7th Level Music

Rewind Review: For the Love of House (2006)

I picked up this delightful three-disc house music compilation at Reckless Records in London last year for a mere two pounds. As the cover reads, it’s forty-five tracks. You could just put any of these into a DJ set and walk away for a little while.

Each of the discs has plenty of outstanding tracks on it. Disc One, for example, has a lovely mix of Ron Hall and The Muthafunkaz‘ “The Way You Love Me” with Marc Evans on vocals. Paul Johnson‘s “Get Get Down” is a lot of fun. Kathy Brown‘s “Don’t Give Up” is pure house bliss, as is the ’98 mix of Maw‘s “To Be in Love.” Soulsearcher‘s “Can’t Get Enough” is a house classic and not to be missed.

Disco Two starts off with six straight bangers: Bob Sinclair‘s “I Feel for You,” Powerhouse‘s “What You Need,” A.T.F.C.‘s “Bad Habit,” Sandy Rivera‘s ” I Can’t Stop,” and Knee Deep‘s “Good for Da Hole” and “I”ll Be There For You.” Soul Rebels‘ “I’ll Be Good,” with the great Lisa Millet on vocals, is a for-sure floor-filler.

Disc Three gets thumping right away with Junior Jack‘s “Stupidisco.” “Believe” by Ministers De La Funk (with Jocelyn Brown on vocals) brings a bit of gospel flair to the mix, which is always welcome in house music. M‘s “So Fly” is killer, full of fun raps and retro video game bleeps backed with a solid dance beat. Timmy Vegas & Andy Daniell‘s “Disco Shit” is the shit. The early 90’s rave vibe of it is top-notch. Martin Solveig‘s “Rocking Music” gets your attention and doesn’t let go of it. Mood II Swing‘s “Can’t Get Away” is a good example of a house music staple – songs about how you sometimes can’t quit love that’s great in some ways but bad in others.

This compilation is well worth finding if you can.

Keep your mind open.

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Mr. Bungle announces 2024 U.S. tour dates.

Mr. Bungle continue to extend their 2024 world tour, adding headlining dates to cities the band has not visited since the turn of the millennium, with newly announced performances now also slated for the Southeastern and Midwestern U.S.:

May 6 Dallas, TX House of Blues

May 7 Austin, TX Emo’s

May 8 Houston, TX House of Blues

May 11 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle

May 12 Raleigh, NC The Ritz

May 14 Nashville, TN Brooklyn Bowl

May 15 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room

May 19 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue

Tickets are on-sale this Friday, Jan. 26 at 10 am local time. Ipecac alum, Otto Von Schirach opens on all headlining dates. Ticketing links are available at Ipecac.com/tours.

Full list of Mr. Bungle tour dates:

February 28 Tokyo, JP Toyosu Pit

February 29 Osaka, JP Namba Hatch

March 3 Auckland, NZ Auckland Town Hall +

March 6 Melbourne, AUS Festival Hall +

March 7 Adelaide, AUS Hindley Street Music Hall +

March 9 Sydney, AUS Hordern Pavilion +

March 10 Brisbane, AUS Fortitude Music Hall +

March 12 Perth, AUS Metro City +

May 6 Dallas, TX House of Blues #

May 7 Austin, TX Emo’s #

May 8 Houston, TX House of Blues #

May 10 Daytona Beach, FL Welcome to Rockville

May 11 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle #

May 12 Raleigh, NC The Ritz #

May 14 Nashville, TN Brooklyn Bowl #

May 15 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room #

May 17 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple

May 18 Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Metal Fest

May 19 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue #

June 16 Zurich, CH X-Tra %

June 17 Milan, IT Magnolia %

June 19 Berlin, DE Huxley’s %

June 20 Copenhagen, DK Copenhell

June 23 Luxembourg Atelier %

June 24 Tilburg, NL 013 Poppodium %

June 27 Oslo, NO Tons of Rock

June 29 Clisson, FR Hellfest

+ with Melvins

% with Oxbow & Spotlights

# with Otto Von Schirach

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Monica at Speakeasy PR.]

Review: Claudio Simonetti – Demons soundtrack (2023 reissue)

I picked this up the night I saw Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin play this score live to a screening of Demons (properly known as Demoni) in Chicago last year. The film is nuts, to put it mildly, and the score is a wild synthwave ride into dark places and crazy action sequences.

“Demon” starts us off with throbbing synth-bass to set the tone for what’s going to be a weird experience, and “Cruel Demon” is like a discovering a snake has slithered into the room and leads us into “Killing.” There’s plenty of that in the film, so it’s only appropriate that there’s a song called this. Heck, Lamberto Bava and Dario Argento, the creators of the film, could’ve just called it Killing. The song has neat orchestral synths mixed with electro-drums and metal guitar solos.

“The Evil One” is, appropriately, the creepiest tune on the entire soundtrack, with heartbeat beats and sinister synths to give you chills. “Out of Time” begins with violins and then switches to almost vaporwave sounds straight out of an early 1980s shopping mall. It’s wonderfully weird.

The Rustblade edition of the score is full of bonus tracks. The CD version is two discs. Disc One has two demo versions of the title track and one of “Killing,” a 2002 live version of “Demon,” a Simonetti Horror Project version of it from 1990, and, best of all the previously unreleased “Demon’s Lounge,” which, yes, is a lounge version of the title track. It’s amazing. I’d love a whole album of stuff like this from Simonetti.

Disc Two is all remixes by various artists, with only one by the Simonetti Horror Project. OHGR first remixes “Demons,” then Cervello Elettronico provides a cool industrial version of “Cruel Demon.” Simulakrum Lab gets you to to the dance floor with their remix of “Killing.” The Devil and The Universe remix “Threat” into something you’d hear while Jason Vorhees is pursuing you through a late night dance club.

:Bahntier// turns “The Evil One” into a full-out rave classic. Needle Sharing sees that and raises a drum and bass remix of “Out of Time.” Leæther Strip‘s remix of “Demons” adds more industrial throbs and grit to Simonetti’s original track. Chris Alexander gets creepy on his remix of “Killing,” and Creature from the Black goes all-out dance club mix on “Demon.” Dope Star Inc. slows things down on their remix of “Killing,” turning it into a stalking machine. Finally, the Simonetti Horror Project version of “Demon” pumps up the jams with hip hop beats and cool synth flairs to round out the second disc with a remix that is, I dare say, fun.

It’s a classic score for a wild horror film, and a must for fans of such stuff.

Keep your mind open.

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Paperkraft brings progressive house music back to the forefront on his upcoming EP.

Bubbling beneath the surface of Japan’s emerging underground scenes, Osaka based artist Paperkraft has passionately developed his craft, immersing himself in the culture and championing a new wave of Japanese artists. With the rise of genres like UKG & bass in neighboring cities like Kyoto – it’s the progressive and house movement Paperkraft is concerned about. Although more niche in his native city, developing a sustainable scene and championing the sounds he loves is the ultimate goal.

“UK Garage and other types of bass music music are thriving in Japan. I think the number of DJs of the younger generation has also increased.On the other hand, modern progressive house and liquid house music is a smaller scene. At least, no one around me is making similar music, so I would be happy if I could help bring some of it to Japan.”

First introduced to HOMAGE through friend and breakthrough producer Stones Taro, Paperkraft referenced releases like Aldonna’s Morph EP as the catalyst to send his demos, and who subsequently remixed ‘OK Corral’ on his forthcoming EP Not C But K.

Breakthrough tracks’ like Papekrafts’ ‘Dimple’ which was released by HearThug’s Are You Alien label gathered large support, and made a special appearance on Manami’s Boiler Room Debut; laying the foundations for tracks like ‘OK Corral’ to take shape. The infectious vocal sample coupled with jam-like riffs give off the vibe that it was done in one take in an act of pure enthusiasm, with that same energy lending itself to the dancefloor. Aldonna’s remix adds a balearic and emotive touch, while tracks like ‘Stella’ use a left leaning approach, perfect for low capacity clubs and sweaty, dimly-lighted rooms. Aiden Francis lends his signature sound to the remix of ‘Dizzy Disks’, with elements of breakbeat, trance and electro, showing why labels and clubgoers rate him so highly.

FORTHCOMING FEBRUARY 16TH.

PRE-ORDER

FEATURING REMIXES FROM ALDONNA & AIDEN FRANCIS.

PREVIEW

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Harbour Music Society.]

VR SEX’s new single, “Real Doll Time,” is now here for your real enjoyment.

Following 2022’s Rough Dimension LP, Noel Skum– aka Andrew Clinco of Drab Majesty– made the radical leap of expanding his psychedelic post-punk vehicle VR SEX into a fully collaborative five-piece band. Hard Copy is the result– 10 tracks of sneering psychedelic punk streaked with Chrome-damaged freak-outs and snotty power pop harmonies chronicling sex doll love affairs and glue-sniffing fatales and is due out March 22nd via Dais Records. To mark the announcement, the band are sharing the first single from the record “Real Doll Time“.

Listen / share “Real Doll Time” on YouTube.

To christen the new group’s camaraderie of becoming a five-piece band, VR SEX booked a block of studio time in Glassell Park, swapped skeletal iPhone demos, and “did that classic thing of a band making the exact record they want without any interference.” Working 12-hour days, they banged out the basics in a week, then tracked the rest over a month, fine-tuning it with flourishes, FX, and amplifier experiments.

Mixed by guitarist Mike Kriebel– an accomplished engineer with dozens of credits across the punk, goth, and garage underground– the album is dense, rich, and spatial, spurred by Clinco’s muse of “reckless abandon.” Shadows of Chrome, Stickmen With Rayguns, Japanese psych, and loud-quiet-loud grunge anthems flicker here and there, but ultimately VR SEX’s mode is more sardonic and saturated, oscillating between ripped leather riffing and space echo meltdowns. Banning plug-ins was a mission statement, with most instruments tracked direct into the board, then guitars added via a daisy chain of amplifiers, panned and mixed and matched for maximum intoxication: “My goal is always to load up every take with as much sound as possible in one pass.”

Lyrically, the record revisits the project’s perennial fascinations: twisted lust, cheap thrills, dirty money, doomed delinquents, and ruined romance amid the creeps and cracked dreamers of gritty city voids. The title refers to the uncanny valley between “facsimile and the real thing, and the illusion that one is better than the other – when both come with their own menu of delights and demonic pleasures.” Hard Copy embraces extremes and outliers, delusion and perversion, the conflicted dimensional depths lurking in every exploded heart: “I can be ugly / I can be strong / I can be proper / I can be wrong / I can be lovely / or I can be gone / the thing that will haunt you is still hanging on.”

Pre-order Hard Copy here and look for more news + music from VR SEX soon.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Stephanie at Another / Side.]

Nick Schofield returns with a “Picture Perfect” single.

Distant piano, vintage synths and faded orchestral arrangements resounding in spacious natural reverb. Nick Schofield’s Ambient Ensemble sees the Canadian composer and synth maven expanding his solo practice with an ensemble, adding his signature ambient essence to contemporary-classical and electronic music.

Where his previous two albums (Water Sine, Glass Gallery) were entirely solo endeavours and synth-focused, Ambient Ensemble invites gregarious group play. The compositions feature a chamber ensemble of grounding double bass and sliding fretless flourishes, warm violin and soothing vocals, with convivial accents of clarinet. Compelled by natural elements and intuitive composition, Ambient Ensemble is a refreshing assembly of acoustic works by Nick Schofield.

In January 2020, the album began with patient piano improvisations recorded in a church during deep Canadian winter nights. The sparse piano sketches were then slowed to half-speed and layered with classic Moog and Juno-6 synthesizers. After the project received funding from the Canada Council for the Arts in 2023, the ensemble was formed with luminaries of the Gatineau/Ottawa music scene, featuring Yolande Laroche (voice, clarinet), Mika Posen (violin) and Philippe Charbonneau (fretless electric bass, double bass).

Citing the blissful spaciousness of pioneering new age flutist Joanna Brouk as a central inspiration, Ambient Ensemble lands delicately within the contemporary cannon alongside artists like M. Sage, Blue Lake, Ana Roxanne, and Joseph Shabason.

Regarding his newest single, “Picture Perfect,” Schofield says: “Picture Perfect is my most upbeat ambient song. It features pulsing piano, sparkling synths and swelling string arrangements – all recorded in a church with naturally resounding reverb.

The song is about envisioning perfection, while also recognizing the perfection of the present moment.

This piece shows the trajectory of my music, from working solo with synthesizers to incorporating acoustic instruments with an ensemble.

I wanted to work with acoustic instruments and an ensemble of musicians after hosting a concert series at Resonance Cafe in Montreal (which is sadly now closed) from 2018-2020 called Ambient Ensemble where I invited small ensembles of local musicians to improvise over my ambient music. It was beautiful and playful, full of serene surprises. The series featured so many amazing musicians – I was joined by label-mates Pietro Amato, Michael Feuerstack and Sarah Pagé, as well as Thanya Iyer, Austin Tufts, Eve Parker Finley, Sean Michaels, Alexei Perry Cox, Desert Bloom, Adam Kinner, Sarah Feldman, Justin Wright and many more. This new album is my way to produce the ‘Ambient Ensemble’ concert series on record. I am in love with how the album turned out because it is equally playful, serene and full of surprises that I would have never come up with on my own – just like the concert series.“

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Gabriel at Clandestine Label Services.]

Review: Melody Fields – 1991

I’m not sure if calling Melody Fields‘ 1991 album a “companion piece” to their 1901 album is correct. It feels more link a continuation of 1901, or perhaps a better world is a transformation of it, not unlike the flower on 1991‘s cover opening to reveal things previously hidden.

1991 also has plenty of guest collaborators, whereas 1901 was all Melody Fields all of the time. The opening track, “Hallelujah,” (a remix / re-edit / re-imagining of “Jesus” from 1901) is a spaced out team-up with Snake Bunker. “Blasphemy” is a wall of My Bloody Valentine-inspired sound – beautiful, loud, and somewhat intimidating. Psych-DJ Al Lover teams up with Melody Fields on “Jesus Lover,” bringing up the drum beats and bass to turn “Jesus” into a dance track.

“Dandelion” rolls along like a cool van painted with some kind of wild ancient warrior artwork on the side. You can envision warm wind whipping through your hair, perhaps with a dandelion tucked behind one ear, as you drive out to a coastal music festival. Human Language joins Melody Fields, appropriately on “Talking with Jesus.” They slow down “Jesus” almost to a crawl, turning it into a dark wave track that beckons you from behind a curtain at the back of a weird store is some forgotten rust belt town.

The bold guitars on “Diary of a Young Man” bring images of dusty ghost towns to mind…and then it suddenly hits you with vocals that could be from an actual ghost for all I know. Get your incense ready for “Bhagavana Najika Cha,” because it might lift you off the ground, and the closer, “Son of Man” (guest-starring fellow Swedish psych-giants GOAT), keeps you afloat until after the album is done.

It’s a neat record that shows off Melody Fields’ different music influences, loves, and talents. Where else are you going to hear a record that blends psychedelia, dark wave, and dance grooves?

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll sing your praises if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Melody Fields!]

Ethnic Heritage Ensemble’s new album is due in March, but you can hear “Compared to What” from it now.

Today, Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, in conjunction with the legendary group’s 50th anniversary, announces its new album, Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit, out March 8th, 2024 via Spiritmuse Records, and shares lead single, “Compared To What.” In addition, the ensemble announces their 50th annual February North American Tour in honor of Black History Month.

Open Me is a joyous honoring of portent new directions of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble; it’s a visionary journey into deep roots and future routes, channeling traditions old and new. It mixes El’Zabar’s original compositions with timeless classics by Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, and Eugene McDaniels. Thus, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble continues affirming their indelible, half-century presence within the continuum of Great Black Music.

The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble (EHE) constantly shifts gears and tempos in a jazz-blues continuum, in perpetual spontaneity, and “Compared To What” is a powerful statement on their incomparable sound. It’s a deeply funky read of Eugene McDaniel’s eternal protest song first recorded by Robert Flack, and later, Les McCann and Eddie Harris. Featuring vocals and kalimba by El’Zabar, backed by bassist Alex Harding, the EHE’s “Compared To What” is 8 minutes of contemplative, dynamic rhythms combined with El’Zabar’s deep captivating vocals, and accompanying horn and string cacophony that tunes the listener to their higher consciousness.

“Compared To What’ was my father, Clifton Blackburn Sr’s favorite tune,” says El’Zabar. “On Saturdays he would play jazz all day, and later in the evening, he would scat, sing rhythms, and then he and I would improvise together on the grooves that he taught me. It was all ‘Compared to What.’”

Watch Video for “Compared To What”

Open Me, El’Zabar’s sixth collaboration with Spiritmuse in five years, marks another entry in a run of critically acclaimed recordings that stretch back to the first EHE recording in 1981. The storied multi-percussionist, composer, fashion designer, and former Chair of the Association of Creative Musicians (AACM) is in what might be the most productive form of his career, and now in his seventies, shows no signs of slowing down. Few creative music units can boast such longevity, and fewer still are touring as energetically and recording with the verve of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble.

The EHE was founded by El’Zabar in 1974 originally as a quintet, but was soon paired down to its classic form — a trio, featuring El’Zabar on multi-percussion and voice, plus two horns. It was an unusual format, even by the standards of the outward-bound musicians of the AACM: “Some people literally laughed at our unorthodox instrumentation and approach. We were considered even stranger than most AACM bands at the time. I knew in my heart though that that this band had legs, and that my concept was based on logic as it pertains to the history of Great Black Music, i.e. a strong rhythmic foundation, innovative harmonics and counterpoint, well-balanced interplay and cacophony amongst the players, strong individual soloist, highly developed and studied ensemble dynamics, an in-depth grasp of music history, originality, fearlessness, and deep spirituality.”

With El’Zabar at the helm, the band’s line-up has always been open to changes, and over the years the EHE has welcomed dozens of revered musicians including Light Henry Huff, Kalaparusha Maurice Macintyre, Joseph Bowie, Hamiett Bluiett, and Craig Harris. The current line-up has been consolidated over two decades — trumpeter Corey Wilkes entered the circle twenty years ago, while baritone sax player Alex Harding joined seven years ago, after having played with El’Zabar since the early 2000s in groups such as Joseph Bowie’s Defunkt.

For Open Me, El’Zabar has chosen to push the sound of the EHE in a new direction by adding string instruments — cello, played by Ishmael Ali, and violin/viola played byJames Sanders. The addition of strings opens new textural resonances and timbral dimensions in the Ensemble’s sound, linking the work to the tradition of improvising violin and cello from Ray Nance to Billy Bang, Leroy Jenkins, and Abdul Wadud.

Open Me contains a mixture of originals, including some El’Zabar evergreens such as “Barundi,” “Hang Tuff,” “Ornette,” and “Great Black Music” (often attributed to the Art Ensemble of Chicago but is, in fact, an El’Zabar composition). There are also numbers drawn from the modern tradition, which El’Zabar uniquely arranges, including a contemplative interpretation of Miles Davis’ “All Blues.” As a milestone anniversary celebration and a statement of future intent, Open Me effortlessly carries El’Zabar’s healing vision of Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit.

Pre-order Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit Tracklist
1. All Blues
2. Barundi
3. The Whole World
4. Return Of The Lost Tribe
5. Hang Tuff
6. Can You Find A Place
7. Great Black Music
8. Passion Dance
9. Ornette
10. Compared To What
11. Kari
12. Open Me

Ethnic Heritage Ensemble 2024 Tour Dates:

Thu. Feb. 1 – Chicago, IL @ The Promontory
Sat. Feb. 3 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blue Llama
Tue. Feb. 6 – Washington, DC @ Rhizome
Wed. Feb. 7 – Philadelphia, PA @ Solar Myth
Sat. Feb. 10 – Baltimore, MD @ An die Musik
Sun. Feb. 11 – Erie, PA @ City Gallery
Mon. Feb. 12 – Rochester, NY @ Bop Shop
Tue. Feb. 13 – Burlington, VT @ Radio Bean
Wed. Feb. 14 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rosa
Fri. Feb. 16 – Toronto, ON @ Caliban Arts @ Redwood Theatre
Sat. Feb. 17 – Detroit, MI @ N’Namdi Center For Contemporary Art
Sun. Feb. 18 – Madison, WI @ Cafe Coda
Fri. Feb. 23 – Portland, OR @ PDX Jazz Festival
Sun. Feb. 25 – Santa Monica, CA @ First Presbyterian Church (Jacaranda Performance Series)
Mon. Feb. 26 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Yard Act release new single, “Petroleum,” from upcoming “Where’s My Utopia?” album.

Today, Yard Act present their new single, “Petroleum,” another taste of their forthcoming second album, Where’s My Utopia?, out March 1st on Republic. The accompanying “Petroleum” video is a continuation of the prior James Slater-directed videos for “Dream Job” and “The Trench Coat Museum,” and stars friend of the band, comedian and creator of Starstruck, Rose Matafeo.

“Petroleum” lives on the second half of Where’s My Utopia?, which simultaneously contains some of Yard Act’s most grimly real and fantastically optimistic narratives yet. It was written after a touring nadir. “I lost it with the crowd in Bognor Regis and told them I was bored and I didn’t want to be there,” Yard Act’s frontman James Smith recalls. “Me and Ryan [Needham] had a row after, and Ryan rightly dressed me down for the way I acted. It got me pondering the idea that, now this is a job, what are the requirements of it? People think they want honesty but they don’t, they want me to portray the version of honesty that they’ve paid to see and that’s part of the illusion.”

Speaking about the ‘Petroleum’ video, Smith says: “‘Petroleum’ finds The Visitor as she stumbles into the hideout of a fearsome Biker gang called The Utopians. She’s still on the run from the H.G.E agents. It was a lot of fun shooting this video, and a joy to watch our friend Rose Matafeo bring the leader of The Utopians to life. Though the story isn’t being told in a linear format, I hope that the journey of The Visitor through the last three videos is starting to come together and reveal that we’re working on something bigger here. More to come!”

Rose Matafeo added: “I screen most of my phone calls, but when the phone flashes up ‘JAMES YARD ACT’ you’re gonna pick that up straight away. To feature in a Yard Act video has been on my bucket list ever since I added it to my bucket list after they asked me so I could have the satisfaction of crossing it off my bucket list. The overall vision for this album is so creatively ambitious and fun and cool and I’m so stoked to even be a little part of it. Sorry for my bad accent. Not sorry for the line dancing.”

Watch Yard Act’s “Petroleum” Video

Where’s My Utopia? follows Yard Act’s Mercury Prize shortlisted debut The Overload, “a debut album bursting with character” (Uncut), and was co-produced by Yard Act and Gorillaz member Remi Kabaka Jr. Written in snapshots of time in the midst of touring, the album is a giant leap forward into broad and playful new sonic waters, sprinkled with strings, choirs, and voice-acting clips courtesy of comedian pals Nish Kumar, Rose Matafeo, and more. Where’s My Utopia? is a communal four-way effort built on chemistry, familiarity and the trust to challenge and push each other creatively. “The main reason that ‘post-punk’ was the vehicle for Album One was because it was really affordable to do, but we always liked so much other music and this time we’ve had the confidence to embrace it,” James explains.

It’s a celebratory palette upon which Smith allowed himself to reach lyrically deeper into himself than ever. Gone, largely, are the outward-facing character studies of yore, replaced with a set of songs that stare fully into the headlights of life, wrangling with the frontman’s own fears and foibles to create a sort of Promethean narrative – but with jokes. This dueling sense of responsibility and ambition, guilt, love, drive and everything in between forms the narrative backbone of Where’s My Utopia?, Yard Act’s brilliantly exploratory second album. “You can commit to the idea that we’re just animals who eat and fuck and then we die, and that’s fine,” Smith suggests. “But for me, creativity always seems to be the best way of articulating the absolute minefield of what human existence is.”

Next year, Yard Act will embark on a tour of North America, Europe and the UK, including a hometown headline show at the 5,750 capacity Millennium Square Leeds. A full list of tour dates is below, and tickets are on sale now.

Pre-order Where’s My Utopia?

Watch “Dream Job” Video

Watch “The Trench Coat Museum” Video

Yard Act Tour Dates

Wed. Mar. 13 – Norwich, UK @ The Nick Rayns LCR (UEA)
Thu. Mar. 14 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
Fri. Mar. 15 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy
Sat. Mar. 16 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
Sun. Mar. 17 – Newcastle, UK @ Northumbria University
Tue. Mar. 19 – Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
Wed. Mar. 20 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
Fri. Mar. 22 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory
Sat. Mar. 23 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
Mon. Mar. 25 – Brighton, UK @ The Dome
Wed. Mar. 27 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
Thu. Apr. 4 – Nantes, FR @ Stereolux
Fri. Apr. 5 – Paris, FR @ Cabaret Sauvage
Sat. Apr. 6 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey
Mon. Apr. 8 – Lisbon, PT @ LAV
Tue. Apr. 9 – Madrid, ES @ Mon
Thu. Apr. 11 – Barcelona, ES @ La 2
Fri. Apr. 12 – Lyon, FR @ Le Transbordeur
Sat. Apr. 13 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv Club
Sun. Apr. 14 – Milan, IT @ Santeria Toscana 31
Tue. Apr. 16 – Zurich, CH @ Mascotte
Wed. Apr. 17 – Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
Thu. Apr. 18 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
Sat. Apr. 20 – Stockholm, SE @ Slaktkyrkan
Wed. Apr. 24 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich
Thu. Apr. 25 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Main Hall
Fri. Apr. 26 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
Sat. Apr. 27 – Cologne, DE @ Kantine
Sun. Apr. 28 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique
Thu. May 30 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
Fri. May 31 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater
Sat. Jun. 1 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriet’s
Mon. Jun. 3 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium
Tue. Jun. 4 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
Thu. Jun. 6 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Fri. Jun. 7 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
Sat. Jun. 8 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Sat. Aug. 3 – Leeds, UK @ Millenium Square

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Meatbodies announce new, almost lost album and a new single – “Hole.”

Meatbodies’ latest undertaking and borderline lost album, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom is their most varied and realized work to date. It’s a melodic, hook filled rock epic in which frontman and lead guitarist Chad Ubovich faces the trials of sobriety, redemption, reinvention while literally, learning to walk and play again.

Resurrection not only accompanies the record, but its production as well, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom examines themes surrounding love and loss, escapism, defeatism, hedonism, psychedelics and much more. “The last record was more of a cartoon version of who we were– simple and fun without delving into heavy concepts,” recalls Ubovich. “The whole thing before with Meatbodies was never sit down, next part, next part, but I wanted to make something with more depth. After everything that had happened, and my personal life, I was left with this feeling of emptiness and loss. So I wanted to make music that was absent from things– songs that were more about conveying feeling.”

March 8th of next year, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom finally sees its release via In The Red. Its lead single and video “Hole,” released today, is pure alternative rock sweetness and clearly a nod to an amalgamation of shoegaze juggernauts from yesteryear. Backed by a brand-new video by Matt Yoka, “Hole” is immediate, dosed with enough pop and psilocybin to appease fans of both heavy rock and a quality melody. “That was one of the first songs I wrote, and I think it’s really indicative of that time,” says Ubovich. “How I was thinking and feeling and what I wanted to accomplish with this LP before I even knew it.”

Watch / Share “Hole” (Official Music Video)

By 2017, Meatbodies’ Ubovich had reached a crossroads. After years of increasingly insane shows playing to heaving crowds with an ever-evolving and rotating door of personnel, fatigue had taken its toll and he realized another change was on the horizon. “It was like the car had run out of gas in the middle of the road, and I knew I had a long walk ahead of me.” Retreating to the seedy Los Angeles underbelly– in search of meaning and a reset. Ubovich escaped into that world, ignoring his own well being, trying to forget his successes. “I was living like a 90’s vampire out of a comic book. Stumbling around LA with the socialites, partying away my sorrows, trying to forget.”

It was at this point that Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom began to take shape—a project built by a man searching for new beginnings and his own sense of self. After sobering up, writing sessions began at Ubovich’s home and various studios with longtime collaborator Dylan Fujioka. Eventually, the official production for Flora began in 2019, but it was a story left on the editing table. Due to discrepancies with the studio, tensions were high and the plug was pulled. Left with an album only half baked, it seemed like Flora had been put to rest. After the fires cooled and many discussions about the future of the album. Ubovich finally got the green light to finish production for Flora in 2020 when he hit another snag– the pandemic. And as the world took a back seat, so did the idea of Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom.

Not wanting to sit still at home, Ubovich began to comb through his previous demos with Fujioka while writing for Flora. And with that, 333 was born, the now de facto third Meatbodies LP. Yet Flora was never far from Ubovich’s mind and once again he revisited the idea of completing the now fabled album. As restrictions started to lift, Ubovich headed to Gold Diggers Sound in Los Angeles, backed by engineer Ed McEntee and a team of colleagues and friends, Ubovich completed the final act to the album, but he still wasn’t quite out of the woods just yet. He now faced a new crisis, one that proved to be more terrifying than any before: his home that he had spent the last 8 years in had been deemed uninhabitable and he wound up in a hospital bed where he spent the next month of his life.

Having to not only learn to walk again but also learn to play again, Ubovich used an upcoming tour with his band FUZZ as a motivating factor and hit the road for a year trying to regain a sense of normalcy. By the time Ubovich returned from tour he was centered and energized, ready to conquer his white whale – Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom. The mission was finally a success. Armed with a new home and a new studio – The Secret Garden, Ubovich mixed the album himself, looped in Brian Lucey at Magic Garden to handle mastering, and Flora was completed, five years after those fateful demos with Fujioka. “A lot happened with this record – it took me five years, I was out of a band, I had a drug problem, the album almost didn’t happen, the pandemic made it almost not happen again, and then in the end I almost died in the hospital, lost my house, and had to learn to walk again. It’s been quite a road, but I could not be more thrilled with the final output. I guess the juice was worth the squeeze?” laughs the Meatbodies frontman.

And so here we are, with Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom, an album completed by an ironclad will and steely determination. A massive step forward, both by conventional standards and considering its tumultuous path toward completion, the album is set for release. The LP recalls the searing Blue Cheer-meets-Iggy Pop-with-psychedelia that permeated previous releases, but adds new elements of shoegaze, classic alternative, Britpop, drone, and hints of country—blazing trails without ever sounding forced or alien. Simultaneously an ode to ’80s LA punk and the rise of indie/alternative music in the U.K., Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom plays like a radio station broadcasting from the void, with a cosmic playlist of early Pink Floyd, Ramones, Roky Erickson, Kinks, and Spacemen 3. And while those names may seem outwardly disparate, Ubovich crafts a distinctively Meatbodies arc among the songs, creating an eclectic and unmistakably cohesive piece of work in total. It all adds up to an effort that shows strength in its diversity, which is only secondary to its impeccable songwriting.

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[Thanks to Bailey at Another Side.]