February 2024 – 7th Level Music

Prefuse 73 signals “The End of Air” on his upcoming dark ambient album.

Today, pioneering electronic musician and producer Prefuse 73 aka Guillermo Scott Herren releases the new single, “The End Of Air,” from his new album, New Strategies for Modern Crime Vol. 1, out March 22nd on Lex Records. One of the darkest yet cohesive releases of his career, New Strategies for Modern Crime Vol.1 was inspired by Herren’s experiences of living in New York. He reflects: “I’ve lived in NYC since the 90s but I think during the post-COVID era, most ‘media’ has become obsessed with crime statistics and inflated ‘fear’ over basic human needs. I wanted to channel this surreal landscape – where crime has become a strange form of entertainment and journalistic distraction into sound.”

Listen to “The End Of Air”

“I always have a movie or some random visuals playing on mute behind me in the studio,” reveals Herren of his creative process. “It could be horror from any era or just an old Fellini film; they tend to be playing on a loop. I will turn around from the mixing board and just stare at the images to get inspired.”

Talking with the excitement of someone working on their first ever album, the re-energized veteran (once described by Pitchfork as an artist who possessed “a range of emotional grappling usually foreign to instrumental hip-hop”) adds: “It means that when you do finally hear my music, it’s hopefully created in a way that prompts you to see a whole scene play out in your head.”

This cinematic method of creating an enticing gumbo of lost soundtracks, jazz, primitive electronic production and hip hop is especially prevalent on his bold new album, New Strategies For Modern Crime Vol. 1, which sounds like the score for a surreal Robert Siodmak noir set in the year 3000

Whether pairing up MF DOOM and Aesop Rock to have a lo-fi rap existential crisis; bluntly bending an innocent Linda Perhacs psych-folk song about swirling raindrops, so it sounds more like a lost alien signal filtering in from a techno rave on another galaxy; or using the sounds of kids banging their rulers and pencils on a school table to create DIY euphoria and an innovative mimicry of Doug E. Fresh-level beatboxing, Herren (who has also operated creatively under aliases including Delarosa, Asora, and Piano Overlord) has been a consistent innovator. Having collaborated with a diverse array of artists, including MF DOOM, Ghostface Killah, GZA, El-P, Sam Prekop, Helado Negro, and more, his work reflects a constant evolution, with each album offering a new perspective on the intersection of electronic and hip-hop music.

Whether New Strategies for Modern Crime Vol. 1 paints a vivid, Philip K. Dick-esque movie in your mind or not, it’s clear the artist known as Prefuse 73 is continuing to push forward artistically.

Watch Prefuse 73’s “A Lord Without Jewels” Video

Pre-order New Strategies for Modern Crime Vol. 1

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Live: Deap Vally and Sloppy Jane – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL – February 09, 2024

In case you weren’t aware, Deap Vally are on their final tour. The power-duo from California have decided to amicably walk away from the band to, among other things, be full-time moms (“jennylee [of Warpaint] is pretty much my personal clothes shopper. I have two kids. I don’t have time to shop,” guitarist / lead singer Lindsey Troy told me during a meet-and-greet when I commented on her killer boots.). So, they’re going out with a big tour that is taking them all over the U.S. and to Europe, playing their debut album, Sistrionix, in its entirety and then a second set of hits and whatever else they want.

First up in Chicago was Sloppy Jane, which I can best describe as part-orchestral rock, part-post-punk, part-acid jazz, part-performance art, and all fascinating. Frontwoman Haley Dahl commands the stage from arrival to departure, singing songs about heartbreak, death, anger, love, and hope. I really want to see her team up with Gary Wilson. She and her bandmates won over a lot of people that night.

Deap Vally came onto the stage in boxing robes that made me think (“Why aren’t those at the merch booth?”) and proceeded to tear into Sistrionix‘s opening track – “End of the World.” It had been several years since I’d seen them, and it was such a delight to not only see them crushing a stage but also hearing their power. Julie Edwards is one of the best rock drummers around, and how Ms. Troy gets so much sound out of one guitar is beyond me.

The Sistronix set was great, with “Raw Material” being a personal favorite that oozed with sexy menace. After a brief break, they came back with wild hits like “Smile More,” “Ain’t Fair,” a crazy, punked-out version of “Perfuction,” and a stunning version of “Royal Jelly” to close the show.

Don’t miss them if they’re near you. They’ll be missed. They’re one of those bands people will discover later and wish they’d seen when they had the chance. Their friend and merch booth manager, Nate, told us at the meet-and-greet that, “Maybe after the kids are grown up and starting their own band I can work on them to do a ten-year Femijism anniversary tour.”

Good luck, Nate. I hope you pull it off.

Keep your mind open.

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

Thanks to Julie and Lindsey for being so kind to chat with us VIPs and sign so much stuff.

#swoon. I’ve met DV each time I’ve seen them, and this time was the most delightful. Thanks for everything, Julie and Lindsey. Have fun. Best of all to you both.

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David Nance and Mowed Sound open a “Credit Line” with their new single.

Today, the Omaha-based musician David Nance & Mowed Sound releases their debut, self-titled record on Third Man Records, and shares a new video for the track “Credit Line.” The song according to Nance has existed in some form for almost a decade and has appeared on several different albums, but never felt complete until now. “I guess I was waiting on the riff to show up,” says Nance. The video, directed by Nik Fackler & filmed in an Amish furniture store, was an attempt at making a legitimate television commercial reminiscent of the local furniture store advertisements found everywhere, but shot as if an existential crisis happened right before filming.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “CREDIT LINE”

Led by Nance on vocals and guitar alongside Kevin Donahue on drums, James Schroeder on guitar, Derrick Higgins and Sam Lipsett on bass, alongside guest appearances from Megan Siebe, Skye Junginger, and Pearl LoveJoy Boyd, Nance brings together a crew of veteran Omaha musicians for a record that showcases Nance’s voracious appetite for anything that rocks, anything that soothes, and all the glorious static and disturbed transmissions in between.

Nance grew up in Grand Island, Nebraska, played in the marching band and discovered punk and garage rock before moving to Omaha and joining the mid-2000 garage punk scene happening there with the band the Forbidden Tigers. Several years spent in Los Angeles with his wife Anna led to a period of songwriting and home recording before they decided to move back to Omaha where he began finding his musical identity and started recording his songs with like-minded friends. What developed was a heavy burned-out rock vibe that still somehow fits in the punk universe.

Not content to mine one musical formula, Nance and company continue to explore new sounds and spaces. From the blistered punk blasts of More Than Enough to the introspective stance on Staunch Honey, Nance and his friends find inspiration from the friends and fellow musicians that have accompanied them on their journey. A fruitful one indeed.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “TUMBLEWEED”

LISTEN TO “MOCK THE HOURS”

STREAM/PURCHASE DAVID NANCE AND MOWED SOUND

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Operator Music Band drop a killer new track – “As It Goes.”

Operator Music Band — the Brooklyn-based project made up of Dara Hirsch, Jared Hiller, and Daniel Siles — announces the EPFour Singles. The project showcases the band’s thrilling foray into acid-tinged dance music, slated for release on March 22 via Deep Break Records.

While working on this batch of tracks with producers Mike Bloom (XL) and Noah Prebish (Psymon Spine), Hiller suffered a life-threatening accident. He was sent plummeting over 20 feet through a warehouse skylight—directly into Rough Trade’s warehouse, no less. This led to Operator Music Band postponing material, while Hiller recovered from significant physical trauma: two broken wrists, six broken ribs, and facial fractures that resulted in permanent hearing loss.
Now, mostly healed and rejuvenated, the live-electronic trio are ready to resume releasing music, starting with the new single “As It Goes.” It’s accompanied by a music video, premiering via BrooklynVegan. Shot and edited by Hiller, the visual compiles footage surrounding his recovery, featuring friends and collaborators in candid moments captured with an observational charm.

WATCH: “AS IT GOES”

Originally emerging in the mid-2010s as part of a wave of talk-singing, “krautish” rock acts, Brooklyn-based Operator Music Band’s existence has been marked by highs and lows. Formed around the partnership of Dara Hirsch and Jared Hiller, who are joined by a rotating cast of musicians — which currently includes percussionist and longtime collaborator Daniel Siles — Operator Music Band has put out two LPs, three EPs, and a handful of singles that merge krautrock, art-pop and occasional post-punk sensibilities. Actively releasing and touring between 2015 and 2019, the simultaneous failed launch of the 2019 full-length Duo Duo (which resulted in legal intervention that forced the dissolution of the label involved) and the cancellation of extensive tour dates due to pandemic lockdowns, left the band in a place questioning the longevity of their existence.

Through working on side projects and remixes, Hirsch (aka datadata) found new inspiration in house music, challenging herself to learn to DJ and mix. The cathartic experience of the club offered an alternative to what seemed like the decaying local indie rock scene. “So much of the infrastructure that we had been a part of over the past years was no longer there,” says Hiller. What remained “no longer felt like us,” Hirsch reflects. These bittersweet, yet honest realizations pushed Operator Music Band to craft four dancefloor-ready tracks, each accompanied by a remix from a respected producer or DJ from the club scene: Doctor Jeep, D.D. Curry, Toribio, and Gabe Gurnsey (of Factory Floor).

Commenting on Four Singles as a whole, Hirsch offered: “For me, this collection of songs is about discovering music as play. There was a very long time in this band where so much of what we were doing felt like work. Satisfying and worthwhile, but ultimately work. Now, we feel like we have so much more room – feeling free to create and play without a specific goal. We can do things on our own terms.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cody at Terrorbird Media.]

Review: Tangled Horns – Lighter

Lighter, the new album by Belgian rockers Tangled Horns, was written and recorded during the pandemic – a time when the band, like most of us, were separated from each other and looking for ways to cope with confusion, misinformation, loneliness, empty toilet paper shelves, and impermanence. It turns out that Light would be, according to the band’s Bandcamp page for the album, “their most personal and introspective work—a coping album born from the unique circumstances.”

One of their coping mechanisms was, and I’m guessing still is, brain-shredding rock. The album opens with Tim Van de Plas telling us “I fell into a deep slumber in the dark and when I woke up I felt lighter.”, and then they launch into “April Fire” – a song chock-full of hard-hitting guitar riffs and a bass line from Raf Vorsselmans that gets your attention right away. “I’m tired of dragging my feet,” Van de Plas sings. Good heavens, weren’t we all in 2021?

“Pig” takes a swing, and connects hard, at rich elitists taking and not giving, or at least not replenishing what they’ve taken from neighborhoods and the Earth. The roaring, squealing guitars from Stef Kustermans and Dennis Van Der Auwera are like buzzing hornets you can’t escape. “Sleeping Dogs” has a bit of a proto-metal sound to it, and a good chunk of menace.

Kris Martens‘ drums on “Suspended Animation” remind me of early Genesis stuff by Phil Collins, and the rest of the song has a neat mix of prog and punk. Van de Plas’ vocals on it have some Bad Religion-like stylings, and his opening wail on “No More Mistakes” is raw fury backed with rough garage-blues guitars. The song builds to a wild frenzy that’s a bit jolting. “Mug,” I’m sure, causes a mosh pit to erupt whenever and wherever it’s played…so be careful where you blast it, or just blast it anywhere and enjoy the chaos.

“Here’s to us and all the rest. I guess we did our best,” Van de Plas sings on the heavy-hitting drinking song “Pissing in the Wind.” “Tick” is a wild, fast ride that’s just under two minutes and packs the power of a song four times longer into it. “Nothing Everything” closes the album with heavy psych riffs, suitable for journeys through deserts or infinite space.

Lighter is as heavy as they come, but it’s designed to elevate us all.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Polder Records!]

Review: Paperkraft – Not C but K

While many of his contemporaries in Japan were focusing on drum and bass and underground EDM, Paperkraft decided he was going to focus on progressive house and strive to bring it back into popularity. He’s off to a good start with his Not C but K EP.

“The Amazing Spaceman” blasts us into orbit and begs to be cranked while you’re doing a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. It will make the job of fixing that solar array go much quicker as you tap your toes inside their insulated boots to the syrupy bass and zero-gravity synths.

“Dizzy Disk” could refer to a UFO or whatever Paperkraft is spinning on his decks. It has a fun 1990s rave flair to it with the vocal sample loops and party-inducing bass riffs. Aiden Francis‘ remix of it is a nice addition.

“OK Corral” is a for-sure floor-filler. Again, Paperkraft uses vocal samples and loops to great effect and has you moving no matter where you are. Be careful with where you hear this, you might start dancing in the middle of a bus station or any other place. Aldonna‘s remix turns it into a bit of a trance track.

The EP closes with “Stella” – which is chock-full of processed drums, kitten-sneeze cymbals, and chonky cat bass lines.

The whole thing is a blast. Get in on it now!

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Harbour Music Society.]

Annie-Claude Deschênes “Phones” you with her new single.

After sharing her debut solo single “MENACE MINIMALE“ at the end of last year, Montreal based multidisciplinarity artist Annie-Claude Deschênes has announced her debut album ‘LES MANIÈRES DE TABLE’ will be released this Spring via Italians Do It Better + Bonsound. Today Deschênes is sharing the second single from the record, “PHONES”.

The track is a standard call for a restaurant reservation that turns into an anxiety attack. A reflection on the absurdity of good manners that sometimes lead us to rigidity and over-politeness. The robotic rhythms, made from interference noises and ringtones, punctuate the conversation while the repetitive bass line accentuates this hymn to alienation.

“PHONES” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1USaV5X22M
“PHONES” on other streaming services:https://idib.ffm.to/phones

As a key figure on the Montreal independent music scene for the last two decades, she has left her mark as a performer & visual artist with Duchess Says & PyPy; two bands that are renowned as much for their electrifying live shows as they are for their artistic sensibilities. Always forward, her exploratory approach takes her into uncharted territory with her debut as a solo artist. The urgency that characterises her work remains, but frustration & aggression give way to introspection & vulnerability. Driven by the endless need to create outside her comfort zone, Annie-Claude Deschênes reinvents herself once again.

Over the course of her career, Annie-Claude Deschênes shared the stage with a number of renowned bands, including The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, The Black Lips, The Hives, The Hot Snakes & Buzzcocks, among others. Her extensive touring has taken her all over the world, playing venues & festivals (Primavera Fest, Eurockéennes de Belfort, OSHEAGA, Sled Island, etc.) as well as unconventional locations like golf courses, factories & churches. Her career is punctuated by collaborative projects linking various art forms, including the co-founding of the collective Conclusion Finale, with whom she exhibits at Concordia University’s VAV gallery, the DARE-DARE diffusion center & Université Laval in Quebec City, & the production of the soundtrack for Yves St-Laurent’s Los Angeles fashion show with PyPy. Winner of the 2022 cohort of the PHI NORD program, she was awarded a two-week immersive creative residency, during which her songs transformed into a tangible debut album titled ‘LES MANIÈRES DE TABLE’ due in Spring.

See Annie-Claude Deschênes live:
April 26 – PHI Centre, Montreal, QC
May 2 – Club Saw, Ottawa, ON
May 10 – CEM, Chicoutimi, QC
May 11 – Pantoum, Québec, QC

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Rewind Review: Deap Vally – Marriage (2021)

“Being in a band is like being in a marriage: sometimes it’s magical, sometimes it’s unbearably challenging.”

That’s from the notes on Deap Vally‘s Bandcamp page for their third, and what appears to be final album – Marriage. It was a prophetic statement in 2021 because Deap Vally are now on their farewell tour, having decided to call it quits and focus on other projects and their respective families. No worries, everyone, it’s an amicable split – judging from everything I’ve read, photos I’ve seen, and their extensive tour dates (including, it was recently announced, Levitation France in May 2024).

Marriage saw the band not only continuing their power-duo sound, but also branching out to work with other musicians and producers (as they’d done with The Flaming Lips) to stretch out the sounds they could create.

The album opens with their signature sound of roaring guitars, Julie Edwards‘ frenetic drumming, and snarling dual vocals on “Perfuction.” It has great lyrics that only Deap Vally seem to be able to write about balancing a sex life with work life, family life, and just…well, life, such as “Dirty dishes, clothes on the floor. I haven’t showered in days, and I sleep till four. Try to keep it together, but fuck it, whatever. I’m a mess, but I’m clever. So, fuck it, whatever.”

“Billions” punches rich elitists square in the mouth. “Magic Medicine” has some of Lindsey Troy‘s hottest solos on the record. “I Like Crime” brings in Jennie Vee (of Eagles of Death Metal) on bass and assisting vocals, giving the song extra thump and mysterious sensuality. “Nothing’s gonna stop me,” Troy sings on “Phoenix,” an upbeat song with a fiery edge about not letting that life-grind destroy you. “Give Me a Sign” has Deap Vally calling out for clarity. “Give me a sign to make up my mind,” they sing in perhaps the most obvious portent of their future dissolution of the band.

Troy lets her lover know he’d better be careful on “Better Run,” as she might overwhelm him. This seems like an even stronger warning when you consider the next track is titled “I’m the Master.” Edwards’ driving rhythms on it are top-notch. “High Horse” has K.T. Tunstall and Peaches joining forces with Troy and Edwards in a floor-stomper complete with Peaches putting down a rap verse. “Where Do We Go” could be another harbinger of their decision to close the Deap Vally book. “Tsunami” is a crunchy, fiery rocker (“I won’t stop till I get what’s mine!”) that I’m sure slays live. The final Deap Vally album closes with “Look Away” (with jennylee of Warpaint) and the band singing about visions of peace, relaxation, and love (“In your arms, it’s a holiday.”).

The signs were there, and now we have one last chance to see them live. I wish them all the best. They gave us three fine records, which is more than many other bands have done. Marriage is a good way to go out.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Filth Is Eternal – Find Out

Filth Is Eternal‘s Find Out is one of the grungiest, rawest, grimiest punk albums I’ve heard in years. All that’s missing from it are the words “Fuck Around and…” in front of the title, because FIE will flatten you at the first opportunity.

The album opens with ten times the rage Nirvana was playing on Bleach on the track “Half Wrong.” The soft, almost gentle hi-hat work at the beginning of “Crawl Space” is a fake. Don’t fall for it, because the heavy punch of the song is right behind it – knocking you against the ropes in the blink of an eye. “Magnetic Point” and “Cherish” have this great heavy groove to them, and the drums on “Roll Critical” are nuts. You keep thinking, “Is that just one person making all that racket?”

“Curious Thing” is, I think, a love song hidden inside a punk rager. By the time we get to “Into the Curve,” the halfway point of the album, you’re barely able to breathe…and there are still seven more tracks to go before you can rest. The second half of the record puts more emphasis and clarity on the vocals and includes some straight-up garage rock grooves. “Body Void” takes on a bit of a psychedelic touch with the drumming, and “The Gate” continues this groove into almost King Gizzard-like psych-metal. “Signal Decay,” like many songs on the album speaks to issues of gender, body acceptance, sexual attraction, the confusing world of love, and how there are many others in the same boat seeking acceptance (“I’m not alone in this lonely place.”).

“All Mother” stomps the gas (and drum) pedal and drives down the middle of the highway. “Last Exit” practically tears through a construction zone to jump an unfinished bridge over a rubble-strewn ravine. The album closes with “Loveless,” which isn’t a My Bloody Valentine cover, but is a sludgy, crushing track that leaves nothing on the table.

Seriously, this is a stunning record. Everything on it works – the growling / howling vocals, the wicked guitar riffs, the menacing bass, the explosive drums…it all works. Do not fuck around with FIE. You will find out.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: The Death Wheelers – Chaos and the Art of Motorcycle Madness

The Death Wheelers describe their sound on their Bandcamp page as “sleaze ‘n’ roll.” That’s perfect, and their newest album Chaos and the Art of Motorcycle Madness is a prime example of that sound.

Churning out a dozen instrumental stoner-doom jams (apart from some clever samples of dialogue from biker and horror films), The Death Wheelers get right down to dirty business (after the brief intro of “The Scum Always Rises to the Top”) on “Morbid Bails,” showing off deft shredding and growling bass thuds in the same track.

The voice of Scott Glenn in the movie Angles As Hard As They Come saying “I ride where I want, wear that I want, get stoned when I want,” starts off the wild, hammering “Les Mufflers Du Mal.” “Ride into the Röt (Everything Lewder Than Everything Else)” is both a fun Motörhead reference and a stoner-surf ripper (with a sample of Ernest Borgnine from The Devil’s Rain, no less).

“We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man! And we want to get loaded!” yells a young man in the film Lucifer’s Bend at the start of “Triple D (Dead, Drunk, and Depraved),” which is a quick introduction to, no surprise, “Lucifer’s Bend” – a song about the devil’s long reach. “Brain Bucket” is a fun little track about a motorcycle crash that leads into the horror-surf of “Open Road X Open Casket.”

“Motortician” is, go figure, a track about tripping out and ultimately checking out on your bike. “Interquaalude” might be the best-titled track in a long while. “Sissy Bar Strut (Nymphony 69)” is a wild psychedelic jam that fades out because it appears to have no end in sight. “Cycling for Satan Part II” takes off with all pipes open and throttles jammed forward and roars to an abrupt, distorted end.

It’s another ripping album from The Death Wheelers, who don’t need vocals. Their riffs say it all.

Keep your mind open.

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