Techno – 7th Level Music

Levitation Austin 2024 – Day Two

The weather stayed nice for us on Day Two of Levitation Austin. There was no rain, and it was overcast – which meant that the sun wasn’t beating down on us at this place.

We spent most of our day here. It was a first time for both of us at the place, and the Austin Psych Fest in the spring is held here. You have to take the bus or use a ride-share service to get here because it’s on a busy road and there’s no where to park for miles. That being said, it’s a nice place big enough to hold two outdoor stages and multiple vendor booths. I would’ve enjoyed more food truck options other than pizza (which looked delicious, by the way), and we’ll bring a blanket next time, but the place reminded me of the La Chabada venue at Levitation France. You can easily hop back and forth between stages at both places.

Up first were Meatbodies, whom I’d recently seen in Chicago. They were the first band of the day and had a good crowd for a 4:30 slot. They had fun and set the table for everyone else to follow with a night of garage-psych, electro, cosmic rock, and post-punk.

They had to cut their set a bit short, as the second band of the day was in the process of unleashing fierce dance-punk on the main stage. Special Interest came out ready to fight and / or fuck. “Fierce” is how my girlfriend described their wild set.

We could hear parts of Fat Dog‘s set, which was described by one of the sound engineers as “Like Fontaines D.C., but hornier.” We decided to get close for Gang of Four, who are on their final tour, and were the big draw of the day for me. They didn’t disappoint, playing a lot of classics and destroying a microwave in the process. Jon King‘s manic energy made my girlfriend wonder if he might have a heart attack on stage, but one look through his unbuttoned shirt showed how ripped he is.

We hung out in the same area for Dry Cleaning, who somehow had to follow Gang of Four. Lead singer Florence Shaw (whom my girlfriend described as “fucking weird”) spoke, a bit nervously, about all the great bands playing that day. She and her bandmates didn’t have to worry, however, as they put down a great post-punk set. I love the addition of their saxophonist on this tour. The echoing horn is a sharp touch.

We heard part of Pissed Jeans‘ set, which sounded crazy, and they had a lot of fans at the Far Out. I saw plenty of their band shirts on people in the crowd (“Excuse me, are those Pissed Jeans you’re wearing?”), and then headed over to see Slift, who were once again wrapping up their U.S. tour at Levitation. They wasted no time, using every bit of gas left in the tank. Crowd surfers were abundant during their set and they practically blasted the east fence off the place. “I think Slift stole the show,” my girlfriend said.

We wrapped up the night at Kingdom in downtown Austin, a venue that’s the opposite of the Far Out. It’s pretty much a rave warehouse that you can only access through a door in an alley. We hit the dance floor during MJ Nebreda and Doss‘ sets, which were full of so much bass that we were both buzzing by the end of the night. It was fun to hang out with a crowd of ravers (many of whom still in costume a night after Halloween) after hanging out with rockers for several hours.

Up next, night three of Osees‘ four-night residency at Hotel Vegas.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Douglas Richards – Project 85 EP

What do you do when you’re an attorney who doesn’t have much to do during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown? If you’re Douglas Richards, you go back to doing what you did before you became an attorney – being a rave DJ and making the Project 85 EP.

The first track, “Everyone Has Their Own Reasons,” is a tale of one of Richards’ friends experimenting with DMT, using his friend’s own telling of the tale for the vocals and stacking them with hot 303 beats and bouncing bass.

“I’m Here for You,” using more of the same conversation for more vocals, becomes a robotic techno ripper that bumps and thumps in all the right places. “I Move with Intention” has some retro vibes, sounding not unlike an early 1980s disco cut that you’ve been digging in crates to find for the last thirty years.

Richards is about to blow the doors off dance clubs across the world if he keeps up with stuff like this. Don’t miss out.

Keep your mind open.

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Ela Minus’s new single is “Broken,” but don’t worry, it’s really good.

Today, Colombian artist Ela Minus announces her new album, DIA, out January 17, 2025 via Domino, and presents its new single/video “BROKEN.” Following her charged 2020 debut, acts of rebellion, Ela’s second album is a rarified feat in electronic music, where cutting-edge production and space-shuddering sonics meet a burgeoning singer-songwriter’s real sense of self-reflection and private reckoning. Where acts of rebellion, a “breathtaking techno-pop debut” (Remezcla), felt intentionally small, as if pounding inside the club with late-night reverie, DIA is both introspective and expansive, the wide sweep of its songs revealing more of Ela as person and producer than ever before.

After three years of toting snippets of songs around her native Colombia, her briefly adopted Mexico, and her series of rented apartments and hotel rooms across North America and Europe, Ela thought DIA was finally complete. And then, she thought back to acts of rebellion and recognized her lyrics hadn’t been honest enough. They’d exposed her surface and not herself. This time, she wanted to go deeper.

She began by changing the setting—an outpost in California’s Mojave Desert, a month-long hotel and small studio stay in Los Angeles, forays back to New York, a Puget Sound-side vista near Seattle, Mexico City, and finally London, all places where time seemed to move at different speeds, not only inspiring the music to move with wide dynamic swings but also prompting her to consider what she had to play and say about her life so far. Late one night while working from a rented cabin in the mountains of Mexico, she stumbled upon a chord progression that she knew would launch the record. This is a long, luxuriant tone that rises above static snippets and squelchy sequences at the start of DIA opener “ABRIR MONTE.” Ela comments, “‘ABRIR MONTE’ is a phrase commonly used where I’m from, referring to the act of opening paths through dense foliage. I’ve always loved the poetry of it. That is what making this record felt like, opening new paths inward and outward, continuing to delve further through unexplored territory.

Just as it does on record, today’s new single, “BROKEN,” soon unspooled from that same tone. With luminous synthesizers and intersecting layers of restless detail, it eventually opens into a four-on-the-floor insistence belying an anthem about admitting to suffering and then enduring it. Ela comments, “I started writing this thinking I was perfectly fine and finished writing knowing I was not.” “BROKEN” follows the previously released single, “COMBAT,” DIA’s immersive and gorgeous closer about not giving up, of building it back, which is just what Ela set out to do when writing DIA.

Watch the Video for Ela Minus’ “BROKEN”

DIA is a record about becoming, from a process that entailed self-discovery at a deliberate pace to songs that seem to collectively ask where we go from here, long after we’ve been broken but long before we intend to be broken forever. Throughout the 10 songs, mixed by Marta Salogni and mastered by Heba Kadry, the same team behind acts of rebellion, Ela seems to saddle a line between worlds of pop accessibility and experimental aplomb, her incandescent and catchy choruses always surrounded by meticulous and imaginative sonics. Opening the mountain, DIA marks the next phase of Ela Minus’ career and life without declaring where any of it may or must go.

In support of her album, Ela will be joining Caribou on their 2025 EU/UK Tour, and will support Floating Points at the annual ADE Amsterdam Dance Event at the iconic Melkweg venue. This follows recent performances at Four Tet’s All Dayer, Field Day, Sónar, MUTEK, and Brooklyn’s Knockdown Center. This fall, Synth Historyis also launching an ongoing and in depth docu-series on Ela’s story and music. Preview the first episode here. Ela recently launched www.forthebirds.xyz, a platform where fans can write to Ela, and she writes back, covering personal and technical topics or whatever approach grabs her interest.

Pre-order DIA

WatchEla Minus’ “COMBAT” Video

Ela Minus Live Performance Dates
Wed. Oct.16 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg (ADE) ^
Sat. Oct. 19 – Paris, FR @ From Our Minds / FVTVR (Art Basel) – DJ set
Sat. Dec. 14 – Berlin, DE @ Silent Green (OPIA)
Mon. Feb. 3 – Paris, FR @ Zenith *
Tue. Feb. 4 – Luxembourg, LX @ Rockhal *
Wed, Feb. 5 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli *
Thu. Feb. 6 – London, UK @ Roundhouse *
Fri. Feb. 7 – London, UK @ Roundhouse *
Sat. Feb. 8 – London, UK @ Roundhouse *
Sun. Feb. 9 – Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy *
Mon. Feb. 10 – Bristol, UK @ Bristol Beacon *
Tue. Feb. 11 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique *
Wed. Feb. 12 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique *
Fri. Feb. 14 – Berlin, DE @ Velodrom *
Sun. Mar. 30 – Bogotá, Colombia @ Estéreo Picnic

* = supporting Caribou
^ = supporting Floating Points

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Operator Music Band – Four Singles EP

It’s not every day you put out a groovy EP of acid house tracks. This is especially true after one of your band members falls over twenty feet through a skylight, breaks both wrists and six ribs, and sustains a head fracture that results in permanent hearing loss.

Yet, Operator Music Band did just that with their new Four Singles EP. How? You got me, but Jared Hiller figured out a way, and, along with Dara Hirsch and Daniel Siles, crafted a slick record.

Blending house with some krautrock and synthwave, “As It Goes” comes out of the start with a drippy, bass-filled bang, wicked hand percussion, and low-end vocal effects to warp your brain even further. “Screwhead” is a sexy, slightly industrial (Those drums!) track with sensuous vocals (“Focus is a function of ecstasy. Let me go slow. I’ll be right back.”).

“Oval” is bouncy and bubbly that, at the halfway point, turns into almost a dance-punk track with its almost frantic drums. “10 Days” continues this dance-punk theme with percussion and synths that sound like they’re coming through pipes and pneumatic tubes in an abandoned factory where a rooftop rave is taking place.

It’s all over too soon and leaves you wanting much more, as any good EP should. Many accolades should be given to Operator Music Band for creating something this good after Hiller’s harrowing accident. That kind of grit is rare.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cody at Terrorbird Media.]

Review: Duality Tracks – Visions Vol. 2 PCRF charity compilation

Visions Vol. 2 from Belfast’s Duality Trax label is stunning collection of house and techno from UK DJ’s and producers that benefits the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

Starting with Glasgow’s Stevie Cox and “Sandalphon,” the album gets off to a smooth, trippy start with slight synthwave touches easily mixing with house beats. Kyoto, Japan’s Stones Taro‘s “Iron Door” is great for your workout playlist. It bumps and thumps at a great beat for aerobics, running, biking, and, of course, dancing in a dark club surrounded by sweaty people probably tripping balls at the time.

DAWS (Australia) brings in some old school house (complete with soulful disco vocal loops) on “Early Desire,” whereas Gallegos brings old school scratching and retro-electronic beats on “Once More One More.” It’s a track you don’t want to end because it gets better with each passing second.

emkay‘s “One Kiss Wonder” is a slick trance track that could slide right into a compilation you found in the mid-1990s on a merch table at a rave in an old high school gym. Body Clinic (Northern Ireland) finishes off the compilation with beautifully futuristic rave cut “159 Revolutions Per Minute” – which mixes synths with thumping electro-beats and sexy pleasure-bot sounds.

It’s all killer, no filler. Don’t miss this, and the money you spend on it goes to a good cause. What’s not to like?

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Harbour Music Society.]

Rewind Review: Pelada – Movimiento Para Cambio (2019)

I discovered Pelada when they were a last-minute addition to the 2022 Levitation France music festival. They closed one of the stages with a powerful performance of dance-punk ragers that had everyone jumping. I didn’t know anything else about them at the time, so I started looking.

Fast forward a couple years later, and here I am finally getting around to reviewing their excellent 2019 album Movimiento Para Cambio (Movement for Change). The album’s title is pretty much the band’s mission statement – making people get off their asses to demand change in the world and make needed changes in ourselves.

“A Mí Me Juzgan Por Ser Mujer” (“I Am Judged Because I’m a Woman”) blends Tobias Rochman‘s house beats with Chris Vargas‘ lyrical kick in the crotch to “bro culture,” toxic masculinity, and the maddening expectations put on women across the world. “Ajetreo” (“Hustle”) will have you doing just that on the dance floor, as it sounds like Rochman and Vargas plucked it from a Barcelona rave club in 1993.

“Habla Tu Verdad” (“Speak Your Truth”) has Vargas encouraging victims of sexual harassment to tell their stories and push back against such treatment. Rochman’s house beats and synths on it are a great contrast to Vargas’ snarling rage. The beats turn into slightly industrial bloops, bleeps, and buzzes – mixed with killer synth-bass – on “Asegura” (“Secure”), which tackles the pervading menace of technology and surveillance.

It can’t be a coincidence that “Granadilla” (“Passion Fruit”) is the sexiest song on the album. The beats are made for making out, and Vargas’ voice curls like honey being poured into hot tea. “Caderona” (“Big Hips”) adds some slight robot-like distortion to some of Vargas’ vocals in a song about staring right back at the male gaze as the dude gets more and more uncomfortable. “Desatado” (“Untied”) will make you race to the dance floor, free of attachments, expectations, and limitations – which is the point Pelada has been making for the entire album. Rochman’s synths on ‘”Perra” (“Bitch”) become sharp and jagged while Vargas’ vocals soften in presentation, but not in fury. A message in the liner notes of the album is “Open your eyes. The beast feeds on exploitation.” This is especially noted on “Aquí,” which is about the rising power of global corporations.

Pelada’s name translates as “Peeling” – another call to strip away labels, expectations, and hindrances put upon us. This whole album does that and makes you dance at the same time. Dance-punk isn’t easy to make, and many times it comes off as either trite or trying too hard to make a point. Movimiento Para Cambio hits the sweet spot on every track.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Orbital, Tone Ranger, and Greg Haus – Radius, Chicago, IL – March 23, 2024

If you were lucky enough to catch them, rave legends Orbital are doing a limited tour throughout the U.S.: New York, Chicago, Miami, and two sets at this year’s Coachella Festival. That’s it. Somehow, the Chicago show wasn’t sold out (and was stunningly affordable), and I scored two tickets to see the lads.

Up first was a pretty cool DJ named Greg Haus, who put on a good set to get the crowd to the spacious floor and moving.

Haus spun for about an hour, and he was followed by Tone Ranger – who walked to the decks with a guitar over one shoulder. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, and it turned out to be a mix of house, ambient, and spaghetti western music. “I’m all in,” I told my girlfriend.

Orbital had a good, fun crowd by the time they came on stage. Opening with “Smiley” and moving onto hot tracks like “Where Is It Going?” and newer stuff like “Dirty Rat” featuring Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods.

“Satan” was an unexpected deep cut, “Halcyon On and On” was another great classic cut, and the whole crowd was jumping and moving by this point. The crowd, by the way, was a fun mix of people in their 20’s, partying Latinas, goths, senior citizens, and old school ravers like yours truly.

“Spicy,” with its Spice Girls samples, was a big hit, “Chime” was lovely live, and the encore, “Lush” was mind-altering.

It was a beautiful show that felt like a vintage 1990s rave. Seriously, it was like stepping out of a time machine and into a moment when everyone still loved each other and believed good times and an amazing future were still ahead.

I don’t know if you’re planning on going to Coachella this year, but don’t miss Orbital on either weekend if you’re there.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Green Velvet – Whatever (2001)

House and techno music were in a weird spot as the 1990s were ending and a new century was beginning. People had been raving away through the nights and early mornings of the 1990s in anticipation of living in a future that would, of course, never truly arrive. How would techno evolve in this new world / era?

Green Velvet had a pretty good idea how: Mix a bit of industrial music with trance and house, don’t skimp on the partying, and take the new century as it comes, baby. He released the perfectly titled Whatever just as the new millennium launched, summing up everyone’s attitude after the spectre of the Y2K apocalypse turned out to be a Scooby-Doo-style faker.

Opening track “Genedefekt” is almost like the opening theme of a video game with its 16-bit bleeps, but the thumping bass and machine drums elevate to something with a bit of menace – not unlike how a lot of people envisioned the next century as it arrived. That arrival, and not knowing what was coming next, is summed up in GV’s big hit, “La La Land.” The catchy bass and gets in your head and won’t escape as GV sings, “I’ve been the one to party until the end. Looking for the after-party to begin.” Like a lot of us, GV was there dancing until the end of the previous century and hoping the next one would be an even better after-party.

Also like a lot of us, GV was wondering if he should reinvent himself, and even how to do so, in the new millennium. “Stranj” has him singing, “For the first time I’m starting to realize I need to come down from this high, and be that person my family wants me to be – a model citizen of society.” GV calls out people who try to sabotage his dreams, racists, haters, and people living in fear on “When?”, and gives them rapid, energetic beats to shake them out of their brain fog.

“Sleepwalking” is a salute to “the weird ones” (“not the cool kids”) who find solace in the night and self-harm. GV hopes they’ll realize “Hatin’ themselves doesn’t make them happy.” “Stop Lyin'” is, as the kids call it, a banger – and a classic one at that. The near-goth synth-bass is outstanding, and the industrial beats would do Nitzer Ebb proud…as would the following near-instrumental track, “Minimum Rage,” with its alarm clock sounds, throbbing beats, and sampled crowd chants. It instantly brings to mind visions of people in black rubber shirts dancing under strobe lighting.

“GAT (The Great American Tragedy)” has GV screaming “Do what you like if you feel right!” by the end of it. It’s a panicked, wild track boiling with anger at being told what to do from every angle all the time. “Waitin’ 4 the Day2End” is a slice of GV’s life as he goes down to the corner diner and starts his own daily grind…along with everyone else around him from the guy next to him, the “old friend hooked on heroin,” and a party promoter who appears to be in a lot of trouble. The album ends with “Dank” – a snapping, double-dutch beat song about smoking weed that turns into a bumping floor-filler just when you think it’s finished.

That’s how Green Velvet was going into the new millennium – reflective, angry, high, and aching to get the rest of us off our assess to create the future we wanted in the here and now.

But, you know, whatever.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Fake Youth Cult – White Light / Black Noise

Fake Youth Cult is actually Dutch artist Richard van Kruysdijk, who created his new EP, White Light / Black Noise, with minimal arrangements. “The concept behind the songs is: create one song a day with a minimal, mainly analogue setup. Just a few synths, some drum samples, a sequencer and GO!” – he says in the press release sent to me. The result is an impressive work that mixes dark techno with some punk, and one track is even meant for a ballet performance.

The trolling synth-bass of “Visitor” grabs your attention right away, and you feel like you’re about to enter a combat arena filled with menacing robots. “Scorched” is probably how the dance floor is left after it’s played, as it’s full of powerful synths and hot, crashing beats.

Then along comes “Messing,” which will become your new favorite industrial dance track. It hits all the right beats and notes, transporting you to dark clubs in places with leaky ceilings and sweaty people who may or may not be undead fiends. “Smear” roars right by you like an out-of-control truck hauling scrap metal.

“Management” starts off side B (if you’re hearing this on vinyl) with pulsing sounds that mimic a lover’s heartbeat in the throes of rapturous sex. The looped, echoing vocals of a woman saying, “I feel…I see…I touch…I need…More…” are alluring and haunting. “Pulsar,” the closing track, is the one made for a ballet performance. van Kruysdijk often collaborates with dance troupes, and this track, with its relentless kick drum and buzzing, ticking motor-like beats, must create quickened heart rates in the dancers and audience.

The whole EP is like that, really. It’s heart-racing. Brace yourself before you play it.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dan at Discipline PR!]

Review: Anja Huwe – Codes

Back in the early 1980s, Anja Huwe was the lead singer (although not originally by choice) of German post-punk pioneers Xmal Deutschland. The band tore across the world, inspiring many and becoming somewhat secret legends before they split up for other ventures. Huwe became a fashion model and visual artist, but music was still in her blood. Now, almost out of nowhere, she’s returned with a new album, Codes, and is exploring what it’s like to live in extremes – be it extreme environments, relationships, or beliefs.

Beginning with gothic, lonely guitar chords by fellow Xmal Deutschland bandmate Manuela Rickers, “Skuggornas” has Huwe confessing, “I don’t regret anything I’ve done. I have lived, and I have sinned.” Most of us can’t admit half of that, and here Huwe is doing it with elegance. “Rabenschwarz” (“Black Raven”) hits with powerful industrial crunch and themes of rebirth.

“I changed myself into myself,” Huwe sings on “Pariah.” The drum beats on it start at a slow boil and are soon cooking a luxurious brew. “Exit” moves around you like a cat that might be an android in disguise. Rickers’ guitar sounds like its being played in an abandoned factory a half-mile away (to produce a cool effect, mind you). “O Wald” (“Oh Forest”) could easily fit into a science fiction movie or the soundtrack to season five of Stranger Things with its computer-generated 16-bit-like synth beats.

“Zwischenwelt” (“Intermediate World”) would also fit on that soundtrack with both its theme of being between worlds and also its misty synths and Huwe’s beautiful vocals on it. “Sleep with One Eye Open” reminds me a bit of early Peter Gabriel tracks with its neat bass line, slightly weird percussion, and Huwe’s delivery. “How shall we face the cold?” Huwe asks on the somewhat stark, yet aggressive “Living in the Forest” – inspired by diary entries of a boy, Moshe Shnitzki, who left his home in 1942 to live in the White Russian Forest. “The woods are lovely, dark and deep,” she sings on the following, closing track, “Hideaway,” leaving us with hope that more music from Huwe (and Xmal Deutschland?) will come.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]