The JOVM pays tribute to David Bowie on what would have been his 70th birthday.
Tag: Talking Heads
Live Concert Photography: Blox Cord 2 at The Footlight 12/8/16 feat. Spowder, A Deer A Horse, Mean Siders, and Beechwood
Brighton and London-based indie label Catskills Records celebrates their 20 anniversary and just like Fluff and Gravy Records, the label which can trace their origins to its first release by Sonorous Star, featuring label founders Khalid and Amr Mallassi just released a compilation of music from some of their wildly genre-spanning artists, artists who have specialized in electro pop, hip-hop, punk, country, prog rock and others titled Catskills Records: 20 Years of Victory. And along with the retrospective look of where the label has been and their overall aesthetic, the compilation includes two new tracks from label mainstays Pepe Deluxe and Husky Rescue
Finish electronic music act Husky Rescue have developed a reputation across both their native Finland and Scandinavia for a songwriting approach that focuses on restless experimentation — and for material that sonically and aesthetically walks a very careful tightrope between anxious tenseness and childlike innocence. Now if you had been frequenting this site last year, you may recall that I wrote about two singles off the expanded Long Lost Friend album, “Deep Forest Green,” a track that sonically seemed to draw from Bjork, and Talking Heads while the album’s second single “Far From The Storm” seemed to draw from Moonbabies fantastic Wizards on the Beach and Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” — or in other words, cinematic dream pop with an even breezier nature and catchy hooks.
The Finnish act’s contribution to the Catskill Records compilation is the slow-burning and tense “My Shelter,” a single that pairs Ringa Manner’s aching yet powerhouse vocals with gently undulating and twinkling synths, swirling electronics and a cinematic sweep to create a sound that’s reminiscent of Kate Bush and Bjork while being a swooning, romantic ode. As the members of the electronic act explained to the folks at Clash Magazine “‘My Shelter’ is a previously unreleased track we wrote in the midst of a long hiatus. We had recently gotten to know singer Ringa Manner and felt she might have just the right voice for the song. And so she most certainly did: forceful and fragile all at once. Which is pretty much what the song is all about.”
New Video: Smoke Season’s Sultry, Synth Pop Cover of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer”
Just in time for the Halloween season, the members of Smoke Season released a minimalist synth pop cover of one of my favorite Talking Heads songs “Psycho Killer” in which Wortman’s sultry vocals are paired with cascading layers of shimmering synths, glitchy and stuttering drum programming and wobbling low end. And while the Talking Heads version conveyed a tense and anxious neurosis, the Smoke Season version makes losing one’s mind and killing darkly sexy — much like the visuals for the song, which features Wortman and Rosen dressed in tuxedos with scenes of modern dancers, dancing to the song, footage of trees coming into and out of shadow and the like.
Over the course of this site’s six year history, you’ve likely come across a number of posts on Brooklyn/Pittsburgh dance pop/experimental pop/funk act Superhuman Happiness. With the release of their long-awaited 2014 full-length debut Hands, the act led by co-founders Stuart Bogie (vocals, saxophones, synths) and Eric Biondo (vocals, trump, synths, percussion) emerged on the national scene for a sound that draws from Talking Heads, Antibalas (which, both founding members and several members of their rotating cast of collaborators have been members of), Fela Kuti, synth pop, dance music, New Wave, and others, and for an ebullient and mischievous live show that incorporates elements of jazz-like improvisation, surrealist comedy, performance art and infectious joy. Interestingly, since the release of Hands, the act has gone through a major lineup reshuffling that included the recruitment of Andrea Diaz (lead vocals, keyboards, percussion) along with the aforementioned rotating cast of collaborators featuring friends, former bandmates and other musicians from across the Northeast in completely reformatted project that has gone through a major (and decided) change in sonic direction as the material on Hands‘ follow up Escape Velocity incorporated an increasing use of synths and electronics while retaining many of the elements that first caught my attention, as well as that of the blogosphere — deep groove-filled material that’s whimsical, mischievous, joyous while continuing to thematically focus on profound topics. In the case of Escape Velocity, several songs focused on the fidelity and accuracy of one’s memories against nostalgia.
From what I understand, the members of Superhuman Happiness are currently working on yet another full-length effort but in the meantime, they’ve released their latest single “Powermasters,” which consists of boom-bap drum programming, fluttering and twinkling electronics, warm blasts of horn and a driving, dance floor-friendly hook – – and in some way, it sounds a bit like a subtle yet bumping modernization of their “GMYL”/”Hounds” 7 inch. Completing the single is a hauntingly gorgeous, atmospheric and mournful coda that begins with looping synths, subtly syncopated drumming and ends with a gorgeous string arrangement.
The band is in the middle of a tour with Arc Iris that includes an October 6, 2016 stop at Rough Trade. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.
Superhuman Happiness / Arc Iris — 2016 Tour Dates
October 6 – Brooklyn, NY – Rough Trade
October 12 – Portland, ME – Empire
October 13 – Cambridge MA – Lizard Lounge
October 14 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre
October 15 – Burlington, VT – Signal Kitchen
New Video: The Surreal Animated and Hyper Aggressive Visuals for Cowtown’s “Tweak”
Clocking in at 92 seconds, Paranormal Romance’s second and latest single “Tweak” sounds as though it were indebted to the Ramones and 90s alt rock, as the the trio pairs propulsive and thundering drumming with blistering power chords and an anthemic and infectious “oh oh oh” at the hook that you can imagine a crowded and sweaty bunch of kids yelling lustily while moshing — and with a youthful abandon.
The recently released animated video by Molly Kaplan pokes fun at cartoons, the relentless barrage of commercials we’re inundated with on a regular basis — but with neon bright colors and a surreal sense of humor.
At the end of last month, I wrote about the Leeds, UK-based indie rock/post-punk trio Cowtown. Comprised of David Michale Shields (drums), Hilary Knott (bass, keys and vocals) and Johnathan Nash (guitar,vocals), the British trio have over the course of three full-length albums have developed a reputation for angular, super caffeinated post-punk that draws from Gang of Four, DEVO, Talking Heads, much like “Motivational Speaker,” the first single off the band’s forthcoming album Paranormal Romance slated for an August 19, 2016 release through Athens, GA-based HHBTM Records in the US and Sheffield, UK-based label Audacious Art Experiment.
Clocking in at 92 seconds, Paranormal Romance‘s second and latest single “Tweak” sounds as though it were indebted to the Ramones and 90s alt rock, as the the trio pairs propulsive and thundering drumming with blistering power chords and an anthemic and infectious “oh oh oh” at the hook that you can imagine a crowded and sweaty bunch of kids yelling lustily while moshing — and with a youthful abandon.
New Video: Check Out Neon Indian and Friends’ Funky and Breezy Cover of Prince’s “Pop Life”
As a child of the 80s there is a rather lengthy list of songs, artists and albums that have profoundly influenced and transformed my life — in particular David Bowie, Talking Heads, Madonna, DEVO, R.E.M, […]
Publicly claiming Arcade Fire and Talking Heads as major influences and with each member having musical backgrounds in a number of different genres including rock, country, jazz and electronica, New York-based indie rock quintet AMFM — comprised of David Caruso (vocals, guitar), Harper James (guitar, synth, keys), Gian Stone (drums), Dan Shuman (bass) and Steve DeVito (guitar) — have started to receive attention for a sound that draws equally from contemporary indie rock and classic rock as you’ll hear on the band’s latest single “Heroes,” a rousing and anthemic single about the desire to live life your way and only your way, with no regrets.
Sonically, the New York-based quintet pair anthemic and infectious hooks with shimmering guitar chords, a propulsive Station to Station-era Bowie-like rhythm section, an uncanny sense of melody and harmony and punchily delivered lyrics, which remind me quite a bit of New Radicals‘ “You Get What You Give” but while subtly evoking the desperate desire to change the course of one’s life — and of hitting the road with intention of leaving everything behind.
New Audio: Brian Eno’s Gorgeously Ambient Cover of The Velvet Underground
Wap More than enough ink has been spilled throughout Brian Eno’s nearly 50 year musical career, so delving deeply through his backstory will largely be unnecessary and beyond the scope of this particular post. But […]
Throwback: RIP Prince
The fifth anniversary of my father’s death is tomorrow and as you can imagine, I had thought of him when I was sitting in a Starbucks on Hudson Street between Charlton Street and Vandam Street, […]
New Video: Check Out The Trippy Matrix-Inspired Visuals for Field Music’s “Disappointed”
Comprised of its creative masterminds, sibling duo Peter and David Bewis and featuring the contributions Kev Dosdale, Andrew Lowther, Ian Black, Liz Corney, Andrew Moore, Damo Waters and a rotating cast of collaborators, Sunderland, UK-based indie electro […]
New Video: The Neon Bright and Surreal Visuals for Deep Sea Diver’s “See These Eyes”
Perhaps best known as an accomplished side person, who has spent several years as a touring member of The Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon and Beck‘s backing band, the Seattle, WA-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jessica […]