JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 84th anniversary of the birth of Aretha Franklin.
Tag: music vidoe
New Video: Bella Litsa Shares Dream-like “1117”
Isabella Komodromos is a Cypriot-born, Brooklyn -based singer/songwriter, pianist and the creative mastermind behind the rising cinematic, solo art pop project Bella Litsa. The Cypriot-born, Brooklyn-based artist was raised in a household steeped in classical music: She began studying the piano when she turned seven, and quickly discovered her deep love for singing.
With Bella Litsa, Komodromos has crafts intimate, lush and emotionally potent songs that echo with dreamlike intensity. And in a rather short period of time, her sound which sees her blending vintage romance with experimental textures, a sort of haunted Americana-meeting-minimalist futurism, has helped her draw comparisons to Lana Del Rey, Fiona Apple and Weyes Blood — while being a vessel for connection and cantharis. “Bella Litsa is my sadness personified. It feels like the closest I can get to my shadow, consciously,” Komodromos says.
Komodromos’ second and latest single this year, “1117” is a breathtakingly beautiful song featuring a marching, classically-inspired arpeggiated piano melody and military styled drumming serving as a lush yet uneasy bed for the Cypriot-born, Brooklyn-based artist’s gorgeous and expressive vocal singing lyrics touching upon guilt, longing, love and not quite knowing her place in either. While further cementing comparisons to Lana Del Rey, Fiona Apple and Weyes Blood, “1117” brings to mind the likes of Tori Amos and French-born, Montréal-based artist Lonny — with dreamy and cinematic quality. And yet the song evokes a sense of unreconcilable inner conflict.
“This was one of the more labored-over songs on the record. I started writing it on November 17th, but only had the first half of the lyrics done,” Komodromos says. “I had to wait until certain things in life moved me, until certain things happened, something to finish the lyrics with. It’s strange because I had this dream the following February and prayed to God to give me solace in it, some sort of surrender – and He answered. Only then was I able to finish the song.”
She adds, “It’s an emotionally unstable song, as in I’m fighting with myself and trying to figure out what it is I want and why I want it to begin with. The relationship that inspired it was harmful, but I couldn’t stop myself from being allured.”
Directed by Kelli McGuire, the accompanying dreamlike video features the rising singer/songwriter and pianist spinning and expressively dancing to the song.
Throwback: Happy 46th Birthday, Karen O!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O’s 46th birthday.
New Video: Toronto’s Hot Garbage Shares Bombastic and Malevolent “Snooze You Lose”
Back in early 2020, following the release of 2017’s Max Blonda EP and 2019’s Coco Paradise, the members of Toronto-based psych outfit Hot Garbage — Alex Carlevaris (lead vocals, guitar), Juliana Carlevaris (bass, vocals), Dylan Gamble (keys, synths) and Mark Henin (drums) — went into the studio with Juno-nominated producer and Holy Fuck‘s Graham Walsh to cut a selection of tracks live and off-the-floor. The result was the blazing standalone single “Easy Believer,” and their full-length debut, 2021’s RIDE, which was released through Mothland.
RIDE quickly made its way into SiriusXM rotation through CBC Radio 3 and The Verge while also climbing to #3 on the Earshot Top 50 and #82 on the NACC Top 200. The album also received praise from internationally renowned outlets like Aquarium Drunkard and Louder Than War.
The Canadian psych outfit has also toured extensively across Canada, the United Staes, Europe and United Kingdom, playing sets at festivals like LEVITATION, SXSW, Treefort Music Fest, Freakout Fest, Sled Island, Sappyfest, FME, M for Montréal, Pop Montréal, and opening for L.A. Witch and Frankie and The Witch Fingers. They’ve also shared the stage with Osees, Ty Segall, JJUUJJUU, Mdou Moctar, Wand, Kikagaku Moyo and Dead Meadow.
Hot Garbage’s highly anticipated sophomore album, Precious Dream is slated for a January 19, 2024 release through Mothland here in the States and Canada and Exag’ Records across the UK and European Union. Written during pandemic-related isolation, Precious Dream was recorded late last year and sees them continuing their ongoing collaboration with acclaimed producer Graham Walsh. The album’s sprawling material reportedly sees the band retaining the signature tinge of moody, psychedelia that has won them attention both nationally and internationally but while careening into darker, searing post-punk inspired riffage.
Thematically, the material grapples with and touches upon dread, loss, the resilience of the human spirit and the highs and lows of solitude. The result is an album that will offer a new breath into the worlds of post-punk and modern psychedelia and a listening experience that’s equally introspective and cathartic.
“Snooze You Lose,” Precious Dream‘s breakneck first single sees the band meshing elements of seething post punk, relentless motorik krautrock and swirling shoegaze to create a bruising, nasty and downright malevolent ripper that’s face-melting and bombastic. Underpinning all of that is a song that’s features some of the most sardonic lyrics I’ve heard in some time. “The song is about how time passes when you stand still. Sometimes all you can do is laugh,” the band says.
Directed by the band’s Alex Carlevaris, the accompanying video for “Snooze You Lose” is frantic and decidedly lo-fi visual that’s playful, absurd and yet somehow menacing and uneasy. “Here Hot Garbage can be seen playing completely real instruments in their day-to-day attire. Seen in the video is: a live performance, a swing set, and a candid perspective of the daily grind,” Hot Garbage’s Carlevaris explains. “The video, with a budget of under $50 (mostly spent on fake blood), was shot on a cheap plastic toy camera and uses homemade props and movements from the camera and lights, resulting in a frantic, lo-fi presentation that is playful yet intense.”
New Video: Los Angeles’ Egg Drop Soup releases a Sofia Coppola-Inspired Visual for New Ripper “Swamp Ass”
Egg Drop Soup — founding members Sam Westervelt (vocals, bass) and Olivia Saperstein (guitar) and their newest member Bailey Chapman (drums) — is a Los Angeles-based punk rock act that can trace its origins back to when its founding members played in a previous band. Westervelt and Saperstein started Egg Drop Soup back in 2017 with the band being centered around their deep and abiding simpatico. “Olivia and I just have this telepathy in our songwriting,” Westervelt says.
Since their formation, the act has worked with Travis Parvur at Golden Beat Recording Studio on material, including their debut EP 2019’s P.M.S. Continuing upon that momentum, last year saw the band expand into a trio with the addition of Chapman — and they closed out the year with the Christmastime release of their sophomore EP Eat Snacks and Bleed.
Eat Snacks and Bleed’s first single “Swamp Ass” finds the Southern Californian trio firmly establishing their sound: crunchy, grunge rock-era, power chord riffs, thunderous drumming and snarled vocals centered around a “don’t-give a fuck” delivery. And although with this EP, the trio add their name to a lengthy list of incredibly talented and critically applauded all-womxn acts including LA Witch, The Paranoyds, and Surfbort — but while having a sound that may remind some folks of The Coathangers and Aussie sibling act Stonefield.
Throwback: Happy 49th Birthday Tupac Shakur!
JOVM shows love to Tupac Shakur on what would have been his 49th birthday — a day late but still . . .
New Video: Ibis Lawrence Releases a Timely and Hopeful New Single
Ibis Lawrence is a Dominica-born, US Virgin Island-raised, French-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and arranger, who can trace the origins of his music career to his childhood — and by the time, he turned 15 he was playing guitar and percussion in a band called Axis. As he moved up in high school. he started his own band Dread Ones. And since then, he learned how to play several different instruments including keyboard before deciding to go solo.
Over the past two decades or so, Lawrence has toured across Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, making stops at some of the world’s biggest festivals including Reggae Sunsplash andMontreux Music Festival, sharing stages with the likes of Exile One, Grammacks’ Jeff Joseph, Bankie Banx, Jimmy Cliff and a lengthy list of others. And throughout that same period of time, Lawrence has developed a reputation for crafting material that’s centered around socially and spiritually conscious lyrics that address justice, equality and love. And he’s done this while developing a reputation as a highly sought-after producer, arranger and remixer working with a number of acts including Alpha Blondy, Secteur-A and others.
Lawrence’s latest single “Earth Will Take A Rest” is a breezy reggae track full of irie vibes, infectious riddims, shimmering and arpeggiated keys and an enormous hook. But just underneath its irie vibes, the song is centered around an earnest message: that COVID-19 has forced all of us to pause and reconsider our lives, what’s truly important — and at the same time, the past few months of quarantine has allowed Mother Nature to recover a bit from our corruption, greed and stupidity. But the song also hints at a much larger hope: that there’s a massive paradigm shift coming — one that will finally bring equality and peace for all people.
New Video: JOVM Mainstay Koncept Releases a Hazy Visual for Upbeat Banger “Watch The Sky Fall 2”
Over the past few years I’ve written quite a bit about the acclaimed, Queens-born emcee and JOVM mainstay Koncept. Born Keith Michael Whitehead, the JOVM artist has led a rather remarkable life: working at Fat Beats Records, he co-founded The Brown Bag AllStars with his coworkers Soul Khan, Cold Codeine, J57 and The Audible Doctor in 2007. The collective’s 2009 debut mixtape The Brown Tape was released through Coalmine Records while the members of the act were working at Fat Beats — and they followed that up with an attention-grabbing appearance at that year’s Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival.
Building on a growing profile, the members of The Brown Bag All Stars released two EPs in 2010 — The Traveller and The Down Under Remixes. Whitehead’s full-length debut Awaken, which was also released that year, featured guest spots from Soul Khan, JOVM mainstay Homeboy Sandman, Royce da 5’9″ and Sene with production from J57 and Marco Polo — and the album established the Queens-born emcee as a solo artist in his own right. As a result of the attention he received from his debut, Koncept received an endorsement by Red Bull that helped financed his 2015 critically acclaimed J57-produced The Fuel EP.
After the release of The Fuel, Koncept went to Seoul, South Korea for a two-week tour sponsored by Miller Genuine Draft and Jameson. Those tour dates developed into more shows and bookings — and eventually a partnership with Sony Music Asia, who released his sophomore effort 14 Hours Ahead, an effort that was thematically centered around envisioning your future and dreams, growing and believing in yourself every step of the way — and then manifesting those dreams into reality. Since then, Koncept has also developed a reputation for being a go-to collaborator, who has worked with Rick Ross, Travis Scott, Ty Dolla $ign, Macklemore, Wiz Khalifa, The Roots, Joey Bada$$, Green Day, A$AP Mob, Ghostface Killah and Joell Ortiz.
Released last summer, the Queens-based latest effort Champagne Konny comes after spending two years on the road — with the bulk of it in Asia, including a sold-out tour with Scoop Deville. While on the road, the Queens-based JOVM mainstay discovered a new perceptive on his life and career, which has influenced the emcee and his work. “Watch The Sky Fall 2” is a bold remix of Awaken’s lead single “Watch The Sky Fall,” which retains Royce da 5’9″‘s guest verse while being inspired by where it all started — with a newfound zest and desire for life. Featuring a new verse from Koncept, Royce da 5’9″‘s imitable flow paired with a Wrist.the.Greatest and Keitel Jr. co-production centered around shimmering and squiggling synths and tweeter and woofer rocking boom bap beats. And while sonically bringing Too Short to mind, the song has an upbeat and almost defiantly positive message: when your life seems to be falling apart, and you’re feeling broken, scared ad as though you’re about to go down for the count, you have to hold on and try to push forward.
Filmed and edited by Juliette Carton, the recently released video for “Watch The Sky Fall 2” is a hazy yet intimate visual that quickly cuts from scenes of Koncept in what appears to be a shower and a pensive Koncept holding an umbrella in the forest — as though the umbrella would protect him from a universe in which the sky seems to be against him.
New Video: The Gorgeously Cinematic Yet Eerie Visuals for Pamela Hute’s “Banshees”
Last month, I wrote about Pamela Hute, a Paris-based singer/songwriter, who began her music career in earnest at a very young age. As a teen she formed The Mashed Potatoes before going solo in 2006 — and as a solo artist, she’s released two albums, 2010’s Tales From Overseas and 2013’s Bandit, with Bandit being mixed by John Agnello, who has worked with the likes of The Kills, Sonic Youth and Cyndi Lauper. Both of those albums revealed that Hute specializes in jangling guitar pop with rousingly anthemic hooks paired with earnest lyrics as you’ll hear on The Breeders and 90s alt rock channeling “Banshees,” the second and latest single off her self-produced effort Today. But at its core, Today manages to reveal what may arguably be Hute’s most personal songwriting, influenced by a trip she took to California.
Now, as you may recall I wrote about the live video, which featured Hute and her backing band performing “Banshees” at La Fourmi in Limoges, France. The recently released official video, which Hute made with her cousins and nephews this past summer is shot in a gorgeous and cinematic black and white and it features three characters dressed as crows participating in a weird, almost pagan-like ritual in the woods, before following the trio as they walk about the countryside. It’s arguably some of the most artful and yet eerie imagery I’ve seen in some time.