with her being hopelessly trapped in an abusive and fucked up relationship and desperate desire to get away and start over. You can almost picture Charles, jumping into the car with whatever possessions she could manage and hitting the road without an idea of where she was going or what would happen — and yet feeling true freedom to do whatever she wanted.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Born in Elst, a small village in the Utretcht Province of The Netherlands, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Marjan Alise Theodora van Viegan, best known as iET (pronounced as “eet”) discovered at an early age that music could be used as a way to transport herself to a different reality outside of her small village life — and as a result, van Viegan gradually wanted to connect with the world outside of her small village. Certainly, even as Americans there’s something about van Viegan’s story that feels — well, deeply universal. After all, how many of us have desperately yearned for something more in our personal and professional lives?

With the release of her debut EP The Kitchen Recording Series 1, which was literally recorded in her own kitchen, van Viegan caught the attention of several artists including Bonobo’s Szjerdene and Pink Oculus, with whom she collaborated on The Kitchen Recording Series 2. The Kitchen Recording Series 2 eventually caught the attention of Grammy Award winning producer and engineer Russell Elevado, best known for his work with D’Angelo and Erykah Badu, who offered to work with van Viegan debut effort, So Unreal, an effort that received international praise for it’s meshing of a variety of sounds and styles including electro pop, soul, singer/songwriter confessionals and more.

Friday will mark the release of So Unreal‘s follow up, the Inhale EP and the effort is reportedly a change in sonic direction and aesthetic for the Dutch singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist as van Viegan wanted to go for a much more intimate and direct sound. Co-produced by van Viegan and her friend and frequent collaborated Budy Mokognita, the album features van Viegan writing and recording most of the EP’s material herself with her collection of vintage instruments and gear, including her guitar, trumpet and double bass, which she inherited from her uncle and a recently acquired 1930s Schimmel upright piano.

Much like Inhale‘s first single “Inhale Your Love,” the EP’s latest single “As She Moved” focuses on an atmospheric and straightforward songwriting and sonic approach as van Viegan’s ethereal and sultry coos with a propulsive drum programming, cascading and swirling keyboard chords, handclap-led percussion, gently undulating bass and strummed guitar in a carefully crafted, swaggering song that owes a debt to experimental pop, neo-soul and rock simultaneously while revealing a songwriter who has an innate ability to write a subtle yet infectious hook.

 

 

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Oso Dope, Shine Sinatra, Shadow the Great and Kidaf, the New York-based hip-hop collective Loaf Muzik formed back in 2011 and have built up a growing national profile as they’ve been praised by the likes of The Source, Complex, Green Label, Hip-Hop DX and others for a sound that pairs soul and jazz samples, modern, tweeter and woofer rocking beats with an attention to dope rhymes and lyricism. And as a result they’ve shared stages with the likes of renowned acts including Vince Staples, Danny Brown, Theophilus London, D’Angelo, and Mos Def and others.

Produced by Brooklyn-based producer Harry Fraud, best known for his work with Wiz Khalifa, The Weeknd and French Montana, the collective’s latest single “Pastor Spliff” pairs a slick production consisting of twinkling keys, skittering and stuttering drum programming and brief bursts of shimmering guitar with emcees with tongue-twisting flows full of complex inner and outer rhyme schemes and word play, as the song subtly channels golden age-era hip-hop.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Introducing Belgian Quintet STUFF. and Their Funky, Hip-Hop Take on Jazz Fusion

STUFF. is a Belgian-based quintet who have received attention across their native Belgium and the European Union for a sound that possesses elements of hip-hop, jazz, jazz fusion and funk. And as a result of […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Introducing Sb and His Uniquely, Off-Kilter and Trippy Take on R&B With New Single “Woman”

Inspired by D’angelo, Deftones, Travis Scott, TLC and others, up-and-coming Lancashire, UK-based R&B artist and producer Sb has received attention across the European Union with the release of his debut single “Woman” And once you […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Chet Faker’s Reworking of “1998” Features Guest Vocals by Indie Pop Sensation Banks

With the release of his full-length debut, Built on Glass, the Melbourne, Australia-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Nick Murphy, best known as Chet Faker quickly became an international sensation for a silky smooth and soulful electro pop/electro R&B sound that […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Over the past thirty or so years, several Australian artists have become internationally-known sensations including Men at Work, INXS, Midnight Oil, The Church, Cut Copy, Tame Impala and several others. Last year, the Melbourne, Australia-born, […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Afropunk Festival Day 1: 8/23/14

Afropunk Festival Commodore Barry Park, Fort Greene, Brooklyn August 23, 2014 As I mentioned in a previous post, throughout the bulk of JOVM’s history, I essentially ran the site full-time and as a side project, […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:uma:video:vh1.com:1083869/cp~vid%3D1083869%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Avh1.com%3A1083869 Chet Faker – Gold (Big Morning Buzz Live) – Chet Faker Music Videos – Live Performances Nick Murphy, is a Melbourne, Australia-based singer/songwriter/producer who writes, performs and records under the moniker of Chet Faker. And as Chet […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Thurmon Green is a Los Angeles, CA-born and New York-based singer, who has quickly developed reputation for a sound that has been described as owing a debt to D’Angelo, and Laurie Anderson. His latest single […]