levitation – Page 4 – 7th Level Music

Levitation Chicago artist spotlight: Gary Wilson

Gary Wilson is an experimental / avant garde musician who dropped one album in the 1970’s (You Think You Really Know Me) and a few singles in the 1980’s and then disappeared from the music scene and pretty much everything else.

He was, and still is, a major influence on Beck and even played with The Roots on The Tonight Show a few years ago. He’s enjoyed a resurgence and will be playing a rare Chicago gig at Levitation Chicago on March 10, 2016.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Chicago artist spotlight: Health

Health (Benjamin Jared Miller, Jake Duzsik, John Famiglietti, Jupiter Keyes) are a noise rock / dark wave band full of powerful drums, purposefully vague vocals, dubstep synths, and metal guitars. It’s hard to describe without hearing it, but there’s a heavy sense of danger whenever a Health song is played. It sounds like a fight is either happening or about to break out any second.

Health’s playing at Levitation Chicago on March 10, 2016. I’m sure it will be a wild set.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Chicago 2016 mixtape now available on Soundcloud.

The good folks at the Reverb Appreciation Society have hired psychedelic DJ Al Lover to put together one of his masterful mix tapes of the artists playing at Levitation Chicago next weekend.

You can stream it here on Soundcloud.

They’ve also announced they’re setting up a record store inside Thalia Hall during the festival. My wallet is already groaning in anticipated agony.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Chicago artist spotlight: Vadaat Charigim

This Israeli shoegaze trio hails from Tel Aviv and only sings in Hebrew. Don’t understand Hebrew? Neither do I, but like me you won’t care because good music is good in any language. Vadaat Charigim (“Exceptions Committee” – Yuval Haring – guitar and vocals, Yuval Guttman – drums, Dan Fabian Bloch – bass) play finely crafted shoegaze that borders on dream-rock. Their stuff reminds me of early albums from A Flock of Seagulls – lots of reverb on the vocals, spacey guitar, trippy synths, and drums that sometimes hit heavy and sometimes almost seem to disappear.

I missed them at Levitation Austin last year, but they’re playing Thursday March 10th at Levitation Chicago. I look forward to the set.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Vancouver 2016 line-up announced.

The line-up for Levitation Vancouver has been revealed, and it’s another good one.

Thee Oh Sees, Allah-Las, Com Truise, and Night Beats would all be high on my list there. I need to research a lot of these bands. One of my favorite things about the Levitation festivals is that they get bands from around the globe. I love discovering bands from Australia, South America, and Europe that I might never hear otherwise.

Keep your mind open.

Levitation Austin releases daily line-up and additions.

My favorite music festival, Levitation Austin, has released their daily line-ups and additions to the three-day music festival.

I was happy to see the return of France’s Wall of Death, psychedelic rockers Holy Wave, German electro artist Klaus Johann Grobe, and the Arcs (which lets me see one half of the Black Keys, since it’s Dan Auerbach‘s psychedelic band) on Friday.

Saturday’s additions that excite me are electro artist Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, spaghetti western rockers Federale, electro artist Bayonne, and David J and the Gentlemen Thieves – which might be the closest I ever get to a Bauhaus or Love & Rockets reunion.

Sunday has added (among others) Magic Wands and Ween to the list. I’m keen on hearing the Magic Wands, and I’m sure the Ween performance will be packed.

Single day tickets are also now available. The festival hasn’t announced who will play the Thursday night pre-festival kick-off shows downtown yet, but they’re always worth seeing.

Keep your mind open.

Levitation Vancouver dates announced

The official dates for Levitation Vancouver will be June 16-18, 2016. The shows will take place at Malkin Bowl and downtown venues. No lineup has been announced yet, but we should hear the first batch soon.

Levitation Chicago is March 10-12, 2016 and Levitation Austin, the largest of the Levitation festivals, is April 28 – March 01, 2016. All of them are excellent festivals and shouldn’t be missed.

Levitation Chicago 2016 line-up announced.

The fine folks at the Levitation Music Festival have released their show schedule (as in who is playing which dates, set times will come later) and full line-up for their Chicago festival March 10-12 at Thalia Hall. Tickets are only $95.00 (plus tax) for this three-night festival, and that’s a steal when you check out who’s playing there.

I’ll highlight the bands I’m most interested in seeing as the festival gets closer, but my must-see list is as follows:

Thursday: Vadaat Charigim, Gary Wilson, Health, Oneohtrix Point Never.

I missed Vadaat Charigim (an Israeli psychedelic band) at Levitation Austin last year, so I don’t want to miss them again. Gary Wilson is a legendary recluse and experimental music creator who is one of Beck’s biggest influences. Health create crazy electro that borders on noise rock. Oneohtrix Point Never is considered to be an ultra-hipster darling by many, but his new album is supposed to be mostly dark electro. He’s also performing at Levitation Austin in April (which I’ll also be attending), so I won’t have to check out his set there if I don’t like his set in Chicago.

Friday: Nite Fields, Blanck Mass, Ryley Walker, Lightning Bolt.

Nite Fields make fine dreamy shoe gaze that sounds like it’s from the late 1980’s. Blanck Mass is another act I missed in Austin last year and a great electro performer. Ryley Walker is an excellent guitar player, and Lightning Bolt make some of the craziest noise rock on the planet.

Saturday: Natural Information Society & Bitchin’ Bajas, Night Beats, Earthless, Chelsea Wolfe, Faust.

A great night right there. Natural Information Society & Bitchin’ Bajas team up to make cool world music-influenced psychedelia. Night Beats are one of my favorite bands, and they make great blues-dipped psych rock. I’ve seen them twice at Levitation Austin and will see them at any opportunity. Earthless blew my mind with their cosmic stoner rock in Austin two years ago, so I’m sure another set from them will be just as good. Chelsea Wolfe is a new act to me, but she makes fine dark wave music. Faust is a legendary krautrock band who has inspired many.

See you there?

Keep your mind open.