News – Page 5 – 7th Level Music

Levitation Music Festival announces its 2024 lineup.

LEVITATION returns this Halloween weekend, taking over Austin, Texas music venues with an eclectic and expanded menu of music and art October 31 – November 3, 2024!

4 Day Passes and Single Show Tickets are available now, here.

For over a decade, LEVITATION has delivered lineups that span psych, dream pop, punk, indie, metal, darkwave and electronic music. It’s a beloved record collection manifested into a 4 day weekend, with lineups that span continents and generations: a heady amalgamation of vintage gear, immersive light shows and visuals, buzzing amps, moody synths, and good times in Austin, Texas.

This year’s festival brings a full platter of psychedelia, shoegaze, punk, metal, and electronica – a collection of underground legends, music vanguards and pillars of modern music and indie music culture.

The multi-venue format encourages fans to choose their own adventure through the weekend – you can buy single show tickets for over 30 different shows, or go all in with a 4 Day Pass and indulge in the entire 4 day Halloween weekend.

Many of the shows are mini-festivals in their own right. Slowdive, Drop Nineteens, Airiel, Ringo Deathstarr and Glare close out the weekend, topping off a 4 day shoegazer’s dream across 4 venues, including lineup highlights Panchiko, Swirlies, Julie, and Wisp. Punk legends the Jesus Lizard top off a stacked bill with Gang Of Four, Dry Cleaning, Special Interest, Pissed Jeans, Fat Dog and more – all on one ticket on Friday at The Far Out Lounge. Jazz Is Dead brings a 3 night residency with French greats Cortex and Adrian Younge. Psych punk titans OSEES make a 4 night stand at Hotel Vegas, an Austin tradition that’s seen them play nearly as many Levitation events as festival founders The Black Angels – who top off a Halloween night show brimming with international talent: Niger’s Mdou Moctar, and Brazil’s Boogarins. Local heavies The Sword ride high at Stubb’s on Sunday, with highly influential proto-metal outfit Pentagram, local rippers Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, and The Well. Saturday night brings Texas thrash giants Fugitive with hardcore heroes Integrity, plus more across a two stage lineup. Indie dream team Soccer Mommy and The Drums pair up to crush Stubb’s on Friday night, while Tycho, Washed Out, Hania Rani, Wu Lu, Arushi Jain and more bring bliss across a two stage lineup at The Far Out Lounge on Saturday night. LEVITATION 2024 adds a new downtown venue, Kingdom, which will host late-night sets from the likes of genre-defining and expanding DJs and producers such as The Dare, Axel Boman, and Patrick Holland with more to be announced.

More highlights include French heavy space-rock masters Slift who headline Mohawk, London’s Nilüfer Yanya, and Japan’s Boris bringing their album ‘Amplifier Worship’ on a two stage lineup with A Place To Bury Strangers. Australia’s Mildlife team up with UK chill auteur Arc De Soleil. The UK makes a strong showing with EMB pioneers Nitzer Ebb, Manchester stalwarts The Chameleons performing their 1986 classic ‘Strange Times’, and first wave post-punks The March Violets, all performing headline sets at Elysium.

To keep up with updates and for additional information, keep up with LEVITATION on Instagram here.

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[Thanks to Bailey at Another Side!]

Kiasmos release new single, “Sailed,” ahead of new album out this Friday.

Today Kiasmos, the duo of Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds and Faroese musician Janus Rasmussen, share a new single from their long-awaited second album, ‘II’, which is set for release on July 5 via Erased Tapes. The single drops ahead of a sold out show at London’s Outernet tomorrow night, with an Autumn show at Troxy already announced for later this year, as well as international headline and festival appearances – dates below.

Following the recently dropped EP “Flown“ and previous single “Burst“, today they share the crisp, delicate atmospherics of “Sailed“, which Arnalds describes as “one of the more playful processes during the making of this record was the creation of Sailed. A no rules kind of affair that resulted in us putting a breakbeat, synthesisers, 808’s, a choir, piano and strings all in the same song. A personal favourite of mine from the record and one I’ve been looking forward to sharing with the world.”

Rasmussen adds: “This song indicated that we had an album ready. It serves as a summary of the work we’ve dedicated to this project over the years. It’s like the essence of Kiasmos in 2024, which excites me. This song has a slightly broken beat, synths, strings, and a lot of tension—to me, it has it all.” Listen to “Sailed”:https://idol-io.ffm.to/sailed
Pre-order/pre-save ‘II’: https://idol-io.ffm.to/Kiasmos-II

When Kiasmos started out in the late 2000s, little did they know that their part-time supergroup would go stratospheric. It was the sound of two old friends from neighbouring islands striking out against the stark piano and electropop music that they were individually celebrated for and effusively sharing their love of Berlin-inspired beats. But their pairing blew up into a world-dominating live act whose music went on to define the decade. So what does one of the most dynamic duos in electronic music do next, after all this time? There are clues in their new artwork: Kiasmos’s distinctive diamond motif, up in flames, so it can rise again from the ashes.

Kiasmos are returning, renewed and restored, with ‘II’. It’s the triumphant followup to their universally acclaimed self-titled debut in 2014, which re-envisioned minimal techno with orchestral flourishes and weightless production. They’d made most of that album in just two weeks; this time it’s been 10 years. The making of ‘II’ was a test of their friendship, but also testament to how great musical chemistry can always go the distance and be just the same as it ever was. “In the beginning, we hadn’t established any sound, so it was easy to write,” says Janus.

On ‘II’ you can clearly hear how Kiasmos have evolved as sonic architects, in the album’s deeper acoustic textures, atmospheric ambience, restless grooves and ambitious string arrangements. Each song on the album is a mini epic, effortlessly moving between electronic, classical and rave, and then pulling back before you’ve had a chance to take a breath. This is Kiasmos – but more widescreen. “It’s bigger, both in sound and production,” says Janus. “The music has matured yet there’s a playfulness to it.”

They worked on a lot of ‘II’ during the lost year of 2020-2021, including a trip to Ólafur’s studio in Bali. “We spent a month there and wrote a few songs that ended up on the record,” says Janus. The pair sampled traditional Balinese percussion like the gamelan and incorporated Janus’s field recordings of their natural surroundings – the sound of birds, crickets and echoing the sunrise over the lush landscape.

Kiasmos have an enviable knack for conveying complex emotions and evocative visuals with instrumental music. But this time they’ve got more experience as producers to draw on. The album’s expansiveness can be linked to Ólafur’s intervening years as a Grammy-nominated composer and prominent soundtracker in film and TV. And they’ve subtly shifted from four-to-the-floor to the frenetic broken beats of UK dance music, experimenting more with BPMs, echoing Janus’s time spent DJing in major venues worldwide.

“It’s emotional rave!” laughs Ólafur. The magic of Kiasmos is also in the cathartic release that can happen at their live shows. “We often talk about the idea of crying on the dance floor,” Ólafur continues. “That’s become our unofficial slogan.” But they also want to keep everyone, including themselves, on their toes. “II is livelier,” says Janus, “but it still retains the signature Kiasmos style of transitioning from a whisper-quiet ambience to an explosive dance beat that can blow your socks off.” Their phoenix is rising from the ashes, and ready to take flight.

‘II’ will be released on July 5th via Erased Tapes. Pre-order here.

Kiasmos live dates:
12.07. Audioriver Festival PL Lodz
13.07. BBK Festival ES Bilbao
26.07. Popmesse CZ Brno
02.08. All Together Now IE Waterfront
10.08. Grape Festival SK Trencin
11.08. Sziget Festival HU Budapest

14.09. Spring Attitude Festival IT Rome
15.09. Milan IT Magnolia
18.09. London UK Troxy
19.09. Paris FR Salle Pleyel
20.09. Cologne DE Stadthalle
21.09. Hamburg DE Reeperbahn Festival
22.09. Copenhagen DK Poolen
24.09. Luxembourg LU den Atelier
25.09. Amsterdam NL Melkweg
26.09. Berlin DE Columbiahalle

12.11. New York US Elsewhere Hall
13.11. Montreal CA SAT
15.11. San Francisco US 1015 Folsom
16.11. Los Angeles US The Regent
17.11. Seattle US Crododile
20.11. Mexico City MX BlackBerry Auditorio
Ticket links: http://ffm.link/tour-dates

‘II’ track list:
1. Grown
2. Burst – stream
3. Sailed – stream
4. Laced
5. Bound
6. Sworn
7. Spun
8. Flown – official video
9. Told
10. Dazed
11. Squared

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Bizhiki are “Unbound” with their new single.

Bizhiki — a made-in-Wisconsin collaboration between Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, Joe Rainey Sr., and multi-instrumentalist S. Carey (Bon Iver) — shares the new single/video, “Unbound,” from their new album Unbound, out July 19th via Jagjaguwar. Following lead single “Gigawaabamin (Come Through)” featuring Mike Sullivan, the title track of the album is exemplary of Bizhiki’s unique cultural and musical intersection.

The song begins with an electronically modified hand drum accentuated by a plaintive piano chord, leading into a somber warning sung by Carey: “Be calm when she speaks/she speaks the truth, unbound.” The words were pulled by Carey from Rainey’s notebook, right in the studio. “I wrote those lines around a string of tornadoes and hurricanes — this wrath of mother nature that was hitting everybody,” Rainey says. “There was so much relief needed for people who were displaced, so many people out there hurting.” Carey’s warning is joined to an urgent topline sung by Bizhikiins Jennings, as arresting as it is beautiful.

The video for “Unbound” was directed by Finn Ryan and features dancer Indaanis Demain alongside the group. “Gichigami and Anishinaabeg have long been intertwined in a relationship rooted in reciprocity and respect, which continues to this day,” Ryan explains. “On her shores we continue to sing and make offerings, carrying out ancient responsibilities tied to culture and place. Be calm when she speaks, she speaks the truth out loud.”

Bizhiki has also announced their album release show at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis, MN on Wednesday, July 24th, and will be joined by special guest Dosh. Tickets are on-sale now and are available here.

Watch the Video for “Unbound”

Unbound opens with a single, trembling chord that rises and descends before meeting a warm, beguiling voice, a voice singing in a tradition that’s been heard in Northern Wisconsin river country for millennia. The music that follows is a soulful dialogue between the ancient tradition of powwow singing and a contemporary musical palette. Unbound sees the powwow style entwined with synthesized voice modulation, and hand drumming accented with electronic samples and beats. The harmonies and resonances on this album are equal parts cultural and musical.

Many of the songs on this album go back to when the spirit of the Bizhiki was forged, nearly a decade ago, on the banks of Wisconsin’s Chippewa River at Eaux Claires festival in 2015, and came together over the course of years in between several projects from Bizhiki members, including two solo album releases. Both Joe Rainey’s Niineta and S. Carey’s Break Me Open were released in 2022, and the artists have been busy touring their projects. Bizhikiins Jennings has also been committed to a robust schedule of speaking and teaching engagements —he’s in the final stage of his pursuit of a PhD at UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies — in addition to his singing in powwow groups, both locally and internationally.

Bizhiki: Unbound is the recipient of an inaugural Wisconsin Special Projects Grant from Ruth Foundation for the Arts. The project is one of ten selected from a pool of over 80 applicants; selections were made by a national panel of jurors. Project collaborators will develop and tour a multidisciplinary music and video performance, engaging audiences throughout Wisconsin about contemporary Ojibwe culture at live shows in 2024 and 2025. The project will make great efforts to both support revitalization within Tribal communities and enhance understanding in non-Tribal communities.

Pre-order Unbound

Watch/Stream “Gigawaabamin (Come Through) (feat. Mike Sullivan)”

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Bodysync get us moving with their new single, “Bailiar (I Want to Dance).”

Today, Bodysync return with the euphoric rave-pop single “Bailiar (I Want To Dance),” featuring the beloved Honduran-Canadian singer-songwriter Daniela Andrade. The final single ahead of their second album, NUTTY, set to drop next Friday, June 28, via Buddies Inc, pushes the tempo with energetic piano chords and Andrade’s soft-spoken, ethereal voice controlling the melody.
“Daniela is one of our favorite artists to work with. She never overwrites and seems to instinctively know how much a track needs,” Bodysync remarked on their second collaboration with Andrade. Following previous singles “Rock It” and “Babies,” the latest offering from the new electronic producer duo of Ryan Hemsworth and Charlie Yin (AKA Giraffage) continues to build anticipation for their second full-length, which has already garnered attention from CBC, Exclaim!, Paste, Stereogum, Uproxx, and many more.

STREAM: “BAILAR (I WANT TO DANCE)”

The record features twelve new belters, rooted in 90’s rave music but embracing all shades of dance music, alongside indie, and pop punk influences. Bodysync is Ryan Hemsworth and Charlie Yin (AKA Giraffage), and this project has been their core focus since their well-received debut album Radio Active was released in 2022. In their own words – “it’s dance music by fans of DIY punk and Y2K pop, with a healthy dose of absurdity.” Previous Bodysync collaborations include Tinashe, Devin Morrison, Dazy, and Nite Jewel. As individual producers, Ryan & Charlie have worked with the likes of Joji, Japanese Breakfast, Mitski, E-40, Doss, alongside official remixes for Carly Rae Jepsen, Porter Robinson, ODESZA, and Lana Del Rey.
Giving more context on the album, Bodysync share: “Keeping things a little nutty has just been like, the mantra. The discourse in electronic music is so enveloping and polarising. We just choose to focus on our legends – Todd Terry, Paul Johnson. There’s so much comedy in their stuff and that has really resonated lately, which shamelessly gets mixed up with the stuff we enjoyed at a young age – Venga Boys, Daft Punk, and Mad Magazine.“

A fitting acronym for Bodysync could be “Be Open, Do You, Say You’ll Never Change” – it’s for everyone, all ages, no gatekeeping. It has that optimistic feel-good energy that was felt at the free party movement in the UK, and the desert parties in the US decades ago. The universal language of music remains the same – bring the people together, it’s best experienced communally.

Listen to “Bailiar (I Want To Dance)” above and look out for the full album release of NUTTY on Friday, June 28th, and details for a North American tour kicking off in August.

PREORDER / SAVE

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[Thanks to Cody at Terrorbird Media.]

L7’s Donita Sparks teams up with Dick Dale for “Rhythm Surfer” on Dark Brown’s upcoming “American Instrument” album.

L.A. based composer/musician Bryan Lee Brown shares the first single today from his forthcoming album under the Dark Brown moniker, American Instrument. The track, “Rhythm Surfer” features one of the last recordings of guitar icon Dick Dale — lending his legendary and oft-imitated “Machine Gun Staccato” style to the track, alongside L7 guitarist/vocalist Donita Sparks on the entrancing tune. Hear/share “Rhythm Surfer” on all DSPs HERE and Bandcamp HERE.

Brown has assembled a short series of mini-documentaries about the sessions for the album, with the first episodes covering the “Rhythm Surfer” sessions at Dave Catching‘s fabled Rancho De La Luna. Watch/share Dick Dale‘s fight club (HERE), Donita Sparks on Dick Dale fandom (HERE). Official video HERE. More to come soon.

American Instrument is conceptually just as expansive and ambitious as the lush soundscapes within. An 18-song album featuring an array of legendary guest musicians, its theme likewise embodies a profound meditation on selfhood and the Other.

Dark Brown is the creation of Los Angeles composer and musician Bryan Lee Brown. American Instrument is the fifth album under that pseudonym, but Brown has an extensive life-long career in music: Scoring Dave Grohl’s HBO series Sonic Highways (2014) and documentary film What Drives Us (2021) as well as countless other films, TV shows and commercials, drumming for Dick Dale, as well as numerous stints as a session musician.

The album was recorded over a 12-year period at 7 different studios. It features guest appearances by surf guitar innovator Dick Dale, John Stanier (Battles, Helmet), Brad Wilk (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), Alfredo Ortiz (Los Lobos ,Beastie Boys), Eric McFadden, Jon Theodore (QOTSA), Donita Sparks (L7), marching percussionist Marcus Joyner, Dave Catching (Desert Sessions), Jose Medeles (The Breeders, Author) and more.

The predominantly drummer-heavy line up is another element of the album’s exploration into Brown’s relationship with drumming, both musically and socially. Brown has a personal connection to almost everyone who played on the album. In a way, the album unites many common threads (personal and philosophical) throughout the musician’s life.

Slated for release in Fall 2024, American Instrument combines abstract minimalism with melodic psychedelia to create a vast ranch of soundscapes. Brown’s now signature sounds of melodic percussion, droning guitars, tremolo and propulsive rhythms permeate the tracks, with each guest musician’s personality leading the songs in many directions with each of their unique personalities shining through. Case in point, Dick Dale’s unmistakable guitar pyrotechnics on 2 album tracks, recorded in 2013 at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, bring all of his larger-than-life sonic imprint into a completely new world where the surf guitar meets counterpoint rhythms, post-rock ethereality and anthemic hooks. “Spacetime (feat. Brad Wilk)” finds the Rage Against The Machine drummer’s powerful backbeat driving a psychedelic haze of Hendrix-style guitar warped through haunting sounding tubular bells. “Miami Rute (feat. Jon Theodore and Alfredo Ortiz)” juxtaposes Latin percussion with soaring Pink Floyd-ian drones and ominous vocal chants. Throughout, a wide variety of sounds and musical styles explore the very meaning of rhythm and impact of the uniquely American instrument, the drum set, and its place in the course of human history.

American Instrument will be available digitally via Memory Bulldozer Records on September 10, 2024. Pre-order/pre-save HERE.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Bremer / McCoy go into the “Kosmos” with their upcoming album due September 06, 2024.

(Photo Credit: Søren Lynggaard Andersen)

Today, the Danish duo consisting of bassist Jonathan Bremer and pianist Morten McCoy, announce their sixth album, Kosmos, out September 6th via Luaka Bop, and share the album’s lead single “Alting Løser Sig” (Danish for “Everything Will Work Out”). Against all odds, the duo have created their own understated cosmos in a noisy time. The appropriately titled Kosmos sees Bremer/McCoy aiming to convey a worldview founded on deep connectedness and a sense of freedom.

Some of the wholly improvised, airy melodies that make up Kosmos have been simmering for the 15 years that Bremer and McCoy have been playing with each other; and together with new material, they create a statement without exclamation marks or large fonts. Kosmos is two Danish musicians’ attempt to capture the world they stand for—and that they wish to share with others. The album represents a worldview, and in Bremer/McCoy’s cosmos, we can meet each other without words. “Humans have always played music. We’ve sat around campfires and sung. We’ve danced. When we play together or listen together, we communicate wordlessly. And right now, it’s important to remember to communicate, as many feel we are living in difficult times. I believe everyone feels a fundamental joy and peace when experiencing something beautiful being created,” McCoy says.

On “Alting løser sig,” what started as a loose theme became only more fitting as the duo played together, exploring the idea that fear is a poor driving force; instead, one should try to trust that things will work out.

Listen to “Alting Løser Sig”

Formed in 2012 by two former schoolmates, Bremer/McCoy initially started playing dub music. It’s hard to imagine that that’s how they started when you listen to the ethereal sounds they make now, but the influence becomes clearer when you see them live: they insist on traveling with their own sound system. Both musicians have been nominated for the Danish music award Steppeulven, with Bremer winning the award for “Musician of the Year” in 2020.

“We are very flow-oriented. You have to be careful not to try to force too much into the music and have a plan for what you want. Only when you remove all ego is there room for what needs to happen,” explains Bremer. “If, as a musician, you think, ‘Now this and that must happen,’ you place yourself outside the music. We want to play as if we are merely listening to the music emerge. That is the ultimate freedom.” This approach is more evident on Kosmos than any of the duo’s previous work. The tracks embody themes such as meditation, prayer, gratitude, and a quiet optimism on behalf of all of us.

At the group’s concerts, this intimate and immediate atmosphere emerges. The basis for Kosmos was to capture the emotions from their concerts on record. Therefore, they approached the initial studio session as if they were performing, and from there, they began to improvise. Their form of improvisation: They don’t improvise solos, but songs. They delve into a story. They don’t know what the story will be when they start, but they discover it together.

Bremer/McCoy will follow Kosmos with a series of concerts in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway before concluding with three concerts at the Conservatory Concert Hall in Copenhagen. Next year will see the duo tour outside of Scandinavia for the first time, taking their own soundsystem on the road through Northern Europe.

Pre-order Kosmos

Listen to “Higher Road”

Bremer/McCoy Tour Dates:
Wed. Sept. 11 – Horsens, DK @ Sønderbro Kirke
Fri. Sept. 13 -Køge, DK @ Tapperiet
Sat. Sept. 14 – Bornholm, DK @ Strandhotellet Sandvig
Thu. Sept. 19 – Haderslev, DK @ Spillestedet Månen
Fri. Sept. 20 – Esbjerg, DK @ Musikhuset
Sat. Sept. 21 – Odense, DK @ Magasinet
Thu. Sept. 26 – Viborg, DK @ Paletten
Fri. Sept. 27 – Aalborg, DK @ Musikkens Hus
Fri. Nov. 8 – Aarhus, DK @ Musikhuset

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Riot Fest announces 2024 lineup.

Chicago’s Riot Fest has announced it’s full lineup for 2024. The festival is being held at SeatGeek Stadium this time around, much to the annoyance of the Chicago Red Stars NWSL team, and I’m curious how many stages they’ll have in and around the stadium.

The lineup is better than Lollapalooza or Pitchfork Music Festival this year, but that’s not a new thing. The Slayer reunion was rumored to be defunct, but is now apparently back on the schedule. Beck will be a must-see, as he hasn’t toured in a few years. Public Enemy will also be a good set, and seeing all of the Marley Brothers on the same stage would be wild.

It’s nice to see a big punk rock lineup at this year’s festival, including a final NOFX tour, Circle Jerks, Descendents, and Buzzcocks. Don’t miss The Hives, as they’re one of the best live bands of the last twenty years. Clutch are always good, and Cypress Hill is enjoying a big resurgence right now as people are discovering their classic records.

Go see Dead Milkmen and The Dickies if you want some fun. Go see Pixel Grip if you want sexy synthwave, and The Mysterines if you want good garage rock.

Find the shady spots while you’re there. There aren’t many around SeatGeek Stadium, so grab one whenever you can.

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The Black Angels announces European and western U.S. tours.

The Black Angels are soon back on tour, this time heading to Europe in mid-September through early October with pals The Dandy Warhols.

A good chunk of those shows probably will sell out, so don’t hesitate to get tickets.

Not to rest for too long, the psych-giants come back to the U.S. afterwards to embark on a west coast tour just ten days later, this time with Soriah and Daiistar.

They’ll also headline a stage at the 2024 Levitation festival sometime during Halloween weekend as well. Don’t miss them. They never disappoint.

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Friko releases Radiohead cover and announces 2024 tour dates.

Chicago band Friko — vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger — shares a cover of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” and announces performances at Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival, and Fuji Rock, a North American tour supporting Royel Otis, and the band’s first European headline run. The band just wrapped their first North American tour in support of Where we’ve been, Where we go from here (out now on ATO Records), playing shows with Water From Your Eyes, WILLIS and Mind’s Eye. Their cover of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” has become an exciting surprise during recent live dates. They performed it at their sold-out, headlining record release show at the 1000-capacity Metro in Chicago, and will continue to captivate larger and larger audiences throughout the rest of 2024.

Listen to “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” (Radiohead Cover)

An essential new addition to Chicago’s long lineage of forward-thinking indie rock, Friko transforms every song into a moment of collective catharsis. Known for their high-energy live show, Friko aims to deliver a live experience that’s fantastically disorienting in its emotional arc. Mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, Big Thief) and engineered by Jack Henry and Scott Tallarida, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here embodies a sonic complexity befitting of a band that names Romantic-era classical music and the more primal edges of art-rock among their inspirations. Friko hopes that their music’s emotional potency might have a galvanizing impact on audiences.

Purchase Where we’ve been, Where we go from here

Watch Friko’s “Where We’ve Been” Video
Watch “Crashing Through” Video
Watch “For Ella” Video
Watch “Crimson to Chrome” Lyric Video
Listen to Friko’s “Get Numb To It!”

Friko Tour Dates:
Fri. June 14 – Chicago, IL @ Q101 PIQNIQ (Taste of Randolph)
Tue. July 9 – Evanston, IL @ SPACE
Thu. July 18 – Indianapolis, IN @ Rock The Ruins ^
Fri. July 26 – Niigata, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
Sun. July 28 – Newport, RI @ Newport Folk Festival
Sat. Aug. 3 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
Sun. Aug. 4 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (Lollapalooza Aftershow)
Thu. Aug. 8 – Nashville, TN @ Bobby Nashville (WNXP Event)
Wed. Aug. 28 – Louisville, KY @ WFPK Waterfront Wednesday
Mon. Sept. 9 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall %
Wed. Sept. 11 – Rochester, NY @ Essex Music Hall %
Thu. Sept. 12 – Toronto, ON @ History %
Fri. Sept. 13 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre %
Sat. Sept. 14 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee %
Sun. Sept. 15 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue %
Thu. Sept. 19 – Champaign, IL @ Canopy Club (Pygmalion Fest)
Tue. Sept. 24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer %
Wed. Sept. 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel %
Thu. Sept. 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel %
Fri. Sept. 27 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club %
Sat. Sept. 28 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues %
Mon. Sept. 30 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern %
Tue. Oct. 1 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl %
Tue. Oct. 8 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre %
Wed. Oct. 9 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater %
Mon. Oct. 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
Tue. Oct. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
Wed. Oct. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Palladium %
Fri. Oct. 18 – Oakland, CA @ The Fox %
Sun. Oct. 20 – Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom %
Mon. Oct. 21 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre %
Tue. Oct. 22 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum %
Sat. Nov. 2 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
Sun. Nov. 3 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Weekender
Tue. Nov. 5 – Rennes, FR @ L’Antipode
Thu. Nov. 7 – Paris, FR @ Pitchfork Avant Garde
Sat. Nov. 9 – London, UK @ Pitchfork Festival London
Sun. Nov. 10 – Bristol, UK @ Louisiana
Tue. Nov. 12 – Manchester, UK @ YES
Wed. Nov. 13 – Glasgow, UK @ King Tuts
Thu. Nov. 14 – Dublin, IR @ Workman’s Club

^ supporting Hippo Campus
% supporting Royel Otis

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Brijean takes us down “Euphoric Avenue” with their new single.

Brijean, the project of percussionist/singer-songwriter Brijean Murphy — the percussive heartbeat for live bands like Mitski, Poolside, and Toro y Moi — and multi-instrumentalist/producer Doug Stuart, unveils the new single, “Euphoric Avenue,” from Macro, their new album out July 12th via Ghostly International. Following lead singles “Workin’ On It” and “Roller Coaster,” “Euphoric Avenue” was one of the first tracks recorded at the band’s new home in Altadena on the outskirts of Los Angeles. It took shape on organ and drum machine, later welcoming live contributions from Stephanie Yu (strings), Logan Hone (flute), and Kosta Galanopoulos (drums).

“Worlds of beauty and pain / I spy comedies in the most mundane,” Murphy sings on “Euphoric Avenue,” the rainbow road to Macro that expands Murphy and Stuart’s shared sense for storytelling. “Being in this beautiful part of town nestled up against the Angeles National Forest played a big role in how comfortable we felt stretching out and trying to push our musical boundaries,” says Murphy. “Anytime we brought someone into the world to add their musical touch, it felt like a highlight.” Macro’s sequencing elicits an exploratory vibe with high-tempo peaks and breezy valleys in the psyche especially on astral drifts like “Euphoric Avenue.”

Watch the Visualizer for “Euphoric Avenue”

Since their debut in 2019, Brijean has moved with ingenuity, fusing psych-pop abstraction with dancefloor sensibilities. Through the body and mind, rhythm and lyricism, they make sense of the worlds around and within; 2021’s Feelings celebrated self-reflection; 2022’s Angelo processed loss, coinciding with the duo’s first headlining tour, which doubled down on the material’s desire to move. Now, across the playful expanse of Macro, Brijean engages different sides of themselves, the paradox of being alive. They’ve leveled up to meet the complexities and harmonies of the human experience with their most dynamic songwriting yet. Colorful, collaborative, sophisticated, and deeply fun, the album animates a macrocosm with characters, moods, and points of view rooted in the notion that no feeling is final and the only way out is through.

The band’s collaborative streak extends to their recent team-up with Toro y Moi for A24’s Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense where they cover “Genius Of Love.”

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Watch the Visualizer For “Workin’ On It”

Watch the Visualizer for “Roller Coaster”

Brijean Tour Dates
Fri. Jul. 12 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village
Sat. Jul. 13 – Detroit, MI @ El Club
Sun. Jul. 14 Toronto, ON Velvet Underground
Wed. Jul. 17 – Washington, DC @ Atlantis
Thu. Jul. 18 – New York, NY @ MHOW
Sat. Jul. 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Mon. Jul. 22 – Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle
Tue. Jul. 23 – Atlanta, GA @ Vinyl
Thu. Jul. 25 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs)
Fri. Jul. 26 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
Sat. Jul. 27 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at 3TEN
Mon. July 29 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
Thu. Aug. 1 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
Fri. Aug. 2 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
Sun. Aug. 4 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Tue. Aug. 6 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
Wed. Aug. 7 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Fri. Aug. 9 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
Sat. Aug. 10 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Mon. Aug. 12 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll feel euphoric if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]