Funny, sharp, and frenetic, this single from Caroline Rose‘s upcoming album (due in February 2018) is instantly catchy and one of the wittiest post-punk songs of the year.
#4 – LCD Soundsystem – “Tonite”
Speaking of witty songwriting, LCDSoundsystem‘s “Tonite” has the most scathing lyrics of the year as lead singer James Murphy takes down Millennials, Gen X’ers, the rich, hipsters, and himself with lyrics like “Life is finite, but that shit feels like forever,” “Are you shocked from being used?” and “You’ve lost your internet, and we’ve lost our memory.”
#3 – Tinariwen – “Sastanaqqam”
The beats on this amazing track by Tuareg music legends Tinariwen were enough to get my feet tapping, but as soon as the guitars kick in I knew this was going to be one of my favorite songs of 2017. There is something about Tuareg music that is hard to describe, but you feel it in your core. This song is a prime example of that.
#2 – Soulwax – “Missing Wires”
As soon as I heard the opening synths of this playing somewhere in Chicago, I thought, “Who is this?” It was Soulwax. This song grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. I immediately tracked it down, along with their stunning album, From Deewee, which was all recorded in one take.
#1 – Feltworth – “Forget This Feeling”
Yes, this is my favorite song of 2017. Do not dismiss it. It has the best power pop hooks I’ve heard all year. It also has sharp lyrics, shredding guitar, killer piano work, and a crisp rhythm. The lads in Feltworth are also fun dudes, so that’s a win.
I’ve been listening to this psych-rock duo for years now, and they deserve to be better known to the world at large. O.D.D.S. II was a wild, crazy record with heavy fuzz, vocals covered in so much reverb as to make them almost incoherent, and a mix of live and electronic beats.
These Tuareg musicians make music for desert landscapes, yet it fits in anywhere you are. You could be in Antartica, the Amazon, or at the middle of Randolph and Michigan in downtown Chicago and this album’s haunting vocals and superb craftsmanship will make you feel your surroundings in a different way.
In a perfect world, this Detroit psych-rock trio are headlining music festivals. This album, heavily influenced by a near-death experience shared by all three members during a flight to Greece, is their trippiest so far and might be the best Velvet Underground album never released.
This is probably the best debut album of 2017. Josee Caron and Lucy Niles come out guns-a-blazin’ with this fine piece of power pop that contains heavy riffs, fun lyrics, and razor sharp song craft. It’s loud and proud.
RIDE came back this year with one of the best albums, shoegaze or otherwise, I’d heard in a long time. Shoegaze is enjoying a great resurgence right now, and it’s due in part to albums like this. It’s a stunning piece and a record we didn’t realize how badly it was needed until we heard it.
Are the winter blues getting to you? Are you tired of snow? Is the Christmas season bringing you more stress than joy? Don’t worry, bossa nova legend Bebel Gilberto has a cure. It’s her new live EP – Live at the Belly Up.
Beginning with the lovely “Samba E Amor,” the album instantly relaxes you and brings to mind images of spending a warm night on a Brazilian beach with your lover. Thankfully, she has included her cover of Radiohead‘s “Creep,” which never fails to make my eyes misty.
“Momento,” the title track from one of her many fine albums, is dreamy and a bit mischievous as Ms. Gilberto and her guitarist play back and forth. “Bananeira” is even more playful as she gets the audience to clap and sing along with her before putting down some of her sexiest vocals.
She gets even friskier on her classic “So Nice,” which is about wishing for a lover even to just stroll with on any given day. The audience has fun with her, too. If your winter blues haven’t melted by now, they probably will during “Baby” – another one of her classics that belongs on every make-out mixtape.
You might want to save room on that mixtape for the closer, “Preciso Dizer Que Te Amo,” because it’s the type of song that can change the mood of an entire room to amorous in just a few chords.
Bebel Gilberto is a great performer, and this EP is a nice slice of her wonderful live shows. I think it’s impossible to be blue while listening to this. Get it and get out of your winter funk.
Keep your mind open.
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I’ve arrived at the end of my live music year for 2017. I saw over 60 performances this year, and the majority of them were a fun time. There were some that might’ve had lame crowds or that just didn’t thrill me, of course, but 2017 was good for live music. To save time (and my sanity and your patience), I’m counting the top 30 live shows I saw this year. Here are the first five.
I’ll see APTBS at any opportunity, and seeing this set where they opened for the Black Angels was a no-brainer for me. It was also the first time they played Thalia Hall, and they sounded great in there. I was lucky enough to chat with front man Oliver Ackermann before and after (along with the rest of the band – Dion Lunadon and Lia Braswell) the set, so that made the show extra special.
Joe Walsh had a fun time opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He joked with the sold-out crowd, played every hit you’d want to hear at one of his gigs, and had a huge, excellent backing band. He also showed that he could still shred on guitar, and his performance of “Take It to the Limit” brought my wife to tears.
The last show I saw this year turned out to be a delightful night with bossa nova legend Bebel Gilberto. It was a lovely set in an intimate venue. Everyone needs to see Ms. Gilberto at least once, and hear her often.
If you’re in a band, I wish you could’ve seen Bleached with me twice within six months because you’d have seen a perfect example of how to step up your game. This show, which had them opening for the Damned, was the second time I’d seen them in that time period. The first was at a gig in Cleveland in October 2016. I thought they were good then, but this performance left me gobsmacked. They’d become tighter and stronger in just half a year. It had been at least a couple years since I saw so much improvement in one band.
This was Partner‘s first gig in Chicago, and one of their first in the United States. Shame on you if you missed it, because they are now indie rock darlings and their debut album, In Search of Lost Time, is one of the best of 2017. This show was an absolute home run and wowed everyone there.
Chicago’s City Wineryis a wonderful intimate venue, and seeing a lively performer like Bebel Gilbertothere is a treat that should never be missed. Thankfully, my wife and I got to attend her second performance there in as many nights, and Ms. Gilberto was in a playful mood.
Ms. Gilberto shimmied and shook all over the stage and worked through some of her bossa nova classics like “Aganju” and “So Nice,” stopping now and then to put on some more lip gloss or sample some of the venue’s white wine.
“Aganju”
She was also a bit feisty, throwing in some political jokes like, “I’m glad this year is almost over, because that means we only have three more left…if you know what I mean.” Other highlights included her covers of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” and Radiohead’s “Creep.” Her cover of “Creep” brings my wife and I to tears anytime we hear it, and I felt bad for the couple across from us who went out for a smoke break before she and her two-man band played it.
“Harvest Moon”
She had the crowd singing and even bouncing multiple times throughout the night, calling on us to help her sing rhythms and uplift each other. “Uplifting” is probably the best way I can describe her performance. It was a delightful way to end a year that has been rough for many we know and a shining way to start the winter solstice. More light comes to this half of the world as of yesterday, and I can’t help but think Bebel Gilberto had something to do with it.
“Close Your Eyes”
Keep your mind open.
[Thanks to Vickie Starr for bringing me and my wife some Christmas cheer with press passes to this show.]
[End the year with an act of kindness. Subscribe to my blog.]
“This is the rare record that lands on both a conceptual and instinctual level, and the disparate references feel almost deceitful in their cohesion: how could this weird idea, which snakes global influences across one another, coalesce so well?” — The New Yorker, on The Universe Smiles Upon You
“That sense of spaciousness, together with the Thai-inflected tunes, means Khruangbin sound like no one else, even as their songs shimmer with echoes of ‘Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)’ by Marvin or Curtis Mayfield’s score for Super Fly.” — The Guardian
After two years of worldwide success, unassuming Texan trio Khruangbin announce their highly anticipated second album, Con Todo El Mundo, out January 26, 2017 via DeadOceans. Continuing their world music pedigree, the band has expanded their global influences on this record from Thai funk to sounds of Spain and the Middle East, particularly Iran, from the 1960’s, 1970’s and beyond.
Formed of LauraLee on bass, MarkSpeer on guitar, and Donald “DJ” Johnson on drums, Khruangbin’s sounds have historically been rooted in the deepest waters of world music. Their 2015 debut album, The Universe Smiles Upon You, was heavily influenced by 60’s and 70’s Thai cassettes infused with classic soul, dub and psychedelia. This unusual mix created a powerful, hypnotic signature sound that’s entranced listeners around the world.
Their second album, Con Todo El Mundo, takes its name not from a grand global idea, but from a simple one. It’s in part dedicated to bassist Laura Lee’s Mexican-American grandfather, who was a big influence on her life. She says, “My grandpa would always ask me ‘Como me quieres?’ (how much do you love me?) And he’d only ever accept one response: ‘Con todo el mundo’ (with all the world). He created his own world to live in. Khruangbin is the world we’ve created.”
Since the release of The Universe Smiles Upon You, Khruangbin have spent the past two years playing non-stop worldwide. The band’s live history ranges from a European tour with FatherJohnMisty to supporting Tycho on a US tour, a string of festival dates including Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, ACL, OutsideLands, DesertDazed, SXSW as well as extended headline excursions. In a nod to their travels, Laura and Mark have been presenting a weekly “AirKhruang”DJsetlive each Friday on their Facebook page, where the pair play a selection of music by artists from a particular city. They also hold a monthly NTSradio show called “Cabin Pressure”.
The music video for the album’s first single, “Maria Tambien,” tells the story of Iranian women prior to the revolution of 1979, celebrating their creativity, freedom and ability to express themselves, and showing a side of women in the Middle East that often isn’t seen in the Western world.
The women in the video are all part of a large network of artists, singers, dancers and songwriters who have been either exiled or silenced since the revolution. With their new video, Khruangbin hopes to bring these remarkable women back into the spotlight and honor the artistry of silenced women everywhere.
Con Todo El Mundo Tracklist:
01. Como Me Quieres
02. Lady And Man
03. Maria Tambien
04. August 10
05. Como Te Quiero
06. Shades Of Man
07. Evan Finds The Third Room
08. A Hymn
09. Rules
10. Friday Morning
Two Montreal psychedelic powerhouses, four-piece Suuns and producer Radwan Gahzi Mounmeh (otherwise known as Jerusalem in My Heart), teamed up in 2012 (but didn’t release the collaboration until three years later) to create a new project that mixes Suuns’ rock aesthetic with Mounmeh’s tripped-out Middle Eastern sounds. It’s mind and tongue twisting.
What do I mean? Well, the first track is titled “2amoutu I7tirakan.” The numbers are used to reflect Arabic sounds that have no good western written translation. The track sounds like a forgotten relic from Vangelis’ Blade Runner score. “Metal” is a great cut that shows how western rock and Middle Eastern beats can work so well together. “Self” blends Middle Eastern chanting with weird electro-blip percussion. “In Touch,” with its almost subliminal bass and building beats, is perfectly suited for playing in the glass elevator you’re taking to the upper floors of the casino hotel to meet your lover / the contract killer you’ve hired.
“Gazelles in Flight” begins with what sounds like a film reel flapping after it’s made its run through a projector. It builds into weird insect-like sounds and then into something that sounds like a Claudio Simonetti giallo film score track from the 1980’s. It’s wonderfully weird. The album closes with “3attam Babey,” an eight-minute track of desert mirages and a mix of touches from the likes of Bauhaus, Joy Division, and early Pink Floyd.
One of the most incredible things about this mind warp of a record is that it was recorded in one week back in 2012. One week! A longer team-up between them may produce something that can transport us to the astral plane. I hope they do this soon. I’d love to check out that place.
I’m not surprised that Goat’s Commune opens with a track called “Talk to God,” because a Goat album (let alone a live performance) feels like a direct transmission from another plane where beings beyond our understanding dwell and bless us with insight and wisdom.
Goat, the mysterious Swedish voodoo rock band, had another solid record that went straight into my “Best of 2014” list with Commune. “Talk to God” hypnotizes you out of the gate with its Arabic / African guitar licks, humming bass, and those sultry, mysterious female vocals (sexily singing “Call my name when you talk to God.”).
“Words,” with droning guitar that sounds like something Giorgio Moroder composed, furthers Goat’s theme of communing with things beyond our ken. The weird, high-pitched chants on “The Light Within” definitely sound like something from beyond this reality, and the guitar solo may well send you there.
“To Travel the Path Unknown” could be the theme of listening to any Goat album. You never know where it will lead you and it may change each time. The opening lyric claims, “There is only one true meaning of life, and that is to be a positive force in the constant creation of evolution.” Heavy stuff, but a Goat album is not for the weak. Don’t play one unless you are ready to face the consequences of an expanded mind.
“Goatchild” continues the band’s theme of using their name in at least one song title per record. It’s also the first song on their first two albums to feature male vocals, which contrast nicely with the duo female vocals throughout most of the tracks as the lyrics take us beyond the moon and sun.
“The spirit world is everything,” Goat claims on “Goatslaves.” They’re right, of course. This world here, in which I am typing a review that cannot truly encapsulate this record, is illusion. We are slaves to it because we fear what lies beyond the veil we keep over our eyes. The beats on this are so good they’re almost terrifying, which is just how Goat likes it. A bit of fear keeps you honest, and liars never do well in the spirit world.
“Hide from the Sun” is a magnificent song to take with you across the desert during your pilgrimage to a holy temple, an oasis full of sweet water and fruits and beautiful naked people, or the treadmill. Just don’t be surprised if you abandon that run on the treadmill for a good sweat in the sauna while listening to this track, because it may make you seek sweat lodge visions.
“Bondye” is a fantastic instrumental with swirling, mesmerizing beats that build to a frenzy best suited for whirling dervishes. Let it wash over you. It’s hard to write this even as I hear it. It tends to overwhelm everything else in your immediate sphere.
The album ends with a “Gathering of Ancient Tribes” (Notice the initials?). The vocals are powerful (chanting “Into the fire!” at one point), and the band behind them seems to be playing from a mountain temple for all in the valley below to hear. The guitar solo drops from Mount Olympus, gathering cacophony in its wake, until it hits you like an avalanche.
This is one of the most powerful, mind-altering records I’ve heard since, well, Goat’s first album. You aren’t the same after hearing a Goat album. It will bend your brain. Proceed with caution, but by all means – proceed.
My wife let me know about a performance of classic Indian music taking place at the University of Notre Dame for free on April 27th. I love classical Indian music, so I was willing to stay up a bit late even though I had to work early Friday morning to catch this show.
The performers were a pair of brothers named Ritesh and Rajnish Mishra. They’re classically trained and singing duets in classical Indian music isn’t easy since you have to harmonize and be able to improvise at any moment. The brothers put on a nice show, and their enthusiasm was contagious as they laughed and cheered not only each other but also their backing musicians.
Tabla player Hindole Majumdar put down great beats and harmonium player Anirban Chakrabarty created a hypnotic drone and bass. The four men performed for almost two hours with only ten minutes intermission. This was also the third time the Mishra brothers had performed at UND, and they certainly deserved a larger audience than the couple dozen of us who were there.
The ragas they performed were spiritual at first and then playful by the end. They also explained the beat structure of each before performing it. I love that about classical Indian music shows. The performers almost always give you a little music composition lesson at the beginning.
It was a nice way to spend the evening, and the lack of sleep was worth it.
Sitar master Anoushka Shankarand her and put on an excellent ninety-minute performance of classical Indian music at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne’s Rhinehart Recital Hall. It was a nearly full house and Ms. Shankar and her band played three ragas for us.
Her band consisted of gentlemen playing bass and treble tanpurs (drone instruments), tabla (hand drums), flute, shehnai (a sort of trumpet), and mridangam (hand percussion). Her tabla player, Ojas Adhiya, had only played three times with her on this tour so far, but he played like he’d been touring for years. He and mridangam player Pirashanna Thevarajah had a great “duel” during the last raga in which they matched beats and fed off each other’s rhythms.
In the meantime, Anoushka Shankar was shredding her sitar. I saw her play, along with her favorite, the late, great Ravi Shankar, at Notre Dame University years ago (who was still killing it in his late 80’s). She wowed the crowd there, and she stunned the crowd in Fort Wayne. “I’m speechless,” said a man behind us at the end of the show. He’d never heard classical Indian music before.
I think a lot of people hadn’t. It was a lovely, almost intoxicating performance and a stunning bargain at only ten bucks a ticket. Don’t miss her if she comes near your town.
