Tag: Nashville TN

Video by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of three siblings, twins Alexis (bass) and Zandy Fitzgerald (guitar), along with their brother Darius (drums) and cousin Jasmine Mullen (vocals, guitar), The New Respects are a Nashville, TN-based blues rock act, that has been heavily influenced by the gospel music they were surrounded by — but also by a healthy amount of secular and pop artists including Aretha Franklin, Alabama Shakes, John Mayer and others. Produced by Leagues‘ Jermey Lutito, the Nashville, TN-based quartet’s debut EP Here Comes Trouble is slated for a March 10, 2017 release through Credential Recordings and with the release of the EP’s first single “Trouble,” which has seen recent placements on ESPN’s Major League Soccer coverage, Fox Sports’ Road To The Octagon and TNT’s NBA coverage, as well as praise from NPR World Music Cafe‘s Jewly Hight. And unsurprisingly, as a result, The New Respects’ debut EP may arguably be one of the most highly-anticipated EPs of the first few months of 2017.

Here Comes Trouble‘s second and latest single “Money” is a gritty yet funky and soulful that not only displays The New Respect’s genre-defying sound — a sound which effortlessly meshes blues, arena rock, pop and hip-hop; but it also reveals a band that has an uncanny ability to write an swaggering and anthemic, power chord friendly hook paired with a sinuous bass line, a darting yet funky guitar line, thunderous drumming and Mullen’s powerhouse, pop belter vocals. Sonically speaking “Money” will likely remind listeners of The Black Keys, Robert Randolph and The Family Band and others and while that would be a fair comparison, lyrically the song has struck me as an ironic take on “If I Was a Rich Girl” that not only points out that being filthy rich won’t buy you more time, nor would it buy you much in the way of happiness.  In fact, the song suggests two things that seem to be an anathema in our consumer world — that having money and a lot of possessions actually distracts you from life’s true purpose: to love someone else and to be here now.

Directed by Ry Cox, the artfully shot, recently released music video follows the members of the band as they break into the home of some rich guy as he’s away to play music and invite friends and other associates to the house, along with footage of the band languidly enjoying the fruits of greed and power as they sing the song’s hook. And while being kind of trippy, the video ends with the band disappearing before the rich man’s return.

The quartet will be opening for Robert and The Family Band throughout March. Check out tour dates below.

Tour

Supporting Robert Randolph & The Family Band

3/15 — Cincinnati, OH @ The Ballroom @ Taft

3/16 — Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom

3/17 — Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall

3/18 — Madison, WI @ Majestic

3/20 — Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads

3/22 — Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie

3/24 — Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre

3/25 — Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre

3/26 — Aspen, CO @ Belly Up

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Although he’s known as a co-founder of renowned, old school hip-hop act, Ultramagnetic MCs and for a lengthy  solo career, in which he has taken up a number of aliases and personas while perfecting and expanding upon an imitable flow full of surrealistic and fantastic tangents, grim and nightmarishly violent imagery and pop cultural references — namely comic books and cartoons, Kool Keith  may arguably be one of hip-hop’s most uncompromisingly weird and challenging artists. And interestingly enough 2016 may have also been one of the biggest years for The Bronx-based emcee, as the long-lost full-length effort Pimp to Eat from his collaborative project Analog Brothers with Ice-T, Pimp Rex, Marc Live and Black Silver was released earlier this year, along with his latest solo effort Future Magnetic, which had the incredibly prolific emcee collaborating with Ras Kass, Atmosphere’s Slug, MF Doom and Dirt Nasty.

In fact, last year, I wrote about “World Wide Lamper,” a single consisted of a menacingly sparse and hypnotic production featuring winkling synths and subtle yet propulsive drum programming paired with Kool Keith, B.A.R.S. Murre and Dirt Nasty trading braggadocio-filled bars full of insane punchlines that make references to pop culture, the profane, the grisly violent and the surreal. That single was quickly  “Super Hero,”a single that pairs a production consisting of wobbling and undulating synths, stuttering drum programming and looped chiming cymbals around a wildly infectious hook with two renowned emcees trading verses full of super-heroes, villains and anti-heroes maneuvering through a comic book-styled universe.

L’Orange an up-and-coming, Nashville, TN-based producer, who collaborated with Mr. Lif on his The Life & Death Of Scenery, released a free EP Koala and is about to go our on tour with Wax Tailor, and in his free time, the up-and-coming producer remixed Kool Keith’s and MF Doom’s “Super Hero.” And with the L’Orange remix, the Tennessean producer pairs two of hip-hop’s most acclaimed emcees ridiculous rhyme schemes with classic, super hero/comic book dialogue and a production featuring twinkling keys, some old-timey clang and clatter, a distorted old school-leaning blues vocal sample, and tweeter and woofer rattling 808-like beats  – while retaining the song’s hook. And in some way, the L’Orange remix manages to boldly and mischievously evoke film noirs, with an insane yet impeccably done ballroom caper — and you can probably picture the heroes (or shall I say, anti-heroes, in this case) narrowly yet confidently escaping capture.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Watch Nashville Garage Punk Ron Gallo Take Over a Busy Intersection with Furious, Old-School Rock

Gallo’s forthcoming full-length effort Heavy Meta was primarily written while Gallo was in Philadelphia — and over the course of a lengthy romantic relationship with a woman, who had a number of personal and emotional troubles. When the relationship ended, Gallo relocated to Nashville to finish writing material in what may have been one of the most transformative periods of his life as he went through what he felt was a personal reawakening and musical rebirth. Interestingly, at the time Gallo wrote and then recorded songs in small batches — without the initial intention of making an album and without the support of a label. As Gallo explains “Coming out on the other side, i now look at my past as a hazy dream where I did not know myself or the world at all. I still don’t know anything, but I’m closer than before. There is so much to learn outside of your comfort zone.”

Slated for a February 3, 2017 release through New West Records, the material on Heavy Meta reportedly covers several themes including Gallo’s personal ideology on abstaining from drugs and alcohol, self-empowerment, domestication, dead love, not knowing yourself, mental illness and more while expressing an overall frustration with the human race and civilization, while balanced with an underlying hopefulness of an idealistic realist. As Gallo explains “this record comes from my frustration with humanity and myself, and from my wanting to shake us all. At my core, I’m compassionate for humanity and the sickness that we all live with, and from that comes something more constructive.” He ends by saying “Party is over — this is the beginning of true personal responsibility for ourselves and our world and so we must LIVE truth, be freaks, be fearless, be light, love and be our best selves.”

The album’s latest single “Please Yourself” is a fuzzy and aggressive garage rock song full of power chords, a propulsive back beat paired with Gallo’s howled vocals — and throughout the length of the song there’s a wild urgency and frustration within. As a result, the song feels as though the narrator is trying to violent shake everyone around him awake, while screaming “Pay attention, you goddamn idiots! Stop fucking around and do something to make it right!”

Directed by Joshua Shoemaker, the recently released video begins with Gallo delivering a fiery soliloquy on the hollowness, pretension of our digital world. It’s quickly followed by a lengthy one-take shot in which Gallo walking through downtown Nashville stops at intersection to wait for his band featuring Joe Bisirri (bass) and Dylan Sevey (drums) to drive up in a Ford F-150 truck loaded with a PA system and a makeshift stage — and then they promptly take over the streets with furious rock ‘n’ roll before quickly disappearing into the night.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Featuring members of JEFF The Brotherhood and  Diarrhea Planet, Breast Massage is a Nashville, TN-based All-Star side project that specializes in a bruising, sludgy, power chord-based rock that has had the act headlining Third Man Records‘ Devil’s Night and playing with the likes of A Place to Bury Strangers, Colleen Green and others. “Bathing The Dog,” the first single off their soon-to-be released Cruisin’ For Filth, part of Infinity Cat Records‘ limited release cassette series, is a slow-burning, dirge-like power chord heavy song with thundering, heavy metal-liked drumming that sounds indebted to the Melvins and 90s alt rock.

 

 

 
Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Quinn Lewis is an Australian-born, Nashville, TN-based indie electro pop artist, who has has spit part of his childhood in both the Western US and Eastern US is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and producer, who started his music career while in his early teens. Lewis began a fruitful collaboration with Danen Reed that caught the attention of the blogosphere; however, Lewis’ solo debut effort The Addicted EP is slated for an October 14, 2016 and from the EP’s first single “Bridges,” the Australian-born, Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist and producer reveals that he specializes in a sleek, infectious, dance-floor groove that’s reminiscent of blogosphere darlings like St. Lucia, Haerts, Nick Murphy (f.k.a Chet Faker) and others while drawing from the work of Nile Rodgers, 80s synth-based funk and R&B and house music — and its paired with Lewis’ plaintive and sultry cooing. In other words, it’s a  sexy yet plaintive, radio-friendly, club-banger that you’ll likely find yourself playing while pre-gaming your way to the bar or to the club.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: JEFF The Brotherhood Performing “Roachin”

Over the summer, I had written quite a bit about Nashville, TN-based sibling duo JEFF The Brotherhood and the first three singles off their latest effort, Zone, an experimental rock album that is the third and final part of a spiritual trilogy of albums that includes 2009’s Heavy Days and 2011’s critically applauded We Are The Champions. The most recent single I wrote about “Roachin” featured Bully‘s Alicia Bognano on vocals in a scorching, power-chord heavy dirge that sounds deeply indebted to 90s alt rock — in particular, the Melvins — as the song structurally consists of alternating quiet and loud sections, and an anthemic hook that you can picture kids moshing out to in a sweaty club. And much like “Punishment” and “Idiot” the single will cement the sibling duo’s reputation for crafting trippy, weed and beer inspired anthems full of enormous power chords and rousing anthemic hooks.
Just as the Nashville, TN-based sibling duo are about to embark on an East Coast tour, which will include a September 27 stop at the Market Hotel, they released live footage of themselves performing “Roachin” — without Bognano — and it should give everyone a sense of their incredible live show.

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 Bittersweet Visuals for Fleurie’s Gorgeous, Swooning and Anthemic “Sparks”

Certainly, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past 12-18 months or so, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts on Canton, MI-born, Nashville, TN-based classically trained pianist and singer/songwriter Lauren Straham, who writes, records and […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Over the past few weeks, I’ve written quite a bit about Nashville, TN-based sibling duo JEFF The Brotherhood, as they’ve released two singles “Punishment,” and “Idiot” off their forthcoming full-length Zone, an experimental rock album that is the third and final part of a spiritual trilogy of albums that includes 2009’s Heavy Days and 2011’s critically applauded We Are The Champions.  The forthcoming album’s third and latest single “Roachin,” features Bully‘s Alicia Bognano on vocals in a scorching, power-chord heavy dirge that sounds deeply indebted to 90s alt rock — in particular, the Melvins —  as the song structurally consists of alternating quiet and loud sections, and an anthemic hook that you can picture kids moshing out to in a sweaty club. And much like “Punishment” and “Idiot,” the album’s latest single will cement the sibling duo’s reputation for crafting trippy, weed and beer inspired anthems full of enormous power chords, infectious and anthemic hooks.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Certainly, over the past few weeks, I’ve written quite a bit about Nashville, TN-based sibling duo JEFF The Brotherhood. Comprised of Jake and Jamin Orral, the sibling duo have developed a reputation for a sound and overall aesthetic that’s been influenced by jazz, black metal, hard rock, prog rock, stoner rock, the films of Werner Herzog, the choreography of Kate Bush and the rivers of their home state. Over the past decade the duo have played well over 1,000 shows across North America, New Zealand and elsewhere, touring to support 11 full-length albums, as well as creating a number of related zines, puppets and videos among other things. The Orral Brothers’ forthcoming effort Zone is an experimental rock-leaning album that was recorded and co-produced by the band and Collin Dupuis, and is the third album of a trilogy based roughly around spirituality that began with 2009’s Heavy Days and 2011’s critically applauded We Are The Champions.

Of course, over the past few weeks I’ve also mentioned how the renowned and now-defunct DIY venue Death By Audio had a special place in my heart, thanks in part to the fact that unlike most venues I’ve seen and covered shows in my hometown, there was a palpable sense of anything being possible and anything going. Personally, some of the most memorable shows and live music moments I’ve ever seen happened at the South Williamsburg DIY space. Now, as the venue was set to close at the end of 2014, its owners and bookers curate what turned out to be an epic final month featuring a number of currently renowned acts, who had either gotten their start there and returned to pay their proper dues or had some kind of intimate connection to the venue, including A Place to Bury Strangers, Thee Oh Sees, Protomartyr, Ty Segall, Future Islands, Lightning Bolt, Metz, the aforementioned JEFF The Brotherhood and others. Of course, what I bet that most people attending those shows didn’t know was that the venue recorded their last month of existence, with the end result being the the compilation Start Your Own Fucking Show Space, which features highlights of the past month in chronological order, slated for release this week through Famous Class Records — and the compilation is meant not as bittersweet nostalgia but as a forceful call to go out and do something fucking awesome, like start a show space and have your friends and others play there.

The third and latest single is a blistering live version of JEFF The Brotherhood’s “Heavy Damage” is a perfect example of the sound that caught the blogosphere’s attention — frenzied power chords, propulsive and thunderous drumming and howled vocals, which give the song a raw, primal feel; however, live the song feels completely unhinged and furious — as though it should inspire the audience to mosh and then riot.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Earlier this month, you might recall that I wrote about “Punishment,” the first single off  Nashville, TN-based sibling duo JEFF The Brotherhood‘s forthcoming full-length Zone, an experimental rock album that was recorded and co-produced by Collin Dupuis in a converted warehouse dubbed Club Roar and is the last part of a spiritual trilogy of albums that began with 2009’s Heavy Days and 2011’s critically applauded We Are The Champions. And much like their previous work, which has been influenced by  jazz, black metal, hard rock, the films of Werner Herzog, the choreography of Kate Bush and the rivers of their home state, the album’s second and latest single “Idiot” will further the sibling duo’s reputation for crafting trippy, weed and beer inspired anthems full of enormous power chords, infectious and anthemic hooks — while meshing prog rock, power pop and metal.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Formed back in 2002 and comprised of Nashville, TN-based sibling duo Jake and Jamin Orral, JEFF The Brotherhood have developed a reputation for a sound and overall aesthetic that’s been influenced by jazz, black metal, hard rock, the films of Werner Herzog, the choreography of Kate Bush and the rivers of their home state. And over the past decade the duo have played well over 1,000 shows across North America, New Zealand and elsewhere, touring to support 11 full-length albums, as well as creating a number of related zines, puppets and videos among other things.

 

The duo’s forthcoming effort Zone is an experimental rock album that was recorded and co-produced by Collin Dupuis in a converted warehouse dubbed Club Roar and is the last part of a spiritual trilogy of albums that began with 2009’s Heavy Days and 2011’s critically applauded We Are The Champions, and it features a guest appearance from Bully’s Alicia Bognanno. Zone’s first single “Punishment”isa trippy prog rock-leaning track that begins with a lengthy garage, psych rock intro before turing into a towering squall of power chords and feedback with one of the most impressive guitar solos I’ve heard this year; naturally, the song confirms the duo’s long-held reputation for crafting anthemic and trippy songs with rapid tempo changes, blistering solos and driving rhythms and blistering guitar work.
 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Gary, IN-born, New York-based (by way of a lengthy stint in Nashville, TN), emcee, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Harold Simmons II, best known as FYUTCH can trace the origins of his musical and performance career to when he first starting to gain attention as a young public speaker, who had given speakers at a number of public events — including Mayor Scott L. King’s campaign banquet and on the steps of Congress. When Simmons (alto sax and lead vocals) was 17, he formed Legendary Biscuits and Gravy along with several friends Eric Sexton (keyboard), Brandon Holt (drums), Wesley Winfrey (tenor sax) and Brady Surface (bass), and the quintet quickly came to regional acclaim — they were nominated for Southern Entertainment Awards Best Indy R&B Artist of the Year in 2007 and over the next two years, the band performed at the Next Big Nashville Festival on bills that included several nationally recognized bands including The Pink Spiders, Sam and Ruby, as well as opening for Kanye West, GZA and Nappy Roots.

In 2009, under the moniker of Future the Artist, Simmons released his self-produced, solo debut The Sci Fly EP which was nominated for a Nashville Music Award for Best Urban Recording of the Year. He followed that up by the Overnight Mixtape series in which he recorded and released six mixtapes, recording each mixtape during an overnight studio session and releasing it for a free download the next day — and the mixtapes caught the attention of Nashville Scene, who wrote that the emcee, singer/songwriter and producer was dominating the local, indie scene; in fact that fourth mixtape of the series features collaborations with Bun B and GLC. And with the attention he was receiving, Simmons opened for the likes of Wale, Pharrell, Little Brother and Afroman.

After graduating from Belmont University, Simmons along with fellow Nashville-based artist Chancellor Warhol recorded “Bonus Lvl/Fly Away,” which appeared the HBO Canada series Less Than Kind and E!’s Khloe and Lamar, adding to a growing national profile, followed by an appearance at 2012’s SXSW.

By late 2012, Simmons changed his name to FYUTCH (pronounced Fuetch) after discovering that there was another artist by the name of Future, who was starting to receive national attention. Since then he has had a number of releases — the Mr. Flaptop, which was executive produced by DJ Rob “Sir” Lazenby and featured guest spots from Mike Stud, Futuristic, Mello Rello, Whitney Coleman and production by G-Pop, Wick-it the Instigator and The FANS; a psychedelic hip-hop concept EP Peace, Love and FYUTCH which was produced by G-Pop and featured deeply obscure samples and world music percussion.

Simmons’ latest single “Funked Up,” produced by Solar Shield is a Dam-Funk inspired jam that pairs twisting, turning and shimmering synths, a sinuous bass line, a propulsive motorik groove and Simmons rhyming a hilarious tell off to a lover, who has fucked with his head and heart and yet still is attracted to — and throughout the song, the song’s narrator expresses frustration, bemusement and lust simultaneously in an incredibly slick, dance-floor friendly song.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Check Out a Gorgeous and Aching, Acoustic Version of “Hurts Like Hell”

Building on the buzz of her critically praised and commercially successful EP Arrows, the Nashville-based singer/songwriter release “Hurts Like Hell, ” last year, and the single was featured on MTV’s Scream. Recently the folks at OurVinyl TV invited Straham in for an acoustic single and the first released bit of footage from that session is a gorgeous and stripped down rendition of “Hurts Like Hell” that features Straham accompanying herself on piano.

Lyrically, the song focuses on the conflicting feelings in the aftermath of a breakup — loss, longing, emptiness, heartache and self doubt, along with the sensations of self-reflection, of finality and of one’s life being altered in ways that are frequently beyond your own control and influence. And if you’ve been through a particularly messy and disastrous breakup the song should feel deeply familiar.