Tag: Spotify

News/Announcements by William Ruben Helms

MerchFriends, a is new 501 (c) organization led by Hello Merch co-founder, The Format’s Sam Means, brings together some of the top names in the merch industry to produce content, events, and educational material aimed at influencing and supporting a healthy independent music merch ecosystem. Their mission is to unite independent merch makers to support and sustain both the industry and artists that they serve.

Interestingly, MerchFriends have teamed up with the folks at Spotify, the world’s most used streaming service for the inaugural Band Shirt Day today. Band Shirt Day is a celebration of merch and giving. It’s a global fundraising event that combines the love and nostalgia of the iconic band shirt with an opportunity for artists to raise money for worthy, charitable causes.

The artists participating in Band Shirt Day include Portugal. The Man, Sonic Youth, Best Coast, Matt Nathanson, Black Pumas, Parquet Courts, Indigo De Souza, Bush Tetras, Roar, SPELLING, Equal Vision Records, and Rude Records. The GoFundMe account for Band Shirt Day will collect donations on behalf of the participating artists. The funds’ recipients will include the ACLU, The Ally Coalition, Voices of Children, MusiCares, Planned Parenthood and more.

Similar to Record Store Day or the Australia Music T-Shirt Day, Band Shirt Day invites artists to create and sell unique limited edition merch items while encouraging them to use their platform to create change. Artists can participate by listing their specially designed merchandise on HelloMerch.com, or existing sales channels with proceeds going directly to their selected charity. They can also use their Spotify profile to offer a special tee or merch deal and leverage Spotify’s Fan Support tool to encourage their listeners and fans to donate to Band Shirt Day’s official GoFundMe or to raise money for another cause directly from their artist profile.

“We at Rude Records believe that everyone has the opportunity and responsibility to make the world a better place,” the folks at Rude Records say in a statement. “That is why, through our charity branch Rude Cares, we support several projects to end inequality, social injustice and to make the world more sustainable for future generations. We are honored to take part in Band Shirt Day and thankful for having the chance to be part of this great initiative with our artists!”

“Glad to see Band Shirt Day raising the profile for the good work that bands do. It means a lot to us to get the extra exposure for our Foundation”  Portugal. The Man say of the decision to participate in Band Shirt Day.

For my fellow New Yorkers, Band Shirt Day will be Band Shirt Weekend. MerchFriends is patterning with Rough Trade to curate the Indieplaza’s Artist Merch Market at the inaugural Indieplaza at Rockefeller Center — and to establish a Band Shirt Day presence at the festival that takes place this weekend.

The Artist Merch Market will feature limited-edition merchandise from Hello Merch, Low Level, Favorite Vegetable, plus Rough Trade vinyl bins, live screen printing from Upstate Merch, live art demonstrations from the legendary Steve Keene, Jose Berrio, artist signings and festival merch, DIY family fun, interactive games and more!

A full list of participating Band Shirt Day artists, merch, and causes
can be found here: https://bandshirtday.com/directory

Artists can register to participate in Band Shirt Day here: https://bandshirtday.com

Info on Indieplaza can be found here: https://www.rockefellercenter.com/events/indieplaza-at-rockefeller-center/

Band Shirt Day’s GoFundMe can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/bandshirtday

https://www.merchfriends.org/ 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Phebe Starr Shares Trippy Visual for “My Magic Moon”

Aussie indie pop singer/songwriter Phebe Starr first emerged onto the Australian scene with her breakthrough 2013 single “Alone With You,” a track that grabbed the attention of the national music industry and received heavy rotation on Triple J. Since then, Starr has been extremely busy: her work has appeared on Spotify editorial playlists globally including New Music Friday, Fresh Finds, Young and Free, Indie Arrivals, Indie Pop, Women of Pop and thousands of fan generated playlists, which has resulted in millions of streams. Her work has appeared in ad campaigns for Sony, Samsung Galaxy — and in HBO’s Ballers.

https://youtu.be/ws1xKHhrzpM

Starr has written songs for some of the world’s biggest and most beloved artists and bands. And adding to a growing profile, she has shared stages wqiuth Of Monsters + Men, Cub Sport, and The Paper Kites and a growing list of others.

The Aussie pop artist’s full-length debut, Heavy Metal Flower Petal was released earlier this week. The album reveals an artist, who has become more in touch with self than ever before. Arguably, some of her most liberating and honest work to date, the album’s material was written in the wake of divorcing a man she married as a 21-year-old. Featuring guest spots from Cloud Control‘s and VLOSSOM‘s Alister Wright, Xavier Dunn, and Japanese Wallpaper, the album sees Starr peeling back the layers and exploring new territory and depths within her, showing a contrast between the toughness (the “heavy metal”) and the softness (the “flower petal) that exists within her life. 

“The whole album is about my process of letting myself feel things that I was afraid to,” she says. “It’s about letting myself be tender and vulnerable, learning how to incorporate the feminine into my narrative,” Starr explains. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about album “Everything,” a slinky  Stevie Nicks and Still Corners-like slinky bop centered around a a sinuous bass line, Starr’s sultry and plaintive vocals, finger snaps, strummed acoustic guitar and a soaring hook. While revealing an unerring knack for craftsmanship — and a great hook — the song sees the Aussie pop artist examining the ways in which the quest and desire for love can often lead us to strange and unfamiliar places.

“My Magic Moon,” Heavy Metal Flower Petal‘s continues a run of slinky and glittery, hook-driven bops — but while arguably being the most disco friendly and upbeat track on the album, thanks to a punchily propulsive bass line and relentless four-on-the-floor paired with Starr’s sultry delivery.

“I was so sick of writing heartache songs. I wanted to write a song about how I wanted to feel and how future me would feel, but I didn’t have a muse,” Starr explains in press notes. “I looked outside the window and I always felt like the moon looked like it had it figured out, so as one does looking up to the moon pining for vibes, I found my muse…My Magic Moon.”

The accompanying, trippy, black and white video sees Starr performing the song with some self-playing instruments and getting down with her beau, Lizard Man in outer space while she fantasizes about her lunar muse.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Aussie Indie Pop Artist Phebe Starr Shares Sultry and Yearning “Everything”

Aussie indie pop singer/songwriter Phebe Starr first emerged onto the Australian scene with her breakthrough 2013 single “Alone With You,” a track that grabbed the attention of the national music industry and received heavy rotation on Triple J. Since then, Starr has been extremely busy: her work has appeared on Spotify editorial playlists globally including New Music Friday, Fresh Finds, Young and Free, Indie Arrivals, Indie Pop, Women of Pop and thousands of fan generated playlists, which has resulted in millions of streams. Her work has appeared in ad campaigns for Sony, Samsung Galaxy — and in HBO’s Ballers.

She has written tracks for some of the world’s biggest and beloved artists and bands. And adding to a growing profile both nationally and internationally, Starr has shared stages with Of Monsters + Men, Cub Sport, and The Paper Kites among a list of others.

Starr’s long-awaited full-length debut Heavy Metal Flower Petal is slated for a March 11, 2022 release. The album reportedly reveals an artist, who is more in touch with herself than ever before. Arguably, some of her most liberating and honest work to date, the album’s material was written in the wake of divorcing a man she married as a 21-year-old. Featuring guest spots from Cloud Control‘s and VLOSSOM‘s Alister Wright, Xavier Dunn, and Japanese Wallpaper, the album sees Starr peeling back the layers and exploring new territory and depths within her, showing a contrast between the toughness (the “heavy metal”) and the softness (the flower petal) that exists within her life.

“The whole album is about my process of letting myself feel things that I was afraid to,” she says. “It’s about letting myself be tender and vulnerable, learning how to incorporate the feminine into my narrative,” Starr explains.

Heavy Metal Flower Petal‘s latest single “Everything” is a slinky bop centered around a a sinuous bass line, Starr’s sultry and plaintive vocals, finger snaps, strummed acoustic guitar and a soaring hook. Seemingly indebted to Stevie Nicks and Still Corners, “Everything” sees Starr examining the ways in which the quest and desire for love can often lead us to strange and unfamiliar terrain.

“A lot of my songs start from a visual place in my head,” says Starr, “with ‘Everything,’ I imagined myself walking through the dark matter of the universe as if getting lost in the gravitational pull of a black hole. That feeling was foreign and exhilarating to me, like the way you feel when falling in love.”
 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Mathieu Saïkaly’s Intimate and Gorgeous “If it’s all a choice”

Mathieu Saïkaly is a French electronic music producer and artist, who started his career in earnest when he turned 17: Saïkaly started a YouTube channel that initially featured recordings of the French producer and artist doing covers — but gradually he began releasing original material. Much like countless other young artists across the world, Saikaly started developing and honing his own style, discovering what resonated with him. Writing and singing lyrics in English and French, Saïkaly searched for ways to make his knowledge of both languages work together on a project, which he improved upon each year. 

When Saïkaly turned 20, he started to go out beyond the confines of his bedroom. He didn’t quite know where or how to start a music career but his friends told him he should sign up for Nouvelle Star. He wound up winning the 2014 season — singing an Elliott Smith song in the final. He was signed to a major label and released his full-length debut, 2015’s A Million Particles, which featured the viral hit “From Glass To Ice,” a song that amassed over four million streams on Spotify.

When he turned 24, the French producer and artist decided to go the independent route: He created his own label, which released his sophomore album, 2019’s Quatre Murs Blanc, an intimate and impressionistic album that focused on emotions first and the story second. The album featured album track”Mama Oh I Swear,” which amassed 400,000 Spotify streams.

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Plus jamais te revoir,” a trippy and mind-bending track centered around tweeter and woofer rocking beats, shimmering and wobbling synth arpeggios and Saïkaly’s achingly tender vocals. The end result was a song that felt like a vivid fever dream. His latest single “If it’s all a choice” further cements his reputation for being a restless experimentalist, who constantly alters his sounds and approach.

In the case of “If it’s all a choice,” Saïkaly has crafted an intimate song centered around a sparse yet gorgeous arrangement featuring the French artist’s expressive vocals accompanied by strummed, acoustic guitar. Thematically, the song deals explores the role of free will and that of fate in all of our doings — particularly when it involves affairs of the heart. And perhaps more than any other song in his catalog, “If it’s all a choice” seems the most informed by deeply personal, lived-in experience.

“I keep exploring. I changed my way of producing. My two albums were recorded in studio, I observed a lot the sound engineers, I learned a lot,” Saïkaly says in press notes. “Today, I feel able to translate my music, to make things sound the way I want. And that unlocks other ways of creating. Alone, you don’t have a time limit, unlike in the studio.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Daniel Feldman is a Rockville, MD-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter, musician, who has had a lengthy and varied music career: He’s best known for a seven-year stint as the frontman of Baltimore-based indie rock outfit Yo No Say. He’s currently one-half of synth pop duo Airplane Man with lifelong friend and creative partner, Tim Sommers.

Since its formation, Airplane Man has released a handful of singles that have earned over a million streams each — all while receiving praise from Billboard and landing on Spotify playlists like New Music Friday.

Feldman’s solo recording project Sleepy Gary derives its name from two different sources: “I first heard the name Sleepy Gary in the context of a TV show called Rick and Morty,” Feldman explains. “In the episode, a suburban family becomes infested with brain parasites that present themselves as old friends via fond yet false memories. One of those parasitic cerebral manifestations is a nonexistent family friend named Sleepy Gary who wears a classic sleeping cap and pajamas and never opens his eyes more than halfway. 

“The character resonated with me because I myself am simply a mental parasite made of false memories.. ehem.. I mean, because I have always felt sleepiness was part of my identity” Feldman continues. “As a teenager I would start my pre-high school shower and end up napping on the bathroom floor, only to awake to an Amazonian climate and the sound of my mom pounding on the door, yelling that I was about to miss the bus again.

“In college I slept through nearly every one of my 8am literature classes. The sleepiness grew and grew until it became a monster that kept me up all night and ruined every morning. Something about that character in Rick and Morty nudged me subconsciously to own it. I am sleepy and that’s ok. I used to lay awake at night before playing shows with my old band. I figure, now with a name like Sleepy Gary if I don’t sleep.. I’ll just be that much more in character. Maybe it’s a way to lean into my anxiety around sleep. I also have to admit there’s just something to the way it sounds. It reminds me of a character you might meet in a gangster movie by Martin Scorcese or something.”

Feldman’s Sleepy Gary debut 21 Love Songs is a three-volume collection that took over seven years to complete and was written in three different cities —DC, Baltimore and New York. The album was completed last year while Feldman was quarantined in a 600 square foot Bushwick apartment with roommate and producer, Gabriel Stanley. Stanley co-produced the album. Grammy-nominated Dave Weingarten mixed the album. Grammy Award-winning Alex DeTurk.

The album sees Feldman quickly establishing a sound and songwriting approach that meshes elements of bedroom pop and psych pop. Thematically, the album is an ode to the many iterations of love we experience throughout our lives: unrequited, sensual, half-hearted, budding, obsessive and long-lost but while occasionally expanding upon what a love song actually is and focuses on.

In keeping with the album’s title, Feldman will release a song off the album every 21 days over the course of a year. The album’s latest single, the Tame Impala-like “W.D.I.L.Y.” Centered around tweeter and woofer rocking beats, reverb drenched guitar, glistening synth arpeggios, an enormous hook “W.D.I.L.Y.” sees Feldman pairing arena rock and club rocking bombast with intimate and achingly vulnerable lyricism: The song’s narrator longs for the old-school love song sort of love. But he finds himself alone, after yet another unrequited love. And yet it’s not completely hopeless; it’s the sort of song in which you see yourself in — and recognize that it’s a profoundly universal experience.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rising French Artist MathIeu Saïkaly Releases a Trippy New Visual and Single

Mathieu Saïkaly is an emerging French electronic music producer and artist, who started his career in earnest when he turned 17: Saïkaly started a YouTube channel that initially featured recordings of the French producer and artist doing covers — but over time, little by little, he began releasing original material. Much like countless other young artists across the world, Saikaly started developing and honing his own style, discovering what resonated with him. Writing and singing lyrics in English and French, Saïkaly searched for ways to make his knowledge of both languages work together on a project, which he improved upon each year.

When Saïkaly turned 20, he left the confines of his bedroom. He didn’t quite know where or how to start a music career but his friends told him he should sign up for Nouvelle Star. He wound up winning the 2014 season — signing an Elliott Smith song in the final. He was signed to a major label and released his full-length debut, 2015’s A Million Particles, which featured the viral hit “From Glass To Ice,” a song that amassed over four million streams on Spotify.

When he turned 24, the French producer and artist decided to go the independent route: He created his own label, which released his sophomore album, 2019’s Quatre Murs Blanc, an intimate and impressionistic album that focuses on emotions first and the story second. The album featured album track”Mama Oh I Swear,” which amassed 400,000 Spotify streams.

Last year, Saïkaly released two singles “My Pride” and “If it’s all a choice,” which further cemented his reputation for being a restless experimentalist. Continuing upon that reputation, his latest single “Plus jamais te revoir” is a trippy and mind-bending track centered around tweeter and woofer rocking beats, shimmering and wobbling synth arpeggios and Saïkaly’s achingly tender vocals layered upon each other to create a song that feels like a vivid fever dream. Interestingly, as Saïkaly explains “the goal was to make you want to let go, when you’re alone at one, and dance with your eyers closed, in your own bubble.”

Saïkaly goes on to explain that the video for the song was meant to “mirror as much as possible the feelings inside the song.” And as a result, the video employs a blue color scheme and several different Saïkalys moving as though being possessed. It’s an equally trippy fever dream.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Nashville-based singer/songwriter, topliner and pop artist Notelle has worked with an eclectic array of producers and DJs across the globe since 2014. And in that time, her work and contributions as a songwriter and vocalist has amassed well over 12 million Spotify streams with songs appearing on a number of popular playlists, including Spotify‘s FreshEDM, Hot New Dance, Friday Cratediggers, Heart Beats, Sad Beats, Pop Chillout, Study Break, Fresh Finds, Fresh Finds: Poptronix, Italians Do It Better, Shisha Lounge, Stepping Out, New Music Fridays and Deep Delight, as well as Apple Music‘s Pop Rising and Breaking Dance playlists. This wildly eclectic work has seen the Nashville-based artist released material on over labels like Armada, Monstercat, Proximity, Lowly, Hinky, AtLast, Seeking Blue, Thrive Music, Ultra Music, Ophelia and Knight Vision (Warner Music) — while remaining fiercely independent.

After a lengthy and varied career as a go-to collaborator, Notelle decided to step out into the spotlight as a solo artist. Over the past three years, the rising Nashville-based artist has established and honed her own attention grabbing take on dark industrial pop. As a solo artist, Notelle has been named a Nashville Artist to Watch in 2020 by Nashville Scene. Her solo debut “Power” premiered on Lightning 100‘s The 615 and her third “Out of Love” received regular rotation by the station.

Last year, I wrote about two of the rising Nashville-based artist’s singles:

Notelle’s first single of 2021, “Doctor Sign” is heavily influenced by Trent Reznor, Au5 and Flume while further cementing her reputation for boundary-pushing production: in this case, dry and distorted yet seductive lead vocals and almost choral-like harmonic layers are paired with wobbling bass synths, industrial clang and clatter, razor sharp hooks and the sort of enormous bass drop that would make Skrillex proud. Interestingly, much like the rest of her steadily growing catalog. Notelle manages to craft bangers with an intensely unvarnished honesty that’s both intimate and uncomfortable. Our feelings and thoughts about ourselves, the situations we put ourselves in and the people we choose to deal with can be ugly — especially when we’ve been hurt or betrayed, if we’re truly honest about it. Of course, easier said than done!

“When writing ‘Doctor Sign’, I really gave myself permission to lean into some unattractive emotions,” Notelle explains. “I had a lot of anger towards someone who really took advantage of my kindness and natural vulnerability. I felt vindictive after that, and that’s not a particularly good color on me. I didn’t want to act on those feelings, so instead, I threw them in a song. I figured I could save myself the headache and skip out on all the repercussions of getting revenge. To me, this song is about watching someone cruel get their comeuppance. It’s out of character for me to feel satisfaction in watching someone reap what they sow, but in this particular situation…I didn’t mind it. I just pictured them letting their cruelty, and their actions, rot them from the inside out. Pictured them losing their mind because they can’t stand to be alone with themselves, and that was fine with me. Some people are their own punishment, so I can keep my hands clean and just throw my ill-wishes into a song. It’s therapeutic and it’s not my problem anymore.” 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of Oceans EP, Blonde Maze, the acclaimed recording project of New York-based singer/songwriter. electronic music artist and producer Amanda Steckler received attention from this site and elsewhere across the blogosphere for slickly produced synth pop centered around earnest lyricism, documenting her experiences, feelings and thoughts. Since Oceans EP, Steckler has released a handful of singles including “Antartica,” “Thunder” and others to praise from Billboard Pride, DJMag, XLR8R, Impose Magazine and many others, as well as love and support from BBC1, MrSuicideSheep, and MTV Radar.

Adding to a growing profile, Steckler’s material has landed on several Spotify and Apple Music playlists, including Spotify’s US Viral 50, as well as landing at #1 on Hype Machine‘s No Remixes chart. LADYGUNN named her an “artist you should’ve seen at SXSW 2018″ — and she’s opened for the likes of The Shadowboxers, Elderbrook and Vallis Alps. During that same period of time, the JOVM mainstay also released collaborations with a number of established and up-and-coming electronic music producers including including the Iowa City, IA-born, Duluth, MN-based electronic music artist and producer Kyle Stern, best known as Attom. 

The New York-based electronic music artist, electronic music producer and JOVM mainstay begins her 2021 with a cover of Mazzy Star‘s beloved, 1993 smash hit “Fade Into You.” While replacing the jangling guitars, twinkling keys and tambourine of the beloved original with shimmering and atmospheric synths, synth click and skittering beats, the Blonde Maze cover retains both vocal melody and the swooning and urgent yearning of the original — but the end result is more of a contented sigh.

“IMO it’s kind of a blissful/happy take on the beautifully yearning original,” Steckler wrote to me in an email. “I’ve been listening to the original for years — probably a decade now — and still love it. Hope Sandoval and David Roback really created a gem.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rising British Indie Electro Pop Duo NOPRISM Release a Cinematically Shot Surreal Visual for Anthemic New Single

With the release of singles like “Pieces” and “House of Smith” which have amassed over 150,000 Spotify streams combined, the rising, Newcastle-based indie electro pop duo NOPRISM — Andrew Young and Mark Nelson — have quickly and firmly established a sound that’s indebted to mid-to-late 80s New Wave and house music. “Pieces” and “House of Smith” have received airplay on BBC Music Introducing and have been playlisted by XS Manchester’s Evening Show — and adding to a growing profile, “Happiness” was championed by Duran Duran’s Simon LeBon and featured on E4’s Made in Chelsea.

Continuing on the momentum of last year, the duo begin 2021 with “Pantherbeat,’ an arena friendly club banger, centered around aggressive synth arpeggios, punchy and thumping beats and a rousingly anthemic hook. Certainly, if you’re a child of the 80s, “Pantherbeat” will bring nostalgic longing for Dead or Alive, New Order, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Pet Shop Boys, and others — but while possessing a slick, modern production.

“’Pantherbeat,’ is actually the first song written by the band when we first began writing last year, and now feels like the right time to release it,” NOPRISM’s Andrew Young explains in press notes. “It’s main lyric ‘You’ve gotta have faith’ sounds pretty apt right now, even though it wasn’t an intentional statement. It’s about the onset of a headrush… when the next high is about to kick in, or when the needle is about to drop on a big record. That brief moment of expectation and euphoria.”

Centered around gorgeous and cinematically shot black and white footage shot by Russian videographer Cottonbro, the recently released video for “Pantherbeat” follows a lean and tattooed boxer training for a big fight with a monastic-like dedication.In a surreal and feverish twist, the big fight turns into a pulsating night club — with the spectators, including bored family and friends dancing to the thumping banger while the two boxers fight. “We’ve used his [Cottonbro’s] footage for each release so far as it has a strange otherworldly feel to it, and we take multiple clips to piece together some kind of loose story which is told alongside the song. The videos have very much become part of the aesthetic of each release.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Claudia Ferme is a Chicago-based singer/songwriter and the creative mastermind behind the existential dream pop, solo recording project Claude. Ferme began crafting songs inspired by Joni Mitchell, Amy Winehouse, Angel Olsen and Weyes Blood during her senior year of college in Bloomington, IN as a way to deal with the dread and fear she felt with being finished with school and not knowing what she wanted to do with her life.

The project became fully realized when she returned to Chicago during the spring of 2018. After meeting other musicians, Ferme decided to form a backing band for the project and started playing shows locally. And since 2018, Ferme’s music has landed on a number of Spotify and YouTube playlists, including Spotify’s Fresh Finds, The LazyLazyMe, BIRP, My Old Kentucky Blog, and Hype Machine.

Ferme’s Claude debut, Enactor EP is slated for a February 12, 2021 release through Side Hustle Records/The Orchard. The EP’s second and latest single “Everything’s Great” coincides with the most recent impeachment hearings dominating the media landscape again — and it manages to tie back to the song’s origin: “I wrote this song after Trump got elected,” Ferme says in press notes. “It felt like the world was ending and I wanted to somehow poke fun at his ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan.” Centered around shimmering and atmospheric synths, gorgeous yet brooding strings and Ferme’s plaintive and ethereal vocals, “Everything’s Great” manages to tap into the deep in the soul exhaustion of the Trump Administration. The song is a gentle call for escapism as a form of self-preservation when everything is on fire — with the song’s narrator essentially saying “turn off your phone, so you can stop doom scrolling — and take a moment to daydream.” Maybe we should all take that advice every now and then.