August 2020 – Page 3 – 7th Level Music

Review: Skullcrusher – self-titled EP

I love that Helen Ballentine uses the name Skullcrusher for her musical moniker. You expect doom or death metal when you see “Skullcrusher” on a record, but Ballentine throws you a curve ball of a record to remind you that sometimes a skull can feel crushed from angst, stress, depression, or the overpowering natures of love and lust.

“Places / Plans” is a tale of wanting to just chill with a lover who always wants to go to the after-party. It’s a soft opening with subtle acoustic guitar, Ballentine’s crisp yet vulnerable voice, and even softer synths. “Trace” is a sad tale of love that’s not fully reciprocated as Ballentine sings about worrying about her looks, “sleeping in to get away” and how her lover had made plans to skip town but didn’t only because she found out about it. She tries hard, forcing her lover to hold her hand and feel the connection they used to have, but she (and we) seem to know it’s not going to work. What makes the song even lovelier is the bright piano chords and the way Ballentine’s voice floats along like a happy songbird – even as she’s singing lyrics like, “If I stay here, what is that worth?”

“Two Weeks in December” is so simple and honest that it has to be a true story of Ballentine meeting someone in winter, both of them fooling each other, her getting sick and then flying back to Los Angeles, but not to the person she fooled. “Day of Show” is a tale of Ballentine’s former lover moving on, and even singing about her during a performance, while Ballentine is “…still searching for an hour in my closet trying to figure out what to wear for a day I’ll spend alone in my room.” Damn. She’s keeping it 100, as the kids say.

It’s a heartfelt and honest debut EP, and one that deservedly will garner a lot of attention.

Keep your mind open.

[Trace a line over to the subscription box while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Clutch to perform “Live from the Doom Saloon Volume II” online and will play one lucky fan’s chosen set list.

CLUTCH has invited their fans to choose the setlist for the band’s next live stream concert.

Tickets are on sale now at ClutchMerch.com for what the group has dubbed Live from the Doom Saloon – Volume II. Fans are encouraged to construct their dream 14 song setlist via ClutchSetList.com. Neil Fallon, Tim Sult, Dan Maines, and Jean-Paul Gaster will choose their favorite of the submissions and perform that set on August 7th at 5 pm PST / 8 pm EST. ClutchMerch.com also offers ticket bundles with exclusive merchandise and a limited-edition vinyl pressing of the entire performance.

Says Clutch: The thing that makes this stream unique is that Clutch fans will have the opportunity to create their dream setlist from our entire catalog. This means fans can pick from every release starting from our 1991 Pitchfork 7” all the way thru Book of Bad Decisions and the songs from our Vault Series.

The fan whose setlist is chosen will receive a massive prize pack, which includes TremLord 30 combo amplifier from Orange Amps, a stompbox from Creepy Fingers (designed by Fu Manchu’s Brad Davis), a Jim Dunlop Crybaby wah-pedal, a case of Liquid Death mountain water, and Clutch merchandise.

Anyone who misses Live from the Doom Saloon – Volume II concert will be able to stream it on-demand through the weekend, right up till 11:59 pm EST on Sunday, August 9th. The setlist contest winner will be announced during the live stream itself. Show donations will benefit the Innocent Lives Foundation, a charitable organization that combats the trafficking and exploitation of children, of which Fallon is a board member. Live from the Doom Saloon – Volume I took place in May 2020, with support from Crowbar, Blacktop Mojo, and Saul, with proceeds benefitting MusiCares and Angel Flight West. Clutch released their twelfth studio album, Book of Bad Decisions, through their own Weathermaker Music in 2018. Rolling Stone described the album as “bathed in the grit and liberal fuzz tone that has made their live shows legendary.” The band embarked on a successful co-headlining tour with Dropkick Murphys in 2019, with support from Hatebreed, Amigo The Devil, and Russ Rankin of Good Riddance. Two of the band’s most recent albums, Earth Rocker (2013) and Psychic Warfare (2015), were included in Classic Rock Magazine’s 50 Best Rock Albums of the 2010s.

Tickets: ClutchMerch.com

Contest: ClutchSetList.com

Charity info: InnocentLivesFoundation.org

Band website: Pro-Rock.com

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Doug Weber at New Ocean Media.]

FUZZ are “Returning” with new single.

FUZZ, the raw power trio comprised of Los Angeles-based Ty Segall (drums, vocals), Charles Moothart (guitar, vocals), and Chad Ubovich (bass, vocals), announce their first album in five years, III, out October 23rd on In The Red Recordings. It’s the follow-up to 2015’s II, “an impressive double album made for headbanging and the cultivation of bad vibes” (NPR Music). In conjunction with today’s announcement, the band present III’s lead single, “Returning.”

III was recorded and mixed at United Recording under the sonic lordship of Steve Albini. Keeping the focus on the live sounds of the band, the use of overdubs and studio tricks were kept to a minimum. Albini’s mastery in capturing sound gave FUZZ the ability to focus entirely on the playing while knowing the natural sounds would land. It takes the essential ingredients of “guitar based music” and “rock and roll power trio” and puts them right out on the chopping block. It was a much more honest approach for FUZZ — three humans getting primitive, staying primitive. The goal was never to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes it’s just about seeing how long you can hold on before you’re thrown off.

Album opener “Returning” serves as a sort of mission statement for the album. It’s an auditory meditation on the power of one and the different perspectives of one, whether it is the singular person looking inward, or a group of people coming together as a single unit. Not only is it an echo of the return of FUZZ, but also a broader return to form – raw and empowered through vulnerability.

A pyramid of sonic destruction and psychic creation, all shades of color, truth and lies. III is the pillar of unity and singularity. Log out, drop thought, turn up.
Listen to FUZZ’s “Returning”

Pre-order III

III Tracklist
1. Returning
2. Nothing People
3. Spit
4. Time Collapse
5. Mirror
6. Close Your Eyes
7. Blind to Vines
8. End Returning

FUZZ Tour Dates:
Thu. Dec. 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Fri. Dec. 4 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Sat. Dec. 5 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Fri. Jan. 22 – Sat. Jan. 23 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Mon. Jan. 25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Tue. Jan. 26 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
Wed. Jan. 27 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
Fri. Jan. 29 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s
Sat. Jan. 30 – Felton, CA @ Felton Music Hall
Thu. Feb. 4 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Fri. Feb. 5 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Sat. Feb. 6 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
Sun. Feb. 7 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe
Mon. Feb. 8 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Wed. Feb. 10 – New York, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Thu. Feb. 11 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Fri. Feb. 12 – Baltimore, MD @ OttoBar
Sat. Feb. 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Sun. Feb. 14 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
Sat. March 13 – Istanbul, TR @ Zorlu Art Center
Tue. March 16 – Nimes, FR @ Paloma
Wed. March 17 – Barcelona, ES @ Upload
Thu. March 18 – Madrid, ES @ BUT
Sat. March 20 – Bilbao, ES @ Santana 27
Mon. March 22 – Biarritz, FR @ Atabal
Wed. March 24 – Paris, FR @ Trabendo
Thu. March 25 – Lille, FR @ Aeronef
Fri. March 26 – Köln, DE @ Gebaude 9
Sat. March 27 – Berlin, DE @ Columbian Theater
Tue. March 30 – Manchester, UK @ Gorilla
Wed. March 31 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom

Keep your mind open.

[Keep music news and reviews returning to your inbox by subscribing.]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Tricky releases new single, “Thinking Of,” from new album due this September.

Pioneering producer Tricky shares a new single “Thinking Of” and announces UK and European tour dates for next year (tickets are on sale now). “Thinking Of” is the captivating opening song of his forthcoming album Fall To Pieces, out September 4th via False Idols. As with debut single “Fall Please,” it demands repeat listens, drawing you in further with the unique signature that could still only ever be attributed to Tricky.

Listen to Tricky’s “Thinking Of” HERE

The track features Marta Złakowska on vocals – the singer he discovered during a Polish tour when he was left without a vocalist on the opening night: the local promoter suggested a girl who worked in a nearby bar, and when she arrived she had already learned the chorus to Tricky’s song “When We Die”. It sounds fortuitous – much like when Tricky encountered his original female vocalist Martina Topley-Bird by chance when she sang outside his front door. But of course he has an intuition too. “Yeah, I can tell when someone is humble and down to earth. Marta doesn’t care about being famous, she just wants to sing.”

Fall To Pieces was recorded in Tricky’s Berlin studio in late 2019. Tricky is keen to point out that the tracks on the record can be deceptive; often short, ending abruptly and moving on to the next without warning. Although instrumentation varies from bursts of tense synths, distorted dial tones, and samples, the song’s lyrics can be dark and dense.

Tricky might be over three decades deep into his music career but he’s currently on an especially prolific run. In the last year, he dropped the enchanting 20,20 EP and put out an acclaimed autobiography, Hell Is Round The Corner.
Watch Tricky’s Video for “Fall Please”

Pre-order Fall To Pieces

2021 Tour Dates
Feb. 2 – Copenhagen, DEN @ Hotel Cecil (SOLD OUT)
Feb. 3 – Oslo, NOR @ Parkteatret – TICKETS
Feb. 6 – Hamburg, GER @ Elbphilharmonie – TICKETS
Feb. 8 – Cologne, GER @ Gebäude 9 – TICKETS
Feb. 9 – Berlin, GER @ Metropol – TICKETS
Feb. 16 – Warsaw, POL @ Praga Centrum – TICKETS
Feb. 17 – Poznan, POL @ TAMA – TICKETS
Feb. 18 – Krakow, POL @ Kwadrat – TICKETS
Feb. 19 – Cluj-Napoca, ROM @ Form Space – TICKETS
Feb. 20 – Bucharest, ROM @ Quantic Club Outdoors – TICKETS
Feb. 23 – Belgrade, SER @ Dom Omladine – TICKETS
Feb. 24 – Zagreb, CROA @ Močvara – TICKETS
Feb. 26 – Budapest, HUNG @ A38 – TICKETS
Feb. 27 – Milan, ITA @ Magazzini Generali – TICKETS
March 1 – Amsterdam, NETH @ Paradiso – TICKETS
March 3 – Bordeaux, FRA @ Le Rocher De Palmer – TICKETS
March 9 – Paris, FRA @ Le Trianon – TICKETS
March 10 – Strasbourg, FRA @ La Laiterie (Club) – TICKETS
March 12 – Lyon, FRA @ Ninkasi Kafé – TICKETS
March 13 – Tourcoing, FRA @ Le Grand Mix – TICKETS
March 14 – Brussels, BEL @ Botanique Orangerie – TICKETS
March 16 – Manchester, UK @ 02 Ritz – TICKETS
March 17 – London, UK @ Electric Brixton – TICKETS
March 23 – Helsinki, FIN @ Ääniwalli – TICKETS
March 24 – St. Petersburg, Russia @ Kosmonavt – TICKETS
March 26 – Yekaterinburg, Russia @Fabrika – TICKETS
March 28 – Moscow, Russia @ GlavClub – TICKETS
March 29 – Minsk, Belarus @ Re:Public Club
March 30 – Kiev, Ukraine @ Atlas – TICKETS

Keep your mind open.

[I’m thinking of you subscribing.]

[Thanks to Brid at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Katie Gately’s new single, “Flow,” is haunting and beautiful.

Earlier this year, Katie Gately released her new album Loom on Houndstooth. The album is a haunting collection of songs in which Gately channels the loss of her mother, using loaded sound samples including earthquakes, explosions, wolf howls, peacock screams, grinding stones and more.

Today, Gately shares the video for “Flow;” a delicate, ghostly track in which she sings from her mother’s perspective with an otherworldly sense of acceptance and calm. Gately says, “Five years ago I was up in the middle of the night and out of nowhere ‘Flow’ came into my head. It arrived all at once – melody, harmony, lyrics, structure – and I jumped out of bed to record it. As I sang the lyrics, I had an eerie feeling but assumed it had to do with insomnia and nothing else. I saved the session, went to sleep and forgot about the song for three years.

The next time I opened up the session my mother was nearing the end of her life. I made a cartoonish gasp as I listened to my vocals realizing that while the voice recorded was my own, the narrator of the song was definitely not me. It was my mother. My mom moved through the world with her rib cage cracked right open: heart out front and center. When you live this way, armor-free, you get zapped often but you also get to feel life as fully as it can be felt. Every little miracle is allowed in to have a party. There is a real muscularity to this kind of vulnerability and this song tries to capture it. In part, to make a pretty song. In whole, to keep my mother’s voice loud and bright.”

Director Jola Kudela gives the track a suitably celestial visual treatment, commenting, “I particularly loved the tone and the subject of Katie’s song, it’s hauntingly beautiful, it’s about how to find peace in your grief and pain, and how to accept it. As I was visualizing the video, I imagined a sort of journey of a spirit that doesn’t despair after death but continues its movement through the world.I have used volcanic and snowy landscapes as a base, and worked graphically on them to create a sensation of the world being transformed by a vision of someone who is not from our dimension anymore. I wanted to achieve the feeling of open space and silence, a sort of transcendental calm.”
Watch “Flow” Video:
https://youtu.be/0hoC6iOwv4g
Following remix work for Björk and Zola Jesus, productions for serpentwithfeet, and her debut album on Tri-Angle, Loom is a remarkable album, dedicated to Katie’s mother who passed away in 2018 due to a rare form of cancer. Gately channels her loss through a multitude of sounds and samples, including seismic rumbles and earthquake recordings alongside her signature adventurous sound design and unexpected earworm melodies, signifying how grief like this is like the shifting of the earth.

Where her debut album, 2016’s Color, deployed fractured rhythms, fierce licks, bold samples and paintbox pop hooks, Loom reveals crepuscular textures. Her voice is more forward in the mix, often densely layered in choral laments above a coarse foundation of hard and brittle sound design, the latter of which is rooted in her film school training. As well as earthquake sounds, Loom includes more samples chosen for their associative power – pill bottles shaking, wolves howling, a shovel digging, a paper shredder and heavily processed audio from her parent’s wedding.
Watch “Flow” Video:
https://youtu.be/0hoC6iOwv4g

Stream/Purchase Loom:
https://hndsth.lnk.to/KatieGately

Keep your mind open.

[Float on over to the subscription box while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]