Reviews – Page 87 – 7th Level Music

Rewind Review: Vaadat Charigim – Sinking as a Stone (2015)

It’s intriguing that Israeli shoegaze trio Vaadat Charigim (Yuval Haring – guitar and vocals, Yuval Guttman – drums, Dan Bloch – bass) would make an album about boredom that is actually mesmerizing. Sinking as a Stone is about various types of boredom and ennui felt by young people living in Tel Aviv (work, life, relationships, waiting for coffee, etc.), but the album is so lush and dreamy that you can’t be bored by it. It’s a panacea for its theme.

For example, the opener, “Neshel,” is almost eleven minutes long – about the time you’d wait for a halfway decent chai – but it swirls around you with such ghostly guitars and vocals that the song goes by before the barista has your order ready. “Hadavar Haamiti” is power shoegaze in the vein of the Jesus and Mary Chain and will have you tapping your foot at the bus stop while you wait for your ride to work.

“Klum” takes you out of your doldrums by lifting you into orbit with precision drumming and spaced-out vocals. “Ein Li Makom” has gothic touches, but not so many that they overpower the rock hooks (of which there are plenty). “Imperia Achrona” floats so well that it’s almost like a Slowdive track. The guitar comes at you from several angles, but it stays peaceful the entire time. It also has a great switch in the middle that almost makes it two songs in one. “At Chavera Sheli” combines Joy Division and Modern English into a dream-rock gem. The organ at the end of it drifts into the beginning of “Hashiamum Shokea,” which is a great slice of shoegaze and a powerful end to the record.

It’s not boring at all. Vaadat Charigim’s Sinking as a Stone is a journey down a lazy river with its shoegaze drone grooves, yes, but the boat is crewed by angels, mystics, shamans, and aliens. You’re too fascinated by it to be bored.

Keep your mind open.

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Bayonne – Primitives

Roger Sellers, otherwise known as Bayonne, is an electro artist from Texas who makes great soundscapes of sunrise synths, dance club beats, and drifting cottonwood vocals. He’s a one-man show and his beautiful Primitives album is inspiring. It will make you consider, as LCD Soundsystem once put it, selling your guitar to buy a synthesizer and starting your own music career. I know I am…and I don’t even have a guitar.

“Intro” has a simple title for the first track, but it’s far from simple. Big drums combine with pulsing synths and distant vocals. The percussion keeps building until it cuts to a sparkling wall of sound. It flows into “Appeals,” a peppy song with racing electric piano bringing a happy sound to a tune about a lost love.

“Spectrolite” is not only one of the best electro songs of the year, it’s one of the best songs of the year – period. Sellers sings vocals that barely push out of the background from his synth bass and bouncy tones while his pal Matt Toman lays down house music drums. This should be on your summer playlist if it isn’t already there.

“Marim” is thumping bass and clockwork beats with more vocals that almost disappear. I love how Sellers doesn’t let his vocals overpower his soundscapes on most of the tracks. He knows when to back off the vocals and let the sounds take the song in the right direction. He also knows when to put the vocals in front, like when he sings about his yearning for someone far from him on “Waves.”

The beginning of “Steps” reminds me of the beginning of “Baba O’Riley” with its repeating synth motif. “Lates” is a beautiful ballad with simple piano chords, beats, and synths wrapped in lush reverbed vocals. The beats build to a simmer and then a rolling boil. It’s delightful.

“Omar” starts off quirky but soon morphs into a pulsing, toe-tapping, shimmering song about shattering one’s illusions. It’s ideal for the first rays of daylight coming into your car after a long drive all night.

Primitives is quality stuff. Don’t be surprised if you see Sellers headlining music festivals before too long. Sounds this rich can’t stand hidden for long.

Keep your mind open.

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The Rough Guide to a World of Psychedelia compilation

This collection of psychedelic world music from the 1960’s to modern times is nothing short of outstanding. It has fine grooves from around the world ranging from Asia to South America.

Cambodia brings us tinny, freaky grooves on Ros Seresyothea’s “Jam 10 Kai Theit (Wait Ten Months More)” and a Yos Olarang garage-psych cut (“Cyclo”) that was probably heard buzzing from jukeboxes in little bars all over the country in the 1960’s. I’ve been intrigued with 1960’s and 1970’s Indian music lately, so Ananda Shankar’s “Dancing Drums” is a welcome killer track with a beat (and flute solo!) made for an Indian hitman’s newest playlist. Indian singing legends Asha Bhosle and R.D. Burman weren’t immune to the thrill of psychedelic music in the 1960’s. “Piya Tu Ab To Aaja” is sensational, with James Bond-theme guitars, soaring strings, and sexy (yes, sexy) vocals from Bhosle.

Down in South and Latin America, Brazil’s Laranja Freak brings hard psych-rock with “Alergico De Flores.” Anarkia Tropikal’s “El Silbido Del Tunche” is like a lost Goat track if Goat was formed in Columbia. The guitar on it sizzles alongside percolator beats. Juaneco Y Su Combo from Columbia bring more cumbia-psych on “Perdido En El Espacio.” Wal Sant’Ana’s “Que Vide E Essa” is more delightful psych-samba that will get you moving, and M.A.K.U. Soundsystem’s “Canto Negro” is solid modern psych-cumbia with a heavy dose of trippy synths. It reminds me of old Morcheeba tracks. Iuri Andrade’s “Folia No Vento” is psych-samba and Bacalao Men’s “Japones” is psych-salsa. Ray Perez y Su Orquesta’s “Recordando Los Soneros” has these great muted horns, backward tracks, and other oddities underneath fun vocals. Traffic Sound’s “La Camita” has loud, fuzzy guitar any psych band from anywhere in the world would love on their record. Mix it with groovy Latin beats and you have a winner.

Africa isn’t left off this compilation either. Celestine Ukwu brings beautiful guitar work on “Obialu Be Onye Abiagbunia Okwukwe.” Mlimani Park Orchestra’s “Taxi Driver” is good, perky Afro-psych. Kalyanji – Anandji’s “Cabaret Dance Music” is almost a freaky psychedelic nightmare with screams, action movie percussion and horns, and orgasmic moans. Victor Uwaifo’s “Guitar Boy” is an Afro-psych classic from 1966 with crisp yet slightly fuzzy guitars.

This is a good primer for psychedelic sounds, both new and classic, crafted outside the U.S. and the U.K. Snag it if you can find it and start exploring.

Keep your mind open.

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Golden Dawn Arkestra – Stargazer

Part-funk, part-Afrobeat, part-1970’s Sinbad movie, Golden Dawn Arkestra have descended from somewhere beyond Alpha Centauri and delivered their new record – Stargazer.

The title track opens the record. It’s at first a gentle lift-off from the gravity of your job, your latest screwed-up relationship, and even this world. You’re off-planet and in orbit once their drummer, one of the best funk drummers I’ve heard in a long while, and the horn section kick in and encourage you to look beyond this earthly plane (and how about that saxophone solo?).

The groove of “Sama Chaka” immediately seeps into you and will not leave until you dance it out of your system. The xylophone and horns combine for a funky combination that will improve the mood of anyone listening.

“We walk on nothin’ but clouds,” the band sings on “Clouds” (taking us into psych-pop territory). Imagine the New Pornographers as a funk band and you might get the idea. “Space Waves” implores us to dance to the cosmic beats the band puts down on every track. The baritone sax and synth work on this cut is as smooth as the Silver Surfer’s board.

“Shabuki” belongs on a 1960’s Japanese spy thriller soundtrack. “Disko” belongs on a 1970’s Blaxploitation film soundtrack. Just listen to that wicked bass line, crisp guitar, and groovy horns if you don’t believe me. “Osaka” does have a bit of an Asian flair (mostly in the guitar riffs), but the rest of it is straight-up big, bold phat funk.

The closer, “All Is Light,” is a mesmerizing trip into another reality. It blends eastern Indian sounds with rock drumming and guitar reminiscent of 1980’s Zappa material.

Stargazer is the funkiest album I’ve heard in years. Take the journey with Golden Dawn Arkestra. The destination doesn’t matter. You’ll be different by the time this thirty-eight-minute journey ends, anyway.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Dayluta Means Kindness – The Ground Is Lava (2014)

Dayluta Means Kindness is a five-piece prog / psych rock outfit from El Paso, Texas. They play big instrumental jams that evoke images of alien worlds and cosmic exploration. The title of their four-song debut, The Ground Is Lava, suggests childhood playground memories, space exploration. and shifting landscapes.

The title track opens the record with soaring guitars that border on drone rock. “Everywhere You Look There’s a Mountain” has a title like a Zen koan, drums like a tribal ceremony, and guitar work like a slow avalanche. This would be perfect for hiking at sunrise in the American southwest. I must remember to put in on such a playlist for my next trip out there.

“Young Savagery & General Debauchery” is a great name for a juvenile delinquency movie from the late 1950’s, but the song is a long, floating piece of beautiful guitar work and stadium rock drumming. This track will change your mood, slow your thinking, and inspire you. To do what? That’s up to you, but I suggest rock climbing, meditation, surfing, or creating any kind of art.

The closer, “The Sun’s True Brightness in Comparison with Other Stars,” is as epic as its title. It builds from tones that remind you of a sunrise to a soundtrack for navigating an asteroid field. It belongs on your “morning run” playlist, and the whole album belongs in your collection.

Keep your mind open.

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Strange Lot – Another Mind

I discovered Phoenix, Arizona’s psych outfit Strange Lot (Dominic Mena – guitars and vocals, Tim Lormor – drums, David Dennis – bass ) when I attended the 2016 MR Fest in San Marcos, Texas. Their set was one of best I saw there.

Their first full-length album, Another Mind, is solid. They open big with “Into the Night.” The guitars bounce off each other like they’re in a mosh pit, and the vocals are layered in reverb to the point where they’re almost indecipherable. “The Horror” dives headfirst into trippy psych. “Wasted Fields” has wild, weird, and fascinating guitar work from Mena. “Supremium” might be an obscure reference to Marvel Comics’ version of kryptonite, but I think it’s probably about allowing your mind to open to a cosmic experience. Lormor’s drums almost sound drunk, Dennis seems to be playing a freestyle jazz tune on his bass, and Mena’s guitars float around like he’s in zero gravity. Trust me, it all works.

“Stone” bridges the gap between psych and shoegaze, while “Right with your Pain” is a raucous rocker. “Call My Name” is so full of fuzz that Ty Segall probably wishes he’d recorded it. After a brief instrumental break (“Sandwich”), “Erthquake” roars in like its namesake. Lormor and Dennis try to shake you to the ground and Mena tries to lift you from the chasm with excellent, soaring guitar work. The title track is the last one. It’s like something you’d find on an obscure early 1980’s goth rock compilation with its mournful vocals and lyrics, down-tuned guitars, and strangely peppy keyboards.

I like these guys. They’re doing odd stuff, loud stuff, psych stuff, and shoegaze stuff and it all works for them. It is a strange lot they’ve mixed, but a good one.

Keep your mind open.

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Klaus Johann Grobe – Spagat Der Liebe

German electro-duo Klaus Johann Grobe’s (Daniel Bachmann and Sevi Landolt) newest record, Spagat Der Liebe (The Balancing Act of Love), is forty minutes of groovy neo-lounge music perfect for late night drinks, clubbing, lovemaking, driving, or all four. Just don’t mix the driving with the drinking or the lovemaking. Safety first.

“Ein Guter Tag” (“A Good Day”) kicks off the record with groovy bass and space synths. It’s a perfect way to start your day, really. “Wo Sind” (“Where Are”) has catchy bold synths and crisp drumming throughout it. “Rosen Des Abschieds” (“Roses of Farewells”) will get you dancing with its groovy bass and snappy percussion. The vocals, despite being about a break-up, are wonderfully light and help the song bounce.

“Pure Fantasie” (You can guess the translation.) is pretty much a lounge version of a slow jam. It’s meant to inspire you to get your freak on, so put it on your latest make-out playlist. “Heut Abend Nur” (“Tonight Only”) sounds like something you’d hear in a 1960’s European art film.

“Geschichten Aus Erster Hand” (“Stories Firsthand”) has some of the few English lyrics (“Come on, baby.”), but the chorus of “tanzen, tanzen, tanzen” (“dance, dance, dance”) is what will stick in your head. “Ohne Mich” (“Without Me”) has synths straight from a 1980’s OMD record, or so it seems.

If this record hasn’t hooked you by now, the flute solo by Roman Weissert on “Liebe am Strand” (“Love on the Beach”) will not only hook you, it will yank you out of the water. “Springen Wie Damals” (“Jump as Then”) has a killer drum and bass breakdown in it that will make you stop what you’re doing and listen. The closer, “Gedicht” (“Poem”), would make a fine addition to the soundtrack for a movie about a retiring private eye.

Don’t worry that nearly all the lyrics are in German. You won’t care because the music on this album is so groovy and cool. Euro-lounge music needs to be played everywhere now and then, if you ask me, and Klaus Johan Grobe are fine ambassadors for it.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: A Place to Bury Strangers – Exploding Head (2009)

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I’ve been meaning to pick up A Place to Bury Strangers’ 2009 album, Exploding Head, for years. I have no excuse other than it was never for sale on CD whenever I’d see them live. I love the band, so shame on me for taking seven years to pick up this fine record.

The opener, “It Is Nothing,” displays Oliver Ackermann’s (vocals and guitar) love of My Bloody Valentine. His guitar sounds like he’s playing it upside-down and backwards while his vocals seem to be coming from the bottom of an empty pool. “In Your Heart” is one of my favorite APTBS tracks. It has the stabbing guitar chords, chugging synth beats, lyrics about screwed-up relationships (“Don’t say you’ll be with me again. There’s nothing there, it’s dead.”), and David J-like bass I love from their songs, and it slays live.

Tribal drumming grounds “Lost Feeling” as Ackermann pleads with his girl to come back to him, but he knows he’s not even on her radar. It’s like a great lost Bauhaus track with even more blaring guitars. “Deadbeat” is nothing but, as it has some of the hardest, slickest beats and bass on the record. It’s an instant mosh pit creator, so be careful where you play it.

“Keep Slipping Away” is like early Cure but with more reverb, heavier amps, and not as much moping. “Ego Death” is heavy goth rock with a chorus that might knock you out of your boots. “Smile When You Smile” is equally heavy and a bit creepier. “Everything Always Goes Wrong” could be the theme for every Three’s Company episode by the title, but the sound of it is better for a modern Euro-horror film.

You’d think the title track would be loud enough to make your head explode, but APTBS wisely flips it around to make it a catchy industrial track with almost a dance club bass line and vocals free of reverb. The closer is one of their hardest and loudest live tracks – “I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart.” As fast as it is on the record, it’s twice the speed live.

Don’t be like me and wait seven years to add this to your collection. It’s essential noise-psych.

Keep your mind open.

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WALL – self-titled EP

I’m happy to report that fun post-punk music is alive and well thanks to New York’s WALL (Vanessa Gomez, Vince McClelland, Elizabeth Skadden, Samantha York). Their four-song EP is a jolt of lightning to everything drab coming out of your radio right now.

“Cuban Cigars” is a middle finger to rich douchebags full of skronky guitars and visceral lyrics like, “These guys they got the money, only once they’ve been to the laundry.” It’s one of my top singles of the year so far. “Fit the Part” is a great mix of X (sing-along / shout vocals), Buzzcocks (beats and guitar), and Circle Jerks (attitude). “Last Date” could be an early Devo track, but it’s really more of a paranoid freak-out fueled by McClelland’s Gang of Four-influenced guitar. Just when you think they’re all about post-punk madness, along comes “Milk,” which is neo-psychedelic rock (Post-psych? I should trademark that term.) with slightly reverbed vocals and building instrumentation that is perfect for tripping or getting ready for a fight.

This EP is a shot across the bow of modern rock. WALL have put up a metaphoric version of their namesake and dared anyone to scale it. It’s covered in spikes, barbed wire, fuzzy amps, and four New York rockers atop it ready to stomp down anyone who even tries to climb up there. They can’t release a full-length album soon enough for my tastes, and the sake of the world.

Keep your mind open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iVcNAb-iC0

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Rewind Review: Groove Armada – Vertigo (1999)

[Rewind Reviews are reviews of albums over a year old that I haven’t heard until now.]

Groove Armada’s Vertigo is one of those records that I’ve been meaning to pick up for years but kept forgetting to seek out whenever I was in a wrecka stow or visiting an online music sales site.

It’s a masterpiece of late 1990’s techno, house, and lounge. The opener, “Chicago,” is a perfect anthem for late night clubbing in the Windy City – fat beats, luscious synth grooves, and kinky guitar. “Whatever, Whenever” starts off sounding like something from a grindhouse horror film trailer before rapper M.A.D. slides in with smooth rhymes to save us all from whatever horror was about to pounce on us.

“Dusk, You & Me” is one of the best make-out songs of 1999. If Roddy Lormiar’s trumpet doesn’t get things moved into the naked zone, you only have yourself to blame. I don’t know if the “63” in the title of “Pre 63” refers to the year 1963, but you could put this fly song of heavy bass, playful flute, and crisp beats into any early 1960’s Euro-crime film or sex comedy.

“If Everybody Looked the Same” weaves a great use of a sample from A Tribe Called Quest through a song about bigotry. “Serve Chilled” is perfectly titled, as it’s great for relaxing after late night parties. “I See You Baby” is the opposite, however, and will get the party jumping again as soon as you start it. I mean, the chorus is “I see you, baby, shakin’ that ass.” What more do you need?

“A Private Interlude” has great scratch work from Dominic Betmead. “At the River” is weird, almost sounding backward at some points, and creeps out of the speakers like something from a bad print of a Fellini movie. In other words, I like it. “In My Bones” is a sweet house track about how a good groove gets inside you and can only escape by taking temporary control of you. It has some of the best synth work on the record and probably is one of their best “unknown” hits.

“Your Song” isn’t a cover of the Elton John tune. It’s a funky track with sexy vocals by Sophie Barker. “Inside My Mind (Blue Skies)” is a song you’ve probably heard in dozens of movies, TV shows, and commercials and not realized it. It’s ambient lounge grooves instantly put you in a mellow state of mind. It’s impossible to be depressed during this song. It chills you out like few songs can. The album ends with a saucy remix of “I See You Baby” by Fatboy Slim.

It’s a solid house music record. Pick it up if you’re looking for some good late night grooves for your next party.

Keep your mind open.

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