Videos

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Zack de la Rocha Teams Up with El-P for a Fiery, Tweeter and Woofer Rocking Track

As rumored by countless sources, the album would feature production by some of the original collaborators — including El-P, Questlove, Trent Reznor and DJ Premier. So coming across both a friend’s Facebook post and a press email that read “Zach de la Rocha releases ‘Digging for Windows’ from Forthcoming Solo Album” was a moment of stunned disbelief. Naturally, that was followed by a moment in which I thought “Finally! Righteously furious, revolutionary music for these frighteningly uncertain, fucked up times.”

The yet unnamed album is slated for release sometime next year, and its stomping and rampaging first single “Digging for Windows” pairs an ambient and somewhat abrasive, industrial-leaning production consisting of enormous, stomp tweeter and woofer rocker beats, slashing synths, electronic bleeps, distorted vocal samples with de la Rocha’s imitable and furious vocals rhyming from the perspective of the disenfranchised, the downtrodden and fucked with, the victims of abuse, injustice and greed with profound empathy, understanding and hatred of the powerful and unchecked forces behind it. And although he may not ever be in your list of Top 10, Top 20 or hell, even Top 50 emcees, he’s absolutely necessary — now more than ever.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: A Gorgeous and Thoughtful Ballad from Cuban-born Pianist and Composer Harold Lopez Nussa

Interestingly, the Stateside release of Lopez-Nussa’s latest effort (the album drops here on Friday) comes as the US has begun to lift the embargo started during the Kennedy Administration and normalize diplomatic, cultural and trade relations — and in fact, it’ll be the first album by a Cuban-based artist to see a complete international release in more than 50 years. Now last month I wrote about two singles from the album “Mozambique en Mi B” and “Feria,” two tracks which possessed an understated and elegant simplicity that made them sound and feel timeless, as they nodded at bop-era jazz — hinting at the charm and mischievous wit and stunning melodicism of Horace Silver and Thelonious Monk but meshing that with a breezy and danceable tropicalia and Afro-Cuban/Afro-Caribbean polyrhythms. The album’s latest single, album title track “El Viaje” continues within the same vein of its preceding singles as the track consists of gently propulsive Afro-Caribbean percussion, a gorgeous, a stately horn line paired with the a sensual interplay between Wade’s tender and yearning vocals and Lopez Nussa’s dexterous blocks of piano chords providing melody and emotional heft in a breathtakingly gorgeous and accessible ballad.

The recently released video for the song splits its focus between a man walking down dusty roads and canopied forests to a yet unknown destination and footage of the musicians recording the song and hanging out in the studio — and interestingly enough, the video evokes the joy and wonder in traveling to someplace completely new; the profoundly lonely recognition of being a stranger in a strange place, where you don’t understand the language; the longing for seeing a face like yours in a crowd; the longing for home and the joy of returning home.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Surreal, Dream-like Visuals for Sofia Härdig’s “Streets”

Interestingly, the EP’s first single “Streets” possesses an urgent and raw grittiness as slashing guitar chords, squalls of feedback, a throbbing bass line and propulsive drumming are paired with anthemic hooks and Härdig’s sultry vocals to craft a song that sounds as thought it draws from Sonic Youth and Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea-era PJ Harvey — in particular, the song reminds me of a grittier, swaggering version of “Good Fortune.”

The recently released music video for “Streets” follows Härdig as she wanders through a garden, plans a route with an old map and wanders through the streets of Swedish city; but the video manages to possess a surreal, dream-like logic, thanks to the usage of frenetic cuts and lighting.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Gorgeously Cinematic Visuals for Living Hour’s “Seagull”

As you’ll hear on “Seagull,” the first single off the band’s full-length debut released earlier this year, the band’s overall sound manages to possess elements of shoegaze, dream pop and chillwave as shimmering and jangling guitar pop, swirling synths, ethereal vocals are paired together to craft a stunningly gorgeous and dramatic sound; in fact, the song reminds me quite a bit of the sort of guitar rock you’d hear while watching 120 Minutes-era MTV — in particular think of Mazzy Star‘s “Fade Into You” and The Cranberries “Linger.” Or in other words, it’s the sort of song that sounds as though it would be the soundtrack of an intense and fervent make out session — or a dramatic and bitter breakup.

Directed and edited by Nicholas Taylor, the recently released music video for “Seagull,” is a gorgeous and cinematically shot video that captures a day in a life of a teenaged girl and her family as they eat dinner, go to soccer practice and the rest of the banal and mundane aspects of life — but just underneath the surface, there’s something off: the mother of the trio seems moodily distracted, as though still recovering from a massive and inconsolable loss while the girls seem to be desperate to try to move on as best as they could.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: The Kills Performing “Impossible Tracks” on “The Late Late Show with James Corden”

Ash and Ice, the duo’s latest full-length effort and first full-length effort in over 5 years was released earlier this year, and if you’ve been frequenting this site you might recall that I wrote about album singles “Heart Of A Dog” and “Siberian Nights,” two singles that reflected a thorough refinement of their sound as the duo paired enormous boom-bap drum programming, skittering beats, buzzing electronics, scorching guitar chords and anthemic hooks with Mossheart’s bluesy, cigarettes and whiskey soaked vocals to crate a swaggering and arena rock-friendly song that possesses a raw, insistent and urgent carnality.

Recently, the band performed a swaggering, boozy live version of album single “Impossible Tracks” on The Late Late Show with James Corden — and the live version maintains a fervent urgency of the album’s material.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays La Femme Return with a Cinematic and Decidedly French Take on Psych Pop and Art Films

The Parisian collective’s highly-anticipated sophomore effort Mystere will officially drop today and you may recall that I’ve written about two album singles “Sphynx,” a track that manages to evoke a lingering fever dream — while cementing their growing reputation for boldly defying categorization, while the album’s second single “Ou va la mode” was a more stripped down, as though the Parisians were returning to the breezy and decidedly French take on surfer rock of Le Podium #1; but with warped, carnival from hell-sounding organs — and in some way it would force the listener to think that both songs would be heard as part of the soundtrack of a surrealistic French arthouse film. Now the album’s third and latest single “Septembre” continues along the same veins of the preceding single as the band pairs swirling and soaring organ chords, propulsive and steady drumming, whirring background noise and dreamily distracted vocals to craft a song that sounds deeply indebted to 60s psych rock and psych pop; but interestingly enough, just under the surface is a mournful and bittersweet air.

The recently released video was shot on old, grainy Super 8 film and features some of the members of the band broodingly walking on the beach — but spliced and superimposed over old home movies, which further emphasizes the song’s mournful and bittersweet air.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Patiently Surreal and Gorgeous Visuals for Mark Pritchard’s Gorgeous Collaboration with Thom Yorke, “Beautiful People”

Warp Records released Pritchard’s latest effort Under the Sun earlier this year, and from all accounts the album has Pritchard maintaining the lush and accessible production style that has won him international attention — but while crafting material that may arguably be the least club and dance-floor ready he’s released to date. Interestingly, one of the album’s singles is”Beautiful People,” a lush and ethereal collaboration with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke that pairs Yorke’s plaintive and aching vocals with a slow-burning production that possesses an almost painterly quality as it consists of an airy and gorgeous, looped flute sample, steady yet tribal-like drum programming and cascading layers of shimmering and undulating synths. In some way sonically speaking, the song meshes the ancient and tribal with the contemporary in a way that’s spectral –and in fact, in some way the song reminds the listener that ghosts linger and have a way of haunting your life in unexpected ways. That shouldn’t be surprising because as Pritchard explained in press notes “The original instrumental to ‘Beautiful People’ is a personal song about loss, hopelessness and chaos, but ultimately the message is love and hope. Thom’s contribution to this collaboration captured perfectly what the piece is about. . .”

The recently released video is a stunningly gorgeous video that follows its hooded, central character as it hikes and explores scenery that possess an otherworldly beauty before revealing that the character is a sort of Thom Yorke avatar. As the camera pans out in a cinematic fashion, it manages to reveal how small and insignificant its central character is the proceedings at hand — that is before some amazing gravity defying action at the end. Much like the song that inspired it, the video possesses a patient yet intense quality.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Sylvan Esso Return with a Dance-Floor Ready New Single

Heath and Sanborn return with the first bit of new material in two years with their latest single “Radio,” being the A side of the forthcoming “Radio”/”Jump Kick Start,” which is slated for an November 18 release. “Radio” has quickly become a staple of their live shows and a fan favorite — and interestingly enough, the song is arguably the most brash song they’ve released; but, it also manages to be both a refinement and expansion of the sound that first caught them attention. Heath’s sultry vocals are paired with a slickly propulsive and dance floor-friendly production consisting of layers of cascading synths, wobbling low end, stuttering drum programming, and as a result the song sounds as though it were nodding at Soft Metals’ swooning and sensual Lenses and Giorgio Moroder.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: The Cinematic Sounds and Visuals of Boise, ID-based Electronic Act Magic Sword

Earlier this year, the masked producer and his masked collaborators partnered with Steve Angello’s Size Records for Volume One’s follow up, a series of episodic EPs, which are accompanied by a comic that tells another chapter in the story of The Keeper with the first of the EPs, Legend was released earlier this year and the second of the series will be released later this year. The act recently appeared on GoPro’s Done In One series, and not only does it give you a great sense of the act’s incredibly dramatic live set, it also gives you a good sense of why the act has started to receive the attention they have — their sound manages to bear a resemblance to John Carpenter’s futuristic soundtrack and to French electronic act Chateau Marmont, as their sound possesses a cinematic quality; in fact, it sounds as though it should be part of a post-apocalyptic/retro-futuristic thriller.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Creepy Film Noir Visuals and Tense, Uneasy Sounds of No One Mind

As you’ll hear on “Tiger” No One Mind’s latest single, layers of angular, buzzing guitars, a propulsive, throbbing bass line and rapid-fire drumming is paired with venomous lyrics full of recrimination, bitter accusations and spite and it comes from a deeply personal and fucked up place that should be familiar to anyone who has felt as though their heart was stomped on by someone close to them — including the miscommunication and misunderstanding, pettiness and deceit that adds a razor sharp edge to the feeling of deceit and loathing at the core of the song while pairing it with a song structure that feels dimly familiar yet alien.

Directed by Zoe Dehmer, the recently released video for “Tiger” is an film noir-like video that follows a pair of two young girls — presumably sisters — who appear as though they’re under the influence of hallucinogens as they wander around a suburban town, explore each other and mess with each other, while hinting at something deeply menacing and cruel just under the surface.