Electro – Page 53 – 7th Level Music

Top live shows of 2017: #’s 20 – 16

We’ve reached the top 20 live shows I saw this year. Read on to see who made the cut.

#20 – A Tribe Called Quest – Pitchfork Music Festival – Chicago, IL July 15th.

It was one of their first performances without Phife Dawg, and they paid him many great tributes during it. ATCQ also came to preach and teach, and Q-Tip was absolutely fierce on the mic. The whole crowd was with them the entire time.

#19 – Cut Copy – Mamby on the Beach – Chicago, IL June 25th.

Cut Copy were easily the best band we saw on Day 2 of Mamby on the Beach. They played an energetic set that had the whole beach crowd jumping before it was even halfway done.

#18 – Will Clarke – Mamby on the Beach – Chicago, IL June 24th.

Speaking of great Mamby sets, DJ Will Clarke‘s was our favorite DJ set by far. He seemed to be having a great time behind the decks and inspired me to dust off my digital turntables.

#17 – Nicolas Jaar – Pitchfork Music Festival – Chicago, IL July 16th.

We ended our Pitchfork experience with Nicolas Jaar, and it was a lovely, trippy way to end the festival. He created a neat soundscape that drifted and swirled around the crowd like a warm fog.

#16 – Derrick Carter – Pitchfork Music Festival – Chicago, IL July 16th.

If you need a boost to start your final day of a big music festival, go see Chicago house music DJ legend Derrick Carter. His set in the early hours of the last day of Pitchfork was outstanding. Everyone worked up an early sweat and enough energy to make it through the rest of the day. He put on a clinic.

Who’s in the top 15? Come back tomorrow to see.

Keep your mind open.

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Top live shows of 2017: #’s 25 – 21

Who cracked the top 25 of my live shows I saw this year? Read on!

#25 – Temples – Valley Bar – Phoenix, AZ March 11th.

Temples were the last band to play on the Desert Daze lineup at the VIVA PHX music festival. It was my first time seeing them in a small venue, and they nailed it. They sounded perfect and delivered a solid set that earned them many new fans.

#24 – The Damned – House of Blues – Chicago, IL April 23rd.

I’d wanted to see punk rock legends the Damned for a long while, and this show was pretty much what I’d hoped it would be. The crowd was a fun mix of punks, goths, and horror film fans, and moshing to “Neat Neat Neat” with the Damned only a few feet away was a delight.

#23 – Thundercat – Mamby on the Beach – Chicago, IL June 25th.

I’d heard a lot of good things about Thundercat prior to seeing him live at this music festival, and he didn’t disappoint. He and his two-man backing band played a great jazz fusion set in the middle of a festival mostly devoted to electronic dance music. He’s an amazing bass player, and seeing him shred live makes you appreciate his skill even more.

#22 – Marian Hill – Mamby on the Beach – Chicago, IL June 24th.

Speaking of Mamby on the Beach, Marian Hill were one of the best bands we saw there. They played a great set of sexy dance rock that might be the best new makeout music you need to hear.

#21 – Goblin – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL October 25th.

This performance from Italian prog / horror rock masters Goblin had a criminally light attendance, but they didn’t care. As usual, being at a Goblin show is like being in a giallo film. The whole atmosphere is creeping and fascinating. They also played a nice tribute to the late George Romero. Shame on you if you missed this one.

Who cracks the top 20? Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Keep your mind open.

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Gary Numan – Savage (Songs from a Broken World)

Gary Numan‘s new album is a cautionary tale about impending environmental disaster, political upheaval, and fighting to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Numan has never been one to shy away from bleak subjects (depression, dehumanization via technology, death, etc.), and Savage (Songs from a Broken World) is a powerful record that has him embracing these subjects once again with masterful skill.

“Ghost Nation” could be about Numan’s birth home (England) or his adopted one (the United States). “We live in a windswept hell,” he sings in the first lyric on the album while the synths and drums build to a powerful verse about an environmental catastrophe that wipes out most of humanity. “Bed of Thorns” starts off with quiet processed beats and almost Middle Eastern chants but slowly burns into a powerful track about wanting to be free of suffering. Numan’s daughter does guest vocals on “My Name Is Ruin” – a song about a powerful figure who brings about the catastrophe on Earth. The comparisons to Donald Trump are unavoidable, and Numan has admitted that the last U.S. presidential election provided some of the impetus for the album.

You’d think a song with a title like “The End of Things” would be at the beginning or end of such a concept album, but Numan puts it in the middle to signify (in my opinion) the turning of the tide in the battle for survival even when things seem bleakest. “And It All Began with You” simmers with unease before the bombastic “When the World Comes Apart” – an industrial powerhouse of a track with Blade Runner-like synths and foreboding bass and Human singing that he’s no hero or confessor.

I like how “Mercy” starts off with what sounds like fighter jets zooming by. Numan used to fly jets and aircraft in air shows for many years. “I should’ve told you, be careful what you wish for,” he sings on the menacing track that builds like some sort of monstrous war machine approaching on the horizon. Numan takes on one of his favorite touchy subjects, religion, on “What God Intended.” I heard an interview with him in which he expressed admiration for those who find incredible peace in religion, but he cannot abide religion being used for intolerance or to justify violence. The song is heavy on soaring synths and Numan’s near-cries to the heavens. The theme continues a bit on “Pray for the Pain You Serve.” Numan claims, “I will be here when the storm ends.” He’s been through a lot and come out a bit tougher each time

The album ends with “Broken,” a somber synthwave track that has more Middle Eastern touches and is quite cinematic. Why Numan isn’t being hired to score films is beyond me. It drifts along until an almost abrupt ending, perfect for an album about the potential end of the world.

Numan is firing on all cylinders right now, and his live act is one of the best tours currently out there. Get this and get to one of his shows if you can.

Keep your mind open.

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Soulwax – From Deewee

Soulwax‘s latest album, From Deewee, would be impressive in any sense. It’s a wonderful blend of electro, synthwave, disco, industrial, and even a bit of trance. What makes it more impressive is that the entire album was recorded one in one take. Granted, they did multiple takes and picked the best one, but playing this entire album beginning to end with no apparent flaws is a stunning feat.

After a brief instrumental opening, the album flows into “Masterplanned” – a funky track with great synth bass and a sweet blend of electric and live drums (which will continue through the whole record). The live drums rip open “Missing Wires,” one of my favorite singles of 2017, before the wicked bass and analog synths put down a fantastic dance groove. “Conditions of a Shared Belief” has a brooding sense of industrial menace to it, proving that Soulwax loves Front 242 as much as Kraftwerk.

The drum solo at the beginning of “Is It Always Binary” is equally matched by the choppy yet highly danceable synth work. “Do You Want to Get Into Trouble?” mixes more industrial touches with hints of goth synths and John Carpenter synth bass. “My Tired Eyes” is practically an industrial ballad and “Transient Program for Drums and Machinery” could be the theme song to the album – drums,analog synthesizers, and drum machines that drift back and forth, merge, split up again, and reunite in different shapes.

“Open your eyes to the heavens,” Soulwax implores on “Trespassers” – a song that gets heavier and creepier as it rolls along to a great finish. “The Singer Has Become a Deejay” could be a takedown on musicians who attempt to operate outside their wheelhouse, or it could just be an excellent display of Soulwax’s rhythm section and Crystal Method-like programming. It flows right into the sharp dance track “Here Come the Men in Suits,” in which they warn these guys “will draw you in like moths” to their corporate culture, rampant consumerism, and shady economics.

The album ends with the subdued yet snarky “Goodnight Transmission,” with the lyric “There’s so much bullshit coming out of your mouth” sung in almost a slow jam R&B style before they encourage you to “put your weight on it.” Soulwax wants us to put up or shut up. You don’t have time for bullshit when you’re recording an entire album in one take.

You have time for this album, however. Make time for it if you have to do so. It’s one of the best of the year.

Keep your mind open.

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Loma release new single, “Relay Runner,” from upcoming album.

LOMA, NEW PROJECT BY SHEARWATER’S JONATHAN MEIBURG
AND CROSS RECORD, SHARE NEW SINGLE, “RELAY RUNNER,”
AND ANNOUNCE WEST COAST/SOUTHWEST TOUR

https://youtu.be/Rd2n_0m5xgI

SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM OUT FEBRUARY 16TH VIA SUB POP

Photo Credit: Bryan C. Parker
“‘Black Willow’ is a painting with darker contours than anything on [Cross Records’] Wabi-Sabi or Shearwaters’ most recent album Jet Plane and Oxbow, while retaining the depth and confidence of each.” — NPR Music

“the group graces us with some beautifully mystical vibes in the form of the devastating, ASMR-inducing [‘Black Willow’]” — Gorilla vs. Bear

“’Black Willow’ is a sinewy and chilly track that feels expansive as Emily Cross and Meiburg’s vocals intertwine.” — Stereogum

Loma, the new project comprised of Jonathan Meiburg, best known as the singer of Shearwater, and Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record, will release their self-titled debut album on February 16th via Sub Pop. A product of a joint pilgrimage around the globe by fellow touring musicians, it’s a beautifully detailed and emotionally rich album that reveals a band obsessed with songs as sound. After presenting the lead single, “Black Willow,” the trio now shares “Relay Runner.” As Meiburg describes it, “’Relay Runner’ was the happiest accident on the record. We discovered it when we wired up a tremolo pedal the wrong way, and got this funny, stuttering loop – and then we built a whole song around that sound. The last thing we did in the mix was erase the loop, which had gone from inspiring the song to ruining it! But it made sense that what was left underneath was a song about how to escape from a sealed room.”

In creating Loma, the trio convened in a house in the Texas hill country over a few months during a strangely charged time. When they began recording, Cross and Duszynski were a married couple, but their relationship ended during the sessions—an atmosphere Meiburg found both challenging and inspiring—and the isolated house became the album’s muse. Dogs wandered by the microphones; the sounds of birds and wind in junipers and live oaks hovered at the borders of the songs. A close listen to new single “Relay Runner” even reveals cicadas and frogs from a nearby stream. Except for Cross’s translucent voice in the foreground, there were no assigned roles on the album; each member of the trio played every instrument as needed. This feeling of freedom let buried energies find expression. Cross wrung catharsis from Meiburg’s lyrics and melodies, while Duszynski immersed himself in the engineering and mixing.

Loma is now available for preorder from Sub Pop and select independent retailers http://smarturl.it/loma. North American preorders of the limited Loser edition will be available on clear vinyl with red and black swirlies (while supplies last). A new T-shirt design will also be available.
Stream Loma’s “Relay Runner” –

https://youtu.be/Rd2n_0m5xgI

Watch Loma’s “Black Willow” Video –

https://youtu.be/u4yA8zM0ifY

Pre-order Loma –

http://smarturl.it/loma

Loma Tour Dates:
Fri. Apr. 6 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
Sun. Apr. 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bootleg
Wed. Apr. 11 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
Fri. Apr. 13 – Portland, OR @ MS Studios
Sat. Apr. 14 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
Tue. Apr. 17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Thu. April 19 – Taos, NM @ Taos Mesa Brewing
Sat. Apr. 21 – Austin, TX @ North Door

Keep your mind open.

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Zombie Zombie – Livity

French synth wave / electro trio Zombie Zombie (Etienne Jaumet – synths and saxophone, Cosmic Neman – drums, vocals, and effects, and Dr. Schonberg – percussion, electronics, and trumpet) didn’t want us to walk out of 2017 without dancing, so they’ve brought a new album full of vintage analog synth dance grooves and mood-changing tracks on their new album Livity.

The title track alone is worth the purchase price. The title refers to a Rastafarian term for “life force.” It’s almost nine minutes of head-bopping beats, haunting synth bass, and synths that are straight out of your 1980’s dreams. Put this in your earbuds and your perception of the world around you will shift. “Ils Existent” moves along with hypnotizing sci-fi synth loops until Neman’s wicked drum licks almost turn the song into an action movie theme. The percussion on “Hippocampe” is so damn good it might make you lose your mind. Jaumet’s synths build and build to wind you up and the whole song morphs into a cosmic journey around the 2:40 mark.

Zombie Zombie were the highlight of Levitation Austin 2015 for my wife and I, and the funky, acid jazzy “Looose” is an example of why that was the case. “When you have nothing to lose, it gets groovier,” Neman sings as his drums seem to fall off their kit in the chaos of the song. “Acera” gets us back to the sci-fi themes of the album with spaceship dance club beats and alien menace buzzes and bleeps.

“Heavy Meditation” would’ve fit in perfectly on the Blade Runner 2049 score. It’s perfect for scoring some soba noodle soup in a rainy downtown future L.A. while flirting with a replicant prostitute. The closer “Lune Noire” is a dark, simulated rainy night on a lonely space station near a fading super nova encapsulated into a 4:52 song.

Livity is one of the best electro albums of the year. It’s especially impressive when you consider the seven tracks were recorded live in just seven days. Zombie Zombie continues to explore new ground in the synth world an experiment with sounds you don’t seem to have heard before now. Get into this groove and live.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Gary Numan and Me Not You – Chicago, IL – November 29, 2017

I hadn’t seen electro / industrial legend Gary Numan live for many years. His new album, Savage, is getting rave reviews and debuted as high as #2 in the U.K. His live shows are loud, dazzling, and impressive affairs, and his November 29th show at Chicago’s Thalia Hall was no exception.

Opening for him were the Brooklyn quartet Me Not You, who put on a nice set of shoegaze and synth-rock. I’d like to hear more of their material. Unfortunately, I missed part of their set due to getting a phone call from work that I had to take.

Numan and his four-man band came out and immediately kicked down the back wall with a blast of industrial rock on “Ghost Nation” – the lead track from the new record. Upon hearing it, I immediately thought, “Yeah, I need to get this record.”

Although he’s not much for nostalgia, Numan delivered a great version of “Metal” right afterwards. He had the crowd in his hand by this point, and it was only the second song. Other solid cuts from the new record were “Bed of Thorns,” “Mercy,” “Pray for the Pain You Serve,” “My Name Is Ruin,” and “When the World Comes Apart.”

Gary Numan might be a Green Lantern. It wouldn’t surprise me at all, really.

“Down in the Park,” of course, remains one of the best electro-goth songs ever, and Numan’s path down more industrial roads puts a new spin on a lot of his classic material. He has the bass brought up on “Cars” to make it almost a metal track, for example. “Love Hurt Bleed,” from his Splinter album, is a new highlight to his show. It’s everything Trent Reznor owes Numan in one song.

Perhaps Mr. Numan is actually a herald of Galactus. I’d believe that, too.

He performed “M.E.” and “Are Friends Electric?” for an encore. Both were stunning, especially “Are Friend Electric?” – which is the greatest song Phillip K. Dick never wrote.

This was easily one of the best performances I’ve seen all year. The crowd was a fun mix of aging hipsters like yours truly, young industrial fans, old punks, metal heads, and goths. I know this makes me sound old, but it was great to see people younger than I having a great time at the show. It ensures me that Numan’s music will continue through new generations of fans. Don’t miss this tour if it gets close to you.

Thanks to the lucky lady who scored this set list for letting me take a photo of it.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

Moby gives away four hours of ambient music.

In an effort to calm everyone down, including himself, DJ / author / producer Moby has created four hours of ambient music to help you sleep, meditate, practice your yoga, or just do nothing. Even better, he’s giving all it away for free.

You can download the music from his WeTransfer website for no cost whatsoever. Most of the pieces are between 20 and 30 minutes in length and are perfect for a sitting meditation session or just to chill out while you’re on the train or on a long flight.

His WeTransfer site says there’s no delete date on the files, but get it while you can. You might need it to survive the holidays.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Flying Lotus – Chicago, IL – November 14, 2017

I wanted to see Flying Lotus‘ 3-D show since I saw it without 3-D glasses at Mamby on the Beach earlier this year. He put on an impressive set there, so I figured one in an enclosed venue like Chicago’s Riviera Theatre would be a good time.

It was, albeit the place was packed once you got past the bar in the main theatre because everyone wanted the best spot to see the visual spectacle. It was indeed impressive, and I sure a wild trip if you were high during the thing. A guy next to my friend and I snapped at her when he thought she had been staring at him every time she turned around to talk to me. We explained that he had misread all of it and nothing was intentional. As my friend told me later, “If you can’t handle your fucking drugs, don’t come to a Flying Lotus show.”

He put on a good set, spinning in some stuff he did with Thundercat along the way. That was a big hit with the crowd. The visuals were mostly different from the ones at his Mamby set. Some of the best were a “Flying Lotus” logo that seemed to push from the screen to above the crowd and a floating woman’s head that would curl out from the screen like a snake. It probably gave some chemically altered folks nightmares.

Just a floating wheel made of human limbs. Nothing to worry about.

Go see this tour if you’re able. It’s worth it for the visual feast, and Flying Lotus is one of the best experimental artists out there right now. His future is bright if he’s already doing stuff like this.

Keep your mind open.

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Loma release haunting “Black Willow” from upcoming debut.

LOMA, NEW PROJECT BY SHEARWATER’S JONATHAN MEIBURG AND CROSS RECORD, ANNOUNCE SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM, OUT FEBRUARY 16TH ON SUB POP

WATCH VIDEO FOR LEAD SINGLE, “BLACK WILLOW”
https://youtu.be/u4yA8zM0ifY

Photo Credit: Bryan C. Parker
Loma, the new project comprised of Jonathan Meiburg, best known as the singer of Shearwater, and Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record, will release their self-titled debut album on February 16th via Sub Pop. A product of a joint pilgrimage around the globe by fellow touring musicians, it’s a beautifully detailed and emotionally rich album that reveals a band obsessed with songs as sound. Today, the trio presents the video for the album’s final song and lead single, “Black Willow.”

Meiburg, Duszynski and Cross became friends when Cross Record, on their first-ever tour, supported Shearwater throughout America and Europe in 2016. “I couldn’t believe all that sound was coming out of two people,” Meiburg says. “They were mesmerizing.” In the van or at soundchecks, they shared their musical knowledge and love of nature and animals, and after an especially memorable show in Belgium, Meiburg approached Cross and Duszynski about working together. “I fell in love with their music,” he admits, “and I wanted to know how they did it.”

The trio convened in a house in the Texas hill country to see what would happen, and quickly realized an album was imminent. “There was something powerful about the combination of the three of us,” Meiburg says, “and very different from either of our bands. But I think we were afraid to say so out loud, for fear of jinxing it.” For the next few months, Loma met for two weeks at a time, shaping and revising new songs and casting others away.

It was also a strangely charged time. When the album began, Cross and Duszynski were a married couple, but their relationship ended during the sessions—an atmosphere Meiburg found both challenging and inspiring—and the isolated house became the album’s muse. Dogs wanderered by the microphones; the sounds of birds and wind in junipers and live oaks hovered at the borders of the songs, and a close listen reveals cicadas and frogs from a nearby stream. Except for Cross’s translucent voice in the foreground, there were no assigned roles on the album; each member of the trio played every instrument as needed.

This feeling of freedom let buried energies find expression. Cross wrung catharsis from Meiburg’s lyrics and melodies, while Duszynski immersed himself in the sonic details of engineering and mixing. In the end, the record became a document of an urgent and ephemeral place and time, and the strength that comes with letting go of something precious. It closes, fittingly, with the subtly defiant marching anthem of “Black Willow,” in which Cross’s voice, backed by a hypnotic bass and drums, offers a lesson in survival. “When I walk,” she sings, “I carry a diamond blade.” She means it.

Loma is now available for preorder from Sub Pop and select independent retailers [http://smarturl.it/loma]. North American preorders of the limited Loser edition will be available on clear vinyl with red and black swirlies (while supplies last). A new T-shirt design will also be available.
Watch Loma’s “Black Willow” Video –
https://youtu.be/u4yA8zM0ifY

Loma Tracklist:
1. Who Is Speaking?
2. Dark Oscillations
3. Joy
4. I Don’t Want Children
5. Relay Runner
6. White Glass
7. Sundogs
8. Jornada
9. Shadow Relief
10. Black Willow

Pre-order Loma –
http://smarturl.it/loma