Tag: Toronto ON

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: RJ Sanchez-Directed Visuals for Muneshine’s “Full Throttle” feat. The Darcys Pay a Glorious and Campy Homage to 80s Pop Culture

Rob Bakker is a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-born, Toronto, ON-based multi-Juno Award and Polaris Prize-nominated hip-hop producer, engineer and recording artist, best known as Muneshine. Recently, Converse Rubber Tracks had the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based producer collaborating with the acclaimed Toronto, ON-based art rock/indie rock duo The Darcys on “Full Throttle,” a sultry, classic house music-inspired club-banging single that finds both the producer and renowned indie rock duo using their sound and aesthetic in a completely different and unchartered territory, arguably being one of the sexiest songs both parties have released to date — while thematically speaking, the song is about escaping whatever that weighs you and your life down — work stress, school stress, relationship stress, family stress, etc.

As the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based producer explains of the collaboration with The Darcys “Wes [Marskell] and Jason [Couse] are great to work with. They’re obviously great songwriters and musicians, but beyond that we just get along as humans. We share a similar dark and sarcastic sense of humour as well, which makes our sessions an evil pleasure. I love having an idea on my own and finding my own way to express it, but when you bring other people that you trust creatively into the fold and put your heads together you’re forced to explore possibilities that live beyond your own imagination. That’s a beautiful thing.”

Directed by RJ Sanchez, the recently released visuals for “Full Throttle” pay homage to the 80s — namely Fame, Flashdance, Knight Rider and Magnum P.I. in a way that’s simultaneously campy as hell, but manages to capture the exact tone and feel of 80s pop culture — to the point, that you can briefly be tricked into thinking that the song and the video were released around the period that influenced it. As Bakker says of his collaboration with Sanchez, “I met RJ through Geoff McLean (Vision Film Co.) when I was on the hunt for an exciting new director for my 2015 single, ‘Sunshine’. I hadn’t seen much of his work, but Geoff’s the man and his taste is impeccable, so that suggestion was all I needed to hear. Needless to say, RJ knocked ‘Sunshine’ out of the park, so when I finished up ‘Full Throttle’ with Darcys, I knew exactly where to go for that fire. The only ‘must-have’ I put on RJ was my need for a sexy 80’s sports car (preferably a Lamborghini Countach – my all-time favorite automobile) and he took it from there. We couldn’t source the Countach, but he got his hands on a cherry red Magnum P.I. Ferrari, and who can hate on that?! RJ gets all the props for this masterpiece, I couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of her first two critically applauded and commercially successful albums I Predict A Graceful Expulsion! and Neuroplasticiy, the Canadian-Somali, Toronto, ON-based singer/songwriter Ladan Hussein and her solo recording project Cold Specks received national and international attention and as a result, Hussein’s first two albums received nominations for the Polaris Music Prize and she also received a Juno Award nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, with the release of Graceful Expulsion! And in between writing, recording and touring, Hussein had been busy as a hotly-desired collaborator, working with Moby, Joni Mitchell and Herbie Hancock, Swans and others.

Now, it’s been about two years since I’ve last written about Hussein but the renowned singer/songwriter had been very busy. After spending a portion of 2015 and 2016 touring to support Neuroplasticity, Hussein returned back to Toronto, where she began work on her forthcoming third full-length album. “Wild Card,” the still officially unnamed album’s first single is largely inspired by the refugee experience.  “There was a man in my family’s store, a new refugee, who had travelled from Somalia to Canada. By water and by foot he had travelled half way around the world to establish a better life for himself and his family who were still at home,” Hussein explains. “My mother had never met him before. He was a complete stranger from a familiar place. She took him to a local restaurant, fed him and found him somewhere to stay. I was astonished by her selflessness and kept humming ‘I’ll be there for you. Don’t know why’.”

Produced by Jim Anderson at Toronto’s Easy Life Studio, the single features Arcade Fire‘s Tim Kingsbury playing bass on a hauntingly sparse arrangement and melody. Certainly, the latest track will further cement Hussein’s reputation for being an fearlessly uncompromising and emotionally direct; in this case, the single possesses a subtle but palpably weary ache underlined with simple yet profound joys — the profound joy of being treated kindly when you are “a traveler, a man from far away,” as Paul Salopek once wrote.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Danny Darko is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, electronic music artist, DJ and talent scout, who has developed a reputation for writing and recording across a wide range of EDM styles and subgenres including house, progressive, dubstep and others.  And if you add the fact that Darko has received support and praise from an impressive array of EDM heavyweights including Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Paul Van Dyk, Pete Tong, Judge Jules, Gareth Enery and Chuckie for his restlessly genre blurring sound, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that the multi-instrumetnalist, electronic music artist, producer, talent scout and DJ has released more than 30 Top 50 releases on Beatport Genre Charts. Along with that, his YouTube channel recently surpassed 2 million views and he’s known for producing Starchaser’s UK chart topping single “Love Will Set You Free.”

Danny Darko’s latest single “Tainted Emotions” is a collaboration with up-and-coming, Toronto, ON-based singer/songwriter and producer Alisha Jade, who has begun to develop a reputation for crafting material that defied genre boundaries while being distinctly soulful. As for the single, Darko pairs a hyper modern yet dramatic production featuring stuttering drum programming and boom bap-like beats, moody and swirling electronics, twinkling keys, and cacasding layers of undulating and shimmering synths with the up-and-coming Canadian’s sultry and self-assured vocals. While clearly being radio-friendly yet moody electro pop, the song subtly nods at the work of Young Ejecta, Octo Octa and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Rob Bakker is a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-born, Toronto, ON-based multi-Juno Award and Polaris Prize-nominated hip-hop producer, engineer and recording artist, best known as Muneshine. Recently, Converse Rubber Tracks had the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based producer collaborating with the acclaimed Toronto, ON-based art rock/indie rock duo The Darcys on “Full Throttle,” a sultry, classic house music-inspired club-banging single that finds both the producer and renowned indie rock duo using their sound and aesthetic in a completely different and unchartered territory, arguably being one of the sexiest songs both parties have released to date — while thematically speaking, the song is about escaping whatever that weighs you and your life down — work stress, school stress, relationship stress, family stress, etc.

As the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based producer explains of the collaboration with The Darcys “Wes [Marskell] and Jason [Couse] are great to work with. They’re obviously great songwriters and musicians, but beyond that we just get along as humans. We share a similar dark and sarcastic sense of humour as well, which makes our sessions an evil pleasure. I love having an idea on my own and finding my own way to express it, but when you bring other people that you trust creatively into the fold and put your heads together you’re forced to explore possibilities that live beyond your own imagination. That’s a beautiful thing.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Anthony Scott Burns is a Toronto, ON-based film director, visual effects artist and electronic music producer, who has released a number of instrumental albums — mostly as stand alone vinyl releases — with his solo recording project PILOTPRIEST. His soon-to-be released Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is slated for an April 28, 2017 release through Waxwork Records — and while the label releasing the 22 track, triple LP effort is best known for releasing the soundtracks of Taxi Driver, The Thing, The Warriors, Rosemary’s Baby, Nosferatu, C.H.U.D., Goosebumps and others, Burns’ latest effort marks some interesting, new territory for the label, as it’s the first release of originally composed material that’s largely inspired by the soundtracks of 80s cult-classic films like Body Double, Manhunter and Legend.  And unsurprisingly, the album’s first single “Switchblade,” manages to be mischievously anachronistic — while clearly using analog synths to create a chilly, retro-futrustic and almost dystopian sound reminiscent of the great John Carpenter, backed by boom-bap beats, the song manages to reveal slick, modern production techniques that make it both cinematic and dance floor friendly.

 

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Growing up listening to an eclectic variety of music including Patti Labelle, Jill Scott, Bob James, Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo, Bjork and The Black Crowes among others, up-and-coming, Edmonton, AB-born, Toronto, ON-based soul artist Tanika Charles quickly developed a reputation locally as an emerging solo artist, whose puts a modern spin on the classic Motown soul sound — frequently meshing it with swaggering, hip-hop-like beats and deeply, confessional and honest lyrics, reminiscent of Mary J. Blige, Kelis and others. And as a result, within Canada’s soul scene, Charles has largely been considered her country’s next big thing; in fact, interestingly enough, over the past couple of years Charles transformed from being an emerging solo artist to being a commanding performer and bandleader, as well as one of the scene’s staples. Adding to a growing national profile, Charles has collaborated with Estelle, Lauryn Hill and Macy Gray, and has made regular appearances on CTV, Global and CBC Radio.

Produced by Slakah the Beatchild, best known for collaborating with Drake, Charles’ latest single “Soul Run” is the first single off her self-titled, full-length album, slated for an April 7, 2017 release through Italian soul label, Record Kicks, and the single will further cement the Edmonton-born, Toronto-based singer/songwriter’s burgeoning reputation for crafting confessional lyrics based around her own personal experiences with “Soul Run” based around Charles’ experience of feeling trapped in an emotionally abusive relationship in rural Canada — until she decided to “borrow” her then fiancée’s car and left for Toronto to start her music career, never looking back. Considering the personal nature of the song, Charles as the song’s narrator expresses regret over her own foolishness that wound up with her being hopelessly trapped in an abusive and fucked up relationship and desperate desire to get away and start over. You can almost picture Charles, jumping into the car with whatever possessions she could manage and hitting the road without an idea of where she was going or what would happen — and yet feeling true freedom to do whatever she wanted.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

As you may know, I was in Dordrecht, The Netherlands for business related to my day job and am currently in Amsterdam, The Netherlands for a couple of days to just check things out, maybe catch some live music, and whatever else comes to mind. And from being here a few hours last Sunday morning and returning this afternoon, I can see how easy it could be to fall deeply in love with Amsterdam and this entire country.  So far, the Dutch have proven to be a kind and friendly people. But there’s work to be done so let’s get to it right?

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site for a while, you may recall that I wrote about the  Toronto, ON-based DJ, violinist and singer/songwriter Maya Killtron. Killtron first came to attention across both her native Canada and across the States with the release of her 2012 debut EP Hipster/Gangsta — and as a result, Killtron wound up touring the festival circuit across North America with stops at Miami’s Winter Music Conference, Pride Toronto, The Halifax Jazz Festival and CMJ. Adding to a growing profile, Killtron’s collaboration with NYC-based production duo Love Taps “Back For More” received attention from the likes of Stereogum and Huffington Post for a sound that meshed moomba and R&B – and for a video that showcased a sadly bygone NYC. Additionally, Smalltown DJs, The Slow Waves, Eyes Everywhere, Brothers In Arms and City Kid Soul have all have remixed the song — with the City Kid Soul remix being named in the Top 5 at Toronto’s Bestival.

Killtron’s latest single “Bad Decisions” as she explained to me via email “is a review of some of my best romances and worst choices in the field of love. It’s honest but light, real but unapologetic, and always dancy.” But interestingly enough, the single is an expansion of the sound that first caught her attention — you’ll hear a sinuous bass line, Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar, squiggling synths and soaring strings paired with Killtron’s sultry vocals in a song that nods both at 80s synth funk, early 80s disco and EDM and the sound of blogosphere darlings Escort.  And that shouldn’t be terribly surprising as Killtron explains in an email “With ‘Bad Decisions,’ as well as my first single ‘Never Dance Alone,’ I wanted to pay tribute to; but not copy my heroes — Teena Marie, Prince, and The Gap Band.”

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Toronto’s Career Suicide Returns with a Blistering and Furious New Single

Featuring founding members Martin Farkas and Jonah Falco, who splits his time as the drummer in renowned punk act Fucked Up, the Toronto, ON-based hardcore punk band Career Suicide formed back in 2001 and over the past 16 years, the band has written and recorded several records and played a ton of shows across the world. Machine Response, the band’s forthcoming full-length effort is the much-anticipated follow-up to their blistering and critically applauded Attempted Suicide and interestingly, the album which is slated for a February 24, 2017 release finds the band’s most recent lineup — founding members Farkas and Falco, along with Dallas Good (guitar), who has played with The Sadies, Andre Williams, John Doe, Half Japanese, Elevator and others, and guest vocals from Souichi Hisatake, a member of Forward, GISM, Insane Youth, Gudon and others furthering the band’s long-held reputation for blistering, furious, acidic and mosh pit worthy punk rock.

Now, if you had ben frequenting this site last month, you may recall that I wrote about Machine Response’s first single “Suffocate,” a blistering, furious and acidic and mos pit-worthy bit of punk rock that lyrically evoked claustrophobia and desperation. The album’s second and latest single “Distractions” clocks in at 80 seconds and sonically bears an uncanny resemblance to Suicidal Tendencies’ “Institutionalized” — while further cementing their reputation for crafting furious and blistering punk.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Radio-Friendly Pop of Up-and-Coming Canadian Pop Artist Dani

Up-and-coming Canadian indie pop artist Dani is a classically trained pianist and vocalist, who grew up in a small Alberta Canada town and upon realizing that being in her small town wasn’t going to help expand her career, she relocated to Toronto, where she spent as much time as possible to develop her own sound. The Canadian pop artist began receiving some attention with the release of her debut single “Love U More,” earlier this year, and building upon the attention she’s received, the Toronto-based indie pop artist recently released her latest single “Cruel,” a slickly produced and radio-friendly pop song that’s reminiscent of Phoebe Ryan, CAPPA and others — while being deeply personal.

As Dani explained via email “‘Cruel’ is the follow up to my debut single ‘Love U More.’ The lyrics were not only intended for myself, but also for others who may have experienced the strange and disconnected feeling of being addicted. The feeling of wanting to make excuses for someone who you are aware, deep down, is influencing your life in a negative way. Every so often you will get this glimpse of beauty from them and you just want to feel and relive that moment again.” And as a result, the song possesses the realization that a great deal of our relationships leave us feeling a conflicting and confusing array of emotions, even in the best of circumstances.

Directed by Chad Rook, the recently released music video for “Cruel” continues the up-and-coming pop artist’s burgeoning reputation for accompanying her songs with cinematically shot, stylistic visuals that nod at commercials and art films.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Canadian Indie Rock Quartet’s Sultry Post-Modern Take on the Art of Seduction

Since the release of their full-length debut, the members of July Talk have developed a reputation for explosive live shows in which they have grown their national and international profile as the band has toured across Canada, the US, Europe and Australia with festival stops at Toronto’s WayHome Music and Arts Festival, Atlanta’s Shaky Knees Music Festival, New Orleans’ Voodoo Music and Arts Experience, Montreal’s Osheaga Festival, the UK’s Isle of Wight Festival and Austin’s Austin City Limits Music Festival. And building upon the band’s growing profile, their sophomore effort Touch was released earlier this year with the album’s first single “Push + Pull” holding the number 1 spot on the Canadian Alternative Radio charts for more than 8 weeks.

The band is currently on tour to support Touch and it includes a December 15 stop at the Bowery Ballroom; but in the meantime, the band’s latest single “Picturing Love” will further the quintet’s reputation for their unique sound in which Dreimanis’ gruff, whiskey and cigarette-tinged growl and Fay’s coquettish and ethereal vocals are paired with bombastic, anthemic hooks, twinkling keys, angular yet propulsive power chord-based guitar and bass chords and thundering, arena rock-like drumming in what is arguably one of the sultriest songs I’ve heard this year. Lyrically, the song focuses on the art and act of seduction in the modern age.

The recently released music video was filmed and shot in a gorgeously cinematic black and white and much like the song is a post-modern take on love in the modern age, as it features the central couple viewing each other through several layers of screens — and it suggest that the video’s central couple, the band’s vocalists are almost always at a sense of remove from one another, yet desperately wanting each other’s touch. But on another sense, it also evokes the game and roles people play when it comes to lust and love.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

 

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of years, you’ve certainly been very familiar with Toronto, ON-born, New York-based singer/songwriter and electro pop artist Joanie Wolkoff, who has long been a JOVM mainstay, thanks to her work in a number of attention-winning projects including Her Habits, her solo work as Wolkoff, collaborations with The Hood Internet and others, as well as Gemology, a project Wolkoff began with the then-New York-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Natasha Chitayat, who has since relocated to Los Angeles. Now, it’s been a while since we’ve last heard from the duo as a writing and recording unit, as the aforementioned Wolkoff and Chitayat have been busy with a variety of other creative pursuits; however, the duo recently reconvened to write and record their latest single “Come Again.”

As for “Come Again,” Wolkoff’s ethereal vocals float over a dramatic and slow-burning production consisting of shimmering  and twinkling synths, tweeter and woofer rocking boom-bap like beats, stuttering and skittering drum programming, warm blasts of guitar and a sinuous bass line.  Underneath the shimmering surface is a slowly swooning and euphoric giddiness over stumbling on to someone (whether as a friend or a lover) with whom you speak the same language, and with whom you find an instant and profound connection — and it comes about easily, frequently without explanation; it just is and always will be. But there’s also an underlying uncertainty that comes from the fact that relationships can be endlessly frustrating and short-lived; that sometimes there are moments in which you feel that maybe you’re not quite ready to give yourself — and you find that you’re freely and happily giving yourself. But no matter what, considering how frustrating and confusing relationships of any sort can be, lucky and are are those who find such a profound connection.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of Darius Byrne (vocals), Brian Ireland (beats, production) and Andrew Eyles (bass), Adult Future is a Toronto, ON-based trio, whose forthcoming full-length effort In The News draws from the contemporary feeling of disconnect and alienation that many of us feel so very deeply. As the members of the band mention in press notes, “the band wanted to make a record that emphasized the singular stories that we all have and share as human beings. All of the songs on this record were inspired by personal stories and were utilized as a method to reconcile those feelings of estrangement. It was an attempt to bridge those feelings of isolation that seemingly contradicts a shared environment where people are literally living on top of each other. Drug abuse, mental and physical illness, violence and love — all of these things impact us individually, but when seen as an amalgamation == is the totality of human history.”

 In The News‘ first single “The Leaf House” doesn’t shy away from the fact that we live in dangerous and fearful times but at its core, is a love song — an urgent call for love in the face of a world that seems hopeless and insane; while suggesting as the Buddhists would suggest that opening oneself up to love when things are at their most precarious is an act of true bravery and the most important weapon we have in such fucked up times. Sonically speaking, the Canadian trio pair a looped strummed acoustic guitar line, boom bap beats, twinkling synths and plaintive vocals — and in some way, the song reminds me quite a bit of Jose Gonzalez and his work with Junip but with a desperate and forceful urgency.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of Canadian-born and based Imran Haniff (vocals), British-born and Canadian based Alex Roberts (guitar), Irish-born and Canadian based John Coman (drums) and Canadian-born and based guitarist Colin Bowers, the Toronto, ON-based indie rock quartet The Holiday Crowd can trace their origins to when its founding duo Haniff and Bowers met in high school. As the story goes, the band’s founding duo had started a conversation over Bowers’ Stone Roses t-shirt, which quickly lead to the duo bonding over a mutual love of 80s guitar pop — i.e., The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Chills, etc. — and to the duo began songwriting.  Interestingly with the release of their full-length debut Over the Bluffs, a cover of Duran Duran‘s “Friends of Mine” for the charity tribute album Making Patterns Rhyme and bit of international touring, which included a set at the 2012 PopFest Berlin and a 2013 European tour, the Canadian band quickly developed a reputation as one of their country’s finest, up-and-coming indie pop bands.

“Anything Anything” is the latest single off the band’s forthcoming, self-titled, sophomore effort, slated for an October 21, 2016 through Shelflife Records and the single will further cement the Toronto-based quartet’s reputation for shimmering and jangling guitar pop that’s not only clearly influenced by 80s guitar pop but also sounds as though it could have been released in the period that influenced it, complete with a swooning and aching Romanticism.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Dark Post-Apocalyptic, Industrial Sounds and Visuals of Toronto’s Odonis Odonis

“Needs,” the latest single off Post Plague has the trio pairing layers of undulating synths, howled and shouted vocals, industrial clang and clatter, rapid fire, staccato drum programming, chopped up vocal samples, a rousing, anthemic hook and a propulsive, hypnotic groove in a tense, anxious song that sonically channels early Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and others — but with a contemporary and stark sense of unease, uncertainty and the realization that we’re on the precipice of our own mutually assured self-destruction.

Directed by Scott Cudmore, the recently released video for “Needs” is the first episode of a series of short films, based around the material of Post Plague that blends virtual reality with traditional video to tell a larger, fictional story. And in the case of “Needs,” the video begins with a person transferring their existence into a barely functional AI robot — and are quickly pulled into a post-apocalyptic future that somewhat resembles our own present. As Cudmore explains in press notes, the video is about “Old, entitled, white men and the system of oppression and exploitation that they’ve created to serve their…well…needs, which are usually money and power. I’m looking at this through the lens of science fiction, but I wanted to depict that power structure breaking down finally. Breaking down internally. There’s no linear narrative and you are free to think of that aspect in any way, but each image is a depiction of this breakdown as well as of repression, exploitation and desperation.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

55 Lakes is a mysterious and fairly anonymous EDM/tropical house music production and recording project of two Toronto-based ghost producers, ghostwriters and musicians for several top Canadian artists — and their latest project together was specifically designed for the duo to create, have fun and anonymous collect the credit for their own work. Their debut single “I’ll stay for you” is a slickly produced track that has the duo pairing finger-snap led percussion, twinkling keys, layers of shimmering and undulating synths and electronics, a looped vocal sample and an infectious hook in a propulsive yet breezy and tropical song that sounds as though it drew from Larry Levan and classic house, as well as Zonoscope-era Cut Copy.