Tag: Forward

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: DJ Manipulator and Louie Gonz Return with Gorgeous and Meditative Visuals for Album Single “Forward”

Over the course of the past summer, you may have come across a couple of posts featuring the Massachusetts-based hip-hop duo DJ Manipulator and Louie Gonz, and as you may recall the duo have collaborated together in a number of ways through the years; however, 2014’s Private Stock was the duo’s debut as a cohesive, collaborative unit. 

The duo’s sophomore effort together, The Loops was released earlier this year, and the album was intended to be a bold reintroduction to the duo, whose sound draws from soulful, golden era hip-hop — all while avoiding mimicry. Interestingly, The Loops’ latest single “Forward” finds Louie Gonz, putting aside the braggadocio and rhyming with a sober and sincere thoughtfulness on the struggles, demons and difficulties he’s faced both as a person and artist, including haters, naysayers and critics, the deaths of dear loved ones and friends, alcohol, depression, the possibility of an empty life without music and even Satan — but throughout it all, the message is that Gonz and Manipulator have always focused on their dream of creating music, which has kept them moving forward. Gonz’s lyrics are paired with a soulful and meditative DJ Manipulator production that subtly nods at Pete Rock and CL Smooth.

Shot in a cinematic black and white and co-directed by DJ Manipulator and Louie Gonz, the visuals follow nearly every element of Gonz’s lyrics, as it follows Gonz through daily life in his hometown, spending time with his beloved family and loved ones, struggling with alcohol (with the bottle of rum he can’t seem to put down); in fact, the video reveals a humility and honesty that can sometimes be all too rare in hip hop, before closing with a dedication to Gonz’s late father, Luis A. Gonzalez, Sr. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Toronto’s Career Suicide Returns with a Blistering and Furious New Single

Featuring founding members Martin Farkas and Jonah Falco, who splits his time as the drummer in renowned punk act Fucked Up, the Toronto, ON-based hardcore punk band Career Suicide formed back in 2001 and over the past 16 years, the band has written and recorded several records and played a ton of shows across the world. Machine Response, the band’s forthcoming full-length effort is the much-anticipated follow-up to their blistering and critically applauded Attempted Suicide and interestingly, the album which is slated for a February 24, 2017 release finds the band’s most recent lineup — founding members Farkas and Falco, along with Dallas Good (guitar), who has played with The Sadies, Andre Williams, John Doe, Half Japanese, Elevator and others, and guest vocals from Souichi Hisatake, a member of Forward, GISM, Insane Youth, Gudon and others furthering the band’s long-held reputation for blistering, furious, acidic and mosh pit worthy punk rock.

Now, if you had ben frequenting this site last month, you may recall that I wrote about Machine Response’s first single “Suffocate,” a blistering, furious and acidic and mos pit-worthy bit of punk rock that lyrically evoked claustrophobia and desperation. The album’s second and latest single “Distractions” clocks in at 80 seconds and sonically bears an uncanny resemblance to Suicidal Tendencies’ “Institutionalized” — while further cementing their reputation for crafting furious and blistering punk.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Featuring founding members frontman Martin Farkas and Jonah Falco (who splits his time as the drummer in renowned act punk act Fucked Up), Career Suicide is a Toronto, ON-based hardcore punk band that formed back in 2001 that has recorded several records and played shows all over the world. The band’s forthcoming full-length effort Machine Response is slated for a February 24, 2017 release, and the album is the much-anticipated follow-up to their blistering and critically applauded effort Attempted Suicide. The forthcoming album finds the band’s newest lineup — founding members Farkas and Falco along with  Dallas Good (guitar), who has played with The Sadies, Andre Williams, John Doe, Half Japanese, Elevator and others and occasional vocals from Souichi Hisatake, a member of Forward, GISM, Insane Youth, Gudon and others furthering the band’s long-held reputation for blistering, furious, acidic and mosh pit worthy punk rock as you’ll hear on Machine Response’s latest single “Suffocate,” a single that lyrically and sonically evokes the sensation of claustrophobia and desperation.