Tag: The Joy of Violent Movement

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past couple of years, you will likely be pretty familiar with the Brooklyn-based music and art collective Dead Leaf Echo. The band has a growing national and international profile as they’ve made appearances at SXSW, CMJ, NXNE, Northside Festival and the Beautiful Noise Festival, toured with and/or played one off shows with The Wedding Present, A Place to Bury Strangers, . . . And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, The Psychedelic Furs, Chapterhouse, Ulrich Schnauss, Weekend, Lorelei, The Ocean Blue, The Warlocks, Beach Fossils, and The Telescopes. They’ve had a number of singles top CMJ’s Top 20 Indie charts and have appeared on renowned indie station KEXP‘s John in the Morning twice, and on Nic Harcourt’s KCSN show. 

Their 4AD Records-inspired full-length debut Thought and Language, a concept album that followed a child from his conception, through birth until he grasps thought and language was released to critical praise across the blogosphere. The follow-up to their debut full-length, true.deep.sleeper was produced by Monte Vallier, who’s best known for his work with Weekend and Wax Idols was released last year.

Currently, the members of Dead Leaf Echo are in the studio working on their sophomore full-length effort, with Vallier taking up production duties. But in the meantime, the band released a 7 inch single last month and made an appearance at the Desert Stars Festival on a bill that included Swervedriver and The Lemonheads. “Lemonheart” is the first single from the 7 inch and the song reveals a subtle change in their songwriting arppaoch as the gorgeously shimmering guitar chords jangle so subtly and are paired with forceful percussion and ethereal vocals floating just above the mix, while still remaining faithful to the shoegaze sound that has captured the attention of the blogosphere.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Escort’s Latest Single Channels Some Beloved Party Anthems

I’ve probably written about the New York-based neo-disco/electronic dance music/funk collective Escort, so much here on JOVM, that you probably feel as though you’ve known them — and have seen their career grow. The collective founded by […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Wax Idols’ Gorgeous, Mournful and Yet Resilient, New Single “I’m Not Going”

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past few years, you may have come across several posts on Wax Idols and you’d likely know that a couple of years have passed since the release of the quartet’s […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mega Ran’s Latest Single “RNDM Is Out Now” Channels HIp-Hop’s Golden Age

Now, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past couple of months you may be familiar with the Philadelphia-born, Phoenix-based emcee, chip tune DJ and producer Mega Ran (also known as Raheem Jarbo), who up […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Phia’s Breezy and Seductive Cover of Radiohead’s “15 Step”

More than enough ink has been spilled on the Oxford, UK-based quintet Radiohead — to the point that delving deeply into the band’s backstory will seem largely unnecessary; however, what I will say is that the […]

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Old-School Soul-Inspired Sound of McClain Sullivan’s “Happy Anniversary”

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past month or so you might remember that I’ve written about the Seattle, WA-born and  Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter McClain Sullivan. Sullivan grew up with an  unwavering passion for making music; in fact, the […]

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Sylvan Esso’s Re-Working of “H.S.K.T.” for Moog Sound Lab

Over the past 100 years, there have been a handful of people that every musician and every music fan should hold revered, as they’ve managed to change how the music we love sounds, how its […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Check Out Starlight Girls Dance-Floor Leaning, New Single “Lodestar”

Over the past five years, the Brooklyn-based sextet, Starlight Girls have developed a reputation for a unique brand of “noir-ish indie pop” and for a live set that employs the use of video projections that includes psychedelic imagery, stock […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Boulevards Cements His Reputation for Funky, Club-Banging Pop With “Honesty”

http://www.npr.org/player/embed/442320383/442326741 Boulevards is the solo recording project of the North Carolina-based Jamil Rashad. Now if you’ve been following JOVM over the past couple of months, you may be familiar with Rashad — but for those new […]

hip-hop by William Ruben Helms

The 2nd Annual Source360 Festival Preview

The 2nd Annual SOURCE360 Festival Preview Created last year by Northstar Group and The SOURCE founder, L. Londell McMillan, The SOURCE360 Festival had set up shop in Downtown Brooklyn with an important mission: “to spread […]

Spotify Playlist by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Joy of Violent Movement’s August 2015 Spotify Playlist

Experimentation is par for the course in the world of JOVM, and with that in mind check out the JOVM August Playlist on Spotify. I think this will be a regular feature, especially if you’ve […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Carroll’s Dreamy, Shoegaze Rock-based New Single “Green Acres”

Comprised of Brian Harlow (vocals), Charlie Rudoy (drums), Max Kulicke (guitar) and Charles McClung (bass), the Minneapolis, MN-based quartet Carroll can trace their origins to when its founding members and college classmates Harlow and Rudoy decided to move in together in […]

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Ancient Warfare’s Spirit Conjuring Video For “Gunsmoke”

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past few months, you may have come across a couple of posts about the Lexington, KY-based band Ancient Warfare. The project can trace its origins to when  its creative mastermind Echo Wilcox […]