Tag: instrumental

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Laurent Squarta Shares John Carpenter Soundtrack-Like “The Dark Wave of The Blob”

Laurent Squarta is a Toulon, France-born multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer, who like countless young folks across the globe, became obsessed with music around the time he turned 13. His earliest musical loves were Depeche Mode, The Cure and New Wave.

When he turned 16, he became more rebellious and developed an interest in skateboarding and skateboarding culture, as well as harder music, like Metallica, Megadeth and Sepultura.

Hypnotized by these sounds, Squarta desperately wanted to make his own music. Earning money from small jobs, he brought a guitar and an amp — and with two friends, he started a punk rock band called ElectroGene. He also took lessons at Bordeaux’s Rock School Barbey, where he planed to play with other bands at small, local shows.

Back in 2012, following an installation in Rochefort, France, Squarta set up a music studio next to his house. He had received training in recording techniques and music production software, while becoming obsessed with the sonic possibilities offered by synthesizers. He brought new gear and found his sound inching closer to John Carpenter and the Stranger Things soundtrack.

After a few years of experimenting with his sound and approach and some rather strange personal experiences, the French artist gradually landed on Darkwave, seemingly inspired by horror and sci-fi films. Over the last handful of years, Squarta has reached out to horror movie critic YouTubers and short filmmakers to collaborator on soundtrack work.

His latest single is a song inspired by 1988’s Kurt Russell-starring The Blob. And fittingly, the eerie and brooding John Carpenter-like soundtrack-like “The Dark Wave of The Blob” features industrial clang and clatter, glistening synth oscillations, a relentless motorik groove and a blazing guitar line. The song perfectly compliments the accompanying edited film footage.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Dave Guy Shares Cinematic and Strutting “7th Heaven”

Raised in the East Village, acclaimed and highly sought-after trumpeter Dave Guy was surrounded by hip-hop and the hustle that seemed to define the city in the 90s. During those formative days, he and his playing style were influenced by the likes of Donald Byrd and Hugh Masekela, but also by A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul.

His time at LaGuardia Performing Arts High School furthered this path. Guy remembers sharing playing time with Big Crown Records co-founder Leon Michels and highly sought-after drummer Homer Steinweiss. “Being in the All-City Jazz Big Band, I would see them rehearsing all the time,” the New York-born and-based musician recalls. “They were already doing things with The Dap-Kings back then—which was crazy.”

His voice as a player began to take shape and continued to be refined through his studies at The Manhattan School of Music and The New School — and then playing with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band, The Sugarman 3 and more. He has played on albums from the likes of Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Pharrell Williams, Lee Fields, the legendary Al Green — er, correction, the Rev. Al Green — and a lengthy list of others. And adding to a growing profile, Guy currently plays with The Roots live and on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Guy finally steps out into the much-deserved spotlight with his full-length debut, Ruby. Slated for a September 20, 2024 release through Big Crown Records, the 12-song album sees the highly sought-after NYC scene mainstay exploring New York jazz and pushing the boundaries of the style by incorporating elements of hip-hop and soul in a way that’s both unique and modern.

As fate would have it, a classic case of “when one door shuts, another opens” was really what got the ball rolling on the album. “I never wanted to force my own project,” Guy explains. “There was always a lot going on between things—the timing was never right.” But when The Tonight Show went on hiatus during last year’s Writers’ Strike, there was an unexpected free moment.

Within days, Guy started recording sessions with Steinweiss and Nick Movshon (bass). What initially started out as a just an opportunity to create music, quickly took shape and direction when they ended up laying down something that felt wildly special and authentic. The result is an album that captures different moods and serves as an invitation to the world as Dave Guys sees it and feels it.

Ruby‘s first single “7th Heaven” is a anchored around a a bed of twinkling and dancing keys, a strutting bass line from Movshown, boom bap-like drums from Steinweiss and ethereal backing coos from Clairo/Claire Cottrill serving as a funky and anthemic bed for Guy’s regal and soulful horn melody. The result is a composition that’s swaggering yet cinematic, while capturing the energy and vibe of a day — or night — in and around New York.

“It has a groove and is more in line with what the guys and I are known for with Menahan Street Band, but it is also in-your-face and catchy,” Guy says. “It’s a bit of an ode to Tijuana Brass too, a Herb Alpert-esque track with a tight horn line and has that energy that pops.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Los Bitchos Share Blissed Out Beach Bop “Don’t Change”

Acclaimed London-based instrumental outfit and JOVM mainstays Los Bitchos — Australian-born, Serra Petale (guitar); Uruguayan-born Agustina Ruiz (keytar); Swedish-born, Josefine Jonsson (bass) and London-born Nic Crawshaw (drums) — can trace their origins to meeting at various late-night parties and through mutual friends. Inspired by their individual members’ different upbringings and backgrounds, the acclaimed British outfit have firmly established a genre-blurring, retro-futuristic sound that playfully blends elements of Peruvian chica, Argentine cumbia, Turkish psych, surf rock, and the music each individual member grew up with: 

  • The Uruguayan-born Ruiz had a Latin-American music collection that the members of the band fell in love with

  • The Swedish-born Jonsson “brings a touch of out of control pop,” her bandmates often joke

  • Aussie-born Petale is deeply inspired by her mother’s 70s Anatolian rock records

  • And the London-born Crawshaw played in a number of local punk bands before joining Los Bitchos

“Coming from all these different places,” Los Bitchos’ Serra Petale says, “it means we’re not stuck in one genre and we can rip up the rulebook a bit when it comes to our influences.”

The JOVM mainstays’ Alex Kapranos-produced, critically applauded, full-length debut, 2022’s Let The Festivities Begin! was recorded at Gallery Studios, and saw the band cementing their reputation for crafting playful, lysergic yet party friendly grooves. 

The quartet capped off a breakthrough year with two Serra Petale and Javier Weyler-co-produced singles “Tip Tapp” and “Los Chrismos,” their first Christmas-themed composition. Fittingly, “Los Chrismos” is a celebratory party-starting romp built around a psych rock-inspired, dexterous and looping guitar line, atmospheric synths, cumbia rhythms paired with holiday appropriate cheers and shouts. Simply put, the song is a much-needed hope and joy bomb in desperate, uneasy time. 

Building upon a growing profile internationally, the London-based JOVM mainstays released 2023’s PAH! EP, a two-track effort that featured a mischievously, rowdy and downright boozy cover of The Champs‘ oft-covered “Tequila,” a song that has become a fan favorite during the band’s live shows and a reworking of King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard‘s “Trapdoor.” 

Today, the London-based instrumental outfit announced that their highly anticipated sophomore album, the Oli Barton-Wood-produced Talkie Talkie is slated for an August 30, 2024 release through City Slang. Deriving its name from a fictional club of the same name, Talkie Talkie is a late-night paradise, brimming with freedom and possibility; a place where partygoers can escape reality by getting caught in the groove and dancing it all away or daydream along to the invigorating soundscape.

Recorded over a short but intense month-long series of sessions at London’s RAK Studios and Lightship 95, sonically, the album will transport the listener into a world where funk, disco, Latin and Turkish rhythms collide in a euphoric fusion fueled by adventurous experimentation and their endearingly puckish spirit. If 2022’s Let The Festivities Begin was the rowdy build up to the big night out with your homies, Talkie Talkie is the equivalent of rocking out to the groove on the dance floor.

The album’s material is anchored in a vivid cinematic universe that takes inspiration from the band’s favorite aesthetic era — the ’80s. Think less self-serious men, gated reverb and more campy, hi-fi pop songwriting that glistens with moxie and verve. The quartet especially wanted to tap into the sonic innovation of the period, where analog and digital techniques collided to create polished texture and depth.

The album will feature the previously released “La Bomba,” a hook-driven 80s Turkish psych pop-inspired bop anchored around a shuffling dance floor rhythm, a twangy and looping guitar line, a disco-influenced bass line, some video game-like beats paired with glistening synths and ecstatic shouts. “‘La Bomba’ is a burst of energy and power! It’s just such a fun song – we started playing it at festivals last summer and the energy felt so good!” The band says in press notes. 

“The beginning stabs are what came to me (Serra) first as I was cooking in my kitchen. There’s something quite heroic and powerful about the opening guitar tone and the stabs underneath them. The twangy guitar tone cuts through the chaotic landscape of claps, pumping disco bassline and dreamy swirling synth sounds. The disco era influence is quite evident in this song, and I think the bassline sets the tone perfectly for this. Structurally the song delivers straight into a chorus (as Nile Rodgers said, ‘why wait?’). We wanted to keep this as close to a classic pop structure as possible, everything straight to the point. 

“The cherries on top are the little ping pong drum sounds (think Ring My Bell, Anita Ward) – they just make the track go off and totally emulate the feelings of euphoria and pure energy running through it.”

Talkie Talkie’s second and latest single “Don’t Change” is a breezy and blissful jam anchored around a languid and reverb-drenched Spanish-tinged, psych rock-inspired guitar line, stomping percussion, glistening and atmospheric synths and an arpeggiated, funky synth bass line. It’s the perfect soundtrack for frolicking at the beach, of dreaming of heading to the beach with your best pals — or for riding a ferry and dreaming that you were on a super expensive yacht drinking mimosas.

Directed by Tom Mitchell, the accompanying video for “Don’t Change” is a deliriously fun joy bomb that captures the band — fittingly — frolicking in paradise while seemingly on vacation. Can I join y’all?

“‘Don’t Change’ is a pure bliss track; think holiday vibes with ice creams, beach balls, sunsets and margaritas,” the band says of the song and its accompanying video. “It’s feel-good, with sun soaked melodies, vibrant arpeggiator synth bass, and layers of percussion. We had such a fun time making the video, making up little dances and frolicking about in the sand and sea!”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: WØØLS Shares Painterly “Flooded”

Brock Woolsey is a Californian-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, electronic music artist and creative mastermind of the solo recording project WØØLS. With WØØLS, Woolsey uses a mix of acoustic and digital instruments to create a collage sound characterized by textured synths, fuzzy tones, soft pianos, heavy low end and driving drum patterns that draws from Jon Hopkins, James Blake, Tycho, Shlohmo and Weval among others.

The Canadian artist’s latest EP Santa Rosa is slated for a June 14, 2024 release through Hit the North Records. The EP’s third and final single “Flooded” is a painterly almost shoegazer-like track that opens with a symphonic-like synth melody before quickly featuring glisten synth arpeggios, skittering beats, tape saturated fuzz and twinkling keys in a song that twists, turns and morphs into different textured passages before bringing listeners back to the beginning.

“Flooded” was inspired by Woolsey’s first analog synth, a Sequential Prophet Rev 2. “I was listening to Machinedrum heavily while writing this song. The bridge is a nice break in the song. Delicate piano chords run with tape cassette saturation” says Woolsey. The track opens with a symphonic melody, eventually carrying listeners through a roller coaster of textures and passages. The bridge provides a break in the reoccurring melodies, nearly sounding like a completely different track before making a full circle, bringing listeners back to the track’s essential melodies.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Prefuse 73 Shares Cinematic “Vast Wildlife Poison”

Miami-born, New York-based Guillermo Scott Herren is a pioneering electronic musician, producer and creative mastermind behind the acclaimed recording project Prefuse 73. Slated for a June 28, 2024 release through Lex Records, Herren’s latest Prefuse 73 album New Strategies for Modern Crime, Vol. 2 serves as a companion album to New Strategies for Modern Crime, Vol. 1, which was released back in March.

New Strategies for Modern Crime, Vol. 2 reportedly continues Herren’s groundbreaking take on experimental composition through the lens of media sensationalism of crime, blended with influences from lost soundtracks, musique concréte and beat-tape music to create something wholly unique yet extremely accessible.

“I always have a movie or some random visuals playing on mute behind me in the studio,” Herren says of his creative process. “It could be horror from any era or just an old Fellini film; they tend to be playing on a loop. I will turn around from the mixing board and just stare at the images to get inspired.”

He adds, “It means that when you do finally hear my music, it’s hopefully created in a way that prompts you to see a whole scene play out in your head.”

New Strategies for Modern Crime, Vol. 2‘s second and latest single “Vast Wildlife Poison” continues a remarkable run of cinematic material that would perfectly complement a true crime series — or French Connection-meets-Mission Impossible-like thriller with the song anchored around a strutting and slithering jazz-inspired bass line, reverb-drenched, plucked guitar bursts, jazz syncopated beats and intermittent synth blasts.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Offline Shares Breezy “Pour Nael”

Felix Müller is a Hamburg-born and-based photographer, composer and creative mastermind behind the cinematic soul project The Offline. Müller can trace the origins of The Offline to his travels along the the Atlantic coastline of southern France with an analog camera, capturing beach life. Upon his return to Hamburg, he started writing song as the sonic counterpart to his visuals. 

The German-born photographer and composer’s The Offline debut, En Clair-Obscur captured the essence of his trip while evoking a chilled out, summer soundtrack that sonically channeled the likes of Surprise Chef and Robohands. 

Müller’s full-length debut, last year’s Timor Litzenberg co-produced La couleur de la mer was inspired by the work of Francois de Roubaix — and saw him creating a soundtrack to an imaginary film. The album’s material evoked images of manorial, fog-swept villas at the ocean’s edge, silhouetted sailing boats and cigar-chomping villains attempting to thwart the mission of the imaginary film’s hero. The album experimented with themes and atypical song structures, moving from dramatic cues to fragile romanticism while incorporating psychedelia, retro soul and hip-hop, inspired by and informed by his extensive record collection. 

The Hamburg-based artist’s work has received airplay from BBC Radio 6, Rinse FM, Radio FIP and Jazz FM while amassing millions of streams. Building upon a growing profile across Europe, Müller shared “Les Cavaliers” last month. The single continues his collaboration with Chris Hill (drums), Hans-Christian Stephan (flugelhorn) and Kimo Eiserback (flute) on a breezy and cinematic bit of 1970s AM radio soul anchored around a strutting, feel good groove reminiscent of Chicago and the like, wah-wah pedaled guitar and a regal flugelhorn.

“Les Cavaliers” also continued the German-born artist’s ongoing homage to surf spots in southern France, and the song manages to evoke the warm summer breeze, the smell and taste of salt in the air and the laid-back vibe of sun-kissed beach days. “’Les Cavaliers’ pays tribute to the Aquitaine region of France, which has been a big influence on my music,” the German-born artist explains. “The track came about a few days after my debut album was released, capturing a moment of relief to turn the page on one chapter, yet anticipation of what will come.”

Müller’s latest The Offline single “Pour Nael” continues the German artist’s long-held obsession of capturing the essence of the sun-kissed French Atlantic coast — but with a slightly different different message. Anchored around shimmering and jangling guitar, a laid-back yet propulsive rhythm section, twinkling Rhodes and a percussive yet languid flute and horn melody, the remarkably Bob James-like arrangement was written to pay tribute to a fan named Nael, who gave Müller some kind words about the effect of The Offline’s music had on him.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 98th Birthday, Miles Davis!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 98th anniversary of Miles Davis’ birth.

women who kick ass by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Initial Orchestra Shares Hypnotic “Dynamic Tube”

Currently splitting her time between Paris and Brussels, Sarah Chièze is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer, filmmaker and visual artist, who can trace her curiosity and passion for sound to growing up in a family of musicians.

Chièze started studying at the conservatory before she could actually write. But as a musical prodigy, she learned piano, flute, guitar and singing. And although piano is her preferred instrument, singing has informed her compositional approach and the thematic concern of her work — the construction of language.

When Chiéze went to college, she studied cinema and visual art, which have become important parts of both her professional and personal lives: She composes scores for film and has developed a digital graphics price that allows her to create the artwork for her releases.

Her multimedia project Initial Orchestra sees her crafting compositions that draw from a range of influences, including flamenco, prog rock and classical music among others — and pairing that with sci-fi-inspired images that invite the listener and viewer’s mind and body to freely wander.

Chièze recently released her debut EP, the six-song Resolution. The EP sees the emerging multimedia artist taking the listener on an epic journey while crafting melodies that are simultaneously euphoric and deep. Throughout the run of the EP, its six songs echo and contrast each other.

Anchored around a painterly layers of a looping and repetitive, twinkling melodic phrase that twists and turns around skittering and pulsing trap-like thump, the EP’s latest single “Dynamic Tube” is a mind-bending, cinematic bit of electronic music that channels Trans Europe Express-era Kraftwerk.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Offline Shares Breezy and Summery “Les Cavaliers”

Felix Müller is a Hamburg-born and-based photographer, composer and creative mastermind behind the cinematic soul project The Offline. Müller can trace the origins of The Offline to his travels along the the Atlantic coastline of southern France with an analog camera, capturing beach life. Upon his return to Hamburg, he started writing song as the sonic counterpart to his visuals.

The German-born photographer and composer’s The Offline debut, En Clair-Obscur captured the essence of his trip while evoking a chilled out, summer soundtrack that sonically channeled the likes of Surprise Chef and Robohands.

Müller’s full-length debut, last year’s Timor Litzenberg co-produced La couleur de la mer was inspired by the work of Francois de Roubaix — and saw him creating a soundtrack to an imaginary film. The album’s material evoked images of manorial, fog-swept villas at the ocean’s edge, silhouetted sailing boats and cigar-chomping villains attempting to thwart the mission of the imaginary film’s hero. The album experimented with themes and atypical song structures, moving from dramatic cues to fragile romanticism while incorporating psychedelia, retro soul and hip-hop, inspired by and informed by his extensive record collection.

The Hamburg-based artist’s work has received airplay from BBC Radio 6, Rinse FM, Radio FIP and Jazz FM while amassing millions of streams. Building upon a growing profile, Müller’s first single of the year, “Les Cavaliers,” which continues Müller’s collaborations with Chris Hill (drums), Hans-Christian Stephan (flugelhorn) and Kimo Eiserback (flute) is a breezy and cinematic bit of 1970s AM radio soul anchored around a strutting, feel good groove reminiscent of Chicago and others, wah wah pedaled guitar and a regal flugelhorn melody. “Les Cavaliers” continues Müller’s ongoing homage to surf spots in southern France, and in some way, the song evokes the warm summer breeze, the smell and taste of salt and the laid-back vibes of a sun-kissed beach days.

“’Les Cavaliers’ pays tribute to the Aquitaine region of France, which has been a big influence on my music,” the German-born artist explains. “The track came about a few days after my debut album was released, capturing a moment of relief to turn the page on one chapter, yet anticipation of what will come.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: VAAMP Shares a Cinematic and Minimalist Composition

VAAMP is the solo recording project of a mysterious composer, multi-instrumentalist and creative mastermind, who actively attempts to push limits of creativity and genre. Sonically, the project sees its mysterious mastermind employing multiple layers of synths, drums, bass, keys, guitar and experimental sounds to create a captivating musical experience.

VAAMP’s latest single “New Way of Being” is the first bit of new material since the release of his debut EP, Time Sensitive Material earlier this year. “New Way of Being” is a cinematic and minimalist composition featuring twinkling and reverb-soaked keys, fluttering synths and a supple bass line. The result is a song that seemingly channels a synthesis of Collapse Under The Empire and John Carpenter, complete with a retro-futuristic feel and vibe.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Los Bitchos Share Glittery Visual for Disco-Inspired Romp “La Bomba”

Acclaimed London-based instrumental outfit Los Bitchos — Australian-born, Serra Petale (guitar); Uruguayan-born Agustina Ruiz (keytar); Swedish-born, Josefine Jonsson (bass) and London-born Nic Crawshaw (drums) — can trace their origins to meeting at various late-night parties and through mutual friends. Inspired by their individual members’ different upbringings and backgrounds, the acclaimed British outfit have firmly established a genre-blurring and retro-futuristic sound that blends elements of Peruvian chica, Argentine cumbia, Turkish psych, surf rock, and the music each individual member grew up with: 

  • The Uruguayan-born Ruiz had a Latin-American music collection that the members of the band fell in love with

  • The Swedish-born Jonsson “brings a touch of out of control pop,” her bandmates often joke

  • Aussie-born Petale is deeply inspired by her mother’s 70s Anatolian rock records

  • And the London-born Crawshaw played in a number of local punk bands before joining Los Bitchos

“Coming from all these different places,” Los Bitchos’ Serra Petale says, “it means we’re not stuck in one genre and we can rip up the rulebook a bit when it comes to our influences.”

Los Bitchos’ Alex Kapranos-produced, critically applauded, full-length debut, 2022’s Let The Festivities Begin! was recorded at Gallery Studios, and saw the band cementing their reputation for crafting playful, lysergic yet party friendly grooves.

The London-based JOVM mainstays capped off a breakthrough year with two Serra Petale and Javier Weyler-co-produced singles “Tip Tapp” and “Los Chrismos,” their first Christmas-themed composition. Fittingly, “Los Chrismos” is a celebratory party-starting romp built around a psych rock-inspired, dexterous and looping guitar line, atmospheric synths, cumbia rhythms paired with holiday appropriate cheers and shouts. Simply put, the song is a much-needed hope and joy bomb in desperate, uneasy time.

The tracks were released digitally and physically on a flexi-disc, bundled with a red vinyl re-pressing of their debut — for that year’s holiday season..

Building upon a growing profile internationally, the London-based JOVM mainstays released 2023’s PAH! EP, a two-track effort that featured a mischievously, rowdy and downright boozy cover of The Champs‘ oft-covered “Tequila,” a song that has become a fan favorite during the band’s live shows. The EP also featured a reworking of King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard‘s “Trapdoor.”

The British outfit’s latest single, the Oli Barton Wood-produced “La Bomba,” the first bit of new material from the band since last year’s PAH! EP. The track is an hook-driven 80s Turkish psych pop-inspired bop anchored around a shuffling dance floor rhythm, a twangy and looping guitar line, a disco-influenced bass line, some video game-like beats paired with glistening synths and ecstatic shouts.

“‘La Bomba’ is a burst of energy and power! It’s just such a fun song – we started playing it at festivals last summer and the energy felt so good!” The band says in press notes.

“The beginning stabs are what came to me (Serra) first as I was cooking in my kitchen. There’s something quite heroic and powerful about the opening guitar tone and the stabs underneath them. The twangy guitar tone cuts through the chaotic landscape of claps, pumping disco bassline and dreamy swirling synth sounds. The disco era influence is quite evident in this song, and I think the bassline sets the tone perfectly for this. Structurally the song delivers straight into a chorus (as Nile Rodgers said, ‘why wait?’). We wanted to keep this as close to a classic pop structure as possible, everything straight to the point. 

“The cherries on top are the little ping pong drum sounds (think Ring My Bell, Anita Ward) – they just make the track go off and totally emulate the feelings of euphoria and pure energy running through it.”

Directed by the band’s long-term artistic collaborator Tom Mitchell, the accompanying video, features some high-energy, glittery visuals that at points playfully nods at Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

The band says of the video “As it’s a high energy, pumping song, we needed to have really dynamic visuals to go with that and bring the song to life. The video has lots of shiny, glitterball moments and moves between performance and surreal segments. We had so much fun with make-up and styling for this video. Josefine saw this thing on Tik Tok where you film in a way which gives the illusion you’re riding a horse, so obviously we had a go and put that in the video last minute on set.”

Throwback by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 102nd Birthday, Charles Mingus!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 102nd anniversary of Charles Mingus’ birth.