Tag: house music

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.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

KARLITA is a rising French DJ and producer, who fell in love with the trip-hop, ambient electronica and lounge compilations in her parents record collection. Her desire to share her thoughts and emotions through music — her earliest love — had influenced her to start writing her own original music,, inspired by her surroundings.

The French DJ and producer’s full-length debut, last year’s Lazydayz found her quickly establishing a unique sound and approach in which melancholy and hope meshed in a groove-driven fashion. Lazydayz‘s follow-up, the five track EP Amor Fabola finds KARLITA exploring a sinuous, deep house sound. Interestingly, the EP’s title derives its names from two disparate sources — the Latin phrase for love story and from the French word fabuler, which can translate into “invent,” “make up” or “fantasize,” as well as implying infatuation, attachment and adoration. And the listener is invited to make up their own story with the material. “This album tends to retrace the process of a romance, good or bad, to each his own interpretation,” the French DJ and producer explains in press notes.

The EP’s latest single, EP opening track “i Can’t Wait” features glistening synth arpeggios stuttering hit hats, reverb-drenched thumps and KARLITA’s plaintive cooing paired with a sultry and insistent groove. But underneath the dance floor friendliness of the material, the song is imbued with the sort of longing and introspective nature that reminds quite a bit of Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Mathieu Cetta is an emerging Southern France-based producer and DJ. Cetta has developed a reputation for crafting DJ sets centered around melodious, sensual and joyful deep house in clubs across the Montpelier region, Paris and luxury hotels in the country’s 3 Valleys region.

Earlier this year, the Southern France-based producer and DJ signed to Electric Friends Music, who released his latest single, the sensual yet ebullient “Obsession.” Centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, thumping beats, an enormous, anthemic hook and plaintive vocals. “Obsession” captures the swooning and euphoric pangs of new love, when you want to spend every single moment just around your love interest. It’s a certifiable banger that features elements of classic house but with a slick modern production sheen.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: French Electronic Producer Edouard Releases a Glistening and Euphoric New Single

Constant reinvention has been a central part of French electronic producer Edouard’s music career and personal life: As a member of the French Touch movement of the 980s. his previous project wound up being an integral part of the European house music scene. Garnering widespread praise, the act signed to BMG Records — and as a result. they received massive radio play and appeared on compilation records alongside other acclaimed French Touch acts like Philipe Zdar, Etienne de Crécy, and Alex Gopher.

As time went on and as the musical landscape change, the French electronic music producer took up a number of different roles and lives: he was a solo-exhibited photographer; an art historian; an engineer; an investment bank manager; and he studied under six-time Grammy Award winner Gary Burton at the Berklee College of Music. Edouard’s latest musical project finds him writing and recording under his eponymous moniker — and sonically, the project meshes elements of electronica, electro pop, dance, house music, synthwave and several other electronic styles and subgenres with a retro-futuristic twist inspired by French electronic music pioneers like Daft Punk, Jean-Michel Jarre, Air, Justice, Laurent Garnier, Cassius, Bob Sinclair., Martin Solveig and the aforementioned Alex Gopher, who was studio engineer for Edouard’s forthcoming full-length, solo debut. Additionally, the project has a parallel focus on visual art, with graphic design duties being split between Filip Hodas and the artist himself.

Edouard’s fourth and latest single “Another World” is a Computerworld and Tour de France-era Kraftwerk meets Homework-era Daft Punk-like track, centered around multiple layers off glistening synth arpeggios, heavily vocodored vocals, stuttering beats, brief blasts of horn and a rousingly euphoric hook. The song finds Edouard carefully walking a tightrope between the mind-bending and expansive and straight forward, crowd pleasing club anthem. And interestingly enough, at the song’s core is a sunny optimism that there’s a much better world on the other side of this.

Directed by the French electronic music producer. the recently released video uses CGI to create exotic and surreal locales and worlds. It’s trippy as hell.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Melbourne’s SHOUSE Releases a Euphoric New Single paired with 80s VHS-like Visuals

Rising Melbourne, Australia-based electro pop/house music act SHOUSE is the latest collaborative project of two of that city’s grizzled music scene vets — IO’s Ed Service and The Harpoons’ Jack Madin. The duo specialize in a unique take on house music, collaborating with a collective of local vocalists and musicians. Additionally, they showcase talent at their OPENHOUSE parties, as a way to cement a sense of community while providing fertile ground for new ideas.

The duo’s latest single “Love Tonight” finds the duo collaborating with an All-Star cases of local scene talent they love and admire that includes Oscar Key Sun, Client Liaison’s Monte Morgan, The Harpoons’ Bec Rigby, HABITS, Pillow Pro and a lengthy of others, creating a crew that champions unity. As for the song itself, it alternates between slow-burning verses featuring plaintive solo serves atmospheric synths and two-step inducing house featuring stuttering and thumping beats, shimmering synth arpeggios and Gospel-inspired choral arrangements. Yearning sax lines and euphoric hooks hold the two different sections together, making the song a trippy and infectious synthesis of Quiet Storm-like Soul, yacht rock and house music. As the duo explain in a statement. “‘Love Tonight’ was written as a message of hope and unity for the underground!”

“Love Tonight” has amassed over 15 million streams across Europe — in particular the Viral 50 Spotify playlists in France, Estonia, Ukraine and Lithuania — and is rising on several other streaming charts, as a result of love from the likes of Solomun, Tensnake, The Blessed Madonna, Agoria, Tim Sweeney, Kraak & Smaak and others.

Directed and edited by James Robinson, the recently released video for “Love Tonight” is shot on a grainy VHS tape, and may remind some folks of security footage — but interestingly enough, the video takes cues from the video for “We Are The World.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Releases a Swaggering Banger

I’ve managed to spill quite of virtual ink covering the French electronic music artist, producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK over the past year. And as you may recall, the French JOVM mainstay grew up as a voracious music listener and fan with eclectic and wide-ranging tastes that include hip-hop, rock. techno and countless others. As a solo artist, LutchamaK’s work is deeply influenced by and generally draws from techno — but while reflecting his lifelong devotion to eclecticism: his work generally possesses elements of techno, deep house and EDM among other electronic music genres and subgenres.

During that same year period, LutchamaK has been incredibly prolific, releasing new material through an increasing number of EPs, standalone singles and a couple of albums, which now includes his latest album. the recently released Moments. The French electronic music artist and producer has released three singles off the album, and I’ve already written about two of them — the album’s opening track Moment,” and “Their Future.” The album’s third single “Won’t Be Scared” continues a run of sleek, futuristic productions. Centered around rapid fire, stuttering beats, glistening synths and a sultry vocal sample, the JOVM mainstays latest club banger manages to add a hip hop-like swagger to an enormous house anthem.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Releases an Industrial Influenced Banger

Throughout the course of this year, I’ve spilled quite a bit of ink covering French electronic music artist, producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK. LutchamaK grew up as a voracious music listener and fan with eclectic and wide-ranging tastes that include hip-hop, rock. techno and countless others. As a solo artist, LutchamaK’s work is deeply influenced by and generally draws from techno — but while reflecting his lifelong devotion to eclecticism: his work generally possesses elements of techno, deep house and EDM among other electronic music genres and subgenres.

The French JOVM electric music artist, producer and JOVM has managed to remain remarkably prolific, releasing new material through an increasing number of EPs, standalone singles and a couple of albums, which include his latest album, the recently released Moments. So earlier, I wrote about the album’s opening track “Moment,” and as it turns out the JOVM has released several singles off the album simultaneously, including “Their Future.” Featuring aggressive synth arpeggios, twinkling blasts of keys, tweeter and woofer rocking beats and vocoder’d vocals, “Their Future” continues a run of sleek club banging material — but unlike its immediate predecessors, it has a retro-futuristic and industrial air.

Indie Electro Pop by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Returns with a Mesmerizing Banger

Throughout the course of this year, I’ve spilled quite a bit of ink covering French electronic music artist, producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK. LutchamaK grew up as a voracious music listener and fan with eclectic and wide-ranging tastes that include hip-hop, rock. techno and countless others. As a solo artist, LutchamaK’s work is deeply influenced by and generally draws from techno — but while reflecting his lifelong devotion to eclecticism: his work generally possesses elements of techno, deep house and EDM among other electronic music genres and subgenres.

The French JOVM electric music artist, producer and JOVM has managed to remain remarkably prolific, releasing new material through an increasing number of EPs, standalone singles and a couple of albums, which include his latest album, the recently released Moments. The album’s latest single, album opening track “Moment” is a mesmerizing and expansive bit of deep house centered around a slick yet minimalist-leaning production featuring stuttering hi hat-driven beats, chopped and looped vocal samples and a insistent, motorik groove. Much like an earlier single “Back to Finland,” “Moment” is a fairly straightforward take on deep house that sounds like it could have been played at The Limelight, as well as on Ibiza.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

CASCINE · Roland Tings – Lights On The Headland

 

Rohan Newman is a Melbourne-based electronic music artist and producer, best known as the creative mastermind behind the acclaimed recording project and JOVM mainstay Roland Tings. Back in 2012, Newman caught the attention of renowned, Los Angeles-based electronic music label 100% Silk Records, who released his debut EP.  Since the release of his debut EP, Newman has become one of Melbourne’s biggest names while releasing material through the aforementioned 100% Silk Records, Internasjonal and Sony Records that has has found him expanding upon and experimenting with his sound and songwriting approach.

Last year’s Salt Water was a cohesive and introspective album inspired by Newman’s 18-month stint living on the Southern coast of Victoria, Australia, surrounded by rugged coastlines and verdant rainforests. Newman’s latest Roland Tings effort, First Wave EP is slated for an August 14, 2020 release through Cascine Records. Written in isolation shortly after the Salt Water sessions, the EP’s material is a marked shift from its highly collaborative predecessor, an effort that featured live drummers and vocalists. As Newman says, First Wave signals a return to a more instinctive approach — the same ethos that guided him while he crafted some of his earliest Roland Tings work.

“It took me a long time to find a way to come back to this more solitary way of working,” Newman explains. “After my first few records, I felt like I had really exhausted all the possibilities of working by myself, which is why so much of Salt Water was about collaborating and pushing further into new sounds. I felt a lot of pressure to go beyond what I had done before, so the goal of that record was getting others involved and trying to make something that was new to me.”

Although dramatically different from Salt Water, Newman’s forthcoming effort continues to draw inspiration from his coastal surroundings. The EP’s latest single “Lights On The Headland” is centered around glistening synth arpeggios, stuttering and swirling beats, rolling bass, hot flashes of snare and a sinuous melody — and while evoking shimmering sea creatures effortlessly swimming just under the surface, the track possesses the sort of free-flowing effortless feel that reminds me of Between Two Selves-era Octo Octa.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Mariatti · Patches

 

Andrea Mariatti is a 26 year old,Turin, Italy-born and-based electronic music producer, electronic music artist and DJ, who can trace the origins of his music career to when he turned 12. Around that time, he had started creating and making music from his laptop. Mariatti’s music career started in earnest when he was 15: he started releasing albums under the name Andrea Dub. Some of the young producer and DJ’s work was played by a number of DJs across the European Union.

After completing high school, Mariatti studied at SAE Institute, Milan, eventually earning a degree in Audio Production and Creative Music Industry, which helped him pushed the boundaries of his sound and technical limits. Over the past few yers, Mariatti has been rather busy: three years ago, he returned to his hometown, where he built a studio, so he could work on music every day.

Two years ago, the up-and-coming Italian produced signed with NBM Music Agency, who helped him sign with Deadmau5′s mau5trap Records, who released music from his latest musical projects Thin King and his latest solo project Mariatti. Additionally, he founded Recall, a live events brand whose mission is to create and foster a community of passionate people about electronic music with his friend and colleague HolyU.

Now, as you may recall, Mariatti has also released a batch of new material that included the trance house meets New Jack Swing-like “Other Vibes” and the lush, Between Two Selves-era Octo Octa-like “Variable Speed of Life.” Mariatti’s latest single “Patches” is a lushly melodic yet brash banger centered around layers of shimmering and wobbling synth arpeggios, stuttering beats placed with an expansive, seemingly free-flowing song structure. Subtly recalling Tour de France-era Kraftwerk, Factory Floor and others, the track may arguably be the most mesmerizing of the Italian producer’s growing catalog.

“‘Patches’ is the most melodic and evolving arrangement I went through,” Mariatti says. “The process of this song came from only one synthesizer: Korg MS-20; every single sound you hear is made by that astonishing machine.”