New Video: 808 State Releases a Psychedelic Visual for Skittering and Propulsive Club Banging “Ludwig Equation”
Tag: Soul Coughing
I’ve written a bit about the indie electro pop act DGTL CLR over the past few years and as you may recall, the project, which initially began as a the music project of a mysterious Southern California-based electronic music production and artist duo; however, the cloak of mystery has been gently pulled off, revealing its creative mastermind, the San Diego-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Devereaux Jennings.
Since I’ve last written about Jennings and DGTL CTL, the act has developed a reputation for specializing in a relatively new subgenre of electro pop next wave, which generally features a mix of vaporwave synths, electronic dance beats and organic instrumentation — i,e. guitars, saxophone and the like; but Jennings’ take finds him meshing elements of house music and indie rock to the mix, essentially adding a live aspect to the club. Interestingly, his latest single, the swaggering and glitchy banger “Carry On” is centered around a speak-sing vocal delivery reminiscent of Butthole Surfers, Cake, and Soul Coughing, industrial clang and clatter, tweeter and woofer rocking beats to create a sound that’s one part industrial electro pop, one part hip-hop and one part spoken word — all while focusing on an uplifting message to the listener. And while being a bold, new sonic direction for the JOVM mainstay, the new single manages to retain his uncanny ability to mesh avant-garde sounds within radio friendly pop bangers.
“‘Carry On’ is a blend of electronic, and indie. Taking that butthole surfer vibe and mixing it with some low dance bass,” Devereaux Jennings explained in an email to me. “The lyrics just plopped out, seeing as I did them on one take as improv about some shit I was going through. I have always felt like this outsider trying to do what I love and be who I feel I am, but always feeling like I am failing or just a lost cause. But we fail, we lose, we fuck up sometimes and we have to carry on. You are the only person that has the power to make something happen, no matter what holes or hills you face. The moment you give up, is the moment your dream dies. Don’t question your failures, learn from them and grow. Carry On…”
New Video: The Surreal and Sexual New Visuals for Collapsing Scenery’s “Straight World Problems”
Comprised of Don De Vore, who has spent stints in a number of indie rock acts, including Sick Feeling, Ink and Dagger and others and Reggie Debris, the Brooklyn-based electronic duo Collapsing Scenery can trace their origins back to the summer/fall of 2013, one of a series of summers in which humanity seemed to be inching closer to the precipice of self-annhiliation. And inspired by those particularly bleak days, the De Vore and Debris put aside their guitars, the instruments they’d first learn to play music and on which they were most comfortable and most well-versed, and began assembling as much analog electronic equipment as possible — including samples, step sequencers, synths and drum machines, all plugged into a variety of effects pedals. Interestingly, De Vore’s and Debris’ music and creative process reportedly represents the world as the band wishes the world were: mischievous, polyglot, intense, committed, politically engaged, free, open and without boundaries or hierarchies.
With their initial and recording sessions being largely improvised and accompanied by Ryan Rapsys (drums), the material they wrote together expressed their rage and frustration — and while being an electronic outfit, their sound and material draws from punk rock, industrial electronica, techno, hip-hop. free jazz, disco, folk and several other things, and in way that will remind some listeners of renowned experimental electronic act Liars. Now if you’ve been frequenting this site for a while, you may recall that I had written about “Metaphysical Cops,” a single that reminded me of Soul Coughing’s “Super Bon Bon,” and while it’s been a while since I’ve written about the Brooklyn-based electronic duo, the band has been busy writing new material, which includes their latest single “Straight World Problems,” a propulsive and off-kilter bit of funk that manages to be both radio-friendly and dance floor-friendly despite it’s abrasiveness. While the core of the song suggests an unresolved sexual frustration and desperation, the song as the band’s Reggie Debris explains in press notes is about “the awful frequency with which new regimes and new systems mimic the worst qualities of those they replace.”
Directed by Richard Kern, the recently released video possesses a thinly veiled and unresolved sexual tension between each of the characters — are the members of the band being teased or they are enjoying suffering? Is there more than meets the eye? Hard to tell; but it’s sexy and downright weird.
Comprised of Don De Vore (best known for his work in Sick Feeling, Ink and Dagger and several other bands), Reggie Debris and Ryan Rapsys, the trio of Collapsing Scenery was founded during the fall […]
Singer/songwriter Rodrigo Amarante is probably best known in indie rock circles for his time as a member of Little Joy and Los Hermanos. Easy Sound Records released Amarante’s solo debut, Cavalo, a couple of months ago, and the material on the album […]
