Tag: house music

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Millimetrik Teams Up with New Bleach on a Euphoric and Shimmering Banger

Quebec City-based DJ and electronic music producer Millimetrik has been remarkably prolific: over the course of his decade-plus career, he has released 11 albums that have seen him bounce back and forth between several different electronic music styles and sub-genres. His 12th album Sun-drenched is slated for a May 28, 2021 release through Coyote Records.

The album’s latest single “Sunlight at Bay of Plenty” is an aptly sun-drenched and euphoric bit of Balearic-inspired house centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rattling thump, an infectious hook, and a dreamily atmospheric bridge. New Bleach’s Dominic Pelletier contributes achingly delicate and plaintive vocals expressing a restless desire to move forward to bigger and brighter things, nostalgia for good times and good people that have to be left behind in order to move forward. All things are fleeting but enjoy what you have, when you have it, the song seems to say. It won’t be forever.

Directed by Jeff Malo, the recently released video is a psychedelic fever dream that at points nods at Peter Gabriel’s “Shock the Monkey” with two characters in elaborately designed makeup, superimposed tropical landscapes and New Age psychedelia.

Throwback by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Black History Month: Larry Levan

February 17, 2021 is the 17th day of Black History Month. The month has been rushing by — but throughout this past month, I’ve been featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styes. Hopefully, this may be a bit of a primer one the Black experience.

Of course, I hope that these posts will serve as a reminder of these very important facts:

Black culture is American culture — and Black music is American music.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.

Larry Levan was a legendary dance music producer and club DJ, who was best known for his decade residency at Paradise Garage. Levan began experimenting with drum machines and synthesizers with his production work and live sets, making him one of the godfathers of house music. So if you dig house music, remember : house music is defiantly Black, fiercely queer as fuck and political by necessity.

To my knowledge, there isn’t much video of Larry Levan doing his thing — but there’s some audio of some his DJ sets, including these two.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Super Besse — Minsk-based Alex Sinica (bass) and Minsk-born and Berlin-based Maksim Kulsha (vocals) — supported their first two albums, 2015’s 63610 and 2017’s La Nuit with tours across the European Union, Russia and China, which helped the duo establish a reputation as a rising act on the international post-punk scene. Adding to a growing profile, “Holod” appears in the film Hotel Mumbai.

Last year’s Un Reve, which was recorded in Minsk and Berlin, found the duo moving towards a dance floor friendly, techno-influenced sound featuring rapid-fire beats, shimmering synth arpeggios and motorik grooves paired with a punk/post-punk ethos.

Riga, Latvia-based label I Love You Records, Super Besse’s long-time label will be releasing a remix album of Un Reve material this year. St. Petersburg-based electronic duo Wolfstream was recruited to remix Un Reve single “Ozhog.” The album version is a dance floor friendly take on post-punk centered around stuttering and skittering beats, an angular bass lines and shimmering and looping guitars — and although the song’s lyrics are sung in Russian, “Ozhog” manages to bring P.I.L. and New Orderr to mind. Interestingly, the Wolfstream remix manages to subtly reimagine the song as a trance house banger with a muscular thump with layered synth arpeggios replacing the guitar solos while retaining the angular bass line and skittering beats of the original.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Matteo Longbois is an emerging, 20-something, Honfluer, Normandy, France-based electronic music producer and electronic music artist. He can trace the origins of his love for electronic music to when his father played David Guetta‘s 2006 Sensation White Festival set for him. Since then, Longbois has created his own original music, influenced by Daft Punk, Paul Kalkbrenner, Lauant Garnier (a.k.a. Chance) and Todd Terry among others.

Clocking in at a little under three minutes, Longbois’ latest single, the minimalist “Techno Medicament” is centered around hypnotic repetitions of dense synth arpeggio layers, tweeter and woofer rattling polyrhythmic thump. Sonically, the song strikes me as a sleek and energetic synthesis of Kraftwerk and The Chemical Brothers‘ “Star Guitar.” Interestingly, as Longbois explains the song is influenced by several different electronic music styles and genres including minimalist techno, IDM and house. Ideally, the song was created as a a way to escape one’s troubles after a hard day’s/night’s work.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Releases an Industrial and Futuristic Banger

Over the course of the past 13 months or so, I’ve spilled copious amounts of ink covering the frenetically prolific, French electronic music artist, producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK. And during that same period, the French JOVM mainstay has released an array of EPs, standalone singles and albums with material that generally draws from techno, with elements of deep house and EDM among other electronic music genres, sub-genres and styles.

The French JOVM mainstay started off this year with the release of his latest full-length album Pi. Written and recorded in an inspired three month burst, Pi finds LutchamaK crafting the darkest and heaviest material of his rapidly expanding catalog to date. So far I’ve written about three of the album’s singles:

“KindaHot.” an expansive, trance-inducing track that brings Tour de France-era Kraftwerk to mind.
“Gesture,” a swaggering and infectious banger centered around squiggling and wobbling synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, a glistening melody and a sample from the 2013 major motion picture The Family.
“Jump in Time,” a futuristic and swaggering take on dub with a cosmic sheen.

According to the French JOVM mainstays Pi’s fourth and latest single, “Au-delà du reél” can be translated into English as “Beyond Reality.” Featuring industrial clang and clatter, jackhammering beats and shimmering synth arpeggios “Au-delà du reél” manages to be a slick synthesis of industrial and tribal house from the 38th century with female vocals that LutchamaK says ask to be taken beyond reality.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Releases a Futuristic Dub-inspired Banger

Over the course of the past 13 months or so, I’ve spilled copious amounts of ink covering the frenetically prolific, French electronic music artist, producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK. And during that same period, the French JOVM mainstay has released an array of EPs, standalone singles and albums with material that generally draws from techno, with elements of deep house and EDM among other electronic music genres, sub-genres and styles.

The French JOVM mainstay started off this year with the release of his latest full-length album Pi. Written and recorded in an inspired three month burst, Pi finds LutchamaK crafting the darkest and heaviest material of his rapidly expanding catalog to date. So far I’ve written about two of the album’s singles:

“KindaHot.” an expansive, trance-inducing track that brings Tour de France-era Kraftwerk to mind.
“Gesture,” a swaggering and infectious banger centered around squiggling and wobbling synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, a glistening melody and a sample from the 2013 major motion picture The Family. The track managed to be deceptively faster than what it seems — but as LutchamaK explained in press notes, he attempted to be craft a simpler composition that mixes techno and pop, while paired with a message that he says is close to his heart.

“Jump in Time,” Pi’s third and latest single is a futuristic and swaggering take on dub with a cosmic sheen, centered around skittering tweeter and woofer rocking beats beats and squiggling synth arpeggios. Much like its immediate predecessor, it’s deceptively faster than what it seems.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Releases a Swaggering Banger

Over the course of the past 13 months or so, I’ve spilled copious amounts of ink covering the frenetically prolific, French electronic music artist, producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK. And during that 13 month period, the French JOVM mainstay has released an incredibly array of EPs, standalone singles and albums with material that generally draws from techno, with elements of deep house and EDM among other electronic music genres, sub-genres and styles.

The French JOVM mainstay artist started off 2021 with his latest full-length album Pi. Written and recorded in an inspired three month burst, Pi finds LutchamaK crafting the darkest and heaviest material of his rapidly expanding catalog to date. So far, the French electronic music artist and producer has released one single off the album — the trance inducing and expansive, Tour de France-era Kraftwerk-like “KindaHot.”

Pi’s latest single “Gesture” is swaggering and infectious banger centered around squiggling and wobbling synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, a glistening melody and a sample from the 2013 major motion picture The Family. The track manages to be deceptively faster than what it seems — but as LutchamaK explains he attempted to be craft a simpler composition that mixes techno and pop, while paired with a message that he says is close to his heart.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Releases a Trance-Inducing Banger

Over the course of the past 13 months or so, I’ve spilled copious amounts of ink covering the frenetically prolific, French electronic music artist, producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK. And during that 13 month period, the French JOVM mainstay has released an incredibly array of EPs, standalone singles and albums that features material that generally draws from techno, while reflecting a lifelong love of eclecticism, as his work frequently possesses elements of deep house and EDM among other electronic music genres, styles and sub-genres.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Pieter Herweijer is an emerging, 28 year-old, The Hague-based electronic music DJ and producer, who specializes in EDM, tech house and neo-disco. His latest single “But I Like It” is self-assured club friendly, deep house banger centered around layers of arpeggiated synths, skittering beats and a soulful vocal sample — and sonically, the song manages to bring Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves to mind but with a subtly Middle Eastern vibe.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Kevin Rodrigues is a Paris-born and-based electronic music artist, producer and DJ, best known in electronic music circles as Worakls. Rodrigues, who grew up in a musical family, started to learn the piano when he had turned three. After studying in a conservatory, he started to dedicate his time to electronic music and composition.

After receiving acclaim for his remixes and his earliest solo releases, Rodrigues along with his friends N’to and Joachim Pastor founded Hungry Music in 2014. Since the formation of Hungry Records, Rodrigues has been praised by Billboard, who referred to him as a “rising French DJ” and described his tracks as “serious techno with a light touch,” full of focused, nervous energy.”

In 2019, the rising French electronic music artist, DJ and producer released his full-length debut Orchestra. The label went on a brief hiatus — and they returned with a slew of releases including a series of remixes to celebrate the second anniversary of Orchestra‘s initial release.

Recently, Patrice Bäumel, an acclaimed East German-born, Amsterdam-based electronic music artist, DJ and producer remixed Orchestra album track “Detached Motion.” The remix finds Bäumel retaining the arpeggiated and gently morphing synths of the original, the East German-born, Dutch-based producer’s take feels cinematic and expansive, with the track slowly and continuously building up energy and tension paired with a muscular and insistent thump and euphoric hooks. Sonically, the song — to my ears, at least — is a seamless synthesis of Tour de France-era Kraftwerk and deep house, imbued with a cosmic sheen.

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Sofi Tukker — Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern — is an acclaimed, Grammy Award-nominated, electro pop duo with a long-held reputation for crafting an inclusive and global take on electro pop/dance pop centered around self-empowerment, unity and liberation.

Despite the fact that they were unable to tour as a result of pandemic-related shutdowns and restrictions, the JOVM mainstays have had a very busy and productive year last year: they’ve hosted one 300 live-streamed DJ sets since the beginning of the pandemic. They’ve also released a prolific stream of remixes and new material, including their Christmas-themed collaboration with HOLZBLÄSER “Carol Von Holz” and the playful yet thumping, house music meets “Vogue“-like collaboration with Icona Pop, “Spa.”

The long-time JOVM mainstays start off the new with the release of James Hype‘s remix of “Spa.” While retaining the mischievous and anthemic feel and “Vogue”-like vocal delivery, the British DJ’s take pushes the sound into deep house territory with the addition of a persistent and remarkably sultry groove. And as a result the mischievous anthem to self-love and self-care feels gloriously indulgent and sensual.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Split between Malibu and Monaco, the emerging electronic music production and artist duo End of Code features the following:

  • Nicolas Saad, a Monaco-based DJ and electronic music producer, whose career can be traced back to the 1990s. Saad has developed a reputation for crafting tracks for French radio and TV.
  • Shawn Pereira, a Malibu-based model. who taught himself music while traveling the world modeling in campaigns for Ralph Lauren Polo Sport, Diet Coke and Tag Heuer.

Pereira met Saad while vacationing in St. Barth’s, a small French West Indies territory, that was once a Swedish colony for about 100 years. Bonding over an abiding love of deep house, the duo wound up writing, recording and producing their full-length debut, last year’s The Beginning — and since then, their music has become the official sound of BMW Monaco, playing in every new car sold. Building upon a growing profile, Pereira and Saad begin the new year with their latest single, the slickly produced “Deep Into Your Soul.” Centered around skittering beats, broodingly atmospheric synths, twinkling keys, wobbling low end and a soulful vocal, “Deep Into Your Soul” is a hook-driven and deliberate crafted club banger that manages to sound rather timeless — as though it could have been released in 1989, 1999, 2009, 2019 or just yesterday.

End of Code are working on their highly-anticipated follow-up to The Beginning, which they hope will be released later this year.

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Alto is an emerging and mysterious British saxophonist and producer. His debut single “All Over You” is an upbeat and uplifting house music track, featuring a slick and shimmering production centered around twinkling keys, soulful vocals singing lyrics about longing and love paired with a catchy, pop-leaning alto saxophone hook. The end result is a track that manages to be radio friendly but with a club rocking thump.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Throughout the course of this site’s decade-plus history, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering the acclaimed New York-based Grammy Award-nominated, electro pop duo and longtime JOVM mainstays Sofi Tukker. Sofi Tukker — Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern — can trace their origins to when the duo met while studying at Brown University and since their formation, they’ve been widely celebrated for crafting an inclusive, global take on electro pop/dance pop centered around self-empower, unity and liberation.

The longtime JOVM mainstays cap off 2020 with a new single “Caröl Von Holz,” which finds them collaborating with HOLZBLÄSER, a.k.a. Holz. The collaboration has rather unique origins: HOLZBLÄSER initially emerged as a mysterious member of the Freak Fam, a devoted community that has emerged around the New York-based duo’s daily DJ set livestreams.

After some time, HOLZBLÄSER began sending the members of Sofi Tukker edits of their songs, featuring his dryly German accented vocals. Hawley-Weld and Halpern loved his work so much that they began to include his edits into their DJ sets — and it eventually grew into a collaboration between the trio. The end result is a swaggering, fierce as fuck, house music take on a beloved Christmas classic — “The Carol of the Bells,” with a tweeter and woofer rocking temp. House music all night long, even during Christmas.

“Never did we ever think we would do a Christmas song, let alone a Christmas song with a mysterious stranger over email. But when in 2020!” The members of Sofi Tukker share in press notes.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Virak is a rapidly rising house DJ and producer. Since 2006, Virak has spun in some of the world’s most prestigious and important bars and clubs, frequently sharing bills with Sven Vath, Marco Carola, Richy Ahmed, and others:

As a producer, he has released a handful of singles through a number of different labels, including the attention-grabbing “Sugar,” which was released through Adesso Music.

Born Vito Lucente, the Italian-Belgian house music and producer and DJ, best known as Junior Jack has had a lengthy career that traces back to the 90s: Lucente’s earliest days features collaborations with Eric Imhauser crafting Eurodance and with synth pop/hip-hop act Benny B.

By 1995, Lucente abandoned Eurodance and began experimenting with house music under the moniker Mr. Jack, which would morph into Junior Jack. Lucente had quickly amassed enviable success with a handful of UK Top 40 singles that included “My Feeling,” “Thrill Me (Such A Thrill),” “E Samba,” “Dare Me (Stupidisco) and “Da Hype,” which featured guest vocals from The Cure‘s Robert Smith. Lucente’s Junior Jack debut Trust It was released to critical acclaim.

While developing a reputation for crafting smash hits, Lucente simultaneously developed a reputation as a remixer, reworking songs by Whitney Houston, Moby, Bob Sinclar and Utada among others.

Lucente’s fifth release on his Adesso Music label finds the Italian-Belgian house music producer and DJ reworking Virak’s “Sugar.” Centered around skittering beats and percussion, shimmering synth arpeggios, a motorik groove and soulful vocals and a euphoric hook, the Junior Jack rework of “Sugar” is a sultry, deep house take on the original — with a crowd pleasing accessibility.