We’re almost to the halfway point. Who’s in the top 15?
#15 – Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor – “Godshe”
Detroit’s Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor released four singles this year, and this was my favorite. It’s bright, trippy, and moves along like a sports car set on cruise control.
#14 – Diagonal – “Negatives”
I’m calling it now. These Chicago shoe gazers are on track to be one of the Next Big Things. This cut blends psychedelia with shoe gaze and we’re all better for it.
#13 – Claude Fontaine – “Pretending He Was You”
Half of this album is dub, and the other half is bossa nova. All of it is good, and this was the first song I heard from it. I swooned.
#12 – Shopping – “Initiative”
Post-punkers Shopping slipped into the end of 2019 with one of the best singles of the year, poking fun at the rat race and The Man with a ripping bass line, typewriter-precise drumming, and that skittering guitar work only they can seem to play.
#11 – Public Practice – “Disposable”
Speaking of post-punk, Public Practice do it very, very well indeed. This single was a delightful treat in the latter half of 2019 and bodes well for hopefully a full album ahead.
#15 – Alison Krauss – Memorial Coliseum – Ft. Wayne, IN – August 05th
Alison Krauss‘ voice is so heavenly you almost can’t quite believe it’s real even as you’re hearing it. She is a great performer and this show with a full stage set-up and rotating band members was a delight.
#14 – Night Beats – Levitation Austin – November 09th
It had been a couple of years since I saw Night Beats, and this show at Levitation Austin was a great reminder of why you and I need to see them whenever possible. They always kill it live and bring a sense of danger to whatever stage they take.
#13 – Cosmonauts – Levitation Austin – November 09th
I had wanted to see Cosmonauts since I first heard their A-OK! album. They unleashed a wall of shoegaze power like I hadn’t heard all weekend at Levitation Austin, and I was left a bit dumbstruck by the set’s end.
#12 – The Flaming Lips – Levitation Austin – November 08th
“I’m always happy when I see them.” That’s a quote from my wife describing a Flaming Lips show, and their Levitation Austin set continued the trend. It was fun, colorful, playful, and what everyone needed on a cool night to forget the low temperatures and troubles in our lives.
#11 – The Black Angels – Levitation Austin – November 09th
Another set from Levitation Austin. Are you noticing a pattern here? It’s one of the best festivals in the country for music lovers, and the Black Angels help curate it. As an added bonus, they play it every year. This year’s set was another powerhouse one, with Christian Bland particularly playing harder than I’ve heard him play in a while.
Here we are at the top 25 best live shows I saw this year. Let’s get to it.
#25 Bebel Gilberto – Birchmere – Alexandria, VA – June 22nd
This was a lovely acoustic, intimate set with Bebel Gilberto and her guitarist in a small venue. Her voice was delightful, as always, and there was a funny moment when she had a wardrobe malfunction and her guitarist had to fix her top onstage.
#24 ORB – Aragon Ballroom – Chicago, IL – August 24th
I hadn’t seen ORB for a couple years, so it was good to catch up with them and see them as a four-piece for the first time. They hadn’t lost any of their heavy power and crushing riffs.
#23 Prettiest Eyes – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL – October 11th
The energy expelled during a Prettiest Eyes set could power a tank. They’re frantic and manic, but still a tight machine that can stop on a dime. We were eager to see them again after catching them last year at Levitation France, and we were bouncing during the whole set (in each venue).
#22 The KVB – Levitation Austin – November 10th
I was eager to see the KVB at Levitation Austin this year after not being able to catch a show they played in Chicago a month earlier. They put on a good set that was everything I wanted – synth wave, krautrock, and shoegaze. It was also their first time playing in Austin, so that made the show extra special for all involved.
#21 Minami Deutsch – Levitation Austin – November 07th
Speaking of Levitation Austin, another great set we saw there (on the coldest night of the festival, no less) was from Minami Deutsch – a Japanese krautrock band. It was a flow of rock grooves, precise beats, and hypnotic drone. I became an instant fan and later chatted with lead guitarist, Kyo, about chicken shawarma wraps.
Who made the top 20? Come back tomorrow to find out.
It’s that time of year again for me to start the countdowns of my favorite live shows, singles, and albums of the year. I’m starting with live shows. I saw close to sixty bands this year (and possibly over sixty if you add in partial sets), so here are the ones that topped the upper half.
#30 – Hoover iii – Levitation Austin – November 07th
Hoover iii were a pleasant surprise as the first band my wife and I saw at Levitation Austinthis year. They played a fun set of southern California shoegaze that was a great kick-off for our festival weekend.
#29 – Elephant Stone – Levitation Austin – November 08th
It’s always good to see Elephant Stone live, and their set at the second night of Levitation Austin was one of the heaviest sets I’ve heard them play. They threw in a lot of material from their upcoming album, Hollow, so it was cool to be among the first folks to hear that stuff live.
#28 – Bev Rage and the Drinks – Subterranean – Chicago, IL – October 01st
Queercore punk rock on a small stage with Halloween candy and pumpkin spice Oreos being handed out to the crowd? What’s not to like? I’d heard a lot of good things about Ms. Rage and the Drinks’ live shows, and I wasn’t disappointed. They were also a great opener for…
#27 – Shonen Knife – Subterranean – Chicago, IL – October 01st
You can never go wrong with a Shonen Knife show, and they put on a fun, rocking set of candy-powered rock that had the whole crowd bouncing.
#26 – Willie Nelson – Memorial Coliseum – Ft. Wayne, IN – August 05th
2019 ended up being a “year of legends” for us, as we saw many legendary performers this year. Among them was Willie Nelson, who played a fun set of classic hits and fun covers. His set wasn’t long due to age and what was later revealed to be some breathing issues, but it was still cool to finally see one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Who makes it into the top 25? Come back tomorrow to find out.
The title of the third album by Long Beach, California shoegazers Highlandsis intriguing – Wish You Were. There’s no ellipses or question mark or any other punctuation at the end of it, but it feels like a statement. It’s not “Wish You Were Here” or “Wish You Were Gone.” It’s Wish You Were. Were what, you ask? I like to think the answer to that question is, “Present,” but I have a feeling from some of the themes on this album that the answer refers to existence (“I wish you were real.”).
The first lyric to the opening track, “Dr. Ron,” is “Just who we are, no one has an idea.” Scott Holmes and J.P. Bendzinski‘s guitars criss-cross over each other like ripples on a pond from two different stones and Beau Balek‘s bass adds a slight bubbling menace while Justin Ivey‘s drum beat sounds simple but hides multiple layers within the track. If you think “Routine Dream” sounds like My Bloody Valentine, you’re probably right. MBV’s influence on the band is obvious from the opening powerful, echoing guitar chords (and dig that cool reverb!).
The vocals on “Flew Away” are barely perceptible at times, but still effective as they mix with guitar chords that remind one of sun bouncing off your sunglasses. The lyrics, as best as I can understand them, seem to sing of regret (“It’s too late.”) and accepting that you have to move on after people depart from your life (and sometimes their own). “Dizzy ’84” has some spaghetti western guitar touches that I love.
“You Have to Wait” brings in a little krautrock and electro flavor as it soars around the room. The guitars and bass on “Staring Away” sound like a ghost train rolling along abandoned tracks. Don’t worry about Ivey’s drums being left behind, because they’re in front on “Wilmore Town.” He and Balek drive the track while Holmes sings about taking things as they come and just being there – especially as we approach the end. The album is full of this sort of existential curiosity. It’s not quite dread, but the idea of facing death is certainly a theme running throughout the record, as is the realization that our actions can and do affect people we may never know…and we have to be ready to deal with those effects when they return to us.
Take, as another example, “Careful What You Wish.” It gleams as much as the southern California sun on the ocean at sunset, but the vocals (and the title) hide sage advice about desiring an imagined future instead of embracing what’s in front of you. The guitar solo on it in the biggest on the album. I don’t know if it’s Holmes or Bendzinski playing it, but it’s superb. “Unknown Moderation” brings in Cure-like bass and texture. The closer is “Cosmic Sigh,” with Balek’s bass paying tribute to Peter Hook and the rest of the band waxing the Silver Surfer’s board alongside him. The title can refer to a lot of things, but my guess is Highlands uses it to describe a moment of enlightenment when we realize how connected we are to everything.
This is a solid shoegaze record that will be much appreciated by fans of the genre. It brings you into the presence with its mesmerizing beats and hooks and reminds us to just be.
“It’s the year 2025, California has been banished from the United States for water theft.” That’s the first line of The Donkeys‘ futuristic surf-psych concept album Sun Damaged Youth. It’s about a “pack of teenaged misfits armed with skateboards” doing what they can to survive in a radioactive, yet still lovely, desolate landscape. Not only has California been abandoned, but so has most of Earth. The elite have fled to Mars and left the rest of us amid the toxic slime and tortuous heat they helped create.
The opening cut, “S.D.Y.,” is full of lovely Beach Boysmelodies mixed with shoegaze surf guitars. 60’s retro organ sounds dominate “Radiation,” as they sing, “On the beach, you’re never out of reach.” Part of the story of this concept album is that the teenage wastelanders are kept sane by radio transmissions from a DJ known as “Cherry Cheetah” on KTOX Radio broadcast from somewhere deep underground. She presents songs like the dream-poppy “Candy Foam” and fictional bands like the Coffin Nails doing a surf instrumental called “Space Slip,” the Savage Detectives performing “Pier Rat” (a bit of a spooky tune with that vintage organ in it), the Santa Anas playing “Pink Seaweed” (an early 1960’s soul instrumental), and The Divine Invasions playing a dreamwave tune called “Weed Wacker.”
“Kool Kids” is shoegaze bliss with bright vocals that still have that distant sound that only shoegaze bands seem to know how to create. “We Are All So Young” is a salute to the point in life where one realizes youth is ending and adulthood is looming. “It’s time to leave the streets behind. I hear the mountains are doing fine,” they say. “Summer’s Dream” is like a long lost Beck cut with its languid beats and vocals as the SDY remember when summer days were spent playing games and surfing instead of scrounging for food and dealing with, as evidenced in the next track, “Green Gunk” that ruins everything it touches. “Unusual” is a short track that floats by you like a feather on the wind. “Sticky Sand” is an upbeat surf rocker that hides a warning about ocean pollution.
“All In the Eyes” brings in Eastern rhythms and guitar sounds (as well as chirping birds, perhaps the first ones seen by the SDY in years) as they sing about idyllic fields and how there’s “no need for disguise when everything’s real.” This is true. When “all the worth is gone, nothing is real,” as they say. This world is illusion. The world of the SDY is illusion, yet its lessons are important. The characters in the Donkeys’ fiction learn that what others see as a wasteland is truly a beautiful, present reality. We’d all be better off if we could see this.
Keep your mind open.
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We began our fourth and final day of Levitation Austin 2019 by attending the downtown record show at the Palmer Event Center. The show was a gold mine for vinyl record collectors. I managed to score three CD’s there – a live Goblin bootleg of a show from 1975, a copy of Husker Du‘s Zen Arcade, and a copy of Duran Duran‘s Arena (the cassette of which I wore out years ago).
We had a nice dinner at one of our yearly stops – Daruma Ramen – and then headed back to Barracuda for the Death by Audio showcase. This was one of the first tickets I bought for the festival when I saw one of my favorite bands, A Place to Bury Strangers, was playing along with The KVB, who I’ve wanted to see live for a while now. APTBS were selling earplugs at their merchandise table for $2.00 a pair. I had brought my own, but in case you’ve never seen them before, this is $2.00 well spent. Trust me on this. First up for us at the DBA showcase was Numb.er, who put on a cool set of shoegaze noise.
Up next, and outside were The KVB, who were excited to finally be playing in Austin and to a welcoming crowd. They sounded great and showed how much evocative music two people can make with the right chemistry, guitar pedals, and synth / drum machine set-up.
We went back inside to catch most of the set by Austin’s own Ringo Deathstarr. They played a mix of new (some played for the first time that night) and older material and filled the inside stage area with fuzzy rock.
I then went back outside for APTBS’ set. My wife stayed inside to wait for Christian Bland and the Revelators and to avoid the sonic assault provided by an APTBS show. This isn’t a crack on my wife. Not everyone can handle their shows. I’ve seen metal heads, screamo fanatics, and hardcore goths wither under their power. Sure enough, they unleashed fury on the outdoor stage, with Oliver Ackermann’s guitar and Dion Lunadon’s bass both being hammered onto the stage within two songs (and multiple times thereafter).
APTBS with members of Ringo Deathstarr and Cryogeyser
Every band from the Death By Audio showcase came out to play with them during the set, which included members of Cryogeyser, the KVB, Numb.er, and Ringo Deathstarr. Their was so much fog machine fog rolling off the stage at one point that the band, bathed in strobe lights as well, took on the appearance of ghosts. I was near the front of the stage and facing Dion Lunadon for most of the set and he went through two bass guitars, and all of the strings on the second were broken by the end. In other words, it was another great APTBS show and a great finish to the festival.
Christian Bland and the Revelators, meanwhile, were putting on a cool show of early Pink Floyd-influenced blues-psych inside Barracuda, and it was a nice way to send our latest Levitation Austin Festival out on a groovy note with one of its curators.
Christian Bland (left) and the Revelators
Levitation weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the year. It’s always a good time, the crowds are always cool (I’ve yet to have run-ins with jerks at the festival.), and the music (and food) is always great. Thanks again to the Reverb Appreciation Society for making it happen. See you next year, Austin.
We would spend about twelve hours in downtown Austin on the third day of Levitation Austin 2019. We had tickets to see a lot of bands, and it was the busiest day of the festival for everyone involved.
We began at, once again, Barracuda, where the RidingEasy Records showcase started off the afternoon. We missed the opening of Warish‘s set due to having to eat lunch beforehand at a nearby Thai restaurant. We knew we’d need fuel for the day. Warish was blaring on the inside stage, making my wife say, “There’s nothing ‘ish’ about it!” Their cover of Nirvana‘s “Negative Creep” was solid and much-appreciated.
Next up, and outside, were Here Lies Man, whose last two albums have been in the top ten of their respective years for me. They put on a groovy set to a crowd that was loving their heavy “Black Sabbath plays Afrobeat” sound and the warmer weather.
My wife became a fan of Blackwater Holylight after we went back inside to see their set. It was a cool, trippy, and sexy mix of psychedelia.
She also appreciated the killer set by The Well, who were among the band’s I was most excited to see at the festival. They threw down one of the best sets I’ve seen all year. It was hard-hitting, solid groove stoner-doom metal and a great mid-day lift.
We kept that theme going with Acid King, who flattened what little was left of the outside stage by now. It was great to see and hear these legends live. They still shred.
It was a quick walk to Stubb’s BBQ to see the Black Angels and John Cale. The Black Angels put on another fine set. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen them live now, and they never put on a bad show.
“I think we’re more excited than you are,” said the Black Angels’ lead singer, Alex Maas, before John Cale took the stage to play tracks that ranged from fun to creepy and covered his solo work and Velvet Underground cuts. The Black Angels joined him and his band onstage for an encore performance of “Sister Ray” that was a thrill for everyone on stage and in front of it.
The Black Angels (left) and John Cale and his band perform “Sister Ray.”
As cool as that was to see and hear, we still had more sets to catch. We zipped back to Barracuda to see Night Beats and Cosmonauts. Night Beats were first, with Danny Blackwell rocking his awesome hat as usual, and they put on a great show on the outdoor stage. Blackwell is a gunslinger with his guitar. I’d almost forgotten how much he shreds.
I’d heard good things about Cosmonauts’ live sets, mostly that they were guitar onslaughts. That description wasn’t far off, because they shook the walls of the building and were a great end cap to a long, wild day.
We were exhausted by the time we got back to the garage apartment we were renting in Austin, but it was a fun day. The next would bring death by audio.
Founded in Athens, Georgia by twin brothers Reid and Blaze Bateh, and bassist William Brookshire, Bambara have been steadily attracting attention since the release of their 2013 debut. Earning praise from Pitchfork, NPR, VICE, Bandcamp, Spin, DIY, BrooklynVegan and The Quietus, and touring non-stop in the US and Europe with like-minded artists like IDLES, METZ, Girl Band and Daughters, the band released their most celebrated album to date in 2018 with Shadow On Everything, a release that NPR dubbed a “mesmerizing western, gothic opus.” Today, Bambara are announcing their follow up Stray(due out via Wharf Cat on February 14th, 2020), with the premiere of the album’s first single “Serafina” on the FADER.
WATCH: to Bambara’s “Serafina” lyric video on The FADER // YouTube
A thunderous squall of a song, “Serafina” provides an arresting introduction to the album. Channelling the anarchic energy of The Birthday Party and Gun Club, in combination with Reid Blateh’s dramatic lyrical style the track imbues the story of a pair suburban misfits with apocalyptic weight. Bambara’s rhythm section rattles and bursts behind a frantic descending guitar lead as Reid, in a fraying baritone, weaves a tale set in his home state of Georgia that acknowledges the history of the place with subtle Civil War allusions, while conjuring an immediate atmosphere of backwoods unease. As Reid tells to FADER, it’s a song built to communicate an unhinged energy.
“Stray is a death-obsessed album,” says Reid. “Most of the songs are about different characters’ futile attempts at living meaningful lives under the weight of imminent annihilation. I wanted “Serafina” to feel different. I wanted the song to radiate a sort of wild-eyed hope. A youthful disregard for death itself. Serafina and Sadie live exactly how they want to live, exploring their love for one another before a backdrop of flames. The knowledge of their own mortality takes nothing from their enthusiasm for life. If anything, they see it as a challenge they might one day overcome together. When they say, “We’ll never die” I want it to feel like they might actually have a shot.”
Bambara have announced a Brooklyn show at St. Vitus on November 8th and a full US tour in support of the album to take place in 2020. Full details can be found below.
10/25/2019 – Record Junkie – Sheffield, UK 10/26/2019 – The Poetry Club – Glasgow, UK 10/28/2019 – Green Door Store – Brighton, UK 10/29/2019 – Sebright Arms – London, UK 11/8/2019 – St. Vitus – Brooklyn, NY 2/19/2020 – Union Stage – Washington, DC 2/20/2020 – Boot & Saddle – Philadelphia, PA 2/21/2020 – Space Ballroom – Hamden, CT 2/22/2020 – Great Scott – Boston, MA 2/24/2020 – Bar Le Ritz – Montreal, QC 2/25/2020 – The Garrison – Toronto, ON 2/26/2020 – Beachland Tavern – Cleveland, OH 2/27/2020 – PJ’s Lager House – Detroit, MI 2/28/2020 – Sleeping Village – Chicago, IL 2/29/2020 – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN 3/3/2020 – The Sunset – Seattle, WA 3/4/2020 – Fox Cabaret – Vancouver, BC 3/5/2020 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR 3/6/2020 – Cafe Du Nord – San Francisco, CA 3/7/2020 – The Echo – Los Angeles, CA 3/9/2020 – The Rebel Lounge – Phoenix, AZ 3/10/2020 – Lowbrow Palace – El Paso, TX 3/11/2020 – Barracuda – Austin, TX 3/12/2020 – Ruins – Dallas, TX 3/13/2020 – Hi Tone (Small Room) – Memphis, TN 3/14/2020 – The High Watt – Nashville, TN 3/15/2020 – The Earl – Atlanta, GA 3/17/2020 – Cat’s Cradle Back Room – Carrboro, NC
Alexander Ahmadi and Derek Cowart, the core members of Los Angeles’ psychedelic rockers Cosmonauts, went back to basics on their new album, Star 69, recording it “as live as possible,” as Ahmadi put it.
The opener, “Crystal,” has them declaring, “Life is confusion.” It certainly can be, and is for most of us skittering around from deadline to deadline or trying to live in a past long gone or a future that doesn’t exist. The repeated chorus of “Are we clear? Are we crystal? Do you feel me in your system?” behind sharp psychedelic riffs is both a plea for understanding and a bit of a joke, as psychedelic rock is all about altering perceptions.
“Seven Sisters” is one of my top singles of 2019, and will make anyone who hears it crank up the volume. “Everybody’s trippin’, everybody’s falling down,” Ahmadi sings, and he’s right. Everyone is either stumbling over their egos instead of being in the moment or purposely falling on their faces for more YouTube or Instagram hits. “Medio Litro” is a witty take on partying and the rock and roll life and how they can be exhausting (“We’ll go to the party if we can find parking. We’ll go to the show, but we don’t have any money.”).
“Cold Nature” is a solid shoegaze track with some early 1990’s Brit-rock beats. “Wicked City (Outer Space)” kicks off like a roller coaster racing to make it up the first hill and then shooting down it for the first loop. It slows down just enough during the verses to let you catch your breath and then lulls you into a mellow bedroom with an exotic lover playing old tunes all night. “Heart of Texas” continues swirling the incense smoke around you with guitars and tribal beats that evoke spaghetti westerns and a lovely addition of female backing vocals in a song about lost love (i.e., “I’d give anything to be with you again.”).
“Faces for Radio” has a fun title, referring to someone with a great voice but not enough looks to be on television, and a fun groove throughout it. “Molly on Glass” ups the shoegaze fuzz while Ahmadi sings about struggling to get through the boredom and rat race of everyday life. “I’m still trying,” he sings on “Humming,” a bright song that seems to be about dusting yourself off and moving on from heartbreak. “The Gold Line” almost ends the album on a downbeat, but the final track, “Suburban Hearts,” brings back dance drums and plenty of reverb and distortion to send you off strutting down the street.
It’s good to have Cosmonauts back and inviting us to their party…and making sure we get home okay after the rough afterparty.
