Tag: Tobacco

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Tobacco Returns with Another Abrasive Yet Anthemic Bit of Electro Pop with Surreal Visuals

Sweatbox Dynasty, the long-awaited follow-up to Ultima II Massage was released earlier this year and you may remember that I wrote about Sweatbox Dynasty’s first two singles “Gods In Heat,” and “Human Om” and while furthering his burgeoning reputation for scuzzy and abrasive electronic music; however, just underneath the murky surface of both singles, there’s a breezy and dreamy melodicism that adds a strange sense of calm, as well as a darkly mischievous sense of humor. And the album’s third and latest single “Dimensional Hum” continues on a similar vein as the album’s preceding singles as a gorgeously, twinkling synth melody floats over layers of buzzing and grinding synths while vocals fed through vocoders and distortion slash and burn through some of the muck and grime.

Adding to the grimy, almost low-budget feel of the song, the recently released music video follows an escaped prisoner as he skareboards to freedom with a cheap, Halloween-themed wig as a disguise.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site for the past couple of months, you may recall coming across a post or two about Tucson, AZ-based multi-instrumentalist, electronic music artist and producer Dmitri Manos, whose solo recording project American Monoxide has quietly built a profile for specializing in analog electronic instrumentals that manage to be somewhat abrasive, trashy and funky as hell such as on “Hot Lava Express,” the first single off his sophomore full-length Web Content. Sonically speaking, Manos paired industrial clang and clatter, boom-bap beats, tumbling electronic bloops, beeps and bleeps, scorching synths and Nile Rodgers-inspired funk guitar chords in an offbeat funky song that reminded me quite a bit of Tobacco.

Web Content‘s latest single “Get Into My Way” is a wobbling, shuffling and buzzing song with the sort of twangy alt-country, alt-folk, experimental pop sound reminiscent of Odelay-era Beck — but in this case, as though Beck had recorded the album on old, warped cassette tape, with a breezily narcoleptic feel and an incredibly catchy hook.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Certainly, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year or so, you’d likely be familiar with electronic music artist and producer Tobacco, who is perhaps best known as the frontman of renowned indie act Black Moth Super Rainbow. As a solo artist, Tobacco has developed a reputation for crafting an abrasive yet anthemic sound — while seeming as though he wants to channel Daft Punk,  The Black Keys, Kraftwerk and Boys Noize — but from some dystopian future in which rusty, poorly maintained machinery and instruments whirr to grinding halt.

Sweatbox Dynasty, the long-awaited follow-up to Ultima II Massage is slated for release this summer, and earlier this year, I wrote about the album’s first single “Gods In Heat,” a single that I think will further cement his burgeoning reputation for crafting scuzzy, abrasive and anthemic electronic music as he pairs layers of abrasive industrial clang and clatter, skittering drum programming, surface-level analog tape hiss and sizzle, a chanted mantra and an infectious hook — but with a subtle dreamy element that nods towards psych rock. The album’s latest single “Human Om” pairs layers upon layers of buzzing and whirring industrial synths, mathematically precise handclap-led drum programming and chanted lyrics fed through vocoder with a dreamy psych rock-leaning melodicism that subtly lightens the murkiness.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Surreal and Whimsical Visuals for American Monoxide’s “Hot Lava Express”

Directed by Caleb Gutierrez, the recently released video for American Monoxide’s “Hot Lava Express” features a dream-like sequence that seems influenced by the visuals in Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer,” “Big Time” and “Digging in the Dirt” videos as the sequence employs the use of stop-action animation until the video’s protagonist wakes up and sees his friends hanging out at a barbecue in his backyard. It’s a whimsical and playful video that belies the song’s abrasive nature.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as the frontman of renowned indie act Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tobaccco has developed a reputation as an electronic music artist and producer, who has an uncanny ability for crafting an abrasive yet anthemic sound — as a fellow critic at Stereogum  described Tobacco’s sound as wanting to “channel Daft Punk and The Black Keys at the same time.”

Sweatbox Dynasty, the long-awaited follow-up to Ultima II Massage is slated for release this summer, and the album’s first single “Gods In Heat” will further cement Tobacco’s reputation for crafting scuzzy and anthemic electronic music as his production pairs layers of buzzing and abrasive synths, industrial clang and clatter, skittering drum programming, surface-level analog tape hiss and sizzle, a chanted mantra and an infectious hook — but if you’re familiar with the Pennsylvania-based producer’s work, the new single possesses a subtle elements of psych rock that lighten the murkiness ever so slightly.

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over roughly the last 15-18 months or so, you may have come across a couple of posts on Scott Reitherman, the creative mastermind behind indie electro pop sensation, Pillar Point and the former frontman of pop act, Throw Me The Statue. With Pillar Point, Reitherman has received national attention for a melancholy yet bouncy electro pop sound primarily comprised of vintage, analog synthesizers, drum kits and sleek bass lines. It’s a sound that’s been compared favorably to several blogosphere darling acts including Washed Out, LCD Soundsystem and others.

While touring to support his solo debut with of Montreal , Reitherman was planning to write and record his sophomore full-length effort, Marble Mouth in his Seattle home when Kevin Barnes unexpectedly invited him to record the album in his home studio. As soon as the tour wrapped up, Reitherman spent several months crafting demos and went to Barnes’ home to flesh out, refine and then record Marble Mouth‘s material with contributions from Washed Out’s drummer Cameron Gardener and Kishi Bashi‘s percussionist Philip Mayer. Reitherman then spent a six month sent in New Orleans writing and refining both the album’s lyrics and vocals. And as Reitherman explained in press notes, New Orleans managed to influence the album’s lyrical direction.“New Orleans was the most meditative and mysterious part of making the record,” Reitherman explained. “I wanted to sink into that city and scrutinize the romantic southern sojourn.”

Marble Mouth’s first single, album opening track “Part Time Love” paired layers of twitchy and cascading synths with propulsive, four-on-the-floor drumming and Reitherman’s ethereal cooing to craft a sound that’s reminiscent of Talking Heads, Tobacco and others, while it subtly nodded at Top 40 pop; in other words, the sound is tense, neurotic and incredibly danceable and accessible pop with infectious hooks. The album’s latests single “Dove” pairs confessional R&B/pop-leaning lyrics sung with Reitherman’s achingly plaintive and emotive vocals with house music-leaning production comprised of layers of cascading synths, skittering drum programming, a glitchy and dramatic string sample and swirling electronics in what may be arguably the most club-friendly song of the entire album.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Originally, known as the frontman of pop act Throw Me The Statue, Scott Reitherman’s solo recording project Pillar Point has received attention for a melancholy yet bouncy electro pop sound primarily comprised of vintage, analog synthesizers, drum kits and sleek bass lines. As the story goes, Reitherman was planning to write and record his sophomore full-length album in his Seattle home when he received an unexpected invitation to record the album at Kevin Barnes’ home studio, while Reitherman was opening for of Montreal during their US tour.

Once the tour wrapped up, Reitherman spent a few months crafting demos of the material that would wind up comprising Marble Mouth before spending a month at Barnes’ house refining and recording alongside of Washed Out‘s drummer, Cameron Gardener and Kishi Bashi‘s percussionist Philip Mayer.

Reithernan then spent a six period in New Orleans writing and refining both the album’s lyrics and vocals. And as Reitherman explained in press notes, “New Orleans was the most meditative and mysterious part of making the record. I wanted to sink into that city and scrutinize the romantic southern sojourn.”

Marble Mouth‘s first single, album opening track “Part Time Love” pairs layers of twitchy and cascading synths with propulsive, four-on-the-floor drumming and Reitherman’s ethereal cooing to craft a sound that’s reminiscent of The Talking Heads, Tobacco and others, while subtly nodding at Top 40 pop; in other words, the sound is tense, neurotic and incredibly danceable and accessible pop with infectious hooks.

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of John Cep (guitar, bass, vocals, drums and production), Kim Field (bass, vocals) and rotating live drummers EJ DeCoske and Johnny Lancia, the Northeastern Pennsylvania-based duo of The Stargazer Lilies can trace their origins […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Based out of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the trio of the Stargazer Lilies comprised of John Cep (guitarist, bassist, vocalist, drummer, producer), Kim Field (bassist, vocalist) and rotating live drummers EJ DeCoske and Johnny Lancia formed after the demise […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Released a few months ago through renowned electronica label, Ghostly International. Ultima II Massage, the latest effort from the mysterious, Pennsylvania-based electronic artist and producer Tobacco has the artist taking a different approach from his previous […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

in interviews, the Pennsylvania-based electronic artist and producer Tobacco has mentioned that with his forthcoming effort, Ultima 2 Massage that he wanted to push his sound to the point where even at it’s most depraved you can still zone […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

in interviews, the Pennsylvania-based electronic artist and producer Tobacco has mentioned that with his forthcoming effort, Ultima 2 Massage that he wanted to push his sound to the point where even at it’s most depraved you can […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Based out of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the trio of the Stargazer Lilies comprised of John Cep (guitarist, bassist, vocalist, drummer, producer), Kim Field (bassist, vocalist) and rotating live drummers EJ DeCoske and Johnny Lancia formed after […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

As a blogger and as an overall music fan, there are several labels I admire for their output and their consistency — Volcom Entertainment, is one of them, especially when it comes to hearing stuff that […]