Last month, I wrote about ACES‘ first single of 2017. “Just Cut It Out,” a single which will appear on an border-crossing synth pop compilation DRUG BLVD featuring contributions by artists from the US, Australia, the U.K, The Netherlands and elsewhere. Mastered by Barry Grint, who has worked with David Bowie, Radiohead, Prince, Oasis, Beastie Boys, Madonna, Guns ‘N’ Roses and others, the compilation will be the first release from new, Istanbul, Turkey-based dream pop label Drug Boulevard, founded by Kubily Yigit, the founder of renowned Turkish progressive/trance label Blue Soho Records. The compilation’s second and latest single is a contribution from 23-year-old, Los Angeles, CA-based electronic music artist and producer Edrina K. Martinez, best known in electronic music circles as Astronautica. And as Astronautica, the young, up-and-coming Angelena is one of Alpha Pup Records newest addition to their roster, thanks to a lush and dreamy production style that channels Octo Octa’s Between Two Selves and Sade, as you’ll hear on “Reasons” — but paired with thumping house music and 808-like beats.
As rumored by countless sources, the album would feature production by some of the original collaborators — including El-P, Questlove, Trent Reznor and DJ Premier. So coming across both a friend’s Facebook post and a press email that read “Zach de la Rocha releases ‘Digging for Windows’ from Forthcoming Solo Album” was a moment of stunned disbelief. Naturally, that was followed by a moment in which I thought “Finally! Righteously furious, revolutionary music for these frighteningly uncertain, fucked up times.”
The yet unnamed album is slated for release sometime next year, and its stomping and rampaging first single “Digging for Windows” pairs an ambient and somewhat abrasive, industrial-leaning production consisting of enormous, stomp tweeter and woofer rocker beats, slashing synths, electronic bleeps, distorted vocal samples with de la Rocha’s imitable and furious vocals rhyming from the perspective of the disenfranchised, the downtrodden and fucked with, the victims of abuse, injustice and greed with profound empathy, understanding and hatred of the powerful and unchecked forces behind it. And although he may not ever be in your list of Top 10, Top 20 or hell, even Top 50 emcees, he’s absolutely necessary — now more than ever.
As I’ve said countless times on this site, more than enough ink has been spilled over the course of New Order‘s 35 year history, so delving into their background isn’t necessary; but what I will maintain is that throughout the band’s history they’ve managed to balance that rare and difficult tightrope of being both critically and commercially successful. And as a result they’ve also managed to be incredibly relevant, as a growing number of bands have cited them and their sound as a major influence. Certainly, if you’re a child of the 80s as I am, Duran Duran, Guns ‘N Roses, Def Leppard, Run DMC, New Order and a lengthy list of others will likely hold a very dear place in your heart. So it wouldn’t be terribly surprising that a number of artists have covered New Order over the years — with an increasing frequency of late. . .
Now if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past three or four weeks, you might recall that I’ve written about the San Francisco-based indie pop artist Mike Deni’s solo recording project Geographer. The project has developed a reputation for crafting a thoughtful and deliberate sound that meshes blossoming synths with precise orchestral arrangements. And with the release of his critically praised, third, full-length effort, Ghost Modern through Roll Call Records earlier this year, Deni has expanded his profile towards greater national attention.
Interestingly, while taking some time off to write new material over the summer, Deni had worked on a cover/reworking of Arthur Rusell‘s “This Is How We Walk On The Moon,” and the cover was so inspiring to the San Francisco-based electronic music artist that he decided that he should work on an entire effort of covers — and the result was he recently released Endless Motion EP, which features reworking and covers of songs by New Order, Kate Bush, Paul Simon and Felix Da Housecat.
The EP’s latest single is a cover of New Order’s “Age of Consent” that seems fairly straightforward as Deni has retained all the familiar elements of the song with an exacting verisimilitude; however, Deni’s vocals have a swooning and plaintive quality that pulls the song’s heartache and despair front and center. And although it’s an incredibly subtle and nuanced interpretation, the Geographer cover should remind listeners that New Order wrote a number of songs that wound up becoming remarkably timeless. Check out how it stands up to New Order’s original below.
In the five years that I’ve run The Joy of Violent Movement, I’ve conducted about 100 interviews, and as a result I’ve wound up growing quite used to the role of being an interviewer. But […]
The Seattle, WA-based singer/songwriter Star Anna has received praise from the likes of Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and Guns ‘n’ Roses and Velvet Revolver’s Duff McKagan, and after you hear her voice on “Go to Hell,” the album title track on her […]
The Seattle, WA-based singer/songwriter Star Anna has received praise from the likes of Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and Guns ‘n’ Roses and Velvet Revolver’s Duff McKagan, and after you hear her voice on “Go to […]
