7th Level Music

Miss Grit releases “Lain (Phone Clone”) ahead of “Follow the Cyborg” album due February 24, 2023.

Miss Grit — the New York-based, Korean-American musician Margaret Sohn (they/she) — presents “Lain (Phone Clone),” the new single/video from their forthcoming self-produced debut album, Follow the Cyborg, out February 24th on Mute. On “Lain (Phone Clone),” Sohn balances vast pop elements, cinematic atmospherics and textures with blasts of squealing guitar. Inspired by Serial Experiments Lain, Yasuyuki Ueda’s anime about a girl whose online self attempts to drag her physical self away from reality, “Lain (Phone Clone)” presents a chilling moment when Sohn sings,“I don’t want to see everything anymore.” They comment, “I feel like the divide between my inner and outer self can grow so big sometimes that it feels like I’m being eclipsed by this big cringey monster. I wanted to write this to mock the monster and remind myself I’m not powerless against it.”

Watch Miss Grit’s “Lain (Phone Clone)” Video

Across Follow the Cyborg, Miss Grit pursues the path of a non-human machine, as it moves from its helpless origin to awareness and liberation. At times gentle and sparse, at others volatile and explosive, Follow the Cyborg occupies a sonic world of electronic experimentation and stirring electric guitars. It was recorded mostly in solitude in Sohn’s home studio, with the exception of a few guest collaborators joining: Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint, Aron Kobayashi Ritch of Momma, and Pearla.

Miss Grit’s impetus to conceive an album about the life of a cyborg stems from their own connection to this way of existing. As a mixed-race, non-binary artist, Sohn has always rejected the limits of identity thrust upon them by the outside world, instead favoring an embrace of a more fluid and complex understanding of the self. Hailed by Rolling Stone as an “inventive, incisive singer-songwriter,” their process is introspective, their vision precise. In Follow the Cyborg, Sohn subtly and overtly refer to films, including Her, Ex Machina, and Ghost in the Shell, plus essays by Jia Tolentino (from Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion) and Donna Horroway’s A Cyborg Manifesto.

“Lain (Phone Clone)” follows the “beguiling and elastic” (Stereogum) single “Like You,” with its precise, slowly building electric guitars and bold basslines performed by Zoltan Sindhu, as well as the title-track “Follow the Cyborg,” praised by Pitchfork for its “adrenaline high” and “electronic dissonance.”

Watch the “Follow the Cyborg” Video

Watch the “Like You” Lyric Video

Pre-order Follow the Cyborg

Miss Grit will perform a pair of album release shows in New York and Los Angeles, with more dates to follow. Tickets are on sale now.

Miss Grit Tour Dates
Wed. Feb. 22 – New York, NY @ Baby’s All Right
Fri. Feb. 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: King Buffalo – The Burden of Restlessness (2021)

It’s a bit surprising that I didn’t own a copy of King Buffalo‘s The Burden of Restlessness until now, because they were touring with this album when I first saw them live (playing with Clutch and Stöner) in 2021. I was blown away by their performance and became an immediate fan. I instead bought their first album (and a shirt) at their merchandise table, and this album has somehow eluded me until now.

It’s a shame, because the opening track, “Burning,” alone is a massive slice of cosmic rock that hits as hard as any All Them Witches track but in more of a “Silver Surfer zipping past a collapsing dwarf star” feel than an occult-psychedelic feel. Dan Reynolds bass on “Hebetation” will pick you up, rattle you, and inspire Herculean strength in you for whatever task you’re doing at that moment. The breakdown around the two-minute mark is sublime. Sean McVay sings about contemplating his mortality, but he never sounds frightened by it. He’s too busy shredding his guitar to worry about what comes after death.

McVay’s guitar ripples across “Locusts” like the titular insects bouncing across a wheat field. “Silverfish” is a stand-out on the album with McVay’s guitar sounding like a space probe, Scott Donaldson‘s precision drumming mixed with thunderous fills now and then, and Reynolds bass moving like a cat around the room waiting to either curl up on your lap or attack your ankle. It chooses the latter.

McVay cranks the fuzz on “Grifter,” which might flatten you if you’re not prepared for it. McVay explores depression on “The Knocks” (“Every day I wake up on the floor. Another useless day like every one that’s come before.”). It’s a slow burn to a powerful explosion of sound, like McVay has finally decided to kick open his barricaded door from the inside and woe betide anyone who’s on the other side. “Loam” closes the album with over seven minutes of head-trip rock with McVay says he’s “shedding the burden of restlessness to rise from the loam of the nothingness.” You’ll always get a thumbs-up from me if you close your album with a Zen lesson.

Keep your mind open (This album will help.).

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Review: Acid King – Live at Roadburn 2011

Recorded at the famous metal / stoner rock festival in The Netherlands. Live at Roadburn 2011 is a heavy recording of Acid King‘s performance there. The band is legendary among stoner metal enthusiasts, and any release from them is a cause for celebration. They haven’t released a lot of material (although a new album is due in 2023), but what they have released is almost held sacred by their fans.

“All right,” says lead singer and guitarist Lori S. at the beginning of the set, sounding like she’s about to start working on an old motorcycle she’s had in the back of the garage for a couple years. What follows is Peter Lucas‘ growling bass introducing the title track of their famous album, Busse Woods. It’s not unlike a monster awakening from a long slumber, and Lori S.’s guitar is the chant of a high priestess calling the beast forth. You know you’re in for danger once Joey Osbourne‘s drums pound down the walls.

This rolls into “2 Wheel Nation,” a salute to outlaw biker gangs and the idea, at least, of living free on the road. It roars like a 1970s Harley-Davidson ridden by a orc leaving Mordor. “Silent Circle” is anything but silent. It’s heaviness is almost crushing. “On to Everafter” gets all cosmic with Lori S.’s swirling riffs and Osbourne’s desert rock drumming.

Once you’re in orbit, “Coming Down from Outer Space” brings you back to the surface with the full pull of Earth’s gravity (and the re-entry roar of Lucas’ bass). Somehow, “Electric Machine” hits even harder than that. Lori S.’s vocals echo back from the outer rim of the galaxy, bringing untold legions of alien warriors with it. The set ends with the colossal “Sunshine and Sorrow.”

It’s a good capture of some stoner metal giants playing to an appreciative crowd, and a nice warm-up for Acid King’s next record.

Keep your mind open.

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Fever Ray gives us some “Kandy” on their new single.

Fever Ray and Olof Dreijer on the “Kandy” set, photo credit – Nina Andersson

Fever Ray’s Radical Romantics, out March 10th (digital/CD) and April 28th (US vinyl) onMute, is one of the most highly-anticipated albums of 2023. Today, they continue their enthralling return with “Kandy,” a new single/video which follows “What They Call Us” and “Carbon Dioxide,” “an explosive single about love and sex in a moment of climate apocalypse” (Pitchfork). The song was co-produced and co-written by Fever Ray’s Karin Dreijer and their brother and fellow member of The Knife, Olof Dreijer. This is one of the four Radical Romantics tracks Olof co-produced and co-wrote, marking the first time the siblings have produced and written music together in eight years.

Olof comments on “Kandy,” “I tried to tune in as much as possible into Fever Ray vibes and tried many different styles, or clothes as I usually say when I talk about different music production suggestions. But in the end we took out the same synthesizer, the SH101, used for The Knife track, ‘The Captain,’ and it just worked!”

The accompanying video, directed by long-time collaborator Martin Falck, re-unites Karin and Olof on stage in a homage to the now iconic video for The Knife’s “Pass This On” directed by Johan Renck.

Watch Fever Ray’s “Kandy” Video

Radical Romantics, the first new Fever Ray album since 2017’s Plunge, “carefully explores well-trod themes of love and sex but through Dreijer’s uniquely esoteric lens” (them). To be precise, Dreijer presents their struggle with the myth of love.

Fever Ray first started on Radical Romantics in fall 2019; working in the Stockholm studios built with Olof, who eventually joined in on working on the album. Other co-producers and performers include the power duo of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Nine Inch Nails), experimental artist and producer Vessel, Portuguese DJ and producer Nídia, Johannes Berglund, and Peder Mannerfelt and Pär Grindvik’s technicolor dance project Aasthma.

This spring, Fever Ray will embark on their first tour since 2018, the There’s No Place I’d Rather Be Tour. As Stereogum stated, “Karin Dreijer likes to stage ambitious, slightly baffling spectacles, so this should definitely be something to see.” A full list of European and North American dates can be found below. New shows have been added in Washington, D.C. and Pasadena as part of Just Like Heaven. Additionally, CHRISTEENEhas been added as support on all other US dates. Tickets are on sale now here.

Watch “What They Call Us” Video
Watch “Carbon Dioxide” Visualizer
Pre-order Radical Romantics

Fever Ray Tour Dates (new dates in bold)
Thu. Mar. 23 – Oslo, NE @ Sentrum Scene
Sat. Mar. 24 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
Sun. Mar. 25 – Gothenburg, SE @ GBG Film Studios
Mon. Mar. 27 – Riga, LV @ Hanzas Perons
Tue. Mar. 28 – Tallinn, EE @ Noblessner Foundry
Thu. Mar. 30 – Warsaw, PL @ World Wide Warsaw Festival
Sat. Apr. 1 – Amsterdam, NLE @ Melkweg
Mon. Apr. 3 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royal
Tue. Apr. 4 – Cologne, DE @ E-Werk
Thur. Apr. 6 – Luxembourg City, LU @ Den Atelier
Fri. Apr. 7 – The Hague, NE @ Rewire Festival
Mon. May 1 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem ^
Wed. May 3 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 *
Fri. May 5 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *
Sun. May 7 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed *
Wed. May 10 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *
Sat. May 13 – Pasadena, CA @ Just Like Heaven
Fri. June 30 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
Sat. Aug. 19 – London, UK @ Field Day
Sat. Aug. 26 – Paris, FR @ Rock En Seine

^ = with 100 gecs & Machine Girl
* = with CHRISTEENE

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Worg – Il Piano di Medea EP

If you were a DJ on the street and handing out “free will donation” CDs of your latest EP, and you told me, “It’s a deep house rendition of the tale of Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece.” I would tell you to stop right there, hand you some money, and take the CD.

Such is the case with Worg‘s excellent EP, Il Piano di Medea. Medea is one of the key figures in the Greek myth who helps Jason reclaim the throne taken from him by his half-brother, Pelias, while Jason and his companions quested for the Golden Fleece.

The opening track, “Oracolo,” gets things off to a brooding, dark house start with rumbling bass that serves as a portent of dangerous (and, let’s admit it, sweaty and sexy) things to come. The second track is the Neel Remix of “Oracolo,” which speeds up the mantra-like beats and puts a bit of a snake’s hiss distortion to the background.

“Il Vello del Oro” (“The Golden Fleece”) is as shimmering as its namesake and pulls you in with its promise of glory, light, and transcendence – transmitted through echoing beats and deep synth-bass. I love how it’s the longest track on the EP and has time to hypnotize you and shine.

The beats on “Eryx” hit harder and sharper, like dangerous reefs under the surface of the water as you sail back from a long journey with untold riches. The bass throbs like a pulsating jellyfish.

This is the fifth in a series of deep house EPs based on Greek mythology from Lykos Records. I need to seek out the others. I’m in for a treat if they’re all this good.

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Pull Proxy.]

Austin Psych Fest announces its 2023 lineup.

Austin Psych Fest is returning, and it’s bringing another great Austin music festival lineup with it. Saturday’s lineup alone is worth the weekend pass…and this isn’t even the full lineup. The festival will be held at The Far Out on two different stages throughout the day, and tickets are already on sale. Don’t miss it.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to the Reverberation Appreciation Society.]

Snow Ghosts put a “Curse” on us with their new single.

Today Snow Ghosts return with their fourth album, ‘The Fell’, due for release on February 24^th through Houndstooth.

‘The Fell’ sees the trio of Hannah Cartwright (Augustus Ghost, Masakichi), Ross Tones (Throwing Snow) and Oli Knowles (The Keep, Sex Swing) return with a collection of old folk songs that were never written – an album that conjures images of animals and ancient tales experienced within a future landscape. Ancestral marks imprint the endless terrain of ‘The Fell’ and their songlines still sing.

Today they share the album’s first single and accompanying visual, entitled “Curse” – a violent storm of wrath; a song that explores the folklore of shapeshifting women and highlights historic misogyny that still exists.

Vocalist Hannah Cartwright comments: “Curse reflects the folkloric trope of witch to hare metamorphosis. It is the furious revenge of the hunted hare, exacted upon her tormentor.”

“Curse” on YouTube:https://youtu.be/lFEhbD_H8a0
Other ‘The Fell’ links:https://hth.lnk.to/thefell

A seed of an idea was planted in 2015 during a conversation between vocalist Hannah Cartwright and fellow founder Ross Tones about his home in Weardale. The trio, completed by Oli Knowles, have had three releases since that time, giving the album time to slowly grow its roots deep into their creative subconscious.

“The concept of The Fell as a living thing was there from the beginning” explains Ross. “That imagery provided the overarching environment” Hannah continues, “which then left us encompassed by human, floral, faunal, mythological, folkloric and magical elements to explore as and when we approached each piece. It was a chance to completely immerse ourselves in another world, its history and perception through other inhabitants.”

‘The Fell’ is also a liminal or ‘thin’ place. Bog land preserves organic remains, like time capsules, a quality that made it a special place to prehistoric people. These relics serve as starting points for new stories and songs. Folk tales talk of the metamorphosis of animals into people and back again which talks to a deep rooted ambiguity of where people begin and the land ends.

“The moorland fell looks beautiful, wild and desolate.” Ross continues. “From certain places you can look in all directions and see no obvious signs of humanity. Yet it’s a completely man made landscape. We used it as a multilayered metaphor, containing stories of the interaction between humans and nature which express themselves in folklore.”

The arrangement too is multilayered in its approach. 2019’s colossal ‘A Quiet Ritual’ contained a score for a full orchestra and the ancient Carnyx. ‘The Fell’s’ instrumental arsenal consists of esraj, dulcimer, daf and bodhrán drums, violin, guitars, and a variety of synthesisers. Whilst equally vast, immersive and other-worldly, these tools are used to create intimate, personal stories. Sharing a mutual influence of the shadowy elements of folklore and the heavier side of experimental noise, a disparate array of reference points and this extensive collection of instruments combines to form Snow Ghosts’ bewitching and often intoxicating sound.

On ‘The Fell’, they return for a captivating new album where ancient folk motifs intermingle with dark electronics, violins and primordial imagery to create an album of vast contrasts – heavy, yet flowing; electronic yet organic; modern yet steeped in nature and history.

‘The Fell’ will be released on February 24th via Houndstooth. Pre-order/pre-save links here.

‘The Fell’ track list:
1. Given
2. Hearths
3. Filaments
4. Curse – Visualiser
5. Buried
6. Hawthorn
7. Avine
8. Prophecies
9. Home
10. Magpie
11. Vixen
12. Taken

Links:
http://www.snowghosts.net
https://www.facebook.com/SnowGhosts
https://twitter.com/Snow_Ghosts
https://www.instagram.com/snowghostsband/?hl=en

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Review: Bass Drum of Death – Say I Won’t

I first saw Bass Drum of Death at the first Austin Psych Fest my wife and I attended in 2013. I had no idea at the time that the lead singer and guitarist, John Barrett, did all of the songwriting and instrumentation (on the first BDOD album) all by himself. He kept doing it all by himself for the next album, which makes his new one, Say I Won’t, even more interesting because it’s the first BDOD album written and recorded by Garrett and his touring band (Jim Barrett on bass and Ian Kirkpatrick on drums) – with The Black Keys‘ Patrick Carney doing production no less.

The result is a great album of 1970s-inspired garage / van rock suitable for road trips, surfing, backyard parties, or keeping you motivated to finish a housing project. Kirkpatrick’s snappy drums on “Find It” get the album off to a great start. “Head Change” cranks up the fuzz and swagger. Jim Barrett’s bass line will make you feel like a dangerous motherfucker. “No Soul” has John Barrett singing about how he keeps going back to a woman he knows is bad for him.

“Say Your Prayers” is a team-up with Mike Kerr of Royal Blood, and you can hear the thick bass groove he brings to the mix. “I don’t want to have the keys to your city. I just wanna take a ride,” Barrett sings on “Keys to the City,” in which he tries to convince his girl he just wants a simple night with her instead of constant partying. The swagger of “Wait” is outstanding, hitting heavy at all the right moments.

“I see the world for the takin’. Hold tight. We’ll sort it out,” Barrett sings on “Swerving,” which seems made for stomping the gas pedal and veering around traffic. “White Vine” is, believe it or not, a good power rock ballad. “No Doubt” has some southern rock twang to it. You can practically feel Memphis humidity through it. “Everybody’s Gonna Be There” reminds me of some tracks by JEFF The Brotherhood with its fun grooves, call to party, and the promise of a good time with everyone.

The title track has one of Barrett’s best guitar solos (and all-around chops) on the album, and “Too Cold to Hold” could almost be a ZZ Top song with its shuffling groove and an arena rock song with Barrett’s high-register lyrics mixing with shouts to the back of the venue.

It’s good to hear a good straight-up rock record. We don’t seem to get a lot of albums like this nowadays.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jo Murray.]

The Bobby Lees announces North American tour.

The Bobby Lees, who recently released their Ipecac Recordings’ debut, Bellevue, head out on their first North American tour in support of the album, which Pop Matters dubbed their “most scorching and essential recording to date.”

“This will be our first time playing Bellevue in all of these cities,” said the band, collectively. “Come watch us play like it’s our last night on earth!”

The Bobby Lees tour dates:

February 3 Atlantic City, NJ Anchor Rock Club (w/ Jon Spencer)

March 30 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern

March 31 Columbus, OH Rumba Café

April 1 Athens, OH Ohio University

April 3 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom

April 4 Toronto, ON Monarch Tavern

April 6 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie

April 7 New York, NY Mercury Lounge

April 8 Troy, NY No Fun

April 11 Washington, DC DC9

April 12 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle

April 13 Atlanta, GA The Earl

April 14 Nashville, TN The Basement

May 2 Seattle, WA Barboza

May 3 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios

May 5 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill

May 6 Los Angeles, CA The Echo

May 7 San Diego, CA The Casbah

May 11 Austin TX Mohawk

May 12 Dallas, TX Three Links

May 13 Tulsa, OK The Vanguard

Tickets for all shows are on sale this Friday at 10 am local time. Ticketing links can be found via Ipecac.com/tours.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Monica at Speakeasy PR.]

Object of Affection release “Half Life” ahead of debut album due March 03, 2023.

LA’s Object of Affection tap into the primitivism of said members’ diverse projects while elevating their capacity for atmosphere and melody. Hints of gloomy punk, forlorn new wave, and down-and-out Regan-era alternative rock reverberate in their sound, not as pastiche but in sonic kinship to the austerity and fatalism embedded in the previous generation’s desperate and dejected anthems.

Since the release of their 2020 S/T, self released EP and most recent single “Through and Through” (Suicide Squeeze), the band have already shared the stage with accomplished peers Ceremony, Fiddlehead, Special Interest, Gulch, so on.

Today they’re pleased to announce they’ve joined the Profound Lore fam for their debut full-length, Field of Appearances. Its melting lead single and album opener “Half Life”, which touches on themes of the passage of time and the aching effects of hopelessness, is available now. Watch its accompanying video, directed by Miwah Lee below.

Watch / Share “Half Life” via YouTube
Listen / Playlist: Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music

With the inclusion of drum machines, synthesizers, acoustic guitars, and auxiliary percussion, Field of Appearances highlights the band’s sophisticated evolution and experimentation. The debut’s ten songs explode in character, contrast, and excitement.

Exploring themes of reflection, insufficiency, and Déjà vu as well as additional contributions from Bre Morell (Temple of Angels, Crushed) and Brittney Beppu, each track on Field of Appearances simultaneously plays a role in making it a more significant sum than its parts while also standing out individually. The album was meticulously crafted with Grammy-nominated producer Alex Newport (Bloc Party, At The Drive-In) and emerging engineer Phillip Odom and is an exceedingly memorable, precisely cohesive, and refreshing addition to the alternative music landscape.

Object of Affection’s Field of Appearances sees its release March 3 via Profound Lore; Pre-order / Pre-save the album here.

Keep your mind open.

[You’ll be the object of my affection if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Bailey at Another Side.]