We’re almost to the halfway point. Who’s in the top 15?
#15 – Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor – “Godshe”
Detroit’s Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor released four singles this year, and this was my favorite. It’s bright, trippy, and moves along like a sports car set on cruise control.
#14 – Diagonal – “Negatives”
I’m calling it now. These Chicago shoe gazers are on track to be one of the Next Big Things. This cut blends psychedelia with shoe gaze and we’re all better for it.
#13 – Claude Fontaine – “Pretending He Was You”
Half of this album is dub, and the other half is bossa nova. All of it is good, and this was the first song I heard from it. I swooned.
#12 – Shopping – “Initiative”
Post-punkers Shopping slipped into the end of 2019 with one of the best singles of the year, poking fun at the rat race and The Man with a ripping bass line, typewriter-precise drumming, and that skittering guitar work only they can seem to play.
#11 – Public Practice – “Disposable”
Speaking of post-punk, Public Practice do it very, very well indeed. This single was a delightful treat in the latter half of 2019 and bodes well for hopefully a full album ahead.
The newest record from Khruangbin, Hasta El Cielo, is a dub version of their excellent album Con Todo El Mundo. Khruangbin’s beautiful psychedelic world music is ripe for dub remixing, and Hasta El Cielo (“See you in heaven.”) is lovely.
“With All the World” is sends you along a warm river cruise with the first track, stripping away your cares. “Sisters & Brothers” has a crisp drum groove and some of Laura Lee‘s funkiest bass riffs. “Mary Always,” the dub version of “Maria Tambien” from Con Todo El Mundo is suitable for Italian spy thrillers.
Donald Johnson’s drums on “Four of Five” are so slippery that the song almost sounds like it was recorded underwater. “How I Love” uses delay and echo effects well (as any good dub recording should), with Mark Speer’s guitar sounding a hundred miles away and yet right in the room with you. The organ work on “Sunny’s Vision” is a nice lead-in to a top shelf tequila smooth tune. “A La Sala” has some neat ambient electro touches. “The Red Book” and “Order of Operations” are other trippy tracks that take away your day-to-day worries.
The title track is a snappy track that not only relaxes you but also makes you feel like a bad ass at the same time. The digital version of the album comes with two extra tracks – “Rules” (with superb echoed vocal sounds) and “Como Te Quiero” (a soft track with sharp as a razor drums).
This is such a cool, mellow record that trying to describe it is nearly useless. It’s best if you hear it. It’s best if everyone hears it.
The dynamic duo of vocalist / songwriter Sharon “Miss Red” Stern and producer / DJ Kevin “the Bug” Martin have returned with The Four Bodies – a four-song EP of their brand of “toxic dancehall.” The two of them work so well together that it’s difficult to tell where the influence of one on the other begins or ends.
Each song represents a different universal element. “Shut In Your Head” is Earth, and its deep bass and lyrics of Red’s inner power being like a simmering volcano are evidence of this idea. “Loco” is the Fire element, and the Bug’s drums crackle like a campfire until Red’s sharp vocals turn it into a raging blaze that cannot be stopped by any conventional means.
“Don’t Text Back” (water) bubbles and rolls along like a lotus flower on a lazy river while the Bug’s dub beats cause concentric ripples across the surface and Miss Red calls to us from dark depths. The universal element of air is represented by “Prayers” – an ethereal instrumental well-suited for meditation and / or spell casting. Stern has made it known that some of the inspirations behind The Four Bodies were shamanism and witchcraft (and the EP’s cover alone tells us this), so the mystical feel of the record is prevalent throughout it.
It’s not surprising because Miss Red’s other collaborations with the Bug often sound otherworldly and are tinged with a bit (or more, depending on the song) of menace. The Four Bodies is no exception and an intriguing addition to Miss Red’s already fascinating discography.
Keep your mind open.
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“On their second album, the Houston-based instrumental trio crafts a unique, psychedelic vibe that hangs between continents and eras.” — Pitchfork
“The result is a border-blurring convergence, one likely to propel whatever dance floor is lucky enough to receive it.” — Los Angeles Times
“Buy it, stream it, hear it, get it, live it: It’s been a spell since one of those all-things-to-all-people albums has come along, but Khruangbin’s second full-length, Con Todo El Mundo, seems to be just that.” — VOGUE
“…Khruangbin gives us a window seat on an invigorating musical experience with a serious groove.” — NPR Music (Best Albums of 2018)
“…funky, jumpy tendrils of guitar, mixed with hazy washes of surf rock…” — Vulture
Globetrotting Texan trio Khruangbin are set to release Hasta El Cielo, the band’s glorious dub version of their acclaimed second album Con Todo El Mundo, on July 12th via Dead Oceans/Night Time Stories. The full album has been processed anew along with two bonus dubs by renowned Jamaican producer Scientist. Stream lead single, “Mary Always,” below.
The band’s exotic, spacious, psychedelic funk aligns with the dub treatment particularly well. Indeed, keen fans won’t find this a surprising release. Dubs of tracks from their first album The Universe Smiles Upon You appeared on limited vinyl releases of “People Everywhere” for Record Store Day 2016 and “Zionsville” on the BoogieFuturo remix 12”. The especially eagle-eared will have caught a dub of “Two Fish And An Elephant” playing over the credits of the track’s celebrated video.
“For us, Dub has always felt like a prayer. Spacious, meditative, able to transport the listener to another realm. The first dub albums we listened to were records mixed by Scientist featuring the music of the Roots Radics. Laura Lee learned to play bass by listening to Scientist Wins the World Cup. His unique mixing style, with the emphasis on space and texture, creates the feeling of frozen time; it was hugely influential to us as a band. To be able to work alongside Scientist, a legend in the history of dub, is an honor. This is our dub version of Con Todo El Mundo.” — Khruangbin
Formed of Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald “DJ” Johnson on drums; Khruangbin’s sounds are rooted in the deepest waters of music from around the world, infused with classic soul, dub and psychedelia. Since the release of Con Todo El Mundo, Khruangbin have continued their almost non-stop approach to touring, playing over 130 dates in 2018 alone, most of them selling out well in advance, including sold-out shows across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Khruangbin closed out 2018 supporting Leon Bridges in North America, and have already graced the stages of numerous festivals this year, including Coachella, Marfa Myths, Fortress Festival, FORM Arcosanti, Lightning in a Bottle, and more.
They’ll kick off their summer tour with select shows in the Northeastern US, including a sold out show at Central Park’s SummerStage in NYC, before heading overseas for festival performances at Green Man, Latitude, Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival and Barclaycard British Summer Time. They’ll return to North American to play Pitchfork Music Festival, Pickathon, Lockn’, and THING. A full list of dates is below.
Hasta El Cielo Tracklist: 01. With All The World 02. Sisters & Brothers 03. Mary Always 04. Four of Five 05. How I Love 06. Sunny’s Vision 07. A La Sala 08. The Red Book 09. Order of Operations 010. Hasta El Cielo 11. Rules – Scientist Dub (Bonus Track) 12. Cómo Te Quiero – Scientist Dub (Bonus Track)
Pre-orderHasta El Cielo — https://khruangbin.ffm.to/hastaelcielo
Khruangbin Tour Dates: Fri. June 21 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre Sat. June 22 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre — SOLD OUT Fri. June 28 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter Sat. June 29 – Sete, FR @ Worldwide Festival Sat. June 29 – Sat. July 6 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival Tue. July 2 – Montreux, CH @ Montreux Jazz Festival Sat. July 6 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival Sun. July 7 – Beuningen, NL @ Down the Rabbit Hole Thu. July 11 – Bilbao, ES @ BBK Sat. July 13 – London, UK @ British Summer Time Sun. July 14 – Moseley, UK @ Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival Wed. July 17 – Athens, GR @ Ejekt Festival Thu. July 18 – Bern, CH @ Gurten Festival Fri. July 19 – Suffolk, UK @ Latitude Festival Sun. July 21 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival Sun. July 28 – Fuji, JP @ Fuji Rocks Wed. July 31 – Honolulu, HI @ The Republik Fri. Aug. 2 – Sun. Aug. 4 – Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon Sun. Aug. 4 – Kaslo, BC @ Kaslo Jazz Festival Fri. Aug. 9 – Gothenburg, SE @ Way Out Fest Festival Thu. Aug. 8 – Sat. Aug. 10 – Rees, DE @ Haldern Pop Festival Sun. Aug. 11 – Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival Tue. Aug. 13 – Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival Thu. Aug. 15 – Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura Festival Thu. Aug. 15 – Sun. Aug. 18 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival Thu. Aug. 22 – Sun. Aug. 25 – Arrington, VA @ Lockn’ Fri. Aug. 23 – Miami, FL @ The Ground (DJ Set) Sat. Aug. 24 – Sun. Aug. 25 – Port Townsend, WA @ THING Fri. Nov. 15 – São Paulo, BR @ Popload Festival
Stream Khruangbin’s Con Todo El Mundo – https://spoti.fi/2DN1Y2N
NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert – https://youtu.be/vWLJeqLPfSU
Pitchfork Live Session – https://youtu.be/q4xKvHANqjk
Book A Playlist Curated By Khruangbin via AirKhruang – https://www.airkhruang.com/
“Como Te Quiero” video – https://youtu.be/cxrotrIvqyY
“Friday Morning” video – https://youtu.be/KjQSSYOTXzk
“Maria También” video – https://youtu.be/7hlGqj3ImQI
“Evan Finds The Third Room” video – https://youtu.be/QcD_YXCxxZM
“Cómo Me Quieres” video – https://youtu.be/GHzIl82165g
PurchaseCon Todo El Mundo — https://khruangbin.lnk.to/contodoelmundo
Get ready to meet your new crush – Claude Fontaine. Her debut self-titled album is one of the best world music records so far this year, combining reggae, dub, and bossa nova with Fontaine’s lovely voice behind a knock-out backing band including gents who have worked with Miles Davis, Ziggy Marley, and Steel Pulse.
The opening track, “Cry for Another,” is a heartfelt reggae cut about longing. The bass riff alone will make you move. “Hot Tears” has Fontaine singing about being alone and waiting for a call from her lover that she knows in her heart will never come. “Hot tears in my coffee, cold sheets in my bed. If he really loved me, he’d be here instead,” she sings in a voice so lovely that you and everyone else who hears this track will agree that this guy’s an idiot. “Little Sister” brings up the raga tempo (Seriously, the groove is outstanding.) and has Fontaine warning her sister / friend that the guy she’s falling for is a faker.
The horn section is a great addition to the smooth reggae beats (by legendary drummer Airto Moreira) on “Love Street.” The breakdown on it slides you into a dub-fueled sexy dream. Fontaine sings about finding love with someone for whom she’s pined for a long while – perhaps the subject of “Hot Tears.” “Play by Play” keeps the dub touches, and Fontaine’s voice is perfect for the psychedelic, trippy touches of dub music. She’s almost a ghost you keep trying to catch, but she always playfully slips away before you can grab her.
The album moves into bossa nova territory on “Pretending He Was You” – one of my favorite singles of the year so far. It blends Fontaine’s sad lyrics with tropical bird sounds, simple hand percussion, and classic Brazilian guitar strumming. “I’ll Play the Fool” is just as good, with Fontaine telling her lover not to worry about the “how’s” and “why’s” of their relationship and that she’s willing to be the silly one who embraces life if he won’t.
The soft percussion on “Strings of Your Guitar” is outstanding, and I’m pretty sure Fontaine’s lyrics are about wishing her lover would treat her with the same care as his instrument. #swoon. “Footprints in the Sand” is a heartbreaking ballad about a lover who has walked out on Fontaine. “Footprints left in the sand are all I have,” she sings, knowing that even her memories of him will fade in time. If you aren’t completely under her spell by the time you reach the closer, “Our Last Goodbye,” you might want to consider seeing a psychiatrist because you are probably an emotionless sociopath. Fontaine’s vocals about parting too soon from a lover make you want to buy her a glass of wine and just sit with her to watch the sunset.
Ms. Fontaine’s debut is a gorgeous record, and easily the most beautiful work I’ve heard so far this year. Don’t sleep on her (as the kids say). You need these songs more than you might realize.
Keep your mind open.
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‘Claude Fontaine’ promises 10 tracks of artful reverence and tasteful reimagining of globetrotting sounds.” — Noisey
Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter ClaudeFontaine shares a new single, “Hot Tears,” from her forthcoming debut, self-titled album, out April26th on InnovativeLeisure. Following the “hypnotic and romantic” (Noisey) “Pretending He Was You” and lead single “Cry For Another”, which the Los Angeles Times described as “a straight-up rocksteady song that conjures the essence of Kingston, Jamaica, in the late 1960s,” “Hot Tears” is another standout nod to the early 1970s StudioOne, Trojan, and TreasureIsle records of Jamaica. Over muted percussion and flutters of trumpet, Fontaine tells a story of unrequited love.
Claude Fontaine was tracked in two potent sessions with guitarist TonyChin, whose playing with Althea and Donna, KingTubby, DennisBrown and so many more very arguably defined a significant part of the classic reggae sound, and AirtoMoreira, the Brazilian drummer whose work both solo and in collaboration—with MilesDavis, AstrudGilberto, ChickCorea, AnnettePeacock—make him an actual living legend. They also enlisted a murderer’s row of additional session players—bassist RonnieMcQueen of SteelPulse and ZiggyMarley drummer RockDeadrick, NowAgainRecords guitarist FabianoDo Nascimento, SergioMendes percussionist GibiDosSantos and FloraPurim bassist AndreDeSantanna. The ten tracks that comprise ClaudeFontaine were tracked at both KingsizeSoundLabs in Northeast Los Angeles and SageandSound, Chet Baker’s legendary old studio in Hollywood.
Fontaine will celebrate the album’s release with a show at ZebuloninLosAngeles on Fri. April 26th. Tickets are available here.
Weighing in at…I have no idea, actually, but she can’t be more than a featherweight, Miss Red has unloaded an album worthy of its title – K.O.
I described Miss Red’s music to a coworker as “Jamaican dancehall by way of Israel and Germany.” He claimed not to understand it, but his head was bobbing and his hips were moving before he realized what was happening.
Collaborating once more with beat master the Bug, Miss Red throws out “Shock Out” like a quick jab testing her opponent’s guard. When it lands at the 43-second mark, it about splits your nose open. Red’s rapping is fast, smooth, sexy, and dangerous. Bug’s beats are like a growling, prowling bear emerging from its den ready to devour anything in its path. “Give me the money and pass me the mic,” Red sings on “One Shot Killer.” “One move wrong and you’re gonna see me bite,” she warns / tempts before her vocals take on a smoky quality that is difficult to describe but wonderful to hear.
She bobs, weaves, and shuffle steps with amazing speed on “Money Machine.” I don’t think she’s keeping up with the Bug’s thumping beats so much as they’re keeping up with her. “Alarm” is a short banger, almost like a blitz of punches that disappears as quickly as it begins, like a set-up for a stronger blow. That stronger blow is “War” – a dub mind-trip that feels as punch-drunk as it sounds. “Come Again” has Red claiming her heavyweight (in terms of skill) title from people who can’t match her game. The synth-bass on it is some of the biggest on the record, too. “Big” has her letting everyone know she’s far bigger than her size would have you believe. She might be small, but Miss Red is a giant throwing lighting bolts from thunderclouds once she grabs the mic.
“Clouds” is another trippy dub track, and the electronic beats on “Dust” bubble into a wicked brew. “Dagga” is the first single off K.O., and it’s a good choice. It highlights Red’s vocal chops and the Bug’s wicked beats well. As good as that is, however, “Slay,” is downright jaw-dropping. It’s an instant floor-filler and one of the hottest club tracks of 2018. I can’t wait to hear this live. Red brings a kinky swagger to her lyrics (more than usual) and the Bug’s beats and breakdowns almost aren’t fair to practicing DJ’s like yours truly. The haunting “Memorial Day” belongs in a modern-day giallo film. Red opts for more singing than rhyming, and the Bug’s beats crackle like a bowl of your favorite cereal. The title track closes the album, and it’s a quick fadeout with Miss Red mostly chanting, “K.O.” throughout it. It’s like having your bell rung and seeing the lights go out as you fall to the mat in blissful stupor.
Miss Red is a fierce opponent. I wouldn’t want to face her in a rap battle, let alone in a street fight. She’d probably seduce you with her agile vocals and then break at least one limb while your guard was down. Still, you’d have a great story to tell afterwards.
Heralded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and certainly one of the greatest political statement records of all time, it’s amazing that I’ve never owned a copy of Sandinista! by the Clash or even heard it in its entirety until now. As the story goes, this triple album was released as even a protest against their label at the time (CBS) when they weren’t allowed to release London Calling as a double album but CBS released a double Bruce Springsteen record the same year. The Clash even took less royalties from Sandinista! so they could release it at an affordable price to fans. They decided to explore their love of reggae, dub, gospel, rap (which was still new at the time), and dancehall, and they pay full homage to those genres on Sandinista!.
Opening with the (as Joe Strummer puts it) “fucking long” hit “The Magnificent Seven” (which is fewer than six minutes), the Clash let everyone know right away that Sandinista! wasn’t a typical Clash record. The opening track is a rap about being a working stiff (“Working for a rise, better my station, take my baby to sophistication. She’s seen the ads, she thinks it’s nice. Better work hard, I’ve seen the price.”) with hip hop and dub beats. “Hitsville U.K.” slaps down the U.K. music industry and Clash fans’ expectations with a pop beat and Mick Jones‘ girlfriend at the time, Ellen Foley, sharing lead vocals with him. “Junco Partner” is a dub cover of a classic James Waynes blues cut.
“Ivan Meets G.I. Joe,” a song about the U.S.-Soviet conflicts of the time, brings in a bit of disco (along with what sounds like vintage video game sound bytes) and lead vocals by drummer Topper Headon. “The Leader” takes a swing at the cult of personality and appeasement of the masses (“The people must have something good to read on a Sunday.”). “Something About England” has weird jazz piano licks as Mick Jones and Joe Strummer takedown people who remember the past through rose-colored glasses. “Rebel Waltz” follows a similar theme and “Look Here” is jazz written by the legendary Mose Allison no less. Bassist Paul Simonon sings lead on “The Crooked Beat,” and it’s no surprise is has heavy dub undertones. Simonon learned a lot of his bass licks by listening to dub and reggae records. “Somebody Got Murdered” is about Mick Jones learning of a murder that resulted from a robbery not far from where he lived. “One More Time” has Jones sharing vocals with another legend – reggae / dub musician and producer Mikey Dred. The song’s about the struggles As if it weren’t dub enough, the following instrumental track is “One More Dub.”
“Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)” is a reprise of “The Magnificent Seven,” but with different lyrics, a fat bass by Simonon, and even better rapping by Strummer. “Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)” is Jones’ smackdown on the proliferation of cheaply constructed, crime-ridden towers of London flats (“Fear is just another commodity here. They sell us peeping holes to peek when we hear a bang on the door resoundingly clear. Who would really want to move in here?”). “Corner Soul” blends gospel and reggae, while “Let’s Go Crazy” blends calypso and reggae (and sounds like the beginnings of Jones’ future band Big Audio Dynamite). “If Music Could Talk” splits the vocals between left and right channels while mixing lounge jazz with reggae beats. It’s weird, and it works. They bring back the gospel on “The Sound of Sinners,” with Strummer singing, “After all this time to believe in Jesus, after all those drugs I thought I was him. After all my lying and a-crying and my suffering, I ain’t good enough, I ain’t clean enough to be him.” at one point.
Their cover of the Equals‘ “Police on My Back” reminds you that, despite all the dub, reggae, and gospel that’s come before it, the Clash were still a punk rock band. “Midnight Log” is about temptation and the Devil (both literal and metaphorical), and “The Equaliser” is a trippy bit of dub calling for economic equality. The draft wasn’t around in 1980, but Selective Service was just initiated and that might’ve been the inspiration for “The Call Up” – a strong denouncement of both. The wicked “Washington Bullets” (one of the Clash’s greatest songs) exposes American and British-funded combat missions in China, Afghanistan, and Chile. “Broadway” blends dub with smoky dive bar music.
“Lose This Skin,” with vocals and violin by Tymon Dogg (who would later go on to join Joe Strummer’s Mescaleros), seems to be about racial disparity. “Charlie Don’t Surf” sums up the band’s belief that the U.S. military loves to turn other countries into little Americas at the expense of their native cultures. After the instrumental “Mensforth Hill,” we get to the trippy track “Junkie Slip.” Strummer’s vocals are hardly discernible. The beats take precedence instead. “Kingston Advice” blends heavy dub (Strummer’s vocals echo all over the place) and punk guitars. It blends well into “The Street Parade.” They almost feel like one long track.
“Version City” brings back disco bass and jazz piano and adds blues harmonica as Strummer and Jones sing about their love of classic blues (“Is that the train that you speak of, the one I heard in my younger days? All the great bluesmen have rode her. I’m jumping up, gonna ride that train.”). The album just gets weirder from here. “Living in Fame” is psychedelic dub, “Silicone on Sapphire” is a dub remix / re-edit / reboot of “Washington Bullets,” “Version Pardner” is a dub remix of “Version Partner,” “Career Opportunities” is a version of the Clash’s classic hit sung by children, and “Shepherds Delight” is an instrumental mind trip.
Sandinista! isn’t a typical Clash record, but that was the point. They were already atypical and became even more so after this release. They had drawn lines in the political sand before, but on Sandinista! they draw those lines with a bulldozer instead of a bayonet.
I was listening to BBC 6 Music (arguably the best radio station on the planet) last week when I heard a fiery MC with wicked flow, an accent I couldn’t place, and a killer dub/dancehall beat behind her. I immediately opened my Shazam app and discovered I was listening to Tel Aviv’s Miss Red, teamed up with Kevin “The Bug” Martin. I searched for more than the track I was hearing, and I found her mixtape – Murder.
Martin provides the weird 16-bit video game-like beats to open the mixtape with “Mad,” and Miss Red is chanting and singing right away with no fear whatsoever as Martin’s beats expand to near-madness levels, almost drowning out Miss Red’s voice. The title track follows, and it’s a stunner. If it doesn’t hook you right away, something is wrong with you. Seriously, get to a doctor, because Red’s squeaky reggae-loving flow is arousing (i.e., “Everywhere I go, the cool get hotter.”).
“No Guns” starts off with horror movie synths before unleashing beats thicker than Leatherface. The contrast with Red’s reverb-layered rapping is lovely and shocking at the same time. Martin takes his beats and synths straight into industrial territory on “What Would You Like” while Red sings about sex hot enough to match Martin’s beats.
“Rollercoaster” builds like the machine of its title creeping up the first hill toward a possibly terrifying plunge, but it leaves you stuck at the top in time for “Ganja Man” to come along and either relax you while you’re at the top of the hill or make you more paranoid. I’m not sure which. Martin’s beats are a bit “bad trip,” but Red’s vocals are like a scalp massage. “Sugar” might be about drugs or, to be frank, the taste of Red’s…kisses. Yeah, let’s go with that. One thing’s for certain, I’ll go with Martin’s beats all day long on this track. They’re thick as sorghum and slippery as butter cream icing.
“Lean Back” starts with an air raid siren that morphs into Red’s hypnotizing vocals as she encourages us to relax, listen to good music, and put aside our differences. Don’t worry, she doesn’t suggest we give up partying or standing up against the Man, because the next song is called “Trash It.” Martin’s beats sound like distorted rubber bands and Red’s rhymes grow like the She-Hulk. “Fever” begins with a shimmering harp notes until Martin’s Donkey Kong-stomp beats unload on you. Red’s vocals swirl around you like smoky ghosts.
Martin keeps surprising you with his loud bursts of synths and beats on “Pull It Up” while Red squeaks, chants, and rhymes in praise of her selector (That’s a Jamaican term for DJ, in case you didn’t know). Microphone feedback is used as percussion in “Leggo,” and Red stage whispers her creepiest vocals on the album.
The opening of “1 Dog Shot” sounds like a particularly grating alarm clock. Trust me, you’ll appreciate the wake-up call because Red bursts into the track like she’s crashing through a window on a rope while firing an Uzi. The beginning of the last track, “Come Down,” almost sounds like a dog barking in a far-off room, and I’m sure that’s no coincidence. Martin’s beats sound like a pressure cooker ticking off steam and Red hopes that someone will come down and pick her up, perhaps from her blues, perhaps from this plane of existence, or perhaps from the local club for a nightcap. It fades out quick, so it seems she got her wish.
Murder is hard to describe because it sounds like dancehall, but it also sounds like industrial madness, dubstep trip-outs, and psychedelic dream wave. In other words, it sounds like something you need to hear right now. Miss Red’s first album, K.O., is out this July and is already high on my list as something I need to snag as soon as it’s available.
As if Murder wasn’t good enough, Miss Red offers it for free download through her website and her Bandcamp page. You can’t miss.
“I don’t know why this show isn’t sold out?” was the sentiment held by me and at least a few others when Kasabian played in Chicago. “These guys sell out Glastonbury!” said a guy behind me, referring to the massive British music festival. Sure enough, Kasabian put on a great, energetic set that had everyone bouncing and dancing. It might’ve been the liveliest set you missed all year.
I was stunned to learn that Nashville’s All Them Witches were playing for free up in Michigan. I was even more stunned by their set, which was a tight set infused with blues, rock, voodoo rock, and psychedelia. It immediately made me want to catch them again as soon as possible.
2017 has been the year of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. They’ve release four albums this year and a fifth is due to drop any day now. Their show at Chicago’s Metro was one of the craziest I attended all year. They tore through a set that not only played older material but also included tunes from the (at the time) unreleased album Murder of the Universe.
This show gave me chills. Anoushka Shankar is perhaps the greatest living sitar player on Earth, although I’m sure she’d disagree with that statement. Seeing and hearing her in an acoustically perfect venue playing traditional ragas might convince you of my earlier statement, however. It was a sublime performance.
Flying Lotus was the final act we saw at Mamby on the Beach this year. It was chilly by that time of day, but his set made you forget about the cool air blowing in from Lake Michigan. The visuals were stunning and the sounds he made from his mushroom cloud-like stand were an impressive array of psychedelic, trip hop, and dub sounds.
Who finishes in the top five for 2017? You’ll find out tomorrow!
Keep your mind open.
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