Tag: London UK

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Melbourne Australia’s REMI Returns With Yet Another Conscientious and Soulful Single Paired With Brooding Visuals

“Lose Sleep,” Demons and Divas latest single is a collaboration with London-based singer/songwriter Jordan Rakei, and the single draws from Remi’s own experiences as a mixed race Australian man and artist. As he explains in press notes “Since our last record, a lot of young mixed race Aussie kids have come to me talking about how much they can relate to the racial struggle in our music. I don’t think that’s a good thing, but I’m proud that these kids feel a little less alone, because of some songs we didn’t think anyone would hear. It also became inspiration for me to continue opening up about my experience. Often you can feel like one crazy beige kid in a sea of ignorance shouting about equality. These kids helped change that for me.” Sonically, the single features Remi rhyming with an unvarnished honesty about not fitting in anywhere and of being reminded that your life doesn’t matter as much as others can drive some to hate themselves and feel as though they’re going crazy — while recognizing that as an adult, he has a responsibility to show the world that people like him do matter, and contribute so much to a larger story. Jordan Rakei contributes a silky and soulful hook about history’s ugly weight and how we need to stop our destructive ways to make it a better world. Both artists do their thing over an equally soulful and sinuous production featuring twinkling keys, stuttering percussion and funky guitar and bass. And much like the preceding two singles, the single will further cement the young artist’s reputation for relatable yet profoundly conscientious and thoughtful hip-hop.

The recently released video consists of sequences filmed in London and Melbourne features the song’s two artists transversing the night — whether by cab or walking with a brooding loneliness while singing the song. And while possessing a relatively simple concept, the video manages to convey the uncertain and fucked up times many of us find ourselves in now.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of “Ain’t No Use,” the first single and title track off the Cornwall, UK-born, London-UK-based singer/songwriter Matt Woods‘ recently released Ain’t No Use, Woods has received both national and international acclaim with major blogs such as Pigeons and Planes describing his sound as “dramatic,” and Blah Blah Science praising his songwriting as “top class hook writing.” And adding to a growing international profile, “Ain’t No Use” topped both Spotify’s Global Viral Chart with the EP’s second song “Nothing Less” topping Hype Machine‘s chart.

Ain’t No Use‘s third and latest single “Styrofoam” will further cement the up-and-coming British singer/songwriter’s burgeoning reputation for crafting sultry, Quiet Storm-inspired R&B-leaning pop in which his soulful falsetto crooning is paired with a sparse, contemporary production featuring shuffling drum programming, swirling and subtly droning electronics and a soaring hook in a song that clearly sounds indebted to late 70s and early 80s R&B — in particular bearing a resemblance to Midnight Love-era Marvin Gaye.

 

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Watch The Big Moon Drive Around and Kick Ass in a Van for Their Anthemic New Single

Comprised of Juliette Jackson (guitar, vocals), Soph Nathan (guitar, vocals), Celia Archer (bass, vocals) and Fern Ford (drums), the London-based indie rock quartet The Big Moon specialize in an urgently swooning and anthemic rock sound — although their latest single “Formidable” off the British quartet’s forthcoming debut effort, Love In The 4th Dimension nods at 90s alt rock, thanks in part to a lengthy and bluesy introduction, followed by an anthemic, power-chord filled hook paired with thundering drumming and Jackson’s forceful yet earnest vocals. But pay close attention because despite the sneering attitude, the song manages to an earnest plea of devotion to another in need, and of one’s resilience in the face of some of life’s toughest obstacles.

The recently released music video continues the band’s continuing collaboration with director Louis Bhose and was filmed in the British Peak District. The video employs a fairly simple concept — beginning with following the band’s Juliette Jackson as she drives around day and night in the band’s van before pulling over to the side the road, exiting the front of the van and joining the rest of the band to perform the anthemic and stomping hook of the song in the back of the van. As the band explained in an interview to the folks at NOISEY: “‘Formidable’ is a song that’s important to us all and it felt like for once, it wasn’t appropriate to make a mega fun, LOLZ video. That said, we didn’t want to make a super earnest band video either. We had a day off in between cities on our autumn tour so we drove to the beautiful Peak District and smashed out the song in the back of the van. It’s a van that we’ve spent more time in than our own beds over the last year.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Giorgio Poti (vocals, guitars), Alessandro Marrosu (bass), Salvador Garza (keys) and Aurelien Bernard (drums), each member of the London-based psych rock quartet Cairobi can claim a multinational heritage, which manages to influence their songwriting approach and sound. And adding to that multicultural influence, the band’s self-produced, self-titled album was written in Berlin, where the band’s lead singer relocated, and was recorded in a series of sessions between Berlin, London, Rome and New York. Interestingly, part of the album’s writing sessions draws from Poti suffering frequent and violently incapacitating migraines. As Poti explains in press notes ““I could either stay still, in silence, eyes shut, or take the medication and hope it worked so I could move on with my day. Even when the medicine worked, it would make me extremely sleepy, so some of the music and lyrics on this record were written in a state of drowsiness. That part wasn’t particularly fun, but maybe it helped me get rid of some filters. Luckily, the headaches stopped after about a year.”

The band started to receive attention across the blogosphere with the jagged and jangling Brit Pop and dream pop-leaning “Lupo,” a single which revealed that the band employed an unusual songwriting technique while still hewing to a lengthy psych pop/psych rock tradition. The band’s latest single “Saint” is a dense, noisy and jangling track that sounds as though it draws a bit from Middle Eastern and Saharan African music with shuffling drumming, chopped up distorted vocals, electronic bleeps and bloops and other effects to create a trippy kaleidoscopic sound. And while still drawing from old school psych rock, the single manages to sound as though it’s a modern, maximalist take on a familiar and beloved sound, complete with an anthemic, arena rock-friendly hook.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Northampton, UK-born, London, UK-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Bruno Major who has received attention across the UK and elsewhere with the release of the first three singles off his current 12 month-long release project. And his fourth and latest single “Easily” will further cement the up-and-coming singer/songwriter’s burgeoning reputation for earnest and crafted pop that draws from the blues, jazz chord progression and contemporary songwriting techniques. Major pairs his soulful and confident vocals singing a defiant and sultry refrain “Just because it won’t come easily, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try,” with an atmospheric production featuring swirling, bluesy guitar chords, a sinuous bass line and hip-hop inspired drumming in a swaggering and sultry song that seems to channel Nick Hakim.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Although very little is currently known about them, the London-based indie rock act Le Clientele, their latest single “Strats and Precisions” as the band describes is a “Dire Straits, Ariel Pink inspired workout” and was recorded in Softhouse Studios using a Studer A827 tape recorder, which helps to give the proceedings a jangling, old-timey feel but with a subtly contemporary take.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Sofi de la Torre Returns with Some Slow-Burning Synth Pop

de la Torre has been rather prolific releasing two EPs That Isn’t You and Mess, both of which critically applauded and received attention across the blogosphere; in fact, at one point Mess steadily climbed the the Hype Machine charts and was featured in Spotify’s Weekend Buzz playlist. Earlier this year, I wrote about “Sit Down” which may have arguably been the Spanish-born, Berlin-based pop artist’s boldest, feistiest song she had released to date while nodding at the work of M.I.A. Interestingly, de la Torre’s latest single “Flex Your Way Out” is a slow-burning and radio-friendly track in which de la Torre’s ethereal yet sultry vocals are paired with moody and sparse production comprised of swirling electronics, twinkling keys, and stuttering, tweeter and woofer rocking beats. Pop artist Blackbear contributes a verse to a song that focuses on a relationship between two difficult and damaged people, who can’t quite figure out how to make it work — or if they should make it work.

The recently released music video continues de la Torre’s reputation for pairing her slickly produced pop with slick music videos — and in this case, the visuals feature de la Torre driving around her gorgeous birthplace of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Sweetly Wistful Sounds and Visuals of Up-and-Coming Indie Act Family Friends

Splitting their time between London, UK and Melbourne, Australia and comprised of sibling duo Rebecca and Tom Fitzsimons, indie pop act Family Friends have received attention across the UK and Australia for a breezy, buoyant and hazy guitar pop paired with infectious hooks and a summery feel. And the duo’s latest single “Look the Other Way” will further cement the duo’s burgeoning reputation for buoyant and hazy guitar pop with an underlying sweet, wistfulness while gently nodding at early 80s New Wave.

Directed by Will Farrell and featuring animation from Charlie Pelling, the video as the sibling duo explains is a “tiny colourful story, featuring the lovesick offspring of national treasure Mr. Blobby” that “tries to get inside the heart of what it is to make a friend in the faceless urban jungle of today.” And as a result, the video further emphasizes the sweetness of the song while giving it a subtle swoon.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Ronika Returns with a Sultry, New Single Paired with Kaleidoscopic Visuals

Nottingham-born, London-based electronic music producer, electronic music artist, remixer, DJ and vocalist Ronika over the past two years or so has added herself to this site’s growing list of mainstay artists across a wild variety of genres and styles. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over that period of time, you may recall that the Nottingham-born, London-based producer, artist, remixer, DJ and vocalist first acme to international attention with the release of the Selectadisc EP, an effort which paid tribute to the beloved record store where she would buy albums. And unsurprisingly, the album was praised for a create-digging aesthetic as the overall sound possessed elements of disco, hip-hop, classic house, R&B and soul.

Since Selectadisc Ronika’s sound has evolved with subsequent singles sounding as though they could have been inspired by Chaka Khan’s I Feel For You and other 80s synth-based R&B and contemporary electro pop; however, “Step to My Beat” managed to sound indebted to 80s Freestyle, as the song was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek come on/call to get on the dance floor and fucking dance already! The London-based producer, artist, DJ, remixer and vocalist’s sophomore effort Lose My Cool is slated for a January 20, 2017 release and the album reportedly finds her expanding upon both her sound and her material’s lyrical content. “Dissolve,” the album’s slow-burning fist single may arguably be the sultriest single Ronika has released to date as Ronika pairs her sensual, jazz and R&B-infused vocals with enormous tweeter and woofer rocking beats, swirling electronics, with twinkling and undulating synths. Lyrically, the song possesses an uncannily frank view of relationships — in this case, the song focuses on desire but in a relationship that’s dysfunctional yet strangely thrilling.

The recently released music video employs the use of kaleidoscopic imagery, which adds a subtly psychedelic feel to the proceedings.

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Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Gold Panda Performing “Your Good Times Are Just Beginning”

nterestingly, 2016 may be among the busiest years of the British electronic music artist and producer’s career as his critically applauded third full-length effort Good Luck and Do Your Best, which was inspired by an extended trip to Japan with photographer and collaborator Laura Lewis was released earlier this year. That was quickly followed by the publication of the collaborative photography book, which had initially inspired the Panda’s third full-length effort, and then a surprise EP, Junes Kingdom. Wrapping up the year, the British producer will be releasing his second EP of the year Your Good Times Are Just Beginning on Friday through City Slang Records — and along with an original single, EP title track “Your Good Times Are Just Beginning,” the EP features remixes from renowned electronic music artists and producers Fort Romeau, John Roberts, and Daisuke Tanabe.

Now, the aforementioned EP title track “You Good Times Are Just Beginning” features a dusty yet warm and soulful production comprised of twinkling synths and piano keys, skittering and stuttering drum programming, a looped, jazzy horn sample and swirling electronics in a moody track that sounds as though it draws equally from drum ‘n’ bass, contemporary electronic music and jazz — all while seeming organic and improvised.

The recently released live footage shot by Robbie Knox, is comprised of the renowned British producer and electronic music artist performing at the Norwich Arts Centre and was edited by and features imagery from Gold Panda’s touring visual artist Dan Tombs, who has also worked with East India Youth, Jon Hopkins and Blanck Mass, and has spent the past year touring with, developing and refining the visual components of Gold Panda’s live visuals.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Splitting their time between London, UK, Gothenburg, Sweden and Berlin, Germany the Noosa, Australia-born duo Star Kendrick and Toma Benjamin can trace the origins of their musical project Geowulf to a friendship that started when both Kendrick and Benjamin were in their teens; however, the duo’s musical collaboration began when Kendrick, whose parents were also professional musicians, began seriously pursuing music three years ago and enlisted her friend to flesh out the sound of her early demos.

With the release of the debut single “Saltwater” earlier this year, the duo quickly received attention across the blogosphere and elsewhere — the single reached over 1 million Spotify streams, reached the Hype Machine‘s top ten and peaked at #4 on the Spotify US viral charts. And building upon the buzz that “Saltwater” received, the Australian-born duo’s latest single “Don’t Talk About You” subtly expands upon the sound that first caught the blogosphere’s attention as Kendrick’s ethereal and hauntingly gorgeous vocals are paired with lushly shimmering and jangling guitar chords and a 70s AM rock vibe. Now, while some have said that the duo’s sound evokes Fleetwood Mac, to my ears I also hear quite a bit of Mazzy Star; but at the core of the song is a lovelorn ache — and the sort of ache over something that the song’s narrator recognizes will be awful for her but wants anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the 2015 release of their excellent, sophomore effort Manual, the Brazilian psych rock quartet Boogarins quickly became a JOVM mainstay artist. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year or so, you’d recall that the internationally acclaimed psych rock quartet can trace their origins to when its founding members, Fernando “Dino” Almeida and Benke Ferraz started playing music together as teenagers in their hometown, the central Brazilian city of Goiânia. Interestingly, the music that the duo of Almedia and Ferraz began to write and eventually record quickly revealed a unique vision of psych pop that drew from their country’s incredibly rich and diverse musical and cultural history  — but with a decidedly modern viewpoint. And unlike a number of contemporary rock bands in their native Brazil, Boogarins were among one of the first, who wrote and sung lyrics completely in Brazilian Portuguese.

The release of the band’s full-length debut As Plantas Que Curam reverberated throughout Brazil as it was a massive critical and commercial success — without the support of a major label or a publicity firm pushing the album. As the band rose to national prominence, they started to receive larger international attention, and as a result they’ve played some of the world’s largest and most popular festivals including   Austin Psych Fest, Burgerama, Primavera Sound Festival, as well as playing headlining shows in clubs in London, Paris, Barcelona and New York. And while touring to support their their full-length debut, the members of the quartet had began writing and revising the material that would eventually comprise Manual. Now, interestingly enough, the material on their sophomore effort was specifically conceived as a diary or dream journal, which gives the material a deeply personal, almost stream-of-consciousness-like feel; but it also reveals a band that has become increasingly sociopolitically conscious as the album’s lyrical content also draws from the complex socioeconomic and political that affected their homeland’s communities before, during and after the 2014 World Cup — namely that entire neighborhoods and communities were being razed for massive commercial developments that helped multinational, global corporations and their interests make money hand over fist instead of uplifting those who desperately needed uplift.

During a rather busy bit of international touring the Latin Grammy nominated act, the quartet holed up in house near Austin, TX‘s SPACE Studios for most of the summer, and they spent their time writing and recording new material in between a several weeks along Austin club residency. the band’s latest single “Elogio a Instituição do Cinismo” (translated into English, the title is “Praise the Institution of Cynicism”)is a decided sonic departure as the band incorporates the use of thumping beats and breakbeats, swirling and whirling electronics, abrasive and buzzing guitars to create a malevolent and angrily brewing storm of sound that’s paired with vocals that manage to be both dreamily placid yet pissed off. While being hallucinatory, the song manages to be a rowdy, furious almost dance floor-like stomp, revealing a band that’s readily and aggressively pushing psych rock and Brazilian rock into strange, yet excitingly new directions.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

East Sussex, UK-born, London, UK-based singer/songwriter Natalie Bouloudis can trace the origins of her music career to her childhood. She learned jazz clarinet and guitar as a child, began (secretly) writing her own songs when she was 7, and played in number of jazz bands. Having lived in London for the better part of the past decade, Bouloudis decided to release some of her music publicly three years ago under the moniker Aurora Harbinger. And with her first publicly released material, the East Essex-born, London, UK-based singer/songwriter began playing in a number of local venues and it allowed her to build up a fanbase that enabled her to successful crowd fund her debut EP, which was produced by Robert Strauss.

Initially derived from a short story that Bouloudis wrote while shirking her duties as an arts and culture guide copywriter, her latest single “Burning Pier” set in a fictionalized amalgamation of the burnt-out piers of Brighton, Hastings and Eastbourne and is essentially a meditation on how disasters can evoke nostalgia and make us question our post-disaster future in a new light in a way that will remind some listeners of Kate Bush, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Melanie Di Biasio and others — but with a slightly jazzy, folk-leaning take on pop as the East Essex, UK-born, London, UK-based effortlessly soulful and gorgeous vocals with a sinuous bass line, a twisting and turning melody based around shimmering and twinkling guitar and piano. Recorded in a live take with minimal overdubs — the only overdubs being drummer Hannah Stacey’s Rhodes piano playing — the song manages to feel both thoughtfully composed and improvised, capturing the simpatico of a bunch of musicians playing and creating a moody and pensive song.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Over the past year or so, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts on London-based indie pop duo Ten Fe. The duo of Ben Moorhouse and Leo Duncan won the attention of the blogosphere with the release of anthemic singles “Make Me Better,” and “In The Air.”  Last month, the duo released the brooding music video for their ambient, R&B-leaning, plaintive yet restrained single “Turn,” off the duo’s forthcoming and long-awaited full-length debut Hit The Light, which is slated for a February 3, 2017 release through Some Kind of Love Records/[PIAS] Recordings.

Recorded at Kompakt Records Studios in Berlin with Ewan Pearson, who has worked with Jagwar Ma, M83 and The Rapture, Moorhouse and Duncan’s full-length debut reportedly finds the duo’s effortlessly meshing contemporary electro pop, Americana and the classic Manchester sound while thematically speaking, the material focuses on renewal and possibility.  The duo’s latest single and their full-length debut’s second official single is the album’s opening track “Overflow,” is a shimmering 80s-inspired synth pop/New Wave track, complete with a tight motoric groove that lyrically focuses on a lost love. And while naturally being a bit wistful over the past, the song possesses a profoundly optimistic bent that reminds the listener that heartbreak is a reminder that you once knew love and will have it again many more times over.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeously Mournful Yet Hopeful Sound and Visuals of Daniel Land’s “New York Boogie-Woogie”

Written and recorded in a number of locations including London, Manchester, Devon, California and New York City and featuring over 20 musicians including members of Daniel Land and The Modern Painters, the backing bands of Andrew Saks (a.k.a. ASAKS) and Gerald Hopes (a.k.a Little Nova Sound), members of Land’s current band and ambient composer Bing Satellites, who co-wrote some material, co-produced and played several instruments on the record, Land’s forthcoming sophomore full-length solo album In Love With a Ghost may arguably be one of the more complex and textured efforts he has released.

Interestingly enough, the album’s material was written right after his longest running project Daniel Land and The Modern Painters had broken up, and in a period in which he had been forced to consider giving up music about halfway during the recording of the album, when he had suffered a number of health issues including a painful and chronic inner-ear infection that left him prone to bouts of extreme dizziness and partially deaf for over a year. And as a result, among several things Land had been thinking of during tat period influenced the tone and feel of his forthcoming album’s material. As Land explains in press notes: “This is an album about cities. It is an album about reinvention, and starting your life over. It is an album about growing up, finding love, and settling down. And to a lesser degree, it is about the damage that can be done to a person, or a family, by falling in love with the wrong person. With ‘In Love With A Ghost’, I came full circle for a while by incorporating a whole bunch of influences that pre-date my love of dream-pop and shoegaze. I really wanted to make a colourful, widescreen, detailed record. When I started the album, I didn’t have a live band, and most of the tracks were written on the piano, for my own amusement, rather than for a group with three guitarists.

“Unable to make music, and living in a new city made me feel, at times, powerfully depressed. This became a crisis of confidence that went very deep and it did seem, for a while, that I would never find my way back to making music again, ” Land continues. “Finishing the album was a process that involved re-evaluating my life and overhauling my relationship to music, and coming out of the other side more healthy, more humble, and more grateful. It’s good to be back again.”

And while possessing a mournful air about what was and what can never, be the album’s first single “New York Boogie-Woogie” manages to also simultaneously possess a hopefulness towards the future — with the recognition that things constantly change, and that you better respect and cherish that. Sonically speaking, Land’s plaintive falsetto vocals are paired with dramatic piano chords, propulsive drumming, shimmering guitar chords and a gorgeous sax solo to craft a song that possesses a cinematic yet moody sweep.

The recently released music video for the song features black and white footage in and around New York that captures a sense of endless wonder and possibility and profound loneliness.