Tag: Paris France

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: La Femme Shares Breezy “No Pasa Nada”

Paris-based JOVM mainstays La Femme have spent quite a bit time touring across Latin American and Spain. Those experienced helped inspired the band’s first song entirely in Spanish, “Le Jardin,” which appeared on their third album, last year’s Paradigmes.

“Le Jardin” led the band down the path to write Teatro Lucido. Deriving its name from a mythic theater, where the band has played many times while touring in Mexico, the album, which is slated for a Friday release will be their first album with lyrics written and sung entirely in Spanish. Teatro Lucido will also be the first of a planned thematic series of albums that the band has dubbed Collection Odyssèe.

Teatro Lucido is informed by their adventures in Seville, Granada, Madrid, Mexico City, Cuautepec, Padul — all of which hold important places in their hearts, because they had a ton of laughs, joys, tears and disappointments in each. The album also reportedly draws from a number of different inspirations including Spain’s Semana Santa — or holy week; pasodoble, reggaeton, Brazilian and Andalusian rhythms, classical guitars and 80s Movida among others. Much like their previous releases, the members of French JOVM mainstays wrote, composed and produced the album entirely by themselves, while inviting numerous female vocalists to participate in the process. 

In the lead-up to the album’s release on Friday, I’ve managed to write about two of the album’s singles:

“Sacatela,” a breezy, Tropicalia-like take on psych pop centered around an infectious, call-and-response vocal-led hook paired shuffling Latin rhythms and lyrics sung entirely in Spanish. 

“Y Tu Te Vas,” a track centered around cinematic, flamenco-inspired guitars and a tweeter and woofer rocking reggaeton beat that might bring Rosalía, Bad Bunny, and others to mind. The song features a sultry, Shakira-like turn from Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Tatiana Hazel. “Tatiana is an artist living in Los Angeles where I recorded the track in 2019,” La Femme’s Marlon Magnée says of their collaboration. ‘Y Tu Te Vas’ is one of the more powerful tracks voice-wise on the album. Tatiana brings the track to another dimension, she really is one of the new artists to follow on the American scene.”

Written when La Femme’s Sacha Got was living at Adios Amores’ Iman Amar’s place in Grenada Spain, Teatro Lucida’s third and latest single “No Pasa Nada” centered around ’60s and ’70s Brazilian rhythms, strummed guitar, woozy synths and ethereal vocals from Amar. But the song’s seemingly breezy and easygoing nature is superficial; the song’s lyrics focus something far more menacing and fucked up — a night out in a foreign country gone horribly wrong.

Directed by the band, the accompanying video for “No Pasa Nada” was shot in the streets of Grenada, Spain — and features the band partying and having a wild night on the town that includes the familiar drunken, late night, zombie lurch thought town and the collapse into a queasy heap of limbs. The video was innspired by a night on the town the band had back in 2018, which ended with the members of the band blacking out. It was the kind of night that ends in the morning at 8AM when kids are going to school,” La Femme’s Sacha Got says.That kind of night where you drink to forget, and you end up forgetting what you drank… or you just don’t want to remember. And when you wake you’re like ‘No problem, nothing happened!’”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Choses Sauvages Share Mind-Bending Visual for Trance-Inducing and Funky Bop “Conseil solaire”

With the release of their Emmanuel Ethier-produced 2018 self-titled, full-length debut, the Montreal dance punk outfit Choses Sauvages — Totalement Sublime‘s Marc-Antoine Barbier (guitar), Theirry Malépart (keys), Tony Bélisle (keys), Philippe Gauthier-Boudreau (drums) and Félix Bélisle (vocals, bass) — exploded into the local and provincial scenes: The album was released to widespread critical applause across the province while landing a a Félix Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year at the 2019 Association Québécoise de l’industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video (ADISQ) and winning a Felix Félix Award for the Indie Rock Album of the Year. The album also topped the Independent Radio Charts across the province. 

The following year, the quintet along with friend and touring member, Foreign Diplomats‘ Charles Primeau (bass), supported their self-titled album with a relentless your schedule that saw them literally playing every joint and festival stage across the province. But by doing so, they developed a reputation for an explosive live show. And adding to a growing profile across the province, the Montreal-based dance punk outfit toured with acclaimed act Half Moon Run. 

Choses Sauvages sophomore album, Choses Sauvages II was released last year, and the album saw the rising French Canadian outfit boldly pushing their sound towards electronic and nu-disco influences, like L’Imperatice and Lindstrøm while still drawing from their love of funk, Bowie and Bee Gees. The album’s material also sees the band balancing a rigorous and meticulous songwriting approach with their long-held rebellious spirit.

Last year, I wrote about album single “Chambre d’écho” is a slinky Duran Duran meets Talking Heads banger centered around squiggling Nile Rodgers-like guitar, handclaps, a sinuous bass line, glistening synths, propulsive four-on-the-floor and an enormous, arena rock friendly hook. It’s the sort of song that will make you long for strobe-lit dance floors and sweaty clubs dancing the night — and your concerns — away. 

Just before the rising French Canadian outfit is about to jet off to Paris for this year’s MaMA Festival, the band shared a video for “Conseil Solaire,” a sleek, trance-inducing bop centered around glistening synth arpeggios, wah wah pedaled guitar, bursts of gorgeous flute, and a motorik groove paired with dreamy and ethereal vocals and the band’s unerring knack for infectious hook. To my ears “Conseil Solaire” seems like a slick and breezy synthesis of Kraftwerk, DBFC, and Duran Duran — but perhaps even more dance floor friendly.

Directed by the band’s Marc-Antoine Barbier, the accompanying video mixes reality and fantasy in a seamless fashion: “Inspired by the natural monoliths of the St. Lawrence archipelagos, the clip takes place in a river environment where we follow the sectarian dance of a group celebrating the sun,” Barbier explains. The small group of followers perform a jerky dance routine while the members of Choses Sauvages look on passively, until the explosive climax of the ceremony.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Carré Share Uneasy and Lysergic “Brothers”

Over the past couple of years, I managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering Los Angeles-based indie electro rock outfit and JOVM mainstays Carré, an act that features:

  • Julien Boyé (drums, percussion, vocals): Boyé has had stints as a touring member of Nouvelle Vague and James Supercave. Additionally, he has a solo recording act Acoustic Resistance, in which he employs rare instruments, which he has collected from all over the world.

  • Jules de Gasperis (drums, vocals, synths, production and mixing): de Gasperis is a Paris-born, Los Angeles-based studio owner. Growing up in Paris, he sharpened his knowledge of synthesizers, looping machines and other electronics around the same time that Justice, Soulwax and Ed Banger Records exploded into the mainstream.

  • Kevin Baudouin (guitar, vocals, synth, production): Baudouin has lived in Los Angeles the longest of the trio — 10 years — and he has played with a number of psych rock acts, developing a uniquely edgy approach to guitar, influenced by Nels Cline, Jonny Greenwood and Marc Ribot.

Deriving their name for the French word for “square,” “playing tight” and “on point,” the Los Angeles-based trio formed back in 2019 — and as the band’s Jules de Gasperis explains in press notes, “The making of our band started with this whole idea of having two drummers perform together. It felt like a statement. We always wanted to keep people moving and tend to focus on the beats first when we write.”

Carrè fittingly specializes in a French electronica-inspired sound that frequently blends aggressive, dark and chaotic elements with hypnotic drum loops. And thematically, their work generally touches upon conception, abstraction and distortion of reality through a surrealistic outlook of our world.

2020’s attention-grabbing self-titled EP featured:

Since the release of their debut EP, the members of Carré have shared remixes of material off their self-titled EP. But earlier this month, the Los Angeles-based JOVM mainstays released “Brothers,” their first single of 2022. Centered around a dense and woozy production featuring copious amounts of cowbell, buzzing guitars, layered arpeggiated synths, industrial clang and clatter, thumping and propulsive four-on-the-floor, the expansive “Brothers” is a slick synthesis of Pink Floyd‘s “On The Run,” Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails, and LCD Soundsystem that’s arguably the act’s trippiest and most dance floor friendly track of their growing catalog.

The band explains that the track “is a surrealistic allegory on climate change and human relationships with Mother Earth.”

The accompanying video was made by San Diego-based artist Jerry Scott Lopez and is an uneasy and lysergic nightmare featuring stop motion animation vaguely inspired by Darron Anrofski’s Mother.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Pop Outfit Lynda Shares a Breezy Yet Wistful Bop

Currently split between Bristol and Paris, indie electro pop duo Lynda — Russ Harley and Youcef Khelil — can trace their origins to a writing session in London‘s Lewisham section back in 2016. With the release of a handful of singles and Lynda Tapes [2018-2020], the duo quickly established a sound influenced by Japanese synth pop outfit YMO, Hiroshi Sato, Vangelis‘ Blade Runner soundtrack and Badalamenti’s Twin Peaks soundtrack.

The duo is set to release their four-song, debut EP LEMONRIVER EP. Mixed by French touch legend Alan Braxe, the EP reportedly sees the duo crafting an ethereal synth wave sound featuring vintage 80s and 90s drum machines, vintage synths paired with Khelil’s plaintive vocal delivery. The end result is a sound that’s dreamy and cinematic and tinged with a bittersweet nostalgia.

LEMONRIVER EP‘s second and latest single “Calliope” derives its title from the Greek muse of epic poetry. Centered around a lush and dreamy soundscape featuring a strutting yet funky bass line, glistening synth arpeggios, Khelil’s achingly plaintive vocal and the duo’s penchant for infectious, razor sharp hooks. Thematically, the song is focused on a familiar scenario for most, if not all of us: That recognition that your lover has changed and become a stranger right before your eyes — and that maybe it’s time for the things to end, even if you don’t want it to end.

Directed by Ikonë Studio, the accompanying video was shot in Kosovo and follows the duo in 90s-styled suits and sneakers, driving through tree-lined suburban streets and downtown Kosovo at night in a red convertible, goofing off at a quirky Wes Anderson-like hotel and dancing on the roof of skyscraper. Underneath the stylishness and quirkiness of the visual is a bittersweet, nostalgic ache.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Toulouse, France’s Edgar Mauer Shares Gorgeous and Introspective “By any means”

Founded back in 2020 by its founder, singer/songwriter and musician Maëve Couderc as a way to work around various gender roles, the Toulouse, France-based indie outfit Edgar Mauer became a full-fledged band when sound engineer Alain Flary and drummer Camille Bigeault joined. Since then, the band has developed a sound that meshes elements of Bristol trip-hop and Kate Bush-like pop with a modern touch. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Elma Capser,” a slow-burning bit of dream-pop centered around Coudec’s yearning vocal, Bigeault’s tribal-like drumming and Flary’s glistening guitar lines paired with a soaring hook and chorus. Sonically, “Elma Casper” brought The Sundays, The Cocteau Twins and even Mazzy Star to mind. And much like those acts, the song itself is rooted in the deeply personal, with a novelist’s attention to psychological detail. 

The band explained, that the song’s inspiration came from a mysterious name scrawled on a wall in Paris — Elma Casper. Couderc wound up writing lyrics, imagining what Elma Casper’s life would be, while also wondering if someone scrawled her name on a random wall, if they would be as a curious as she was. They also add that the song is an ode to the feelings and experience we leave behind when living and leaving a place, accepting our own trajectory.

The Toulouse-based trio’s latest single “By any means” continues a run of gorgeous and introspective dream pop-inspired material featuring shimmering, reverb-drenched guitars, Couderc’s achingly plaintive vocal paired with an enormous hook and chorus. While sonically, “By any means” will bring back some fond memories of 4AD Records classic heyday and 120 Minutes-era MTV, the song as the band explains is a self-empowerment anthem.

Directed by Patrycja Toczek and the band, the video stars Edgar Mauer’s Couderc as a bored version of herself in the park on a lovely day, when she encounters a cheery monster played by Léna Base, who spends the day with Couderc. Throughout their time together, they play a variety of games — and we see Couderc eventually cheer up. The video itself possesses a goofy, DIY charm that’s just adorable.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Makaya McCraven Shares Gorgeous “The Fours”

Makaya McCraven is an acclaimed Paris-born Chicago-based jazz percussionist, beatmaker and producer, who has released a remarkable run of critically applauded, genre-defying and re-defining albums that includes 2015’s The Moment, 2017’s Highly Rare, 2018’s Universal Beings, 2020’s We’re New Again and Universal Beings E&F Sides, and last year’s Deciphering the Message. 

McCraven’s newest album, In These Times is slated for a September 23, 2022 release through International Anthem/Nonesuch/XL Recordings. The album is a collection of polytemporal compositions inspired as much by broader cultural struggles as it is by McCraven’s personal experience as the product of a multinational, working class musician community. In These Times‘ material was seven years in the making, and was consistently in process in the background while McCraven was in the middle of his critically applauded run of albums. 

Featuring contributions from a talented cast of collaborators including Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, Brandee Younger, Joel Ross, Marquis Hill, Lia Kohl, Macie Stewart, Zara Zaharieva, Marta Sofia Honer, Greg Ward, Irvin Pierce, Matt Gold, Greg Spero, De’Sean Jones, and Rob Clearfield, the new album was recorded in five different studios and four live performance spaces while McCraven engaged in extensive post-production work at home. Sonically, the album sees McCraven and his collaborators weaving orchestral, large ensemble arrangements with the “organic beat music” sound that’s become his signature sound. The end result is an album that’s reportedly a bold and decided evolution for McCraven as a composer and as a producer. 

So far I’ve written about two tracks off In These Times:

  • “Seventh String,” a dazzling and dizzying composition featuring rolling bursts of polyrhythmic drumming and beats, glistening, finger plucked guitar, gorgeous orchestral strings, twinkling bursts of harp and soulful flute lines. While the composition smudges then blurs the lines between J. Dilla-like beatmaking and jazz, it sees the musicians carefully walking a tightrope between chaos and order, free-flowing improvisation and structured composition in a way that’s thoughtful, mischievous, and forceful yet breathtaking. 

  • “Dream Another” features Brandee Younger (harp), Junius Paul (bass), Matt Gold (guitar, sitar) and De’Sean Jones (flute) on a gorgeous and expansive composition that simultaneously nods at 70s soul jazz and jazz fusion and psychedelia in a way that reminds me a bit of synthesis of Return to Forever, Mahavisnu Orchestra and J. Dilla. 

In These Times‘ third and latest single “The Fours” is centered around a gorgeous yet mind-bending arrangement featuring Younger’s twinkling and explosive bursts of harp, shuffling layers of polyrhythmic beats, looping horn lines. Sonically, “The Fours” is a synthesis of bop-era jazz and DJ Premier-like boom bap.

Directed by Ryosuke Tanzawa, the gorgeously cinematic accompanying video features a dreamy mixture of the natural and the man-made here in New York City.

Next Monday, McCraven will perform music from In These Times at Public Records with an All-Star cast that will include Junius Paul, Brandee Younger, De’Sean Jones and the string quartet from the album — Marta Sofia Honer, Macie Stewart, Zara Zaharieva and Lia Kohl.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

DeusExMaschine is a Paris-based electronic music producer, who specializes in a sound that meshes elements of classic disco house with other electronic subgenrees like tech house, deep house and others. The Parisian producer’s latest single “Only You” is a summery, club friendly banger that nods at French touch, house music and deep house centered around a rousing and infectious hook.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Rising Paris-born, Montreal-based singer/songwriter and JOVM mainstay Thaïs specializes in an atmospheric and delicate take on pop centered around the French Canadian artist’s ethereal vocals. Thematically her work focuses on melancholy, loneliness and dysfunctional, confusing, heartbreaking love. 

Last year’s Paradis Artificiels EP featured two tracks I wrote about: 

  • “Boreal,” a track inspired by a trip she took to Iceland that evoked the awe-inspiring sense of being in a gorgeous, natural beauty and taking it all in deeply
  • “Sushi Solitude,” an atmospheric and delicate bit of synth pop that brought Washed Out to mind. 

2022 has been a big year for the Montreal-based JOVM mainstay: Earlier this year, Thaïs signed to Bravo Musique, who released Tout est parfait: acte un back in May. The EP features features two tracks I wrote about on this site:

  • “Arrête de danser,” a slickly produced bop centered around glistening and atmospheric synth arpeggios and trap beats that saw the rising French Canadian artist alternating between a syncopated trap-like flow for the song’s verses and ethereal cooing for the song’s hook and choruses. And while arguably being one of her most club friendly songs, “Arrête de danser” is a bitter tell-off to an unhealthy, dysfunctional lover that the song’s narrator knows deep down is wrong for her — and yet can’t quite quit. 
  • The Coeur de Pirate co-written, Renaud Bastien-produced “Vieux Port,” a danceable and deceptively upbeat bop featuring wobbling bass synth, glistening and arpeggiated synth melodies, twinkling keys, some brief bursts of industrial clang and clatter and soaring strings paired with Thaïs ethereal cooing. But just underneath the surface is a song that details a relationship that’s seemingly on the ropes while contemplating the passing of time and the desire to turn the clock back — with the knowledge you have now. 

The JOVM mainstays second EP of the year, Tout est parfait: act deux is slated for a September 2, 2022 release. The EP’s first single “Le vent” is a breezy pop song featuring twinkling and atmospheric synths arpeggios and skittering trap-inspired beats paired with Thaïs’ ethereal cooing.

The song’s title, which translates into English as “The Wind” is structured to evoke a gust of wind for the verses and a brewing storm for the song’s choruses. And at its core, the song continues a remarkable run of material imbued with an achingly bittersweet nostalgia over a long lost love that deep down she knows she can’t get back.


Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Paris’ FTR Shares a Mosh Pit Friendly Ripper

Paris-based outfit FTR (formerly known as Future) is a noise trio — Yann C. (bass, vocals), Pauline CP (keyboards and programming) and Brice D (guitar) — have managed to continually evolve through their first three releases, 2013’s fuzzy and atmospheric Abyss EP, 2015’s cold and brooding Horizons, and 2019’s darker, straightforward and forceful Manners.

The Parisian trio’s forthcoming album third album Vicky Vivid Experience reportedly sees the band further experimenting with their sound and approach — and revealing a whole new side. The album’s first single “White Light” is a noisy, ripper featuring distortion and fuzz fueled power chords, relentlessly driving four-on-the-floor, rumbling bass paired with mosh pit friendly choruses. Sonically, “White Light” brings — to my ears, at least — Exploding Head-era A Place to Bury Strangers to mind.

The accompanying video features old stock footage of film reel start timed to the music.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Belgian-born Artist clo Shares Sultry and Self-Assured “Room”

clo is a 20-year-old, emerging, Brussels-born neo-soul/R&B and jazz singer/songwriter, who’s currently splitting her time between New York and Paris, where she’s simultaneously pursuing studies in Neuroscience while modeling, and a professional music career.

The emerging Belgian-born artist can trace the origins of her music career to when she started receiving classical and jazz training in piano when she turned four. Since then, clo has spent much of her formative years creating her own original music, inspired by Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Snoh Aalegra, and CELESTE.

clo’s debut single “room” is a slow-burning and vibey ballad centered around the young Belgian-born artist’s sultry vocals paired with a brooding production featuring skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling trap beats, twinkling jazz piano and atmospheric synths. The song reveals an artist, who’s remarkably self-assured beyond her relative youth — while showcasing an artist, with an uncanny knack for mature, lived-in lyricism and a well-placed, razor sharp hook.

The accompanying video follows the young Belgian-born artist on a glorious summer day through beautiful Paris.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Makaya McCraven Shares Gorgeous and Dream-Like “Dream Another”

Makaya McCraven is an acclaimed Paris-born Chicago-based jazz percussionist, beatmaker and producer, who has released a remarkable run of critically applauded, genre-defying and re-defining albums that includes 2015’s The Moment, 2017’s Highly Rare, 2018’s Universal Beings, 2020’s We’re New Again and Universal Beings E&F Sides, and last year’s Deciphering the Message. 

McCraven’s newest album, In These Times is slated for a September 23, 2022 release through International Anthem/Nonesuch/XL Recordings. The album is a collection of polytemporal compositions inspired as much by broader cultural struggles as it is by McCraven’s personal experience as the producer of a multinational, working class musician community. In These Times‘ material was seven years in the making, and was consistently in process in the background while McCraven was in the middle of his critically applauded run of albums. 

Featuring contributions from a talented cast of collaborators including Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, Brandee Younger, Joel Ross, Marquis Hill, Lia Kohl, Macie Stewart, Zara Zaharieva, Marta Sofia Honer, Greg Ward, Irvin Pierce, Matt Gold, Greg Spero, De’Sean Jones, and Rob Clearfield, the new album was recorded in five different studios and four live performance spaces while McCraven engaged in extensive post-production work at home. Sonically, the album sees McCraven and his collaborators weaving orchestral, large ensemble arrangements with the “organic beat music” sound that’s become his signature sound. The end result is an album that’s reportedly a bold and decided evolution for McCraven as a composer and as a producer. 

Last month, I wrote about In These Times single “Seventh String,” a dazzling and dizzying composition featuring rolling bursts of polyrhythmic drumming and beats, glistening, finger plucked guitar, gorgeous orchestral strings, twinkling bursts of harp and soulful flute lines.

In These Times‘ first single “Seventh String” was a dazzling and dizzying composition centered around rolling bursts of polyrhythmic drumming, glistening, finger plucked guitar, gorgeous orchestral strings, twinkling bursts of harp, soulful flute lines. While the composition smudges then blurs the lines between J. Dilla-like beatmaking and jazz, it sees the musicians carefully walking a tightrope between chaos and order, free-flowing improvisation and structured composition in a way that’s thoughtful, mischievous, and forceful yet breathtakingly gorgeous. 

Written and recorded in McCraven’s Chicago-based home studio, In These Times‘ second and latest single “Dream Another” features Brandee Younger (harp), Junius Paul (bass), Matt Gold (guitar, sitar) and De’Sean Jones (flute) on a gorgeous and expansion composition that simultaneously nods at 70s soul jazz and jazz fusion and psychedelia in a way that reminds me a bit of synthesis of Return to Forever, Mahavisnu Orchestra and the aforementioned — and beloved — J. Dilla.

Directed by Nik Arthur, the accompanying visualizer features hand-drawn, digital and photographic animations composed and then laser-etched into stone in the style of a “zoopraxiscope,” a 19th century animation device that predates the motion picture, and allowed images to move on screen for the first time.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: MAGON performs “Halley’s Comet” and “Fire on Fire” in Fontainebleau, France

Over the past three years or so, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering the Israeli-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON, who with the release of Out in the Dark quickly established a sound, that at the time, he dubbed as “urban rock on psychedelics.”  

The Israeli-born, Paris-based JOVM mainstay’s sophomore album Hour After Hour was a decided change in sonic direction with the material being “somewhere between Ty Segall, Allah-Las and The Velvet Underground” according to MAGON. He closed out the year with his third album In The Blue, an album that saw the JOVM mainstay drawing from two completely different sets of influences -— 70s rock like Lou Reed and Led Zeppelin and contemporary influences like Mac DeMarco and Devendra Banhart. Written around the birth of the artist’s daughter, the album is centered around what may arguably be some of the most introspective songwriting of his growing catalog — while featuring a more assertive delivery. 

Continuing upon a remarkably prolific period, MAGON’s fourth album A Night in Bethlehem was released earlier this month. Shortly after the album’s release, MAGON invited his live band to a farm in the woods of Fontainebleau to record and film a live EP featuring four songs from his most recent album. Because the album’s material was mostly recorded by himself in his studio, the live sessions presents the album’s material in a much more organic, rawer sound.

Two of those live EP’s songs were filmed:

“Hailey’s Comet,” a dreamy bit of psych pop centered around glistening and reverb-drenched post punk-like guitars, a simple back beat and fluttering, intergalactic-like feedback that touched upon the immensity of historical and cosmic time. Throughout the song, its narrator spends the song wondering how life and humanity will be the next time Halley’s Comet passes by our part of the cosmic neighborhood in 2061. How many of us will be around? What will we say about this moment to our descendants? Will history be kind to us? 

The live session features “Fire on Fire.” Built around a laconic, easy-going groove, trippy reverb and delay pedal drenched guitars paired with a mix of surrealistic and contemplative lyrics, “Fire on Fire” expresses a slow-burning yearning.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Makaya McCraven is an acclaimed Paris-born Chicago-based jazz percussionist, beatmaker and producer, who has released a remarkable run of critically applauded, genre-defying and re-defining albums that includes 2015’s The Moment, 2017’s Highly Rare, 2018’s Universal Beings, 2020’s We’re New Again and Universal Beings E&F Sides and last year’s Deciphering the Message.

McCraven’s newest album, In These Times is slated for a September 23, 2022 release through International Anthem/Nonesuch/XL Recordings. The album is a collection of polytemporal compositions inspired as much by broader cultural struggles as it is by McCraven’s personal experience as the producer of a multinational, working class musician community. In These Times‘ material was seven years in the making, and was consistently in process in the background while McCraven was in the middle of his critically applauded run of albums.

Featuring contributions from a talented cast of collaborators including Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, Brandee Younger, Joel Ross, Marquis Hill, Lia Kohl, Macie Stewart, Zara Zaharieva, Marta Sofia Honer, Greg Ward, Irvin Pierce, Matt Gold, Greg Spero, De’Sean Jones, and Rob Clearfield, the new album was recorded in five different studios and four live performance spaces while McCraven engaged in extensive post-production work at home. Sonically, the album sees McCraven and his collaborators weaving orchestral, large ensemble arrangements with the “organic beat music” sound that’s become his signature sound. The end result is an album that’s reportedly a bold and decidedly evolution for McCraven as a composer and as a producer.

In These Times‘ first single “Seventh String” is a dazzling and dizzying composition centered around rolling bursts of polyrhythmic drumming, glistening, finger plucked guitar, gorgeous orchestral strings, twinkling bursts of harp, soulful flute lines. While the composition smudges then blurs the lines between J. Dilla-like beatmaking and jazz, it sees the musicians carefully walking a tightrope between chaos and order, free-flowing improvisation and structured composition in a way that’s thoughtful, mischievous, and forceful yet breathtakingly gorgeous.

McCraven will be embarking on a very busy tour schedule throughout the summer and fall. The tour includes a July 31, 2022 stop at Central Park SummerStage. Check out the rest of the tour dates below. For ticket info and more, check out the following: https://www.makayamccraven.com/home#page-section-62a80fe5d655357142843718

TOUR DATES

June 30 – July 2 – Montreal Jazz Fest – Montreal, QB

July 6 – Copenhagen Jazz – Copenhagen, DK

July 7 – Warsaw Jazz Days – Warsaw, PL

July 8 – North Sea Jazz Fest – Rotterdam, NL

July 9 – Kongsberg Jazz – Kongsberg, NO

July 16 – DOUR Festival – Dour, BE

July 19 – Jazz en La Costa – Granada, ES

July 20 – Teatro Trento Jazz – Trento, IT

July 21 – Casa del Jazz – Roma, IT

July 22 – Musiques en été – Geneva, CH

July 24 – Odysseus Festival – Helsinki, FI

July 30 – Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI

July 31 – Central Park SummerStage, New York City, NY

August 2 – Salt Shed – Chicago, IL

August 5 – OFF Festival – Katowice, PL


October 15 – Chan Center for the Arts – Vancouver, BC

October 17 – Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO

October 19 – Fox Theater – Boulder, CO

October 21 – Revolution Hall – Portland, OR

October 23 – The Independent – San Francisco, CA

October 25 – Earshot Jazz Festival – Seattle, WA

October 27 – Kuumbwa Jazz Center – Santa Cruz, CA

October 29 – Musical Instrument Museum – Phoenix, AZ

October 30 – Jazz Is Dead @ The Lodge Room – Los Angeles, CA

November 4 – JazzOnze+ Festival – Lausanne, CH

November 5 – C2C Festival – Torino, IT

November 7 – CBE – Cologne, DE

November 8 – Domicil – Dortmund, DE

November 9 – J.A.W. – Berlin, DE

November 10 – Enjoy Jazz – Mannheim, DE

November 12 – Moods – Zurich, CH

November 13 – LaFabrika – Prague, CZ

November 14 – Müpa – Budapest, HU

November 16 – Trabendo – Paris, FR

November 17 – PAARD – The Hague, NL

November 18 – Islington Assembly Hall – London, UK

November 19 – SuperSonic Jazz at Paradiso – Amsterdam, NL

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: French Trio Edgar Mauer Shares a Gorgeous, Yearning Single

Emerging French indie rock project Edgar Mauer was formed back in 2020 by its founding member, singer/songwriter and musician Maëve as a way to work around various gender issues. Alan, a multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer and Camille Bigeault (drums) joined, turning the project into a full-fledged band that developed a sound that meshes elements of Bristol trip-hop and Kate Bush-like pop with a modern touch.

The trio’s latest single “Elma Casper,” is a gorgeous and slow-burning dream pop-like song centered around Maëve’s yearning delivery, Bigeault’s tribal-like drumming, Alan’s glistening guitars paired with a soaring hook. Sonically “Elma Casper” — to my ears — recalls The Sundays, The Cocteau Twins and even Mazzy Star. And much like those acts, the song itself is rooted in the deeply personal, with a novelist’s attention to psychological detail.

As the band explains, the song’s inspiration comes from a mysterious name scrawled on a wall in Paris — Elma Casper. And Maëve wound up writing a song, imagining what Elma Casper’s life would be, while also wondering if someone scrawled her name on a random wall, if someone would be as curious as she was. They add that the song is an ode to the feelings and experiences we leave behind when living and leaving ap lace, accepting our own trajectory.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares a Trippy and Introspective New Single

Over the past couple of years, I’ve managed to spill a copious amount of virtual ink covering Israeli-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON.

Late last year, the Israeli-French artist released his critically applauded sophomore album Hour After Hour, an album that sonically was a decided change in direction with the material being “somewhere between Ty Segall, Allah-Las and The Velvet Underground” according to the Israeli-born, Parisian artist. 

Magon closed out the year with his third album In The Blue, an album that saw him drawing from two completely different sets of influences — 70s rock like Lou Reed and Led Zeppelin and contemporary influences like Mac DeMarco and Devendra Banhart. Written around the birth of the artist’s daughter, the album is centered around what may arguably be some of the most introspective songwriting of his growing catalog — while featuring a more assertive delivery. 

Continuing upon a remarkably prolific period, MAGON released his fourth album, A Night in Bethlehem. In the lead-up to the album’s release last week I managed to write about two album singles:

  • “Halley’s Comet,” a dreamy bit of glam-like psych pop featuring glistening and reverb-drenched, post punk-inspired guitars, a simple back beat and fluttering and spacey feedback. Thematically, the song touched upon the immensity of historical and cosmic time: the narrator wonders how life and humanity will be the next time Halley’s Comet passes by our section of the cosmic neighborhood in 2061.
  • “A Night in Bethlehem,” the album’s title track and second single, which featured a chugging, motorik groove paired with angular bursts of guitar, a razor sharp hook, intergalactic feedback and Magon’s ironically detached vocals. Thematically, the song explored the surrealist fringes of mysticism.

A Night in Bethlehem‘s third and latest single “This Man” continues a remarkable run of glam-inspired psych featuring at trippy, Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie groove paired with a steady yet propulsive backbeat, some lysergic guitar solos, a supple bass line and Magon’s imitable, ironically detached deadpan. While superficially describing an unusual dude, who lives next door, the song’s narrator subtly points out that this man sees things in a much deeper fashion with his two eyes. Much like its predecessors, the new single yearns for something deeper, more profound, more true in a mad, mad, mad world.