Tag: The Rapture

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Trippy 80s-Inspired Visuals for Park Hotel’s “Going West”

Centered on its founding and primary songwriting duo Tim Abbey and Rebeca Macros-Roca, the London, UK-based post-electronic dance act Park Hotel have developed a reputation for a sound that meshes neo-disco and dance punk with off-kilter, downtown art scene-based songwriting — and unsurprisingly, the duo’s sound has been favorably described as a joyfully communal face-off between LCD Soundsystem, Earth, Wind and Wire with flashes of Talking Heads and a sprinkle of Steely Dan. Along with that, they’ve developed a reputation for a live show in which the project expands to a sextet featuring three-way vocal harmonies, rhythm and lead guitar, drums and lots of cowbell.

Produced by Eliot James, mixed by Nathan Boddy and mastered at New York’s Sterling Sound, the act’s debut single “Gone as a Friend” was recorded after playing a number of critically applauded, buzz-worthy shows across London before officially releasing it earlier this year. And building upon their growing buzz, the act’s latest single “Going West,” is an off-kilter, dance floor-friendly track that sounds inspired by Tom Tom Club‘s “Genius of Love,” Talking Heads’ “Making Flippy Floppy,” Miami Horror‘s “Leila” and The Rapture‘s “House of Jealous Lovers” as the song possesses an infectious, ear-worm worthy, hook paired with boy-girl harmonizing, shimmering synths, a Nile Rodgers-like guitar line and an even funkier bass line, but they manage to do so in a fashion that feels like a fresh and mischievous take on a familiar, crowd pleasing fashion.

Collaborating with mononymic artist Henry, the recently released video for “Going West” manages to draw from two different eras  — 60s psych pop and early 80s pop and rock videos, as we follow the members of Park Hotel on a rooftop with neon bright backdrops featuring Basquiat-like art and expansive and trippy blue skies. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Centered on its founding and primary songwriting duo Tim Abbey and Rebeca Macros-Roca, the London, UK-based post-electronic dance act Park Hotel have developed a reputation for a sound that meshes neo-disco and dance punk with off-kilter, downtown art scene-based songwriting — and unsurprisingly, the duo’s sound has been favorably described as a joyfully communal face-off between LCD Soundsystem, Earth, Wind and Wire with flashes of Talking Heads and a sprinkle of Steely Dan. Along with that, they’ve developed a reputation for a live show in which the project expands to a sextet featuring three-way vocal harmonies, rhythm and lead guitar, drums and lots of cowbell.

Produced by Eliot James, mixed by Nathan Boddy and mastered at New York’s Sterling Sound, the act’s debut single “Gone as a Friend” was recorded last year and after playing a number of critically applauded, buzz-worthy shows across London before officially releasing their debut single earlier this year. Building upon their growing profile, the act’s latest single “Going West,” is an off-kilter, dance floor-friendly track that sounds inspired by Tom Tom Club‘s “Genius of Love,” Talking Heads’ “Making Flippy Floppy,” Miami Horror‘s “Leila” and The Rapture‘s “House of Jealous Lovers” as the song possesses an infectious, ear-worm worthy, hook paired with boy-girl harmonizing, shimmering synths, a Nile Rodgers-like guitar line and an even funkier bass line, but they manage to do so in a fashion that feels like a fresh and mischievous take on a familiar, crowd pleasing fashion.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Brooklyn-based indie rock act LCD Soundsystem was founded by frontman, multi-instrumentalist, producer, DJ and DFA Records co-founder James Murphy in 2002, and along with acts like The Rapture, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bloc Party, Radio 4, Liars, and lengthy list of others are considered pioneers of a dance punk act renaissance that saw its height at the early part of this century. Interestingly enough, LCD Soundsystem may arguably be one of most critically and commercially successful acts of their era — 2005’s eponymous full-length debut, which featured their most successful single “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” was nominated by a Grammy for Best Dance Recording with the album also being nominated for Best Electronic/Best Dance Album.  With a growing national and international profile, Nike commissioned the band to write and record a workout-inspired album — 45:33 — as part of Nike+ Original Run series and they followed that up with their 2007 critically acclaimed sophomore album Sound of Silver, which was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album. 2010’s This Is Happening was the band’s most commercially successful, as it was also their first Top 10 album in the States; however, by the next year, the band announced that it would be breaking up and celebrating with a series of farewell shows at Madison Square Garden and Terminal 5 — with the events of the final show chronicled in the documentary Shut Up and Play the Hits and was released as a live album, 2014’s The Long Goodbye.

After LCD Soundsystem broke up, Murphy and the members of the band went on to pursue a number of creative and business pursuits — with Murphy being the among the busiest in the band. Over the years Murphy has continued his production and sound engineering work, working with Arcade Fire during the Reflektor sessions, created a special set of remixes from the 2014 US Open, based on the actual sounds and events of matches and remixed David Bowie‘s “Love Is Lost,” for an expanded edition of the legendary artist’s The Next Day. He also occasionally DJ’d, including an incredible set to close out DFA Records’ 12th Anniversary Party at Grand Prospect Hall.  As far as other pursuits, Murphy participated in Canon’s Project Imaginat10n, which invited 5 different celebrities and personalities to direct short films based on pictures uploaded by photographers and other creatives around the world to their website — and the result was his first directorial effort, “Little Duck,” set in Japan. And interestingly enough, with the assistance of Blue Bottle Coffee founder James Freeman, Murphy released his own blend of espresso and a few years later, Murphy opened a critically applauded restaurant in Williamsburg. Though Murphy publicly stated that LCD Soundsystem’s breakup allowed him the time and ability to pursue a wild array of projects in a way he had never before, he also missed being in a band. Interestingly, towards the end of 2015 there were rumblings that the members of LCD Soundsystem were considering a series of reunion shows for the major festival circuit — and those rumors went wild when the members of the band released “Christmas Will Break Your Heart” ironically enough on Christmas, the first single they released in over 5 years.

After the release of “Christmas Will Break Your Heart,” Murphy and his bandmates confirmed a reunion tour, with appearances at several major music festivals, and a new album, which is slated for release sometime this year. Now, if you’ve been following the blogosphere, you know that Murphy and company had a series of hometown shows to open The Bowery Presents‘ newest venue, Brooklyn Steel and those live shows included two new singles, which will make appearances on the band’s new album — the atmospheric, Berlin Trilogy-era Bowie meets Roxy Music “Call The Police,” which features Murphy’s archly ironic and cynical lyrics and nods a bit at This Is Happening and their incredible cover of Harry Nilsson‘s “Jump Into The Fire” and “American Dream,” a slow-burning track featuring shimmering synths but subtly nods at “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down,” thanks in part to Murphy’s dramatic crooning, Certainly for fans, who have been waiting for new material for the past 18 months, it’ll give them a good hint of what they might expect from the new album, while also suggesting that the band has continued forward as though they never broke up.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Best known as members of A.R.E. Weapons, Matt McCauley and Brian Peck started their latest recording project TV Baby last year in a makeshift hideaway deep within a remote section of industrial NYC. The duo found the  isolation and decay of their surroundings as helping the overall exploratory vibe of their early writing and recording sessions, which also included the duo shifting their roles within the band — and interestingly all of that wound up influencing the duo’s full-length debut, Dignity Don’t Dance produced by The Rapture‘s Gabriel Andruzzi and mixed by Ewan Pearson.

Dignity Don’t Dance‘s latest single “Swamp Beat” manages to nod at NYC’s dance rock/dance punk scene of the early 00s as the duo pairs squealing and scorching guitars with stuttering and propulsive drum programming, a motorik-like groove, and a rousingly anthemic hook with howled, mantra-like vocals. And in some way the song manages to nod at Echoes-era The Rapture and LCD Soundsystem but with a gritty, scuzzy, industrial feel reminiscent of early Ministry — and as a result, the song manages to be a swaggering, club banger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Video: !!! Get Fierce In Video for New Single “Dancing Is The Best Revenge”

Deriving their name from the subtitles of the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy, in which the clicking sounds of the Bushmen’s Khoisan language were represented as “!,” and currently comprised of founding member and vocalist Nic Offer with Mario Andreoni, Dan Gorman, Paul Quattrone, !!! (pronounced chk-chk-chk) originally formed in Sacramento CA when members of three local bands, The Yah Mos, Black Licorice and Popesmashers, decided to collaborate together on a project that would mesh disco, funk and dance music with more aggressive post punk and punk. Relocating to NYC, the members of !!! quickly became part of a famous batch of dance punk acts, who got their start in the early 00s including The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem and a lengthy list of others; but unlike their renowned peers and counterparts, they’ve managed to remain operating as a cohesive unit — although the band’s members now reside in NYC, Sacramento and Portland, OR.

Shake The Shudder, !!!’s sixth full-length effort is slated for a May 19, 2017 release through Warp Records and the album continues their collaboration with long-time producer Patrick Ford at the band’s Brooklyn-based home studio. Renowned electronic music producers Phil Moffa, Joakim and Matt Wiggins were recruited to mix the album and adding to the overall communal feel, the album features a rotating cast of guest vocalists including Lea Lea, Meah Pace, Nicole Fayu, Cameron Mesirow and Molly Schnick. Already, the album’s first single “The One 2,” which has seen airplay on BBC Radio 6, KCRK and KEXP has seen 400,000 streams, and building upon the buzz that the first single received, the act has released the album’s second and latest single “Dancing Is The Best Revenge” is a self-assured and sultry strutting song that nods at classic disco, funk, classic house and contemporary electro pop-like production while possessing one of the funkiest bass lines I’ve heard this year.

Directed by Will Galperin, the recently released video for “Dancing Is The Best Revenge” feature’s !!!’s Nic Offer with a collective of some fierce, take no prisoner drag queens — Kamryn Moore-Fierce, Nikki Moore, Makena Moore and Phoebe Monroe De La Strawberry strutting and dancing their asses off to the song. But perhaps more important, the video captures the performers camaraderie, pride and decency as they transform themselves to perform. And from the video, these ladies are a crazy, dysfunctional family — but a family in which every member accepts and loves their quirks and foibles, and offers the sort of love and understanding that they wouldn’t have received from their own biological families.

Interestingly, as Nic Offer explains in press notes, “When we recorded ‘Dancing Is The Best Revenge’ I pitched up voice, becoming Nicole Fayu in the studio — much like Prince became Camille and Morrisseey became Ann Coates. The groove felt like a strut or a walk and I imagined it akin to drag or ballroom culture.

“After ‘The One 2’ video featured such strong dance performances and was filmed in the historic L.A. venue Jalisco, we decided to give the song to some girls, who could really walk the walk and perform the song as in the spirit of reinvention. We traded some outfits and makeup tips, and they helped me become IRL Nicole Fayu. Dancing with them was a blast, and it was a great to finally see the song walked. I’m not used to being out-performed in a video.”

“These ladies ignore a world that tells them who they should be — they take the stage, walking as whoever they want to be, and that’s their best revenge. Maybe you’ll never walk onstage, maybe you’ll never be anyone else, but maybe this song/vid/story inspires you to try something you haven’t before.” Along with that though, is a very powerful message that being your truest self and not caring what anyone else thinks is arguably one of the simplest yet most revolutionary acts. And in a political climate in which their community is being attacked, the love these ladies show for one another, their pride and their zero fucks attitude towards life should truly be inspiring.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeous and Wistful Visuals for Ten Fe’s “Overflow”

Hit The Light was recorded at Kompakt Records Studios in Berlin with Ewan Pearson, who has worked with Jagwar Ma, M83 and The Rapture and the album reportedly finds the duo meshing contemporary electro pop, Americana and the renowned Manchester sound — while thematically focusing on renewal, hope and possibility. And the duo’s latest single “Overflow” is a shimmering 80s-inspired synth pop/New Wave ballad with a motorik-like groove that focuses on the end of a romantic relationship and a lost love. And while being naturally wistful over what once was, the song possesses a hopeful message, that heartbreak no matter how profound is a reminder that you once knew and had love in your life, and that you will have heartbreak and love many times over.

Directed and edited by Modu Sesay, the recently released music video is shot in a gorgeous, cinematic black and white and features the band playing the song in their rehearsal space; but it’s cut in between with flashbacks of the band playing a live show in front of an ecstatic live audience, friends and couples having fun, hanging out and catching their friends play live shows — and it suggests that many of these small seemingly mundane things can influence art and the artists who create it.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Haunting and Troubling, New Video for Reptile Youth’s “Arab Spring Break Parts 1 and 2”

Reptile Youth – Arab Spring Break (Part I & II) from Reptile Youth on Vimeo. If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past 15-18 months or so, you would have likely come across a couple […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their self-titled full-length debut, the Copenhagen, Denmark-based duo Reptile Youth, comprised of Mads Damsgaard Kristiansen and Esben Valloe, received critical praise international from the likes of Spin Magazine and Nylon for a sound […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Mads Damsgaard Kristiansen and Esben Valloe, the Copenhagen, Denmark-based duo formed Reptile Youth in 2009.Their self-titled debut album, received international attention as the album was critically applauded by the likes of Spin Magazine and […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Over the last year or so, it’s been a JOVM tradition around New Year’s to focus a bit on the past. After all, it only seems natural that with the passing of yet another year, […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Founded in 1997 by French DJ, producer and musician Arnaud Rebotini, Black Strobe was a part of the French electronic rock movement, releasing a number of prominent singles between roughly 2002 and 2007. The band’s full-length debut, Burn […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Founded in 1997 by French DJ, producer and musician Arnaud Rebotini, Black Strobe was a part of the French electronic rock movement, releasing a number of prominent singles between roughly 2002 and 2007. This was […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Recorded in NYC and in Germany Shit Robot’s forthcoming We Got A Love features a boatload of special guests including DFA Records labelmates Nancy Whang (famously known for her time in LCD Soundsystem),Museum of Love, the Rapture’s Luke Jenner, hip-house star Lidell […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Marcus Lambkin writes, records and performs under the moniker of Shit Robot. DFA Records will be releasing Lambkin’s sophomore effort as Shit Robot, We Got a Love on March 18th.  Recorded in NYC and in Germany the album features a […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

The Brooklyn-based band Stone Cold Fox is comprised of members who are originally from both coasts with members claiming birthplaces from Maine to California. And naturally, the members of the quintet claim some rather diverse […]