Tag: singer/songwriters

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: TEKE::TEKE and Mirah Tackle The Clash For The Clash Tribute Album “Hearts & Minds & Crooked Beats”

As of last September, more than 114 million people globally have been forced to flee their homes as a result of conflict persecution and human rights violations. By the end of this year, that number is expected to reach 130 million people across the globe. Benefiting the International Rescue Committee (https://www.rescue.org) and their work with refugees, The Clash compilation tribute album Hearts & Minds & Crooked Beats invites artists, bands and visual artists to create work inspired by the legendary punk band The Clash — and to celebrate their music and human rights messages.

Slated for digital and vinyl release on International Clash Day, February 7, 2024, Hearts & Minds & Crooked Beats was mastered by Ted Jensen, known for his work with The Rolling Stones, Green Day, Norah Jones, Madonna, Alice In Chains and a lengthy list of others, the album will feature contributions from The Dandy Warhols, Smokey Brights, Seán Barna, Warren Dunes‘ Julia Massey, The Gotobeds, Big League, Labasheeda, The Rust & The Fury, acclaimed Montréal-based JOVM mainstays TEKE :: TEKE and Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Mirah. (Track listing is available below.)

Hearts & Minds & Crooked Beats Tracklist
1. The Dandy Warhols – Straight To Hell 
2. TEKE::TEKE – Bankrobber
3. Mirah – I’m Not Down
4. The Rust and The Fury – Guns of Brixton
5. Labasheeda – Deny 
6. Smokey Brights – Train In Vain (Stand By Me
7. Seán Barna – Hitsville U.K.
8. The Gotobeds – I’m So Bored with the USA
9. Julia Massey (Warren Dunes) – Rock The Casbah
10. Big League – Lost In The Supermarket
 

International Clash Day was established back in 2013 by KEXP DJ John Richards. The holiday marks a global, annual celebration of The Clash’s influential and important message and legacy. To celebrate the 11th International Clash Day, KEXP DJs Kevin Cole and Kid Hops will transition the station’s all-day International Clash Day programming on-air to the Gathering Space for International Clash Day Live, where Smokey Brights will play a live set of Clash covers and originals. Tickets and more information are available here. 

Mirah, Seán Barna and TEKE: TEKE will play a special album release show on February 2, 2024 at Brooklyn Made. Tickets and more information are available here.

Proceeds from album sales will go to the International Rescue Committee’s global fund, supporting their vital work in responding to humanitarian crises and helping impacted individuals rebuild their lives.

Today Mirah and TEKE:: TEKE shared their contributions to Hearts & Minds & Crooked Beats.

TEKE:: TEKE’s “Bankrobber” is a restrained mind-bending interpretation that’s part Spaghetti Western and partially inspired by a sound and approach that was developing in Japan during the 70s, n parallel to the UK’s punk scene with avant-garde outfits like Tokyo Kid Brothers and JA Seazer, which inspired them to sing the bulk of the song’s lyrics in Japanese. The result is something that’s familiar but somewhat alien, yet still deeply human and universal.

TEKE :: TEKE’s Maya Kuroki felt an immediate connection to “Bankrobber,” upon hearing the same words that her late father used to jokingly say “someday I’ll become a bank robber.” She wanted to represent the meaning of the lyrics as the voice of the “community” striving to counter the increasingly widening wealth gap. I envision a modern day Robin Hood, stealing from rich, greedy capitalists and giving their ill-gotten gains to the poor and needy.

The band’s Sei Nakauchi Pelletier adds, “‘Bankrobber’ was the first ever song I heard from The Clash, it was on a compilation tape a dear friend of mine had made for me in my early 20’s. The Clash went on to become one of my favorite and most-inspiring rock bands of all-time, way beyond their musical genius but also for their political stances and DIY approach.” Pelletier’s dear friend, Malcolm Baud, was enlisted to take part on the TEKE:: TEKE cover singing verses in English — a profound collaboration and full circle moment.

Brooklyn-based artist’s Mirah recruited Erica Freas and Karl Blau for a slow-burning, sultry yet deeply sweet take on “I’m Not Down” that maintains the original’s guitar-driven heart and kookiness while seemingly drawing from The Shangri-Las. “One of the best things about being asked to work on a project like this is the opportunity it gave me to play a bunch of Clash albums all at once and to pay close attention as I was listening,” the Brooklyn-based artist explains. “I wanted to pick one that felt right for my voice, with words which reflected something about me and my own experiences. Like a lot of people, I began having some run-ins with anxiety and depression during the pandemic. I wasn’t playing shows or making much music and I was spending nearly every waking hour with a tiny person who I’d given birth to 15 months before the pandemic started. ‘I’m Not Down’ was written as a sort of F you to hard times and depression, and that felt, and feels, pretty relevant.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy Belated 90th Birthday, Little Richard!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates the 90th anniversary of Little Richard’s birth.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: OMEARA Shares Sleek and Anthemic “Take It Back”

Montréal-born, German-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jasmin O’Meara can trace the origins of her music career to when she was a teenager: A 14-year old O’Meara removed a guitar off of her uncle’s wall and declared it her own.

The Canadian-born, German-based artist is an autodidact, who went on to join Montréal’s indie scene and collaborated with several different bands and experimenting with a multitude of genres. Taking a break from music to study design, a chance encounter in London led O’Meara back to music — and to playing bass in English bands Temposhark and Kill Electric.

Between 2008-2014, O’Meara played bass in synth pop outfit Zoot Woman. Writing and performing and under the moniker OMEARA, the Canadian-born, German-based artist stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with the release of her debut EP Desert Heart, which was released earlier this year. The EP sees O’Meara singing and performing all the vocal parts and almost all of the material’s instrumentation with the exception of harmonica on one song.

Thematically, Desert Heart examines the uneasy and harrowing quest of navigating love in the 21st Century, set to a richly layered and modern take on the music, which shaped her life — and is informed by her own professional experience in post punk, synth pop and indie rock bands.

Desert Heart‘s first single “Take It Back” is sleek post punk-inspired song featuring a relentless motorik-like groove, a supple bass line, gauzy guitar textures paired with rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses, a dance floor friendly bridge, and the Canadian-born, German-based artist’s punchy delivery. While sonically, “Take It Back” reminds me a bit of The Stills, The Killers and others, the song is rooted in deeply personal, lived-in experience — one that should feel familiar to anyone, who’s attempted to maneuver the awkwardness of human relationships.

“The song is about telling your lover that you never really loved them, that you felt pressured into saying ‘I love you’ back, and yet feeling no remorse about revealing this information,” O’Meara explains. But at its core, the song reveals a remarkably self-assured artist, with a penchant for crafting incredibly catchy, anthemic hooks.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares Breezy “Havana Bay”

Over the past handful of years, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering the wildly prolific Israeli-born. Costa Rica-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON. 

Immediately after the release show for his fifth album, A Night in Bethlehem, MAGON, along with his girlfriend and daughter relocated to Costa Rica. He closed that year with “Simple Mind,” a song that saw the JOVM mainstay gently refining his sound yet again with hints of surf rock and jangle pop while retaining the hook-driven nature of his previously released material. Written during a major life transition, ‘Simple Mind” features a narrator, who’s closing a major chapter of his life — and perhaps career, as well — and is moving on to a new start, new possibilities, and new horizons. 

Continuing his reputation for being wildly and restlessly prolific, MAGON’s sixth album Did You Hear The Kids? reportedly features a broader and more expansive sonic palette than ever before. The album’s first single, the lush and laid-back “Onie Was A Kid” meshes elements of 60s psych rock, lo-fi singer/songwriter pop and contemporary indie rock paired with lyrics that are simultaneously autobiographical and deeply introspective. The song also features a guest spot from Paris-based indie duo SOS Citizen, who contribute shimmering guitar work and soaring backing vocals.

“Havana Bay,” the forthcoming sixth album’s second and latest single is an upbeat and summery tune built around jangling guitars, a shuffling and propulsive rhythm paired with the JOVM mainstay’s laid back delivery and his unerring knack for catchy hooks. While sonically reminding me of Psychic Ills‘ Inner Journey Out and Rolling Stones‘ Exile on Main Street, the song sees MAGON telling a story that shifts between two characters – a stoned jokester and a sincere balladeer — and describes a desire to escape ugliness and writer’s block.

Directed by Alexa Rotarescu and Magon, the accompanying video follows the JOVM mainstay as he cleans up a horse stall and grooms a couple of them before going on a lengthy ride on one of the horses. At one point, we see the JOVM mainstay and his daughter riding the same horse — with his daughter being thrilled beyond measure.

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

Audio Interview: MANE

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms chats with rising Adelaide-based artist MANE at last week’s The New Colossus Festival.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Bruno Capinan is a Salvador, Brazil-born, Toronto-based queer, non-binary singer/songwriter and performer, who released their third album Tara Rara earlier this year through Lulaworld Records in Canada. Tara Rara, which translates to “rare desire” in English sees Capinan drawing from and highlighting their Brazilian roots with a strong focus on gender and racial justice, rooted in the Brazilian-born, Toronto-based artist’s experiences as a Black, non-binary person. The album features an orchestra of seven string musicians, 90% of whom are BIPOC and LGQBTIA+, including some of different generations and different cultural backgrounds.

Tara Rara‘s latest single, the breathtaking and effortlessly beautiful “Meu Preto” is arguably the most quintessential and classic samba song on the album. Featuring strummed acoustic guitar, shuffling Latin rhythms, a gorgeous and cinematic string section paired with Capinan’s expressive vocal delivery, full of aching and desperate longing.

Translated into English as “A Song About Two Black Lovers,” the song’s narrator laments the distance between them and their lover, while hoping for a reunion.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

I’ve managed to spill a copious amount of virtual ink covering the legendary and influential  Los Angeles-based psych rock act and JOVM mainstays The Dream Syndicate. Now, as you may recall, the band, which originally formed way back in the early 80s — currently featuring founding members Steve Wynn (guitars, vocals), a critically applauded singer/songwriter and solo artist in his own right, and Dennis Duck (drums), along with Mark Walton (bass), Jason Victor (lead guitar) and Green On Red’s Chris Cacavas (keys) —has managed to split up and reunite a few times throughout their extensive history, including their most recent one in 2017.

Since 2017, The Dream Syndicate have released a run critically applauded albums that have seen the acclaimed psych outfit at their most uncompromising — while boldly pushing their sound in radically new directions.

2020’s The Universe Inside marked the first time in their long and storied history in which every song was conceived and written as a collective whole. Sonically, the album’s material was unlike anything they’ve done together or even individually. The material draws from each individual member’s eclectic interests and passions — in particular: 

  • Dennis Duck’s love and knowledge of European avant garde music
  • Jason Victor’s love of 70s prog rock 
  • Mark Walton’s experience in Southern-fried music collectives
  • Chris Cacavas’ interest in sound manipulation 
  • Wynn’s love of 70s jazz fusion. 

The Universe Inside‘s six songs came from one completely improvised recording session in which the band came up with 80 continuous minutes of soundscapes. “All we added was air,” Wynn explains in press notes. Aside from vocals, horns and a touch of percussion here and there, every instrument is recorded live as it happened.

The Dream Syndicate’s fourth post-reunion effort and eighth overall, Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions is slated for a June 10, 2022 release through Fire Records. Continuing to push their sound and approach in new and varied directions, Ultraviolet Battle Hymns reportedly sees the band adding British glam, German prog rock, krautrock and Brian Eno-like ambient music interwoven into their psychedelic, melodic hues. The album also features guest spots from longtime collaborator and friend, The Long Ryders‘ Stephen McCarthy and Marcus Tenney, who contributes sax and trumpet to the album’s songs. 

So far I’ve written about two of the album’s singles:

  • “Where I’ll Stand,” the album’s expansive fist single, which begins with a twinkling, synth-led prog rock intro that nods at Trans Europe Express before morphing into a circular chord progression centered around twangy, reverb-drenched guitars and a slow-burning groove.  “It feels like an attempt–via the lyrics and the circular chord progression–to impose some kind of order and logic on a world that was severely lacking in both respects at the time,” The Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn explained in press notes. 
  • “Damian,” a brooding and slow-burning song that may arguably be their most AM Rock-inspired song of their extensive — and still growing — catalog: Centered around a shuffling groove, the song has a California beach sheen but with a gritty and lurking sense of evil and unease.  Fleetwood Mac meets Steely Dan, perhaps? 


The Emil Nikolaisen co-written “Every Time You Come Around” is a melodic and crafted bit of psych pop that feels like a subtle refinement of The Dream Syndicate’s classic era sound but paired with fuzzy, feedback laden guitars and achingly wistful lyrics. The new single has “a sense of arrogance and fragility in the lyrics which Jason [Victor] had the good sense to fully obliterate with a tsunami of fuzz guitar” the band’s Steve Wynn says.

The JOVM mainstays will be embarking on a lengthy international tour to support the album. The tour includes a September 17, 2022 stop at Bowery Ballroom. Check out the rest of the tour dates below. 

TOUR DATES

11 Jun: Loaded Festival, Oslo, Norway

27 Jul: Soda Bar, San Diego, CA, US
28 Jul: Lodge Room, Los Angeles, CA, US
29 Jul: Harlow’s, Sacramento, CA, US
30 Jul: Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA, US
15 Sep: City Winery, Philadelphia, PA, US
16 Sep: City Winery, Washington D.C., DC, US
17 Sep: Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, US
18 Sep: Crystal Ballroom, Boston, MA, US

07 Oct: Auditorio, Murcia, Spain
08 Oct: Loco Club, Valencia, Spain
10 Oct: Universidad, Cadiz, Spain
11 Oct: El Sol, Madrid, Spain
12 Oct: Sala BBK, Bilbao, Spain
14 Oct: SPAZIO 211, Rivoli, Italy
15 Oct: Locomotiv, Bologna, Italy
16 Oct: Magnolia, Milan, Italy
18 Oct: Lafayette, London, UK
19 Oct: Petit Bain, Paris, France
20 Oct: Het Depot, Leuven, Belgium
21 Oct: De Zwerver, Leffinge, Belgium
22 Oct: Ekko, Utrecht, Netherlands
10 Nov: Turf Club, Minneapolis, MN, US
11 Nov: Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL, US

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Black History Month: Bo Diddley

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Black History Month — and pays tributes to Bo Diddley.