Reviews – Page 3 – 7th Level Music

Levitation Austin 2024 – Day Two

The weather stayed nice for us on Day Two of Levitation Austin. There was no rain, and it was overcast – which meant that the sun wasn’t beating down on us at this place.

We spent most of our day here. It was a first time for both of us at the place, and the Austin Psych Fest in the spring is held here. You have to take the bus or use a ride-share service to get here because it’s on a busy road and there’s no where to park for miles. That being said, it’s a nice place big enough to hold two outdoor stages and multiple vendor booths. I would’ve enjoyed more food truck options other than pizza (which looked delicious, by the way), and we’ll bring a blanket next time, but the place reminded me of the La Chabada venue at Levitation France. You can easily hop back and forth between stages at both places.

Up first were Meatbodies, whom I’d recently seen in Chicago. They were the first band of the day and had a good crowd for a 4:30 slot. They had fun and set the table for everyone else to follow with a night of garage-psych, electro, cosmic rock, and post-punk.

They had to cut their set a bit short, as the second band of the day was in the process of unleashing fierce dance-punk on the main stage. Special Interest came out ready to fight and / or fuck. “Fierce” is how my girlfriend described their wild set.

We could hear parts of Fat Dog‘s set, which was described by one of the sound engineers as “Like Fontaines D.C., but hornier.” We decided to get close for Gang of Four, who are on their final tour, and were the big draw of the day for me. They didn’t disappoint, playing a lot of classics and destroying a microwave in the process. Jon King‘s manic energy made my girlfriend wonder if he might have a heart attack on stage, but one look through his unbuttoned shirt showed how ripped he is.

We hung out in the same area for Dry Cleaning, who somehow had to follow Gang of Four. Lead singer Florence Shaw (whom my girlfriend described as “fucking weird”) spoke, a bit nervously, about all the great bands playing that day. She and her bandmates didn’t have to worry, however, as they put down a great post-punk set. I love the addition of their saxophonist on this tour. The echoing horn is a sharp touch.

We heard part of Pissed Jeans‘ set, which sounded crazy, and they had a lot of fans at the Far Out. I saw plenty of their band shirts on people in the crowd (“Excuse me, are those Pissed Jeans you’re wearing?”), and then headed over to see Slift, who were once again wrapping up their U.S. tour at Levitation. They wasted no time, using every bit of gas left in the tank. Crowd surfers were abundant during their set and they practically blasted the east fence off the place. “I think Slift stole the show,” my girlfriend said.

We wrapped up the night at Kingdom in downtown Austin, a venue that’s the opposite of the Far Out. It’s pretty much a rave warehouse that you can only access through a door in an alley. We hit the dance floor during MJ Nebreda and Doss‘ sets, which were full of so much bass that we were both buzzing by the end of the night. It was fun to hang out with a crowd of ravers (many of whom still in costume a night after Halloween) after hanging out with rockers for several hours.

Up next, night three of Osees‘ four-night residency at Hotel Vegas.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin 2024 – Day One

It’s time to enjoy my favorite weekend of the year with another return to Levitation Austin. The weather on Day One was perfect for both the festival and Halloween. Downtown was packed to the gills with people in and out of costume, but the majority of the crowds were in the spooky spirit (For the record, my girlfriend and I were dressed as Shaggy and Velma.).

Up first was a stop at Stubb’s to catch Mdou Moctar and The Black Angels. We missed The Strange Lot‘s set, and caught part of Boogarins‘, but managed to get about halfway to the stage for Mr. Moctar and his band (who came out wearing wigs and fake beards).

The sound mix was a bit off during Moctar’s set at first, making his vocals a bit tough to hear, but they eventually smoothed out and the band had a great time. The crowd was roaring by the end of their set, and Moctar’s drummer was on fire.

The Black Angels are a new favorite band of my girlfriend, so we moved up closer to get her the best experience possible. They were performing the entire Phosphene Dream album as the first set, which is a favorite of mine since they were touring that album when I first saw them live in 2011.

They played a full second set, including many songs I’d never heard live until then (and I’ve seen them at least a dozen times by now). Lead guitarist Christian Bland did a lot of wild pedal effects during both sets, and their new bass player and keyboardist is sharp.

We snagged some mediocre falafel at a food truck after that and then heading over to Empire to see A Place to Bury Strangers. They were playing the inside stage, and it had been so long since I’d been at a show there that I’d forgotten how small the inside space is. “It’s going to be so loud in here,” I told my girlfriend, who was also seeing them for the first time.

After a great catch-up conversation with frontman / guitar and pedal whiz Oliver Ackermann, the band (all dressed as vampires) came out and, as predicted, flattened the place. Ackermann smashed one guitar and broke two strings on it by the second song (“We’ve Come So Far”). The stage was flooded with fake fog during “Ocean,” and Ackermann and Sandra and John Fedowitz emerged from it like, well, vampires, as their bulldozer of sound rolled over us.

A mosh pit broke out at one point, making my short girlfriend uneasy. I got her away from it while APTBS brought out their rolling synth-drum machine-cacophony maker into the crowd and Sandra and John Fedowitz played their respective drum and bass around it while Ackermann melted brains with weird sounds and weirder vocals. They returned to the stage where Ackermann decapitated a piñata with a guitar and they ended the night with enough feedback to make my girlfriend say, “I need a neck adjustment after that.”

It was a good start to the festival. Up next, several post-punk and rock bands at a place that has no parking and a late-night mini-rave.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: The The – Salt Shed – Chicago, IL – October 25, 2024

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see The The live. The band’s leader, frontman, and songwriter, Matt Johnson, had seemingly retired many years ago to make film scores and write other non-musical projects. Then, in 2018, he did a reunion tour through the United Kingdom. I thought that would’ve been great to see (and video recordings of the shows bear me out), but guessed that my only chance was gone.

Then he released Ensoulment, his first new album in almost thirty years and announced a world tour that was stopping in Chicago. I signed up for pre-sale tickets and snagged a pair as soon as possible. My friend, Brian, and I went, both of us having been fans since 1986’s Infected album.

There was no opening band. The The played two sets. The first was Ensoulment in its entirety, and this was the first time I’d heard more than the first three singles from it. The first half is almost a jazz album, and Johnson’s sharp lyrics and jabs at the political establishment (i.e., “Kissing the Ring of the POTUS”) on both sides of the pond still hit like a gold medal fencer.

Following a 15-minute intermission, the band came back out for a “time traveler’s set” of material from their previous albums, opening with a slightly stripped-down, but no less funky version of “Infected.” “Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)” and “Heartland” were big hits with the crowd. “Love Is Stronger Than Death” was a beautiful addition to the set, and Johnson declared “This Is the Day” as a song of hope that was just as important now as when he wrote it decades earlier.

All of his songs still resonate. “Lonely Planet” prompted a “Fuck yeah!” shout from a guy a couple rows ahead of us when Johnson announced it to close the second set. The encore was two songs from Soul Mining, which had been released forty-one years prior (“I wasn’t even born then,” Johnson said.). “Uncertain Smile” and “Giant” rounded out the show, leaving a lot of people happy and buzzing. The whole crowd was in the same boat as Brian and I. We all thought we might not get to hear these songs live, and were all thankful that it happened.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Douglas Richards – Project 85 EP

What do you do when you’re an attorney who doesn’t have much to do during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown? If you’re Douglas Richards, you go back to doing what you did before you became an attorney – being a rave DJ and making the Project 85 EP.

The first track, “Everyone Has Their Own Reasons,” is a tale of one of Richards’ friends experimenting with DMT, using his friend’s own telling of the tale for the vocals and stacking them with hot 303 beats and bouncing bass.

“I’m Here for You,” using more of the same conversation for more vocals, becomes a robotic techno ripper that bumps and thumps in all the right places. “I Move with Intention” has some retro vibes, sounding not unlike an early 1980s disco cut that you’ve been digging in crates to find for the last thirty years.

Richards is about to blow the doors off dance clubs across the world if he keeps up with stuff like this. Don’t miss out.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Pull Proxy Media!]

Review: Maquina – Prata

Hailing from Lisbon, Portugal, the trio of Maquina combine krautrock, electro, industrial, and shoegaze on their first full-length album, Prata. Trust me, it all works quite well.

Opener “Body Control” unleashes groovy fuzz bass to get your hips moving and then bonks you on the head with hard-edged synths, guitars, and howls. “Denial” has a spooky edge to it (and is a song about turmoil, after all), and there’s still time to put it on your Halloween playlist, so why not?

The beat and pulse of “Subversive” are infectious and will probably cause you to stomp the gas pedal if you listen to it while driving. “Kontakte” (“Contact”) has this weird, almost unsettling bounce to it that might be the throbbing of a UFO engine as it approaches you on a dark night…only to reveal a goth dance club inside it run by sexy aliens.

The opening bass of “Desterro” (“Exile”) brings to mind some of the same energy label mates A Place to Bury Strangers often unleash. Ending with “Concentrate,” Prata comes to a close with chugging drums and growling, simmering danger. It’s like a snake slithering across the room at you…and the snake is an android…and it’s programmed to lead you onto a monorail in the Lisbon of 2099.

There isn’t a bad track on this album, and it makes you want to catch them live. I’m sure it’s a wild experience…just like Prata.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Review: Temporal Waves – self-titled

Classical Indian music mixed with synth-wave? I’m there all day.

Shawn Mativesky, otherwise known as Temporal Waves, has released his debut self-titled album and it’s a wild mix of those two genres. I don’t know how he does it, but he blends tabla so well with analog synths and drum machines that you’re often not sure where one ends and the other begins.

He also gives any of the tracks on the album ample time to breathe. The opener, “I Remember,” is over six minutes long. It’s a beautiful track that puts you in a different headspace. The whole album does, really. It puts you into a trance one moment, and then sends you rushing to the dance floor the next.

There are four subtle “Interludes” on the album, each one setting the table for the next track, such as “Interlude I – Skyline” being a hazy lead-in to near-creepy “Sprawl Twilight.” “Interlude II – Scorched” is a perfect opening for the next track, “Eclipse of an Urban Dystopia,” just from the titles alone, but the dark, John Carpenter-like tones of both are a good pair.

You could put “Interlude III – Tomorrow Machine” on a horror / sci-fi film soundtrack and “Cortical Network Oscillations” could be the sound of an alien transmission. The build-up of “Cyclotron” is a cool opening to what sounds like a forgotten 1970s TV show theme. “Water Temple” drifts along for the first half and then drops deep synth-bass on you in the second. “Luminous Objects” might be the loveliest song on the album. It seems to make you float.

Mativesky’s hands and fingers are moving so fast on this tabla on “Data Cassette Sunrise” that you’re often taken out of whatever you’re doing while listening to it to think, “Holy cow…Does he have three hands?” I love how he adds apparent vintage video game sounds on “Awakening.” They blend in perfect with the raga-like hypnotic effects of his playing.

“Warmth of the Winter Sun” is loaded with heavy bass, bright synths, and wicked beats that are positively uplifting before the wind-down of “Postlude” to send us away with new energy.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Nick at Riparian Media!]

Live: Osees and Iguana Death Cult – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL – October 19, 2024

It was the second of two sold-out shows for Osees in what’s become an annual autumn tradition at Chicago’s Thalia Hall. The crowd was buzzing at the outset, and everyone knew a good, wild time was coming.

The party started with Iguana Death Cult, all the way from The Netherlands. I hadn’t heard of them until this night, and at first wasn’t sure what to make of them. Were they pun, funk, post-punk, post-funk, post-psych, pre-psych? I’m still not sure if I know, but I do know that they were a lot of fun, the songs were wild, and each one was better than the last.

The crowd was behind them all the way, and had a fun mosh pit going by the end of their set. I chatted with their lead singer, Jeron Reek of them after the show, and he told me they’d played South by Southwest twice, and other clubs and events a ross the U.S. a few times, “but this was the best.”

Osees came out to a happy crowd and soon got underway with a no-frills, no muss, no fuss set of wild garage-psych that began with “I Come from the Mountain” and barely let up to give the mosh pit time to catch a breath.

No backdrop, no projections…just simple lights and heavy shredding.

As always, the band had enough energy to power a Formula 1 race car through 500 laps with double drummers Paul Quattrone and Dan Rincon leading the charge. “A Foul Form,” “Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster,” and “Animated Violence” had the front half of the crowd in a wild frenzy.

Lead singer and guitarist John Dwyer announced “Tidal Wave” as “an old one,” but everyone reacted like it was a brand new gift. He introduced “The Dream” as “Here’s a new one that nobody likes,” and the crowd proceeded to go bonkers.

“Warm Slime” was a great addition, and the night ended with two long psychedelic tracks, “C” and “Minotaur.” I love Osees’ longer psych-rock cuts, so I was digging it. I must, as always, give mention to Tom Dolas on keyboards and Tim Hellman on bass, who always keep the whole band grounded. Dolas is like a magician in the background putting in tones and sounds that would make the songs feel weird without them, and Hellman is one of the sturdiest bass workhorses in all rock music. That guy is solid all the time and never stumbles.

Both bands will be performing at Levitation Music Festival, with Osees doing a four-night residency at Hotel Vegas no less. Don’t miss either of them.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Slift and Meatbodies – Reggie’s Music Joint – Chicago, IL – October 18, 2024

The first time I saw Slift was at the Levitation Music Festival in 2022. It was the last show of their U.S. tour, in a small venue, and they held back nothing. It was as if they blasted every drop of rocket fuel they had.

Now I was seeing them in an even smaller venue and with Meatbodies, no less, opening for them.

I’d been keen on seeing Meatbodies since I heard their newest album, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom. Their live sets are as good as the record – trippy, heavy, and loud. It was a solid set, and the sold-out crowd loved it. The sound quality of their set was top-notch, too.

Slift was in full cosmic-psych mode to the point where they were selling posters at their merch table featuring schematics of the spaceship seen in the videos for their newest album, Ilion.

One thing you need to know about seeing Slift live is that every song sounds like a finale. They pack so much power and energy into their songs that you keep thinking, “It’s going to be tough to match that one,” and then they do it – every time.

They played a wall-shaking set of new and older material that had the whole place buzzing. The galactic nature of their lyrics and sound, and the near relentlessness of it almost becomes an out-of-body experience.

Don’t miss either of these bands. They’re touring all over the place, and will both be at Levitation Music Festival soon.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity, Frank and Bekah at SubPop, and Slift for the press pass!]

Review: Goodbye Meteor – We Could Have Been Radiant

The brief bio on Haute-de-France’s Goodbye Meteor‘s Bandcamp page lists their sound as “immersive and solar post-rock” that’s created for “opening the way for harmony between humans and nature.”

I’m glad they included this, because I was unsure of how to describe their newest album, We Could Have Been Radiant. I knew it wasn’t quite shoegaze, ambient, or psychedelic. It was somehow all three, and yet none of those.

The theme of the album is humanity’s search for something more, and often being disappointed when we find “it” because we realize we had “it” all along here in the present moment.

Opening with “This Is Not Here,” the quartet unleashes soaring guitar sounds that would be appropriate for hang gliding through a mountain range. It awakens you and reminds you that what you think is important right now is probably not that at all. “No Signal” implies the worst nightmare of many in this age of internet addiction and dependence, but the snappy drums and expansive guitar sounds makes you think having no cellphone or computer for a while would be the greatest thing you’ve experienced in a long time.

“Destructuration” builds from a drift through space to flying through a heavy meteor shower by the end. “What Are We Here For?” is the longest track on the album, clocking in just over twelve minutes, and it uses the time to make you sit back and think on things as it creates a sound around you that brings to mind images of spotting a far shore after days lost at sea or the sun finally breaking over the horizon after a seemingly endless night in the dark.

The title track is full of power and also subtlety. It shifts your perspective rather than blow your mind. The album ends with “Phosphenes,” a short track to uplift you on a high note as you consider what’s happening right here and right now.

Did I mention this album (apart from the final track) is instrumental? It’s good stuff, and best heard as one continuous experience. Check it out if you want to change how things appear.

Keep your mind open.

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[Merci à Laurent de Goodbye Meteor!]

Review: A Place to Bury Strangers – Synthesizer

Not to get all “Gen X is cool” on you, but do you remember when cereal boxes used to include phonograph records in or on the box? Seriously, this was a thing. You could get a flexi-disc record in a box of Count Chocula that featured cereal mascots at the disco or even score a Jackson 5 record from a box of Alpha-Bits.

I don’t know if Oliver Ackermann (vocals, guitar, synths), John Fedowitz (bass, vocals, synths), and Sandra Fedowitz (drums, vocals, synths) were listening to a flexi-disc copy of Bobby Sherman songs found in a box of Honey-Comb when they got the idea for their latest album, Synthesizer, but it reminded me of these flexi-discs because the packaging is a musical instrument.

Yes, you can buy a vinyl copy of the record with a cover that includes dials, wires, and other bits of gear that can be used (with soldering tools and other simple devices) to turn the album cover in to a synthesizer. No joke.

When I heard they’d done this, I first thought, “That is the coolest idea I’ve heard all year,” and then thought, “Yeah, this is perfect for them.”

It’s perfect because APTBS are always pushing the envelope and finding new ways to immerse you in sound. Beyond the wild feat of having an album cover that doubles as a musical instrument, Synthesizer is also a really good record that blasts you into an altered state.

Opening track “Disgust,” for example, blares at you right out of the gate, and Ackermann has said that it’s a half-joke “to turn people off from listening to the record.” Only the daring will venture on after the opening salvo. Only the daring will be rewarded with this track about the pleasure and pitfalls of lust, let alone the rest of the album. The guitars on “Don’t Be Sorry” are like stabs in a giallo film.

The synth bass of “Fear of Transformation” will get the industrial fans to pay attention as Ackermann sings about overcoming fear as it sometimes overwhelms us through the simplest things. Mrs. Fedowitz’s live drums mix well with electronic thumps, creating a near-panic – which is what the trio wanted us to feel all along. The haunting “Join the Crowd” is like a slow slide into a shadowy world that always seems to be on the edge of your vision as Ackermann wonders when people stopped caring about each other (“And is it me? Am I the only one here who even cares? Now I know why. You never had a choice or care.”).

“Bad Idea” has Mr. Fedowitz (whose “bad idea” for something to work on that day in the studio became the sone) considering a reconnection, even though it might cause him to end up flat on his face in the street. Ackermann’s guitar sounds like an angry beetle skittering around in a tin can at one point and like a miter saw in others, while Mr. Fedowitz’s bass line grumbles like a paranoid android.

Romance is a not-so-hidden theme on Synthesizer, and it’s great to hear Ackermann and the Fedowitzs embracing it. “You Got Me” is upbeat and reminds me of some early Cure tracks in that it mixes gothic tones so well with lyrics like “In a world where the universe is crashing down and there’s no hope, I feel ok. You question life, but there’s one thing you’ll never have to ask me. You got me.”

“It’s Too Much” is a fascinating mixed of warped sounds and more lyrics about being overcome with good emotions you haven’t felt in a long while (“I go out, but didn’t know you’d be there, and all this time I thought I was fine, but now I’m high.”). Mr. Fedowitz gives Peter Hook a run for his money on “Plastic Furniture.” I mean, come on, his bass riff on this is insane.

“Have You Ever Been in Love?” is a wild one, with Mrs. Fedowitz crushing her drum kit and adding spooky yet lovely backing vocals and cries throughout it – helping Ackermann express his anguish over a breakup (“Knife in heart. I want to die, seeing you pass me by.”). The closing track, “Comfort Never Comes,” might end up being a new synth-psych classic as it builds with gorgeous notes, Wall of Voodoo-like guitar chords, A Flock of Seagulls-like synth flourishes, and hypnotic rhythms. Ackermann acknowledges his faults in a relationship that’s beyond repair and that he wishes he could amend things (“You and I are in pieces. You could lift me like a stone…You and I are in pieces. I could lift you like a rose.”).

I can’t recommend this album enough to you. I’m sure it’s an absolute sonic wall coming at you on vinyl, but I encourage you to give it a deep headphone / earbud listen. Like any synthesizer played well, it changes the feel of everything around you and within you.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]