Tag: EDM

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Fat Dog Shares Euphoric Trance Banger “Running”

Led by Joe Love, the rapidly rising London-based electronic act Fat Dog — Love (vocals, production), Chris Hughes (keys, synths), Ben Harris (bass), Johnny Hutchinson (drums) and Morgan Wallace (keyboards and sax) — can trace its origins back to 2021, when Love decided to form a group and take the demos he’d be making as a way to keep himself during lockdown out into the world. Initially, Love had two simple rules: Fat Dog was going to be a healthy band, who looked after themselves and there would be no saxophone presence in their music. But those two simple edicts have long-since been broken.

With Hughes, Harris, Hutchinson and Wallace, Love found like-minded mavericks to help bring the dream home. “A lot of music at the moment is very cerebral and people wonʼt dance to it,” says Hughes. “Our music is the polar opposite of thinking music.” The band’s Chris Hughes should know. He was originally a fan of the band, who at that point had been making a name for themselves with a series of exhilarating and/or wonky shows across South London before he joined.

Those early gigs formed the bedrock of what the rapidly rising British outfit were all about: seizing the moment, drinking too much with the moment, going home separately from the moment, but making up with the moment again the next day. Naturally, the rising British outfit quickly developed a following — and it helped that every show across London had become a huge upgrade on the last.

There’s something far deeper going on with the band. “Thereʼs a sense of community about Fat Dog,” says Hutchinson. And after completing their first shows in the US, including a set at a taco joint, the band has quickly built up a following Stateside. Building upon the buzz in their native UK, the Londoners will tour the UK next month and November, as well as make a run of the European festival circuit, playing sets at festivals in the UK and Europe over the summer.

Amazingly, the band’s breakthrough year or so, has come as the result of only two official singles under their collective belts: “King of the Slugs” and “All The Same,”  propulsive, club rocking, industrial-inspired banger built around glistening synth arpeggios, and orchestral sample-driven hit, industrial clang and clatter paired with skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap, enormous shout along worthy hooks and a plaintive vocal delivery.

Fat Dog’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, WOOF is slated for a September 6, 2024 release through Domino Recording Co. Produced by the band’s Love, Jimmy Ford and Jimmy Robertson, WOOF‘s material is influenced by Bicep, I.R.O.K., Kamasi Washington and the Russian experimental EDM group Little Big. Sonically, the album reportedly sees the London upstarts firmly establishing music for letting go, anchored around a blend of electro punk, snarling rock, techno soundscapes, industrial electronica and rave euphoria. The sound that Fat Dog makes, according to Love is “screaming-into-a-pillow music.” He continues, “I wanted to make something ridiculous because I was so bored. I don’t like sanitized music. Even this album is sanitized compared to what’s in my head. I thought it would sound more fucked up.”

WOOF‘s latest single “Running” is a hook-driven bit of club rocking trance, built around glistening, razor sharp synth arpeggios, relentless four-on-the-floor, thumping club beats and shouted vocals. But underpinning the club friendly euphoria is a tense, paranoid unease that befits our corporate sponsored hellscape.

Directed by Stephen Agnew, the accompanying video for “Running” is a surreal, breathtakingly cinematic visual with hints to Ken Russell, Ingmar Herman and others that reveals the true origins of the cult of Fat Dog and their real leader.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Solid Spark Shares Slickly Produced and Euphoric Banger “Dream”

Solid Spark is a rising electronic music producer and DJ, who has caught the attention of the global electronic scene with a sound that seamlessly blends contemporary pop sound with golden age EDM nostalgia. For the rising electronic music producer and DJ, the result is material that’s dance floor friendly but packs a deep emotional and energetic resonance.

“Dream,” Solid Spark’s latest single is a slick, club friendly banger anchored around glistening synths, a sultry and yearning vocal sample, skittering beats and euphoria-inducing hooks and drops that reveals a producer with an uncannily sophisticated sense of soulful craftsmanship.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Trendos and Viralli Share a Hypnotic Banger

Featuring members who hail from Czechia and Germany, Trendos and Viralli is a EDM production and DJ team, who manage to be restlessly prolific, releasing several songs a month. Their latest single “Blood Rave” is a woozily hypnotic, euphoria-inducing banger featuring tweeter and woofer rattling thump, glistening synth stabs and enormous hooks and drops.

Sonically channeling The Prodigy and deep, underground house, “Blood Rave” is the late night, seemingly drug-induced anthem for dancing the night away — and hopefully forgetting your troubles for a bit.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Rhythm Scholar Shares Woozy and Club Friendly Remix of Tears for Fears’ “Change”

Throughout the course of this site’s close to 14 year history, I’ve managed to spill copious amounts of virtual ink covering the ridiculously prolific, New York-based producer, DJ, remixer and JOVM mainstay Rhythm Scholar. And during that same period, the New York-based JOVM mainstay has built a profile both nationally and internationally for crafting slickly produced, crowd-pleasing mashups and remixes.

Earlier this year, Rhythm Scholar released a woozy remix of one of my favorite Tears for Fears tunes “Change” that retains familiar and beloved elements of the song, including the vocal melody, the chiming and percussive synth line, the squiggling New Wave guitar figure and the acclaimed duo’s uncanny knack for anthemic hooks paired with a spacious and dreamy, club friendly production.

World Music by William Ruben Helms

BLEUFEU is a Québec City-based event organizer and show promoter that presents festive and inspiring events, including the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ), Toboggan — New Year’s Eve Celebrations and St-Roch XP, as well as hundreds of shows throughout the year at Impérial Bell and a new venue, which will be opening soon.

The BLEUFEU team recently announced the lineup for this year’s Toboggan — New Year’s Eve Celebrations, presented by SiriusXM. Held in the Grande Allée District, in the heart of the gorgeous and historic provincial capital, this year’s edition will take place between December 28, 2023 – December 31, 2023.

2023’s Toboggan gains a new election with the addition of a new stage at Place George V, the SiriusXM Cube, which will host festive electronic music nights between December 28, 2023 – December 30, 2023. The SiriusXM Cube is a must-faced stage that will allow attendees to see that stage’s performances from three sides, starting each day at 5:00pm.

December 28, 2023 will see Canadian duo Loud Luxury headlining, returning after headlining back in 2019. Montréal-based sensation GLOWZI and Québec-based DJ Derrick will complete the SiriusXM Cube’s first night.

December 29, 2023 will see French multi-platinum selling artist DJ Klingande, who has been a mainstay at the world’s major EDM festivals headlining. Montréal-born, Franco-Congolese, Afro House artist DJ Karaba and rising artist Millimetrik will complete the SiriusXM Cube’s second night.

December 30, 2023 will see Montréal-based electronic music pioneer High Klassified capping off the SiriusXM Cube’s final night.

The traditional New Year’s Eve show, which will take place at Place de l’Assemblée-Nationale between 8:00pm-12:30am will be headlined by Italian Grammy-nominated production outfit Meduza will bring in 2024 with a euphoric EDM set. Québecois artist La Diable à Cinq, Les Louanges and Mike Demero will complete the night’s wild party.

On-site, visitors can also enjoy the Winter Village, which will feature heated areas under tents and relaxation spaces to enhance the experience, starting at 1:00PM each day. (Believe me, from what I understand, those heated areas will be prime real estate for an outdoor festival in Québec in late December!)
And this is all 100% free for visitors to enjoy, making Toboggan a great destination to celebrate the last days of 2023.

“New Year’s celebrations hold a special place in the hearts of the people of Quebec. We are very pleased to offer these four festive evenings free of charge to the entire population in the heart of our beautiful city,” BLEUFEU’s CEO Nicolas Racine says.  “With each new edition, we aim to establish Toboggan as a must-attend event and showcase the potential of Quebec as the ultimate Nordic destination,” he adds.

“We are excited about the new stage at Place George V. It was high time to equip the event with a stage setup and production worthy of the EDM festival it has become. Performances by artists such as Loud Luxury or Klingande will take on a whole new dimension,” explains Louis Bellavance, VP Content and Artistic Direction at BLEUFEU.

Lastly, as a festival, Toboggan is environmentally conscious and seeks to reduce its ecological footprint. Among their many actions taken, the festival will soon be carbon-neutral, with the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the event being offset through Planetair. They also produce sustainable mobility through its communication campaigns, Additionally, the festival will warm attendees in an environmentally conscious fashion, by using eco-friendly logs in its outdoor fireplaces.

The festival also has come up with a Good Festivalgoer Guide, which is available on their homepage, and offers festival goers a series of green actions that they can do to minimize the ecological impact of their visit.


Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Miami’s Diamondz Returns with Sultry “Speed Dial”

Diamondz is a Miami-based DJ and electronic music producer. As an open format DJ, who has blended genres together for crowds at clubs and venues across Miami, he has shared stages with a number of luminaries including Rihanna, Lizzo, T-Pain, Darude and Roger Sanchez. 

The Miami-based DJ recently stepped out into the spotlight as a producer and artist, and he manages to continue the genre-blending approach to his own original music with his work blending elements of hip-hop, electronic music and pop, influenced by producers like Diplo and David Guetta. 

Last month, the South Florida-based DJ released “Blind,” a song build around a slick production featuring glistening synths, skittering beats and a soulful vocal melody paired with twitter and woofer rattling house music-inspired drops. Throughout, the song’s vocalist tells a story of two people, who just can’t seem to see the love that they have right in front of them. The result is a remarkably crowd-pleasing, club friendly bop that seamlessly meshes elements of Billboard Top 40 pop and EDM.

Diamondz’ third single “Speed Dial” is a sultry, radio friendly club banger built around a pop-tinged production reminiscent of The Weeknd, built around skittering trap beats, atmospheric and twinkling synths and a yearning vocal melody. “Speed Dial” is the sort of mood-setting song that you’d hope would be playing when you’re trying to holler at that pretty young thing at the bar or the club.

It’s a nod to those late nights, leaving the party or the club and you get that call or text from someone you caught a vibe with,” the Miami-based producer explains. “The airy pads capture the aura of that late night drive to meet up while the allure of the dancing synth line captures the energy and feeling you get when you first link with that new person…the proverbial butterflies!”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sentiom Shares Lush, Crowd-Pleasing “No Limits”

Travis Stewart is a sound designer, composer and electronic music producer, best known as Sentiom. Stewart has spent the past two-plus decades composing music for film scores as a teenager, and gradually moved towards electronic music as one half of the EDM duo Paragon Axis, an outfit whose material has amassed almost one million streams across different streaming platforms. With Sentiom, Stewart crafts lush and melodic techno/deep house that frequently sees him pairing organic melodies with aggressive synthesizer work and driving bass.

Stewart’s latest single, the sleek, dance floor friendly “No Limits” is built around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering 808s, a relentless motorik-like groove and his penchant for rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses paired with a sultry pop starlet vocal sample. The result is a song that seems to channel Robyn and Little Boots with a similar crowd-pleasing accessibility.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Miami’s Diamondz Shares Crowd-Pleasing Bop “Blind”

Diamondz is a Miami-based DJ and emerging electronic music producer. As an open format DJ, who has blended genres together for crowds at clubs and venues across Miami, he has shared stages with a number of luminaries including Rihanna, Lizzo, T-Pain, Darude and Roger Sanchez.

The Miami-based DJ recently stepped out into the spotlight as a producer, and he manages to continue the genre-blending approach to his own original music with his work blending elements of hip-hop, electronic music and pop, influenced by producers like Diplo and David Guetta.

His second and latest single “Blind” is built around a slick production featuring glistening synths, skittering beats, a soulful vocal melody and a twitter and woofer rattling house drops. Throughout, the song’s vocalist tells a story of two people, who just can’t seem to see the love that they have right in front of them. The result is a remarkably crowd-pleasing, club friendly bop that seamlessly meshes elements of Billboard Top 40 pop and EDM.