Tag: Last Gang Records

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Harrison Teams Up with Nanna B. on Soulful and Ethereal “Blue Sky”

Harrison Robinson, best known as the mononymic Harrison is a 27-year-old, acclaimed Toronto-based jazz and R&B composer, musician and producer got his start making beats and uploading sample-heavy songs on SoundCloud, where he found a following and global community of like-minded producers and collaborators including Ryan Hemsworth, Star Slinger, and a list of others. 

His first two critically applauded albums, 2016’s Juno Award-nominated Checkpoint Titanium and 2018’s Juno Award-nominated Apricity, which revealed his versatility as a musician and producer, led to him producing some of Canada’s most forward-thinking, boundary-pushing artists including al l i e, Daniela Andrade, DijahSB, Sean Leon and Juno Award-winning artist TOBi, and others.

Over the past couple of years, the Toronto-based musician, composer and producer has been busy: He has released a string of standout songs, including last year’s “Outta This World” with TOBi. He also released a couple of instrumental singles, “Around You’ and “Like When We Were Kids,” which amassed over 3 million combined streams globally. The acclaimed Torontonian has also been busy with compositional work with Nintendo Switch’s LOUD and commercials for NERF and Play-Doh.

The Canadian producer, composer and musician’s highly-anticipated, self-produced, third album Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees, which is slated for an April 28, 2023 release through Last Gang Records, will reportedly continuing to demonstrate the evolution of his sound and approach over the past couple of years. Drawing from his artistic roots, love of old cartoon and musical influences ranging from instrumental hip-hop beat tapes to American jazz piano, like Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown scores, the album is reportedly a nostalgic ode to the music that Harrison dreamed about making as a kid. But much like his previously released work, the forthcoming album sees a collection of guests seamlessly stepping into the acclaimed Canadian producer”s technicolored world. 

I’ve managed to write about four singles off the album:

  • “Float,” feat. Kahdja Bonet, a slow-burning, Quiet Storm-meets-throbbing funk number built around tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap-like beats, a sinuous bass line, glistening synths paired with Bonet’s ethereal and sultry cooing. Fittingly, “Float” is a seemingly effortless love song that captures the dizzy swooning of new love but while subtly acknowledging the inherent uncertainty and fear we all feel. 

  • “A View From The Sky,” a  J. Dilla beat-tape-meets-bop jazz instrumental rooted in a swinging arrangement of twinkling keys, stuttering yet propulsive drumming, fluttering synths that’s simultaneously meditative and head banging. 

  • “Bump,” a funky pimp strut built around twinkling Rhodes, a soulful and strutting bass line and stuttering boom bap that’s roomy enough for MED and one of my favorite emcees Guilty Simpson to trade coolly swaggering bars focusing on the endless hustle, keeping hackstabberrs and deceitful people out of your life, and so on. 

  • “Inthecoupe” is strutting and funky bop with a playful air. Rooted in layers of fluttering and brassy synth arpeggios and twinkling keys, “Inthecoupe” recalls Dam-Funk and Cy Gorman‘s Carmen.”

“Blue Sky,” featuring Nanna B. is the fifth and latest single off Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees is an ethereal and slow-burning neo-soul bop built around lush, twinkling Rhodes, strutting seemingly reggae-influenced rhythms paired with Nanna B.’s soulful, jazz-tinged delivery. Informed by the weirdness and uncertainty of the past couple of years, “Blue Sky” manages to evoke a complex array of emotions — isolation, longing, despair, unease and hope with a lived-in specificity.

“Nanna captured the vibe of the instrumental for this one,” Harrison says of the collaboration with an artist known for her work with Raphael Saaddiq, Hodgy Beats, and Mndsgn. “Nanna and I chatted earlier last year over Zoom about the effects on the pandemic and how we got through it. I think she captures the solitude of the situation while also floating across the beat.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Two More from Acclaimed Canadian Producer Harrison

This past weekend, I was busy covering the fourth edition of The New Colossus Festival. I managed to cover roughly 32.5 — 32.5! — sets of music in some way or another and interview two up-and-coming artists. And for my efforts, I managed to catch a terrible cold that has knocked me on my ass for the past couple of days. I’ve had odd bursts of energy here and there, and when I’ve had one, I’ve tried my best to get some work done. The show must go on, right?

So let’s get to the business at hand.

Harrison Robinson, best known as the mononymic Harrison is a 27-year-old, acclaimed Toronto-based jazz and R&B composer, musician and producer got his start making beats and uploading sample-heavy songs on SoundCloud, where he found a following and global community of like-minded producers and collaborators including Ryan Hemsworth, Star Slinger, and a list of others. 

His first two critically applauded albums, 2016’s Juno Award-nominated Checkpoint Titanium and 2018’s Juno Award-nominated Apricity, which revealed his versatility as a musician and producer, lead to him producing for some of Canada’s most forward-thinking, boundary-pushing artists including al l i e, Daniela Andrade, DijahSB, Sean Leon and Juno Award-winning artist TOBi, among a list of others. 

Over the past couple of years, the Toronto-based musician, composer and producer has been busy: He has released a string of standout songs, including last year’s “Outta This World” with TOBi. He also released a couple of instrumental singles, “Around You’ and “Like When We Were Kids,” which amassed over 3 million combined streams globally. The acclaimed Torontonian has also been busy with compositional work with Nintendo Switch’s LOUD and commercials for NERF and Play-Doh.

Harrison started off 2023 with two singles:

  • “Float,” feat. Kahdja Bonet, a slow-burning, Quiet Storm-meets-throbbing funk number built around tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap-like beats, a sinuous bass line, glistening synths paired with Bonet’s ethereal and sultry cooing. Fittingly, “Float” is a seemingly effortless love song that captures the dizzy swooning of new love but while subtly acknowledging the inherent uncertainty and fear we all feel. 

  • “A View From The Sky,” a  J. Dilla beat-tape-meets-bop jazz instrumental rooted in a swinging arrangement of twinkling keys, stuttering yet propulsive drumming, fluttering synths that’s simultaneously meditative and head banging. 

Both tracks see the acclaimed Canadian musician, composer and producer boldly pushing his sound into new directions while retaining the elements that have won him acclaim. Fittingly, the Canadian producer, composer and musician’s highly-anticipated, self-produced, third album Birds, Bees, The Clouds & The Trees, which is slated for an April 28, 2023 release through Last Gang Records, will reportedly continuing to demonstrate the evolution of his sound and approach over the past couple of years. .

Drawing from his artistic roots, love of old cartoon and musical influences ranging from instrumental hip-hop beat tapes to American jazz piano, like Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown scores, the album is reportedly a nostalgic ode to the music that Harrison dreamed about making as a kid. But much like his previously released work, the forthcoming album sees a collection of guests seamlessly stepping into the acclaimed Canadian producer”s technicolored world.

Yesterday, Harrison shared two more tracks off the album:

“Bump,” a funky pimp strut built around twinkling Rhodes, a soulful and strutting bass line and stuttering boom bap that’s roomy enough for MED and one of my favorite emcees Guilty Simpson to trade coolly swaggering bars focusing on the endless hustle, keeping hackstabberrs and deceitful people out of your life, and so on.

“‘Bump’ Is a love letter to some of my favorite rappers growing up,” Harrison explains in press notes. “MED and Guilty have been huge influences on me since I was 16. Understanding their beat choices on producers they worked with was a really helpful growing tool. The instrumental for ‘BUMP’ was actually originally different. They found the pocket I was looking for on this new joint. I’m floored that they were kind enough to join me on this album.

“Inthecoupe” is strutting and funky bop with a playful air. Rooted in layers of fluttering and brassy synth arpeggios and twinkling keys, “Inthecoupe” recalls Dam-Funk and Cy Gorman‘s Carmen, “‘Inthecoupe’ is a reminder to myself to not be so serious all the time. My love for jazz is very deep but I still love making fun dance music. A playful song revolving around a brass synth and a bounce.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Ft. Langley-Directed Visual for Shimmering “Lately in Another Time” Follows an Astronaut in Training

Tracing their origins back to when its members — David Parry and Lucas and Jesse Henderson — spent shared summers planting trees in Western Canada’s forest, the rapidly rising Victoria, British Columbia-based, lo-fi psych folk act Loving with their self-released debut effort, quickly established a signature sound – a warm and dreamy sonic soundscape paired with existentially-leaning lyrics and an unspecified, all-encompassing sense of nostalgia. 

In a relatively short period do time, the trio found success online and as a result, they also managed to quickly amass a devoted fanbase. After only selectively touring to support a handful of prominent and acclaimed artists including the likes of Crumb, Alice Phoebe Lou, Still Woozy, and others, the band embarked on their first proper North American tour to build up buzz for their full-length debut, If I Am Only  My Thoughts slated for a January 31, 2020 release through Last Gang Records.

Recored to tape, and then mixed and mastered by the band’s David Parry in his self-described “cold, dismal” basement studio in Victoria, British Columbia, the album’s lush and homespun material, reportedly are balmy and inviting and comprised of a series of open-ended questions, centered around existential themes. “There isn’t a single narrative driving this album, but we do linger on some basic human problems: confusion in the face of a desire for self-knowledge and belonging, a struggle for meaning that is circular and sometimes seemingly endless,” the band’s Jesse Henderson says in press notes. While those looming questions go largely unanswered, they are fodder for further competition, delivered with a peaceful and effortless naturalism. 

If I Am Only My Thoughts’ latest single is the shimmering and achingly nostalgic “Lately In Another Time.” And while possessing the intimacy and contemplative nature of a bedroom recording, the song is deceptively cinematic, as it’s centered around a sparse arrangement of twinkling keys, shimmering guitars, gently padded drumming, a soaring hook and plaintive vocals singing lyrics about the utter strangeness of life itself. Much like its predecessor “Only She Knows,” the track features an anachronistic sound and production that recalls Nick Drake, Junip and others. 

Directed by Ft. Langley, the recently released video continues the old-timey vibes, as it follows an astronaut and NASA staff and crew prepare for a mission into space. There’s constant monitoring, tracking and testing and our dutiful and brave astronaut recognizes the seriousness of the entire ordeal — after all, if something goes wrong during the tests or in space, he could die. Interestingly, the gorgeous and contemplative music gives the mundanity of it all, a surreal air. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Loving Releases a Woozy and Shimmering New Single

Loving is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based indie act, comprised of David Parry and the brothers, Lucas and Jesse Henderson. The band can trace their origins back to spending shared summers planting trees in Western Canada’s forest. As a band, the trio quickly developed a signature sound centered around a warm and dreamy sonic soundscape paired with existentially-leaning lyrics and an unspecified, all-encompassing sense of nostalgia. 

Their self-released debut collection of lo-fi psych folk songs found success online and as a result, the Canadian trio managed to amass an organic fanbase in a short period of time.  After only selectively touring to support a handful of prominent and acclaimed artists including the likes of Crumb, Alice Phoebe Lou, Still Woozy the band just recently embarked on their first proper North American tour to build up buzz for their full-length debut slated for an early 2020 debut through Last Gang Records. The tour includes an October 28, 2019 stop at Baby’s All Right. (You can check out the tour dates below.)

Interestingly, their latest single “Only She Knows” is a mischievously anachronistic track centered around shimmering layers of guitar, bursts of twinkling keys and plaintive vocals. And while seemingly bearing a resemblance to Nick Drake, Junip and Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles, the song possesses a brooding and aching sense of nostalgia. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of her first two singles “Touch” and “Almost Here,” which both amassed over 900,000 streams on Spotify, the Melbourne, Australia-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Annika Schmarsel, quickly exploded into the national scene with her solo recording project Alice Ivy. Adding to a growing profile, Schmarsel played Australia’s festival circuit, including sets at Strawberry Fields, Paradise, Queenscliff, Listen Out and NYE on The Hill, BIGSOUND and went on two national, headlining tours before a series of dates in Singapore and the States.

Slated for a February 9, 2018 release through Last Gang Records, Schmarsel’s forthcoming, full-length debut I’m Dreaming was written, recorded and self-produced in her home studio and features the up-and-coming Australian producer and pop artist collaborating with the likes of Georgia Van Etten, Cazeaux O.S.L.O. and Tim De Cotta, RaRa, E˄ST and Charlie Threads and ARIA Award-winning singer/songwriter Bertie Blackman, among others.  Interestingly, I’m Dreaming‘s latest single “Chasing Stars,” a collaboration featuring Bertie Blackman can trace its origins to when Schmarsel met Blackman while they were both opening for Urthboy, and they quickly bonded over a mutual appreciation of each other’s work. As the story goes, Schmarsel reached out to Blackman with a slickly produced instrumental track that featured shimmering and soaring synths, trippy blasts of horns and thumping beats that that reminded (and gave) Blackman the sensation of flying. And although Schmarsel typically takes the reins of the entire creative process, she let her collaborator take the lead lyrically; in fact, Blackman’s tender and aching vocals add a yearning quality to the endeavor, with the ARIA Award-winning artist’s lyrics reaching for something that’s just beyond her grasp.

“’Chasing Stars’ is one of my favorite moments on the album,” Schmarsel explains in press notes. “Being given the opportunity to work with Bertie was a dream come true for me. The dynamics of the instrumentation are the perfect fit to the strong and sometimes fragile moments of Bertie’s vocals on the song, which are so rich with emotion and meaning. Bertie and I started writing it over email, however the finished song came together in a couple of hours in the Joyride’s studio above a pub in suburban Sydney. The vocal tracking only took three hours; however, the instrumentation is what took the longest. I’ve hung onto this song in demo form for about a year and a half now. Lyrically, ‘Chasing Stars’ is about Lincoln Beachey, the first man to do a loop to loop in an airplane. The music has many layers which depict the endless landscape of the sky.”

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Dirty Ghosts’ Post-Punk Leaning, New Single “Quicksand Castle”

If you’ve been following JOVM over the last couple of years, you may be somewhat familiar with Dirty Ghosts, the solo recording project of its Toronto-born, San Francisco-based singer/songwriter/guitarist and creative mastermind, Allyson Baker. Baker has had […]