Tag: Marvin

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Frank Rabeyrolles and Friends Perform “Winter One”

Frank Rabeyrolles is a French singer/songwriter and guitarist, who has released material under a variety of different names and outfits — but throughout his career, the French artist has developed a reputation as an obsessive and frenzied craftsman, whose work has often been described as otherworldly: centered round reverb-drenched guitars, Rabeyrolles’ work thematically touches upon distant reminiscences, unfinished business, frustration and more.

Back in 2019, Rabeyrolles released one EP each season of that calendar year. The end result was four EPS of atmospheric pop and lo-fi written and recorded solo and/or with Sarah Lucide in a Bedroom Pop fashion. That March, the French singer/songwriter and guitarist came up with the idea of recording a song with a group of friends at La Paloma Studio in Nîmes, France, giving the song a different life. Rabeyrolles recruited a backing band of friends that included Drive Blind’s and My Tigerside’s Rémi Saboul, Marvin’s Gregoire Bredel, Carole Fauré, My Favorite Horses’ Jean Alvarez and Le Super Homard’s Laurent Elfassy. The end result is the live version of “Winter One,” a brooding and slow-burning bit of dream pop and shoegaze centered around shimmering guitars, Rabeyrolles’ plaintive vocals and an enormous hook. Sonically, the track — to my ears, at least — is a seamless synthesis of R.E.M. and The Verve.

The live footage was filmed by Naomi Heinrich and Damien Oliveres and catches Rabeyrolles and his collaborators in an intimate, blue-lit setting.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Muuk is a Mexico City-based experimental rock act, comprised of Emiliano Baena (bass), JC Guerreo (beats, samples), LS Rodriguez (guitar), Omar Carapia (synths) and Erre Guevara (drums). Formed back in 2013, the act meshes electronic elements (turntables, sequencers, synthesizers and samples) with traditional rock instrumentation (guitar, bass and drums) to create a dense, frenetic and thunderous sound, centered around uncommon harmonies and improvisational passages.

Shortly, after their formation the Mexican experimental rock quintet recorded a homemade self-titled EP, which led to appearances across Mexico’s outdoor festival circuit with a number of collectives including Aqui no Hubo Escena (Here There Was No Scene), Colapso Post Rock, Lxs Grixes, Noise Affair and others. The members of Muuk followed up 2013’s debut EP with a small, handmade physical release in 2015 that was reviewed by a nubmer of outlets both nationally and internationally including Marvin, IMAS, URL Magazine, Letras Explicitas, Noisey, Remezcla, Post Rock, Faeton Music and Atlas of Sound. Album tracks “Are You Mad,” “De Niro” and  “Trypophobia” received airplay from Codigo DF Radio, GritaRadio and NoFM Radio.

The album was also named one of the best albums of the year by the likes of Indie Rocks and Sound & Vision. Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the band appeared in the documentary film Aqui No Hubo Escena, which offered a snapshot of Mexico City’s indie music scene. The band has also played sets at some of their hometown’s most important venues and clubs including Foro Indie Rocks, Caradura, Imperial, Pasaguero, Multiforo Cultural Alicia, Mutliforo 246 and Centro de Cultura Digital y Bajo Circuito.

May 2018 saw the members of Muuk collaborate with members of B.A.R.D.O.S.S. on an  improvised recording session titled Octomano. That July saw the band play the Hipnosis Festival lineup reveal gig at the Foro Indie Rocks. Last year, the band wrote and recorded their sophomore album Balbuceo, an effort mixed by Dalek’s Alap Momin and is slated for a February 21, 2020 release through Devil in the Woods Records.

Balbuceo‘s first single “Seis Ausente” is a genre-defying song featuring elements of prog rock, psych rock, shoegaze, post rock and even Dilla-esque beatmaking as the track is centered around a mesmerizing arrangement of found vocal samples, shimmering and atmospheric synths and swirling electronics, boom bap-like drumming, a funky bass line and bursts of guitar feedback. And from Balbuceo‘s first single, the rising Mexican act specializes in synthesizing elements of the familiar into something completely novel.