I saw a lot of bands in 2018. Making a list of the top 30 acts was a challenge, but here goes.
#30: Golden Dawn Arkestra at Levitation Austin – They played a wild, incense-heavy set to a fun home crowd at Cheer Up Charlie’s. They never disappoint.
#29: The Soft Moon at Levitation France – It had been a while since I’d seen the Soft Moon in concert, and seeing them at Levitation Austin was a treat. The crowd was psyched for them, and the Soft Moon fed on that energy.
#28: Simple Minds at Detroit’s Fillmore Theatre – This show was better than I hoped it would be. They played two solid sets and covered a lot of good choices from their forty-year catalogue.
#27: Garbage at Paris’ Bataclan – The Bataclan was a lot smaller than I had envisioned, so that made this set by Garage more intimate, louder, and a great time.
#26: Windhand at Chicago’s Subterranean – I’d seen Windhand earlier in the year at Levitation Austin, but not their full set. This full set in a small Chicago dive bar was so heavy that it threatened to open a black hole in the room.
Austin, Texas’ psych-funk playing, sun worshipping Golden Dawn Arkestra will be closing out a night of exciting world music jams at Levitation Austin on April 27th at Cheer Ups. GDA put on a wild set when I saw them in 2016 that had the whole crowd bouncing. I’m sure it will be another funky ritual this year.
Austin, Texas, the live music capital of the country (if not the world), brings us another music festival this year. The annual Solstice Festival brings in acts like JJ Grey & Mofro, Built to Spill, Golden Dawn Arkestra, and Bayonne this year.
General admission tickets are only $35.00, but for a limited time you can pre-order tickets for 15% off with the code SOSFEST.
Don’t wait too long to get your tickets. It’s sure to be a fun time.
#15 – Death from Above 1979 at the Chicago House of Blues October 13th
Yeah, the whole show was this crazy. It was a rough pit, but worth a couple spins through it to feed off the energy DFA1979 were throwing at us.
#14 – Buzzcocksat the Vic Theatre in Chicago September 22nd
Speaking of rough mosh pits, I helped break up a fight in this one. I’d been waiting a long time to see Buzzcocks, and it was well worth it.
#13 – Clutchat Pierre’s in Fort Wayne, Indiana June 10th
“Hottest show of the tour. No question,” said Clutch lead singer Neal Fallon. It was indeed damn hot in there, and Clutch seemed to use the heat like a furnace to create some sort of alchemical spell.
My wife and I were front and center for the funkiest show we saw all year. The crowd was bonkers by the end of their set. “I almost left,” said one woman as we were leaving the show. “I’m glad I stayed.” Shame on you if you missed it.
This was a beautiful show in an intimate venue, and Brazilian bossa nova / eletro siren Ceu had the whole room in the palm of her hand by the end of it. I couldn’t stop grinning through the whole performance.
This is the best funk / Afrobeat record I’ve heard in a long time. Golden Dawn Arkestra will get you moving and possibly transport you to another dimension.
#19 I happened to catch Ron Galloat a show in Fort Wayne and was glad I did because his RG3 EP is one of the best EP’s I’ve snagged all year. I need to get his full album pronto. He plays a neat style of garage blues-influenced rock.
#18
Morphine is one of my favorite bands of all time, so it’s no surprise that I was going to love Vapors of Morphine, which includes two of the band’s original members and a new singer and bass player performing glorious low rock and blues.
#17
There’s no way an album by Goatwasn’t going to be at least in the top 50% of albums I’d like, and Requiem is full of their usual weird voodoo rock. It’s mellower than previous releases, but still trippy.
#16
I discovered the new Cosmonautsrecord late in the year, and I’m glad I did because I think they’re going to be one of my new obsessions. A-OK! is full of neat psych-rock and shoegaze. I’m all in if you can combine those two genres.
Who cracks the top 15? Come back tomorrow to see!
Keep your mind open.
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It’s been a good year so far for music. I’m finding excellent stuff every month. We’re halfway through the year, so here’s a quick recap of my top 10 records of 2016 so far.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity: Easily the craziest record of the year so far. You can play it on an infinite loop beginning with any track and it will repeat without any noticeable pauses, stutters, or breaks.
WALL – self-titled EP: WALL are currently my favorite discovery of 2016. They’ve brought back a fierce post-punk edginess that I didn’t know I was yearning for until I heard them.
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool: One word to describe this record – Heartbreaking. Most of the songs are about the end of Thom Yorke’s 20+ year relationship with his girlfriend.
[Rewind Reviews are reviews of albums that are at least a year old by the time I hear them.]
Cosmic funk rockers / shapeshifting aliens / voodoo acid trip Golden Dawn Arkestra’s self-titled 2014 debut EP is a lesson on how to release your first record: You come out blowing minds on the first track.
“Afropocalypse” is full of fat horns, shredding guitar, echoing vocals delivering messages from the boat of Anubis…or maybe from Texas. I’m not sure. I was too stunned by the track to figure out its meaning. It’s probably planted in my head like a Zen koan that will enlighten me when I’m not thinking about it.
“Oasis (The Legend of Nathaniel Thorne)” is part-spaghetti western film score and part-space lounge jam. Imagine Django walking into a 1960’s sci-fi movie space station bar while carrying a Theremin instead of his Gatling gun and you’ll have a slight idea of what this song is like. I have no idea who Nathaniel Thorne is, but Golden Dawn Arkestra has given him a badass theme song.
“Dimensions” has a bass lick that the Crystal Method would envy and joyful flute, handclaps, and lyrics inviting us to join Golden Dawn Arkestra on their journey beyond the five senses and the nine planets. “Masakayli” is pretty much a chant used to invoke the Egyptian god of funk (which I think might be Hathor), and the funky organ and wicked drum beats help.
“Saharan Knights” has some of my favorite guitar licks on the record, mixing psychedelia with surf. I also love how the horn section sounds a bit drunk throughout it. The EP ends with a song that at first sounds like a Chemical Brothers track from the mid-1990’s, “Selemat,” but soon turns into a hot space disco jam that will have you jumping. I love that Golden Dawn Arkestra ended with EP with a track that leaves you wanting more (and, thankfully, they gave us Stargazer earlier this year).
Get on this cosmic pleasure yacht while you have the chance. Sip cocktails with ghosts, otherworldly creatures, warlocks, shamans, witches, and priestesses. Listen to Golden Dawn Arkestra.
Part-funk, part-Afrobeat, part-1970’s Sinbad movie, Golden Dawn Arkestra have descended from somewhere beyond Alpha Centauri and delivered their new record – Stargazer.
The title track opens the record. It’s at first a gentle lift-off from the gravity of your job, your latest screwed-up relationship, and even this world. You’re off-planet and in orbit once their drummer, one of the best funk drummers I’ve heard in a long while, and the horn section kick in and encourage you to look beyond this earthly plane (and how about that saxophone solo?).
The groove of “Sama Chaka” immediately seeps into you and will not leave until you dance it out of your system. The xylophone and horns combine for a funky combination that will improve the mood of anyone listening.
“We walk on nothin’ but clouds,” the band sings on “Clouds” (taking us into psych-pop territory). Imagine the New Pornographers as a funk band and you might get the idea. “Space Waves” implores us to dance to the cosmic beats the band puts down on every track. The baritone sax and synth work on this cut is as smooth as the Silver Surfer’s board.
“Shabuki” belongs on a 1960’s Japanese spy thriller soundtrack. “Disko” belongs on a 1970’s Blaxploitation film soundtrack. Just listen to that wicked bass line, crisp guitar, and groovy horns if you don’t believe me. “Osaka” does have a bit of an Asian flair (mostly in the guitar riffs), but the rest of it is straight-up big, bold phat funk.
The closer, “All Is Light,” is a mesmerizing trip into another reality. It blends eastern Indian sounds with rock drumming and guitar reminiscent of 1980’s Zappa material.
Stargazer is the funkiest album I’ve heard in years. Take the journey with Golden Dawn Arkestra. The destination doesn’t matter. You’ll be different by the time this thirty-eight-minute journey ends, anyway.
Keep your mind open.
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We began the fourth day of Levitation Austinby heading to Threadgill’s restaurant for their Sunday gospel brunch buffet. The buffet was average, although the sweet potato pancakes are a delight, but the music by a band whose name I never found was classic country. I knew we were in for a good show when the lead singer asked, “Any Flatt and Scruggs fans out there?” My wife and I were the only ones who yelled in the affirmative. Sigh…
Who is this band? Does anyone know?
We then went to the famous Museum of the Weird, where I took part in a circus sideshow involving a man immune to AC electricity (getting zapped by him a few times). We also saw things like this.
I gave a dollar to a homeless guy we’d seen the night before getting shooed out of a food truck vendor lot by a woman who said, “Move on, Karate Kid!” We’d seen him three times, so I wanted to give him something. He asked everyone, “Do you have a dollar?” I finally had some change for him, so I gave it to him while he rested on a gas meter outside a building. Austin has a large homeless population, many displaced by the gentrification of downtown. I hope the city is addressing the issue.
I didn’t miss the irony of helping a homeless man and then grabbing lunch at Terry Black’s BBQ, where I had some of the best smoked turkey I’ve ever eaten. I liked it better than Stubb’s, which is more famous. Afterwards, we headed to Symphony Square in time to see the last half of Indrajit Banerjeeand Gourisankar‘s set at the river stage.
Gourisankar and Indrajit Banerjee at the Symphony Square outdoor stage.
“This is my favorite part of the weekend so far,” my wife said.
We chatted with them after their set and gave them some ideas about Indiana theaters that might host them. They told us they were playing at the Scoot Inn later that night – the same place we had tickets to see Golden Dawn Arkestra. It was going to be a good evening.
We went to the Scoot Inn right away to get decent parking. We saw the construction crane upon which many people sat to see over the fence the night before when the Black Angels and the Brian Jonestown Massacre played there. We met more festival attendees while standing in line. People complained about scalpers selling tickets for up to $100 each (20x face value apiece) and not getting to see any bands scheduled for the festival. One couple behind us got to see a pop-up gig by stoner metal masters Sleep. They wanted to see at least one band from Levitation, even if they didn’t like stoner metal. Other people hadn’t learned about the makeup shows until they were sold out. The couple in front of us had gone to MR Festand saw La Luz perform there.
We got in and saw Blondi’s Salvationhad been added to the lineup. They got the show off to a good start with their French blend of psych rock.
Blondi’s Salvation
We had seen Puerto Rico’s Fantasmes at the 2014 festival, and we were surprised to hear how much heavier and darker they’d become since then. They looked and sounded like a Latino version of Interpol. It was a good set that made me want to seek out their newest material.
Fantasmes
I was pleased as punch by this point because not only had Fantasmes delivered some fine music, but I discovered the Scoot Inn sold an Austrian radler that I hadn’t had since a trip there almost three years ago.
Indrajit Banerjee and Gourisankar played a half-hour set after Fantasmes. We got up front for it. One of the sound guys walked past and said, “This is going to be bad-ass.”
“He’s right,” my wife said. He was, and so was she (as usual). The Indian music masters wowed the crowd and had everyone booming with cheers by the end of their set.
Gourisankar and Indrajit Banerjee
The night ended with a wild, powerful performance by Golden Dawn Arkestra, who I can best describe as a combination of Goat and Earth, Wind, and Fire. The band is as big as their Afro-jazz-funk sound. I counted seventeen people on stage at one point, and there was even a dancing wizard in front of the stage during the whole show to boot.
One half of Golden Dawn Arkestra
Another half of Golden Dawn Arkestra
People were bouncing during the whole set. I heard many raving about it after it was over. One woman was happy she hadn’t left after Fantasmes as she had planned. I told her I was glad she stayed.
I was glad everyone stayed for the whole weekend. I’m sure many turned around and went home when the festival was cancelled, but many toughed it out and either attended the makeup shows, went to other gigs, or had their own parties.
Levitation Austin 2016 will be remembered as “the one that got cancelled,” but it will also be looked upon as a badge of honor if you were there. Everyone has stories from the other festivals, but this one will have stories that become legends.
I hope to see you next year, Austin.
Keep your mind open.
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I missed Golden Dawn Arkestraat Levitation Austintwo years ago, so I’m keen on catching their show this year. They have a wild mix of African, Asian, and Caribbean beats, amazing costumes, and a wild stage show. I’m sure it will be a performance that gets everyone moving.
Keep your mind open.
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