News – Page 10 – 7th Level Music

Meatbodies announce new, almost lost album and a new single – “Hole.”

Meatbodies’ latest undertaking and borderline lost album, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom is their most varied and realized work to date. It’s a melodic, hook filled rock epic in which frontman and lead guitarist Chad Ubovich faces the trials of sobriety, redemption, reinvention while literally, learning to walk and play again.

Resurrection not only accompanies the record, but its production as well, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom examines themes surrounding love and loss, escapism, defeatism, hedonism, psychedelics and much more. “The last record was more of a cartoon version of who we were– simple and fun without delving into heavy concepts,” recalls Ubovich. “The whole thing before with Meatbodies was never sit down, next part, next part, but I wanted to make something with more depth. After everything that had happened, and my personal life, I was left with this feeling of emptiness and loss. So I wanted to make music that was absent from things– songs that were more about conveying feeling.”

March 8th of next year, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom finally sees its release via In The Red. Its lead single and video “Hole,” released today, is pure alternative rock sweetness and clearly a nod to an amalgamation of shoegaze juggernauts from yesteryear. Backed by a brand-new video by Matt Yoka, “Hole” is immediate, dosed with enough pop and psilocybin to appease fans of both heavy rock and a quality melody. “That was one of the first songs I wrote, and I think it’s really indicative of that time,” says Ubovich. “How I was thinking and feeling and what I wanted to accomplish with this LP before I even knew it.”

Watch / Share “Hole” (Official Music Video)

By 2017, Meatbodies’ Ubovich had reached a crossroads. After years of increasingly insane shows playing to heaving crowds with an ever-evolving and rotating door of personnel, fatigue had taken its toll and he realized another change was on the horizon. “It was like the car had run out of gas in the middle of the road, and I knew I had a long walk ahead of me.” Retreating to the seedy Los Angeles underbelly– in search of meaning and a reset. Ubovich escaped into that world, ignoring his own well being, trying to forget his successes. “I was living like a 90’s vampire out of a comic book. Stumbling around LA with the socialites, partying away my sorrows, trying to forget.”

It was at this point that Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom began to take shape—a project built by a man searching for new beginnings and his own sense of self. After sobering up, writing sessions began at Ubovich’s home and various studios with longtime collaborator Dylan Fujioka. Eventually, the official production for Flora began in 2019, but it was a story left on the editing table. Due to discrepancies with the studio, tensions were high and the plug was pulled. Left with an album only half baked, it seemed like Flora had been put to rest. After the fires cooled and many discussions about the future of the album. Ubovich finally got the green light to finish production for Flora in 2020 when he hit another snag– the pandemic. And as the world took a back seat, so did the idea of Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom.

Not wanting to sit still at home, Ubovich began to comb through his previous demos with Fujioka while writing for Flora. And with that, 333 was born, the now de facto third Meatbodies LP. Yet Flora was never far from Ubovich’s mind and once again he revisited the idea of completing the now fabled album. As restrictions started to lift, Ubovich headed to Gold Diggers Sound in Los Angeles, backed by engineer Ed McEntee and a team of colleagues and friends, Ubovich completed the final act to the album, but he still wasn’t quite out of the woods just yet. He now faced a new crisis, one that proved to be more terrifying than any before: his home that he had spent the last 8 years in had been deemed uninhabitable and he wound up in a hospital bed where he spent the next month of his life.

Having to not only learn to walk again but also learn to play again, Ubovich used an upcoming tour with his band FUZZ as a motivating factor and hit the road for a year trying to regain a sense of normalcy. By the time Ubovich returned from tour he was centered and energized, ready to conquer his white whale – Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom. The mission was finally a success. Armed with a new home and a new studio – The Secret Garden, Ubovich mixed the album himself, looped in Brian Lucey at Magic Garden to handle mastering, and Flora was completed, five years after those fateful demos with Fujioka. “A lot happened with this record – it took me five years, I was out of a band, I had a drug problem, the album almost didn’t happen, the pandemic made it almost not happen again, and then in the end I almost died in the hospital, lost my house, and had to learn to walk again. It’s been quite a road, but I could not be more thrilled with the final output. I guess the juice was worth the squeeze?” laughs the Meatbodies frontman.

And so here we are, with Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom, an album completed by an ironclad will and steely determination. A massive step forward, both by conventional standards and considering its tumultuous path toward completion, the album is set for release. The LP recalls the searing Blue Cheer-meets-Iggy Pop-with-psychedelia that permeated previous releases, but adds new elements of shoegaze, classic alternative, Britpop, drone, and hints of country—blazing trails without ever sounding forced or alien. Simultaneously an ode to ’80s LA punk and the rise of indie/alternative music in the U.K., Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom plays like a radio station broadcasting from the void, with a cosmic playlist of early Pink Floyd, Ramones, Roky Erickson, Kinks, and Spacemen 3. And while those names may seem outwardly disparate, Ubovich crafts a distinctively Meatbodies arc among the songs, creating an eclectic and unmistakably cohesive piece of work in total. It all adds up to an effort that shows strength in its diversity, which is only secondary to its impeccable songwriting.

Pre-order / Pre-save Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom Here

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Sacred Bones to release a new collection of Xmal Deutschland singles and a new album from Anja Huwe.

Today Sacred Bones are excited to announce two parallel releases – a reissue of Xmal Deutschland’s ‘Early Singles’ (including two bonus tracks), as well as the debut solo album from Xmal Deutschland’s inimitable frontwoman Anja Huwe, ‘Codes’. Both records are set for release side-by-side on March 8th, 2024.

Xmal Deutschland are now marked as forerunners of the post-punk movement and ‘Early Singles (1981-1982)’ is a map of their foundational movements, just seconds before takeoff. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk. This reissue includes two bonus tracks; “Kaelbermarsch” (originally from the compilation “Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig”) and a gritty live version of “Allein” (originally from the compilation “Nosferatu Festival”), which is shared online today along with a video montage of footage from this era of the band’s career.

Watch the video for “Allein” here: https://youtu.be/6LU6Egw6R6Y
‘Early Singles (1981-1982)’ pre-order links: https://lnk.to/XmalEarlySingles

Alongside the reissue comes the debut solo release from Xmal Deutschland’s incomparable frontwoman, Anja Huwe. Invited by her long-time friend Mona Mur, Huwe reconsidered her decades-long hiatus from music and decided to join Mur in her studio in Berlin. Together, they worked for a year and a half, composing, performing and producing the tracks from scratch which eventually became the album ‘Codes’.

Integral to the overall sound experience was the input of Manuela Rickers who added her famed signature guitar style. The collaboration was relentless: “Mona and I have a similar artistic background since the 1980s. We hung out together, and we sport a similar attitude towards life and art. We don’t have to explain ourselves to one another,” says Huwe. Mur adds: “Anja’s voice is like a spear, her appearance a torch in the darkness.”

Initially inspired by the diary entries of Moshe Shnitzki, who, at the age of 17, left his home in 1942 to live in the cavernous White Russian forests as a partisan, ‘Codes’ is about the human experience and what extremes can do to an individual. “The result is a poetic, musical cosmos that encompasses the following themes: forest, fear, pain, loss, violence, and loneliness but also beauty, longing, hope and the will to survive,” Huwe explains.

Along with the announcement today, she shares “Rabenschwarz”, a frenzied song, which, with Rickers’ hypnotic apocalyptic guitars, Mur’s agitated and distinctive electronic sounds and beats, forged together with Huwe’s unmistakably energetic and expressive vocals, hits you in the face. A captivating combination.

“Rabenschwarz” on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kIM6K0XU3oQ
‘Codes’ pre-order links: https://lnk.to/AnjaCodes

More about Xmal Deutschland and Anja Huwe:
“Gothics”—a time before the word goth had even taken shape—believed in the do-it-yourself punk ethos that anyone could pick up an instrument. This, alongside the bric-a-brac fashion of Adam Ant and the long-winded atmospheric malaise of Bauhaus’ 1979 single, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” grey clouds were starting to form. And in the unlikely city of Hamburg, a brazen and haunting gang of five women formed Xmal Deutschland.

As any true punk would, Xmal Deutschland’s members Caro May, Rita Simon, Manuela Rickers, Fiona Sangster and Anja Huwe, started the band despite not having had any previous musical experience. When they bought studio time to record their first single, “Schwarze Welt,” Simon was originally slated to be the lead vocalist but failed to show on the day of recording. Huwe—who originally played bass—was thrust into the front-woman position, and begrudgingly agreed: “The only condition from my side [was that] I will never perform onstage… Two months later, they made me without ever telling me upfront. I had no choice.”

The “Schwarze Welt” seven-inch was released on the local punk label, ZickZack, in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. There’s an urgency in its repetitive dirge, a swirling mania that persists on the b-side with “Die Wolken” and “Großstadtindianer” whose crude synthesiser noises escalate in tension. Most of all, Huwe’s uniquely venomous German vocals quickly became embedded in the unbridled and burgeoning scene of glamorous gloom.

Punk’s independence from the stiff grip of tradition allowed the band to find solace in anti-establishment art and music, far from the conventions of the past. “We as girls, especially being creative in many ways, ignored facts like: be nice, be polite, take good care about your looks. Of course, we wanted to look good but in a different and unconventional way. We were enough for ourselves.” However, some tropes were harder to overcome. The association of Xmal Deutschland as a girl band (later with the addition of Wolfgang Ellerbrock who, jokingly, became the token man of the group) gained traction within the media circuit because of their looks: “We were like paradise birds,” says Huwe in retaliation to the tired misogynistic tale. The band’s keyboardist, Fiona Sangster, adds: “To be an ‘all-girl band’ happened accidentally. To us, it was not the main reason to form a band.”

With their peacocked hair and thick kohl-lined eyes, Xmal Deutschland’s music retained both a restlessness and delicacy, transcending any confines of the “Neue Deutsche Welle” movement (much like their colleagues and friends DAF and Einstürzende Neubauten) with the release of the “Incubus Succubus” single in 1982. It instantly became a post-punk classic. That same year, the band performed in London as support for the Cocteau Twins; it was the platform they needed to ricochet into the arms of the ripped fishnet masses. After Xmal Deutschland’s success with four albums on cult labels such as 4AD, Huwe abandoned music to pursue her visual art career. But leaving her legacy in the past was not so easy: “Since the split in the early 1990s, I have been haunted by the ‘Legend of Xmal Deutschland’ and never-ending requests from all over the world, all of which I always turned down,” she says.

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Amiture get “Dirty” on their new single.

Today, Amiture, the New York City-based project of Jack Whitescarver and Coco Goupil, unveiled their latest single “Dirty” from the upcoming album Mother Engine, set for release on February 9th through Dots Per Inch Music. The dark and serrated new single arrives alongside a self-directed music video, premiered earlier via FLOOD, who commended the duo for their “creative take on experimental electronic music forged and honed within NYC basements.”

Remarking on the track’s unique construction, Amiture issued the following statement: “In a way, this song is our most indebted to early hip-hop production on the album because of its melodic relationships. Each melody, guitar, bass, vocal, etc… is in a different key. This way we were able to find a darker environment that reflects the textures and soundscapes that older sampling technology had. Different samples in Dirty fit together regardless of their tuning, creating a cacophony of anxious gestures that somehow become a glittery dance track. We recorded each part live in our studio and not on a sampler, you can feel that kind of live, almost like theater, expressionist bravado. The lyrics tell you all you need to know about the ideal way to listen to Dirty.”

Expanding on the concept behind the music video, Whitescarver added: “Cameras are always recording you. Your laptop records you. Your phone records you. It’s not clear what distinguishes an intimate moment from a public one. Most major cities like New York are massively surveilled. I thought it was interesting to think about how you would behave if privacy was no longer a clear-cut idea. The video intercuts surveillance-type video of New York City streets and people with more intimate interior scenes and even scenes of people making out. Dirty is about remembering a time when sex and love were valuable. If you know someone is watching you, maybe that estranges you further from that, maybe it makes it more so.”

WATCH: “DIRTY”

Whitescarver and Goupil were involved in music their whole lives and briefly performed in a band together in college before taking separate paths as visual artists. It wasn’t until 2021, when the two came back together to flesh out live arrangements for Whitescarver’s solo endeavor The Beach, that their collaboration really began. Following this reunion, Amiture was reinvented. While the two were performing songs Whitescarver had written alone, Goupil arranged their own parts, displaying a sculptural sensibility in their contributions. The synthesis of Goupil’s unorthodox guitar stylings with Whitescarver’s heartfelt songwriting proved to be a rich union.

Mother Engine began to take form in a dilapidated garage between a sanitation center and a set of train tracks. This would be their laboratory, workshop, and recording studio where they developed a process of working that included a newfound love for sample manipulation. They collaborated with other musicians including Matt Norman and Henry Birdsey to bring their production out of the digital landscape of Ableton. Between the tape machine, the amp, the turntable, and the computer, Amiture found magic. Each song is a part of a complex sonic matrix that reflected a vision and a sound neither one could have procured alone, always centered around Whitescarver’s classically trained voice and Goupil’s gritty, tripped-out-guitar sound, merged and then steeped in the traditions of American guitar music, industrial music, and folk melody.

Following the release of Mother Engine, Amiture will perform at SXSW Music Festival in March. Stay tuned for additional tour dates including details for a special hometown record release show in February.

PREORDER / SAVE ‘MOTHER ENGINE’

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Beans find a “Calling” with their new single.

Melbourne band Beans have just released their latest single; a groovy psychedelic track titled ‘Calling’. ‘Calling’ marks the third song the five-piece band have released from their upcoming album Boots N Cats (following ‘Groove’ and ‘Haunted’), which is set to be released on March 1st, via Fuzz Club Records. Taking a slower, more strutting pace than the former two singles, ‘Calling’ is characterised by an almost seductive groove, all while maintaining the fuzzy kaleidoscopic glow that audiences have come to know and love from Beans.

Heavy with drawling vocals and beautifully defined percussion at the forefront of the tune, the result is a tantalising songscape sure to leave listeners enchanted by its sound. Thematically, though, this new single speaks not to the cool and breezy feelings that one might assume from its sonic qualities, but rather to the grim feelings of hypersensitivity and disconnectedness which emerged during the pandemic, according to frontman Matt Blach:

“Calling is about that period of Covid time where everyone, including myself, felt like they were going insane. When people were being really sensitive and reactive, calling people out over pure boredom – obviously sometimes worthy, sometimes far-fetched.” Matt Blach, Beans Listen to “Calling” on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/f-OfTr9zxUA
Listen via other streaming services:beansband.lnk.to/calling

Serving up eleven tracks of rhythmic garage-psych goodness, ‘Boots N Cats’ is the third full-length from Melbourne outfit Beans and the first of two albums set for release in 2024. The long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s ‘Babble’ and 2020’s ‘All Together Now’, it’s a record that finds Beans frontman (and The Murlocs drummer) Matt Blach putting percussion at centre-stage. “I’ve always wanted to make a drum-based album, dedicated around the beat first and then everything else follows”, Blach says, explaining his desire to explore “different production approaches, like hip-hop and crunched drums, and show an admiration and appreciation for the likes of The Meters, Wu-Tang and James Brown” as much as the acid-soaked 60s/70s rock you’d expect.

What emerges from the beat-first approach on ‘Boots N Cats’ charts mutant garage-rock boogies and festival tent psychedelia, by way of blissed-out funk instrumentals. The line is constantly skirted between a loose, carefree vibe and interesting, meticulous musicianship – never falling into the trap of taking itself too seriously. It’s a sunny kaleidoscope of chugging guitars, driving bass-lines, soaring organs and warm, echo-soaked vocals – driven always by the tightly-wound rhythms and grooves that Blach has been in pursuit of since he was a kid: “The title of the album comes from me learning drums from my dad. He had a background of German heritage and during lessons would jokingly say ‘nein, boot’n’cats’n’ like a simple 1,2,3,4.”

The songs themselves, Blach says, are “mostly based on a state of mind or place of consciousness, intended to be open to the audience’s own interpretation as well as for my own self-release.” Hence, “life’s ups and downs” are placed under the microscope on tracks like the aptly-titled opener ‘Groove’ (based on not wanting to let loose/be yourself and dance in a crowd) and lead single ‘Haunted’ (about that near-universal sense of being ‘Haunted by the fear of failure’).

‘Dreaming Daisy’ is a song for the devil on your shoulder, tackling addiction/alcoholism and “people wanting to live their life to prove right to others rather than themselves”. Elsewhere, songs like ‘Calling’ take on the paranoia of the times they were made in. It’s a suitably wonky soundtrack to “that period of Covid time where everyone, including myself, felt like they were going insane. When people were being really sensitive and reactive, calling people out over pure boredom – obviously sometimes worthy, sometimes far-fetched.”

Beyond its drum focus, ‘Boots N Cats’ also marks another first for Beans, in that it was entirely written and recorded by Blach himself. Setting up a DIY studio in the garage of his North Melbourne home over the pandemic, Blach began working on the record in lieu of the full band (Jack Kong, Lachlan McKiernan, Vincent Clemenston and Mitch Rice) that he’d been jamming and tearing up Melbourne stages with under a number of different monikers since they were all 16.

“We didn’t get to see each other as a band AT ALL”, Blach recalls of that time: “This is why the album came to fruition as it kept me sane and feeling productive to still be writing/recording and achieving something. Having this opportunity and time and space really got my tires turning so I basically recorded every part and engineered the entire thing myself. Not that we wanted it to be this way, but we couldn’t collaborate together during this time so it was a case of adapting.”

Making the most of the enforced isolation to venture down new creative roads, Blach came out the other side of the pandemic with two new Beans records in the bag (“Just you wait for the next one, we will go much more folky and chill on lockdown session 2…”). Mixed and mastered by John Lee (“a master from Melbourne who actually became a true friend”), those recordings are now ready to start seeing the light of day. ‘Boots N Cats’, the first of those two records, will be released March 1st 2024 via London-based label Fuzz Club.

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Prize Horse announces debut album and first single from it – “Further From My Start.”

Minneapolis’ Prize Horse – made of Jake Beitel (guitar, vocals), Olivia Johnson (bass, vocals), and Jon Brenner (drums) – make “a fuzzy, dreamy form of alt-rock that manages to be heavy and spaced-out at the same time” (Stereogum). Today, the trio announce their debut album, Under Sound, out February 16th via New Morality Zine, alongside new single “Further From My Start.” Prize Horse’s musical evolution takes flight with ethereal, fuzz-laden tones departing from the grittier layers of their previous 2021 Welder EP. Recorded in Loveland, Colorado, again in collaboration with Corey Coffman (Gleemer), Under Sound encapsulates Prize Horse’s journey through airy soundscapes, delving into the emotional nuances of life’s rapid changes.

A true sign of a band’s maturation is their ability to show that their strength as a group stems from all members working in unity, and Prize Horse has demonstrated this truth throughout this 10-song listen. Under Sound evidently draws inspiration from the band members’ favorite artists and contemporaries, yet it avoids mirroring those influences directly in its sonic presentation. Musically, they persist in utilizing thick bass lines and fuzzed-out guitars as the foundation of their songs, but they have integrated more nuanced sounds into their composition. The songs exude an organic quality, deriving vitality from the pulsating heartbeat of bass riffs to the deliberate and precise rhythm of drums that effortlessly drive the whole thing forward.

Following the previously-released single “Your Time,” today’s “Further From My Start” opens with thundering drums and chugging guitar. As Jake intones “Take advice from an old friend // Ruin my sense of progress // Fast as I walk // I told myself in a dream // I’d end mine,” the song unravels with an ominous, reverberating bassline and crashing percussion. In his lyrics, Jake chooses a subtle approach to depict the challenges of life’s transformations poetically rather than directly. Consequently, he possesses the skill to craft imagery, leaving room for interpretation by the listener. He adeptly maintains a harmonious balance, blending mild harmonies with gently delivered lines that captivate the audience.

“‘Further From My Start’ was the last song we wrote, so it encompasses a lot of themes from the album, musically and lyrically,” says Jake. “To me the song is a reflection on the last few years of my life and fighting a feeling of detachment from it. Wanting to let go of negativity in the past while stubborning acknowledging it’s formed me into who I am now.”

Listen to Prize Horse’s “Further From My Start”

In some way or another, Prize Horse have spent their cold winter days working becoming a tight group of musicians, and “Further From My Start” feels as frigid as the environment they’ve developed in. Under Sound promises an atmospheric and dynamic exploration, where the band’s growth is seamlessly woven into each note, inviting listeners into a captivating fusion of fully fleshed out heavy rock and emotional depth.

Pre-order Under Sound

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[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Astrid Sonne gives us a “Boost” with her new single.

Putting a contemporary spin on baroque composition, Astrid Sonne’s music feels at once alien and traditional. The Danish, London-based composer’s output is aloof, yet ornate—a formula that yields itself well to upcoming UK tour dates with beloved dream-pop artist and scene-mate, ML Buch.

Where Sonne’s prior work landed in the experimental, even ambient camp, the new material sees her stepping into both contemporary songwriting and beat driven productions. Her new single “Boost”, premiering on Gorilla vs. Bear today,is a perfect example of the latter, pushing into more eclectic, driving terrain. It opens with woozy synth chords, which give way to pounding drums that filter in and out of murky effects. In the final minute, the track disintegrates into a misty, freeform outro.

“Boost” concludes a run of candidly released material (“Staying here,”“Overture,”“Do you wanna”) from the recently announced album Great Doubt, which notably features the composer’s own voice in a unique blend of quintessential Astrid Sonne productions and a personal take on the art of writing a song. Great Doubt will be released January 26 via Copenhagen’s Escho.

On the single, Astrid Sonne shares: “I made Boost lying in my bed, it’s a quite energetic track coming from a not very energetic place. There’s a sense of release to Boost and a feeling of not caring too much, which can be good sometimes when you need to seek out new settings.”

Astrid Sonne is a Danish, London-based composer and viola player. Throughout her acclaimed discography, Astrid Sonne has been carefully crafting different moods through electronic and acoustic instrumental endeavours. On her forthcoming album Great Doubt, to be released January 26, 2024 via Copenhagen’s Escho, this skill is refined, now with the distinct addition of the composer’s own vocal in front. The tone of each track is unmistakably Sonne’s, structured around contrasts through an impeccable sense of timing. Lyrics on the album are sparse, merely highlighting different scenes or emotional states of being, leaving the music to fill in the blanks. Yet they also form a pattern of ambiguity, consolidated through the album title, searching for answers through looking at how and what you are asking, questions for the world, questions of love.
The viola, a trusted companion since Astrid Sonne’s youth, appears effortlessly throughout the album, fully integrated into the sonic universe; through a pizzicato driven arrangement in the poignant track “Almost” or along with booms and claps in mutated cinematic stabs during “Give my all”, paraphrasing Mariah Carey’s 1997 ballad. Yet the string section also gives way to explorations of woodwinds, counterbalancing the bowed movements with digital brass and airy flutes. Finally, beats and detuned piano are fresh additions to the soundscape, cementing how Sonne’s practice is always evolving into new territories.

Live Dates
2/3 – Oslo, NOR @ Trekanten 2/6 – Copenhagen, DK @ ALICE 2/8 – Aarhus, DK @ PART 2/14 – Barcelona, ESP @ Casa Montjuic 2/15 – Lisbon, PT @ ZDB 2/27 – London, UK @ ICA *2/28 – London, UK @ ICA *2/29 – Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew *3/01 – Manchester, UK @ White Hotel *3/02 – Glasgow, UK @ The Flying Duck *
* = w/ ML Buch

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Ty Segall loves his dogs – as evidenced on his new single, “My Best Friend.”

Since 2008, Ty Segall has played out his hunger to be free through a dozen solo LPs, a variety of collaborative projects, and a rippling eclecticism of songs, sounds and production, all conversing from album to album in a mad diversity of voices. This search continues with Ty’s newest album, Three Bells, a fifteen song journey to the center of the self with Ty pushing the limits in his writing and performance, casting light on his inner psyche. Today, leading into the album’s January 26th release via Drag City, Ty welcomes the new year with “My Best Friend,” a new single and video and the final song to be released prior to the full unveiling of Three Bells. It follows the previously released Three Bells’ numbers: “Void,” “Eggman,” and “My Room.”

The quest for freedom looks different for everyone, but sometimes it looks like spending time with our non-human companions, an idea Ty explores on “My Best Friend.” Ty’s falsetto vocals and a driving, electric arrangement are the backbone of “My Best Friend,” with guitars cutting synchronous lines and a cowbell fortifying the chorus. In the solo section, the resonant rhythm/leads are fanned in a dizzying stereo effect. Filmed and directed by Ty, the song’s video finds his loyal companions, Fanny and Herman, as their tails wag with unbridled enthusiasm at the dawn of a new day. A sweet treat, friendly sniff and spirited encounters at the beach mirror the song’s rhythms.

Watch Ty Segall’s “My Best Friend” Video

Following select California shows in February, including two nights at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and a record release show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Ty will tour throughout North America in the spring before heading to Europe in June. Tickets are now on sale.

Pre-order Ty Segallʼs Three Bells
Listen to/Watch “My Room”
Listen to/Watch “Void”
Listen to/Watch “Eggman”

Ty Segall Tour Dates:
(new dates in bold)
Tue. Feb. 20 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Wed. Feb. 21 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Fri. Feb. 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern*
Sat. Feb. 24 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up
Fri. Apr. 19 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole
Sat. Apr. 20 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar
Mon. Apr. 22 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk (Outside)
Tue. Apr. 23 – Jackson, MS @ Duling Hall
Wed. Apr. 24 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
Fri. Apr. 26 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
Sat. Apr. 27 – Washington DC @ Lincoln Theatre
Sun. Apr. 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Mon. Apr. 29 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Wed. May 1 – Boston, MA @ Royale
Thu. May 2 – Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
Fri. May 3 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
Sun. May 5 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Mon. May 6 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Tue. May 7 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
Thu. May 9 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
Fri. May 10 – May 12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
Sat. May 11 – Sacramento, CA @ HarlowʼsMon. June 17 – Prague, CZ @ Roxy
Tue. June 18 – Zürich, CH @ Mascotte
Thu. June 20 – Vitoria-Gasteiz, ES @ Azkena Rock Festival
Sat. June 22 – Paris, FR @ Elysée Montmartre
Mon. June 24 – Manchester, UK @ New Century
Tue. June 25 – Dublin, IRE @ Button Factory
Thu. June 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Queen Margaret Union (QMU)
Fri. June 28 – London, UK @ Roundhouse
Sun. June 30 – Bristol, UK @ Bristol Sounds 2024
Tue. July 2 – Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef
Wed. July 3 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
Thu. July 4 – Vilanova i la Geltrú, ES @ Vida Festival 2024
Sun. July 7 – Beuningen, NL @ Down The Rabbit Hole

*w/ White Fence

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

TUTUPATU bring us a sweet “Tangerina” with their new single.

Madrid, Spain band TUTUPATU share the lead single today from their forthcoming album IV, alongside an in-depth interview with It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine. Hear/share “Tangerina” and read about the immersive, meditative process they used to capture its sound HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

The band’s desire to capture TUTUPATU’s essence led them to secure an underground location in Madrid, where they set up a private recording studio. They locked themselves for a 72-hour recording session. They aimed for unfiltered creativity: 32 tracks rolling at all times, doors locked, lights dimmed, and volume cranked.

The result? A mesmerizing blend of motorik drums, throbbing basslines, howling guitars, wailing saxophones, ethereal synths, and a myriad of flutes and folk instruments intricately woven into their debut album, “IV.” Comprising five expansive tracks, this collection immerses the listener in an auditory journey, guiding through intricate inner landscapes, transcending conventional musical boundaries.

The album serves as a sonic memoir, encapsulating five distinct moments, blending krautrock, synth ambient, noise, and free jazz. Each track beckons the listener into dreamlike soundscapes, creating a truly immersive experience.

TUTUPATU, founded by Tomas Garrido, Matías Tangerina, and Olivares, fuses their diverse musical backgrounds in classical, jazz, rock, electronic, experimental noise, drones, and ethnic music. After more than a year of dedicated rehearsals, they’ve meticulously crafted a unique sound that invites exploration.

Their collective aim is to shape an auditory landscape that defies convention, drawing inspiration from trance-inducing repetition—a musical odyssey transcending genres, resonating with the eclectic blend of their individual influences. Through their explorations, they guide listeners on an introspective journey into uncharted realms. Join TUTUPATU in the immersive experience unfolding through their debut album.

IV will be available on LP and Bandcamp download on February 14th, 2024 via Broken Clover Records. Pre-orders are available HERE,

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Dez Dare shares his new single – “Got a Fire in My Socket.”

UK psych-punk Dez Dare shares the first single and video today from his forthcoming new album A Billion Goats. A Billion Sparks. Fin worldwide. Watch & share “Got a Fire In My Socket” via YouTube HERE & hear on all DSPs HERE.

Dez Dare kicks off UK tour dates in April, with more to follow in the EU and Australia. Please see current dates below.

A Billion Goats. A Billion Sparks. Fin. features 11 songs that delve further into the void than previous records, leaving the sardonic frustration behind for sarcastic existentialism, zeroing in on the big philosophical questions, and the pedantic shards of nonsense that make up our existence.

This track is a fuzzed up, bass and synth driven, stomper that tackles the biggest question of all… as the wires fray from the burden of existence + the last sparks shimmer in your consciousness, the void has one simple question… “What tunes do you want playing on the way out?”

The Stooges ‘Real Cool Time’?

The Triffids ‘A Trick of the Light’?

Judy & the Jerks ‘Good Time’?

Nicki Minaj ‘Red Ruby Da Sleeze’?

Whatever your taste, the small things matter. Make it a strong choice!

The self-produced Australian has spent over 3 decades producing music, releasing and touring bands, and doing live sound for z-grade metal bands. Growing up in the coastal town of Geelong (Djilang) in Australia, he was introduced to the DIY punk and rock scene at 15 and this community and the ideas rooted in the underground music scene have guided his output and ethics throughout his career.

This year Dez will be joining forces with label titans God Unknown (Cassels / Duke Garwood / James Johnston + Steve Gullick / KLÄMP / Oneida / Laura Loriga / Monster Magnet / Wellwater Conspiracy [Soundgarden + Monster Magnet]) and will be producing a deluxe version of the album on blob color vinyl and includes a comic book illustrated by Mike Keane. In true nerd fashion the comic also features Top 10s by Dez, Jason Stoll (God Unknown), Matthew Barnhart (Chicago Mastering Service), Mike Keane, and the album illustrator MALMALL.

A Billion Goats. A Billion Sparks. Fin. will be released on LP, CD and download on March 1st via God Unknown Records.

DEZ DARE LIVE 2024:

04/12 Coventry, UK – The Tin Music & Arts

04/13 Birmingham, UK – Dark Horse

04/19 Falmouth, UK – Fish Factory Art Space

04/20 Plymouth, UK – Underground

04/25 Portsmouth, UK – The Loft at The Kings

April & May (EU), June & July (AU)

Keep your mind open.

[I dare you to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Laetitia Sadier sortie d’un nouveau single – “Panser L’inacceptable.”

Fixing us into the much-needed posture of passive resistance for this (r)evolutionary new (s)election year, “Panser L’inacceptable” is Laetitia Sadier‘s second single (and video!) from the forthcoming Rooting For Love. Flowing toward the album’s February 23rd release via Drag City, it follows the previously released single and video “Une Autre Attente.”

On “Panser L’inacceptable,” Laetitia’s wheel-like rhythm guitar paddles the waters atop a raft of Gamelan patterns, synthesized strings trailing in her wake. The video, created by Laetitia and filmmaker Christopher Thomas Allen, flashes through images of the natural world: water, stone formations, long rays of sunlight and stalks of wheat provide an idyllic mise-en-scene eventually wandered through by Laetitia herself. As she passes barefoot through a wood and bundled up through a cemetery, the images of nature’s riches take on a Tarkovskian resonance: an idyll from which we humans find ourselves at an unnatural remove. The chorus swells greater with each pass, and as Laetitia slowly sinks into the sea and through the woods, we consider the title: “Panser L’inacceptable” (“panser” meaning to bandage, or otherwise treat damage) — a headfirst dive into handling and healing past wounds. This theme hangs omnipresent in the endless skies stretching over the ten tracks that make up Rooting For Love.

Watch Laetitia Sadier’s “Panser L’inacceptable” Video

With Rooting For Love, Laetitia continues her journey of the self through time, space and collective consciousness, with an album set alight by the heat of a turbulent world, collapsing institutions and Laetitia’s fully-engaged process of expression, not to mention orchestration. Scored with organs, guitars, bass, synths, trombones, vibraphones, live and programmed drums, Rooting for Love is guided by Laetitia’s empathic presence, leading an ensemble that includes bassist Xavi Muñoz, Hannes Plattmeier and Emma Mario programming drums and synths (as well as mixing tracks), and a vocal assembly of men and women billed as “The Choir,” alongside a talented cast of players and singers from Laetitia’s Source Ensemble and beyond.

After an extended tour with the mighty Stereolab in 2022, Laetitia’s first U.S. tour in seven years commences this spring with a performance at The Chapel in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2. Tickets are now on sale.

Pre-order Laetitia Sadier’s Rooting For Love

Listen to/Watch “Une Autre Attente”

Laetitia Sadier 2024 Tour Dates:
Sat. March 2 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
Mon. March 4 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall *
Tue. March 5 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza *
Wed. March 6 – Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret *
Fri. March 8 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
Sat. March 9 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake *
Mon. March 11 – Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club *
Tue. March 12 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle #
Wed. March 13 – Detroit, MI @ Third Man
Fri. March 15 – Toronto, ON @ Garrison
Sat. March 16 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
Wed. March 20 – Brooklyn, NY @ National Sawdust ^
Thu. March 21 – Boston, MA @ Arts at the Armory ^
Fri. March 22 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s ^
Sat. March 23 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd ^
Mon. March 25 – Atlanta, GA @ The EARL
Tue. March 26 – Nashville, TN @ Blue Room
Thu. March 28 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Upstairs %
Fri. March 29 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada %
Sat. March 30 – Austin, TX @ Parish %
Tue. April 2 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge %
Wed. April 3 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s %
Thu. April 4 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon %
Fri. April 5 – Big Sur, CA @ Fernwood Tavern %
Mon. April 8 – San Juan, PR @ Club 77

* w/ Susan James
# w/ Radio Outernational
^ w/ Storefront Church
% w/ Sofia Bolt

Gardez l’espirit ouvert.

[N’oubliez pas de vous abonner.]

[Merci à Jacob à Pitch Perfect PR.]