Flashpot Moments bring some mayhem, Sonofdov launches satellites, Shouse feel the love, 3MMC go harder and more in today’s submissions from Groover, a platform that connects artists with critics like me for a small fee. You can (and should) subscribe to my Tinnitist Groover Top 100 playlist HERE, or you can listen to it via the widget at the lower right of every page on this site. If you want to be in an upcoming playlist, click the link just below the widget or go HERE. But first, push play on today’s top tracks:
The Flashpot Moments | Mayhem Ensues
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The Flashpot Moments is a long-simmering studio project of Boston-based singer / songwriter / guitarist / drummer Tim Cawley. Recorded, mixed and mastered in Los Angeles, Seattle, Nashville, both Portlands (OR & ME), Fort Collins, CO, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Boston, The Flashpot Moments’ music has been played on over 60 independent radio stations and featured in 100-plus network and cable TV shows. You know when you’re at a concert, and there’s an over-the-top moment — a soaring vocal, shift in dynamics, dramatic key change, crescendo into the final chorus — and the fireworks go off? Those pyro cannons are called “flashpots.”
https://youtu.be/65MkEn3zOR4
Sonofdov | Satellites
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Folk.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “After featuring on the Black Lives Matter compilation (RoughTrade/Bank Robber Music), becoming a semi-finalist for the International Songwriting Competition and releasing his first full-length LP in 2019, Sonofdov collaborates with Eric Sanderson, producer and member of the Brooklyn indie-rock band Augustines, for the stunning Satellites. From post-punk beginnings to melancholy daydreams, New Jersey based singer-songwriter Dennis King aka Sonofdov writes hauntingly beautiful music — the kind of songs that transport us and pierce us.”
Shouse | Love Tonight
HOME BASE: Australia.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Shouse is driven by the creative minds of Ed Service (of IO) and The Harpoons’ Jack Madin, who have been active members of Melbourne’s unique electronic scene for years and collectively focus on making estranged house music while collaborating with friends and fellow music aficionados. The pair often invite local singers and musicians to collaborate when bunkered down in their Collingwood studio in addition to showcasing local talent at their OpenShouse parties, helping to cement a real sense of community while also providing fertile grounds for new ideas. Love Tonight is a consolidation of this working environment, assembling an all-star choir of people they love and admire in their local scene including Oscar Key Sung, Monte Morgan (Client Liaison), Bec Rigby (The Harpoons), Habits, Pillow Pro and a whole bunch more, ultimately delivering a crew that champions unity. Love Tonight was written as a message of hope and unity for the underground!”
3MMC | Harder
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electro Goth-Rap.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “At 5:30 in the morning, Framboise (wop-goth made in French Riviera) and Carlos (eccentric Iranian rapper) meet at a club in Berlin as they learn about the sex drug 3MMC. Under the influence of this product, they decided to form a musical duo of the same name, symbolizing their relationship. Their music draws its breath from their influences, between dark-rap and industrial techno played in the clubs they frequent assiduously. These night rides have charmed the imagination of the band who push back the boundaries of the genre without hindrance: Identity. Sexuality. Bondage. The contours of their music and their clips are outlined in a dark, ambiguous universe where deviance and excesses are savored with impunity. Harder is an epileptic clip as red as blood, inspired as much by Gaspard Noé’s cinema as by the duo’s night trips. A modern version of Boris Vian’s Fais-moi mal Johnny, Harder takes French rap off the beaten track with its theme: the practices of a bondage lover libertine couple in Berlin’s backrooms.”
https://youtu.be/k19aQpGWv0Q
Mad’$ | Tempo
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Funk.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I released Tempo in order to set the mood in these sad times. It’s a catchy rap song where I try to combine flow and musicality and which took me out of my comfort zone.”
Anis Benhallak | Breakfast in Damascus
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Jazz.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “A mixture of jazz, rock, afrobeat, classical and traditional Algerian music. Anis Benhallak takes us far into his roots while keeping the subtle elegance of jazz and the energy of rock. His talent walked through the rhythms of his deep and playful melodies in various world scenes. This atypical composer was able to create a universe where tradition meets modernity and innovation in a perfect harmony.”
Barba Negri Ziliani | Too Many Keys
HOME BASE: Italy.
GENRE: Jazz-pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “This song is the title track of our first album Too Many Keys. My fellow musicians and I come from different musical experiences (classical music, jazz, rock, pop and minimalism) but we find a common ground in this very classic line-up: the piano trio. In this album there are echoes of Esbjörn Svensson, Brad Mehldau and Keith Jarrett, our main influences.”
Vova | In Your Soul
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: EDM.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Make you feel better, sweet and happier … with this sweet deep house track BE THE 1.”
Maertens | Lines
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The Montreal musician is a one-man band, creating original contents and producing its own songs in his home studio. The melancholy, yet catchy vibes of his tracks bring out a new look on pop music, mixing guitars and synths. This song has a very retro feel to it and is super melodic.”
Jun Courville | Quand J’ai Pris Conscience
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Soul/R&B.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Quand J’ai Pris Conscience (When I Realized) is a song about the isolation and bullying that many of us face!”
Bipam | Le Lever de Drapeau
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Indie-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Created on the initiative of the trombonist-trumpeter-guitarist-drummer-singer-songwriter (!) Fabien Cartalade, Bipam also includes guitarist Fred Tillard, bassist Freddy Simbolotti and drummer Frederic Sicart, four former members of the cult band Raoul Petite , and the percussionist-vibraphonist-Keyboardist Benoit Alziary, former member of the mythical Magma. Their intelligent pop-rock features elaborate rhythms, with interesting French lyrics and rich arrangements and climates (we sometimes think of Zappa, Gong or Albert Marcoeur).”
Salkid | Quitte ou Double
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Jazz-Funk.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “We are Salkid. We have just released an EP titled Old Up that includes the song Quitte ou Double (Double or Nothing).”
Apache Rose | On My Watch
HOME BASE: Russia.
GENRE: Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Apache Rose is up-and-coming band from Moscow, Russia, that epitomizes a part of a new underground rock scene in the country: fresh, energetic and (most importantly) English-speaking on a fluent level. But unlike local peers they aim primarily at English speaking countries. And they have been successful with that — the band’s singles have been featured in numerous music blogs and playlists. The band has already built a substantial following in the U.S., U.K. and Europe.”
