Tag: Single Review

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays The Harrow Tackle For Against’s “December”

Deriving their name from the harrow, the name of a device used to punish and torture prisoners in the Franz Kafka short story “In the Penal Colony,” Brooklyn-based JOVM mainstays The Harrow — currently founder Frank Deserto (bass), LeeAnn Falciani (vocals), Greg Fasolino (guitar) and John Forester (drum programming, guitar, mixing) — can trace their origins back to 2008 when its founder started the band as a solo recording project. The band became a full-fledged band in 2013 when Deserto recruited Vanessa Irena (vocals, synths, programming), Barrett Hiatt (synths, programming) and Fasolino to complete the band’s first lineup.

With their first lineup, the Brooklyn-based JOVM mainstays released the “Mouth to Mouth”/”Ringing the Changes” 7 inch and their full-length debut Silhouettes to critical applause from The Deli Magazine, The Big Takeover, Impose, AltSounds as well as this site for a sound that is deeply indebted to The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, and others.

Following up on the November release of their latest EP, Cinderglow, the members of The Harrow have released a lovingly faithful cover of Lincoln, NE-based jangle pop/dream pop band For Against’s “December,” the title track of 1988’s December. Much like the original, The Harrow’s take on the song manages to be simultaneously wistful and brooding, and full of the recognition of life’s unending cycles, of time’s endless march forward and the compiling of regret and shame.

“For Against have always been a very special band for us here at The Harrow,” the band explains. “Their blend of jangle pop, post-punk, and dream pop set them apart from many of their American contemporaries, and their discography is in a word: perfect. We first heard the news of vocalist and bassist Jeff Runnings’ stage 4 cancer diagnosis in November, and we as a band wanted to show our deep appreciation and love for Jeff and For Against with this very special cover. Jeff has always been extremely supportive of our band and is a truly kind soul, and we are honored to call him a friend. 

We will be donating all Bandcamp proceeds for this single to Jeff’s GoFundMe, which can be found here: 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jeff-runnings-battle-stage-4-cancer

The Bandcamp link for the song can be found here: https://theharrownyc.bandcamp.com/track/december

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Daniel Higley Shares Tense and Uneasy “Ultimatum”

Daniel Higley is an emerging, American-born, German-based artist. His latest single, the Brook Fraser-produced “UItimatum” Portishead-like track featuring a supple and propulsive bass line, eerie atmospheric synths that serves as a broodingly uneasy bed for British vocalist Gen’s Beth Gibbons-like delivery. The song manages to capture our exceedingly urgent and anxious zeitgeist with an uncannily lived-in precision.

Higley explains that “‘Ultimatum,’ was created with the sense of anxiety that all my friends have been going through. It seemed to be a common theme going around my circle. This moment in time seems very important, and pivotal. This is a call to action for those feelings of anxiety, and worry. This is life giving you an ultimatum. It’s saying you need to be focused, and not too extreme to get through it.

“The line ‘not too far left, not too far right’ is from the feelings after the US election, and the state of politics in the USA, and the world. Being on a side doesn’t allow one to see clearly. We’ve never seen so much tension, war, and mistrust in our lifetimes. So basically, the theme is this is something you can’t avoid, and you can either let it sweep you away, or you can use all theknowledge and training you’ve had to this point to get through. Be centered. Stay in the light and be present.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Dabinski Shares Summery “Umama”

Sacha Dabinski is a Paris-based DJ and producer, best known as Dabinski. Inspired by Armand Van Helden, Roger Sanchez, Pablo Fierro, Sparrow & Barbossa and more, the Parisian DJ and producer’s work transports listeners to sun-drenched locales that feature bright, soulful vocals, rhythmic percussion and a blend of organic and electronic instruments to create a rich, immersive experience. His work is meant to evoke the sensation of being on a vacation, of experiencing a delightful respite from the mundanity of the everyday, filled with sunshine and joy. 

The Parisian DJ and producer closes out 2024 with “Umama,” a collaboration with Nadrums and Neyl continues a run of ebullient and summery, Afrobeats-inspired house music featuring glistening synth arpeggios, skittering Caribbean-like drumming, a bluesy guitar solo, and a soulful vocal paired with wildly catchy hooks. It’s a fun, summery tune that’s simultaneously club and lounge friendly.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Davidé Shares Brooding and Cinematic “Nevrotik”

Davide Orsi is an Italian-born, French-based musician and producer, whose career started in earnest with a stint in Italian psych rock outfit Rubber Eggs. Orsi relocated to Grenoble, France, where he continued his musical career, eventually joining Bleu Tonnerre in 2019. And while with Bleu Tonnerre, he played alongside a collection of French artists including Izia and AARON.

Orsi also started his solo recording project Davidé in 2019. The project, which is inspired by Thom Yorke, Tears for Fears and others sees him blending futuristic and dreamy accents while exploring science fiction themes like dystopian worlds and altered realities.

Orsi’s sophomore Davidé EP, Plasticity, Pt. 2 was released a few months ago. The EP’s latest single “Nevrotik,” is a brooding and cinematic composition featuring glistening synth arpeggios and a relentless motorik groove that sounds as though it were inspired by John Carpenter soundtracks, Magic Sword, Umberto and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Miami’s Sara Diana Shares Brooding and Sultry “all up in my head”

Emerging 18 year-old, Miami-based singer/songwriter Sara Diana has quickly developed a reputation for introspective and poetic storytelling lyrics and soulful vocals paired with lush, atmospheric production.

Her debut EP, the Tracksion and Camilo Velandia-co-produced Can’t Be Fazed sees the emerging Miami-based artist blending heartfelt lyrics with mesmerizing melodies while exploring themes of love, growth, survival, invincibility and self-discovery. “The whole concept of not being ‘fazed’ is feeling as though nothing can hurt you anymore,” Sara Diana explains. “I’m sure many people have experienced a time in their lives where they feel they are dealing with so much that they can’t be fazed anymore. So this project is simply that. It’s about survival.”

Can’t Be Fazed‘s latest single “all up in my head” pairs a brooding, trip-hop meets alt-pop production with the young Miami-based artist’s yearning and soulful delivery describing the wooziness of love-crazed obsession that will probably result in the narrator’s own madness.

“all up in my head” reveals a remarkably self-assured artist, beyond her relative youth, and with an uncannily innate understanding of human nature and psychology.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: STRAIGHT RAZOR Shares Dance Floor Friendly “Misery”

While he may be best known for his roles in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof and Inglorious Basterds, Omar Doom has committed most of his creative life to music. Doom’s latest musical project STRAIGHT RAZOR sees him crafting a blend of darkwave, techno and EBM anchored around menacing beats and hypnotic, clockwork melodies. 

After a string of standalone singles and remixes, Doom released his STRAIGHT RAZOR debut, 2021’s Vol. 1 EP. He followed up with 2022’s Vol. 2 EP. Last year, he launched his label DOOM VISION with STRAIGHT RAZOR — REMIXED EP, an effort that featured remixes by Gost, Corvad, Moris Blak, Nightcrawler, Destryur and ESA. Destryur released their latest album Dimensions through Doom’s new label. 

Doom’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, Casualty was released earlier this month. As Doom explains, creating the album has been a deeply personal journey, as the album’s material reflects and details his frequent battles with anxiety, an experience that can feel like the end of the world. “This album is my way of confronting those struggles and finding beauty in the chaos.”

Now, if you had been on this site earlier this week, you might recall that I wrote about album single “The Curse,” a brooding, club friendly banger that’s a slick mix of 80s New Wave and goth.

“Misery,” Casualty‘s latest single is a tense, dance floor friendly bop featuring glistening synths and tweeter and woofer rattling thump that reminds me a bit of ACTORS and the Artoffact Records lineup — but a bit more industrial and more goth. And its core, it evokes the creeping unease of a narrator, knowing that his anxiety will strike at the most inopportune time.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: South of France Teams Up with Little Trips’ Greg Laut on Breezy and Lysergic “Weekend Lover”

Led by Denver-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and creative mastermind Jeff Cormack, South of France is an indie pop project that sees Cormack and collaborators specializing in a groovy, beat-driven take on escapist, vacation pop. 

With South of France, Cormack has had his work featured in a number of smash-hit TV shows like Bojack Horseman and Shameless while receiving praise from American Songwriter, NPR, Rolling Stone and others. The Denver-based project has also opened for a list of acclaimed acts including Portugal. The Man, Young The Giant, Flaming Lips, Michigander and others.

Cormack’s forthcoming South of France album My Spirit Animal, My Baggage is reportedly one-part solo album and one-part collaborative effort with a series of vocalists, emcees and musicians. The album will feature two previously released singles:

  • “Universal Order,” a a heady yet accessible synthesis of psych pop, world music and hip-hop that’s crowd-pleasing and summery that also features Bilingual (Francophone/Anglophone) emcee Big Samir, who is one-half of The Reminders delivers a swaggering verse for the song’s hallucinogenic bridge and break.

  • “Something That You Said” a lysergic, blissed out bit of Tame Impala-like pop that serves s a lush and woozy bed for Big Samir and CRL CRRLL to trade swaggering bars and dreamily soulful falsetto vocals. 

My Spirit Animal, My Baggage‘s latest single “Weekend Lover” is a blissed-out lysergic bop featuring a propulsive, rubbery groove paired with lush, swirling textures, twinkling keys and ethereal vocals from longtime collaborator Little Trips‘ Greg Laut. While being a warm and breezy summery blast, “Weekend Lover” may arguably be the trippiest yet most hook-driven song of the forthcoming album to date.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Larmes Noires Shares Shoegazey “L’aurore”

Mathieu Schreyer is a French singer/songwriter and musician, best known for his synth wave project MPKS. His side, solo recording project Larmes Noires is a decided departure from his best known work: Larmes Noires sees Schreyer exploring darker thoughts, much more honest feelings paired with soundscapes inspired by Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure and the like, and dreamily delivered vocals.

Since starting Larmes Noires, Schreyer has released a handful of singles, last year’s full-length debut, Les ombres dérangées and the recently released self-produced sophomore album Stigmate. Sonically blending elements of post-rock, shoegaze and darkwave to create an atmospheric and immersive soundscape, the album’s material was crafted as an intimate journey, where each track serves as a raw expression of vulnerability and resilience. And fittingly, the album’s material touches upon themes of melancholy, social isolation, inner strength and resolve — in a deeply personal fashion.

Stigmate‘s latest single “L’aurore,” is a brooding and cinematic track that pairs elements of Souvlaki and A Storm in Heaven-era shoegaze with Collapse Under the Empire-like post-rock paired with Schreyer’s plaintive and ethereal delivery and enormous hooks. At its core, there is a sense of resilience and hope.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Charm School Shares Krautrocky “Happiness Is A Warm Sun”

Louisville, KY-born and-based singer/songwriter and musician Andrew Sellers, a.k.a. Andrew Rinehart has paid his dues in both New York’s and Los Angeles‘ DIY music scenes. His various bands have played with acts like Joan of Arc, Grizzly Bear and At The Drive-In.

Sellers’ latest project Charm School, which features longtime collaborators Matt Flip, Drew English, Brian Vega and Jason Bemis Lawrence signals a move away from his previous efforts, including his recent duet with Bonnie Prince Billy, and towards a much darker, more aggressive sound that sounds a bit like 70s post punk and No Wave with a bit of 90s post rock.

Charm School’s debut EP, Finite Jest was released earlier this year to praise from Queen City Sounds & Art and Post-punk.com among others. Building upon a growing profile, the project’s full-length debut, Debt Forever is slated for a January 24, 2025 release. The album’s latest single “Happiness Is A Warm Sun” is reportedly even more of a departure from an aesthetic that’s more along the lines of METZ and Protomartyr, and sees the band locking into a tight and jammy krautrock groove with swirling guitar textures paired with Sellers’ adopted Lou Reed-like singsongy delivery.

“This song is kind of an outlier on the record,” the band explains. It’s the only song that was basically improvised in the studio, and the only one where the lyrics were written sort of ‘automatically.’  They’re all ideas that have been swirling around in the collective unconscious for awhile now, pertaining to the intense state of the world: the rise of fascism, ongoing wars, financial pressure, overpopulation, media at a million miles per hour, the spectre of the algorithm, the total lack of empathy online, etc.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay LutchamaK Shares Melodic House Banger “1989”

French electronic music producer and JOVM mainstay LutchamaK has had a busy 2024: 

  • The JOVM mainstay began the year with a two-track release through Techno Parade titled Job Done, which featured “Job Done,” a glitchy and swaggering bit of techno meets footwork featuring machine gun-like skittering beats, glistening synth arpeggios paired with tweeter and woofer rattling thump. It’s an accessible and euphoric club banger meant to be played loudly and meant to encourage you to dance and sweat.

  • He followed that up with Flip the Funk, a four-track EP, which was digitally released through British electronic label Biotech Recordings and featured EP track “Pride,” a lush and soulful bit of deep house-meets-techno that reminded me of house music nights on WBLS back in the day. 

  • Then there was the standalone track, “Acid Drift” a slick, seamless synthesis of tribal house, deep house and drum ‘n’ bass that slaps hard while being dance floor friendly, which was released through Rue des Trois Rois Records.

  • Over the summer, he released the eight-track mini album  Great Broken Masses of Land through his own TERMusik. The album featured album opener and album title track “Great Broken Masses of Land,” a trance-inducing, late night, club banger anchored around skittering tweeter and woofer rattling thump and dense layers of oscillating yet melodic synths, a chopped up mantra-like vocal sample paired with his unerring knack for incredibly catchy hooks. “City Energy,” a crowd pleasing, club banger featuring glitchy oscillations, bursts of glistening synths and some industrial, tweeter and woofer rattling thump that showcases an artist, who actively pushes his sound and approach in new directions, while still remaining wildly accessible. And “B Queen V 2,” which featured glitchy oscillations, bursts of glistening and melodic synths, skittering beats and remarkably catchy hooks paired with a dreamy vocal sample. 

Last month, the JOVM mainstay released the four-song Lunar Ascending EP, which featured:

  • “Lunar Ascending,” a woozily hypnotic banger that’s heavily indebted to Detroit house and a bit of Tour de France-era Kraftwerk.

  • “Healing Dub” is a synthesis of trance-inducing dub and house music that features glistening synth stabs with skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling riddims paired with a reverb-soaked patois vocal sample.

LutchamaK closes out 2024 with the C10Cl10O mini-album and the Altered Oceanic Climate EP. C10Cl10O‘s latest single “1989” is a melodic bit of house that sounds inspired by Larry Levan‘s Paradise Garage DJ sets — but with a modern feel. House music all night long . . .

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Hot Pink Sauce Shares Woozy “Don’t You Wake Me”

Hastings, UK-based musicians Evi Vine and Steven Hill have worked together in several different projects together, including EVI VINE and Silver Moth, a collective founded by Mogwai‘s Stuart Braithwaite.

The duo’s latest project together Hot Pink Sauce released their debut single, the  A Storm in Heaven-era The Verve-meets-Slow Air-era Still Corners and Beach House-like “Feel.”

Hot Pink Sauce closes out the year with “Don’t You Wake Me,” a woozy bit of synth pop anchored around Evi Vine’s expressive delivery and primal drumbeats that sounds like a synthesis of Beach House, Stevie Nicks and Kate Bush that evokes the conflicting sensation of heartbreak, loss and resiliency, which comes in the aftermath of a bitter end of broken relationship.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Bad Robot Shares a French Touch-Inspired Banger

Micheal Ricker is a Delaware-based electronic music producer and artist best known as Bad Robot. Over the course of the year, I’ve written about a h of Ricker’s Bad Robot material, including:

  • The aptly named “Supermassive,” which features skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling thump, scorching bass synths and a woozy and wobbling synth melody. Fittingly, it’s the sort of club and festival banger that sounds as though it should knock a building over. 

  • “Close To You,” which according to Ricker, is “a bit of a departure into a brighter, more ‘pop’ sounding progressive house style.” Built around an almost mantra-like glistening synth phrase, shimmering synth arpeggios and skittering beats, the motorik-like “Close To You” is both summery and remarkably catchy, while seemingly nodding at Discovery-era Daft Punk-like French touch.

  • Max Blücher‘s remix of Year One single “Aero III.” The Blücher remix retains the original’s woozy polymeric melody but pairs it with more aggressive, skittering tweeter and woofer rattling thump, some brief bursts of industrial clang and clatter, and some ethereal synths that create a spacey, house music feel. “Inspired by the gritty sound design and frantic polymetric melodies of my original track ‘Aero III,’ Max has taken the musical DNA and infused it with his own. While the original is great, Max definitely improved the quality of the track with his production skills and imagination,” Ricker explains. “This house remix is an ethereal journey through space and time with elements of Deadmau5 that are felt even in the cover artwork.”

  • “Zombie Process” is an another deep house banger featuring tweeter and woofer thumping beats, scorching synths and a horror movie sample that’s perfect for the spooky season.

Ricker closes out the year with “Just Friends,” a house music track anchored around an incredibly catchy and hypnotic, French touch-inspired groove, glistening synths and skittering beats.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Strange New World Shares Lush and Vibey “Escape”

South Florida-based musicians Nadav H. and Sunny Strange are two friends, who have a shared passion for music and desire to build their own sonic world, which led to their music project, Strange New World. Since its formation back in 2022, the South Florida-based indie project specializes in a approach that’s inspired by classic analog sound created by the use of an Otari reel-to-reel and API mixer and more, guided by a modern edge.

Their five-song, debut EP Escape showcases the band’s unique, fluid process and sound. The EP’s first single, title track “Escape” is a meditative and vibey ballad featuring a lush arrangement of shimmering Rhodes and guitar and gently padded drumming paired with Sunny Strange’s breathy delivery. The result is a song that sounds simultaneously indebted to Beach House and 70s AM rock rooted in a bittersweet yearning.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Uppsala’s Big Fish Shares Brutal and Forceful “Snö”

Back in 1988, four Uppsala, Sweden-based teens decided to start a band after returning from a trip to West Berlin. Heavily inspired by the avant garde scene there, Big Fish‘s original lineup featured vocals, upright bass, samplers and scrap metal percussion. With the addition of a guitarist in 1990, the newly-minted quintet became part of an emerging local scene that would subsequently birth acts like Watain, Misery Loves Co., Lost Souls, Malaise and Defleshed.

Throughout the better part of the 1990s, the Swedish outfit recorded three studio albums, including 1996’s Micheal Blair-produced Andar i Halsen, which they supported with frequently touring across Scandinavia, playing over 500 shows.

The band broke up in 1997 after its members left Uppsala for work and studies. But their fanbase’s clamoring demand for hearing their material live resulted in the Swedish band playing a handful of reunion shows in 2016.

2022’s surprise fourth album, Kalla döda drömmar was released to critical praise and was supported by extensive touring across their native Sweden. The band spent the next year writing and recording material, including a six planned singles which will appear on the band’s forthcoming fifth album, Frya liter stoft (Four liters of dust) slated for release next year.

Frya liter stoft‘s third and latest single “SNÖ” (Snow) is a brutally forceful and thrashing ripper, anchored around down-tuned and rumbling bass, fuzzy power chords and thunderous syncopated drumming, rousingly anthemic and enormous hook and chorus paired with urgent and punchily delivered vocals singing lyrics in Swedish describing a return from a bleak metaphorical winter of isolation — or perhaps intoxication — and discovering that nothing is left.

“SNÖ” manages to capture the uneasy brutal nature of our bleak, mad, mad existence. All is very dire now, y’all.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Pittsburgh’s Sunny Daze and the Weathermen Share Blistering Ripper “Wax Lips”

Pittsburgh-based outfit Sunny Daze & the Weathermen formed back in the summer of 2022. And since then, the band has been hard at work sculpting what they’ve dubbed “flower punk,” which combines elements of garage rock, psych rock and post-punk.

The Pittsburgh-based outfit released their full-length debut, Sunny Daze for President earlier this year. They close out the year with “Wax Lips,” a blistering, mosh pit friendly ripper with a wild organ solo, fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming and shouted vocals that sounds like a synthesis of Question Mark and the Mysterians, The Mummies and Miranda and the Beat with Thee Oh Sees.

The band explains that the track is about their personal experiences of the simplicity of youth — and that it’s the first of a batch of singles to build up buzz for their sophomore album, which is slated for release late next year.