Jake Hays jumps into his new single “Overcomplicated” with sufficient swag: his vibrant vocals, glazed with reverb, strut to a sexy drum rhythm, and a pulsing bassline that adds a sweet caramel groove to that. Hays discusses in the song the complexities of bad first dates, their brevity, and vast potential for comedic/horrific stories – based on the Goosebumps tribute music video, perhaps it is the latter? With its bouncy choruses and continuous sonic edge, “Overcomplicated” keeps its appeal simple and its theme the perfect conversation-starter piece. Stream “Overcomplicated” below for a thriller-fun video and a song that is scary good. – René Cobar
Chicago
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Young Man In A Hurry “Fixer Upper”
Young Man In A Hurry has released a new single called "Fixer Upper". This is an outtake from the band’s 2020 debut album, Jarvis. The song is inspired by two of the last words the lead Singer’s, Matt Baron, said to him before their divorce. The video documents the "Fixer Upper" that Baron lived in after said divorce.
Perhaps not the most uplifting Valentine’s Day post, but it is a reminder that this is not a happy day for everyone. Some may be in the middle of living through their "Fixer Upper" moment.
Chicago
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Hollyy “Sailing”
Hollyy recently released their latest single, "Sailing", and it is sure to transport you away from this bitter cold Chicago winter to a breezy shoreline awaiting your sail.
This is already the band’s third single of 2021, and they appeared this week on Audiotree. All of this comes on the heels of 2020 debut album, Miss The Feeling, and the clearly show no signs of slowing down.
Chicago
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Tyra D. “Love or Lust”
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Tyra D. is back with a new single that challenge’s the listener to decide whether what they are feeling is "Love or Lust" before moving forward in their relationship.
This is Tyra D.’s third single and first since 2019’s "No Reply".
NYC
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Nuxx Vomica plays “coldwave” live set in middle of frozen lake for Strict Tempo
photo credit: Allyson Pinon
If you live anywhere in this country’s northeastern regions you probably got walloped with a foot or two of snow last week and more since. With more of the white stuff and also frigid temps forecast all week it’s perfect weather for staying in–not that we weren’t doing that already, but hey added incentive–and watching live sets of electronic music performed by a wide array of live acts and DJs on the screen of your own choosing.
Or if you’re NYC-based electronic musicmaker and painter/multimedia artist Nuxx Vomica, who recently released her debut EP A Different Place, it’s perfect weather for traveling a few hours upstate and performing a live set in the middle of a frozen lake to an audience of confused yet grateful freshwater fish. And lucky for us, said performance was filmed and broadcast (and now archived) as part of last Thursday’s installment of Strict Tempo—a weekly livestream originating out of Seattle featuring a world-spanning Whitman’s Sampler of live DJs and live acts in the veins of EBM/industrial, acid/electro/techno, minimal wave/darkwave, Italo-disco/hi-NRG and other equally cool-sounding slashed and hyphenated genres…
…and after watching this performance one thing I’d like to know is where one finds an extension cord long enough to reach all the way out to the middle of a frozen lake. Then again sometimes it’s best for the stagecraft to remain mysterious and what mysterious it is as a latex body-suited figure crawls across the snowy landscape to open the set and there’s some neat-o Chroma key & chemtrails effects added to the visual mix and also what a perfect setting for Ms. Vomica’s raw thrumming beats and burbling coldwave oscillations and icy ethereal vocal interjections. Plus SHE’S PERFORMING IN THE MIDDLE OF A FREAKIN’ FROZEN LAKE and I can’t help but flashing back to that one scene in Omen II but thank goodness that didn’t happen, instead the setting just ramps up the otherworldly urgency of the music even more.
And as if this wasn’t enough for one show this installment of Strict Tempo had/has lots going for it, which granted is pretty typical but this one went extra hard with additional sets by Asymptote from Arizona who creates haunted experimental industrial soundscapes, Crimental from Colombia who specializes in driving dystopic electro EBM (his latest full length The Human Plague is indeed pretty sick) and Hands of Providence–a project “rooted in dark psyche of the human mind” especially those of various politicians and televangelists and other undesirables–all kicked off by a DJ set from our host Vox Sinistra.
As reigning queen of dark & danceable and occasionally not so danceable beats, Ms. Sinistra introduces each show with a charmingly low-key, unassuming and always informative description of the acts about to perform while backed by green-screened backdrops of infinitely scrolling bondage chains or dancing skeletons or nightclub footage or surreal film clips with occasional cameos by her tuxedoed cat—the production values on the show are consistently aces with each DJ/EDM artist bringing their own distinct look and vibe and setting.
And there’s more from where that came from so if you enjoyed these sounds and visions you’re in luck because there’s 43 previous episodes of Strict Tempo in existence as of this writing to be explored in part or in full on Vox’s Twitch channel and Youtube channel and Mixcloud and probably other portals I’m unaware of even existing. (Jason Lee)
Chicago
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Pixel Grip “Pursuit”
Pixel Grip has released a new single, "Pursuit", from their forthcoming LP, Arena, which is due out later this year via Chicago’s Feel Trip. This is the first new music from the trio of Rita Lukea, Jonathan Freund, and Tyler Ommen since their 2019 debut album Heavy Handed.
This single shows the trio’s eagerness to return to the stage and club and feel the energy of an audience. Lukea had this to say about "Pursuit"; [it] distills a very specific feeling to me: the feeling of surrendering power, the feeling of having your love chewed up and spit out, the feeling of getting toyed with. Sometimes love isn’t empowering; in fact it can be humiliating and disabling. The only way I can take my power back is to pretend like it’s my decision. This song is designed to be screamed along with by an audience who understands the pain"
Chicago
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Floatie “Catch A Good Worm”
Floatie has released the lead single, "Catch A Good Worm", from their forthcoming debut album, Voyage Out, which is due out via Exploding in Sound on March 26th.
This is the work of Sam Bern (guitar, vocals), Joe Olson (bass, vocals), Will Wisniewski (guitar, synths, vocals), and Luc Schutz (drums).
Photo by Ash Dye
L.A.
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Jacob The Horse remembers college nights in new single “College Party Mixtape”
If all reminiscences were as charged as those in Los Angeles group Jacob The Horse’s new single “College Party Mixtape” we may all live happier lives. The new single is the group reliving college’s best nights via jolting fuzzed-out guitar riffs and an atmosphere of freedom. The band offers the grit of garage rock with enough anthemic choruses and pockets of refined skill to produce a lively brand of indie. The new single will form part of a March 5th release of the band’s record College Party Mixtape, vol. 1; stream the new song below to get the party started early. – René Cobar
Chicago
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Anfang “Tunneller”
Garage Rock quartet Anfang has released their sophomore EP, "Tunneller". This is the group led by the powerful vocals of Andie Zaragoza, and the album follows up their 2019 debut "Anemone".
Zaragoza is accompanied by Christian Newman on bass/rhythm guitar, Mark Tonai on lead guitar and Nick Rissler on drums to create a sound that nostalgic for the peaks of Alt Rock and Grunge.
Chicago
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Angelo Hart “In The Groove”
Jazz Pianist Angelo Hart has released the title track of his forthcoming album, In The Groove. This is the first new music from Hart since 2017’s debut album Storyteller. The album blends Jazz, Funk, Hip Hop, Ambient, and Pop to create a sound that is fun, welcoming, and memorable.
Below is the promotional video for the new album which will be released on March 1st.
L.A.
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Adult Books deliver sonic heat with new single “Florence”
Adult Books continue to get us excited for the release of their upcoming record Grecian Urn (3.26), with singles as breezy and cool as their latest one titled “Florence.” The new and quite elegant track sedates the senses most pleasantly – via a combination of softly picked electric guitars and a warmly plucked bass that both trot to a breezy rhythm. The vocals, seemingly distant but at the heart of the pastel-like composition, are soothing. “Florence” is the unexpected hug of a good friend in sonic form; stream the new track below and feel its heat. – René Cobar