Tag: Phil Spector

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Surreal and Gorgeous Visuals for Nick Hakim’s “Bet She Looks Like You”

Up until relatively recently, it had been some since I had written about the Washington, DC-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Nick Hakim; however, 2017 looks to be a big year for the renowned singer/songwriter as his much-anticipated full-length debut Green Twins is slated for a May 19, 2017 release through ATO Records — and if you had stumbled across this site earlier today, you’d remember that Hakim is currently on tour to build up buzz for the new material until its release.

Interestingly enough, as the story goes, Hakim can trace the origins of the material of Green Twins to when armed with the masters for his first two EPs Where Will We Go Part 1 and Where Will We Go Part 2, the DC-born singer/songwriter and guitarist relocated from Boston, where he was based at the time to Brooklyn. And as soon as he got himself settled, he spent his spare time fleshing out incomplete songs and writing and recording sketches and lyrics using his phone’s voice memo app and a four-track cassette recorder. He then took his new, demo’d material to various studios in NYC, Philadelphia and London, where he built up the material with a number of engineers, including frequent collaborator Andrew Sarlo (bass, engineering and production), who were tasked with keeping the original spirit and essence of the material intact as much as humanly possible.

As Andrew Sarlo explained in press notes about the writing and recording process for Green Twins, for many artists, a demo typically serves an extremely rough sketch of what the song could eventually become and sound; however, with the Hakim, the general sense is that the demos are much more like building a holy temple — and as a result, as a producer and engineer, he was tasked to clean, furnish and prepare entrants for a religious experience. Thematically speaking, the material on the album reportedly focuses on unique and rather particular aspects of his life with the bulk of the songs based on specific things he was thinking and feeling at the time he was writing and composing. And as a result, the album consists of a series of different self-portraits — and in a similar fashion to Vincent Van Gogh’s famed self-portraits, the album’s song captures the artist sometimes in broad strokes but frequently in subtle gradations of mood, tone and feeling. Hakim adds, “I also felt the need to push my creativity in a different way than I had on the EPs,” The record draws from influences spanning Robert Wyatt, Marvin Gaye and Shuggie Otis to My Bloody Valentine. We wanted to imagine what it would have sounded like if RZA had produced a Portishead album. We experimented with engineering techniques from Phil Spector and Al Green’s Back Up Train, drum programming from RZA and Outkast, and we were listening to a lot of The Impressions, John Lennon, Wu-Tang, Madlib and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.”

Green Twins’ first single, “Bet She Looks Like You,” will further cement Hakim’s growing reputation for deeply intimate, confessional songwriting that manages to be heartbreakingly visceral while being a subtle expansion upon the sound that first won attention as it retains a spectral quality but with a subtle, bluesy swagger reminiscent of Roy Orbison. Interestingly, the recently released video for the song follows Hakim as he walks to a studio space in what appears to be Sunset Park, near Industrial City where he takes part in a surreal play full of dream-like imagery, missed chances, miscommunication — and some popping and locking.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: ATO Sessions: Nick Hakim “Bet She Looks Like You”

Up until relatively recently, it had been some since I had written about the Washington, DC-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Nick Hakim; however, 2017 looks to be a big year for the renowned singer/songwriter as his much-anticipated full-length debut Green Twins is slated for a May 19, 2017 release through ATO Records — and if you had stumbled across this site earlier today, you’d remember that Hakim is currently on tour to build up buzz for the new material until its release.

Interestingly enough, as the story goes, Hakim can trace the origins of the material of Green Twins to when armed with the masters for his first two EPs Where Will We Go Part 1 and Where Will We Go Part 2, the DC-born singer/songwriter and guitarist relocated from Boston, where he was based at the time to Brooklyn. And as soon as he got himself settled, he spent his spare time fleshing out incomplete songs and writing and recording sketches and lyrics using his phone’s voice memo app and a four-track cassette recorder. He then took his new, demo’d material to various studios in NYC, Philadelphia and London, where he built up the material with a number of engineers, including frequent collaborator Andrew Sarlo (bass, engineering and production), who were tasked with keeping the original spirit and essence of the material intact as much as humanly possible.

As Andrew Sarlo explained in press notes about the writing and recording process for Green Twins, for many artists, a demo typically serves an extremely rough sketch of what the song could eventually become and sound; however, with the Hakim, the general sense is that the demos are much more like building a holy temple — and as a result, as a producer and engineer, he was tasked to clean, furnish and prepare entrants for a religious experience. Thematically speaking, the material on the album reportedly focuses on unique and rather particular aspects of his life with the bulk of the songs based on specific things he was thinking and feeling at the time he was writing and composing. And as a result, the album consists of a series of different self-portraits — and in a similar fashion to Vincent Van Gogh’s famed self-portraits, the album’s song captures the artist sometimes in broad strokes but frequently in subtle gradations of mood, tone and feeling. Hakim adds, “I also felt the need to push my creativity in a different way than I had on the EPs,” The record draws from influences spanning Robert Wyatt, Marvin Gaye and Shuggie Otis to My Bloody Valentine. We wanted to imagine what it would have sounded like if RZA had produced a Portishead album. We experimented with engineering techniques from Phil Spector and Al Green’s Back Up Train, drum programming from RZA and Outkast, and we were listening to a lot of The Impressions, John Lennon, Wu-Tang, Madlib and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.”

While in town for an intimate and sold out show at Union Pool, Hakim and his backing band recorded a live version of the spectral and achingly confessional “Bet She Looks Like You” for the ATO Sessions at Bushwick’s Market Hotel — and while conveying a visceral heartache and longing, paired with a Quiet Storm-like groove, the song, with repeated listens somehow manages to nod at Marvin Gaye, Bilal and Roy Orbison, thanks in part to his incredibly tight backing band. Speaking of the great Roy Orbison, the live footage is shot in a gorgeous, film noir-like black and white, much like Roy Orbison and Friends: A Night in Black and White.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Nick Hakim Returns with His Spectral Take on Singer/Songwriter Soul

With the release of Where Will We Go Part 1 and Where Will We Go Part 2, the Washington, DC-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Nick Hakim quickly established a national and international profile for a sound that effortlessly blurs genres as it possesses elements of classic soul, the blues, the soulful troubadour tradition of Van Morrison and others with hauntingly spectral electronic production and a soul-bearing, confessional intimacy.

Now, it’s been some time since I’ve written about him; however, Hakim has been busy writing and recording the material that would eventually comprise his forthcoming full-length debut Green Twins, which is slated for a May 19, 2017 release through ATO Records. Interestingly, Hakim can trace the origins of Green Twins’ material to when armed with the masters for Where Will We Go Part 1 and Where Will We Go Part 2, the Washington, DC-born singer/songwriter relocated from Boston to where he was based at the time to Brooklyn. And as soon as he moved, he spent his time fleshing out incomplete songs, writing and recording sketches and lyrics on voice memos and a four-track cassette recorder. The Washington, DC-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter then took his demo’d material to studios in NYC, Philadelphia and London and built upon them with a number of engineers, including Andrew Sarlo (bass, engineering and production), who were tasked with keeping the original spirit and essence of the songs intact. As Sarlo explained in press notes, for many artists, a demo usually serves as a rough sketch of what the song could eventually become; however, for Hakim, the feeling is that the demos are much more like creating a temple — and as a result, you simply clean, furnish and prepare entrants for a profoundly religious experience.

Thematically speaking, the material on the album focuses on particular aspects o this life. As Hakim mentions in press notes, a lot of the material is based on what he was thinking at that very moment, and in many ways the album consists of a series of self-portraits. “I also felt the need to push my creativity in a different way than I had on the EPs,” Hakim says in press notes. “The record draws from influences spanning Robert Wyatt, Marvin Gaye and Shuggie Otis to My Bloody Valentine. We wanted to imagine what it would have sounded like if RZA had produced a Portishead album. We experimented with engineering techniques from Phil Spector and Al Green’s Back Up Train, drum programming from RZA and Outkast, and we were listening to a lot of The Impressions, John Lennon, Wu-Tang, Madlib and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.” And as soon as you hear the album’s first single “Bet She Looks Like You,” the confessional and intimate songwriting remains, as it’s soul-bearing to a point of being heartbreakingly visceral; but it manages to be a subtle expansion upon his sound — the song manages to remain hauntingly spectral while possessing an equally subtle, bluesy swagger.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Emily Robb (guitar, vocals), arguably best known for her stint in Lantern; Leslie Burnette (organ, vocals); Emily K. Eichelberger (bass, vocals); and Emily’s sister Jenna Robb (drums, vocals), the Philadelphia, PA-based quartet Louie Louie specializes in a sound that meshes 60s rock, 60s Motown-era soul, pop and R&B with post-punk — while clearly nodding at Phil Spector‘s Wall of Sound-like production. And while being a decided change in sonic departure from her work with Lantern, the project is also Emily Robb’s first in which she has full artistic and creative control.

At the end of last year, I wrote about “After Me,” a song that possessed a lovelorn vulnerability and ache while nodding heavily towards the sounds of The Ronnettes, Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline and others, complete with a swooning sincerity — but with a subtle modern touch. The Philadelphia-based quartet’s latest single “Do It (In Your Mind)” is a jangling guitar pop track that nods at surfer rock, psych rock and The B52s while possessing a subtle punk rock sensibility, thanks to punchily delivered lyrics paired with jangling guitar chords, ethereal organ chords, a propulsive backbeat and a bratty hook — and to my ears, the song reminds me a bit of Memphis‘ renowned punk act Nots but with a more playful, almost coquettish air.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Emily Robb (guitar, vocals), Leslie Burnette (organ, vocals), Emily K. Eichelberger (bass, vocals) and Jenna Robb (drums, vocals), the Philadelphia, PA-based quartet Louie Louie specializes in a sound that meshes 60s rock, 60s Motown-era soul, pop and R&B with post-punk — while clearly nodding at Phil Spector‘s Wall of Sound-like production. And much like the material and period that influences their sound, Louie Louie’s material possesses a lovelorn vulnerability and ache while revealing a maturity and self-assuredness beyond their years, as you’ll hear on their latest single “After Me” — but just under the surface is a swooning sincerity that sets the Philadelphia-based quartet apart from many of their contemporaries.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year, you may have come across a post or two featuring the Los Angeles-based indie rock trio Psychic Love. Fronted by multimedia artist and vocalist Laura Peters, along with Max Harrison (guitar) and Liam McCormick (bass), the trio have described their sound in press notes as “dream grunge” and “as if Nancy Sinatra had a love child with Frank Black.” Earlier this year, I wrote about “Ultralight,” the first single off the recently released full-length debut The Hive Mind, a propulsive and jangling guitar pop ballad that nodded at Phil Spector‘s Wall of Sound and  La Sera‘s Music For Listening To Music To — with an anthemic hook. The album’s latest single “Dye Pack” continues along a similar vein as  jangling guitar chords played through reverb and delay pedal and propulsive drumming are paired with Peters’ sultry vocals and an anthemic hook in a swaggering, mid-tempo song that is as Peters explains in press notes is about “how even the smallest relationships leave a mark on you, and how the bigger ones can be a huge, confusing, mess.”

As a result, the song’s narrator expresses the complex array of emotions that relationships can inspire in us:  frustration, dismay, confusion, desire, suspicion, the sensation that you’re being played but aren’t completely sure, and so on. And every relationship you ever have reverberates through every succeeding relationship — and frequently in often unforeseen and unpredictable ways.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Sophie, Annabel, Cecil and Georgia, Body Type are a Sydney, Australia-based — by way of Perth, Australia and Kiama, Australia — indie quartet that formed a little over six months ago and began receiving attention for material that thematically focuses on navigating heartbreak to the banality of life in in a moldy Redfern terraced house — and for opening for the likes of Gabriella Cohen, Cate Le Bon and The Coathangers. Adding to a growing national profile, the Sydney-based quartet recently signed to Our Golden Friend Records, who will be releasing the “Ludlow”/”264” 7 inch single, featuring their debut single “Ludlow” and their latest single, the moody and slow-burning “264.” While sounding as though it were indebted to jangling guitar pop and Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound-era production, the song manages to feature lyrics that describe the day-to-day life of in and around a shitty little house with a novelist’s attention to detail, a soaring bridge and a sinuous bass line holding it all together. It’s a gently swooning and moody take on a familiar and beloved sound — and it reveals a young band playing and writing gorgeous material with a cool, self-assuredness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Mind-Bending, Psychedelic Visuals and Sounds of Twin Limb’s “The Weather”

“The Weather” is the latest single off the Louisville, KY’s soon-to-be-released effort Haplo and much like the other material I’ve written about over the years, it possess a gauzy, dreamy quality — as though the song’s narrator has just been awakened from a pleasant reverie; however, where the previous singles were towering, “The Weather” is much more understated as undulating and droning keys are paired with shimmering guitar chords played through gentle amounts and reverb and sultry pop belter-like vocals in a song that focuses on a growing sense of anticipation and aching longing.

The recently released music video employs the use of kaleidoscopic filters and effects to create a trippy and mind-bending psychedelia that further evokes the song’s gauzy feel.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Fronted by multimedia artist and vocalist Laura Peters, along with Max Harrison (guitar) and Liam McCormick (bass), Psychic Love is a Los Angeles-based indie rock trio, who describe their sound as “dream grunge” and “as if Nancy Sinatra had a love child with Frank Black.” Now if you had been frequenting this site towards the end of last year, you may recall that I wrote about “Nancy,” a bluesy, psych rock song with menacing lyrics that seemed like threats, recriminations and sexual come ons simultaneously while evoking a slowly unfolding and uneasy dread and horror. “Ultralight,” the first single off the trio’s recently released full-length debut The Hive Mind is a propulsive and jangling guitar pop ballad that sounds as though it owes a debt to Phil Spector‘s Wall of Sound with a rousingly anthemic hook paired with Peters’ plaintive and tender vocals. Sonically, the song sounds as thought it nods at La Sera‘s latest effort Music For Listening To Music To and Rilo Kiley but with a coolly, self-assured swagger.

As the band’s frontman Laura Peters explains in press notes, “Oddly, I first wrote ‘Ultralight’ while taking care of a friend, who was having a bad acid trip. Apparently the guitar lines were so soothing that every time I stopped playing, he looked horrified and pukey. I ended up writing about nine verses. Obviously they all didn’t make it into the final cut.”

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeously Swooning Sounds and Visuals of Lady Low’s Latest Single “You and I”

Comprised of founding member Jimmy Sweet (guitar, vocals), who as once a member of the San Francisco, CA-based punk band Richmond Sluts and a touring member of Hot Hot Heat, Rachel Maxann (vocals, synth and bass), Eden Lee (vocals, […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Raveonettes Doo Wop and Synth Pop-Inspired New Single

I wrote about The Raveonettes and their Rave Sound of the Month series, which officially started last month. Since their formation the duo, the Danish indie rock duo — comprised of Sune Rose Wagner (guitar, vocals, production) and […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lucius’ New Single Subtly Expands Their Gorgeous Sound

Over the past couple of years, Brooklyn-based quartet Lucius has received critical praise and attention from the blogosphere (including this site) and major media outlets such as  Rolling Stone who had once named them a “Band to Watch.” and Time who […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Psychedelic Video for Twin Limb’s “Don’t Even Think”

  Comprised of Lacey Guthrie (accordion, keys, vocals), Maryliz Bender (drums, guitar, vocals), the Louisville, KY-based trio Twin Limb first caught the attention of the blogosphere with the release of “Long Shadow,”a slow-burning, dreamy and atmospheric dirge with droning accordion, shimmering […]