Nashville, TN-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jas Patrick can trace the origins of his music career to when he was a small child — at four, Patrick had started playing drums and by the time, he […]
Tag: Nashville
New Video: The Trippy, Technicolor Video for All Them Witches’ “Dirt Preachers”
With the release of their 2012 debut effort, Our Mother Electricity and 2014’s sophomore effort Lightning At The Door, the Nashville, TN-based quartet All Them Witches, comprised of Charles Michael Parks, Jr. (vocals, bass), Ben […]
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past few months, you may recall that I’ve written about Nashville, TN-based electro pop trio BASECAMP. Comprised of Aaron Miller, Aaron C. Harmon, and Jordan Reyes, the trio have quickly developed a reputation for a sound that equally draws from electronic music and the past 10-15 years of R&B and pop music; in fact, “Watch My Back,” arguably one of the best singles I’ve heard this year, and Greater Than‘s opening track paired silky smooth vocals with skittering percussion, glitchy electronics, chilly, swirling electronics, glistening synths and a tight, memorable hook to craft a sound that is reminiscent of Timbaland’s revolutionary work with Missy Elliot and Aaliyah.
The Nashville-based trio’s latest single “In My Veins” features Del The Funky Homosapien one of the more unheralded emcees around and Billie Black on a song that sonically manages to owe debts to classic house music and contemporary R&B as the song pairs arpeggio synths, stuttering and skittering drum programming, strummed guitar, wobbling low end and swirling electronics with silky smooth vocals on a sweaty and sexy dance-floor orientated track that compares lust and love to a powerful addiction. Chemically speaking, love is awfully close to being addicted to chocolate, caffeine and several other drugs.
Billie Black contributes some sultry vocals to the song’s hook while Del The Funky Homosapien contribues about 16 bars that expands on the song’s title. and compares being in love to shooting heroin — and in turn, being incredibly difficult to stop.
What “In My Veins” does is further cement the Nashville-based trio’s for slickly produced, sensual electro pop that clearly draws from R&B and dance music — in this case, house music — while possessing an emotional directness and thoughtfulness that seems all too rare.
Long Island-born, Brooklyn-based DJ/producer/emcee J57 is probably best known among hip-hop heads as a member of the Brown Bag All-Stars, one of the more prolific and underrated crews in contemporary hip-hop. And over the last couple of years in particular, J57 has received attention and critical praise for a production style that channels the sound of hip-hop’s golden age — i.e., big, boom bap beats, heavy synth-based orchestration paired with ridiculously tight, catchy hooks. As a result of being mentored by the legendary DJ Premier, the Brooklyn-based producer, DJ and emcee has assisted Premier on production work with the likes of Nas, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. And naturally, those contributions have directly led to collaborations with Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson, Method Man, Raekwon, Mack Wilds, The Roots and others; in fact, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past few months, you’d likely remember that J57 produced “The Purple Tape” off Method Man’s recently released The Meth Lab.
Also, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past couple of years you’d also be familiar with local emcee Koncept, who like the aforementioned J57 is a member of Brown Bag All-Stars. Over the past few years, there have been few emcees who have been as productive, prolific and consistent as Koncept, who has released a number of impressive singles and albums. Of course because of their connection in Brown Bag All-Stars, it shouldn’t be surprising that J57 and Koncept have been frequent collaborators, including for Koncept’s forthcoming EP The Fuel, slated for a November 20 release.
EP title track “The Fuel” featuring guest vocals by Akie Bermiss features Koncept dexterously rhyming about having the desire and determination to succeed in even the most difficult of situations, including desperate, hand-to-mouth poverty, working soul-crushing jobs with you dignity and sense of self intact. And he does so over a soulful production that features soaring organ chords, Akie Bermiss’s earnest vocals, and boom-bap drums. It’s conscious and thoughtful hip-hop based around deeply personal experiences and hard-fought wisdom — and it clearly draws from hip-hop’s glory days, when a song like “The Fuel” would dominate even mainstream radio. But no worry, real hip-hop featuring emcees actually saying something important over dope production is still alive and well; sadly, we all have to make more of a concerted effort to find it and support it.
Comprised of Charlee Cook, Chance Cook, Will Hicks, and Dom Marcoaldi, the Nashville, TN-based experimental quartet Linear Downfall have developed a reputation for a sound that blends abrasive, almost psychotic noise with gorgeous melodies. And as the band notes, their music is meant to tap into the highs and lows of life and challenges the listener to look inward. After the self-release of three full-length albums, an EP and some rather extensive touring across the US, the band managed to catch the attention of The Flaming Lips, which interestingly enough led to a side project featuring members of the band, that they dubbed Electric Würms.
Last year may have arguably been the most productive and prolific period in the band’s history, as they completed a tour to support their third full-length album Fragmental Hippocampus, released the first Electric Würms album, Musik, die Schwer zu Twerk and released a 5 song EP as the band was busily putting the finishing touches on their forthcoming effort, Sufferland, which is slated for a November 6 release. As the band notes in press notes the new album will be released with a full-length film meant to correspond with the material on the album. In some way, it would seem that the material on the album would be — at least informally — the film’s score.
With that in mind, Sufferland‘s first single “The Question” is a tense and uneasy song consisting of propulsive, tribal drumming, feedback, electronic squeaks, squawks, bleeps and bloops. twisting and turning organ chords and obscured by the abrasive, and menacing post apocalyptic noise is a trippy, off-kilter sense of melody that makes the song evoke that unsettled feeling you’d have after waking up from a very fucked up dream.
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New Video: Introducing the Swaggering, Bluesy Sound of Melbourne, Australia’s Kingswood
Comprised of Fergus Linacre (lead vocals), Alex Laska (guitar and backing vocals), Jeremy “Mango” Hunter (bass and backing vocals), and Justin Debrincat (drums and backing vocals), the Melbourne, Australia-based quartet Kingwswood formed in 2009. And […]
New Audio: Nashville’s Los Colognes’ Sound Channels 70s AM Rock
Comprised of founding members Jay Rutherford (guitar, vocals), Aaron Mortenson (drums, percussions) and Gordon Persha (bass), along with Micah Hulscher (keyboards), Chuck Foster (keyboards) and Wojtek Krupka (guitar), the Nashville, TN-based sextet Los Colognes can trace […]
New Video: The Dead Weather’s Bluesy, Ass-Kicking New Single “I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)”
Comprised of Allison Mossheart of The Kills and Discount (vocals), Jack White formerly of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs (drums, guitar and vocals), Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age (guitar, keyboards, organs), […]
EP Stream: BASECAMP’s R&B Leaning “Greater Than EP”
Comprised of Aaron Miller, Aaron C. Harmon, and Jordan Reyes, the Nashville, TN-based electro pop trio BASECAMP have developed a reputation for an sound that draws heavily from the past 15-20 years of R&B; in fact, “Watch My […]
New Audio: Introducing The Breezy, Electro Folk Sound of Melbourne, Australia’s Oh, Pep!
Comprised of Olivia ‘Liv’ Hally and Pepita ‘Pep’ Emmerichs, the Melbourne, Australia-based contemporary folk duo Oh, Pep! have quickly amassed quite a bit of success — and they haven’t yet turned 23; they were awarded the Young […]
New Audio: Fleurie’s Swooning “Sparks”
Fleurie is the solo recording project of Nashville, TN-based singer/songwriter Lauren Strahm and as Fleurie, Straham has developed a reputation for meshing a traditional singer/songwriter approach with contemporary electronic production to craft atmospheric pop. Now, […]
New Audio: Method Man’s New, J57 Produced Single “The Purple Tape”
Long Island-born, Brooklyn-based DJ/producer/emcee J57 is probably best known among hip-hop heads as a member of the Brown Bag All-Stars, one of the more prolific and underrated crews in contemporary hip-hop. And over the last couple of […]
New Video: elle le fantome’s Intimate, Cinematic and Gothic Pop Sound
Currently, Brooklyn-based (by way of California, Austin, TX and Tennessee) indie electro pop artist Tyler Elizabeth started her minimalist solo recording project, elle le fantôme (which translates as “she the ghost”) while she was still a student […]
New Audio: BASECAMP’s R&B Influenced “Watch My Back” Channels Timbaland-era Missy Elliot
Comprised of Aaron Miller, Aaron C. Harmon, and Jordan Reyes, the Nashville, TN-based trio BASECAMP have developed a reputation for an electro pop sound that draws heavily from R&B; in fact, “Watch My Back,” the […]
Interview: A Q&A with Jennie Vee
Singer/songwriter and bassist Jennie Vee grew up as “the goth girl” in a small Ontario town. And as the story goes, she Vee had pen pals, who had changed the course of her life, when […]