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Tag: psychedelic
Temples’ new album due March 03, 2017.
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The Flaming Lips offer great perks and a new album on PledgeMusic.
The Flaming Lips‘ new album, Oczy Mlody, will be released January 13, 2017 (the same day as lead singer Wayne Coyne’s birthday, no less), but you can pre-order it and a lot of cool stuff on the PledgeMusic page they’ve created for the album.
Some of the perks, like signed double-colored vinyl pressings, are already sold out. You can still get signed CDs (like I ordered), signed album art posters, handwritten lyric sheets, and even a DJ set by members of the band at your party!
Don’t miss out, as most if not all of these perks will sell out. The Flaming Lips have a huge, active fanbase (and rightly so) and they’ll snatch up all of this.
Keep your mind open.
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Live – Elephant Stone, the Tilt Room, One Day Steady, Paul Labrise – October 20, 2016 – Pittsburgh, PA
We made the 5-hour drive to Pittsburgh through the rain and got in a nice romantic dinner before settling in at Howlers – a local rock / dive bar in Pittsburgh to see Elephant Stone. My wife and I have been fans of theirs since we first saw them at Levitation Austin in 2013, and I was eager to hear tracks from their new album, Ship of Fools, live.
We had to wait a little while, however, because we were surprised to learn there were three bands playing before them. The first was a local hero – Paul Labrise – who played in a rock three-piece that laid down a good mix of surf, rockabilly, and garage rock.
Following them were One Day Steady – who were only on the second date of their current tour. They played loud, enthusiastic that reminded us of Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and a little bit of Red Hot Chili Peppers for good measure.
The Tilt Room were another three-piece, but this one played Americana / acoustic jams and didn’t mess around. They got on stage, blasted through a short set, and sounded good.
Elephant Stone got on stage after 11:00pm and ended up played a shorter than normal set due to the late start time. It was, nonetheless, impressive as always. This is the smallest venue in which we’ve seen them, and hearing tracks like “Andromeda,” “Manipulator,” and “The Devil’s Shelter” in such a space was uplifting. Many of the members of the other bands stuck around for their set and were impressed by their sound and efficiency.
We got to chat with Elephant Stone frontman Rishi Dhir, and it was great to finally meet him in person after a couple years of seeing them in Texas and swapping Tweets. He gave us a hug before and after their set, which was (unbeknownst to him) the best birthday gift he could’ve given my wife – as it was officially her birthday by the post-midnight end of their set. It was a fine set at that, and shame on you if you missed it. Catch them on this tour if you can.
Keep your mind open.
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It’s time to vote for the 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has released its list of candidates for the class of 2017. As usual, this list causes arguing and controversy, so I’d better throw in my two cents.
It’s an impressive list, and you can only vote for five. It also highlights what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has become – a hall of fame for rock and other genres. Country is, for the most part, left out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (and definitely in this voting class), but hip hop, R&B, soul, rap, and electro now make the cut (and there’s nothing wrong with that).
Picking five from this class is difficult, but some are easy to weed out. Let’s go through the list, shall we?
Joan Baez: She gets the first “Why isn’t she already in there?” nod. I don’t own any of her records and would be hard-pressed to name or sing any of her songs, but I do know her impact on the 1960’s folk / Americana movement was massive and second only to Nobel Prize Winner Bob Dylan’s.
Bad Brains: These punk legends broke ground for a lot of bands to come and influenced a lot of punk kids to cross racial boundaries and embrace one another (and help each other protest wrongs done to all sides).
The Cars: These (at the start of their career) oddballs showed that post-punk could be danceable and appeal to weirdos and the popular kids at the same time. They were one of the first post-punk bands to get significant airplay and bring keyboards and synths into the mainstream.
Chic: They’ve been nominated eleven times now. Why? Because they were one of the greatest disco bands of all time and pretty much laid the groundwork for hip hop. Their grooves have been sampled more times than anyone can count, and leader Nile Rogers is one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Depeche Mode: One of the greatest electro acts of the 1980’s and 1990’s. They have filled stadiums and inspired more people to buy a keyboard and a drum machine than many other bands of their ilk.
Electric Light Orchestra: The second “They’re not already in there?” nod goes to them. Their albums are lush, somewhat psychedelic masterpieces, and their live shows were legendary. Plus, Jeff Lynne is an amazing songwriter.
Janet Jackson: I’m not much into her newer material, but you can’t deny her early records produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are funky classics.
Jane’s Addiction: They deserve a nomination for being ballsy enough to make their first album a live record – and it’s still my favorite album of theirs. Plus, you have to give Perry Ferrell some credit for keeping the music festival culture alive through the lean years and helping create the large landscape of festivals today.
The J. Geils Band: They were nuts live, had impressive chops and blues swagger, and quit just as they had begun to rule the world.
Journey: I was never much into these guys, but I know a lot of people who were and still are. I can remember how a release by them was an event. Everyone I knew who was into them during their heyday went nuts with anticipation in the days before their new album hit the stores. Plus, “Don’t Stop Believin'” has become a theme for seemingly everyone on the planet by now.
Chaka Khan: I didn’t follow her much either, but her cover of Prince’s “I Feel for You” is, without question, one of my favorite songs of all time and introduced me to sampling and beat mixing when I was in middle school. I will always love her for that.
Kraftwerk: Simply put, you wouldn’t have hundreds, perhaps thousands, of bands without them, not to mention EDM.
MC5: One of Detroit’s greatest exports and one of the greatest rock bands ever, MC5 flattened audiences that were coming out of the hippie daze and ready to get raw.
Pearl Jam: You heard Ten all over the place if you were anywhere near a college campus in the early 1990’s. They’ve hung around longer than almost every other grunge band (Mudhoney might have them beat) and still pack stadiums today.
Tupac Shakur: Admittedly, I was never into Tupac Shakur or gangsta rap much, but I do acknowledge his impact on the genre, pop culture, and Hollywood, and his mic skills were off the charts.
Steppenwolf: Look at those guys. Those guys would fit in at any Levitation festival today. “Magic Carpet Ride” and “Born to Be Wild” are iconic rock classics, and so are they.
Joe Tex: A soul and disco legend. I love it when the Hall gives a nod to funky performers like Joe Tex, and especially when they give a nod to disco. Look up some of his Soul Train performances if you want to see how cool he was.
Yes: The third “Wait…What? They’re not in the Hall?” nod goes to one of the greatest prog-rock bands of all time. Their cosmic grooves still amaze today. Just listen to “Roundabout” and try to imagine writing and playing that.
The Zombies: The fourth and final “Shouldn’t they already be in there?” nod goes to these psych-rockers who have influenced everyone from Dave Grohl to the Black Angels. “Time of the Season” is one of the greatest psych-rock tracks of all time.
So, who gets my vote? Here are my choices (once again in alphabetical order):
- Chic. Again, Nile Rogers has crafted so many hits that you and I can’t keep track of them. “Le Freak” is probably their biggest hit and was secretly a slam on the band getting shut out of Studio 54 one night. The original chorus was “Aaaah…fuck off!” No joke. It laid the foundation for hip hop. Just listen to the rhythm section and you’ll hear samples from dozens of rap hits.
2. Electric Light Orchestra: My wife would probably strangle me if I didn’t vote for them because they’re one of her favorite bands, but she has no reason to worry. Jeff Lynne deserves to be in the Hall for crafting lush rockers like this.
3. Kraftwerk: You wouldn’t have another nominee, Depeche Mode, without Kraftwerk. DM would, in their right minds, walk out of the building if they were inducted before Kraftwerk. You wouldn’t have Daft Punk, Panda Bear, Caribou, and most EDM without these guys.
4. MC5: My reason for voting for the MC5 can be summed up in one question, “Have you ever heard them live?” They’re one of the first bands I’d see if I could build a time machine.
5. The Zombies: I love psych-rock, so it’s so surprise that I voted for them. I saw them at Levitation Austin in 2014 and they still sounded incredible and the whole crowd loved them.
Go cast your votes, folks.
Keep your mind open.
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Live – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Death from Above 1979, Deap Vally – October 13, 2016 – Chicago, Illinois
I knew this was a triple bill I couldn’t miss. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Death from Above 1979, and Deap Vally were playing the Chicago House of Blues all in the same night. That’s a killer lineup. Any of the three are worth seeing alone, but all three on the same night. It’s a no-brainer.
First up were Deap Vally, who I’ve wanted to see since I missed their set at Levitation Austin in 2013. They came out to a large crowd and, no exaggeration, stole the show.
They opened with “Make My Own Money” and powered through prime cuts like “Gonnawanna,” “Walk of Shame,” and “Royal Jelly.” Guitarist Lindsey Troy and fill-in drummer Lia Simone (formerly of A Place to Bury Strangers and Les Bucherettes) rocked so hard that I felt bad for DFA 1979 who were to follow them. Ms. Simone played like she’d been playing the tracks for years. It turns out she’s longtime friends with Ms. Troy and full-time drummer Julie Edwards, so Ms. Simone practically knew the chops already when she jumped behind the kit. Everyone within earshot of me was talking about their set even after the end of BRMC’s, proclaiming Ms. Troy’s “bad ass” attitude and Ms. Simone’s excellent kit work.
Death from Above 1979 were no slouches, mind you. Their crazy light show was perfect for their loud fuzz-rock. How drummer Sebastien Granger can sing lead vocals while playing those insane drum licks is a mystery to me, but he makes it look easy. Jesse Keeler wanders the stage like an enraged Rasputin and plays as heavy as the mad monk’s legend. A crazy, aggressive mosh pit broke out during their set. I got in for one song, still happy to mix it up with the youngsters.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club closed out the night and, as usual, put on a great show. “Let the Day Begin,” “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo,” “Conscience Killer,” “Red Eyes and Tears,” “Cold Wind” (a personal favorite) and “Ain’t No Easy Way” were all crowd-favorites. Any worries anyone might’ve had about drummer Leah Shapiro’s health (who underwent brain surgery in 2014 for Chiari malformations) were dashed because she unloaded on her kit like a machine gunner.
The only bummer of the set was some sort of equipment malfunction on Peter Hayes’ side of the stage. The band had to alter some of their song selection, and the broken thing (my guess is a bad monitor) apparently was never properly fixed. They closed with a winner – “Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll” – and had no encore due to the faulty gear.
It was a good rock show despite the early exit from BRMC – one of the best rock bills I’ve seen in a long while, in fact.
Keep your mind open.
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Goat – Requiem
Sweden’s voodoo-psych weirdos Goat have returned with a record that steers a bit away from their usual blend of frenetic, world music freak-outs and slows the pace. Whereas their first two records, World Music and Commune, were cosmic journeys around and sometimes into a wormhole, Requiem is a leisurely drift down the Nile in ancient times.
“Djorolen / Union of Sun and Moon” starts with birdsong as Goat’s two female lead singers give a lovely send-off to your catamaran as it pulls away from the Egyptian shore. Then, the drums, guitar, and a playful flute burst through your speakers like a bunch of minstrels running around the deck of the catamaran in a celebration of what will be a blessed journey. The lyrics speak of rejecting negativity and traveling through space and time.
“I Sing in Silence” is an instant chill-out song, with flute, guitar, and hand percussion that is perfect for our journey down the Nile as the sun warms us and an ibis glides alongside the catamaran. “Brother, I am your sister, you are my brother, we have each other,” they sing. It’s a song of inclusion desperately needed here in the U.S. this election year.
“Temple Rhythms” is appropriately named because the drums beats and handclaps at the outset will get you moving like you’re offering up a dance to appease whatever deity you worship. The song is spearheaded by flute and piano. It’s a wild track that sounds like something from a cool late 1960’s European jazz festival.
Speaking of the 1960’s, “Alarm” is 60’s psych – as evidenced by the acoustic guitar work and tripped-out percussion throughout it. “Trouble in the Streets” brings in Caribbean beats and guitar styling (and even bright, bash keyboards), again perfect for a lazy ride down an endless river. They go back to psychedelia on (no surprise) “Psychedelic Lover,” which includes Middle Eastern chants / calls to prayer.
“Goatband” is nearly eight minutes of instrumental psychedelia that reminds me of early Love and Rockets tracks with its free jazz saxophone in the background. “Try My Robe” is a great example of the “Goat sound” (if there is such a thing) – hand percussion, wicked drumbeats, female vocals, mantra bass, and crisp guitar. It flows straight into “It’s Not Me,” which sounds like something Jane’s Addiction wish they’d written (dub bass, reverbed vocals, slick drumming). It’s one of the loveliest tracks on Requiem.
“All-Seeing Eye” is probably a reference to the Illuminati or the sixth chakra. Either way, it’s a good psych instrumental and lead-in to the rocking “Goatfuzz” that hits hard for almost seven minutes and has some of the fuzziest guitar on the record. Another epic psych track is “Goodbye,” which starts with guitar that would belong in a Euro-western from the 1960’s and ends with those hypnotic beats Goat does so well, backed with body-moving bass.
“Goodbye” isn’t the last song on the record. That distinction belongs to “Ubuntu,” which ends with samples from “Dirabi,” Goat’s first track off World Music. The three albums become an ouroboros – the snake that eats itself, the wheel of reincarnation. The end is the beginning. The journey along the Nile ends with the ocean. The end opens into a new world. Requiem isn’t about death and doom. It is about exploration and embracing what lies ahead.
Keep your mind open.
Detroit’s Echo Fest sets lineup for 2016.
One night only! Detroit’s Echo Fest has announced another great lineup for the psychedelic rock festival. Returning to the newly renovated Magic Stick, Echo Fest boasts Nik Turner’s Hawkwind, Holy Wave, Wolf Eyes, Rogue Satellites, Heaven’s Gateway Drugs, Nest Egg, festival curators Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor, and many more cool bands.
It’s a great way to spend the day, so get your tickets now.
Keep your mind open.
Rewind Review: The Flaming Lips – Embryonic (2009)
The Flaming Lips (Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd, Michael Ivins, Kliph Scurlock) aren’t known for making traditional albums. One album, Zaireeka, was meant to be played on four different stereos at once while you stood in the middle and let the sounds wash over you. The Terror was a doom-psych record about dour subjects. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was a psych-pop masterpiece. Embryonic is a wild, trippy record about the illusions of reality and breaking free of them and the transmigration of souls.
“Convinced of the Hex” is loaded with poppy synths, empty swimming pool vocals, and distorted drums as lead singer Wayne Coyne sings about a woman who has seen things as they really are while Coyne wallows in illusion (“She says, ‘You think there’s a system that controls and affects. You see, I believe in nothing and you’re convinced of the hex.’”). “The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine” has Coyne wondering what it might be like to shake all illusions (“What does is mean to dream what you dream, to believe what you see?”) as the band knocks out drum and bass beats with psych-synths behind them.
“Evil” has Coyne regretting his inability to warn a friend of people who would betray him / her. “See the Leaves” is a haunting song about death and reincarnation, with heavy synth bass, haunted house guitar stabs, and industrial drums. “If” is another song about the dark side of others, and the follow-up, “Gemini Syringes,” might be about the space race, the zodiac, or both. I know it’s a lovely, trip-out tune with water drop-like drums and ice cream truck keyboards.
The zodiac is a prominent theme on the record. There are instrumentals called “Aquarius Sabotage,” “Scorpio Sword,” and “Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast.” There’s a song called “Sagittarius Silver Announcement” in which Coyne sings about being “free to be slaves to this silver machine.” Is it an actual machine? Is it Coyne’s laptop computer, and thus the World Wide Web? Is it something he saw in a vision? We may never know.
“Your Bats” is a heavily distorted song about a person’s nightmares, whereas “Powerless” is about a woman trying to convince Coyne that everything isn’t as bleak as he thinks it is. The distant feel of the song makes it seems like he’s not entirely convinced. “The Ego’s Last Stand” is another cut about destroying our illusions. Coyne sings, “The only way out is destroy all traces, oh, destroying yourself.” The bass purrs like a great cat and the song briefly explodes into fuzzy rock before settling down into a mix of birdsong, synths, and lyrics that border on beat poetry.
“I Can Be a Frog” is about a woman wondering how she might return in her next life, be it a frog, a tornado, or anything in-between. A woman (Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs no less) laughs and makes animal sounds behind Coyne’s playful vocals. You can hear him chuckling a couple times in the song. The heavy fuzz of “Worm Mountain,” and its rat-a-tat drums, is great. MGMT help out on the track, bringing additional vocals and synth grooves. The song is a reminder that death will come to all of us (“Through the mist, a bell rings clear, but the ring is just a sound of your starburn burning out.”), and we can all hope it’s this trippy and cosmic.
“The Impulse” is written from the perspective of an angel or, by the sound of Coyne’s heavily synthesized vocals, an alien (or are they one and the same?) trying to free someone from their illusion of reality, but the person would rather stress over their appearance and “shapeless urges.”
“Silver Trembling Hands” is a tale of a woman who covers up her fear and paranoia with heavy drug use. “Watching the Hands” reminds us that not all is doom and gloom as Coyne and Karen O sing that “the sun’s gonna rise and take your fears away.” The song is like a mantra with its beats and continued chants of “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.”
It’s a lovely and creepy record. Facing truth can be frightening, but the Flaming Lips remind us that the reward at the end of such a journey is freedom and peace.
Keep your mind open.
Rewind Review: Dead Meadow – Feathers (2005)
I’ve seen Dead Meadow (Steve Kille – bass, Mark Laughlin – drums, Cory Shane – guitar, Jason Simon – guitar and vocals), twice in concert – once opening for the Black Angels in 2011 and then again at Levitation Austin (when it was still known as the Austin Psych Fest) in 2014. They put on a heavy, trippy show that I enjoyed both times, so why it’s taken me so long to pick up Feathers is beyond me.
Feathers is not only heavy on riffs and percussion, but also themes of heaven, life, death, and reincarnation. “Let’s Jump In” is a great start, inviting us to jump into their heavy psych sound as they sing about springing from “the face of the Almighty” and jumping into life with both feet (often literally at our births).
The lyrics in “Such Hawks, Such Hounds” sound like something out of a Tolkien story, which isn’t a surprise since Tolkien is an admitted big influence on them. “From the boughs of the oak tree, three ravens wail over his cold bones lying as they are.” It’s a haunting story of a warrior’s death and his hawks, hounds, and maiden protecting his body from scavengers.
“Get Up On Down” is a lament about being caught in the wheel of reincarnation. “If I’m back again, I’m done after the next one,” Simon sings. The guitar work swirls around like incense smoke and builds to a soaring send-off. “Heaven” is more cosmic psych and a retelling of the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son Isaac. “At Her Open Door” is Lovecraft-like prose (“From the heights of the town her handmaids will announce her undying presence within her seven-pillared house…”) as guitars swell and fade with near-surf rock touches before smoothly cruising into Eastern Indian rock, and the drums are great all the while.
“Eyeless Gaze / Don’t Tell the Riverman” is a great example of the “Dead Meadow sound” – ethereal vocals, mantra-like cymbal work from the drummer, and breaking dawn guitar work that almost overwhelms you at times. Like early Pink Floyd? You’ll love “Stacy’s Song.” “Let It All Pass” is another dreamy psych track about fading from this life to the next (“All things in time when nothing will last. Lord, I don’t mind. Let it all pass.”).
The CD version of Feathers ends with a 13:44 untitled bonus track that is nothing but epic cosmic psychedelia. I wouldn’t be surprised if they wrote it after walking out of a sweat lodge. The guitars come at you from all angles, the solid drums keep you from floating away into the ether, and the vocals are like distant chants you hear on the wind.
It’s a spiritual record, a psychedelic record, and a bit of a haunting record. You have to be in the right mood or have the right kind of weather for it, but it’s perfect when you need it.
Keep your mind open.
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