Legends – Page 25 – 7th Level Music

Led Zeppelin to release remastered BBC Sessions double album.

Guitar / rock legend Jimmy Page has remastered the excellent double album The Complete BBC Sessions. The album drops tomorrow (September 16th) and has eight new tracks previously unreleased. The original BBC sessions album was released in 1997 as a two-disc set, but this newest edition will be three discs and contain rare versions of “You Shook Me,” “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” “Sunshine Woman,” “Communication Breakdown,” and “Dazed and Confused.” There’s also a 48-page book in the deluxe edition.

In even better news, Page has announced that he has a new album in the works. Look for it next year.

Keep your mind open.

[You’d rock if you subscribed to us.]

Sting’s new rock album available for pre-order.

I’m a big fan of The Police. They were the first band I loved as a kid, and the first band who made me appreciate their craftsmanship. Plus, everyone forgets they were punks at the outset who played songs about their dickweed landlord, working dead-end jobs, and shagging blow-up dolls.

So I was intrigued when I learned Police frontman Sting is releasing his first rock / pop record, 57th and 9th, in a decade. Producer Martin Kierszenbaum claims Sting hasn’t “rocked like this since Synchronicity.”

The album drops on November 11th, and the deluxe editions come with three bonus tracks – one of which is a live version of the punk Police classic “Next to You.”

Keep your mind open.

[You can be next to us daily by subscribing. You’ll get updates sent right to your e-mail inbox.]

Mega Dodo Records releases rare Big Grunt John Peel Session tracks.

UK label Mega Dodo has released a rare recording of John Peel live session tracks from the obscure 1970’s psych band Big Grunt. Featuring members of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, the World, and Sean Head Showband. These four tracks (one of which, “Cyborg Signal,” was never released until now) have rarely been heard since the early 1970’s, and Mega Dodo is releasing them for download and on limited edition 12″ yellow vinyl (only 500 copies!).

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t freak out. You won’t miss a post if you subscribe.]

John Carpenter – Lost Themes II

John Carpenter’s first Lost Themes album was a delight for fans of horror films, film scores, and progressive rock. Lost Themes II is another treat, as Carpenter, his son Cody, and his godson, Daniel Davies, return to bring us a record just as good as the first.

“Distant Dreams” could easily have been part of the Escape from New York soundtrack with its thumping bass. It’s an excellent live track as well. “White Pulse” has Carpenter and crew moving into industrial territory with heavy 50-gallon drum percussion and angelic synths.

I love the underlying menace of “Persia Rising.” The low-end keys bring to mind something crawling from a dark, wet tomb. I hope Carpenter was thinking of movies like Angel’s Revenge when he wrote “Angel’s Asylum,” because it would be a great song for any of those trashy 1980’s Angel movies. It’s a great mix of action themes, mystery themes, and even a little sci-fi thrown in for good measure.

“Hofner Dawn” and “Windy Death” are quiet, mellow affairs. “Hofner Dawn” borders on New Age with synths that evoke sunrise, while “Windy Death” is like the early winds that build into a tornado when the conditions are right. You know something bad is looming, but you don’t know when it will arrive.

It’s easy to think of “Dark Blues” as a lost cut from the Christine score, as it starts with a revving engine and a car driving away. The heavy rock guitar chords and the high-beam bright synths practically evoke Dean Cundey cinematography images in your head. The song also features some of Davies’ best guitar work on the album.

“Virtual Survivor” brings to mind someone trudging through a dystopian wasteland in search of a secret that will save humanity. Carpenter’s piano anchors the song while his son’s synths are perfect for a new sci-fi masterpiece.

It’s nice to hear one horror master acknowledge another horror legend, as Carpenter does on “Bela Lugosi.” The stabbing synths hit like a stake through the heart. The song has goth touches, of course, like the parts that sound like a child’s music box or others that remind you of a creepy circus sideshow. Think more “Black Cat” than “Dracula” and you’ll get the idea.

“Last Sunrise” oozes dread, even with the light piano chords throughout it. It would fit in well in the third act of that post-apocalyptic film I mentioned earlier. “Utopian Facade” is a nice follow-up to it. I can’t help but think it has some inspiration from his soundtrack for They Live, which is a film all about how our seemingly happy existence in the materialistic, consumer-driven economy is a facade. The Gary Numan-like synths blend well with the Vangelis-like electric piano. It’s a good ending to the record…unless you got the digital download that contains the bonus track of “Real Xeno.” It harkens back to his early horror work and seems to blend Halloween themes with In the Mouth of Madness ones. Synths buzz like horseflies while weird things whisper in the darkness…and wait until the drums and guitar step in to turn it into a song for a bad-ass antihero.

Lost Themes II is just as good as the first one, and better in some ways (a more natural flow to the tracks, it seems). It’s essential if you like Carpenter’s work.

Keep your mind open.

[You can make our distant dreams come true by subscribing to us.]

Gary Wilson – It’s Friday Night with Gary Wilson

I’ve been mildly obsessed with Gary Wilson’s music since seeing him perform at Levitation Chicago earlier this year. It’s to the point where I’m probably dressing up as some variation of him for Halloween. I’ve been awaiting his new record of avant-garde lounge music, Friday Night with Gary Wilson, for months.

It starts with the brief, chaotic, and weird “A Tree Cries in the Wind.” It’s some sort of tape-looped fever dream of a car crashing through a swanky bowling alley lounge and then into the recording studio next door. It moves into “I Want to Hold Your Hand Tonight,” which gets us back to familiar Gary Wilson material – A guy just wants the chance to treat his lady (the ever-mysterious Linda, in this case) right. “Every night is Friday night,” Wilson sings as he lays down peppy electric organ grooves. Every night can be Friday night with Wilson’s music if you open yourself up to it.

Wilson tells Linda “I’m Going to Take You to a Thousand Dreams,” including flying to the moon, walking through the park, and making sweet love to the sound of a rather hot guitar solo. “You’re the Coolest Girl Tonight” isn’t about a girl who’s cool as in Miles Davis / Fonzie / Joe Cool-type of cool. It’s about a girl who’s cold to everyone around her, but Wilson can’t resist her beauty and the chance to thaw out this fine lady and show her a good time.

Gary Wilson’s Fridays aren’t always smooth, however. “Sick Trip on Friday Night” has him too timid to talk to Linda, even though he knows he’s the right guy for her. He goes through it every weekend. The quirky synths on it bounce like the thoughts and dreams in his head.

“Yeah, let’s swing,” says Wilson at the beginning of “We’ll Dance into the Stars.” Dancing on the moon and through the galaxy is a common theme on the record, and this groovy lounge cut is perfect for a slow dance (or an all-skate) aboard your favorite starcruiser.

Wilson’s obsession with Linda continues on “Like a Scene from a Movie Long Gone.” It even starts with the lyric, “Gary loves Linda.” Wilson sings about himself in the third person and then in the first, so you’re never sure how much of his songs are fantasies and how much is something that really happened to him. The song has some of his best electric piano work on the record.

“The Mermaid Song” is about a dream in which a mermaid sings for Wilson from the ocean, possibly luring him to either the love of his life or his doom. Wilson drops Linda, Cindy, and Cheryl’s names, but is any of them the mermaid, or is the mermaid a composite of all of them? Wilson’s synth work on it is outstanding. Beck wishes he had grooves this good.

The drums on “Soon I’ll Be Kissing Sandy” almost sound reversed, but the song is too playful to be weird. “Linda” returns after that, with some nice strings accompanying her. Wilson name checks his band (the Blind Dates) in it, and even one of his best hits, “Linda Wants to Be Alone,” in it. The groove on this is so sick that it needs antibiotics.

Even a song with such a blue title as “You Made Me Feel My Misery” can’t avoid Wilson’s ultra-lounge grooves. Wilson pines for a lost love, even though the relationship was miserable. “I Thought of You Last Night” is a weird mix of crowd noise, ambient piano, drunk synths, and something a bit nightmarish. It quickly fades into “I’ll Make You My Dream Girl,” which makes me wonder about Wilson’s obsession with the girl mentioned in the song.

The album ends with “Sometimes I Cry Late at Night,” an instrumental that showcases what a damn good pianist Wilson is. His skills are easy to miss in many of his songs as you listen to his quirky lyrics or dance to his lounge grooves, but Wilson is a fine jazz player who can put it down with the best of them.

You could spend your Friday night watching bad TV and eating those leftover chicken wings, or you could spend it with Gary Wilson, the Blind Dates, Linda, Sandy, Cheryl, Cindy, and a bunch of other fine ladies. I know what I’d pick.

Keep your mind open.

[Every night could be Friday night if you subscribe to us.]

Pink Floyd to release 27-disc set of early and unreleased material.

Members of the psychedelic pop group Pink Floyd. From left to right, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Syd Barrett and Rick Wright. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images)

Start your Christmas wish list now because Pink Floyd is set to release The Early Years 1965-1972 this November – a 27-disc box set covering not only albums like Atom Heart Mother and Ummagumma, but also rare BBC sessions, unreleased studio sessions, remastered singles, unreleased video, and over seven hours alone of unreleased live audio tracks.

They also plan to release a two-disc (and far more affordable) set called The Early Years – Cre/ation. This stuff is gold if you’re a fan of Pink Floyd, classic rock, prog rock, or psychedelic rock.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t freak out at the thought of subscribing. It’s groovy. Drop us your e-mail and it will be out of sight.]

Massive Attack release two new singles.

Electro and trip-hop legends Massive Attack have released two new singles this week – “The Spoils” (which isn’t yet available in the U.S.) and “Come Near Me” (teaming with Ghostpoet on that one). “Come Near Me” is, no surprise, excellent and both tracks hopefully portend a full-length album later this year.

Keep your mind open.

[You can always be near us if you subscribe. Updates are sent straight to your e-mail box.]

Rewind Review: Bebel Gilberto – Tudo (2014)

I don’t know how I missed that the lovely Bebel Gilberto released Tudo in 2014, but I’m glad seeing her live reminded me to pick up this record. It’s another beautiful mix of bossa nova, electro, and lounge music that only she seems to be able to create.

The opening track, “Somewhere Else,” is sung in English and Portugese and lures the listener into taking their dream vacation, be it for real or even in the vastness of one’s mind. It even includes birdsong in the background, which I assume happened because someone left the window of the recording studio open and birds naturally land and sing whenever Ms. Gilberto even hums a tune.

“Nada Nao” (“Nothing”) is just Gilberto’s voice, an acoustic guitar, and hand percussion. It’s a fun, toe-tapping track. “Tom de Voz” (“Tone of Voice”) is a short and sweet song highlighting (What else?) Gilberto’s lovely voice.

“Novas Ideias” (“New Ideas”) has Gilberto singing alongside her frequent co-writer Seu Jorge. It will instantly make you happy, as it’s a fun samba-influenced cut that you need to play on your next date or slip to the DJ at the next wedding reception you attend. Her cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” is outstanding and brings a whole new feel to the ballad.

The title track (which means “All”) has some of Gilberto’s best vocals, as she dances around tricky words like a ballerina spinning across stage. I love the simple organ and synths on it, too, as they float behind her vocals with the hand percussion setting the beat. “Saudade Vem Correndo” (“Longing Comes Running”) is one of her many songs that will instantly make you happy. The flute backing her up on it is a great touch. “Areia” (“Sand”) begins with chimes that remind you of sand falling through an hourglass. The guitar work on it is a hypnotic low rhythm with a slight Flamenco feel. It’s even a bit dark until Ms. Gilberto glides in to rescue us and make us think of strolling on a Brazilian beach and enjoying an ice cream cone with a lover.

Or maybe the beach is in France, considering the next song has a French title – “Tout Es Bleu” (“All Are Blue”). It’s a great electro-jazz track that has probably been remixed by DJs across the world by now. It deserves to be played at your next late night party. You can’t be blue during it, so thanks to Ms. Gilberto for giving us a cure to our doldrums.

“Lonely in My Heart” has Gilberto’s vocals slightly reverbed as some acid lounge electric beats shuffle behind her and trippy synths creep in now and then. They might be evoking the ghosts of a relationship Gilberto sings about in the track. They bring a cool energy to the song even if they don’t.

When it comes to Ms. Gilberto and I, “Vivo Sonhando” (“I Live Dreaming”). I live dreaming of her singing to me in a dim club as we sit at a small table and enjoy fresh juice and a jazz band. This song pretty much describes a scenario like that and I’d probably melt right there in my chair if that ever happened. It’s a gorgeous track that, like any good dream, is over too soon.

“Inspiracao” (“Inspiration”) is a cool electro song. I love how she can jump into electro and lounge music without any trouble. “It’s All Over Now” is a heartbreaking song about a breakup and how Gilberto wishes the best for her lover and hopes they cherish the good times they had. It’s a sublime ending to a lovely record.

You need to hear Bebel Gilberto if you haven’t before. Her songs can change the mood of any place, person, or function for the better.

Keep your mind open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqvD1xgbmN8

[It’d be lovely if you subscribed to us.]

Live: John Carpenter – July 15, 2016 – Detroit, MI

The Detroit Masonic Temple Theatre building is a massive, imposing place. It’s gorgeous, and this is the first thing we saw there.

We were there to see John Carpenter’s live film music retrospective, so this sign was a good one that the show would be outstanding.

Carpenter and his band (which includes his son, Cory, on keyboards and synthesizers, and his godson, Daniel Davies on lead guitar) have been on tour most of the summer and the Detroit date was one of the last three in the U.S. before embarking on a tour of Europe and the United Kingdom. I wasn’t going to miss this show, and I was delighted to see a screening of Escape from New York had been added to the bill since I bought the tickets. The screening was a hoot, with people hissing every time Snake Plissken was on screen, cheering for every major cast member, and laughing at Lee Van Cleef’s giant “futuristic” walkie-talkie.

Carpenter and crew opened with the Escape from New York theme and then gave us a great show combining film theme music and cuts from his two recent albums – Lost Themes and Lost Themes II.

The “Escape from New York” theme while recent 90-year birthday boy Harry Dean Stanton watches over us.

“Vortex” from Lost Themes was particularly good live, and the crowd went crazy for the theme to Assault on Precinct 13. Of course, they put a fog machine to good use for the theme from The Fog (one of the best ghost movies ever made).

John Carpenter in stage fog playing the theme from “The Fog.” What more could you want?

The crowd was having a ball (and many were hammered drunk) by this point. The theatre’s air conditioning was working at minimal levels, so everyone in the joint was sweaty and a bit rowdy. We would’ve been miserable had it not been for Carpenter and his band tearing it up through the theme to Big Trouble in Little China and nice cuts from Lost Themes II like “Distant Dream.” Davies, by the way, is a great guitarist.

The crowd went absolutely nuts when this happened.

The subliminal messages from They Live played on the screen, cutting into the film scenes shown throughout the theme. The movie, which is more prescient now than ever, and its theme struck a chord with the audience, and it was great to see the whole band wearing sunglasses in the spirit of Roddy Piper and Keith David.

Of course, they got a standing ovation for the Halloween theme.

I was also delighted to see and hear them play the themes from some of Carpenter’s lesser-seen works – In the Mouth of Madness (which I really need to see again) and the completely bonkers Prince of Darkness. They ended with Carpenter telling us, “Remember, as you go home, drive safe. Christine is out there!” before launching in to the Christine theme.

It was a great show, and one I’m glad I didn’t miss. Catch them if you can. It’s a must-see if you’re a fan of horror films, film scores, Carpenter’s work, or cinema.

Keep your mind open.

[We’re scared you might not subscribe to us. Come to our rescue by dropping your e-mail in our subscribe box to your left.]

Pixies offer new album and fun goodies through PledgeMusic.

Pixies‘ new album, Head Carrier, is due out September 30, 2016. You can pre-order it and a lot of fun extras through their PledgeMusic page for the album. You can order it on CD, LP, or digital download, of course, but why not add a T-shirt, limited posters, and artwork book, too?

People are already buzzing about the first single, “Um Chagga Lagga,” (which is great punk-fuzz) and how one song on the album is about the band’s former bass player, Kim Deal, sung by their new bass player, Paz Lenchantin.

Don’t miss out on fun stuff offered by a band who can do whatever they want whenever they want it.

Keep your mind open.

[We carry dreams you subscribing to us around in our head all the time.]