Tag: reviews

My top 25 live shows of 2016 – #’s 25-21.

I had a blast at live shows this year, seeing nearly 50 different bands.  I hope I can match or beat that in 2017.  I’m going to highlight the top 50% of the bunch, five at a time.

#25 – Imarhan at Levitation Austin April 29th.

Levitation Austin always brings in at least one Tuareg artist, and Imarhan played a packed house at the Empire in downtown Austin.  It was early in their first U.S. tour and they put on a fine show of uplifting music.

#24 – Gourisankar and Indrajit Banerjee at Levitation Austin May 1st.

These two maestros of their respective instruments (Gourisankar on tabla and Indrajit Banerjee on sitar) wowed the crowd at the Stoop Inn.  My wife and I were right in front and their energy had us and the whole crowd buzzing.

#23 – The Blind Owls at Levitation Austin April 28th.

They were the first band we saw at Levitation Austin in 2016, and they had to play an abbreviated set due to showing up a bit late (Thanks, Austin traffic.).  As a result, they played a wham-bam-thank you ma’am set of all their rockers.  They threw down the gauntlet early.

#22 – Bleached at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, Ohio October 21st.

They were a blast, the venue was great, and the crowd was appreciative.  They were even better live than I thought they would be and friendly to anyone who stopped by their merch table after their set.

#21 – Night Beats at Levitation Austin April 28th.

I saw Night Beats three times in 2016.  This was the second time, and the third time I saw them came in at #26 on my list of live shows and was only two days later at San Marcos’ MR Fest.  They closed the first night of Levitation Austin, after nearly everyone had learned the festival had been cancelled, and they made everyone forget their blues for a little while.  It was a raucous set, and we all needed it.

Which shows made my top 20 for 2016?  Come back tomorrow to find out.

Keep your mind open.

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My top 25 albums of 2016 – #’s 25-21.

Don’t let anyone tell you that there’s no good music anymore.  There is always good music.  You just have to find it.  I hope this list and this blog helped you discover some good stuff in 2016.

I reviewed close to 50 albums released in 2016 last year, so I’ve decided to highlight the top 25.   Here are numbers 25-21.
25.Slaves bring great British punk that skewers not only the elite rich, but also Millennial slackers and even the stupidity of drunk driving.

24.Dunsmuir is a metal supergroup featuring members of Clutch, Fu Manchu, The Company Band, and Black Sabbath.  Their debut is a concept record about a shipwrecked crew fighting monsters on a remote island.

23.

Canadian psych-rockers Elephant Stone have yet to put out a bad record, and this one added electro touches to their mix of 1960’s psychedelia and bhangra.

22. 

Birth is a fine piece of stoner rock from this three-piece Australian outfit.  I was on a big stoner rock kick in 2016 and ORB certainly fit the bill.

21. 

Klaus Johann Grobe were a delightful discovery this year, and their latest album, Spagat Der Liebe, is a fun electro / lounge record suitable for both late night parties and making out.

Who cracks the top 20?  Come back tomorrow to find out!

Keep your mind open.

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Night Club – Requiem for Romance

Night Club’s (Mark Brooks and Emily Kavanaugh) Requiem for Romance starts, appropriately, with “Requiem,” a song of dark synths that would be right at home in a John Carpenter film, and then launches forward with “Bad Girl” – a fetish club dance anthem for dominatrixes, riot grrls, and women who don’t care if you don’t like what they wear. “It’s so good to be a bad girl,” Kavanaugh sings over booming synths and electric beats, oozing sex with a hint of danger.

“Show It 2 Me” pretty much lets you know its subject with the title. You’ll probably hear this in a club scene featured in the next big budget vampire film you see. “If you like the fast lane, don’t be slow,” Kavanaugh sings. “‘Cause I’m giving you the green light to go. If you got something you want to show, show it to me.” Ahem.

The warped synths of “Dear Enemy” build to a wicked beat as Kavanaugh sings about a former friend who has finally crossed the line. “You know you’re a super creep, ‘cause the things you do won’t let you sleep,” she sings as Brooks puts down a groove Gary Numan would love.

The synths get bouncy and bright on “Psychosuperlover,” although Kavanaugh’s lyrics are still heavy: “You are the blackest hole, heart as dead as your soul. Did it burn inside when you left me here to die?” Brooks and Kavanaugh pull off the deceptive nature of the song’s subject – attractive on the outside, a monster within.

In case you missed the kinky vibe of this record, “Freak Like Me” will drive it home for you. The wicked groove and the chorus of “You know you want to be a freak like me.” make the song pretty much a required addition to any “freaky sex”-themed playlists you’re planning to make soon. “Magnetic” has Kavanaugh missing her lover and hoping for a fast return. Brooks’ synths are at times heavy and others bright on it and also on “Dangerous Heart,” which reminds me of tracks by The Knife and has Kavanaugh warning a potential lover of her wicked nature.

She shares the vocals with Brooks on “Pray,” a solid electro cut that would make Metric envious. The album ends with, of all things, a torch song. “Little Token” is a song of heartbreak and loss with minimal synths, subtle bass, and haunting piano behind Kavanaugh’s slightly echoed vocals. It’s a nice send-off and shows us that Night Club can do more than kinky electro.

The album is full of songs that reflect the title. Some of them are empowerment anthems and others are dire warnings. All are solid.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Sword – Age of Winters (2006)

Age of Winters, the debut album from The Sword (J.D. Cronise – guitar and vocals, Bryan Richie – bass, Kyle Shutt – guitar, Trivett Wingo – drums) is nothing short of a metal masterpiece. It was a bold statement in 2006 and is still just as powerful a decade later, putting many newer metal albums to shame.

What makes it different? For one, the instrumentation. The Sword can shred like a Ninja Turtles villain and jam harder than Schmucker’s equally well. Second, their lyrics are epic. “Barael’s Blade,” for example, is a song about a magic sword that starts with the lyric “Forged by the Crow-Mage from shards of darkness.” You can’t get much more metal than that.

“Freya,” about the queen of the Valkyries, hits as hard as “a sword of fire and an axe of gold.” The result of the bloody battle portrayed in the song is cursed by survivors in “Winter’s Wolves.” “The Horned Goddess,” who “sits astride mountains tall and wide,” is a heavy salute to (I think) Hela – the Norse goddess of the underworld. The song chugs along like the boots of a Viking army climbing a glacier. “Iron Swan” is a fast song about a dark boat that brings death to one’s enemies. The guitars shred like stampeding horses on it.

“Lament for the Aurochs” is the heaviest doom-metal track on the record. The bass rumbles, the cymbals crash, and the guitar solos are like battle cries. The first verse alone tells you how heavy this song is: “Laboring in the liquid light of Leviathan, spectres swarm around the sunken cities of the Saurians. Rising from the void through the blackness of eternal night, Colossus of the Deep crashing down with cosmic might.” Who else is crafting lyrics like this?

“March of the Lor” is a powerful “instrumental in eight movements” that puts about ten minutes of blistering rock into less than five minutes. “Ebethron” has a sweet drum solo in it (When was the last time you heard a drum solo in a song, metal or otherwise?) and is an epic tale of a warlord preparing for a world-shaking battle.

The whole album is world-shaking. You need this in your collection if you’re a metal fan.

Keep your mind open.

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Survive – RR7349

Do you need a score for next horror film? Looking for something to play in the cassette deck of your armored spike-covered car in a post-apocalyptic world? Need something to play through your earbuds while you search an alien hive or track down a masked killer? If so, Survive’s RR7349 is the album for you.

The band includes two of the men responsible for the Stranger Things score, so you can be sure this album of instrumental electro is full of 1980’s film score touches, John Carpenter influences, and love for Gary Numan.

“A.H.B.” opens the record, and is full of warped, weird synths that swirl like fog around your speakers. “Other” is ideal if you find yourself momentarily trapped in a summoning chamber built by an evil cult about to unleash some hellish thing on the world. It clanks, oozes, and slithers with deep, almost silent bass, and heavily synthesized vocals. “Dirt” has John Carpenter’s fingerprints all over it, as it sounds like a lost cut from the Prince of Darkness score.

“Wardenclyffe” might as well be the name of some Lovecraftian asylum, because it’s wonderfully creepy. Heavy bass synths and strange choral effects abound before manic keyboards take center stage. “Sorcerer” is the opening credits music of that cool time travel / medieval adventure VHS movie you watched in high school but have never been able to find since then. “Low Fog” is almost like a monastic chant. The thudding bass of “Copter” gives the song a sense of menace, and the taut synths almost wail at some points. I’m sure some film producer has bought the rights to “Cutthroat” by now, because it’s perfect for a 1980’s retro-style horror movie. You can’t miss the Halloween score influence.

This is a weird, creepy, and atmospheric record. Play it at your next cocktail party and feel how the room changes.

Keep your mind open.

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Cosmonauts – A-OK!

Cosmonauts make groovy California-vibe psychedelic rock with a bit of a dark edge. Imagine a California sunset while a storm is rolling in from the Pacific Ocean and you’ll get the idea. Their new album, A-OK!, stresses that everything will be okay, however. We can brave the storm. It’s a good thing to remember after the brutal year that was 2016.

The title track is about someone who seems to slip away from bad luck and tragedy like an all-star running back (and the guitar work on it is definitely all-star quality). I love the way the crisp bass on “Doom Generation” interacts with the cheese shredder-fuzz guitar and tripped-out vocals. It’s one of the best psych-rock tracks of the year. “Party at Sunday” is luscious dream-psych that floats like a lotus blossom on a pond. The guitar buzzes like a dragonfly past your ear as they sing about the dangers of falling in love.

“Be-Bop-A-Loser” could’ve been a goofy song with a title like that but is instead an excellent shoegaze track with more killer bass, Nick Cave-like vocals, and slick percussion and guitar work. A fast drum groove pushes “Short Wave Communication” along as echoing guitars nearly overwhelm the nice male-female duo vocals. The synthesizers that come in near the 2:00 mark will make you grin because they’re perfectly placed.

If the heavenly host of angels choir sounds anything like “Heavenspeak,” then I’ll be extra happy if I make it through the pearly gates. It’s another outstanding psych-rock track with some of the rhythm section’s best work on the album. The band’s Cure influence can’t be denied on “Good Lucky Blessing” (again, listen to that bass and guitar work). “Cruisin’” is perfect for such an activity. The fast beat, lyrics about “tearin’ up the 101,” and sunny guitars are ideal for a summer drive. “Discophilia” starts with sludge drums, but then bursts like a flare gun with bright, reverbed guitar. “Graffiti” is a sweet psych-cake iced with distortion and sprinkled with sweat lodge visions. It overlooks Drone Rock Valley, but never enters it. It’s a song about regret, but the music isn’t without optimism.

The album is titled A-OK! after all. Despite the many lyrics about rough relationships, overinflated egos of lovers past and present, and unfulfilled desires, the album’s ethereal dreamscapes show us that we’ll be all right if we ride the wave long enough to make it to shore. The album is more than A-OK. It’s A-Outstanding.

Keep your mind open.

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Death Valley Girls – Glow in the Dark

Death Valley Girls’ newest album, Glow in the Dark, is at times psychedelic, others shoegaze, and others power-pop. The title track opener is firmly in the shoegaze category, with desert sunrise guitars and powerful drums. “Disco” has great old school 1960’s organ running throughout it while they sing about having a grand night out. “Death Valley Boogie” has an appropriate title because the beat is made for hip shaking. The guitars are fuzzed so much that almost sound like they’re melting at one point. It’s fantastic. It ends with a furious guitar solo that’s over just as you want more of it.

“Seis Seis Seis” is fine doom-psych rock, with Karen O-like vocals as a funeral organ plays in the background and the guitars sweep over you like the Grim Reaper’s cloak. “Pink Radiation,” with its Ronettes styling and simple guitar chords, is a lovely track and a refreshing change after the doom of the one before it. The middle finger flipped by the ladies during “I’m a Man, Too” (“If you’re a man, I’m twice a man as you.”) is backed with not only a fist but also solid rock hooks. “Love Spell” doesn’t just knock you back into your seat; it knocks your seat back as well. The breakdown in the middle of it is pretty much a bear trap that snaps shut when the guitars roar back to life and flatten you back to the floor.

“Horror Movie” refers more to the state of the world we see on the nightly news more than the film genre (“A horror movie right there on my TV, shocking me right out of my head.”). The lyrics of “Summertime” may be simple, but the powerful guitar throughout it is not. It sizzles hot enough to fry an egg on it. The closer, “Wait for You,” squeaks and squeals with face-melting guitar while what sounds like a warped Hammond B3 organ warps your brain. I’m sure this song is insane live.

I don’t know why Death Valley Girls named the album Glow in the Dark, but my guess is that the energy on it provides enough luminescence to light up your living room. Let it shine forth on your stereo.

Keep your mind open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V4I0Mg9dVM

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Rewind Review: Earthless – Live at Roadburn (2008)

Recorded at Tilburg, Holland’s annual Roadburn festival dedicated to rock and metal, Live at Roadburn is probably the closest you can get to an Earthless (Mike Eginton – bass, Isaiah Mitchell – guitar, Mario Rubalcaba – drums) concert without being there. It might not entirely melt your face, but it will certainly heat it up and warp your mind.

The double-disc CD version has two songs on each disc. A four-song set is average for an Earthless show, because most songs are at least fifteen minutes long. The performance starts off with “Blue,” which is not only a stoner rock gem, but it also has elements of prog-rock sprinkled throughout (the way Mitchell’s guitar and Rubalcaba’s drums bounce off each other, for instance). Mitchell’s guitar hits definite Cream territory around the ten-minute mark.

The song rolls into the epic “From the Ages” with Rubalcaba’s near-manic drumming and Eginton’s rock solid bass. The groove they hit around the 24-minute mark is outstanding. All three of them click so well that they make it sound easy. They drop into almost a blues-rock groove around the 31-minute mark (with Eginton’s mantra-like bass). They get cosmic around minute 38 and slowly build into re-entry burn rock fury.

Disc 2 features “Godspeed” and “Sonic Prayer.” “Godspeed” begins with fuzzy distortion and rolling cymbals before bursting forth like a platoon of orcs smashing down a fortress wall. Your mind is almost in your shoes by the 16-minute mark because the song becomes a psychedelic freak-out at that point. The band is racing like a nitro-burning funny car about four minutes later when they’re into “Sonic Prayer.” It’s jaw-dropping by then (like any Earthless show).

Pick up this album if you can’t make it to an Earthless concert. It will get you into orbit. A live show will send you to the next solar system, but Live at Roadburn will at least help you circle the planet.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: PINS – Wild Nights (2015)

I don’t know if “sexy shoegaze psych” is its own genre of music, but PINS (Anna Donigan – bass, Sophie Galpin – drums, Faith Holgate – guitar and vocals, Lois McDonald – guitar) are the queens of it if it is. Their 2015 album Wild Nights oozes with sex and the lush, distorted, dream pop guitar us shoegaze and psych-rock lovers crave.

“Baby Bhangs” has a groovy bass line throughout it and enough reverbed backing vocals for three tracks. “Young Girls” starts off like an early New Order cut and then drifts into a lovely song about girl power (“What will we do when our dreams come true, young girls?”). Galpin’s rock drumming it is a neat counter to the crisp, bouncy guitar. “Curse These Dreams” has psychedelic rock flavor (check out those Brian Jonestown Massacre-like drums and ethereal backing vocals) while Holgate pines for silence from dreams about her former lover.

“Oh Lord” continues the neo-psychedelia guitar, but the vocals are more like something you’d hear from the Duke Spirit. They’re dark and spooky and full of lust. Donigan and Galpin knock this one out of the park. It’s impossible not to think that “Dazed by You” could’ve been a Dum Dum Girls track in another dimension, because it’s jumpy, dreamy, and lovely in all aspects. “Got It Bad” is a resurrected 1950’s wall of sound girl group ballad that you swear you’ve heard on an old jukebox somewhere, but it’s a new creation by PINS instead. It’s possibly the loveliest song on the album, and that’s saying a lot due to do how lush this record is. “Too Little Too Late” is more psychedelia that hits hard with chugging guitars. “Yeah, you said you’re sorry, but I’ve heard it all before. Yeah, you said you’re sorry, but are you sure?”, Holgate sings. Haven’t we all been there?

“House of Love” has Holgate warning her lover not to be in such a rush to leave, because things won’t necessarily be better outside those walls. “If Only” is about the break-up and how she now finds herself unsure of how to perform even simple tasks. McDonald’s guitar work on it is excellent. “Molly” could be about the drug or about a girl (“Wild nights with Molly, she’s got a hold on me.”). I think it’s the latter, but the reference is inescapable – as is the reverb on McDonald’s guitar.

The closer, “Everyone Says,” is a torch song with fuzzed, echoing guitar and heartbreaking lyrics (“Everyone says that you’re no good. That I don’t we do what I should, but what do they know that I don’t know?”). It’s a lovely piece of work and an excellent end to an excellent record. This would’ve been in my top 25 of 2015 had I been making lists last year. I need more Pins. You need more Pins. We all need more Pins.

Keep your mind open.

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Slaves – Take Control

Take Control by Slaves (Isaac Holman – drums and vocals, Laurie Vincent – guitar, bass, vocals) is the best punk record I’ve heard in months. Opening with “Spit It Out,” the duo launch into a diatribe about their generation whining about nostalgia they haven’t yet earned (“Suckin’ on a sour-sweet, waitin’ on a train. Lookin’ at the information, ready to complain. Thinkin’ back on better days, how it used to be. Pull yourself together, boy, you’re only twenty-three!”). It’s vicious and heavy and one of the best opening tracks of the year.

“Hypnotised” has great fuzzy bass and even better hectic drums behind it. Sham 69 must be proud of them because Slaves clearly are expressing their love for them with the somewhat distorted vocals and slick rhythm of the track. The Beastie Boys’ Mike D contributes a verse of rapping as well as some screams and vocals on “Consume or Be Consumed” – a dire warning about materialism and the general gluttony of First World living. The vocals are pretty much rap lyrics, and Mike D must’ve felt like he was back in his early days when the Beastie Boys were a wacky punk band (Remember that?).

The title track does in less than two minutes what the Foo Fighters wish they could still do – angry rock with no muss or fuss. “Rich Man” is both funny (“Rich man, I’m not your bitch, man.”) and groovy. Vincent and Holman both admire the subject’s moxie (“He’s got a big house and a shitload of land.”), but know money doesn’t bring long-term happiness (“Five kids by three different girls, seven cars and not a friend in the world.”) The opening of “Play Dead” sounds like L7 cuts and the vocals are akin to something off an early Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album.

Vincent’s guitar on “Lies” has some blues touches, believe it or not. Don’t worry, they get back to the angry punk on “Fuck the Hi-Hat” (which isn’t part of Holman’s stand-up drum kit – “I don’t need it!” He yells by the end.). “People That You Meet” is about folks Slaves have met here and there and essentially a new version of Sesame Street’s “People in Your Neighborhood.”

The electric beats of “Steer Clear” are surprising, as is the mellow tone of the song about the dangers of drinking and driving. It’s actually pretty cool that Slaves (and guest vocalist Baxter Dury) would put a song like this on the record in hopes of reaching their fans (“Throwing all your things in the back of your car, now you’re leaving in a drunken rage. That’s why I say, ‘Please don’t kill yourself behind the steering wheel.’”).

“They don’t call it ‘work’ for nothin’!” begins “Cold Hard Floor,” which turns into a slightly psychedelic trip that Ty Segall would enjoy. “STD’s / PhD’s” brings back the heavy fuzz and programmed beats. It’s almost an industrial goth track. “Angelica” is like a punk cover of a 1950’s teen-rock ballad, but with drum machine beats and lyrics about the girl in question being a “bloodsucker” instead of doo-wop lovey-dovey beats and vocals. They return to distorted punk on “Same Again,” a song about the drudgery of everyday life in Britain (“Same again, week in, week out.” / “Straight to the bar, you know the drill. Money to spend, time to kill.”).

It’s fun stuff, and refreshingly brash and in your face for most of the record. Give it a spin and snap out of it.

Keep your mind open.

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