Tag: Joyful Noise Recordings

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Medicine Singers is an experimental collective that can trace its origins back to a chance encounter between the Eastern Medicine Singers, an Eastern Algonquin powwow group and Israeli-born, New York-based guitarist and producer Yonatan Gat, who invited the group to a spontaneous collaboration on stage at SXSW 2017 after seeing them play outside the venue he was about to play. 

That chance meeting led to a five-year live collaboration that saw Gat and the Eastern Medicine Singers playing festival stages across the US, Canada and Europe — and in many cases, those shows saw the Algonquin powwow group bring powwow to audiences and places that had never heard of it before. 

The collective’s highly-anticipated self-titled debut was released last year through Yonatan Gat’s Stone Tapes, an imprint of Joyful Noise here in the States and through Mothland in Canada. Their acclaimed self-titled debut saw the Medicine Singers expanding into a full-fledged experimental supergroup that also included Swans’ Thor Harris and Christopher Pravdica, ambient music pioneer Laraaji, former DNA drummer and no wave icon Ikue Mori and the acclaimed trumpeter Jaimie Branch, who we tragically lost too soon last August, along with contributions from their co-producer and longtime collaborator Yonatan Gat.

Through their live shows and their debut album, the collective creates a spellbinding, mystical musical experience that cycles through a kaleidoscopic array of sounds including psychedelic punk, electronic music, acid jazz, spiritual jazz and a list of others. But, the genre-blurring approach is firmly rooted in the intense, physical power of the power of the powwow drum — and the Eastern Medicine Singers’ deep connection to their ancestral music and connections. The end result is material that lovingly honors and celebrates tradition while boldly breaking free from its restrictions — or in the words of Medicine Singers’ leader Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson: “These two cultures can work together, and blend together. We created something that needs to be out there in the world, to show people how we can work together and make something beautiful.”

To honor Indigenous Peoples Day, Medicine Singers share their latest single “Honor Song,” which features Sonic Youth‘s Lee Ranaldo (guitar), Godspeed You! Black Emperor‘s Timothy Herzog (drums), Swans’ Thor Harris (drums), Dean Running Deer Robinson (powwow drum) and Zoon‘s Daniel Monkman, a Canadian Ojibwe artist (backing vocals) — all of whom make their official recorded debut with the collective. Recorded live at famed Montréal-based studio Hotel2Tango, “Honor Song” was produced and mixed by Gat with help from Swedish electronics maverick and frequent Fever Ray collaborator Peder Mannerfelt and Josh Berg, who previously worked on albums by Kanye West and Earl Sweatshirt.

Building upon the collective’s groundbreaking approach to Eastern Algonquin powwow music by blending it with elements of spiritual jazz, psych punk and electronic music to create a wholly unique post-genre sound, “Honor Song” is a brooding song fueled by heartbreak, loss and remembrance. Shoegazer-meets-no wave guitar textures and swirling electronics are paired with the propulsive dynamism of the powwow drums and the Medicine Singers’ haunting cries. The song is meant to transport and connect both the performers and the listener to their departed loved ones wherever they may be.

“Honor Song” is a dedication to loved ones, who have passed, namely vocalist Arthur Red Medicine Crippen’s partner Kathleen, who he lovingly refers in a statement you’ll see below as Ms. cat, as well as their collaborator Jamie Branch. The track was recorded two weeks after Branch’s death, in a recording session she was scheduled to appear on.

On this, his recorded debut with the band, Lee Ranaldo remarked, “Joining the Medicine Singers, both in the recording studio and live on stage, has been a highlight of the last couple years for me. Breaking boundaries and stressing the shared similarities between indigenous music and more modern styles has been a profound, expansive experience. Recording sessions with Native Americans, Canadian First Nations and local Brazilian players, along with an amazing crew of sympathetic collaborators, has, I think, opened up new avenues and ideas for us all. I’m very happy that ‘Honor Song,’ sung so beautifully by Artie Red Medicine Crippen, joined by Zoon’s Daniel Monkman, is the first released example that includes my participation in the group. More to come!”

Medicine Singers’ Arthur Red Medicine Crippen says in press notes: “’Honor Song’ was given to me by my uncle Wayne Red Dawn Crippen. When my wife Ms. Kat wasn’t feeling well I used to sing it to her when she was in the hospital every night. Ms. Kat is from the Ramapo tribe of NJ and NY, she’s also Montauk, her name is Spirit Dancer. When we were in the KEXP radio station in July, that was the song that came to my mind – the ‘Honor Song.’ I didn’t know how sick Ms. Kat really was, until I came home and she passed away in August. This song lingers because we lost her since we recorded it. When I sing this song I think of her the whole time. It’s a part of my prayer, I end each day singing this song and I know she’s listening. ‘Honor Song’ is a travel song, when people leave this world they travel to another dimension, and songs like this reach them.”
 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Magic Sword Shares Dramatic “The Ending”

Magic Sword is a Boise-based multimedia project that tells the ageless tale of good and evil through an expansive — and ever-expanding — graphic novel, featuring The Immortals — The Keeper of the Magic Sword (red, keyboards), The Seer of All Truths (blue, guitar) and
The Weaver of all Hearts and Souls (yellow, drums) — accompanied by an original synth-driven soundtrack and immersive live performances. Combining three mediums, the Boise-based outfit creates an epic experience for those who are bold enough to bear witness and come away with a deeper understanding of the ultimate hero’s journey.

Rooted in a musical and visual aesthetic that is unabashedly drawn from ’70s and ’80s fantasy and sci-fi, the project’s followers are brought to another plane of existence in which that ageless struggle between light and shadow is very real.

Magic Sword’s The Immortals give a direct account of their vision — and of the overarching story of The Magic Sword:

“In the beginning, there was light… and darkness. A creation of perfect balance. As time passed, evil spread over the land like a plague, slowly consuming everything in its path. In the final moments before light was lost to the shadow for all time, a weapon of infinite power was created, the Magic Sword. Thus, restoring balance to the universe. The genesis of things are often small. As the single seed grows to a mighty oak, so too did the path of the Keeper begin as a single choice in an age long past. Once a humble king, they were manipulated into unknowingly unleashing the Dark One.All of reality was torn asunder as the Lord of Shadow was released from their ancient prison, having been bound only by the power contained within the Magic Sword.From that day forth, the King was cursed to be the immortal Keeper of this powerful key. He has been relentlessly compelled for millennia to find the Chosen One who will one day unleash the true power of the weapon and cannot rest until the grand design is seen complete with the Darkness bound once again. Little is known of The Lord of Shadow but death and decay. Since the release from his ancient prison by the hapless Keeper of the Magic Sword, he has pulled all of existence slowly toward himself in a vortex of darkness and destruction. Any wayward soul that he touches is corrupted to their ultimate demise. He uses his followers, acolytes of death, with no more regard than any other, for his reason of being is simply to end all things. Ensuingly, the forces of good have been searching for the Light to push him back into his eternal prison. The key to operating this cell is the Magic Sword; when wielded by the Chosen One, it has the power to return balance to the Universe.

The Keeper of the Magic Sword searches endlessly for the Chosen One. With the help of the other Immortals, The Seer of All Things and The Weaver of Hearts and Minds, they are ever trying to stem the tide of the Great Shadow from engulfing all life. Through time and space itself, The Immortals are pulled by the power of the Magic Sword to those who hunger for true justice. Whenever the need is great, they appear with the Magic Sword and a high-stakes proposition for those who are pure of heart, perpetually hoping that their search is finally over. This prophesied being contains the ability to wield the power of the Magic Sword and seal the prison that holds Dark One for all eternity. Only then will The Keeper, The Seer, and The Weaver be able to rest. Until the chosen one is revealed, the search continues in this realm and many others throughout all of time and space. In what form will the MagicSword manifest? Who is the Chosen One? Will it be you? Answers will reveal themselves as the need arises. A tale of high adventure as old as time itself.”

In the installment in the expansive Magic Sword universe, The Keeper embarks on a righteous quest to navigate a corrupt world where the sword has been abducted by an unfathomably foul evil. Amid the conflict, he seeks to find himself and reclaim what is rightfully his “Badlands.” Originally composed as the soundtrack to a feature film and conceived as a sort-of solo album for Magic Sword’s The Keeper, Badlands, which was surprised released through Joyful Noise Recordings tells the story of loss and rediscovery of the one’s self while being a departure from the band’s trademark synthwave sound. Instead, Badlands is lovingly indebted to John Carpenter and Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson.

Badlands‘ latest single, the cinematic and slow-burning ‘The Ending” is built around layers of glistening, retro-futuristic synth arpeggios paired with propulsive four-on-the-floor and a relentless groove. The composition manages to set a dramatic vibe and setting for its protagonist, The Keeper: I can picture The Keeper finally encountering his antagonist — and having an epic battle in a Dali-esque landscape.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Noble Rot (METZ’s Alex Edkins and Holy Fuck’s Graham Walsh) Return with Propulsive and Trippy “Medicine”

Noble Rot is a new collaborative studio project, featuring METZ‘s and Weird Nightmare’s Alex Edkins and Holy Fuck‘s Graham Walsh. The project can trace its origins back to 2011: Walsh was enlisted to produce METZ’s 2012 self-titled full-length debut. And since then, the pair have remained in a state of creative orbit. 

The duo’s full-length debut Heavenly Bodies, Repetition, Control saw its official release today through Joyful Noise. The album sees Edkins and Walsh joyously stepping outside and beyond the lines drawn by their previous work — with the album’s material being the culmination of a year’s worth of feverish studio experimentation influenced by film soundtracks, komische muzik, experimental noise, ambient, psychedelia, and more.

While their distinct musical sensibilities remain intact, Noble Rot provides the duo with a new vehicle for pushing their boundaries of sonic exploration. The album’s material will reward the listener with a songs filled to the brim with unbridled curiosity and boundless excitement — with the hopes that it’ll surprise and thrill both longtime fans and periphery lurkers alike. 

Last month, I wrote about “Casting No Light,” a densely layered soundscape featuring glistening and wobbling synths, hypnotic bass lines, spiraling and looping guitar lines, and motorik rhythms are paired with chanted mantra-like vocals. While effortlessly and seamlessly meshing the long-held creative instincts of its individual creators, “Casting No Light” is underpinned by a mischievous, almost childlike sense of adventure and an irresistible groove. And adding to the collaborative nature of the project, Wire‘s and Immersion‘s Colin Newman and Minimal Compact‘s and Immersion’s Malka Spigel lend a hand, contributing bass and heavily modulated guitars to the song’s motorik pulse — before closing out with bongo drums and howling synths. 

Heavenly Bodies, Repetition, Control‘s second and latest single “Medicine” may arguably be the album’s funkiest single. It’s built around a forceful motorik groove, skittering four-on-the-floor paired with off-kilter percussion, industrial screech, squeak and skronk and heavily distorted vocals buried in the mix. Much like its immediate predecessor, the song is rooted in a mischievous, childlike sense of experimentation that sees is collaborators adventurously pushing each other into a wild and trippy new direction.

Continuing an ongoing collaboration with John Smith, the accompanying video for “Medicine” featuring floating pills of varying sizes floating and undulating to the song’s motorik-meets-industrial pulse.

Heavenly Bodies, Reputation, Control is included in Joyful Noise’s The White Label Series. Currently in its sixth year, The White Label Series taps influential curators and creatives to shine a light on a previously unreleased album of their choice. This year’s list of curators is equally impressive as it includes Julian Baker, Sean Ono Lennon, Helado Negro, The Jesus Lizard‘s David Yow, Speedy Ortiz‘s Sadie Dupuis and No Joy‘s Jasmine White-Gluz, who chose Noble Rot’s debut for the series. 

“Graham Walsh and Alex Edkin’s new musical partnership captures what I love most about their other musical endeavors (Holy Fuck, Metz); expansive production, musical moments of anxiety and calmness, unexpected earworms,” White-Gluz says of choice. “I love records like this that make me go ‘how did they make that sound?!’ and relisten to a song over and over.“

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: METZ’s and Weird Nightmare’s Alex Edkins and Holy Fuck’s Graham Walsh Team Up on Propulsive “Casting No Light”

Noble Rot is a new collaborative studio project, featuring METZ‘s and Weird Nightmare’s Alex Edkins and Holy Fuck‘s Graham Walsh. The project can trace its origins back to 2011: Walsh was enlisted to produce METZ’s 2012 self-titled full-length debut. And since then, the pair have remained in a state of creative orbit.

Slated for a March 24, 2023 release through Joyful Noise, the duo’s full-length debut together, Heavenly Bodies, Repetition, Control reportedly shows Edkins and Walsh joyously stepping outside and beyond the lines drawn by their previously released work, with the album’s material being the culmination of a year’s worth of feverish studio experimentation influenced by film soundtracks, experimental noise, kosmiche muzik, ambient, psychedelia and more.

While their distance musical sensibilities remain intact, Noble Rot provides the duo with a new vehicle for pushing their boundaries of sonic exploration. The album’s material will reward the listener with a songs filled to the brim with unbridled curiosity and boundless excitement — with the hopes that it’ll surprise and thrill both longtime fans and periphery lurkers alike.

Heavenly Bodies, Repetition, Control‘s first single “Casting No Light” is a densely layered soundscape featuring glistening and wobbling synths, hypnotic bass lines, spiraling and looping guitar lines, and motorik rhythms are paired with chanted mantra-like vocals. While effortlessly and seamlessly meshing the long-held creative instincts of its individual creators, “Casting No Light” is underpinned by a mischievous, almost childlike sense of adventure and an irresistible groove. And adding to the collaborative nature of the project, Wire‘s and Immersion‘s Colin Newman and Minimal Compact‘s and Immersion’s Malka Spigel lend a hand, contributing bass and heavily modulated guitars to the song’s motorik pulse — before closing out with bongo drums and howling synths.

Heavenly Bodies, Reputation, Control is included in Joyful Noise’s The White Label Series. Currently in its sixth year, The White Label Series taps influential curators and creatives to shine a light on a previously unreleased album of their choice. This year’s list of curators is equally impressive as it includes Julian Baker, Sean Ono Lennon, Helado Negro, The Jesus Lizard‘s David Yow, Speedy Ortiz‘s Sadie Dupuis and No Joy‘s Jasmine White-Gluz, who chose Noble Rot’s debut for the series.

“Graham Walsh and Alex Edkin’s new musical partnership captures what I love most about their other musical endeavors (Holy Fuck, Metz); expansive production, musical moments of anxiety and calmness, unexpected earworms,” White-Gluz says of choice. “I love records like this that make me go ‘how did they make that sound?!’ and relisten to a song over and over.“

Directed by John Smith, the accompanying video for “Casting No Light” features an array of different colored shapes and lines squiggling and and moving along to the song’s motorik pulse. Smith, who’s a self-described “. . . long-standing admirer of synesthesia and its explorations by artists such as Kandinsky and experimental filmmakers such as Oskar Fischinger, Norman McLaren, and Walter Ruttman, I have been consistently inspired by the concept and its connection between sound and visual. For over two decades, I have been constantly exploring ways to express these connections, and upon first hearing the trance-like and multi-layered composition of “Casting No Light”, I saw a great opportunity to apply these concepts. With the assistance of Aaron Campbell, an interactive designer friend, we developed a system that translates every layer of sound into a corresponding visual component. Enjoying this experience with headphones will provide a much richer experience since you can better hear all of the nuances and textures in the song.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: SUUNS Share Sludgy and Shoegazy “Wave”

Montréal-based experimental rock outfit SUUNS— founding members Ben Shemie (vocals, guitar) and Joe Yarmush (guitar, bass) with Liam O’Neill (drums) — can trace their origins back to 2007: Shemie and Yarmush got together to make some beats, and it quickly evolved to a few songs. The duo was joined by O’Neill and Max Henry (keys) to complete the band’s first lineup. The band signed to Secretly Canadian in 2010. That year, Henry left the band as a full-time official member to pursue a scholarly career — although he continues to record with the band.

In 2020, the trio signed to Joyful Noise Recordings, who released that year’s Fiction EP and 2021’s The Witness.

Engineered by Adrian Popovich and recorded at Mountain City Recording Studio last July, the band’s latest single “Wave” evolved over an 18 month period of touring to support The Witness. “While touring The Witness, between plane rides, car rides, van rides, and text threads, we started working on new music,” SUUNS’ Ben Shemie explains. “New sounds and a new approach seemed to take shape while testing new material. What started to emerge were really slow songs, some strange experimentations, and some unclassifiable jams. Among these tunes, ‘Wave’ emerged.”

The slow-burning dirge-like “Wave” is rooted in relentless repetition, swirling and sludgy guitar textures, droning feedback and distortion, blown-out boom bap paired with Shemie’s plaintive delivery buried a smidge under the syrupy mix. Sonically “Wave” makes a nod at fellow Montrealers The Besnard Lakes before ending with a noisy, slow-burning fade out.

The accompanying video by Ilyse Krivel consists of time lapse footage of the sun setting over a body of water, superimposed by footage of rippling waves at the shore.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Medicine Singers Share Lysergic and Mind-Bending “Sunrise (Rumble)”

Medicine Singers is a collective that can trace its origins back to a chance encounter between the Eastern Medicine Singers, an Eastern Algonquin powwow group and Israeli-born, New York-based guitarist and producer Yonatan Gat, who invited the group to a spontaneous collaboration on stage at SXSW 2017 after seeing them play outside the venue, before he was about to play.

That chance meeting led to a five year collaboration that saw Gat and the Eastern Medicine Singers playing festival stages across the US, Canada and Europe — and in some cases, bringing powwow to audiences and places that had never heard it before. 

The collective’s long-awaited — and highly-anticipated — self-titled debut is slated for a July 1, 2022 release through Yonatan Gat’s Stone Tapes, an imprint of Joyful Noise here in the States and through Mothland in Canada. The self-titled album sees the Medicine Singers expanding into an experimental supergroup that includes Swans’ Thor Harris and Christopher Pravdica, ambient music pioneer Laraaji, former DNA drummer and no wave icon Ikue Mori and trumpeter Jaimie Branch, who’s a rising star in the world of improvised music, along with contributions from their co-producer and longtime collaborator Yonatan Gat.

With their self-titled debut, the collective have reportedly created a spellbinding and mystical musical experience that cycles through a kaleidoscopic array of sounds including psychedelic punk, electronic music, acid jazz, spiritual jazz and others. But the genre-blurring and genre-smashing approach is firmly rooted in the intense, physical power of the powwow drum and the Eastern Medicine Singers’ connection to their ancestral music and traditions. The end result is material that lovingly celebrates and honors tradition while boldly breaking free from its restrictions — or in the words of Medicine Singers’ leader Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson: “These two cultures can work together, and blend together. We created something that needs to be out there in the world, to show people how we can work together and make something beautiful.”

Last month, I wrote about “Sunset,” a mesmerizing track centered around an expansive arrangement featuring a modal-like horn line, atmospheric and oscillating synths, the Medicine Singers’ gorgeous, multi-part harmonies, intense and forceful powwow drumming and a Robby Krieger-like guitar solo that slowly builds up into a noisy psychedelic freak out. It’s a lysergic yet deeply mystical journey rooted in traditions that seem older than time itself.

“We play the Sunset song at the end of the day, when the sun goes down. Not many people sing these songs anymore: ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Sunset.’ They were given to our drummer Artie Red Medicine Crippen by the great chief Bright Canoe years ago,” the Medicine Singers explain. “They are ancient vocal songs – a thousand years old perhaps – which have the name of the creator – Yahweh. You hear it throughout the song. It’s an ancient calling to the creator. ‘Sunset’ can open up almost anything. It’s a very special song – magical and powerful. It brings great joy to people when we play it.”

The forthcoming album’s latest single “Sunrise (Rumble)” sees the collective exploring the influence of indigenous rhythms in rock and is mash-up featuring two distinct parts: “Sunrise,” a traditional powwow song and a unique cover of legendary, Shawnee guitarist Link Wray‘s “Rumble.” Much like its predecessors “Sunrise (Rumble)” is a seamless and lysergic mesh of the modern and the ancient that feels imbued with an innate and powerful mysticism.

“I’m from the Pocasset tribe and not a Shawnee, but I can relate to their struggle,” Medicine Singers’ Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson explains in press notes. “Link Wray put the pain of his people into the music. For me, it was an honor to expand this song, and bring out the tribal aspects with the drum and singing we added.”

The intimately shot, accompanying video for “Sunrise (Rumble)” is split between footage of Yonatan Gat and the Eastern Medicine singers performing the song in the round in a red-lit club and a powwow dancer in the woods.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay No Joy Teams Up with Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz on a Feverish Visual for “Dream Rats”

Over the past three years or so of this site’s history,  I’ve written quite a bit about Montreal-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer Jasamine White-Gluz, the creative mastermind behind the critically applauded JOVM mainstay act No Joy.  Initially starting out as a series of emailed guitar riffs between White-Gluz and her then-bandmate Laura Lloyd, the project has always been centered around White-Gluz’s penchant for restless experimentation. And throughout the project’s history, it has gone through a number of different sonic permutations with subsequent albums showcasing her love of delay-saturated jangle, industrial distortion and sludgy droning over disco-like beats.

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past handful of months, you’d recall that White-Gluz’s Jorge Elbrecht-produced Motherhood is slated for a Friday release through Joyful Noise Recordings and Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada. The album is the Canadian-based artist’s first full-length album album in five years, and reportedly, the album finds her returning to the project’s early, DIY recording, shoegazer roots — but the material finds the JOVM mainstay continuing to expand upon her sound with the incorporation of elements of trip-hop, trance, nu-metal/deathcore and others. Some of the album’s genre-defying approach was inspired by White-Gluz’s many tours with genre-divergent artists: touring with Quicksand, No Joy picked up post-hardcore fans and ambient techno fans while touring with Baths. “As long as people are open minded about music, they can hear different things,” explains White-Gluz, “Maybe because there are a lot of layers.”

So far I’ve written about two of Motherhood’s singles —  “Birthmark,” which managed to be a seamless and trippy synthesis of Brit pop, shoegaze, trip-hop and shoegaze with a soaring hook and the Amoral-era Violens-like “Four.” “Dream Rats,” Motherhood’s third and latest single features White-Gluz’s sister Alissa White-Gluz, a member of deathcore supergroup Arch Enemy. Centered around thunderous drumming, synth choirs, twinkling strings, power chord shredding and soaring hooks, the song is a maximalist fever dream that recalls the aforementioned Violens while being a radio friendly 3.35.

“I’ve never collaborated musically with my sister before,” Jasamine White-Gluz says in press notes. “When we were kids we would sing and play music together but as we’ve both become adults and touring musicians we’ve never had a chance to work together. This is the heaviest song on this record so it felt fitting to have her on there. There is something special about her being on this album, specifically because it’s an exploration of family and motherhood.”

Directed by Beatrice Scharf-Pierzchala, the recently released video stars the White-Gluz sisters and a duck named Success, who’s something of a local celebrity in Montreal. (I just looked up the backstory behind Success and it’s adorable. And if you want to see a picture that will make your heart melt, there’s a picture of the bird on the Montreal metro.)

While the video is something of a surreal fever dream, the White-Gluz sisters bigger purpose was to spotlight the Le Nichoir Wild Bird Rehabilitation Centre, a non-profit organization located in Hudson, Quebec. Their mission is to conserve wild birds as part of Canada’s natural heritage. For more information and to donate, check out the following: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/le-nichoir-wild-bird-rehabilitation-centre/

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Throughout the past three year or so I’ve written about Montreal-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer Jasamine White-Gluz, the creative mastermind behind the critically applauded JOVM mainstay act No Joy.  Initially starting out as a series of emailed guitar riffs between White-Gluz and her then-bandmate Laura Lloyd, the project has always been centered around White-Gluz’s penchant for restless experimentation. And throughout the project’s history. it has gone through a number of different sonic permutations with subsequent albums showcasing her love of delay-saturated jangle, industrial distortion and sludgy droning over disco-like beats.

Back in 2018, White-Gluz collaborated with Spacemen’s 3 Pete Kember, (a.k.a. Sonic Boom) on a collaborative EP that saw her trading the guitars she had long been known for, for modular synths — with the effort’s material baring a resemblance to Kid A and Amnesiac-era Radiohead.

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past handful of months, you’d recall that Gluz’s Jorge Elbrecht-produced Motherhood is slated for an August 21, 2020 release through Joyful Noise Recordings and Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada. The album is the Canadian-based artist’s first full-length album album in five years, and reportedly, the album finds her returning to the project’s early, DIY recording, shoegazer roots. But the album’s material finds Gluz continuing to expand upon her overall sonic palette with the incorporation of elements of trip-hop, trance and nu-metal. Interestingly, some of the album’s genre-defying sound was inspired by the JOVM mainstay’s tours with genre-divergent artists: while touring with Quicksand, No Joy picked up post-hardcore fans and ambient techno fans while touring with Baths. “As long as people are open minded about music, they can hear different things,” explains White-Gluz, “Maybe because there are a lot of layers.”

So far I’ve written about two of Motherhood‘s singles —  “Birthmark,” which managed to be a seamless and trippy synthesis of Brit pop, shoegaze, trip-hop and shoegaze with a soaring hook and the Amoral-era Violens-like “Four.” “Dream Rats,” Motherhood‘s latest single features White-Gluz’s sister Alissa White-Gluz, a member of deathcore supergroup Arch Enemy, Centered around thunderous drumming, synth choirs, twinkling strings, power chord shredding and soaring hooks, the song is a maximalist fever dream that recalls the aforementioned Violens but while being a radio friendly 3.35.

“I’ve never collaborated musically with my sister before,” Jasamine White-Gluz says in press notes. “When we were kids we would sing and play music together but as we’ve both become adults and touring musicians we’ve never had a chance to work together. This is the heaviest song on this record so it felt fitting to have her on there. There is something special about her being on this album, specifically because it’s an exploration of family and motherhood.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Psychic Temple Teams Up with The Dream Syndicate on a Trippy Motorik Chug

Chris Schlarb is a Long Beach, CA-born and-based singer/songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, best known for being the founder and creative mastermind behind Psychic Temple, a recording project/cult. Since the project’s founding back in 2010, Psychic Temple’s sound has shifted from avant-jazz to folk and soul and psych rock while featuring a rotating cast of collaborators that includes Tabor Allen (lyrics, drums). Avi Buffalo’s Sheridan Riley (drums), Minutemen’s Mike Watt (bass), Kiri Tiner (trumpet) and countless others. During that same period, Psychic Temple has shifted its creative process to more adventurous songwriting. 

Psychic Temple’s Chris Schlarb has long believed that “there is no double album that would not be improved by removing its worst songs and making it a single album.” In 2016, Schlarb opened BIG EGO, a commercial recording studio in the same Long Beach neighborhood where he grew up. Within its first year, Schlarb produced albums by Terry Reid, James Gadson, Swamp Dogg and Jim Keltner — and by the following year, he began working on Houses of the Holy, his attempt at solving the double album puzzle. 

For many the double album stands as the ultimate creative indulgence, an instance for an artist to make a grand statement on four sides of vinyl. But most of those double albums feature a song — if not more — that fans and critics consider filler. Schlarb’s solution was to take four different bands and lead them into the realm of Psychic Temple. And the end result is Schlarb’s double album Houses of the Holy with Cherry Glazerr, Chicago Underground Trio, The Dream Syndicate, and poet Xololanxinxo.

Acclaimed Los Angeles-based act Cherry Glazerr teamed up with Schlarb for Side A. Recorded in the Joshua Tree desert, Cherry Glazerr’s side, titled Songs of Love! Tenderness! Madness! Suicide! features five, whiskey-fueled songs touching upon love, madness and suicide. Side B, which is titled Songs of Family! Music! Poverty! Dreams!features the recently reunited Chicago Underground Trio playing songs written by Schlarb, Jerry David DeCicca and James Jackson Toth. Side C, which is titled Songs of Rebellion! Isolation! Hope! Escape! finds Schlarb teaming up with The Dream Syndicate, who have managed to released some of the most forward thinking and trippiest material of their collective, lengthy catalog in the past couple of years. Side D, which is titled Songs of Spirit! Triumph! Unity! Reflection! features cosmic street poet Xololanxinxo backed by a full orchestra, double rhythm section and gospel choir.  

The album’s first single, Psychic Temple’s team-up with The Dream Syndicate “Why Should I Wait” is centered around a forceful, motorik chug, soaring organs, a steady backbeat and a shimmering, reverb-drenched and expressive guitar solo and a soaring hook. Sonically, the song finds the two acts in a Vulcan mind-meld in which both acts create something that sounds radically different than anything they’ve done before — but while rooted in their individual idiosyncrasies. 

 “I think The Dream Syndicate are one of the great rock bands of our time,” Schlarb says in press notes. “Plugging myself into their circuitry was an otherworldly experience and a privilege that I don’t take for granted. The more I listen back to what we recorded, the more I learn.”

Houses of the Holy is slated for a September 25, 2020 release through Joyful Noise Recordings. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays No Joy Follows Up-and-Coming Artist Ashley Diabo in her Home in Playful Visual for “Four”

I’ve written quite a bit about Montreal-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Jasamine White-Gluz over the course of the past handful of years. Gluz is the creative mastermind of the critically applauded JOVM mainstay act No Joy.  Starting over a decade ago as a series of emailed riffs between White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd, the project has been centered around White-Gluz’s restless experimentation — and since its formation, No Joy has gone through a number of different sonic permutations with subsequent albums showcasing her penchant for delay-saturated jangle, industrial distortion and sludgey drones over disco-like beats. 

Back in 2018 White-Gluz collaborated with Spacemen’s 3 Pete Kember, (a.k.a. Sonic Boom) on a collaborative EP that saw her trading the guitars she had long been known for, for modular synths — with the effort’s material seemingly indebted to Kid A and Amnesiac-era Radiohead.

Slated for an August 21, 2020 release through Joyful Noise Recordings and Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada, the Jorge Elbrecht-produced Motherhood is White-Gluz’s first No Joy full-length album in over five years. Reportedly, the album’s finds White-Gluz returning to the project’s early, DIY recording, shoegazer roots — but while continuing to expand upon her overall sonic palette with the incorporation of elements of trip-hop, trance and nu-metal-like power chords among others. Interestingly, some of the album’s sound was inspired by the Montreal-based JOVM mainstay’s tours with genre-divergent artists: while touring with Quicksand, No Joy picked up post-hardcore fans and ambient techno fans while touring with Baths. “As long as people are open minded about music, they can hear different things,” explains White-Gluz, “Maybe because there are a lot of layers.”

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Birthmark,” Motherhood’s first single. Centered around atmospheric synths, propulsive boom-bap beats, muscular percussion, shimmering blasts of guitars and a soaring hook, the song was a seamless and trippy synthesis of Brit Pop, shoegaze, trip-hop and house music. “Four,” the album’s latest single continues the album’s  experimental bent a bit further: Centered around sizzling power chords, atmospheric electronics, wobbling synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rocking beats and an enormous hook, “Four” manages to recall Amoral-era Violens — but while possessing a mischievous, yet boldly feminine energy. 

Directed by Jodi Heartz, the recently released video for “Four: follows Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) visual artist Ashley Diabo at her home in Kahnawake, Quebec. Diablo’s primary medium is makeup  — and her work is deeply inspired by her home, family, Pennywise and nature. She has worked with Dazed Magazine, King Kong Magazine and brands like SSENSE and trans model, actress, and activist, Hunter Schafter. Diabo’s life is seemingly that of a prototypical suburban young woman: we see her putting on the vibrantly colored make up, she wears through the video, playing with and caring for her dog and cat, goofing off and daydreaming and swimming in her pool. And she does all of this with an infectious and warm smile and a playful energy that is — well, simply put, endearing. I couldn’t help but like this young woman and I think you will too. 

As White-Gluz explains, the aim of the Heartz-directed video was “to appreciate Ashley at home, hoping to inspire all to embrace the love and inspiration of their home, the way Ashley reminds us every day. She has a special gift to make the everyday more and better and magical.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: No Joy Releases a Trippy Visual for Shimmering and House Music-Leaning “Birthmark”

Jasamine White-Gluz is a Montreal-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, best known as the creative mastermind behind the critically applauded recording project No Joy. Starting over a decade ago as a series of emailed riffs sent back and forth between White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd, the project has been centered around White-Gluz’s  restless experimentation, going through a number of different sonic permutations through the years with subsequent albums showcasing a penchant foe delay-saturated jangle, industrial distortion and sludgey drones over disco beats. 

In 2018, White-Gluz collaborated with Spacemen’s 3 Pete Kember, a.k.a. Sonic Boom on a collaborative EP that saw the Montreal-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist trading the guitars she was best known for, for modular synths on an effort that seemed indebted to Kid A and Amnesiac-era Radiohead. Interestingly, Motherhood, the first No Joy full-length effort in five years, is reportedly sort of return to form with the material echoing the project’s early shoegazer roots, while expanding the overall sonic palette with nods at trip hop, trance and with the reincorporation of guitars, nu-metal.

Slated for an August 21, 2020 release through Joyful Noise Recordings and Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada, the Jorge Elbrecht co-produced Motherhood is the culmination of several years writing outside of White-Gluz’s comfort zone and a return to DIY recording with a growing and deepening expertise in production. 

Touring with genre-divergent artists has helped the Montreal-based artist’s genre-defying sound and approach: while touring with Quicksand, No Joy picked up post-hardcore fans and ambient techno fans while touring with Baths. “As long as people are open minded about music, they can hear different things,” explains White-Gluz, “Maybe because there are a lot of layers.” “Birthmark,” Motherhood’s first single features atmospheric synths, propulsive boom-bap like beats further emphasized with muscular bongos and other percussion, shimmering blasts of guitars centered around a sng alternating loud and quiet sections and a soaring hook. Sonically, the song is a trippy yet seamless synthesis of Brit Pop, shoegaze, trip hop and house music.

Directed by Jordan “Dr. Cool” Minkoff, the recently released video was shot adhering to social distancing guidelines and features footage that White-Gluz shot at her home and stars Diavion Nichols, a dancer that the Montreal-based artists found on Instagram and a goat named Piquette.  “We made this video while in quarantine. I filmed myself at home and asked my very talented friend Jordan to help build a world around the footage,” White-Gluz says of the recently released video. “Diavion had been dancing to No Joy on his instagram and I was a huge fan so reached out and asked him to choreograph a routine for this song. While in the studio, I wanted to keep the energy fun and throw any ideas at the wall. We ended up watching the video for ‘Puff Puff Give’ by Hannah’s Field, pulled out some bongos, a broken clarinet, drank 12 bottles of sake and did group chants.”

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Magic Sword Releases a Meditative and Cinematic New Single

Over the past couple of years, I’ve written quite a bit about Magic Sword, a multimedia project heavily indebted to 70s and 80s fantasy and sci-fi that features three masked and cloaked members known as The Keeper, The Seer and The Weaver, who are collectively called The Three Immortals. Their ageless story of their particular role in the endless battle between good and evil is told through gravel novels and occasionally online by a character known as The Harbinger. The project’s musical output serves as the soundtrack to the graphic novel series with their debut EP Legend being part of the first chapter of the The Three Immortals’ quest to find the chosen one. 

Released late last year, the Awakening EP was the highly-awaited follow up to Legend. And as the ongoing story’s second chapter, the material continues the ongoing story of The Three Immortals’ quest to find the chosen one, the only one who has the ability to wield the power of the Magic Sword and defeat the Dark One.

The trio have received quite a bit of attention across the blogosphere and elsewhere for their material and their live show. Building upon a growing profile, the members of The Magic Sword will be releasing their sophomore album Endless through Joyful Noise Recordings on March 27, 2020. The 11 song album’s first single is the cinematic and meditative “Depths of Power.” Centered around layers of shimmering and arpeggiated synths, dramatic and propulsive drumming and a sizzling guitar solo, the track manages to be a retro futuristic track that nods at John Carpenter and 80s dystopian movies but with a clean, modern studio sheen. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Magic Sword Releases an Epic Funky New Single off Their Soon-to-Be Released Sophomore EP

Magic Sword is a multimedia project heavily indebted to 70s and 80s fantasy and sci-fi: featuring three masked and cloaked members, only known as The Keeper, The Seer and The Weaver, who are also collectively known as The Three Immortals. Their ageless story of their role in the battle between good and evil is told through graphic novels and occasionally online by a character known as The Harbinger. Magic Sword’s musical output is the soundtrack to their graphic novel — and unsurprisingly, their debut EP Legend was the first chapter of The Three Immortals quest to find the chosen one. 

Slated for release this Friday through Joyful Noise Recordings, Awakening EP is the highly-awaited follow up to Legend. As the second chapter, the material continues the ongoing story of The Three Immortals’ quest to find the chosen one, the only one who has the ability to wield the power of the Magic Sword and defeat the Dark One. Now, earlier this year I wrote about the EP’s first single, the epic retro-futuristic John Carpenter-inspired soundtrack meets 1984-era Van Halen-like title track “Awakening.” The EP’s latest single “Lady of Light” may be the funkiest track on the EP, as it’s centered around a funky and strutting bass line, layers of shimmering synth arpeggios, reminiscent of Daft Punk — and much like its immediate predecessor, the track finds the act balancing slick production with a decidedly retro-futuristic soundtrack vibe. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Mischievous and Breakneck Power Pop of Coughy

Comprised of Ava Luna’s Julian Fader and Speedy Ortiz’s Andy Molholt, Coughy initially began as a late night recording experiment that the duo started while teaching at a performing arts summer camp. Eventually taking a life of its own in 2016, the project became a recurring obsession with Fader and Molhott challenging one another to write what they’ve referred to as “tiny songs” which pack as many logical twists and turns within the confines of about a minute whenever possible. After releasing some of those mini songs on a cassette tape back in 2017, Fader and Molhott went on to write their full-length debut Ocean Hug, which is slated for a March 29, 2019 release through Joyful Noise Recording. 

Clocking in at 56 seconds, Ocean Hug’s first single V is a breakneck bit of grungy, power pop centered around distortion and effect pedal-fueled power chords and thundering drumming. And despite its quick run time, the duo manages to throw in a rousingly anthemic hook within a classic 90s alt rock-like song structure — except everything is super truncated, as though the duo were double parked and were worried about getting a ticket. 

Directed by John Andrews, the recently released animated music video for “V” is a playful, squiggly line drawing-based take on The Three Little Pigs that features the three little pigs rocking out while the big bad wolf watches.