September 2024 – 7th Level Music

Review: Blake Fleming – The Beat Fantastic

Blake Fleming, former drummer for The Mars Volta, Dazzling Killmen, and others describes himself as “too punk for jazz and too jazz for punk.” As a result, he started making whatever music he wanted, and putting out The Beat Fantastic. The notes I got on the press release for Fleming’s album said it was “a mesmerizing journey of percussion-driven psych noir.” That’s spot-on because there were many times while listening to this album that I thought it could score a film or the next time I run a Blade Runner role-playing game session.

“First Transmission” comes in with static and feedback, leaving you to wonder what kind of record this is at first. Is it just ambient noise? Industrial anger? Something you’d hear in a haunted factory attraction this time of year? Then “Desert Frame One” appears almost like magic and starts hypnotizing you with weird synths and cauldron beats that might be stirred by “The Girl with the Electric Pants” – who brings punk funk with her.

“Devolution Revolution Evolution” sounds like dwarves beating on anvils with magic hammers to craft a drum kit fit for a wizard. “Desert Frame Two” is a nice set-up for “Get Up” – a wild action sequence of a track that has Fleming crushing his kit. “Time Slip” slips into “Drum Killah,” which layers so many types of percussion that I kept losing count of them.

“Dense Jaki” slows things down a bit and adds a slight Middle Eastern rhythm to the mix. “PaleoCyberKineticism (for the MC5)” might melt your mind with its Throbbing Gristle-level throbbing synth bass, so be careful with it. The hand percussion on “Delancey Stomp” is sharp as a hundred knives, and the closer, “The Shadow Cast” sounds like a lost track from your favorite 1980s horror film.

I love good instrumental rock records, and this one is a great find.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dan from Discipline PR.]

Review: GUM / Ambrose Kenny-Smith – Ill Times

Jay Watson, otherwise known as GUM, had a lot of ideas bouncing around his head while playing with Pond and Tame Impala. He had songs that didn’t fit with either band, or even other bands in which he wasn’t jamming or touring or producing. He wanted to do something with them, but wasn’t sure how to bring them to the world.

Enter his pal Ambrose Kenny-Smith of King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard and The Murlocs, whom Watson had known since both men were teenagers. Kenny-Smith’s bluesy vocal style was just what Watson wanted, and Kenny-Smith was looking for something to work on during winter downtime between festivals and gigs.

The album, Ill Times, turned out to be a cathartic experience for both of them. Watson was finally able to get these songs out of his head, and Kenny-Smith was able to sing about the deaths of his father and a close friend. Watson brought his funky production, Kenny-Smith brought his harmonica, and they ended up making one of the best albums of the year.

The lush, brilliant psych-synths of “Dud” uplift Kenny-Smith’s lyrics about experiencing, living with, and accepting grief over the loss of his father (“Father, I bid you adieu. The man out of time. I’ll see you soon.”). The song was even written with his father and fellow musician, Broderick Smith, but the senior Smith never got to hear it since he died before the track was finished. Still, the song (and the others dealing with loss) is uplifting.

The booming, downright funky-sick title track is about getting out of dark places in your head after suffering a big loss (“What’s it gonna take to shake ya and leave it behind?”). The shiny synths of “Minor Setback” inspire you to shake off the dust and move forward after you realize you don’t have to spend energy on negativity. “Fool for You” is a song about embracing love.

The groovy bass line of “Resilience” is almost slippery, and lyrics like “You know you’re one in a million. It’d be a shame to diminish your brilliance.” continue the positive energy permeating the album. “Powertrippin'” is a fun takedown of toxic masculinity.

“Old Transistor Radio” was the first track the pair created (through back and forth direct messages, no less), and it’s a fun one full of bumping bass and bluesy harmonica riffs. The simple “Keep it simple.” lyrics of “Emu Rock” almost become a mantra. “Marionette” is a clever look at people who choose to live in negativity instead of embracing happiness that is often right in front of them (“If he had it his way, he’d be alone in a cottage, rather than swimming in the Caribbean.” / “Marionette, analyzing in a rocking chair. Marionette, reconciling with his frail conscience.”). The closing song, “The Gloater,” is another takedown of people whose overinflated egos will eventually bring them misery.

Watson and Kenny-Smith haven’t confirmed if Ill Times will be a one-off project or not, but it’s a bright gem in a pile of the literal and metaphorical coal dust all over the world if it is.

Keep your mind open.

[I might experience ill times if you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Sleepbomb release “It Was a Good Plan” from their upcoming album due January 24, 2025.

Following winter’s release of ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, Sleepbomb returns with another slab of cinematic sound – ‘The Sleeping Dead’ coming out January 24, 2025. Hear the first single from the doom-metal band, ‘It Was A Good Plan‘.

Subtitled “Excerpts from their score for George Romero’s 1968 ‘Night of the Living Dead” and based on their full length score for the film, The Sleeping Dead is an epic serving of filmic doom. Starting with the drum parts fully synchronized with the cinematic imagery, during the recording process each track was pared down to the essential character of each scene from the most influential zombie film of them all. ‘Unlike ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, we knew that the final product would not be a fully synchronized score due to rights issues and the large amount of dialogue in the film.’states Sleepbomb‘s Tim Gotch.

Sleepbomb is a San Francisco-based psychedelic doom project focused on full, original scores for genre films including the German Expressionist silent masterpieces – The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu and Metropolis. Historically a live experience, Sleepbomb has performed their scores across the West coast of the US since 2003 and now has set their sights on expanding to the East coast and the world for 2025.

Originally stylistically close to a chaotic version of Throbbing Gristle vs Black Sabbath, Sleepbomb has been exploring experimental sounds and forms, guided by the band’s love of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Coil, Neurosis, Sunn 0))), Ulver and Swans, among others. Settling on a drone influenced style of doom metal as the overarching theme while exploring other genres as appropriate for each film’s particular style, Sleepbomb’s goal is to re-contextualize the experience of these well-known films. They succeed in this goal.

Sleepbomb joined Bill Gould’s Koolarrow records and Belgium’s Consouling Sounds in 2023 for the release of their score for the classic 1920 German Expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. They are overjoyed to repeat this collaboration for their January 2025 release of The Sleeping Dead: excerpts from an alternate score for George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead!

● Charlie Hernandez: guitars
● Tim Gotch: basses, synths
● Rob Johnson: drums and percussion.
● Claire Hamard: vocals, synths, electronics

SLEEPBOMB ON SOCIALS:

Linktree Facebook Instagram Bandcamp

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dan from Discipline PR.]

Merope announce new album due November 05, 2024 with new single – “Namopi.”

Today Merope announce details of their forthcoming new album ‘Vėjula’, which is set for release on November 5^th via STROOM, and have shared new track “Namopi” featuring Laraaji and Shahzad Imsaily.

There’s a sense of spontaneity and playfulness hanging in the air around Merope’s fifth album that’s palpable from the very beginning. The duo of Lithuanian singer and kanklės player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė and guitarist/producer Bert Cools, Merope are kissed by the winds of change on ‘Vėjula’, a self-styled musical rebirth that confidently fosters their ongoing narrative. It’s their most experimental and open-minded full-length to date, spreading its arms to embrace collaborations with like-minded artists Shahzad Ismaily, Laraaji and Bill Frisell. And while ‘Vėjula’still roots itself in Lithuanian folk forms, it sprouts out spiritedly from that point into unfamiliar landscapes, muddling ancient themes with contemporary philosophies, concepts and technologies.

Following previously shared tracks “Aglala” and “Koumu Lil”, today they share “Namopi” – a collaboration with legendary American multi-instrumentalist Laraaji and the band’s old friend Shahzad Ismaily, a versatile Pakistani-American player, composer and producer who’s spent the last couple of decades traveling the world and working with artists such as Arooj Aftab, Laurie Anderson, Marc Ribot and Sam Amidon.

Together, Ismaily, Laraaji and Merope find harmony in their fusion of not-so-distant worlds. Ismaily plays moog, bass, drums and adds backing vocals that drape around Laraaji’s unmistakable zither chimes and transcendent synth bleeps, while Jurgelevičiūtė and Cools provide the track’s adhesive, conducting a modest ensemble that breathes with warmth.

Speaking on the track, Merope comment “Searching for a common ground, a place we can call home, music is a place like that.Besides playing with our dearest friend Shahzad Ismaily, we were very happy to meet Laraaji. Namopi was a beautiful first meeting.”

Listen to “Namopi feat. Laraaji & Shahzad Ismaily” on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qMdcOI9VXPE?si=mCTstg7hwRMrMp46

Merope emerged over a decade ago in 2012, hitting their stride in 2018 when they released the nocturnal ‘Naktės’.Since then, they’ve developed a considerable reputation for their whimsical fusion of folk and ambient music; their last album, ‘Salos’, released on Belgium’s STROOM imprint and recorded with Vilnius-based chamber choir Juana Muzika and conductor Vaclovas Augustinas, received universal acclaim, described by Boomkat as “effortlessly enchanting” and supported by none other than Björk.

‘Vėjula’ moves their music forward by examining its beating heart, weaving delicate instrumental sequences and ethereal vocals into a rich tapestry of subtle synth work, evocative field recordings and enigmatic processes. Dazzlingly modest, the album strips down Merope to their essence, rediscovering the joy in creation and collaboration.

‘Vėjula’ is an album that reaches into the unknown without losing its tight grip on the past. Merope are in a new creative phase of their career, and they’ve never sounded quite so universal, or so vital.

‘Vėjula’ track list:
1 Koumu Lil – stream
2 Namopi feat. Laraaji and Shahzad Ismaily stream
3 Lopšinė feat. Bill Frisell
4 Vija
5 Spindulė
6 Aglala – stream
7 O Underhill feat. Shahzad Ismaily
8 Rana

Merope live dates:
08/11 – Le Guess Who? – Utrecht, NL
20/11 – Viernulvier (Ruiskamer) – Gent (double bill with Alex Zhang Hungtai)
23/11 – Explore The North – Leeuwarden, NL
28/11 – BRAND! – Mechelen, BE
29/11 – Het Bos – Antwerpen
01/12 – Bozar – Brussel

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Katie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Review: Dummy – Free Energy

Free Energy is a good name for Dummy‘s new album, because it provides plenty of it – usually in the form of reverb and fuzz. The band also seems to have had plenty of it while making their sophomore album, as each of the band members is all over the place and playing multiple instruments throughout it.

“Intro-UB” alone features plenty of bubbling, poppy synth beats and bass, and all four members of the band (Alex Ewell, Emma Maatman, Nathan O’Dell, and Joe Trainor) are all listed on the album’s liner notes as playing synths. O’Dell and Trainor’s guitars crash into the room on “Soonish” that almost overwhelm Maatman and O’Dell’s vocals. The Jesus and Mary Chain-like roar they produce is great. “Unshaped Road” weaves and curves, carrying you along on a psych-shoegaze journey to the cosmic “Opaline Bubbletear” with dreamy saxophone by Cole Pulice.

It drifts into the 1990s synthpop-tinged “Blue Dada” and Maatman singing happy, echoing vocals over soft synths and sped-up hip hop beats. “Nullspace” takes early 2000s Garbage and mixes it with industrial guitar riffs and dub synths. Speaking of industrial guitar riffs, the ones in “Minus World” sound like they could’ve been recorded in a metal fabrication plant…and yet the vocals are so upbeat that you figure the workers there must have a great union.

The way Dummy effortlessly goes from the grinding rock of “Minus World” to the trippy psychedelia of “Dip in the Lake” is stunning. The jump back to the heavier, faster “Sudden Flutes” isn’t jarring. It feels right. “Psychic Battery” might just levitate you out of your seat. Nine Clean Nails reminds me a bit of Public Practice with its background ghost-like vocals that somehow brighten up a room. The closer, “Godspin,” feels like waking up in your car at a sea side highway rest stop after a long night of driving and seeing the ocean in the emerging daylight.

Dummy said they wanted to go in a more psychedelic direction with Free Energy, and they succeeded. The shoegaze elements are still there, so don’t worry if that’s what you’re seeking, but this new sound is lovely.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR!]

Just in time for Halloween, Motörhead to release “We Take No Prisoners” singles collection on October 25, 2024.

Back in the golden era of the single of the 1970’s and 80’s, Motörhead would regularly assault the ears of chart listeners on a Sunday afternoon with a string of hit smashes in the rock charts of the time. The single as a format may have been less prominent from the 90’s onwards due to the dawn of the CD, but that didn’t diminish the calibre of the singles and promos that Motörhead continued to release. These mostly CD singles are now rare and highly collectable, so it only feels fitting for this era of the band’s bullet belt full of hits to be reappraised and released on the format that singles were born for, 7” vinyl.

We Take No Prisoners is a collection of the bands singles spanning 1995 to 2006, and available as a nine 7” single box set and expanded double CD and digital editions. From crowd pleasers like the pummeling ‘Sacrifice’, through their unique cover of Sex Pistols, ‘God Save The Queen’ to the semi-acoustic roots vibes of ‘Whorehouse Blues’, no one could deny their song writing prowess was still second to none. With a selection of rare live and radio edits thrown in for good measure and a long lost promo interview with Lemmy and Mikkey Dee from 2004, this is a definitive collection of this era of the band and the songs that drove the success of the albums they were lifted from.

See below for full details of the We Take No Prisoners releases and be sure to visit www.iMotorhead.com for news and updates!

7” BOX SET TRACKLISTING

DISC ONE

A – Sacrifice

B – Over Your Shoulder (Live)”

DISC TWO

A – I Don’t Believe A Word

(Single Edit)*

B – Overnight Sensation (Live)”

DISC THREE

A – Love For Sale

B – Take The Blame

DISC FOUR

A – God Save The Queen

B – One More Fucking Time

DISC FIVE

A – Shut Your Mouth

B – See Me Burning

DISC SIX

A – Whorehouse Blues

B – Killers

DISC SEVEN

A – God Was Never On Your Side

B – Trigger

DISC EIGHT

A – R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

(2006 version)

B – R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Live)”

DISC NINE

A/B: Inferno Interview – Bel Age Hotel, California, April 2004”

(w/ Mikkey Dee and Lemmy)
CD EDITION TRACKLISTING
DISC ONE

1. Sacrifice
2. Order / Fade to Black
3. Over Your Shoulder (Live)
4. I Don’t Believe a Word (Single Edit)
5. Overnight Sensation (Live)
6. Love for Sale
7. Take the Blame
8. God Save the Queen
9. One More Fucking Time

DISC TWO

1. Shut Your Mouth (Single Edit)
2. See Me Burning
3. Whorehouse Blues
4. Killers
5. God Was Never on Your Side
6. Trigger
7. R.A.M.O.N.E.S.
8. Devil I Know
9. R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Live)
10. ‘Inferno’ Interview
11. ‘Inferno’ Interview – Bel Age Hotel, California, April 2004”
(w/ Mikkey Dee and Lemmy)

Pre-order here: https://motorhead.lnk.to/prisonersWE

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR!]

Review: Meatbodies – Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom

Does the cover of Meatbodies‘ new album, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom, feature a ghost tiger? A tiger made of flora? A tiger that lives in the ocean? Or in outer space? I don’t know. I do know, however, that the album is great shoegaze / psych record that made me want to see them live (coming up at Levitation 2024!) as soon as possible.

This album gives the songs time to stretch, but not to the point where you grow weary of them. The opener, “The Assignment,” is a great example. It’s a little over six minutes and is a perfect simmering pot of psychedelic tea that brews, drinks, and infuses into you for the perfect time. Groovy, solid bass builds to a burst of fuzzy tiger fur guitars. “Hole” is another six minutes-plus, and it also doesn’t waste a second of it as Meatbodies advises us to fill the holes in our hearts by letting go of what we wrongly think will fill them. The power of the guitars in it sounds like you could blast holes in concrete with it. And the synths that hit you around the 4:30 mark? Come on! It’s almost not fair.

You can imagine the meaning of “Silly Cybin,” which starts with simple acoustic guitar strumming before it hits you with crushing drums and crashing guitars. The rhythms of “Billow” will help you set sail on whatever, ahem, trip you’re taking (and the guitar solo in it is wild). “They Came Down” hits as heavy as any Ty Segall or Fuzz track.

“Move” is a great rocker that seems to have front man Chad Ubovich thinking about how his lover is moving away from him, but he’s unsure as to how to fix it (“I can count the reasons we don’t talk.”). “Criminal Minds” showcases the band’s love of early tracks from The Cure in its bassline. The growling fuzz of “ICNNVR2” is great, and instantly makes you feel like a bad ass, and the saxophone on it is a great touch that Iggy and The Stooges would love. The squall of guitars on “Psychic Garden” is a neat contract to “(Return of) Ecstasy,” which is almost a Middle Eastern-tinged trippy instrumental. The album ends with “Gate,” opening your mind to something beyond what you’re stuck in at the moment, encouraging you to escape the grind and embrace the ethereal (“Do it now. Take that spin.”).

Again, I don’t know if that’s just a green tiger or a tiger made of seaweed on the cover, but that’s kind of the point. Just flow with it. Get weird with it. Stop worrying and start experiencing.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Huntington Bank Pavilion – Chicago, IL – September 01, 2024

I hadn’t seen King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard in concert for a few years, and I’d never seen one of their three-hour marathon shows, so I jumped on a ticket for this one as soon as they went on sale late last year. That was a wise decision, because it was a sell-out of tens of thousands of Gizz fans. The line to get into the venue went all the way back to the lawn beyond the amphitheater and then doubled back upon itself.

Yes, that guy in the bottom right corner is wearing a Chicago Bears-style “Cocaine Bear” hat.

The line was mostly policed by the fans. There was no one of this far end telling people to turn around and head back for the main gate. Gizz-heads are always a happy bunch, so this camaraderie is par for the course.

As a result of the long line for entry, and the long line for merch, I missed most of the opening set by Geese, who sounded loud and somewhat prog-rock-ish from what I could hear.

The crowd was enjoying the late summer sun mixed with (finally) cooler weather, and KGATLW made sure to keep everyone on good terms by putting up this message.

They came out and fired up that pit right away with a set of tracks from Nonagon Infinity, beginning with “Robot Stomp” and then moving onto “People Vultures” and “Big Fig Wasp.”

Of course, they played some tracks from their new album, Flight b741. In fact, they played the last three tracks, “Sad Pilot,” “Rats in the Sky,” and “Daily Blues” in a row.

“You Can Be Your Silhouette” was a nice touch, and “Iron Lung” was a big crowd favorite. “Crumbling Castle” was around the halfway point of the show. The sun had set, and the wind coming off Lake Michigan was cooling off anyone not in the mosh pit by then.

So, to warm everyone, they unleashed “Hell,” “Predator X,” “Dragon,” and “Flamethrower,” igniting the mosh pit once again.

After that was an extended set of tracks from Murder of the Universe that included “Welcome to an Altered Future,” which they hadn’t played in about six years, and a wild version of “Vomit Coffin.”

Then, to mix it up further, they did a synth-jam (with four members surrounding a table covered in synthesizers, arpeggiators, sequencers, and digital audio workstations) that was supposed to close out the show.

However, they were told they had more time, so they ended with a great version of “Head On / Pill,” which delighted me since it’s from my favorite album of theirs (Float Along, Fill Your Lungs).

This show was like seeing old friends again. I’ve been a fan of theirs since 2014 when I saw them first play in the United States, and I love seeing their success and the massive fan base they’ve built. Long live King Gizz.

Keep your mind open.

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