Tag: Octo Octa

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montreal’s Tommy Lunaire Releases a Brooding and Cinematic Single

Tommy Lunaire is a a Montreal-based electronic music producer and artist, who has a lifelong obsession nd love of analog synthesizers. His debut EP, the five-song Until I Melt EP is heavily inspired by the likes of Jamie xx, Flume and Rival Consoles — while featuring highly personal compositions.

The EP’s latest single “Hailstorm” is brooding and cinematic track centered around dense layers of shimmering synth arpeggios, fluttering flute, skittering beats and a driving groove. Sonically, the track — to my ears, at least — reminds me a bit of Octo Octa’s oft-mentioned Between Both Selves while evoking the bracing chill of a summer rainstorm.

Featuring art direction and motion design by Louis Robert and 3D art by William Thibault (Loodious) is a trippy mix of modernist painting-like animation and computerized art.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Initially starting his professional life as a lobbyist, the rising Boise–based electronic music artist and producer Morgin Madison eventually pursued his passion for music as a full-time gig. Madison released his first singles in late 2017 — and those singles found the Boise-based producer and artist establishing a unique dance music sound that ranged from chilled house beats to vast, hard-hitting set pieces.

With releases through labels like Colorize, Songspire Records, PRGRSSN and even mau5trrap, the Boise-based artist and producer has been prolific releasing material that has found Madison’s sound moving towards a progressive house direction. As Madison says in press notes, he’s just getting started releasing music that he describes as “the most genuine, melodic dance music I can make.”

Building upon a growing profile, Madison’s full-length debut Living the Phantasm was released today through mau5trap. The album’s material was crafted last year, when the rising producer, much like the rest of us, was confined at home as a result of pandemic-related restrictions: at the time, he was creating music for a time that to him felt like a distant dream. With the music industry and everything else around us collapsing, he began to ask himself “If this is it, what do I want to say before I go.” Naturally, the question inspired a creative streak uninhibited by a concern for the future. The album’s latest single “Feels Like” is a Balearic-like house banger centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, thumping beats, a sultry vocal sample and a euphoria-inducing hook. While being sleek, the song is a soulful and sensual take on house, that may remind some of Octo Octa.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their debut single “Island of Promise,” the Budapest-based electronic music production and artist duo  Belau — Peter Kedves and Buzas Krisztian — quickly exploded into their homeland’s scene for establishing a buoyant, summery and dance floor friendly sound that according to the band meant to evoke “cheerful places, filled with sunshine, where one can relax, unwind and find peace and harmony.” Since its release, “Island of Promise” landed at #1 on Deezer Hungary, one of the country’s largest string services, amassed over 500,000 streams, was featured in the HBO Hungary series Aranyélet, and in an international  Pepsi ad campaign shown in 33 countries.

Belau’s full-length debut, 2016’s The Odyssey won a Hungarian Grammy for Best Electronic Music Album. The duo supported the album with an intense touring schedule — 120 shows in 19 countries with stops across the international festival circuit with sets at Eurosonic, Sziget, Reeperbahn, Untold, and SXSW. After The Odyssey, the JOVM mainstays released a series of remixes of The Odyssey tracks, which they followed up with their sophomore album, 2019’s Colourwave featured a number of singles I’ve written about, including:

  • “Breath,” a sultry, dance floor friendly collaboration with Sophie Lindinger centered around glitchy beats and a sinuous yet anthemic hook
  • The Massive Attack-like “Natural Pool.”
  • “Rapture,” a collaboration with Blue Foundation‘s Kirstine Stubbe Teglbjærg centered around a trip hop-inspired production featuring shimming synth arpeggios, wobbling low end and Stubbe Teglbjærg’s sultry vocals. 
  • “Essence,” a collaboration with Sophie Barker that features Barker’s sultry vocals gliding over a shimmering production centered around looping, reverb-drenched guitar shimmering synths, skittering beats and an enormous hook that brought Third-era Portishead and Octo Octa to mind  – but a with a brooding air.

Although the duo haven’t been able to tour as a result of the pandemic, they’ve been busy: earlier this year, they released “Luz,” a one-off single with Sexto Sentido that was decided sonic departure for the duo: the single reminded me quite a bit of fellow JOVM mainstays Ibeyi. Interestingly, as the duo explained in press notes, “’Luz’ is kind of a bridge to our future album; it’s a bit different from our earlier releases.,” the Budapest-based JOVM mainstays explain. “This single is a harmonic blend of traditional Afro-Cuban folk music and modern electronica, the lyrics in yoruba and spanish. This song is a spiritual journey for us, it will be the part of Colourwave DLX album with some remixes, reimagined versions and live sessions in April.”

For Colourwave DLX‘s latest single, the Budapest-based JOVM mainstays recruited Ohxalá to remix album single “Breath” with Sophie Lindinger. Interestingly, the Ohxalá remix meshes dub and house music by retaining Lindinger’s sultry vocals paired with a chopped up hook, skittering beats and shimmering synths,. Interestingly enough, the remix gives the song a subtle yet completely different feel: in this case, the Oxhalá remix possesses a bracing chilliness that reminds me quite a bit of Octo Octa’s Between Both Selves.

“‘Breath’ was one of the first single from the album and also one of our favourites. We had some nostalgic feelings about that era, for example the day when we got the final master, that was the first time when we ever met with Sophie,” the Budapest-based JOVM mainstays recall. “Fun fact it was in Texas, where we played at SXSW. After the success of the song, we thought it would be great to have an alternative version, and asked Ohxalá to make a remix. We love their style because they blend traditional folk music with modern electronica, and they made a unique song which also has a new mood.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: End of Code Releases a Brooding Visual for Soulful and Introspective “On To You”

Split between Malibu and Monaco, the emerging electronic music production and artist duo End of Code features the following:

Nicolas Saad, a Monaco-based DJ and electronic music producer, whose career can be traced back to the 1990s. Saad has developed a reputation for crafting tracks for French radio and TV.
Shawn Pereira, a Malibu-based model. who taught himself music while traveling the world modeling in campaigns for Ralph Lauren Polo Sport, Diet Coke and Tag Heuer.

Pereira met Saad while vacationing in St. Barth’s, a small French West Indies territory, that was once a Swedish colony for about 100 years. Bonding over an abiding love of deep house, the duo wound up writing, recording and producing their full-length debut, last year’s The Beginning — and since then, their music has become the official sound of BMW Monaco, playing in every new car sold.

The duo have had a busy start to 2021, as they’ve released two singles:

“Deep Into Your Soul.”a slickly produced yet soulful club banger.
“The Fall,” a brooding yet euphoric banger that reminded me quite a bit of Octo Octa’s Between Two Selves.

End of Code are working on their highly-anticipated follow-up to The Beginning, which they hope will be released later this year. Building up buzz for that album, the duo have released their third single of the year, “On To You.” Proudly nodding to Larry Levan-era house, as it features twinkling keys, skittering beats and Pereira’s achingly soulful vocals, the new single is centered around some of the most introspective lyrics of their growing catalog: the song tells the story of a character, who has cheated, lied, stole and lived a dishonest live to get over. And while initially, that character has achieved success and felt like a winner, eventually they and their ugly deeds will be exposed. Consider the song a warning. Be careful about how you do things.

Directed by Thomas Concordia and Rainer Hosch, the recently released video for
“On To You” is a brooding, cinematically shot black and white visual filmed in pre-pandemic New York. And throughout our protagonist’s lengthy walk, the viewer gets the emotional and psychological weight behind the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Releases a Sultry and Shimmering Bit of Deep House

There are few artists I’ve written about as much over the past 18 months than the frenetically prolific French electronic music producer, artist and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK. During that same period, LutchamaK has released an increasingly eclectic array of material — whether as EPs, stand-alone singles and albums — that find him bouncing back and forth between different electronic music styles, genres and sub-genres with effortless aplomb.

The French JOVM mainstay started the year with Pi, a full-length album written and recorded in a three month burst. Interestingly, Pi‘s material may arguably be among the darkest and heaviest he has written and recorded. LutchamaK has quickly followed the release of Pi with Quest EP, a six-song EP, which finds the French electronic music producer and artist crafting more melodic material — but with a more experimental direction. The EP’s second and latest single “Quest” is a melodic bit of deep house, centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, stuttering beats and tweeter and woofer rocking thump. While citing the likes of Underground Resistance, Laurent Garnier, and G-Prod, the song reminds me — to my ears, at least — of Octo Octa’s Between Two Selves.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Split between Malibu and Monaco, the emerging electronic music production and artist duo End of Code features the following:

  • Nicolas Saad, a Monaco-based DJ and electronic music producer, whose career can be traced back to the 1990s. Saad has developed a reputation for crafting tracks for French radio and TV. 
  • Shawn Pereira, a Malibu-based model. who taught himself music while traveling the world modeling in campaigns for Ralph Lauren Polo Sport, Diet Coke and Tag Heuer. 

Pereira met Saad while vacationing in St. Barth’s, a small French West Indies territory, that was once a Swedish colony for about 100 years. Bonding over an abiding love of deep house, the duo wound up writing, recording and producing their full-length debut, last year’s The Beginning — and since then, their music has become the official sound of BMW Monaco, playing in every new car sold.

Now, as you may recall, Pereira and Saad began 2020 with the slickly produced yet soulful club banger “Deep Into Your Soul.” Coming hot on the heels of “Deep Into Your Soul,” the duo’s latest single “The Fall” continues the duo’s growing reputation for crafting slickly produced bangers. Featuring wobbling synth arpeggios, skittering beats, crooned male vocals, atmospheric electronics and an enormous hook, “The Fall” manages to simultaneously be brooding yet euphoric in a way that reminds me quite a bit of Octo Octa’s Between Two Selves.

End of Code are working on their highly-anticipated follow-up to The Beginning, which they hope will be released later this year.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Belau Team Up With Cuba’s Sexto Sentido on a Gorgeous Spiritual Single

With the release of their debut single “Island of Promise,” the Budapest-based electronic music production and artist duo Belau — Peter Kedves and Buzas Krisztian — quickly exploded into the national scene for a buoyant, summery and dance floor friendly sound that according to the rising Hungarian electronic duo meant to evoke “cheerful places, filled with sunshine, where one can relax, unwind and find peace and harmony.”

“Island of Promise” eventually landed at #1 on Deezer Hungary, one of the country’s biggest streaming services. Since its release, “Island of Promise” has amassed over 500,000 streams, was featured in the HBO Hungary series Aranyélet, and in an international Pepsi ad campaign shown in 33 countries.

Building upon growing profile, Belau’s full-length debut, 2016’s The Odyssey won a Hungarian Grammy for Best Electronic Music Album. The albums as supported with an intense touring schedule — 120 shows in 19 countries with stops across the international festival circuit, including sets at Eurosonic, Sziget, Reeperbahn, Untold, and SXSW. After The Odyssey, the JOVM mainstays released a series of remixes of The Odyssey tracks, and a handful of singles that included “Breath,” a sultry, dance floor friendly collaboration with Sophie Lindinger centered around glitchy beats and a sinuous yet anthemic hook and the Massive Attack-like “Natural Pool.”

2019’s sophomore effort Colourwave found the JOVM mainstays expanding upon the sound that won them international attention as you would have heard on two of the album’s singles:

“Rapture,” a collaboration with Blue Foundation‘s Kirstine Stubbe Teglbjærg centered around a trip hop-inspired production featuring shimming synth arpeggios, wobbling low end and Stubbe Teglbjærg’s sultry vocals.
“Essence,” a collaboration with Sophie Barker that features Barker’s sultry vocals gliding over a shimmering production centered around looping, reverb-drenched guitar shimmering synths, skittering beats and an enormous hook that brought Third-era Portishead and Octo Octa to mind – but a with a brooding air.

“Luz,” is the highly anticipated follow up to 2019’s Colourwaves and the track, which features Sexto Sentido — Arlety Valdés and Yudelkis Lafuente — is a decided sonic departure for the JOVM mainstays that reminds me of fellow JOVM mainstays Ibeyi with the track being centered around shimmering and atmospheric synths and skittering beats and Sexto Sentido’s gorgeous and expressive vocals singing lyrics in Yoruba and Spanish. The end result is an otherworldly track that stretches towards the infinite.

“’Luz’ is kind of a bridge to our future album; it’s a bit different from our earlier releases.,” the Budapest-based JOVM mainstays explain. “This single is a harmonic blend of traditional Afro-Cuban folk music and modern electronica, the lyrics in yoruba and spanish. This song is a spiritual journey for us, it will be the part of Colourwave DLX album with some remixes, reimagined versions and live sessions in April.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Pieter Herweijer is an emerging, 28 year-old, The Hague-based electronic music DJ and producer, who specializes in EDM, tech house and neo-disco. His latest single “But I Like It” is self-assured club friendly, deep house banger centered around layers of arpeggiated synths, skittering beats and a soulful vocal sample — and sonically, the song manages to bring Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves to mind but with a subtly Middle Eastern vibe.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Cambodian-French Producer Sandap Releases a Slow-Burning New Single

Sandap is an emerging Cambodian-born, Paris-based composer, producer and electronic music artist. He was adopted at a very young age and wound up living in Paris. By the time he turned five, the Cambodian-born, Paris-based composer, producer and electronic music artist leaned violin before switching to piano, which would become his primary instrument.

Around the time, Sandap turned 11, he was introduced to composition and songwriting. And after working on material under a number of pseudonyms, he decided to release material under his own name. Sandap’s work draws from his own travels and personal experiences, as well as from the two vastly different cultures he has grown up in.

He released his first single “Rina” in 2018 and began to develop a fanbase. His latest single, “When I see us” is a slow-burning and atmospheric track centered around skittering beats, shimmering synth arpeggios, twinkling keys and layers of distorted yet plaintive vocals. While bearing a subtle resemblance to Octo Octa’s Between Both Sides, the song evokes an aching longing for a romantic relationship and for home.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

KARLITA is a rising French DJ and producer, who fell in love with the trip-hop, ambient electronica and lounge compilations in her parents record collection. Her desire to share her thoughts and emotions through music — her earliest love — had influenced her to start writing her own original music,, inspired by her surroundings.

The French DJ and producer’s full-length debut, last year’s Lazydayz found her quickly establishing a unique sound and approach in which melancholy and hope meshed in a groove-driven fashion. Lazydayz‘s follow-up, the five track EP Amor Fabola finds KARLITA exploring a sinuous, deep house sound. Interestingly, the EP’s title derives its names from two disparate sources — the Latin phrase for love story and from the French word fabuler, which can translate into “invent,” “make up” or “fantasize,” as well as implying infatuation, attachment and adoration. And the listener is invited to make up their own story with the material. “This album tends to retrace the process of a romance, good or bad, to each his own interpretation,” the French DJ and producer explains in press notes.

The EP’s latest single, EP opening track “i Can’t Wait” features glistening synth arpeggios stuttering hit hats, reverb-drenched thumps and KARLITA’s plaintive cooing paired with a sultry and insistent groove. But underneath the dance floor friendliness of the material, the song is imbued with the sort of longing and introspective nature that reminds quite a bit of Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves.