JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 74th anniversary of the birth of Chic co-founder Bernard Edwards’ birth.
Throwback: Happy 65th Birthday, Larry Mullen, Jr.!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates U2 co-founder and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr.’s 65th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 60th Birthday, Ad Rock!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Beastie Boys co-founder Ad Rock’s 60th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Johnny Marr!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Johnny Marr’s 63rd birthday.
Announcements: Shoutouts to Patreon Patrons, Creatives Rebuild New York, Asian Arts Initiative and More
The past 18 months or so have been extremely difficult for me. I’ve been desperately trying to keep this thing going on limited funds. My life has been a vicious and sickening cycle of money: I’m able to keep the lights and heat on for a few weeks and then I’m broke for a few weeks — or in some cases, a few months. Last year, I announced that JOVM had to go on a forced, indefinite hiatus.
The adage is true: It takes money to make money. But what do you do when you don’t have any money? I don’t think anyone has a good answer for that, because I know that I don’t.
Luckily through a mix of luck and the kind and generous support of a friend, who will continue to remain anonymous upon request, JOVM was able to return after a 20-day or so hiatus.
Along with my anonymous friend, who i’ll thank here; there are a list of folks that I must thank for their support:
The Patreon Patrons, who have supported me through over the course of the past few years:
- Sash
- Alice Northover
- Bella Fox
- Jenny MacRostie
- Janene Otten
Also I have to thank the following for their donations:
- Melanie Rodriguez
- Kitty
- Megan Marshall
- Velatine
- Modern Ideas
- LutchamaK
- Haris
I must thank my pal and colleague Adam Bernard for chatting with me about JOVM and the site’s hiatus. You can check out the interview, in which I talk about how important it is to support independent journalists here: https://adambernard.blogspot.com/2025/09/saving-one-mans-movement-convo-with.html
I have to thank the helpful, hardworking and dedicated folks at Creatives Rebuild New York. I’m proud, gratified and humbled to have been included in their 18-month Guaranteed Income for Artists program. Understandably, being included was also deeply vindicating. Someone out there thought my work — this very work! — was worth supporting financially. Obviously, the funds from it have managed to keep this labor of love going during one of the most uncertain periods in recent human history, while lessening some of the normal financial pressures of being an American artist, creator and journalist.
I also found out about Asian Arts Initiative’s Sound Type Workshop through Creatives Rebuild New York. So, I just can’t thank those folks enough. And I’ll forever be in their debt.
I must thank the folks at the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia for selecting me for the Sound Type Music Writer Workshop. Being a part of the inaugural cohort was an honor.
I also have to thank my man John Morrison, Philly’s preeminent music journalist for the support and encouragement.
The Joy of Violent Movement is a completely independent and completely D.I.Y. media outlet. Over the course of this site’s 16+ year history, I’ve used my fiercely independent stance to cover music with an eclectic and global perspective that a lot of other publications just don’t have — and will likely never have.
To that end, I could use your support to continue to keep bringing you my unique global perspective on music. There are a number of ways that you can support this work.
I’ve been told that some people would prefer to make a one-time donation because it’s easy and less of an obligation. So, if you’re able to make a one-time donation, there’s a donation form below.
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Your contribution is appreciated.
If you’re willing and able to support more regularly, please feel free to check out my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement.
Anything you can give is very much appreciated. It can and does make a real difference, y’all. $20 could mean a carfare to a couple of protests or the ability to pay a much-needed subscription fee.
I know that a lot of folks are struggling to make ends meet in an uncertain and tumultuous economic climate. Believe me, I get it y’all. And to that end, there are other non-financial and low cost ways to support JOVM and my work.
If you’re not following me, you can follow me on here:
X/Twitter: @yankee32879 and @joyofviolent
Instagram: @william_ruben_helms
Threads: @william_ruben_helms
Bluesky: @williamrubenhelms.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement
Please share posts you dig through RTs and shares on these various platforms. And share them with your friends and family, too. Every pair of eyeballs — both new and longtime readers — adds up in terms of ad revenue, of more people knowing about this site and my work, and of course potential for collaborations and work.
Lastly, I have an important ask of you dear friends, readers and colleagues. I’ve been actively looking for work for a while. If you’ve been out there looking for a job, you know that the job search has somehow gotten even more dehumanizing, dispiriting and depressing than ever.
So just to refresh your memories:
I’ve spent just under 15 years in book publishing in the editorial departments of three different New York publishing houses — across both trade and academic publishing — as an Editorial Assistant and Acquisitions Editor.
Over the course of the past two-plus decades, my writing and photography has been published in a lengthy list of publications including Downbeat, Sound Collector Audio Review, Playbill(photography), The Advocate (photography), Out Magazine(photography), Premier Guitar (photography), Consequence, Earmilk (photography), The Inventory, Glide Magazine.com (writing and photography), Publisher’s Weekly, Sheckys.com, Shecky’s Bar and Nightlife Guide, New York Press, Ins&Outs Magazine (photography and writing), Dish Du Jour Magazine, Queens Ledger (writing and photography) Aussie music publication Musicology.xyz (photography) and countless others.
So if anyone has any leads on editorial, communications, writing and or photography jobs — including freelance, contract, project, part-time and full-time, please feel free to contact me.
Music industry folks, if you need someone to write bios for your artists and/or bands — or to take press photos, BTS photos, live concert photos or you’d like to have a tour photographer, please feel free to contact me.
As always, thank you all for your support. Long live JOVM!
New Audio: Yulia Niko Shares Thumping and Euphoric “Running”
Yulia Niko is a Berlin-based DJ, producer, radio host, Beatport creator and the founder of AXEPT Music Over the course of the past two decades, Niko has been connecting dance floors through forward-thinking electronic music released through Crosstown Rebels, Armada Music, Siamese Records, Nervous Records, Get Physical Music, Sweat It Out, 8Bit, Watergate Records and more.
As a tastemaker and curator, Niko champions new artists and new sounds while building meaningful connections through music and AEXPT.
The German-based DJ and producer’s latest single “Running” is a euphoric, incredibly accessible club banger that sounds like it would rock clubs in Ibiza, Berlin or here in NYC between 1:00am-3:00am.
New Video: JOVM Mainstay Naomi Shares Euphoric “Tranquille”
2026 has been a busy year for Montréal-based JOVM mainstay Naomi: She has continued to be wildly prolific while entering a bold new era working with French producer Elior Chaudagne, who produced “Univers,” and “Hershey Kiss” feat. Anglophone Montréal-based emcee SLM (pronounced “SLIM”)
The French-Canadian artist’s latest single, the Naomi, Elior Chaudagne and John Adam co-written “Tranquille” is a breezy, remarkably catchy bit of pop anchored around a strutting, dance floor friendly bass line, glistening synths and Naomi’s sultry and soulful R&B-tinged pop star delivery. “Tranquille” is a euphoric, escapist fantasy, specifically meant for you to dance your frustrations and worries away.
Fittingly, the song is rooted in a familiar story for all of us: When a friend goes through a breakup, Naomi steps in to console her. And she comes up with a simple plan — get dressed up and head to the club to dance the night away and get her friend’s mind off things.
The Naomi and Wym Holmes co-directed video for “Tranquille” features dancers Miambi Kassé and Zanna Allepot performing choreography that Naomi developed in collaboration with Guillaume Michaud. The video follows the trio as they get ready for their night out. Gabriel Poirier handled the cinematography and editing for the clip.
Additionally, Naomi was recently named an ambassador for Maybelline Canada, further adding to her reputation as a fashion enthusiast.
New Audio: Sandhouse Shares Atmospheric “Into Nothing”
Rising London-based indie duo Sandhouse — Anna Sutherland and Casper Holloway — have developed a musical language that comes from a wide-ranging exchange: The duo first bonded over dance music, soul and Arthur Russell, and still spend much of their studio time playing music together. Their ambition is to make guitar music that carries the feelings they find in hyperpop, rap, soul, dance music and film soundtracks. “A lot of our process is creating a powerful sound and then trying to figure out how to make it human, or find the complexity within it,” they explain. “Or creating something very vulnerable and then adding the power to it.”
Sandhouse’s debut EP, last year’s Circus has amassed over 5 million streams on Spotify while subsequent singles have received press from The Line of Best Fit, DIY Magazine, Rolling Stone UK, Dork Magazine, Under The Radar, The New Cue and others, as well as airplay from BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music and BBC Introducing, where they had a single named “Track of the Week,” Adding to a growing profile across the region, the band has built a reputation as a must-see live act, playing sold-out headlining shows at London’s Corsica Studios, The Lexington and Peckham Audio, along with opening slots and tours with Dove Ellis, PORIJ, she’s green, MOULD, swim school, Bleach Lab, and Panic Shack.
The rising London duo’s sophomore. Casper Holloway-produced EP Pollyanna was released today through Broke Records. The EP’s title is derived from Eleanor H. Porter’s optimistic heroine, while exploring the impulse to keep believing in someone despite mounting reasons not to. For the duo’s Anna Sutherland, writing became a way to take back control of experiences that had left her feeling powerless, shaping the material’s lyrics and her vocal performances. “Writing this music was part of a healing process and a way to untangle all the complicated feelings that arise from escaping from a terrible situation,” the duo’s Anna Sutherland explains.
She adds, “We often talk about the songs being spells or me having magical powers. For the vocal recording for parts of the EP, I imagined I was a giant monster that was part woman part crow when I stepped up to the microphone.” Reading Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid” and accounts of succubi and sirens, alongside conversations about Fullmetal Alchemist fed into that imagination. Across Pollyanna, the desire to disappear into romance sits alongside the urge to become something powerful enough to escape it.
Much of the EP was written and recorded across the last half of 2024 and early this year. EP title track “Pollyanna” and “Into Nothing” emerged during a writing retreat on an estuary in Suffolk, UK with Jay Flew with further sessions taking place at Sandhouse’s studios and alongside Ben Hillier in Lewes, UK. The EP features Joel Kovoor (drums) and Anthony Boatright (bass) on EP tracks “Snapdragon” and “Gasoline” while Ben Beed appears on “Pollyanna” and “Into Nothing.” Jake Burgess (lead guitar, tape machine and contact-mic experimentation) contributes to “Into Nothing.”
Sonically, the EP sees the band pairing warped indie rock with surreal, visceral imagery, grunge-inspired guitars, bleary trip-hop production, warped psychedelia and nocturnal alt-pop and Sutherland’s seductive yet darkly playful lyrics.
Pollyanna EP‘s latest single “Into Nothing” is a slow-burning tune that’s a woozy blend of trip hop, shoegazer textures and alt pop paired with Sutherland’s yearning delivery. Thematically, the song explores what can be lot in the pursuit of an idealized version of yourself. The duo’s Sutherland says, “‘Into Nothing’ is about the performance of modern beauty, and the self-reduction that occurs in order to conform.”
The duo has a handful of live dates, including an appearance at this year’s London Calling. Check out tour dates below.
Throwback: Happy 61st Birthday, Gavin Rossdale!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Bush and Institute frontman Gavin Rossdale’s 61st birthday.
New Audio: Justice Teams Up with Gesaffelstein on Cinematic, Club Banger “Pusher”
Acclaimed French electronic music duo Justice — Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay — exploded into the national and intentional scene with 2005’s groundbreaking single “Waters of Nazareth,” which was released through iconic Parisian label, Ed Banger Records. Their debut, 2007’s †, which was released through Ed Banger and Because Music featured the global hit, “D.A.N.C.E.“Their most recent effort, 2024’s Hyperdrama was supported with a stage-closing set at Coachella and a massive, extensive US arena tour that included a Grammy Award win for Best Electronic Recording.
Rockstar Games and the Grammy Award-winning French electronic music recently announced that Grand Theft Auto VI: Original Score is slated for a December 11, 2026 release through Because Music. Ed Banger and Rockstar Games. Hand-selected for the assignment, Justice worked in close collaboration with the Rockstar Games team to match the thematic beats of the gameplay experience, fine tuning their signature sound to align with the immersive world of Grand Theft Auto IV and its main characters Jason and Lucia. As a result, the band’s score is dynamically timed to game events as they unfold, constantly reacting in response to the different ways players engage with the people and places across the game’s world of Leonida.
“The scope of the game is so large geographically and thematically that it was clear from the beginning the music would also have to be very broad in terms of emotions, genres, and textures,” Justice’s Xavier de Rosnay says. “We were given the freedom to explore as many things as we needed to, musically speaking.”
Grand Theft Auto VI: Original Score will include the star-studded “Flower In a Hurricane” feat. Tame Impala, SZA and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, which debuted at #34 on the US Alternative Radio Chart was the first non-feature Justice song to hit the Billboard Hot 100 at #62, and the album’s latest single “Pusher,” feat. French electronic music producer Gesaffelstein. The first taste of the album’s instrumental side, “Pusher” is cinematic yet club friendly tune that seemingly channels a sleek blend of John Carpenter, Kraftwerk and the work of the two French electronic music legends.
The Grand Theft Auto VI: Original Score 2xCD and 3xLP – available in a limited crystal clear edition as well as standard black – features 30 tracks and a number of bonus digital tracks comprising a 3 hour-long suite of material from the game. All versions can be pre-ordered/pre-saved here.
New Audio: Dolours Shares Gary Numan-like “Parade”
Dolours (pronounced like colours — but with a d) is a mysterious and emerging UK-based duo, who blend post-punk urgency with noise rock intensity rooted in a defiant DIY approach. The duo have quickly established an atmospheric sound that features driving bass lines, abrasive guitars that thematically explores frustration, disillusionment and emotional unrest.
The duo’s debut EP, Parade is slated for a November 18, 2026 release. The EP was recorded, mixed and produced by the band across a patchwork of bedrooms and studios. The effort’s latests single, EP title track “Parade” sonically seems to channel a blend of Gary Numan and Joy Division while showcasing the duo’s ability to craft remarkably catchy material with a punk rock ethos. Dolours explains that “the track focuses on an act defiance against a coercive relationship and the rebirth that follows. Set almost entirely within the narrator’s mind, it explores the reclaiming of identity and agency.”
The band have announced an EP release show in their native Black Country, and they’ve been confirmed to play The New Colossus Festival next March. Hopefully, they’ll be more tour dates soon.
New Video: Always You Returns with Breezy Yet Tense “Eye to Eye”
Los Angeles-based duo Always You — twin brothers Christoph and Anton Hochheim — have managed to forge their own path while working alongside a hive mind-like collection of musician friends, including Beach Fossils, Wild Nothing, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, MGMT, Jerry Paper, The Depreciation Guild and a lengthy list of others, which has helped shaped the siblings sonic identity along the way. Formerly known as Ablebody, the Hochheim Brothers have spent their careers exploring lo fi hypnagogic laptop pop, sophisticated synth pop informed by 80s UK and Japanese New Wave, as well as kitsch-en sink lounge ballads inspired by the great chansons.
The Los Angeles-based duo’s third album, the Jack Tatum-produced Against The World is slated for a November 13, 2026 release through Hit The North Records. With Jack Tatum at helm guiding production and mixing, he tirelessly broke down and then reconstructed all the elements of the material with the twins, pushing the album’s overall sonics to the absolute breaking point while still retaining their signature sophtisipop sheen. Throughout the album’s run time, heavy guitars and bending sheets of white noise clash over frenzied hi-hats and The Prodigy-like sub bass. Abrupt starts and stops seemingly crash down with the weight of the world. Drum ‘n’ bass and house beats thump over soaring melodies and chopped up vocal samples. The ballads seemingly sparkle with more heart and tension than anything in their previously released work.
Thematically speaking, Against The World is a statement for and against the times: a manic manifesto drawing a line in the sand, pointing out that love is the only resistance against the forces manufacturing distance and endless dissent between us. It’s a rallying cry pushing for something better, a staunch refusal of the status quo, fueled by the belief that we all deserve much better. The album’s material is rooted in the deep sense of longing for something, hell, anything else than this — a different reality, an alternate timeline, anything. Increasingly divorced from the world around us, the false promises of a new lover, a new leader, a quick and seemingly effortless salutation or a new savior become impossible to resist. That fantasy leads us further and further underground, leaving miles of rubble in its wake and keeping us all just out of reach.
Against The World will include the previously released “1994” and the album’s latest single “Eye to Eye.” “Eye to Eye” features glistening synths and uptempo, footwork-like breakbeats paired with a supple baseline beneath ethereal vocals. But beneath the breezy atmosphere, the song possess a simmering anger, as the song explores the feeling of resentment on the brink of rage.
“I usually try to avoid writing from an angry perspective but ‘Eye To Eye’ is explicitly that,” the duo explain. “I suppose it’s about being in a pressure cooker of simmering resentment, where belittling comments stack up until you feel like the walls are closing in on you and efforts to self-soothe and self-centre are all in vain. The only moment of harmony is in impending separation which becomes a fantasy one wouldn’t dare act on. It’s draped in a somber atmosphere but propelled with aggressive breakbeats to help punctuate that frenetic headspace.
“The video by Skellyot portrays Anton dressed as Death chasing me through an abandoned mall,” the duo says of the accompanying video. “We, in turn, were running from security the entire video shoot, sneaking through backdoors and hidden passageways to remain out of view while Skellyot followed closely behind in a pair of bright orange roller skates with light-up wheels they bought from the one store still open in the mall.”
New Video: Norway’s The Clumps Share Anthemic “Easy”
With the release of last year’s “Worthless,” Norwegian rock outfit The Clumps have quickly exploded into the European and global scenes. “Worthless” has amassed over 3.3 million streams and over 100,000 monthly listeners since its release. Adding to a growing profile, the band’s previously releases have received national radio airplay on NRK P3 and P13 and they’ve began to make a run of both the national and European festival circuits, playin sets at Norway’s Bergenfest and Tons of Rock, as well as Eurosonic and London’s Soho Calling.
The band recently signed to AWAL, who released their latest single “Easy.” “Easy” is a slick, arena rock friendly blend of grunge, shoegaze, and indie rock, anchored around a pop-leaning sensibility and earnest, seemingly lived-in lyricism. The band explains that the ne single explores the psychological toll that’s often behind pursing something you care about deeply — the pressure, the exhaustion and uncertainty that are often flattened into the the idea that following your passion should somehow feel effortless.
The band’s highly anticipated sophomore EP is currently slated for release next year. But in the meantime, the accompanying video, which was shot, edited and directed by Filip Glezgo set at a presumed training session that quickly goes awry when the trainer seems to completely lose his mind, while seemingly daring his trainee how badly they want the job.