Tag: Nile Rodgers

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Although over the past twenty years or so Cape Verde, the tiny island nation comprised of an archipelago of 10 different, volcanic islands off the Northwestern coast of Africa has been hailed as one of the continent’s most stable democracies, its history suggests that things were very different. With a prime location in the Atlantic Ocean, the island nation was uninhabited until the 15th century, when the Portuguese colonized it, established it was not only the first European settlement in the tropics; but as a major commercial center and stopover point for the Transatlantic Slave Trade during the 16th and 17th centuries. The decline and eventual abolition of the slave trade in the 19th century resulted in a crippling economic crisis; however, because of the island’s location in the middle of major shipping lanes, it quickly became an important commercial center and port. Interestingly, with few natural resources and inadequate sustainable investment from the Portuguese, who had controlled the island nation for the better part of 300 years, Cape Verde’s citizens had become increasingly frustrated with colonial rule.

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, a series of independence and nationalist movements across colonized Africa began sprouting up across Africa –including Cape Verde. In 1951, Portugal changed the island nation’s status from a colony to overseas province in an attempt to blunt Cape Verdeans growing nationalism; however, by 1956 Amilcar Cabral led a group of Cape Verdeans and Guineans, who formed the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). The group demanded improvement in economic, social and political conditions in Cape Verde and Portuguese Guinea — and interestingly enough, formed the basis of both nations’ independence movement. After moving its headquarters to Conakry, Guinea in 1960, the PAIGC began an armed rebellion the following year, which resulted in a bloody and complicated civil war that had Soviet Bloc-supported PAIGC fighting Portuguese and African troops.

Portuguese Guinea declared independence in 1973 and was granted de jure independence the following year as Guinea-Bissau. Amilcar Cabral led Cape Verde’s burgeoning independence movement until his assassination that same year, then led by Cabral’s half-brother Luis Cabral, who led the archipelago nation to independence in 1975. Much like their counterparts across the continent, the tiny island nation suffered through the similar ills of a society born by and influenced by colonialism, slavery and greed struggling to integrate into a rapidly globalizing world — and not quite knowing how to do so. The sense of detachment from the modern world fostered among Cape Verdeans a yearning to integrate, to connect with the larger world in any way that they could. And those who emigrated to the cosmopolitan European cities didn’t find much respite as Cape Verdeans were viewed as “hot-blooded” “dropouts” and “juvenile delinquents.” However, with the ready availability of electronic instruments, a doorway to a sense of modernity and an perceived anchor in their adopted homes was understandably seductive. As Val Xalino, a Cape Verdean-born, Gothenburg, Sweden-based electronic music artist and pioneer of his birthplace’s electronic sound explains in press notes “Cape Verdeans were celebrating their independence and with that the dancing became even more important.People wanted to hear something different. They wanted the synthesizer!”

Émigré musicians began traveling back and forth between Europe and their island homeland with luggage packed with synthesizers and MIDI instruments. And although many were primarily urban-based, musicians began frequent traveling to the countryside to learn the rhythms and melodies of rural farmers, frequently sampling melodies played off of slightly off-tune and damaged accordions and other field recordings. The result was this weird and compelling sound that drew from folk melodies and rhythms and contemporary electronic production — and from both African and European influences. The hearts and minds of a new nation of passionate, musically-included people were enthralled, including Paulino Viera, who would quickly become the island nation’s most important, beloved and influential musician.

Veira was especially drawn to keyboard-based instruments as he had honed his skills playing organ and piano at a Catholic seminary. His musical career started in earnest as a backing member of the renowned vocalist Cesaria Evora, whose cavaquinho-based folk songs received international attention while being instrumental in establishing the island nation as a music scene worthy of your attention — especially if you were into music across the wildly diverse African Diaspora. Interestingly, an underground electronic music scene had started with Viera leading charge once he relocated to Lisbon, Portugal, where he lead Voz de Cabo Verde, a beloved ensemble that frequently collaborated with other Cape Verdean-born musicians across the Diaspora. As Elisio Gomes, a Cape Verdean-born, Paris-based vocalist, who collaborated with Veira often, explained in press notes ““Paulino was the most visionary. He always had this gift to be 10 years ahead of his time. That’s why our music sounds like it was produced today.”

Now, as I’ve mentioned frequently on this site, the technological advances brought forth by computers and the Internet have made discovering new and extremely rare, lost music from known and little known artists much easier, all while contributing to the proliferation of extremely niche based labels, who are willing to take careful and thoughtful risks based around the tastes and listening habits of their staff and their most fervent followers. Naturally, it meant these smaller, niche labels would frequently spend their time re-introducing artists, whose work was so far ahead of its time that audiences just couldn’t grasp it upon its initial release — and yet fills in an important gap historically speaking; re-introducing regionally favored artists, whose work should have seen a bigger audience but didn’t; releasing music from various locations around the world that Westerners should know and love but was largely ignored; to provide an alternate history of developments across a genre — based on a region or a country that Westerners had long ignored and so on. And adding to a growing list of small labels releasing cool stuff, Ostinato Records will be releasing a cool compilation of electronic music from Cape Verde — a compilation in which the aforementioned Paulino Veira contributes to about half the songs — titled Ostinato Records Presents: Synthesize The Soul: Astro-Atlantic Hypnotica From The Cape Verde Island 1973-1988.

And through 18 extremely diverse tracks, the compilation will reveal how immigration from Cape Verde to Europe and the US created an alternate history of electronic music that had been largely ignored by most Westerners. Manuel Gomes’ “Jelivrà Bo Situaçon” pairs propulsive African percussion, shuffling Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar, twisting and turning keyboard chords played on what sounds like an old Casio keyboard paired with Gomes’ softly yearning, bittersweet vocals and is the compilation’s first single. Sonically speaking while the song clearly has the mark of either decidedly lo-fi production or comes as the result of re-mastering from old analog masters, it possesses a hypnotic, cosmic glow with groove and melody turning into one cohesive unit. And while being a bit bittersweet, the song at its core possesses the sense of unbridled freedom and possibility of the dance floor, and the hopes and dreams of a new nation learning to create its own image and history for itself.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Currently comprised of founding duo and primary songwriters Alex Toth (trumpet, vocals, percussion), Kalmia Traver (lead vocals, tenor sax, baritone sax), Adam Dotson (trombone, vocals and percussion), David Cole (drums) and Ian Hersey (guitar), Brooklyn-based Afro-pop/dance pop act and JOVM mainstays  Rubblebucket can trace their origins to when Traver and Toth met while playing in a Burlington, VT-based Latin jazz act. Bonding over their horn playing, a preternatural connection and a love of Afrobeat and Afro pop, the duo in 2006 relocated to Boston, where they did fairly respectable things for money — Traver spent time as a nude model for art classes, while Toth spent time hustling $50 a performance marching band gigs. And while being broke as shit in Boston, the duo began Rubblebucket.

Relocating to Brooklyn some years later, the members of Afro pop/indie pop act emerged into the national scene with the release of their critically applauded 2011 album Omega La La and an established reputation for a rather relentless touring schedule full of ecstatic, energetic and mischievous live sets which at various times had included puppets, bandmembers jumping into the crowd and leading dance circles and dance trains with the audience. By early 2012, the band had made their first nationally televised appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. 

Over the years, the band has been pretty busy as they’ve released a handful of critically applauded EPs and their sophomore full-length Survival Sounds. And while their touring schedule had slowed down a bit, Toth and Traver also a brief period of time touring as backing guests for follow JOVM mainstay act  Superhuman Happiness, a collaboration that goes back to when Stuart Bogie, Eric Biondo and company opened for the Rubblebucket for a handful of shows up in Burlington, VT. Interestingly, during that time Rubblebucket’s  recorded output has revealed a band that has gradually crafted and then cemented a signature sound while also subtly expanding upon it; in fact, on their Save Charlie EP the band retained their genre-blurring sound that possessed elements of funk, pop, psychedelia and Afrobbeat with a populist sensibility but at points you’ll hear elements of boom-bap hip hop and electro pop. But also over the years, the band’s Traver has slowly but confidently emerged as a true frontperson.

If U C My Enemies, the band’s forthcoming EP is slated for a January 20, 2017 release through So Sensation Records, and from the album’s first single “Donna,” begins with twinkling keys and pairs Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar, a sinuous bass line, blasts of Traver and Toth’s enormous, swaggering horn lines, stuttering and glitchy four-on-the-floor like drumming, swirling electronics and distorted vocal samples with Traver’s ethereal and coquettish cooing, revealing a subtle emphasis on electronics and sampling to create a lush and layered sound while still being playful and danceable.

The band will be embarking on a late Fall/Winter tour to support the new effort throughout parts of the Midwest, New England and Northeast. If you’re around any of these cities, you should catch them — their sets are fun and you will spend the night dancing and signing along with them. Tour dates below.

 

 

TOUR DATES
Dec 01 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
Dec 02 – Chicago, IL @ Chop Shop 1st Ward
Dec 03 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Founders Brewing Co.
Dec 05 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement
Dec 06 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Woodward
Dec 07 – Detroit, MI @ The Shelter
Dec 08 – Buffalo, NY @ Studio at Waiting Room
Dec 09 – Syracuse, NY @ Westcott Theater
Dec 10 – Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall
Dec 29 – Rochester, NY @ Anthology
Dec 30 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway Arts
Dec 31 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway Arts
Jan 19 – Providence, RI @ Fete
Jan 20 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
Jan 21 – Fairfield, CT @ The Warehouse
Jan 26 – Albany, NY @ The Hollow
Jan 27 – Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt
Jan 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of years, you’ve come across a few posts on NYC-based electro funk/neo disco production and artist duo Holy Ghost!, comprised of Alex Frankel and Nicholas Millhiser. And with the release of their 2011 self-titled debut, 2013’s Dynamics through renowned indie dance label DFA Records and their self-released remix album Work For Hire, the duo quickly earned a national and international profile; in fact, as a result, the duo have remixed the work of Katy Perry, LCD Soundsystem, Moby and a lengthy list of others; made national TV appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show with David Letterman; toured with the legendary New Order; and played sets at some of this country’s and the world’s biggest festivals including Coachella, Outside Lands, Primavera Sound and Bonnaroo.

Earlier this year, the duo released their Crime Cutz Ep and from the EP’s first single and title track, “Crime Cutz,” the material further cemented the duo’s burgeoning reputation as artists for crafting slickly produced, retro-futuristic electro funk as Frankel and Millhauser paired shimmering synths, 808-like breakbeats, 8b it electronics and a sinuous bass line with sensually cooed vocals. And as I said of the song at the time, “Sonically, the song seems to draws so much influence from Herbie Hancock’s ‘Rockit,’ that it sounds as though it could have been easily released back in 1983″

Recently, Frankel quietly released his solo debut EP Negative Space, an effort that was mixed and mastered by the renowned, super-producer and electronic music Alex Epton, who has worked with and/or remixed the work of Bjork, TV on the Radio, FKA Twigs, Spank Rock and others, and interestingly enough, the EP was released to praise from the likes of Stereogum. Interestingly, the EP’s second and latest single “Get Back” will further Frankel’s reputation for crafting retro-futuristic electro funk as the single pairs Frankel’s sensual cooing with enormous, tweeter and woofer rocking 808-like beats, cascading layers of shimmering synths and Nile Rodgers-like guitar in a swaggering, dance floor friendly song that sounds as though it could have been released in the early 80s.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Up-and-coming, Los Angeles, CA-based producers Mike B. and Mike Nana have quickly developed a reputation as one of their hometown’s go-to production units as they’ve collaborated with the likes of Terrace Martin, Jay 305, Kembe X and Anderson .Paak; however, the duo known as MIKNNA will be releasing their debut EP 50/50 (All Seasons) and from the EP’s second single “Trinity Ave,” will also establish the duo as one of the their hometown’s hottest artists as the single consists of tribal-like percussion, swirling electronics, stuttering 808s, trembling synths, bursts of Nile Rodgers and Prince-inspired guitar playing in a strutting and swaggering song that manages to be soulful, sensual and incredibly contemporary.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

With the release of their first two tracks “Margarita” and “Dark ‘N’ Stormy,” the mysterious production and electronic music artist duo The Modern Strangers quickly emerged into the blogosphere. Building on the buzz the mysterious electronic music duo have received, the duo recently released their latest single “Vanilla,” a densely layered, slickly produced track that features handclap and cowbell-led percussion, enormous boom bap beats, a sinuous and ridiculously funky bass line, angular, Nile Rodgers-like guitar and a rousingly anthemic hook comprised of buzzing power chords, swirling electronics paired with falsetto vocals in an arena rock-friendly bit of electro pop that’s reminiscent of Big Data and The Crystal Method among others.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as a member of the internationally renowned indie electro pop act Miami Horror, Aaron Shanahan’s solo side project Sunday, much like his primary project’s most recent album All Possible Futures possesses a sound that draws from the time they spent writing and recording the album in California. And his latest single “Only,” pairs his tender and plaintive vocals with a breezy production consisting of gentle layers of shimmering and chiming synths, thumping dance-floor friendly drum programming, angular Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar to craft a song that evokes the last precious warm blast of summer, while (gently) nodding at the Cascine Records roster and Random Access Memories-era Daft Punk, as the song possesses a subtle bittersweetness at its core.

As Shanahan explains in press notes “In the aftermath of relationships with other people we can be challenged in reflection to what they meant and what we are. Through these deep interactions and opening of the hearts, we hope that we can learn from lessons given and heal by connecting to something deeper. This song is about process.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site for the past couple of months, you may recall coming across a post or two about Tucson, AZ-based multi-instrumentalist, electronic music artist and producer Dmitri Manos, whose solo recording project American Monoxide has quietly built a profile for specializing in analog electronic instrumentals that manage to be somewhat abrasive, trashy and funky as hell such as on “Hot Lava Express,” the first single off his sophomore full-length Web Content. Sonically speaking, Manos paired industrial clang and clatter, boom-bap beats, tumbling electronic bloops, beeps and bleeps, scorching synths and Nile Rodgers-inspired funk guitar chords in an offbeat funky song that reminded me quite a bit of Tobacco.

Web Content‘s latest single “Get Into My Way” is a wobbling, shuffling and buzzing song with the sort of twangy alt-country, alt-folk, experimental pop sound reminiscent of Odelay-era Beck — but in this case, as though Beck had recorded the album on old, warped cassette tape, with a breezily narcoleptic feel and an incredibly catchy hook.

Synth Pop by William Ruben Helms

 

Perhaps best known as being one-half of electro pop act Radar Cult, KC Maloney’s solo side recording project Adult Karate expands upon the sound that first captured the attention of the blogosphere as his solo project — and although arguably much more minimalist, the project’s sound and aesthetic draws from several styles of electronic music, including house, acid house, techno and ambient. Maloney’s solo debut “So Low” off his forthcoming LXII EP is a collaboration with Toronto, ON-based vocalist Adaline that pairs the up-and-coming Canadian singer/songwriter’s sultry and smoky vocals with a sleek, hyper-modern and minimalist production consisting of gentle cascades of shimmering synths, stuttering drum programming, a Nile Rodgers funky guitar line, wobbling bass line, swirling electronics and an anthemic hook in a breezily club-friendly and radio-friendly track.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Psychedelic, 1980s Leaning Visuals for Promise Keeper’s “Porous Silk”

With the release of Side Decide” and other singles, London-based producer and electronic music artist Promise Keeper started to receive attention across the blogosphere for a sound that possesses elements of classic Chicago house, blue-eyed soul and 80s electro pop. And his latest single “Porous Silk” will further cement the British producer’s already burgeoning reputation for crafting slick, dance-floor friendly pop as androgynous yet sultry cooed vocals are paired with a production consisting of a sinuous bass line, Nile Rodgers-like guitar chords, propulsive and stuttering drum programming, twinkling keys and shimmering synths. Sonically, the new single evokes the sensation of silk running across naked skin, cool yet pliant –while being reminiscent of a slightly downtempo and house music-leaning version of Nu Shooz’s “I Can’t Wait.”

The recently released music video employs the use of a grainy, VHS-styled psychedelia as the video follows its brooding protagonist observing ancient Greek-inspired art, drinking wine. Visually, it looks as though it could have appeared on a version of Ralph McDaniel’s Video Music Box back in 1987 or so.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Dmitri Manos is a Tucson, AZ-based multi-instrumentalist, electronic music artist and producer, whose solo recording project American Monoxide has quietly built a profile for specializing in analog electronic instrumentals that manage to be somewhat abrasive, trashy and funky as you’ll hear on “Hot Lava Express,” the first single off his forthcoming sophomore full-length effort Web Content, a single that has the producer and multi-instrumentalist pairing industrial boom-bap beats, tumbling electronic bloops, beeps and bleeps, scorching synths, Nile Rodgers-inspired funk guitar chords to craft a song that’s simultaneously offbeat yet funky as hell.

Multiple labels are involved in the June 10, 2016 release — and it’s arguably the most complex release I’ve come across in the almost six year history of this site: the vinyl version of the album will be released through People In A Position To Know Recordings (PIAPTK), Solid Gold Records, Almost Halloween Time Records, Wooden Tooth Records, Shot By A Fan Records, Hocus Bogus Records, Lazy Boy Recording Company and Baby Gas Mask Records. All the labels pitched in on the cost of manufacturing with each label creating different packaging for their particular release — some labels plan on doing variations of the album cover art, while others are including bonus material such as special release cassettes, lathe cut albums, zines and posters, etc. The cassette will be released through PIAPTK and Wooden Tooth Records while the electronic version will be self-released.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: M83’s Anthemic, Arena Rock-Friendly, New Single

With the release of Platinium selling single “Midnight City” and the Grammy-nominated album Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, indie synth pop/dream pop multi-instrumentalist, producer and artist Anthony Gonzalez, the creative mastermind behind M83 not only achieved the […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Remi is a 23 year-old Melbourne, Australia-based emcee and along with collaborator and producer Sensible J have quickly risen to national and international prominence with 2014 being the duo’s breakthrough year as their Raw X Infinity was critically and commercially successful. The album was named Triple J‘s Album of the Week, the Independent Hip Hop Album of the Year by the Australian Independent Record Association and received praise from internationally recognized media outlets and tastemakers including OkayAfrica, JUICE and laut.de, NPR‘s All Things Considered, and others. Adding to a rapidly growing national and international profile, the duo were named “Australian Breakthrough Artist of the Year,” toured nationally and across both the UK and Continental Europe and have shared stages with the likes of Danny Brown, Vic Mensa, De La Soul, Joey Bada$$ and Damon Albarn.

Divas and Demons is the Australian duo’s forthcoming full-length effort, and the album’s first single “For Good” is a collaboration that features Sydney, Australia-based poet, visual artist and singer/songwriter Sampa The Great adding soulful backing vocals to the song’s infectious hook and spitting a few bars herself during the song’s shimmering and cosmic bridge. Now, if you were frequenting this site over the the last half of 2015, Sampa The Great might be familiar to you, as she collaborated with a fellow Sydney-based singer/songwriter Wallace on the skittering and jazzy single “Beauty” and interestingly enough, this particular track has Sampa The Great channeling both Macy Gray and Lauryn Hill. Remi’s husky vocals and cool, effortless flow is reminiscent of LL Cool J, Q-Tip and Snoop Dogg with a distinctly Australian accent. Lyrically speaking, the song is a charming and coquettish love song in which its male and female narrators finally committing to each other after a childish and dysfunctional relationship in which they fuss and fight, cheat and drive each other nuts — and yet they both realize that they can’t possible dream of a life apart. This back and forth duet is paired with a buoyant and swooningly soulful Sensible J. production consisting of Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar and boom bap drum programming and Simon Mavin’s cosmically shimmering and jazzy keyboard chords. Although incredibly contemporary, the song sounds as though it could have been released sometime between 1997 and 2002 — and in some way sounds as though it draws from The Roots and Erykah Badu‘s “You Got Me,” and others.

Certainly, much like Monikker‘s debut single “Heaven on Earth (Gotta Go),” Remi’s latest track is a testament to the power and influence of hip-hop’s beloved golden era while reminding the listener of two things — that hip-hop truly is the linga franca of anyone under about 45 or so and that in the age of mainstream, conglomerate radio stations shilling soulless and prepackaged bullshit that you can find meaningful and thoughtful music if you’re willing to put in some work.

 

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past couple of years, you’ve likely come across several posts on Toronto, ON/Montreal, QC-based electro pop act Doomsquad. Comprised of  siblings Allie, Jaclyn and Trevor Blumas, the electro pop act initially began as an acoustic-leaning folk act but with their shared admiration and love of electronic music, electronic dance music and electro pop, the Blumases began increasingly experimenting with electronic beats, synthesizers, electronic drums and contemporary electronic music production techniques. The trio won attention won both national and Stateside attention with the release of their full-length debut Kalaboogie, a downtempo electro pop-leaning effort that evoked what art, life and music would sound like post-apocaylpse as stark minimalist beats, shimmering synths and alternating chanted and call and response vocals.

The Blumases followed Kalaboogie with 2015’s Pageantry Suite EP and EP singles Apocalypso,” and “Two Way Mirror” revealed a group that relentlessly experimented with their sound as they employed Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar lines, African and Caribbean-inspired polyrhythms, ambient electronics, shimmering synths and sinuous bass lines were paired with half spoken, half sung vocals leading a call and response harmonized vocal section at the song’s hook, which interestingly enough pushed their sound a bit closer Talking Heads’ Speaking in Tongues and Fear of Music. And much like those two albums, the material on Pageantry Suite evoked a neurotic anxiousness over an impending doom that may — or may not happen.

 

Doomsquad’s sophomore full-length effort, Total Time is slated for an April 29, 2016 release through renowned indie label Bella Union Records globally and Hand Drawn Dracula Records throughout Canada. Reportedly inspired by some of the trio’s favorite artists — Georges Bataille, Richard Tuttle, Tanya Tagaq, and Genesis P-Orridge, Total Time was largely recorded in the New Mexico desert and thematically, the material was specifically written to lead the listener to a genderless experience of transition — from owning time, losing time and becoming timeless while making you move your ass.  Interestingly, the album’s second and latest single “Pyramids On Mars” manages to continue on the sonic path of Pageantry Suite as the song begins with an ambient intro of gently undulating synths and off-kilter vocals and quickly becomes a propulsive and shimmering dance-floor ready track that pairs shimmering synths, wobbling low end, chanted and call and response vocals, African and Caribbean-inspired vocals, funk guitar — and much like their most recent tracks sounds as though it could have been released as a B-side to a Talking Heads single.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Mikey Wax is a New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, whose profile has exploded nationally and internationally as a number of his singles and albums have achieved commercial success and placement in a number of major TV series. After “In Case I Go Again,” off his debut effort Change Again won South Florida-based WRMF 97.9 FM‘s Unsigned Artist contest, the song was featured on CBS‘s Ghost Whisperer, NBC‘s 2012 Summer Olympics coverage and ABC Family‘s Pretty Little Liars  — and the music video was featured as part of YouTube‘s Music Tuesday spotlight, which garnered over 500,000 views. Wax’s 2011 self-released sophomore effort Constant Motion landed at number 6 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter Chart, number 47 on Billboard Heatseekers Chart, with album single “Counting On You” receiving major radio airplay on major Adult Top 40 stations across the country.

As as a result of his rapid success, Wax was selected by New Music SeminarNew  as one of their “Artists on the Verge” and was featured by iHeartRadio as an “Artist To Watch” in 2012 — and “Counting On You” was featured during the elimination montage on every episode of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance that season. Additionally, the song was featured in the trailer for the major motion picture Playing for Keeps which lead to coverage from USA Today and Young Hollywood. “For Better Or Worse” was featured on Lifetime‘s Dance Moms while “So Crazy” appeared in a promo teaser for Brazilian TV network GNT, which led to the song charting on the Top 100 iTunes Pop Chart Brazil and a sub-publishing deal with Warner/Chappell South America.

 

The New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s self-titled, third full length effort was released in 2014 and featured “You Lift Me Up,” which debuted on iTunes US Top 200 Pop Charts and has since been placed on MTV‘s The Real World and The Challenge: The Battle of the Exes II, the season 10 promo for E! Entertainment‘s Keeping Up With The Kardashians and all Fox Sports NBA games throughout the second half of the 2015 season. Building on the success he’s received to date, Wax’s “Love Always Wins (#LoveWins)” was also featured on the promo for E! Entertainment’s I Am Cait and on the SoundHound app homepage.

I have to add that the New York-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has toured with the likes of Parachute, Andy Grammer, Jon McLaughlin, Matt Wertz, Rachel Platten, Howie Day, Tyler Ward, Ryan Cabrera, Tyler Hilton, Tony Lucca and others.

“Bottle of Jack,” Wax’s most recent single pairs Wax’s soulful vocals with a neo-soul-like arrangement of shimmering keyboard chords, loose and funky guitar chords, propulsive drumming, soaring synths and a sinuous bass line to craft an radio-friendly pop confection that has its narrator describing the sensation of being in love to drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels. And at points, it certainly can feel that way! In any case, Achtabahn released a house music remix of “Bottle of Jack” that pairs Wax’s effortlessly soulful vocals with a warm, Random Access Memories-era Daft Punk production consisting of a sinuous bass line, warm blasts of Nile Rodgers-like guitar shimmering neo-soul like keys, handclap-led percussion, swirling electronics, bleeps and bloops and wobbling, tweeter and woofer wobbling drops that makes the song dance floor friendly while retaining the radio-friendly pop confection spirit of the original.