Tag: music

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeously Cinematic Visuals for Living Hour’s “Seagull”

As you’ll hear on “Seagull,” the first single off the band’s full-length debut released earlier this year, the band’s overall sound manages to possess elements of shoegaze, dream pop and chillwave as shimmering and jangling guitar pop, swirling synths, ethereal vocals are paired together to craft a stunningly gorgeous and dramatic sound; in fact, the song reminds me quite a bit of the sort of guitar rock you’d hear while watching 120 Minutes-era MTV — in particular think of Mazzy Star‘s “Fade Into You” and The Cranberries “Linger.” Or in other words, it’s the sort of song that sounds as though it would be the soundtrack of an intense and fervent make out session — or a dramatic and bitter breakup.

Directed and edited by Nicholas Taylor, the recently released music video for “Seagull,” is a gorgeous and cinematically shot video that captures a day in a life of a teenaged girl and her family as they eat dinner, go to soccer practice and the rest of the banal and mundane aspects of life — but just underneath the surface, there’s something off: the mother of the trio seems moodily distracted, as though still recovering from a massive and inconsolable loss while the girls seem to be desperate to try to move on as best as they could.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Earlier this summer, I wrote about Melbourne, Australia-based indie rock/shoegaze act Flyying Colours and if you were frequenting this site then, you may recall that the the Australian band was initially formed by its founding duo, childhood friends Brodie J. Brummer and Genna O’Connor. And with the release of their first two critically applauded EPs, the act received national attention for a sound that possess elements of shoegaze, psych rock and grunge. After recruiting new members Melanie Barbaro and Andy Lloyd Russell to flesh out their sound, the members of the newly constituted quartet went into the studio to write and record the material that would eventually comprise their forthcoming full-length debut, MINDFULLNESS, which is slated for a September 23, 2016 release through Club AC30 Records.  

Over the past year or so, the Australian shoegazers have seen a growing international profile as “Not Today” and “Running Late” off their second EP ROYGBIV received airplay from several renowned radio stations across the globe including KEXP, BBC Radio 6, RRR and FBi among others, and as a result, they landed at number 47 on the CMJ Radio Top 200 and Amazing Radio charts,  as well as praise from the likes of Clash, 405, Stereogum, Wonderland and NME. And adding to a growing internationally recognized profile, Flyying Colours has toured with Pinkshinyultrablast, Johnny Marr, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and  A Place to Bury Strangers.

Whereas MINDFULLNESS‘ first single “It’s Tomorrow Now” was a noisy and towering squalor sound that had the Melbourne, Australia-based quartet pairing buzzing power chords, some incredible guitar pyrotechnics, a propulsive motorik groove and an anthemic hook in a song that sounds as though it were channeling The Jesus and Mary Chain, the album’s latest single “Long Holiday” is a hazily, expansive song in which shimmering guitar chords played through reverb, delay and other effect pedals are paired with a propulsive rhythm section and a rousingly anthemic hook while sonically sounding as though it were indebted to RIDE, A Storm in Heaven The Verve and The Smiths.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Trippy Sounds and Visuals of WL’s “Feeling Down”

“Feeling Down” the latest single off the Portland-based trio’s forthcoming sophomore effort Light Years is a trippy yet strangely funky song that pairs layers of cascading and droning keys, four-on-the-floor drumming, Misty Mary’s ethereal and aching vocals singing a repetitive, mantra-like refrain with blasts of saxophone to create a song that’s moody and feels as though it evokes the enveloping and overwhelming fog that depression can feel like.

Directed by Zach Erickson and featuring art by Souther Salazer, the video for “Feeling Down” featuring a black and white, newspaper cut out of the band’s Misty Mary moving in and out of focus, superimposed over an oceanic blue background in which concentric, psychedelic shapes appear both in the background and eventually overtake her and everything around her. Certainly, the video is as equally trippy as the song while evoking a sense of being overwhelmed — by everything.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: J. Hanna’s Slick Club-Friendly Remix of RICCA VITA’s “Abba Dabba” And It’s Neon Paint Filled Visuals

The original single is a lush, dreamy and ethereal bit of synth pop in which shimmering synths, gently swirling electronics are paired with plaintive vocals in a song that sounds as though it drew from Tame Impala, Vinyl Williams and others. However, the J. Hanna remix turns the psychedelic-leaning song into a slick, futuristic R&B-leaning synth pop in which the original’s plaintive vocals are paired with propulsive drum programming and boom bap-like beats, cascading layers of shimmering synths and razor sharp, contemporary pop-leaning hooks, essentially turning the song into a radio-friendly, club-banging track.

Interestingly, the video was shot not for the original song but for the remix. Shot in just four-and-a-half hours with most of it shot at Ryssemus’ home and segments shot at a few abandoned factories in downtown Nashville. As Ryssemus explains in press notes, “The remix was being released in a few days, and I was spastically [sic] struck with an idea to make and release the music video in the next three days. So I started frantically calling people and trying to make arrangements and the more people that got involved the more it took shape.” “All the neon scenes came first,” Ryssemus explains. “A friend of mine had an idea for doing a photoshoot with neon paint, which as I thought about the concept it spiraled into a place and time- a people. An almost tribal somewhat hedonistic, neon people. With this video, as oppose to the first two, I wanted to make something that felt visually exactly how the music felt. As oppose to taking someone on a journey in a linear logical storyline and I wanted to take someone on more of an emotional journey.” Visually, the video reminds me quite a bit of several videos shot in the 90s.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Trippy and Psychedelic Visuals and Sounds of Vinyl Williams

Brunei’s latest single “Feedback Delicates” is a gorgeous and trippy bit of psychedelia that has Williams and company pairing wobbling bass lines, four-on-the-floor-like drum patterns, ethereal vocals, shimmering synths and guitar chords to craft a song that sounds as though it were equally drawing from jazz fusion, psych rock and psych pop, all while sounding otherworldly and retro-futuristic.

The recently released music video is a mind-expanding interactive video that allows the viewer to experience the brightly colored psychedelic visuals in a 360º fashion. To truly capture the 360º effect, view the video though Google Chrome — or if you’re viewing it on a smartphone, make sure you’ve downloaded the most current version of the YouTube app.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Dark Post-Apocalyptic, Industrial Sounds and Visuals of Toronto’s Odonis Odonis

“Needs,” the latest single off Post Plague has the trio pairing layers of undulating synths, howled and shouted vocals, industrial clang and clatter, rapid fire, staccato drum programming, chopped up vocal samples, a rousing, anthemic hook and a propulsive, hypnotic groove in a tense, anxious song that sonically channels early Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and others — but with a contemporary and stark sense of unease, uncertainty and the realization that we’re on the precipice of our own mutually assured self-destruction.

Directed by Scott Cudmore, the recently released video for “Needs” is the first episode of a series of short films, based around the material of Post Plague that blends virtual reality with traditional video to tell a larger, fictional story. And in the case of “Needs,” the video begins with a person transferring their existence into a barely functional AI robot — and are quickly pulled into a post-apocalyptic future that somewhat resembles our own present. As Cudmore explains in press notes, the video is about “Old, entitled, white men and the system of oppression and exploitation that they’ve created to serve their…well…needs, which are usually money and power. I’m looking at this through the lens of science fiction, but I wanted to depict that power structure breaking down finally. Breaking down internally. There’s no linear narrative and you are free to think of that aspect in any way, but each image is a depiction of this breakdown as well as of repression, exploitation and desperation.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Check Out clipping’s Gravity Defying Visuals for Their Menacing New Single “Air ‘Em Out”

Splendor & Misery’s second single “Air ‘Em Out” features an ominous and menacing production featuring stuttering drum programming, industrial clinking and clanking, swirling electronic, brief bursts of twinkling synths that mischievously nods at trap hop while Diggs rhymes about what sounds like either an alien invasion, a zombie apocalypse or a civil war — all happening simultaneously perhaps, complete with roving gangs causing trouble, killing people and getting fucked up. Seriously, someone should make a movie out of that. And while being absolutely vicious, the song also manages to be the most melodic and (somewhat) radio-friendly song they’ve released to date.

Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, the recently released video features Diggs as a disinterested and bored security guard, who after taking medication finds the surrounding objects in his dark office trembling to the woofer and tweeter rocking beats just as they began to defy gravity.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Check out Freeway and Dutch Producer Big Ape Hanging out and Performing in Amsterdam in the “Primates” Video

The Philadelphia-based emcee’s latest single “Primates” is a collaboration with renowned Dutch producer Big Ape and it’s a swaggering headbanger of a track that has Freeway spitting fire over a looped and stuttering horn and string sample and tweeter and woofer rocking boom-bap beats and actual scratching from Sweden’s DJ Devastate. Of course the track is full of Freeway telling off wack emcees — reminding them that only is he dope, but that he’s probably their favorite rapper’s rapper as he uses a variety of cadences and flows and a creative sense of inner and outer wordplay throughout, while reminding listeners that not only is he still here and fiery as ever, but that real hip-hop ain’t dead either.

Directed by Ed Jansen, the recently released music video for “Primates” was shot in Amsterdam and features the emcee and his crew stomping around The Netherlands’ largest city, some live footage of Freeway performing in front of an incredibly enthusiastic crowd, and hanging in the studio with Big Ape.