Tag: EDM

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Emerging French Electronic Act Scuffles Releases a Paranoia-Inducing Visual for Club Banging “Total Rumble”

Split between Angers, France and Nantes, France, the emerging French garage techno act Scuffles — Sombre Barry and Sombre Winston — describe their sound as being “at the crossroads of techno and punk garage.”

“Total Rumble,” the duo’s latest single is club banger, centered around a looping guitar sample, layers of arpeggiated synths, a propulsive motorik groove, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, an enormous, club banging, festival friendly hook and shouted vocals. Sonically, the brash and infectious track will draw comparisons to The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, and Adult., as it possesses a paranoid yet gritty, industrial quality. 

Shot and edited by Josic Jégu and Morgan Richard, the recently released and incredibly eerie video for “Total Rumble” captures the paranoia of an out-of-control drunk while on a trip to the country. But is he being chased — or is he chasing the demons in his drug and booze-addled mind?

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Fonkyson is a rising Montreal-based future house and electro funk DJ and producer, who has released a full-length album — 2016’s #followme— and a handful of singles through Lisbon Lux Records. Earlier this year, the Montreal-based DJ and producer released his latest album Falling, which featured “You Got It.” Centered around Vanes’ sultry, come hither vocals, a sinuous bass line, handclaps and finger snaps, shimmering synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rocking 808s and an infectious hook, “You Got It” was a summery, club banger that seamlessly meshed ’80s synth funk and ’90s house.

“Giving U Up,” Falling‘s latest single is a a straightforward ’90s inspired house music collaboration featuring Desiire and Kôsa. Centered around shimmering and arpeggiated synths, tweeter and woofer rocking low-end, stuttering beats, soulful vocal turns from Desiire and Kôsa and an an enormous hook, “Giving U Up” is an earnest and swooning declaration of devotion that simultaneously further establishes Fonkyson’s unerring knack for crafting infectious and summery club bangers.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past five or six months, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering the rising French electronic music artist, producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK. Now, as you may recall, the rising French artist grew up as a voracious music listener and fan, who has had long eclectic and wide-ranging tastes that includes hip-hop, rock, techno and others. And while his work is deeply influenced from and draws from techno, it also reflects a lifelong devotion to a eclecticism: his first two EPs, which he managed to create during lunch breaks at his day job featured material that meshed elements of techno, house and EDM among others.

The French JOVM mainstay has developed a reputation for being remarkably prolific, frequently releasing new material with a number of EPs, including one of his most recent EPs Kodama. “Music Box,” Kodama EP‘s latest single is centered around tweeter and woofer rocking low end, thumping beats, explosive blast of rimshot and hi-hat, relentless synth stabs, a looped sample of a kalimba, which manages to sound much like a music box and a vocal sample that simply says “We are the weapons.” While being a mid-tempo techno track the track manages to sound as though it were inspired by Tour De France-era Kraftwerk and Boys Noize — forward-thinking yet accessible and dance floor friendly.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: French Electronic Project VAPA teams up with VoxAxoV’s Charlotte Cegerra on a Sultry Club Banger

Formed in 2017, VAPA (an acronym for the French phrase Vous n’Avez Pas d’Avis, which translates into English as “You Have No Opinion”) is an emerging French electronic music collective that’s inspired by what the French journalist Jean-Yves Leloup has dubbed “conscious dance floor,” the project aims to bring people together through music but while addressing larger social issues, linking the hedonism and freedom of the party to the seriousness of our age — with a hint of optimism.  

The project’s sound draws influences from Thylacine, Jon Hopkins, Agoria, and Essaie Pas but paired with the voices of personalities, fellow musicians and journalists as a way to  to take an honest look at the world, to raise questions and our fears as a way to push the listener into action. “An introspective quest put into words and melodies!” VAPA’s mysterious creative mastermind says in press notes. 

VAPA’s latest single “Nuages Oranges” is an eerily atmospheric track and sensual track centered around shimmering and squiggling synth arpeggios, rapid-fire beats, a dance floor rocking hook and the dreamily sultry French vocals of VoxAxoV’s Charlotte Cegarra. And while sonically bearing a resemblance to Octo Octa’s Between Two Selves and From Here to Eternity and From Here to Eternity . . . And Back-era Giorgio Moroder, the track focuses on the climate crisis, exile, existential anguish in the face of the world that’s adrift — and then hope. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Watch Detroit’s ADULT. Smash a Room in Frustration in New Visual for Tense and Claustrophobic “Total Total Damage”

Detroit-based multimedia and electronic music production and artist duo ADULT. — the husband and wife team of Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus — have developed a sprawling catalog of material that obscures and blurs defined genres and styles, while drawing from industrial electronic, house music, punk rock and visual art with releases through Mute Records, Ghostly International, Thrill Jockey, Third Man Records and a list of other labels throughout their two plus decades together. 

Slated for an April 10, 2020 release through Dais Records, the acclaimed Detroit-based electronic duo’s forthcoming album Perception is/as/of Deception was conceived, written and recorded in a temporary black hole they created: the duo painted their windowless basement entirely black, with the sole intention of sensory deprivation so that they could question their perceptions and witness the resulting ramifications. And as result, the album’s material may be the most introspective and punk-leaning they’ve written to date: the frustration and apprehension that has long been at the center of their work are heightened — but interestingly enough, the material was written with a much more head-on approach, making it forceful and strident.

Last month, I wrote about Perception is/as/of Deception‘s second single, the club banging “Have I Stated at the End.” Centered around a classic electronic body music production featuring industrial clang and clatter, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, shimmering synth arpeggios, an enormous hook and a repetitive mantra that questions the fragility and temporality of life “Total Total Damage,” the album’s third and latest single is a tense and claustrophobia-inducing track centered around industrial clang and clatter, layers of synth arpeggios and Kuperus’ howled vocals. Thematically, the song is a dystopian anthem that focuses on the slow and painful collapse of our society and systems and the growing uncertainty and uneasiness we all feel but while expressing the desperate cabin fever. 

While in social isolation, the members of ADULT. decided to build a room-like set indie their house for the Miller and Kuperus-filmed and edited visual for “Total Total Damage,” which features the duo losing their minds and destroying their room with a sledgehammer.  “We’re hoping that the video speaks to a lot of people, because everyone’s feeling cabin fever and wanting to get out, get back to ‘normal’ life,” the Detroit-based duo say in press notes. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms
Over the past few months, I’ve written quite a bit about the emerging and mysterious French electronic music artist, producer and latest JOVM mainstay artist
LutchamaK. The French artist and producer grew up as a voracious music fan and listen, who listened to and loved an eclectic array of music including hip-hop. dub, classical, rock, techno and a lengthy list of others. Unsurprisingly,  while his work is deeply influenced by techno, it reflects a devotion to a lifelong eclecticism: his first two EPs, which he managed to create during lunch breaks at his day job featured material that meshed elements of techno, house and EDM among others. 
Now, as you may recall the French JOVM mainstay has been gearing up to release his full-length debut Invisible Realm but in the meantime, he has managed to be incredibly prolific. Before the album’s release, LutchamaK has another EP Joy Inside — and interestingly enough, he has released two singles off the EP: the shimmering and slow-burning dub of “The Dream,” which is full of irie vibes, twinkling keys, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, a sinuous bass line and dreamy vocals coming out of the hazy mix, and the house music banger “I Do,” which features a hypnotic groove centered around wobbling low end, synth arpeggios and a sultry vocal hooks with subtle modulation. Both tracks will remind the listener of a producer, who masters several different styles and sounds — simultaneously.
Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Tel Aviv’s Red Axes Releases a Hook-Driven Club Banger

Red Axes is an acclaimed Tel Aviv, Israel-bass electronic music production, electronic music artist and DJ duo of Dori Sadovnik and Niv Arzi. Over their decade together, the Israeli duo have specialized in a sound that they’ve dubbed punk-electronica, influenced by their backgrounds in rock and their enthusiasm for contemporary club sounds. Interestingly, throughout their run together, the duo have developed a reputation for restless experimentalism: they’ve released deep house material on Crosstown Rebels Records and Permanent Vacation Records and have even performed live sets with a 12 member band while releasing two albums and dozens of 12 inches. They’ve also released material throughI’m A Cliche Records and their own Garzen Records. 

To celebrate their tenth anniversary together, the duo will be releasing their forthcoming, self-titled album through Dark Entries Records. Slated for a May 8, 2020 release, the album is reportedly their first batch of material specifically conceived and written as an album-length listening experience with the songs flowing through a variety of stylistic and sonic detours. highlighting their ears as keen and adventurous listeners and DJs. The album’s first single is the swaggering. late 90s-early 00s electronica banger “Sticks and Stones.” Featuring a vocal contribution from Adi Bronicki, who rhymes and sings with an in-your-face swagger, the song is centered around a slick production featuring buzzing guitars, thumping beats and layers of electronics. Sonically, the track may remind some listeners of Tweekend-era The Crystal Method, The Chemical Brothers and others. 

Directed by Sergei Rostropovich, the recently released, cinematically shot video follows Lea Prinz on a wild, booze-fueled night throughout town with stops at several bars, several liquor stores with a cathartic ending at an enormous club. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Acclaimed Detroit Duo Adult. Releases an Anxious and Uneasy Club Banger

Over the course of their 23 year history together, Detroit-based multimedia and electronic music production and artist duo ADULT. — the husband and wife team of Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus — have developed a sprawling catalog of material that obscures and blurs defined genres and styles, while drawing from industrial electronic, house music, punk rock and visual art with releases through Mute Records, Ghostly International, Thrill Jockey, Third Man Records and a list of other labels. 

Slated for an April 10, 2020 release through Dais Records, the acclaimed Detroit-based electronic duo’s forthcoming album Perception is/as/of Deception was conceived, written and recorded in a temporary black hole they created: the duo painted their windowless basement entirely black, with the sole intention of sensory deprivation so that they could question their perceptions and witness the resulting ramifications. And as result, the album’s material may be the most introspective and punk-leaning they’ve written to date: the frustration and apprehension that has long been at the center of their work are heightened — but interestingly enough, the material was written with a much more head-on approach, making it forceful and strident. 

“Have I Started at the End,” Perception is/as/of Deception’s second and latest single is a club banger, centered around a classic electronic body music production featuring industrial clang and clatter, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, layers of shimmering synth arpeggios, an enormous hook and a repetitive mantra that questions the fragility and temporality  of life while expressing frustration and unease. Unsurprisingly, the song evokes the unease and uncertainty of our time. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: James Rubiolo Teams up with Rosie Timmon on an Euphoric Club Banger

James Rubiolo is an emerging Sydney, Australia-born and-based producer, who has been honing and perfecting his sound over the past couple of years. His second studio single “How You Make Me Love” is a slickly produced, euphoric house track centered around twinkling and shimmering synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rocking beats and an anthemic and sultry hook wrapped around sultry vocals sung by Irish-born, New York-based Rosie Timmon. The song evokes the swooning euphoria of falling madly in love — but with the subtle undertones of uncertainty and anxiousness over what it’ll mean for you if it works — or worse yet, if it fails. 

Interestingly, the track can trace its origins to when the emerging Sydney-born and-based producer, met the Irish-born, New York-based producer on a night out in Bali. After meeting, they duo shortly made the single over a series of Instagram voice messages. “I made the riff while sitting back in a bed in a gross motel room in Bali and worked on a vocal with Timmon the next day over voice messages.” Rubiolo goes on to explain that the track which draws from the likes of MK and Sigala, is an attempt to recall sultry summers at Ibiza-based clubs like Ushuaia and Cafe Mambo. 

The recently released video follows Aussie dance and vibe creatorTommy Franklin, in cut off shorts, brightly colored Hawaiian shirt and chucks dancing and rocking out to the song around Sydney’s world-famous Bondi Beach. And from the video, Franklin’s life is full of explosive, life affirming joy. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past handful of months, I’ve written a bit about the emerging and mysterious French electronic music artist and producer LutchamaK. The French artist and producer grew up as an voracious music fan and listener, who listened to — and loved — an eclectic array of music, including hip-hop, dub, classical, rock, techno and others. LutchmaK’s work is deeply influenced by techno but with a devotion to lifelong eclecticism: his first two EPs, which he managed to create during lunch breaks at his job, featured material that seamlessly synthesized techno, house and EDM among others.

LutchamaK is gearing up to release his full-length debut Invisible Realm and the album’s first single “Tribute 2 Mad Mike” continues in a similar retro-futuristic vein as “Later On.” Centered around a minimalist-leaning production, the track features shimmering synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, vocodered vocals and an enormous hook, “Tribute 2 Mad Mike” brings Computer World and Tour de France-era Kraftwerk, JOVM mainstay Boys Noize, ’90s house music and techno to mind. Simply put, it’s a thumping club banger.

“I wanted to make it as danceable as possible,” LutchamaK wrote to me in an email. “It’s a salute to Mad Mike, one of the founders of Detroit’s Underground Resistance. I tried to get a ’90s techno vibe, hoping the result won’t be seen as plagiarism.”