Tag: MOONBABIES

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

So, if you’ve been frequenting this site for some time, you’d be familiar with Swedish singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and JOVM mainstay David Alexander and his solo electro pop/dream pop recording project Summer Heart. And with Summer Heart, Alexander has received international attention for a wistfully nostalgic sound that draws from 60s psych pop, 80s electro pop and lo-fi rock, and has been compared favorably to the likes of  Caribou, Washed Out, In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy, Painted Palms and others. Interestingly, Alexander’s international profile has grown as a result of several songs being placed in TV series such as the NBC series, Whitney, which brought him and his work to the attention of millions of American TV viewers; but perhaps more important, the Swedish singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer is considering among the first wave of Malmo, Sweden‘s growing indie pop and dream pop scene — a scene that includes several internationally recognized acts (some of whom, you’ve heard about here), including Moonbabies, The Land Below, Hey Elbow, Blind Lake and Emerald Park.

It’s been over a year since I’ve personally written about him but within that period the Malmo Sweden-based artist and producer has been very busy touring and writing and recording his latest effort, 101, which is slated for release next month — and while 101‘s latest single “Hotel Beds” will further Alexander’s reputation for crafting swooning pop as the single consists of a buoyant and summery production featuring shimmering synths, stuttering House music-leaning drum programming, boozy blasts of guitar and Alexander’s laconic falsetto paired with a anthemic and dance floor. But underneath the buoyant and breezy pop stylings is a bittersweet rumination on the life of a touring musician — and in a way the song feels much like a rushing blur from place to place, without really knowing how long you’ll be around. In fact, as the Swedish pop artist explains in press notes “‘Hotel Beds’ is about touring, going from city to city, hotel bed to hotel bed. About meeting new people every night. It’s about a feeling of being detached from reality. Don’t get me wrong. I love to tour but after a while, it becomes a big blur . . . the lyrics were written in the back of a tour bus. It was recorded in Stockholm, mixed in Brooklyn and mastered in Jersey City.”

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: The Dream Eaters “Neanderthals” in Studio

If you were frequenting this site earlier this year, you may recall a couple of posts I wrote about New York-based dream pop duo The Dream Eaters. Comprised of  Boston, MA-born, New York-based composer and songwriter Jake Zavracky and Vancouver Island, BC-born, New York-based vocalist and musician Elizabeth LeBaron, the New York-based dream pop duo can trace their origins together back to 2015. After playing and touring in obscurity both in his hometown and New York, Zavaracky had decided to give up music and for a period of time he was working in a Brooklyn dive bar, where he met LeBaron, a fellow bartender and musician, who had recently relocated to New York. When they both discovered that they were musicians, they found an instant connection and began collaborating together — although the initial arrangement was that Zavaracky had written songs for LeBaron. However, when they realized that their harmonies helped create a truly unique sound, they recognized that the best thing would be to write, record, and perform together. 

Initially writing and performing as Jake and Elizabeth, the duo saw a rapidly growing profile; however, as they began to further refine their sound, they felt that it was necessary to rebrand themselves, eventually taking up the name The Dream Eaters. And as The Dream Eaters, Zavracky and LeBaron released their self-produced debut EP Five Little Pills, an effort which has proven to be the precursor of the bare-bone production and sparse yet hauntingly gorgeous sound of their full-length debut, We Are A Curse and its first single “Dead On The Inside.” Sonically speaking, the duo pairs LeBaron’s lilting and effortless vocals with gently strummed folk-like guitar and chiming percussion with a soaring hook which displays the duo’s stunning harmonizing. And while bearing a resemblance to Moonbabies’ Wizards on the Beach, the song manages to sound as though it nods at Nick Drake and Crosby, Stills, and Nash-era folk. Thematically speaking, the song as the duo explained focuses on becoming unmoored and getting lost, and walking around with the realization that you’re living in a murky, anxious and unforgiving dream, evoking what many of us feel living in this surreal political climate; and while being a gorgeous and understated protest song, there’s an underlying sense of resolve and determination to survive and overcome the dark days ahead.

Interestingly, “Neanderthals,” We Are A Curse‘s second and latest single wasn’t originally meant to be on the album — and according to Zavracky is a revised and altered version of a song that he had originally written towards the end of the Bush Administration. After the 2016 presidential election the song seemed sadly relevant again, and ultimately came together very quickly. As Zavracky explains the song starts with a very pessimistic us vs. them mentality but takes on an optimistic, sort of “Don’t let the bastards grind you down” type of sentiment. “It’s mean to be more inspirational than negative by the end,” Jake Zavracky says. Elizabeth LeBaron adds that over the past couple of months, the song has grown and developed a much deeper meaning, even after they had finished it. “When we decided to record this song, the Women’s March was breaking records all over the world and this song felt like an anthem. ‘They won’t make us crawl / They’re all neanderthals’ are words that I think will resonate with anyone who is against the ‘archaic’ ideologies being pushed by the new administration,” LeBaron says. Sonically,   the duo pairs shuffling, trip hop-inspired beats with their gorgeous harmonies, twinkling keys and a soaring, anthemic hook to craft what may be the most strident and forcefully political song they’ve released to date.

With the assistance of their PR firm, Behind the Curtains Media, the New York-based dream pop duo recently released live footage, performing “Neanderthals” in the studio. Check it out. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Mischievous Yet Dark Goth-Inspired Visuals for Ghost Twin’s “Plastic Heart”

Since the release of their debut EP, Here We Are In The Night, the Winnipeg, MB-based electro pop duo Ghost Twin, comprised of husband and wife duo Karen and Jaimz Asmundson, have received attention for meshing dark, industrial-inspired dance grooves in an immersive audio/visual show that includes edited video being used as percussion; in fact, the duo have played shows across their native Canada, including sets at NXNE, Pop Montreal, BreakOut West and Terminus. Eventually, the EP caught the attention of Austra’s Maya Postepski, a drummer and an electronic music producer known as Princess Century, who approached the band and was recruited to produce and collaborate on the material that would eventually comprise Plastic Heart, the Canadian duo’s full-length debut.

“Plastic Heart,” the album title track and latest single off Ghost Twin’s debut consists of tweeter and woofer-rattling boom bap beats, propulsive, shimmering arpeggio synths, a murky, retro-futuristic, industrial electro pop vibe and a soaring hook paired with ethereal vocals — and while clearly nodding at John Carpenter soundtracks, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Depeche Mode, Moonbabies, Niki and the Dove and others, the song manages to be a slickly produced, club banger with a dark, seductive feel. And interestingly enough, the recently released video, which was directed and produced by the band’s Jaimz Asmundson drops the viewer into a gym club for goths in which a dance instructor teaches some of the attendees a menacing new dance move, a move that mimics kidnapping, murdering and then burying the body of an enemy while conjuring dark spirits — and while menacing there’s a mischievous sense of dark humor and wish-fulfillment within the video.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Since the release of their debut EP, Here We Are In The Night, the Winnipeg, MB-based electro pop duo Ghost Twin, comprised of husband and wife duo Karen and Jaimz Asmundson, have received attention for meshing dark, industrial-inspired dance grooves in an immersive audio/visual show that includes edited video being used as percussion; in fact, the duo have played shows across their native Canada, including sets at NXNE, Pop Montreal, BreakOut West and Terminus. Eventually, the EP caught the attention of Austra’s Maya Postepski, a drummer and an electronic music producer known as Princess Century, who approached the band and was recruited to produce and collaborate on the material that would eventually comprise Plastic Heart, the Canadian duo’s full-length debut.

“Plastic Heart,” the album title track and latest single off Ghost Twin’s debut consists of tweeter and woofer-rattling boom bap beats, propulsive, shimmering arpeggio synths, a murky, retro-futuristic, industrial electro pop vibe and a soaring hook paired with ethereal vocals — and while clearly nodding at John Carpenter soundtracks, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Depeche Mode, Moonbabies, Niki and the Dove and others, the song manages to be a slickly produced, club banger with a dark, seductive feel.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of her Johannes Berglund-prodcued, 2011 full-length debut and 2015’s Perfect Storm, the Stockholm, Sweden-based singer/songwriter and electronic pop artist Ester Ideskog, best known as Vanbot quickly established a reputation for crafting ethereal, hook-driven and deeply thoughtful synth-based pop. Ideskog’s soon-to-be released third, full-length effort Siberia will continue her ongoing collaboration with Berglund, who’s best known for his work with The Knife and I Break Horses while being a subtle change in sonic and thematic direction, influenced by a train trip through the Siberian tundra, a trip that was meant to free her and Berglund from the endless choices that the modern recording studio frequently provides, the curiosity of seeing what happens with your songwriting process when you change the patterns you’ve developed. But it may have also been fueled by a desire to escape the mundane, to be in motion and to upset the status quo — even if in a subtle fashion.

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of months, you may recall that I wrote about Siberia‘s first single “Collide (Krasnoyarsk),” a brooding, Kate Bush-like atmospheric pop track featuring thumping beats, shimmering arpeggio synths and industrial clang and clatter within an infectious, hook-driven song that reminded me of Niki and the Dove and Moonbabies. The album’s third single “Close Enough (Ulan Bator)” pairs Ideskog’s ethereal and plaintive vocals with a slick, dance floor-friendly production featuring twinkling synths, electronic bleeps and bloops, stuttering drum programming and a soaring hook to create a sound that manages to nod a bit at Kraftwerk‘s Trans Europe Express with the beats mimicking both the sound of metal on metal and the propulsive motion of the train; but paired with intimate and confessional lyrics focusing on an almost insatiable desire to love and to be loved in return.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of David Fairweather and Daniella Kleovoulou, the London, UK-based electro pop duo The Glass Children have developed a reputation for crafting moody yet upbeat, 80s synth pop-inspired electro pop featuring lush production and etheral production as you would have heard on  the uptempo single “Undone,” which was remixed by JOVM mainstays Moonbabies. Now it’s been some time since I’ve written about the London-based electro pop duo but their latest single “Anything Else” will further cement their reptuation as the single consiss of a sparse, miminalist production featuring stuttering drum programming, ambient and shimmering synths paired with Kleovoulou’s etheral vocals floating over a Portishead/Goldfrapp-inspired mix.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Swedish Synth Pop Artist Vanbot Visually Explores the Conflicting and Confusing Emotions at the Heart of Most Human Relationships

With the release of her first two, critically applauded full-length efforts, her 2011 full-length debut and its follow-up Perfect Storm, both of which were produced by Johannes Berglund, who has worked with internationally acclaimed acts The Knife and I Break Horses, the Stockholm, Sweden-based singer/songwriter and electronic pop artist Ester Ideskog, best known as Vanbot quickly established a reputation for crafting ethereal, hook-driven and deeply thoughtful synth-based pop.

The first single off Ideskog’s forthcoming, third album Siberia, “Collide (Krasnoyarsk),” continues her ongoing collaboration with Johannes Berglund while also being a subtle change in sonic direction for the Stockholm-based pop artist, as the track possesses a Kate Bush-like brooding yet atmospheric air; but paired with thumping beats, shimmering arpeggio synths and industrial clang and clatter. Now, to my ears, the song reminds me quite a bit of Niki and the Dove, Moonbabies and others, thanks in part to its hook-driven nature and moody feel but at its core is a raw, visceral heartache. As Ideskog explains in press notes, “‘Collide (Krasnoyarsk)’ was written after four days on the Trans-Siberian Railway, traveling through the deepest parts of Siberia. The temperature was just above zero, it was raining and we were passing through small villages and old industrial communities. It describes the collisions and the attractions in relationships, and having no choice but to accept the raw and un-retouched feelings. You know, it’s like the poem of David Jones: ‘It’s both a blessing and a curse to feel everything so very deeply.’”

Directed by Mats Udd, the recently released music video for the song features two dancers — a male and female dancer — in a narrow, industrial hallway, and the dancers’ movements symbolize the unseen and impossible to comprehend forces that pull, tug and push you towards or away from another. In some way, the video further emphasizes the conflicting feelings of hurt, confusion, longing and disgust within the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of her first two, critically applauded full-length efforts, her 2011 full-length debut and its highly anticipated follow-up Perfect Storm, which was produced by Johannes Berglund, who has worked with internationally acclaimed acts The Knife and I Break Horses, the Stockholm, Sweden-based singer/songwriter and electronic pop artist Ester Ideskog, best known as Vanbot quickly established a reputation for crafting ethereal, hook-driven and deeply thoughtful pop.

“Collide (Krasnoyarsk), ” the first single off her third full-length effort Siberia, which is slated for an April release through Sony Music Sweden and the single while continuing her ongoing collaboration with Johannes Berglund also manages to be a subtle change in in sonic direction as the track possesses a brooding and atmospheric air paired with thumping beats, shimmering synths that twist themselves around Ideskog’s ethereal vocals, and some industrial clang and clatter — and in some way, the song sonically reminds me quite a bit of Niki and the Dove, Moonbabies and others, thanks in part to its hook-driven nature and moody feel. But it’s core is a raw heartache that’s deeply visceral.

As Ideskog explains in press notes, “‘Collide (Krasnoyarsk)’ was written after four days on the Trans-Siberian Railway, traveling through the deepest parts of Siberia. The temperature was just above zero, it was raining and we were passing through small villages and old industrial communities. It describes the collisions and the attractions in relationships, and having no choice but to accept the raw and un-retouched feelings. You know, it’s like the poem of David Jones: ‘It’s both a blessing and a curse to feel everything so very deeply.’”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their earliest singles and their debut EP Anonymous, the Brisbane, Australia-based sibling duo Niterunner — comprised of Daniel and Andrea Suesskow — received quite a bit of attention nationally for the sort of soulful yet dreamy electro pop production and anthemic hooks that’s been compared favorably to the likes of M83, Phoenix, Moonbabies, Cut Copy, and others. Interestingly, the Suesskows’ latest single “Out of Your Hands” is reportedly a reworking of a single the duo released earlier that received some 16,000 streams upon its release and was recorded and reworked in their family’s home studio — and was produced by Daniel Suesskow.  And sonically speaking, the single will further cement their burgeoning reputation across Australia and elsewhere, for crafting summery and dreamy pop that’s both wistfully nostalgic and achingly earnest paired with a soaring hook and shimmering synths.

As the Suesskows explained in press notes the song’s lyrics reflect on moments of symmetry, a singular way of thought and reaction, a cycle of repetition and a struggle to cope but offering a moment of self-realization and reprieve, in which one learns how to counterbalance their internal process of self-doubt and self-flagellation with the realization that there’s only so much you can control. And as a result, all anyone can do is let go of the things that are completely out of their hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Up-and-Coming, French Producer Zimmer Performs “Lost Your Mind”

With the release of a string of high-profile remixes of MØ, Vallis Alps, Gallant, Fakear and others, and his first two original singles “Galapagos” and “Saturday Love,” the Paris-based producer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Zimmer quickly established himself as part of a new crop of Paris-based producers and electronic music artists including fellow labelmates Darius, FKJ and Kartell, who have been busily redefining French electronic music — sonically, thematically and lyrically.

Zimmer’s 2015 EP Coming of Age may have arguably been his breakthrough effort, as the material possessed a refined, minimalist sound with songs that oscillated between euphoria and nostalgia. However, the up-and-coming French producer’s recently released EP Ceremony reportedly finds him further expanding upon his sound as the material draws from downtempo electro pop, dream pop and dance floor-friendly house music — sometimes simultaneously as you’ll hear on the EP’s latest single “Lost Your Mind,” which features ethereal guest vocals from Fhin paired with shimmering cascades of undulating synths, twinkling keys, warm blasts of guitar and propulsive beats. Sonically speaking, the song is somewhat reminiscent of In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy and of Moonbabies’ gorgeous Wizards on the Beach.

Recently, the French producer released live footage of him with Fhin performing the song surrounded by mood-setting lights.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Brighton and London-based indie label Catskills Records celebrates their 20 anniversary and just like Fluff and Gravy Records, the label which can trace their origins to its first release by Sonorous Star, featuring label founders Khalid and Amr Mallassi just released a compilation of music from some of their wildly genre-spanning artists, artists who have specialized in electro pop, hip-hop, punk, country, prog rock and others titled Catskills Records: 20 Years of Victory. And along with the retrospective look of where the label has been and their overall aesthetic, the compilation includes two new tracks from label mainstays Pepe Deluxe and Husky Rescue

Finish electronic music act Husky Rescue have developed a reputation across both their native Finland and Scandinavia for a songwriting approach that focuses on restless experimentation — and for material that sonically and aesthetically walks a very careful tightrope between anxious tenseness and childlike innocence.  Now if you had been frequenting this site last year, you may recall that I wrote about two singles off the expanded Long Lost Friend album, “Deep Forest Green,” a track that sonically seemed to draw from Bjork, and Talking Heads while the album’s second single “Far From The Storm” seemed to draw from  Moonbabies fantastic Wizards on the Beach and Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” — or in other words, cinematic dream pop with an even breezier nature and catchy hooks.

The Finnish act’s contribution to the Catskill Records compilation is the slow-burning and tense “My Shelter,” a single that pairs Ringa Manner’s aching yet powerhouse vocals with gently undulating and twinkling synths, swirling electronics and a cinematic sweep to create a sound that’s reminiscent of Kate Bush and Bjork while being a swooning, romantic ode. As the members of the electronic act explained to the folks at Clash Magazine “‘My Shelter’ is a previously unreleased track we wrote in the midst of a long hiatus. We had recently gotten to know singer Ringa Manner and felt she might have just the right voice for the song. And so she most certainly did: forceful and fragile all at once. Which is pretty much what the song is all about.”

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Corbu on Baeble’s NEXT Sessions

With the release of two critically applauded EPs, We Are Sound and Everything You Imagine is Real, the New York-based trio Corbu, comprised of Johnathan Graves (guitar, synths and vocals), Amanda Scott (vocals, synths) and Todd Hoellerman (drums), have received praise from the likes of several major media outlets including NYLON, Stereogum, The Guardian, NME and others for a sound that’s not only heavily influenced by the Warp Records roster, sci-fi imagery, psychedelia and their own dreams but also draws from the likes of Moonbabies, M83, Washed Out, Yes, and others as their swooning and shimmering take on dream pop and synth pop possesses a cinematic quality. 2016 has been breakthrough year for the band as they released their gorgeous, attention-grabbing full-length debut Crayon Soul earlier this year — and from album singles “Battles,” and “Better Better Off,”and a national tour that included the trio’s first festival set at this year’s Austin City Limits, the band is looking forward to an even bigger 2017.

The folks at Baeble recently invited the members of Corbu to participate in the website’s Baeble NEXT Session series, which features a band of interest performing several songs at the Baeble offices down at the Industrial City complex in Sunset Park, Brooklyn along with an interview. The live footage features the band performing “Neon Hallway,” “Prism,” and “Battles” off Crayon Soul and from the footage, you should get a sense of how their live sound hews very closely to their immersive and lush recorded sound. And in the band’s full-ranging interview, the band talks about their unexpectedly big year, which featured their first national tour and their first festival set, how their music videos and other visuals tie into their aesthetic, how they wanted to make a full album in the veins of Radiohead’s In Rainbows and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Mood, how the album’s mixer helped create a lush, nuanced sound, the album’s overarching themes and more. (This is another one where the embed works a little funny, so click on the link and it’ll drive you to a full-page embed window — and enjoy!)

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of two critically applauded EPs, We Are Sound and Everything You Imagine Is Real, the New York-based electro pop duo Corbu received praise from the likes of NYLON, Stereogum, The Guardian, NME and others for a sound that’s heavily influenced by the Warp Records roster, sci-fi imagery,  psychedelia and their own dreams. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of weeks you may recall that I wrote about the cinematic “Battles,” one of the first singles off the duo’s highly-anticipated, soon-to-be released, full-length debut effort Crayon Soul; a track that has the band pairing a soaring and anthemic hook with a shimmering and breezy melody and plaintive vocals in a way that’s reminiscent to Moonbabies and M83.

Crayon Soul‘s latest single “Better Better Off” is a lush and shimmering psych pop, psych rock track that has the duo pairing angular guitar chords fed through gentle reverb and delay pedals, layers upon layers of gorgeous harmonies, shimmering synth cascades,  a soaring and anthemic hook, and a propulsive rhythm section in a song that sounds indebted to trippy 60s psych rock as much as it does to the likes of In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy and the dream pop of the aforementioned Moonbabies, Summer Heart – but with a palpable bittersweet wistfulness under the song’s breezy surface.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Shimmering Sounds and Gorgeously Trippy Visuals for Corbu’s “Battles”

“Battles,” the latest single off the duo’s highly-anticipated dull-length debut Crayon Soul is a cinematic track with a soaring and anthemic hook paired with a shimmering and breezy melodies and plaintive vocals to craft a sound that’s reminiscent to Moonbabies and M83. As the band’s Jonathan Graves explains in press notes, the recently released video for “Battles” is a scene from a larger movie in its creators’ heads. “Every piece of artwork we make is a snapshot from it. Nothing you see is in order as far as the story, but it’s more fun that way. You have to put the pieces together yourself.” And as you’ll see the animated video is a mesmerizing, futuristic epic adventure with some gorgeous and trippy visuals.