Tag: instrumental

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Xavier Bacash is a Copenhagen, Denmark-based producer and electronic music artist, who writes and records with the moniker Sonny — and with “Some Velvet Morning,” the latest single off his recently released C.E. EP, Bacash’s sound features elements of retro-futuristic jazz fusion and slick electronica in a way that will likely remind some listeners of Floating Points, Bonobo and others, as the composition is a cinematic and elegantly lush soundscape featuring live, drumming from frequent collaborator Jim Rindfleish, a soaring string sample and subtly arpeggiated synths.

Unsurprisingly, the song is reportedly inspired by and evokes a breathtaking sunrise, just before a long trip out of the city and into the country.

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Danish Electro Pop Duo Tan Returns with Dream-like Visuals for Their Chilly

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few months, you may come across a post featuring the Copenhagen, Denmark-based electro pop duo TAN. And as you may recall the duo comprised of Mathias Riss and Andreas Bengsten have had stints in several local post-punk and psych rock bands, which makes their collaborative project together a marked change in direction for them; in fact, their previous single “PANORAMA” found the duo leaning towards the chilly, retro-futuristic synth-based compositions of  John Carpenter, Umberto and countless others while subtly nodding at  early house music.

The Danish electro pop duo’s latest single “BARBARA” will further cement the duo’s reputation for crafting chilly, retro-futrustic synth compositions — in this case, the cinematic and radio friendly track is a bit more straightforward as it features shimmering, arpeggiated synths, propulsive drum programming and a soaring hook. And interestingly enough, the recently released video further emphasizes the single’s chilly and creepy vie, as it stars Danish drag queen PROXY, who the duo met when they saw her dancing during one of their sets. As the story goes, the duo realized that PROXY’S appearance is much more than just putting on a costume, and they wanted to capture that on film.

“In the video, PROXY gets a crush on a synth playing mannequin. Brought together by a mutual love of synthesizers, their attraction slowly grows to the point where it dissolves boundaries and norms into insatiable lust and attraction for each other. Love works in mysterious ways, and rather than trying to understand it, they just surrender and go with it.” As a result, the video possesses a swooning, dream-like logic.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

With the release of his 2015 full-length debut Elaenia, London-based composer, producer and keyboardist Sam Shepherd and his solo recording project Floating Points quickly rose to international acclaim for a sound that effortlessly meshed 70s jazz fusion, free jazz and glitchy electronica in a way that simultaneously nodded at Return to Forever‘s Romantic Warrior and Bonobo’s The North Borders. Shepherd followed that with the expansive, mind-altering yet accessible Kupier, featuring singles “Argente” and “Kupier,” which he performed live at KEXP last year.

Continuing a rather prolific period, Shepherd followed the release of Kupier with Reflections — Mojave Desert, a short film and soundtrack featuring a series of tracks recorded in (and inspired by) the Mojave Desert. His latest single is the sprawling, “Ratio,” a track that he’s developed  and refined as part of his solo, live electronic set at festivals he’s played around the world — and the end result is a slow-burning house music-inspired track that clocks in at a little under 19 minutes and features a production centered around glitchy and stuttering beats, pulsating synths and ethereal synths. And while arguably being one of his most patient compositions/productions, Shepherd’s latest effort reveals a patient, almost painterly quality as sounds are thoughtfully and gently layered upon one another.

The full track was officially released on all digital platforms and is also available on vinyl as a deconstructed mix with the A side featuring the track in two parts — the first nine minutes being identical to the digital version, followed solely by the organ section of the second half. The B side in contract will feature the beats, drum and baseline of the second half of the track in isolation. Releasing the track in such a fashion was deliberately done so that DJs could create their own mixes by bringing the song’s different elements together in whatever way fit their own style.

 

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Ted Feighan is a Cleveland, OH-born and-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, electronic music artist and visual artist, whose solo recording project Monster Rally is inspired by vintage exotica and tropical imagery — and with Monster Rally, Feighan has developed a reputation for a sound centered around collaged samples collected from his vast vinyl archives.

Flowering Jungle, Feighan’s forthcoming Monster Rally album is slated for a December 15, 2017 release through Gold Robot Records, and the album is reportedly inspired by the sounds, visuals and animals of roughly half a century’s with of travel and nature documentaries, and reportedly the album was written as a sort of companion piece to exploring new and exotic landscapes, wildlife and communities. And the album’s artwork, devised by Feighan, who specializes in found paper collages will also reportedly mirror the concept by featuring portraits of jungle birds in flower-adorned “nests” superimposed over the abstracted flag of the “flowering jungle.”  But more importantly for this site, the album’s first single “Sunny Sloth” is a breezy yet slickly produced song centered around a series of looped, lush and shimmering guitar chords, stuttering boom-bap drum programming and trippy psych rock-like hooks. And while subtly kaleidoscopic, the song lushness evokes rainwater hitting against verdant greenery and the incredible array of colorful animals you’d come across.

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Videos: Sudden Beach Returns with a Creepy Minimalist Yet Cinematic New Single Paired with Equally Creepy Visuals

Last year, I wrote about the rather mysterious Istanbul, Turkey-based and currently Berlin, Germany-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and electronic music artist Sudden Beach.  And as the Turkish-born, German-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and electronic music artist told me in an email last year, the music he has created was meant to evoke suddenly coming upon a beach while traveling a long distance on a desert road; however, his debut single “The Beast” reminded me quite a bit of John Carpenter‘s retro-futuristic soundtracks and Pink Floyd‘s “On The Run” as the single consisted of layers of undulating synths, cascading shimmering synths and samples of children yelling and talking.
Now, as you may gather, a little over a year has passed since I last had written about Sudden Beach — as it turned out, the multi-instrumentalist, producer and electronic music artist recently relocated to Berlin and after the complex visa process was finally able to focus on music with his latest single “The Reason,” a single, which will further cement his reputation for crafting an icy, retro-futrustic, synth-based, cinematic sound thanks to a production that features layers of twinkling arpeggio synths that twist and turn around each other. 

The accompanying video, created by the artist is based on edited footage from the 1999 major motion picture Outer Space and the visuals are specifically mean to be psychedelic and downright creepy, further emphasizing the song’s creepy vibes. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of Leeds, UK-born, Toronto, ON-based founding member Gareth Parry along with Sebastian Buccioni, Jon Hyde, Sly Juhad Kyle Sullivan, the Toronto, ON-based funk act Gareth Parry and The Out of Towners initially was initially conceived as an old-school boogaloo funk trio playing after-hour dance parties back in Leeds and Manchester; however, since then the band’s founder has helped drive the band’s sound, pushing their sound away clear cut genre boundaries, with their sound drawing from deep house, space rock, blues rock and funk — and “The Post That Hurts The Most,” the first single off the band’s soon-to-be released debut effort Skronk is decidedly influenced by the deep fried Southern rock grooves of The Allman Brothers and The Meters, as well as contemporaries like Lettuce and The Texas Gentlemen, complete with a raw, you-were-there, immediacy.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Israeli Trio Tatran Performing “The Elephant” at TEDER.FM

Tatran is a Tel Aviv, Israel-based instrumental trio, comprised of  Offir Benjaminov (bass), Tamuz Dekel (guitar) and Dan Mayo (drums), that has developed a reputation in their homeland for a sound that draws from jazz fusion, classical music, avant-garde compositions, post-rock, electronic music, post-punk and a rather eclectic array of genres — and for a live show, rooted in improvisation. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site throughout the summer, you may recall that the Tel Aviv-based trio’s recently released effort No Sides revealed that the members of the band decided upon a complete and radical shift with their songwriting approach. For years, they had a long-held practice of deliberately composing and painstakingly revising their compositions; however, No Sides was a live recording of a show with the members of the band hitting the stage without anything prepared or mapped out with the hopes that they could grab an hold on to “the frequency of inspiration, allowing the music to present and unfold itself in real-time through our unmediated communication, with the energy and presence of the people in the room.” 

And as the members of the band explained in press notes, everything about the project from its concept, through the performance and its eventual release revolved around trust — trust in the power of immediate expression, in the moment, in each other and in the communication with the audience. 

“The Elephant,” the Israeli trio’s latest composition will further cement the band’s growing reputation for seamless genre-mashing as the song features a swaggering and strutting bass line paired with dexterous and lysergic-fueled, jazz fusion-inspired guitar and stomping boom-bap drums work within a loose, twisting and turning jam-based composition — and interestingly enough, while being incredibly funky, the composition clearly nods at prog rock and jazz fusion in a way that should remind some listeners of King Crimson — or of Return to Forever. 

The band released some recently recorded live footage shot during a performance at TEDER.FM, and it should give you an intimate sense of what their live set is like. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Darren Cunningham is a Wolverhampton, UK-born, London-based producer and electronic music producer, best known as Actress, who over the past decade or so has developed a reputation for crafting abstract yet churning and rumbling techno with pulsing kick drums, jittering percussion, chopped and looped samples; however, interestingly enough, the renowned British producer has publicly mentioned that he’s wanted to make classical music for a modern generation. And that desire has lead him to collaborate with the London Contemporary Orchestra, crafting expanding arrangements of his dark and brooding sound and new material, including “Audio Track 5,” which finds the renowned British producer pairing skittering beats and swirling electronics with a blasts of twinkling and shrieking strings to create a stark and icily minimalist yet entirely cinematic composition. But underneath the bracingly chilly surface, the producer reveals a subtle yet ambitious and progressive take on chamber music.

 

 

 

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US Tour Dates

Aug 23 – Seattle – Kremwerk

Aug 24 – Chicago – Empty Bottle

Aug 25 – Detroit – El Club

Aug 26 – New York – MoMa PS1

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of Offir Benjaminov (bass), Tamuz Dekel (guitar) and Dan Mayo (drums), the Tel Aviv, Israel-based instrumental trio, Tatran whose sound draws from rather electric sources, including jazz fusion, classical, avant-garde, post rock, electronic music, post-punk and several others. And while their material does posses some uncanny melodies, based around each member’s virtuosic musicianship, they’ve received even more attention for a live show based primarily on improvisation and their deep, almost psychic connection with one another.
With the Israeli instrumental trio’s recently released effort No Sides, the band explains that they decided upon a complete and radical shift within their songwriting approach. Whereas, they had a long-held practice of deliberately and repeatedly composing and revising their recorded material piece by piece, the trio decided to take a big creative risk. No Sides is a live recording of a show with the members of the band hitting the stage without having anything actually prepared or mapped out in front of a concert hall with the hopes that they could grab and hold on to “the frequency of inspiration, allowing the music to present and unfold itself in real-time through our unmediated communication, with the energy and presence of the people in the room
“Everything about this project, from the concept, through the performance, to its release revolves around trust. Trust in the power of honest immediate expression, in the moment, in ourselves and in the communication with you,” the band says. Album title track “No Sides” may be one of my favorite tracks on the album. Clocking in at a little over 8 minutes, the song pairs a sinuous and slinky bass line, some funky boom-bap drumming, atmospheric electronics and effects pedaled guitar chords — with the end result being the band creating a steady, funky groove that nods at hip-hop, jazz fusion and drum ‘n’ bass electronica simultaneously.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Renowned, iconoclastic and deeply influential filmmaker Jim Jarmusch is best known for his independent films 1984’s Stranger Than Paradise, 1986’s Down by Law, 1989’s Mystery Train, 1995’s Dead Man, 1999’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, 2003’s Coffee and Cigarettes, which featured cameos from Bill Murray, The RZA and The GZA and others, 2005’s Broken Flowers, 2013’s Only Lovers Left Alive and 2016’s critically applauded Patterson. And as a musician and composer, Jarmusch has composed music for several films and released two albums with Jozef van Wissem, a Dutch-born, Brooklyn-based minimalist composer and late player. But along with that Jarmusch is the leader of a locally-based stoner rock trio SQÜRL, which features his colleagues/collaborators and friends Carter Logan and sound engineer Shane Stoneback. Interestingly, the members of the trio can trace its origins back to 2009 when Jarmusch, Logan and Stoneback teamed up to write and record the original score for the film The Limits of Control. Echoing the varied Spanish landscapes captured within the film, the three wound up writing and recording a slow-burning set of psych rock, initially released under the band name Bad Rabbit. Following those session and a name change to SQÜRL, the trio wrote and recorded 3 EPS of originals that explored the boundaries of country, noise and psych rock.

In 2013, the members of SQÜRL collaborated with Dutch-born, Brooklyn-based minimalist composer and lutenist Jozef Van Wissem to compose, write and record the critically applauded score for Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive; in fact, the score earned that year’s Cannes Soundtrack Award from a consortium of film and music critics, and as a result the quartet performed the material off the film at a number of festivals including that year’s inaugural All Tomorrow’s Parties Iceland, Primavera Sound, Big Ears Festival, as well as a set at Jack White‘s Third Man Records, which was recorded and released as a live album.

 

Jarmusch and Logan followed their work on Only Lovers with performing improvised live scores of four silent films by American Dada and Surrealist artist and filmmaker Man Ray that employed the use of looping machines, synthesizers and pedal effected guitars — and the material drifted heavily towards experimental, ambient and drone-like soundscapes. The trio officially recovered to compose and record the ambient electronic music-based score for Patterson; however, with their forthcoming EP #260 slated for release through July 14th release, the trio reveal a return to form. And as you’ll hear on the EP’s first single “The Dark Rift,” the song features a droning and buzzing power chord-based riff paired with a simple yet propulsive rhythm section, which slowly twists, turns and morphs throughout the tracks four and a half minutes — and interestingly enough, the track manages to sound as though the band had been listening to the Melvins.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Anthony Scott Burns is a Toronto, ON-based film director, visual effects artist and electronic music producer, who has released a number of instrumental albums — mostly as stand alone vinyl releases — with his solo recording project PILOTPRIEST. His soon-to-be released Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is slated for an April 28, 2017 release through Waxwork Records — and while the label releasing the 22 track, triple LP effort is best known for releasing the soundtracks of Taxi Driver, The Thing, The Warriors, Rosemary’s Baby, Nosferatu, C.H.U.D., Goosebumps and others, Burns’ latest effort marks some interesting, new territory for the label, as it’s the first release of originally composed material that’s largely inspired by the soundtracks of 80s cult-classic films like Body Double, Manhunter and Legend.  And unsurprisingly, the album’s first single “Switchblade,” manages to be mischievously anachronistic — while clearly using analog synths to create a chilly, retro-futrustic and almost dystopian sound reminiscent of the great John Carpenter, backed by boom-bap beats, the song manages to reveal slick, modern production techniques that make it both cinematic and dance floor friendly.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Chris Prythm is a producer, beatmaker and emcee, who’s best known as a member of ILL-Literacy, a hip-hop, spoken word and art collective with members, who split time between Oakland, Sacramento and Brooklyn. Prythm’s latest instrumental/beat-driven track “Gimme My Cash” is a swaggering, J. Dilla and Oddisee-inspired production consisting of hard-hitting, boom bap beats, a looped twinkling piano sample and a looped vocal sample that comprises the song’s infectious hook. And from listening to the track, it’s the sort of song that could easily get you in the mood to get your grind on and take over an industry or two.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of months — say, the past two or three months roughly, you’ve likely come across a couple of posts covering the Los Angeles, CA-based Afrobeat act Here Lies Man. Founded by Marcos Garcia, a former member of renowned Afrobeat act Antibalas as a way to bridge the funky polyrhythms and grooves of Afrobeat and the muscular, power chord, riff-based sound of heavy rock and heavy psych, the act which features Geoff Mann (drums), the son of famed jazz musician Herbie Mann and a former member of Antibalas, along with Rich Panta (percussion), JP Maramba (bass), Kris Casto (organ) and contributions from a list of collaborators and friends, the collective have come up with a global and incredibly novel take on both Afrobeat and heavy psych/heavy rock. And in fact, as Garcia explained in press notes, about the band’s sound, “These repetitive guitar figures that happen in Afrobeat music are pretty close to heavy rock guitar riffs.  It’s based on the clave. It’s the musical algorithm that the rhythms revolve around. That’s what gives it integrity and is part of this musical conversation going on. I knew I wanted it to be psychedelic and heavy, and I wanted to be expanding on a musical tradition than pretending to be creating something new.”

The collective’s self-titled full-length debut is slated for an April 7, 2017 release through RidingEasy Records and the album’s first two singles “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,” and “When I Come To” manage to establish the collective’s sound as simultaneously drawing from Black Sabbath and I.T.T. (International Thief Thief) Parts 1 and 2“-era Fela Kuti — and while the album’s third and latest single “Here Lies Man” continues in a similar vein, the track also may be the most stoner rock/hard pysch rock-leaning song of the album so far, almost sounding as though it could have been included on RidingEasy Records’ and Permanent Records‘ fantastic Brown Acid compilations but funkier and more percussive.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Anthemic, M83-Channeling Sound of Finnish-born, Spanish-based Producer Future Ark

Tero Heikkinen is Helsinki, Finland-born, Seville, Spain-based composer, who has a lengthy career composing music for short films, documentaries and modern dance pieces; however, his solo recording project Future Ark is a sonic departure from his previous work, the project finds Heikkinen employing the use of experimental and contemporary sound design and electronic production techniques, with bits of organic instrumentation while drawing from a diverse array of styles including downtempo, ambient and synthwave.

Heikkinen’s Future Ark debut Joy was deeply inspired by the birth of his second son, which was a roller coaster ride of positive emotions. And as a result, the EP’s first single and EP opening track “Pacific Highway” features an effortlessly slick production consisting of undulating and shimmering synths, skittering percussion, propulsive drum beats, a soaring, anthemic, M83-like hook and an otherworldly, cosmic sheen — while evoking the buzzing enthusiasm and sense of discovery on a trip to someplace completely new.

Because the composition has a summery feel, the recently released music video consists of videos of fan shot footage of beaches from Spain and elsewhere across the world, and in some way the video manages to evoke the hope and excitement that people all over the world feel about summer.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

If you had been frequenting this site last month, you may have come across a post on the Brooklyn-based post-punk duo NØMADS. Comprised of Nathan Lithow (vocals, bass), who has been a touring and recording bassist for My Brightest Diamond, Inlets, and Gabriel and the Hounds; and Garth Macaleavey (drums), a former Inlets touring percussionist and head sound engineer at National Sawdust, the duo have quickly received attention for a sound that draws from Nirvana, Fugazi and Girls Against Boys while also nodding at Zack de la Rocha’s post-Rage Against the Machine project, One Day As A Lion , as well as Japandroids.

Now, as you may recall that the duo received some attention with the release of their 2014 full-length debut, Free My Animal, an effort that reportedly drew from Death From Above 1979 and Queens of the Stone Age. And after a year hiatus from touring and recording, the Brooklyn-based post-punk duo spent the better part of last year, writing and recording the material that would comprise their their newest, conceptual album PHØBIAC, an album in which each song focuses on a different phobia — approached in an abstract, almost clinical fashion, capturing the innermost thoughts and anxieties of someone in the grips of their own fears, while possessing a cautionary message: that whenever we succumb to our irrational fears, chaos and self-destruction will be the end result. And with our current (and continuing) sociopolitical climate, the Brooklyn-based duo’s newest material is desperately fitting and necessary, especially in light of the fact that an enormous swath of the American population have let their fear and hatred of “the other” to the point of endangering everyone within their path.

Adding to the conceptual nature of the album, each song off the album will be released every month over the course of 2017 with the full album being slated for a 2018 release.  And as you may remember, the album’s previous single “Achluphobia” focuses on a fear of darkness, and throughout you can feel the narrator’s palpable and overwhelmingly primal dread and fear as darkness begins to envelope everything around him  — and it’s further emphasized by angular and forceful bass chords, thundering and propulsive drumming and Lithgow’s growled vocals; but just under the surface of the song is a bigger message that fear can easily turn something that’s natural and normal into something fearful, horrible and dangerous.

“Acrophobia,” PHØBIAC‘s latest single is based around the fear of heights and it’s a forceful and explosive, instrumental composition that features Los Angeles, CA-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Max Braverman on drums. Featuring a frequently shifting meter paired with a propulsive bass line, the song intends to to evoke the vertiginous sensation of peering over a ledge with the recognition that solid ground and ghastly, mortal peril is just below you, all while sonically nodding at Entertainment and Solid Gold-era Gang of Four — in particular “Not Great Men,” “He’d Send in the Army;” but with an tense, anxious dread at its core.