Tag: Stuttgart Germany

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Florian Rodel is a Nuremberg, Germany-born, Indianapolis-based singer/songwriter, musician, who inspired by Nirvana, Guns ‘N’ Roses, CAN, Jeff Beck, Miles Davis, classical music and a lengthy list of others, started to write his own original music — based around a creative process that frequently sees him writing melodic, rhythmic and/or harmonic sketches throughout his daily routine. He’d then record this ideas on his pone and then flesh it out later.

Rodel is also the creative mastermind behind the emerging indie rock/indie pop recording project fluidarmes. Recently Rodel contacted me about “Pony Drive,” a hook-driven and melodic bit of indie rock featuring twangy, reverb-drenched guitar lines recorded by Stuttgart-based guitarist Micha Herm in his home; thumping and propulsive rhythmic drumming recorded by drummer Martin Krümmling recorded at Ghost City Recordings; propulsive and supple bass lines recorded by bassist Joe Joaquin in his Berlin-based studio; and Rodel’s plaintive vocals and atmospheric synths recorded in Indianapolis. While being deliberately crafted, “Pony Drive” is rooted in a heart-worn-on-sleeve earnestness.

Rodel explains that the song lyrically is about having the best relationship you can have with yourself and rolling with the punches, because people don’t have much control of anything beyond their limited control.


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Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Badgers and Damolh33 Team Up on a Cinematic and Thumping Club Banger

Currently split between Stuttgart, Germany and Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, the French-born, German-based electronic music production and artist duo The Badgers — Yannick and Joel — can trace their origins back to when its members met while in high school twenty years ago. Bonding over a deep and abiding love of music, the duo learned how to DJ from six vinyl records they had owned. Building from there, the duo earned a residency at a house music bar in Eastern France, which led to the duo creating and organizing events across their native France. 

Increasingly, the duo had a desire to create their own original music, and although through most of their recent history, they’ve been working in different locations, the duo have been busy: they wrote, recorded and released a batch of material that wound up topping the Beatport Charts including 2012’s Deep Dark Mood EP and Frozen Nipple EP. And while developing a reputation across the European Union for being a must-see live act with an improvisation heavy-based live set, the act has also been wildly prolific — including a successful and ongoing collaboration with Orechová Potôň, Slovakia-based sibling duo Damolh33 — Gabriel Bernáth (a.k.a. Gabbo) and Mikuláš Bernáth (a.k.a Mikkie)  — that has resulted in a handful of EPs including 2013’s Cabin Fever EP and They Live EP, Rebirth of Dark EP, and 2014’s Hospital Massacre EP. Each EP was centered around a specific, horror movie-inspired theme. ” 

“Near Death” finds the French-born, German electronic act re-establishing their collaboration with their Slovakian counterparts on “Near Death.” Centered around a minimalist-leaning production featuring wobbling low end, bubbling synths and skittering beats, “Near Death” may remind some listeners of John Carpenter soundtracks but with a club friendly, muscular thump. 

The recently released video is an incredibly cinematic visual that features our planet’s gorgeous and pristine beauty being destroyed by humanity’s greed, industrial excess — capturing what seems like the end of our species’ 2 million year run on this planet. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Seba Kaapstad’s Forward-Thinking Take on Soul and Electro Pop

Over the past few months, I’ve written a bit about the up-and-coming indie electro pop/neo-soul act Seba Kaapstad, and as you may recall the act, which is comprised of founding members Sebastian “Seba” Schuster, Zoe Modiga and Ndumiso Manana along with their newest member, Philip “Pheel” Scheibel is split between Cape Town, South Africa and Stuttgart, Germany, and can trace its origins to when Schuster landed in Cape Town back in 2013. While studying at the University of Cape Town, Schuster met Modiga and Manana and began working together in an informal setting, in which they jammed playing standards and rearranged songs of their choice. And as they continued working together, the trio recognized a deeper chemistry within their work.

Before Schuster returned to Germany, he asked his future bandmates if they’d be interested in recording material back in his homeland. And over the next few months, Schuster spent time writing and organizing sessions with the focus on what would eventually turn into Seba Kaapstad. After a series of phone calls, emails and trips back and forth to Cape Town, the act’s founding trio had written the material that would eventually comprise their full-length debut, 2016’s Tagore.

The newly-constituted quartet’s highly-anticipated, sophomore album is slated for a May 17, 2019 release through Mello Music Group, and the album finds the act further expanding on a genre-mashing, globalist sound that draws from neo-soul, hip-hop, jazz, electro pop and Afro pop — while adding a new member Philip “Pheel” Scheibel. Album single “Africa” was centered around a slick and mind-melting production that features elements of smoky jazz, swaggering hip hop, soul and Pan African vibes that brings Soul II Soul, Erykah Badu, theeSatisfaction, The Roots and Flying Lotus to mind. “Bye,” was centered around glistening and atmospheric production featuring a sinuous bass line, fluttering synths, thumping beats paired Manana and Modiga’s ethereal boy-girl melodies and harmonies describe the self-doubt, anxiety and uncertainty filled moments of attraction at first blush.

The album’s latest single “Don’t” is centered by a trippy Flying Lotus-like production featuring a looped, twinkling piano line, stuttering tweeter and woofer rocking beats, wobbling bass synths, reverb-drenched vocal samples. The song also features Modiga revealing an incredible vocal range, alternating between soulful multi-octave, pop belting solos expressing plaintive yearning and swaggering speak singing — while Manana contributes a plaintive falsetto to the mix. And then song ends with a gorgeous string section. Interestingly, the new single finds the act pushing the soul ballad in a revolutionary new direction. 

The recently released video for “Don’t” continues a run of mesmerizing post-apocalyptic-like visuals featuring grainy, security footage, the act’s vocalists in a variety of different lights and backgrounds and so on, which creates an anxious vibe. 

Indie Electro Pop by William Ruben Helms

 

Earlier this year, I wrote about the up-and-coming indie electro pop/neo-soul act Seba Kaapstad, and as you may recall, the act which is comprised of founding members Sebastian “Seba” Schuster, Zoe Modiga and Ndumiso Manana along with their newest member, Philip “Pheel” Scheibel is split between Cape Town, South Africa and Stuttgart, Germany, and can trace its origins to when Schuster landed in Cape Town back in 2013. While studying at the University of Cape Town, Schuster met Modiga and Manana and began working together in an informal setting, in which they jammed playing standards and rearranged songs of their choice. And as they continued working together, the trio recognized a deeper chemistry within their work.

As the story goes, before Schuster returned to Germany, he asked his future bandmates if they’d be interested in recording back in his homeland — and over the next few months, he spent time writing and organizing sessions with the focus on what would eventually become Seba Kaapstad. After a series of phone calls, emails and trips back and forth to Cape Town, the act’s founding trio had written the material that would eventually comprise their full-length debut, 2016’s Tagore.

Thina, Seba Kaapstad’s highly-anticipated full-length sophomore album is slated for a May 17, 2019 release through Mello Music Group, and the album finds the act further expanding on a genre-mashing, globalist sound that draws from neo-soul, hip-hop, jazz, electro pop and Afro pop — while adding a new member Philip “Pheel” Scheibel. Album single “Africa” was centered around a slick and mind-melting production that features elements of smoky jazz, swaggering hip hop, soul and Pan African vibes that brings Soul II Soul, Erykah Badu, theeSatisfaction, The Roots and Flying Lotus to mind.

The album’s latest single “Bye” is centered around an atmospheric and  cosmically shimmering production featuring a sinuous bass line, fluttering synths, thumping beats while Manana and Modiga’s ethereal boy-girl melodies and harmonies describe the self-doubt, anxiety and uncertainty filled moments of attraction at first blush. Splitting between the male and female perspective, the song’s central story should feel familiar: it’s the internal monologue many of us have had when we’ve encountered a new potential love interest.

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Futuristic Genre Blurring Sounds of Seba Kaapstad

Comprised of founding members Sebastian “Seba” Schuster, Zoe Modiga and Ndumiso Manana with their newest member, Philip “Pheel” Scheibel, the members of indie electro pop/neo-soul act Seba Kaapstad are split between Cape Town, South Africa and Stuttgart, Germany — and interestingly, the act can trace its origins to when Schuster landed in Cape Town, South Africa in 2013. While studying at the University of Cape Town, Schuster began working with Modiga and Manana in an informal setting, in which they jammed standards and rearranged songs of their choice. As they continued to work together, the more it seemed as though the trio were experience a much deeper chemistry within their work and music. 

Before Schuster returned to Germany, he asked Modiga and Manana if they’d be interested in recording in his home country — and over the next few months, Schuster spent his time writing and organizing sessions, focusing on what would eventually become Seba Kaapstad. After a series of phone calls, emails and trips down to Cape Town, the members of the project had written the material that would eventually comprised their debut, 2016’s Tagore. 

Slated for a May 15, 2019 release through Mello Music Group, Seba Kaapstad’s highly anticipated sophomore full-length album Thina finds the act adding a new member, Philip “Pheel” Scheibel while further expanding on a genre-mashing, globalist sound that draws from neo-soul, hip-hop, jazz, electro pop and Afro pop that’s intended to demonstrate humanity’s shared commonalities. Interestingly, the album’s latest single,  “Africa,” a is track centered around a slick yet mind-melting production that features elements of moody jazz, thumping and swaggering hip hop and sultry soul and Pan African vibes that at points recalls Soul II Soul, Erykah Badu, theeSatisfaction, The Roots and Flying Lotus simultaneously — but with a futuristic leaning. Shot in a smoky purples and reds, in a mirrored room, the recently released video for “Africa” evokes the moody atmospherics of the song, while being equally futuristic.