Tag: house music

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Paris’ Audio Key Architects Share a Sleek and Melodic Banger

Audio Key Architects (A.K.A) is a Paris-based sibling production and DJ duo. Driven by a deep and abiding passion for electronic music and techno, their collaborative project is guided by a share vision of sharing what they love to create and listen to — with the world.

Their second single “Ellipse” begins with a Flamenco-like introduction before quickly morphing into a deep house/techno banger featuring a soulful wailing vocal sample, a burst of vocodered vocals, glistening synth oscillations and skittering beats paired with the duo’s uncannily cinematic sense of melody. The result is a song that reminds me a bit of Snap!‘s “Rhythm is a Dancer” and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK — within an expansive song structure.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Berlin’s Max Blücher Shares a Sleek and Cinematic Banger

Hanover-born, Berlin-based electronic music producer and artist Max Blücher has quickly developed a reputation within the global electronic music scene for using his deep understanding of melodic techno and progressive house to boldly push the boundaries of electric music while simultaneously attempting to create music that’s innovative and emotionally resonate.

“Witching Hour,” the German electronic music producer and artist’s latest single pairs Giorgio Moroder-like synth arpeggios, skittering hi hat, and a Kraftwerk-like motorik pulse with organic instrumentation to craft a song that’s both cinematic and dance floor friendly.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Atlanta’s Bardis Shares a Swaggering Banger

Bardis is an emerging Atlanta-based electronic music producer. His latest single “Don’t Call It A Comeback” is a sickly produced, bombastic club banger that features enormous hooks, tweeter and woofer rattling thump, swelling and glistening synth arpeggios and a swaggering, chopped up vocal sample.

Sonically, “Don’t Call It A Comeback” brings Snap‘s “Rhythm Is A Dancer” and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK to mind.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Dylan Rafael Teams up with Roland Clark on Euphoric “I Believe”

23 year-old, New York-based electronic music producer, DJ and JOVM mainstay Dylan Rafael discovered his passion for DJ’ing when he turned 12. When he turned 20, he started to learn how to produce his own original material, which led him to playing at clubs like Lavo and nebula, and opening slots for Ship Wrek, Dzeko, Gordo and others. 

The young and rising New York-based producer began the year with “Cham Cham,” a Balearic-tinged house banger with elements of tribal house and Larry Levan-like house featuring skittering tweeter and woofer rattling beats and subtle Middle Eastern instrumentation paired with euphoria-inducing hooks.

His latest single “I Believe” is a upbeat banger built around twinkling and percussive synth arpeggios, skittering beats, euphoria inducing hooks paired with enormous drops and Roland Clark‘s booming delivery inviting the listener to come to the welcoming and loving church of house music. And I think we should all join them, and then dance and sweat our troubles and fears away.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay DFNSE Teams Up With Mae Rojas on an Uplifting House Banger

Rising Paris-based electronic music producer DFNSE specializes in a sound and approach that sees him seamlessly meshing elements of French touch, funk and pop.

Before releasing his debut EP, 2015’s Pandorium, an effort inspired by the SoundCloud Future House scene, he participated in a number of attention grabbing producer battles alongside emerging artists like BlackDoe, Ikaz Boi, and Varnish La Piscine. Back in 2016, the rising Parisian producer released material through a handful of electronic labels including Darker Than Wax, Souletiquettte and Nowadays Records, who released a single on their Oceans compilation, as well as the  Moonrock EP, which features one of his biggest songs to date, “Show You.”

Last September saw the release of the Symphony Road EP, which featured “Getaway,”a breezy, 80s-inspired summertime bop featuring Australian vocalist AKA Lui’s plaintive falsetto paired with twinkling keys, a strutting bass line, some Nile Rodgers-inspired funk guitar, an irresistible, two-step inducing groove and an infectious hook. And while being a clear club banger, the song is an escapist fantasy, evoking summers full of seemingly carefulness, warm days and nights, hanging out at beach and rooftop are and clubs — and of vacations to tropical climes.

“No Limit,” the Paris-based JOVM mainstay’s latest single is a classic, upbeat and uplifting Larry Levan-like house banger built around twinkling keys, skittering hi-hats, glistening synths paired with Mae Rojas‘ soulful, swaggering delivery singing lyrics that advocate freedom and self-acceptance. It’s the anthem you didn’t know you needed — until now.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: London’s Finesse Shares a Summery Club Banger

Finesse is an emerging London-based electronic music producer and artist, who has a passion for creating energetic, uplifting EDM and house with a melodic vibe that can simultaneously help you chill out — and make you dance.

His debut single “So Alone” is a summery club friendly banger built around a deep house-inspired production featuring glistening synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rattling thump and a soulful vocal sample paired with an incredibly catchy hook. The result is a song that strikes me as sounding like a mix of Between Two Selves-era Octo Octa, Larry Levan, and 90s dance pop.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Portuguese DJ and production duo Bubba Brothers — Eliseo Correia and Justino Santos — formed back in 2015. Over the past few years, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering the Portuguese JOVM mainstays. And during that period they’ve been remarkably prolific, releasing an increasing number of club friendly bangers.

Earlier this year, the duo released the Visions EP, an effort that featured two tracks I’ve written about:

  • “Black Beach,” which saw the JOVM mainstays pairing deep house with Balearic house, built around glistening synth arpeggio-driven melodies, skittering beats, twinkling percussion and euphoria-inducing hooks. The song as the duo explain was inspired by and written on Iceland’s famous Black Beach — but somehow manages to evoke swelling summer nights and sweaty clubs. 
  • “Bobby’s Dream” a club rocking, deep house banger built around skittering tweeter and woofer rattling thump, a sampled Rastafarian meditation, glistening synths and enormous hooks. The end result is a woozy and dream-like song act will get asses out of their seats and onto the floor.

The Portuguese JOVM mainstays’ latest single “Meaning” is a percussive, club friendly banger built around propulsive polyrhythm paired with glistening synth arpeggios, a soulful vocal sample and their unerring knack for euphoric hooks.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Navy Yard’s Euphoric Remix of Brandy’s “Best Friend”

Navy Yard is an emerging New York-based house music/garage duo. The duo’s latest single is a remix of Brandy‘s 1995 hit “Best Friend,” which places the R&B/pop star’s imitable vocal within an uptempo, Larry Levan-like production featuring glistening synth arpeggios, skittering beats, tweeter and woofer rattling thump paired with the duo’s uncanny ability to craft a euphoria-inducing hook.

The result is a song that turns the swaggering and soulful ode to friendship and loyalty into an anthemic declaration meant to be shouted along with your bestie.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Indonesia’s Rinni Wulandari Shares a Fun and Infectious Banger

Rinni Wulandari is a Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia-born R&B and pop artist. Wulandari grew up in a musical family: her mother was a vocalist and her father was a bassist and her two older sisters and brother are also in the music industry. So for the Indonesian pop artist, it was natural — and maybe perhaps fated — for her to be involved in music.

As a child, Wulandari used to sing for any kind of school events, including talent shoes and singing contests. As a high schooler, she was the frontperson of a band with a cousin, who was a dummer. She also auditioned for Indonesian Idol back in 2007, when she had turned 17, and became the youngest participant to ever win at the time.

In 2014, Wulandari came up with a new image for herself and transformed from pop singer to R&B singer. Since then she’s released four successful albums in her native Indonesia — 2014’s Independent Part 1, 2017’s I Am Independent and Independent Part 2, 2021’s Skins.

The Indonesian R&B and pop artist’s latest single “switch,” is the first bit of new material from Wulandari since the release of 2021’s critically applauded Skins. The song’s origins can be traced back to Wulandari struggling with insomnia during her pregnancy. Her spouse, producer and DJ Jevin Julian quickly recognized that her insomnia made her unproductive, and encouraged her to transform her sleepless nights to an opportunity to create new music.

“switch” pairs the Indonesian artist’s sultry delivery with a sleek house music-inspired production featuring glistening synth arpeggios and skittering tweeter and woofer rattling beats paired with euphoric hooks. Wulandari explains that “switch” delivers a powerful message to today’s youth, urging them to cherish their carefree moments, a time when responsibilities are minimal and freedom is abundant — and life is unburdened by responsibilities, obligations and commitments. The song was inspired by Wulandari’s nostalgia for own her youth, hanging out with friends and not stressed out over everything. But underlying all of that is a song that’s just a fun, night out at the club kind of banger.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Bubba Brothers Shares Woozy “Bobby’s Dream”

Portuguese DJ and production duo Bubba Brothers — Eliseo Correia and Justino Santos — formed back in 2015. Over the past couple of years, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering the Portuguese JOVM mainstays, and during that period they have developed and maintained a reputation for being remarkably prolific, releasing a growing collection of club friendly bangers.

Building upon their growing reputation for being prolific, the duo released the Visions EP earlier this year. The EP featured “Black Beach,” a track that saw the duo pairing deep house with Balearic house and built around glistening synth arpeggio-driven melodies, skittering beats, twinkling percussion and euphoria-inducing hooks. The song as the duo explain was inspired by and written on Iceland’s famous Black Beach — but somehow manages to evoke swelling summer nights and sweaty clubs.

Visions EP‘s latest single “Bobby’s Dream” continues the duo’s remarkable run of club rocking, deep house bangers. Built around skittering tweeter and woofer rattling thump, a sampled Rastafarian meditation, glistening synths and enormous hooks, “Bobby’s Dream” is a woozy and dream-like banger.

The accompanying video continues for “Bobby’s Dream,” the Portuguese JOVM mainstays’ ongoing collaboration with Eduardo Raposo. Much like “Black Beach,” the video for “Bobby’s Dream” is shot in a cinematic and breathtakingly gorgeous black and white, and follows a young man attempting to fall asleep and having a surreal and incredibly vivid dream.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: RHYS Shares Cinematic Banger “Venus”

RHYS is an acclaimed Texas-based producer, who has developed a reputation for a boundary pushing take on electronic music that features elements of deep house, melodic house, industrial house and ambient dub among others.

The Texan producer’s latest single “Venus” is a meticulous and seemingly effortlessly crafted banger built around a glistening synth melody that weaves its way through oscillating synths and a hypnotic groove paired with skittering and propulsive beats and an expansive song structure. The end result is a song that’s cinematic yet club friendly in a way that reminds me of Between Two Selves-era Octo Octa.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Shares a Swaggering Banger

Throughout this site’s 13-year history, there have only been a handful of mainstay artists I’ve written about more than the wildly prolific, French electronic music producer LutchamaK.  The French producer and JOVM mainstay continued his well-earned reputation for being prolific: Earlier this year, he released the five-track EP Zirconium, which featured material that oscillated between different modes and genres, including tech house, breakbeats and more.

The JOVM mainstay’s latest EP, the recently released seven-song Let The Drums Go sees the French producer crafting material that meshes elements of tech house, breakbeats and electro pop among others. The EP’s latest single “Funk U Want” is a fun, swaggering banger that pairs old school house with contemporary production and an infectious hook that recalls Out of the Black-era Boys Noize.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Bubba Brothers Return with Shimmering and Euphoric “Black Beach”

Portuguese DJ and production duo Bubba Brothers — Eliseo Correia and Justino Santos — formed back in 2015. And since their formation, the JOVM mainstays have developed a reputation for being amazingly prolific, releasing a growing collection of club friendly bangers, which I’ve covered extensively over the past couple of years.

“Black Beach (Visions),” the third single released by the JOVM mainstays this year sees the duo pairing deep house with Balaeric house with the song featuring glistening synth arpeggio-driven melodies, skittering beats, twinkling percussion and euphoria-inducing hooks. “Black Beach,” as the duo explains was inspired by and written on Iceland’s famous Black Beach — but somehow manages to evoke sweltering summer nights and sweaty clubs.

The accompanying video by Eduardo Raposo is shot in a cinematic and stunningly gorgeous black and white and features Iceland’s famed Black Beach, a woman seemingly at the end of her rope in a hotel room, another woman swimming presumably off the coast of the Black Beach, and the Portuguese duo on the decks rocking out.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Marc O’rell and Wesley Reid Team Up on Deep House Banger “Bounce”

British electronic music producer Iwan Bedford and American electronic music producer Wesley Reid collaborate together in the transatlantic electronic music project O.a.G., which is influenced by 80s and 90s synth pop — think Yazoo (known […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Rozarc Shares Cinematic Banger “For the Sake of a Long Night”

Over the past week or so I’ve managed to write a bit about Sinan Özgur Koç a Berlin-based, Turkish electronic music producer and artist, drummer and sound engineer, best known as Rozarc. Koç has grown up with a diverse array of music influencing his own work ranging from Bjork, Amon Tobin, and Nine Inch Nails to Siouxsie and The Banshees and Kyuss among others. But as an electronic music producer and artist, his work is influenced by techno, tech-house. industrial, synth wave, downtempo, glitch and IDM while paired with sound design ideas moulded with narrative and cinematic structures. 

The Berlin-based producer and artist first emerged into the electronic music scene with his debut EP, 2019’s five-song  Odds Are Tough, which saw him quickly establishing a forward-thinking, genre and style-defying sound and approach to his productions while being remarkably harmonious. Koç’s full-length debut, last year’s 12-song Flamacue was released to quite a bit of attention with the album being showcased in FAZEmag, The Groove Cartel, The Further, Zero Music Magazine, R+, Roadie Music, Zone Nights, Electronica.org.uk, and a list of others. 

I’ve written about two tracks off Flamacue:

  • “Sand Grains,” a track built around layers of fluttering and shimmering synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rattling thump and skittering beats that seemed like a slick synthesis of John Carpenter soundtracks, Tour de France-era Kraftwerk and Snap!‘s “Rhythm Is A Dancer” — but with a club friendly accessibility.

  • “S.S.7,” a track that begins with a brooding introduction featuring twinkling piano that’s gradually paired with propulsive thump. Eventually, the piano is replaced with gentle layers of glistening and bubbling synths. The end result is a trippy mix of downtempo, cinematic piano and minimalist techno that nods a bit at some of the atmospheric, classically-inspired moments of Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express and others.

The expansive “For the Sake of a Long Night” is built around glistening synth arpeggios, twitter and woofer rattling thump within a shapeshifting song structure. The single manages to continue a remarkable run of cinematic, yet club friendly house — but while being arguably the most sensual and soulful single off the entire album.