CLUTCH TO RELEASE LIMITED EDITION VINYL COLLECTOR PICTURE DISCS
THE FIRST IN THE SERIES “LIVE AT THE GOOGOLPLEX” OUT TODAY
October 6th, 2017 – Clutch and Weathermaker Music have prepared three very special Clutch limited edition vinyl collector picture discs. The first in the series, “Live At The Googolplex” will be available tomorrow.
Recorded in 2002 in Chicago, Montreal, Kansas City, and Columbus, OH. “Live At The Googolplex”, like all three releases in the series will be the first time these releases will be available as a picture disc vinyl.
The next two releases in the series will be “Jam Room” (scheduled for release October 27th, 2017) and “Pitchfork & Lost Needles” (scheduled for release November 24th, 2017).
“Weathermaker Music is releasing 3 limited edition picture discs” states frontman Neil Fallon. “The first will be Live at the Googolplex. That will be followed up by Jam Room and thenPitchfork and Lost Needles. All feature art from the original releases. For what it’s worth, I drew Medusa’s head for the Jam Room release. With a pen. And paper. This is your chance to own a bit of art history”.
Clutch is set to embark on another leg of the Psychic Warfare World Tour 2017starting November 29th, 2017 and running through December 31st, 2017. All tour and ticket info can be found at:https://www.pro-rock.com.
Clutch is currently in the throes of working on new material for a 2018 release.
CLUTCH:
Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar
Tim Sult – Guitar
Dan Maines – Bass
Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion
For more information, check out the band’s website:
To say that Tom Petty had a legendary career is an understatement, but that is how he should be remembered. I was lucky enough to catch his 40th anniversary (and final) tour earlier this year at a packed St. Louis arena. It was a solid show with many great tracks throughout it.
Petty’s songs are a part of Americana even if you didn’t grow up in the 1970’s or 1970’s. He could play everything from garage rock to country blues, and his influence on music reaches around the globe.
Many forget his great contributions to music videos. Petty was a known lover of music videos, and he and his band came to prominence as MTV skyrocketed in popularity and outreach. Petty took an active role in the scripts, art, and filming of his music videos and made some of the more innovative ones of the time.
Not many of us get to do what we love for forty years, let alone receive worldwide accolades for it. It’s okay to mourn Petty, but don’t let it ruin you. He lived and he rocked. Do the same.
My wife and I had missed Brian Wilson at Levitation Austinlast year when the entire festival (and thus his performance) was cancelled due to bad weather. I learned he and his band were touring the world and performing many Beach Boys tracks as well as all of their masterpiece, Pet Sounds. I was determined to catch this tour and to hear such an important record played by the man who wrote it. Luckily for me, Mr. Wilson brought his show to a theatre less than an hour’s drive from my house.
He had a killer backing band that included one of the founding Beach Boys – Al Jardine – and another Beach Boys guitarist – Blondie Chapman, and they opened with the the classic “California Girls.”
Other treats included Wilson having a fun time singing “I Get Around,” a lovely rendition of “In My Room,” and Al Jardine’s son doing a great job on the vocals for “Don’t Worry, Baby.”
The highlight of the night, of course, was hearing Pet Sounds played from beginning to end. I’d been humming “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” all day leading up to the show and the band nailed it right out of the gate to open the second half. “Sloop John B” was a crowd favorite, and I forgot about the two fine instrumentals on the record.
Wilson got a standing ovation for “God Only Knows,” and “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” seems rather relevant today. The encore started with “Good Vibrations.” When Wilson asked, “Did you come here for bad vibrations?” I briefly hoped the Black Angelswould come on stage, but it was fun to hear the best psych-surf ever written live.
Other hits like “Help Me, Rhonda,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” and “Surfin’ USA” followed, but Wilson ended the show, which he dedicated to his wife (It was her birthday that day.), the victims of the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay shooting, and Tom Petty, with the heartfelt “Love and Mercy.”
It was a lovely, fun show. Wilson’s songs are so ingrained into American culture that you can sometimes forget how good and fun they are. See this tour if you get the chance. Wilson is getting up there in age, and sometimes needed a steadying hand to walk him to his piano. He’s claimed this is the final time he’ll perform Pet Sounds, so don’t wait.
2017 has been a good year for shoegaze music because two legendary British shoegaze bands returned this year with excellent new material. One of these bands is RIDE, and the other is Slowdive (Nick Chaplin – bass, Rachel Goswell – guitar and vocals, Neil Halstead – guitar and vocals, Christian Savill – guitar, Simon Scott – drums).
Slowdive’s self-titled album is perhaps the lushest, loveliest record of the year. The opener, “Slomo,” immediately seems to lift you off the ground and send you into an idyllic sky with its floating guitars and ghostly vocals about “curious love.” The band has lost nothing in the last twenty years. They only seem to have improved on everything. The title of “Star Roving” (a song about sharing love even when it seems daunting) couldn’t be more appropriate. It’s a sonic blast that burns as bright as a comet.
Goswell’s vocals on “Don’t Know Why” start subtle but then the entire song opens like a flower and becomes a stunning piece about trying to escape the memories of a lover who has moved on to someone else. “Sugar for the Pill” was the first Slowdive had released in two decades, and it immediately set the music world on fire. It’s no surprise, because the song is stunning. Slightly goth bass, echoing guitars, lush synths, and smoky vocals about not being able to live up to a lover’s expectations all mix together to produce one of the prettiest songs of 2017.
“Everyone Knows” bursts with energy, whereas the follow-up “No Longer Making Time” is like a lovely walk through a morning fog that is lifted by the sunrise. Slowdive has mastered the art of making guitars both loud and soothing. “Go Get It” is a master course on how to put together a shoegaze song: shifting levels of distortion and reverb, solid drumming, and mysterious vocals.
The album ends with “Falling Ashes” – which is little more than a rain-like piano riff, subdued guitars, and quiet vocals (often repeating the album’s theme, “Thinking about love.”), but that’s all Slowdive needs to hold you in the moment.
I know most of this review is merely I saying, “This record is gorgeous,” but that’s the best way I can put it. Parts of it sound like Slowdive stepped out of a time machine from the 1990’s, but other parts of it are rich with new energy that’s hard to describe.
“Gorgeous” is the best word that comes to mind.
Keep your mind open.
[You’d be sweet as sugar to me if you subscribed.]
Backwater Out October 20th On Ghostly International
World Tour Begins This Month
Photo by Hayley Louise Brown
Kllo are sharing their new single, “Dissolve,” via Consequence of Sound. It’s taken from their debut album, Backwater, coming out October 20th on Ghostly International. “Dissolve” complements the series of previously released singles “Virtue,” “Downfall,” and “Nylon,” which have garnered praise from The New York Times, Pitchfork, Stereogum, NYLON, XLR8R, Paste and more.
“‘Dissolve’ was triggered by overhearing a bad Skype call in our hotel lobby in cologne,” Kllo says. “The lack of intimacy led to a heated conversation. As soon as we went back to our hotel, I picked up the microphone and sang one of the lines i overheard and it went from there. There’s a huge disconnection when speaking through a screen, things can easily be misinterpreted.”
Kllo – an electronic pop collaboration between Melbourne cousins Chloe Kaul and Simon Lam – waded in figurative backwater for much of 2016 amid an extensive world tour. These were exciting times; the duo’s Well Worn EP furthered the promise of 2014 EP Cusp, receiving millions of streams and landing Kllo on festival stages as well as Artists-to-Watch lists. Nonetheless, the stretch kept them far from home, isolated and vulnerable, treading through perpetual uncharted territory while yearning for the comforts of the familiar.
As a result, Kllo’s full-length debut depicts inner adjustment to outer change. Songs were written partially on the road and developed back at Lam’s bungalow, a haven that harbors creative spontaneity and catharsis.
“It’s the first time we hadn’t felt like kids anymore,” says Kaul. “We were really able to dive in deeper and bring out a lot more of us into the music.”
Kllo first emerged with a sound beyond their years; fully formed, fusing elements of R&B, UK garage, and 2-step. Well-versed students of artists like James Blake, Lauryn Hill, and The xx, the duo extend an amalgamation of established pop elements with modern sensibilities and wide-eyed sincerity. Backwater arrives as a refined, coming-of-age account. The LP format finds Kllo with more room to breathe and sync their rhythms with emotions. Kaul’s smoky voice emanates with assurance and leisure. Lam’s production invents brooding, steely undercurrents hemmed with charming crescendos.
Kllo have officially come out the other end of the stilted estuary with twelve compositions cultivated to feel timeless and crafted, and equally current. The duo’s second release on Ghostly International — and their most realized work to date — Backwater celebrates the ephemeral and the enduring changes in emotion, the downfalls and the dissolves. It’s an album that parts course with its flow, and flourishes in a lowland.
This month, Kllo begin their world headline tour in support of Backwater. They kick it off in North America where they’ll perform material from Backwater live for the very first time. Kllo’s last North American dates were in Winter 2016 supporting RÜFÜS DU SOL with a pair of one-off headline shows including a packed house at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn for their New York City debut. This time around they’ll headline multiple nights in NYC including brand new venue Elsewhere. A full list of dates is below.
Listen To Kllo’s “Dissolve”: https://soundcloud.com/kllomusic/dissolve Watch & Listen:
“Downfall” video – https://youtu.be/RCR8TBqR_EU “Downfall” audio – https://soundcloud.com/kllomusic/01-downfall “Virtue” video – https://youtu.be/4vSVpoABRRU “Virtue” audio – https://soundcloud.com/kllomusic/virtue “Nylon” audio – https://soundcloud.com/kllomusic/11-nylon Kllo Tour Dates: Oct. 18 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas (tickets) Oct. 20 – Detroit, MI @ El Club (tickets) Oct. 27 – Vancouver, BC @ Waldorf (tickets) Oct. 28 – Seattle, WA @ VERA Project (tickets) Nov. 1 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Resident (tickets) Nov. 2 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill (tickets) Nov. 4 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere (tickets) Nov. 5 – New York, NY @ Berlin (tickets) Nov. 12 – Madrid, ES @ Costello Nov. 13 – San Sebastian, ES @ Dabadaba Nov. 14 – Barcelona, ES @ Sidecar Nov. 16 – Paris, FR @ Supersonic Nov. 17 – Rotterdam, NL @ V11
Nov. 18 – Brussels, BE @ Les TransArdentes at Palais 12
Nov. 20 – Amsterdam, NL @ The Sugar Factory Nov. 23 – London, UK @ XOYO Nov. 24 – Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana Nov. 25 – Manchester, UK @ The Soup Kitchen Nov. 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast Nov. 28 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s Nov. 29 – Leeds, UK @ Headrow House Nov. 30 – Nottingham, UK @ The Bodega Dec. 3 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus Dec. 4 – Cologne, DE @ Yuca Dec. 5 – Hamburg, DE @ Haekken Dec. 8 – Sydney, AUS @ Oxford Arts Factory Dec. 9 – Perth, AUS @ Jack Rabbit Slim’s Dec. 14 – Brisbane, AUS @ Woolly Mammoth Dec. 15 – Melbourne, AUS @ Corner Hotel Dec. 16 – Adelaide, AUS @ Fat Controller
Praise for Backwater:
“’Virtue’ is a sterling new single… Ms. Kaul has an oozy, aspirated voice, and smears it tactfully atop Mr. Lam’s euphoric, quick-stepping production, which bridges fiery garage and joyous disco.” – The New York Times
“Once things get started on ‘Virtue’ it’s like a sonic boom. Heavy bass blasts find a home next to frantic dance beats and Kaul’s cooing, serene vocal delivery.” – Stereogum
“In its slow build and beauty, ‘Downfall’ feels like having ascended a ladder to a particularly gorgeous vantage point, and enjoying the journey on the way there, too.”
– Pitchfork
“Ecstatic and melancholic by turn, ‘Virtue’ is a striking introduction to the duo’s most cohesive body of work yet.” – NYLON
Flat Worms announce their self-titled debut full-length album, due out October 20th via Castle Face. Today the band, comprised of Will Ivy (Dream Boys, Wet Illustrated, Bridez), Justin Sullivan (Kevin Morby, the Babies) and Tim Hellman (Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Sic Alps) also share the Kevin M. Gossett directed video for lead single, “Pearl.”
Having already released a 7” on Volar, Flat Worms continue their ride on a buzzsaw wave of feedback-tipped riffs into the middle distance, smog choked sunset receding in the rearview, a thousand yard dead-pan surgically pinned to a high octane set of boredom energized punk pistons. Flat Worms – an ears-a-ringing missive from the end of the cul-de-sac, the mirage of direction wavering above a mid-sized American suburb at dusk, constellations bleached black by the sprawl. A little Wipers, a little Wire, and a lot of late-capitalist era anxious energy – Flat Worms scratch the itch quite nicely, we think. Watch video for “Pearl” – https://youtu.be/HA7AU95C_zU
Flat Worms Tracklisting:
01. Motorbike
02. Goodbye Texas
03. Pearl
04. Accelerated
05. White Roses
06. 11816
07. Followers
08. Faultline
09. Question
10. Red Hot Sand
LINDSTRØM, “THE KING OF SPACE DISCO” (NEW YORKER),
SHARES NEW SINGLE, “TENSIONS,” OFF IT’S ALRIGHT BETWEEN US AS IT IS,
OUT OCTOBER 20TH ON SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND
“More long and futuristic cuts from the Norwegian producer who can make Daft Punk and Terry Riley fans dance into the afters.” – New York Magazine Fall Preview 2017
“’Shinin’ is filled with a captivating melange of synths and a shuffling drum beat. Hall’s rich croon matches the track’s cosmic vibes though her lyrics about hanging at the park with a new flame help ground ‘Shinin’ in the real.” – Rolling Stone
“[Lindstrøm & Hall’s] partnership is capable of creating moments of genuine inspiration; at one point near the track’s final stretch, they weave in a sort of ululating vocal loop that sounds like Hall singing an arpeggiation. . . set against the backdrop of Lindstrøm’s sheeny production, it totally works, and injects just the right amount of weirdness into this otherwise crystalline track.” — Pitchfork
Norwegian producer Lindstrøm will release his fifth solo album and first since 2012, It’s Alright Between Us As It Is, on October 20thvia Smalltown Supersound. After presenting debut single, “Shinin” feat. Grace Hall, one of three guest vocalists on the album alongside Frida Sundemo and Jenny Hval, who “lends her haunting, whispered vocal to his twisted, dark disco” (MOJO), Lindstrøm now shares “Tensions.” It’s “classic Lindstrøm…enveloping electro-disco that seems to build and build until dizzy with joy” (Uncut). The album, presented as one continuous stream of nine interlocked tracks, aggregates all the best elements of his long and varied career and newly reveals Lindstrøm to be a commanding mood sculptor.
The “Tensions” 12”, which also features a remix by Will Long, is available for purchase now.
Fri. Aug. 25 – Niort, FR @ Jeudis Niortais – Les Jardins François Mitterand
Fri. Sep. 1 – Randaberg, NO @ Randaberg Kulturhus
Sat. Sep. 2 – London, UK @ Village Underground
Sat. Sep. 16 – Bucharest, RO @ DokStation at Control Club Thu. Nov. 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Good Room Fri. Nov. 10 – McDade, TX @ Sound On Sound Festival Sat. Nov. 11 – Chicago, IL @ Smart Bar
In this day and age, I’m fairly certain that few bands could make a good concept album. Fewer still could make one about a cyborg who wants to be fully human while interacting with a wizard attempting to stop a monster from destroying all of creation. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have done just that, however, with Murder of the Universe.
In case you’re unaware, this is KGATLW’s second album of the year, and they plan to release three more before the end of 2017. The first was the excellent Flying Microtonal Banana and the third, a collaboration with Mild High Club called Sketches of Brunswick East is already available for pre-order.
Lyrically and sonically, Murder of the Universe links up well with Flying Microtonal Banana and the outstanding Nonagon Infinity. It’s like they’re a complete trilogy, and some people have suggested the robot in Nonagon Infinity‘s lead track, “Robot Stomp,” is the cyborg caught up in the Murder of the Universe. You can also hear the beginning of Nonagon Infinity‘s “People Vultures” on this new record (on “Some Context”).
The album’s intro, “A New World,” has a haunting poem spoken by a young woman describing the aftermath of a nuclear war and how even more horrible things are to come afterwards. The first is an “Altered Beast (Part 1).” The band comes out like an angry, roaring bear from of its den. Parts 2, 3, and 4 of the song alternate with the three-part “Altered Me.” The war’s survivor realizes he must adapt to the new environment and new beastly overlord to survive (or did the beast alter him for a dark purpose?). Each song flows seamlessly into the next and KGATLW slays each part. Guitars assault you from every direction but can still stop on a dime. The double drumming is insane, and the synths bring a wild, weird 1980’s horror film vibe to the whole thing.
The survivor has become an altered beast by the end of “Altered Beast IV,” feeling nothing but still remembering his humanity and the idea of freedom. He has lost the concepts of “Life / Death,” but still clings to the idea of revenge. He finds a possible ally in “The Lord of Lightning” (in which lead singer Stu Mackenzie yells “Nonagon infinity!” a few times). It’s a wicked song that would leave anyone who’d never heard a KGATLW song before dumbfounded. It tells the story of an epic mystical battle yet the song blasts by you like something shot from a catapult.
“The Balrog” could be the altered beast, but he is certainly the Lord of Lightning’s enemy. The song is a sonic fiery claw in your brain with crazy percussion and even wilder guitars. “The Floating Fire” is all that’s left after the war between the Balrog and the Lord of Lightning. The Balrog becomes “The Acrid Corpse” by the end of it, but only eternal darkness remains after the Lord of Lightning leaves.
The future is left to the few survivors who have become cyborgs in order to live in the new world. It’s all “Digital Black” in this new time. People have willingly given up their humanity (“We’ve turned our bodies into computers…”) in a quest for what they thought was perfection. The bass riff in this is great, as is the hard-hitting beat throughout it.
One such cyborg is “Han-Tyumi the Confused Cyborg,” the survivor of the original meeting with the altered beast. All he wants is to vomit and die. He wants pain, stench, and some sort of end instead of his endless digitized illusion of life and pleasure. His “Vomit Coffin,” a machine of his own design, might help him do it. It’s another weird rocker mixed with digitized vocals and synth grooves as Han-Tyumi gives himself over to full digitization in order to free himself (and perhaps the world) from his living death.
The title track has Han-Tyumi expanding far beyond his physical form until he’s traveling at the speed of light and infiltrating every living cell and atom. The only way for him to find death is to destroy everything, and he does it.
So, yeah, it’s not a happy-go-lucky record. It’s a crazy concept record about a giant monster attack nearly destroying the world and changing the few survivors left into cyborgs who are left with an even bleaker world after a lightning god battles a giant fire monster, which drives one of the few cyborgs with any shred of humanity left to destroy the entire universe in order to free himself from an eternal life of cold, digital monotony.
Why haven’t you bought it by now?
Keep your mind open.
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“Welcome to an Altered Future,” has the cyborg, Han-Tyumi, describing how the digital age led to the death of the world thanks to artificial intelligence. “We turned our bodies into computers,” the band’s lead vocalist, Stu, sings on
