Radiohead – 7th Level Music

Review: Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song

It takes guts to open your new album with a Radiohead cover, but that’s exactly what Kelly Lee Owens does on her (no shocker, if you’d heard her amazing self-titled debut – which was my top album of 2017) excellent new record, Innner Song. Owens has stated in press releases that Inner Song follows “the hardest three years of my life,” and one could view the record (and her) as a phoenix rising from ashes.

That aforementioned Radiohead cover is “Arpeggi” (from 2007’s In Rainbows) and she starts it with subtle, humming bass that’s almost subliminal. Owens sings about letting go of things in the past that cannot be fixed on “On” – which has her voice moving and sounding like birds released from a cage. It builds into a thumping, bumping floor-filler. Owens excels at tracks like this that take you on a journey from peaceful meditations to booty-shaking workouts.

“Melt!” – a song about global warming that samples collapsing glaciers and people ice skating – deserves to be on every DJ’s hot list of dance tracks this year. “Free yourself with the truth that’s already in you,” Owens sings on the haunting “Re-Wild.” It’s advice all of us can use, and Owens’ use of echoing synths helps it sink in like acupuncture needle. “Jeanette” is all bouncy synths and beats that make you want to dance and then hug everyone and then dance some more.

“L.I.N.E.” (“Love Is Not Enough”) has Owens realizing that “love is not enough to stay…love is not enough alone” as she walks away from a dead-end relationship with someone offended by truth. “Corner of My Sky” features none other than John Cale on vocals singing and speaking poetry over Owens’ lush synths. “Night” blends house, ambient, and chill wave, and “Flow” is perfectly named as it bumps, grooves, sways, and, yes, flows along like a happy balloon bouncing down the street on a summer wind. The album ends with sort of a reverse lullaby on “Wake-Up.” The soft song is great for relaxation, but Owens tells us (and herself) to open our eyes and move forward (the only direction we can move in this life, really).

That fact that Owens could create an album as lovely as Inner Song after “the hardest three years of my life” is a testament to her fortitude. I’m glad she made it through the trials and came out, like a phoenix, stronger.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

The Radiohead Public Library is now open.

Radiohead has opened the doors of its archives by giving us the online Radiohead Public Library. It’s a vast treasure trove of everything from obscure album art and ad-free live performances to cool ephemera like old fan club letters, photos of out-of-print shirts, and rare music videos.

Fans can also download their own library card, like I did.

The library is set up with the oldest stuff at the bottom of the page, and I’m sure they haven’t released everything they have in their vault, but the availability of so much free streaming material is a treat for Radiohead fans and music fans alike.

Keep your mind open.

[Check out the subscription box while you’re here.]

Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien releases first single, “Brasil,” from upcoming solo record.

Guitarist / vocalist Ed O’Brien of Radiohead recently released the first single, “Brasil,” from his upcoming solo record. It’s a dreamy track that mixes synthwave, house, and psychedelia with O’Brien’s excellent vocals. He started writing “Brasil” back in 2013 and it’s now available to stream and pre-order as a 12″ single. You can also watch the cool video here.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

Top 30 Concerts of 2018: #’s 5 – 1

We’ve reached the top of the list. Let’s see who made it.

#5: Kelly Lee Owens at Pitchfork Music Festival – I had wanted to see Ms. Owens perform since her self-titled album was my favorite of 2017. She put on a dazzling set of electro that had the early afternoon crowd moving and inspired me to look into creating electro of my own.

#4: The Black Angels at Levitation Austin – The 2018 Levitation Austin festival was the first one since the 2016 festival had been shut down due to bad weather. The 2018 was a make-or-break year for the festival’s organizers, who include the Black Angels. Their set was powerful and almost a rallying cry for the festival goers, their fans, music fans, and the city.

#3: Oh Sees at Levitation Austin – I’ll just say this: Every story you’ve heard about how crazy an Oh Sees show is? They’re all true.

#2: Follakzoid at Levitation Austin – I had no idea what I was in for when I walked in to see Chilean space-psych rockers Follakzoid for the first time. What I got was a mind-altering performance of perhaps three songs that lasted nearly forty minutes. It was stunning. I couldn’t stop thinking about their set for almost the entire next day.

#1: Radiohead at Chicago’s United Center – It had been a few years since I’d seen Radiohead, and they’ve only improved in that time. It was a wonderful show that covered a lot of their material and turned the entire United Center into a disco ball.

Keep your mind open.

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

The first cut from Thom Yorke’s soundtrack to the remake of “Suspiria” can now be heard.

Thom Yorke’s debut soundtrack Suspiria (Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film) will be released 26th October on XL Recordings.

Written by Thom for Luca Guadagnino’s reimagining of the 1977 Dario Argento horror classic, the soundtrack combines instrumental score with songs and interludes across a double album.

The album will be available across digital platforms, as well as 2-LP gatefold package pink vinyl and 2-CD physical versions. Pre-order now HERE.

Ahead of release, there will be a series of album playbacks in selected cities, and we would like to invite a number of fans to attend each event. If you wish to be considered for a place, please sign up here by 4pm BST on Thursday 6th September.

A1 –

A Storm That Took Everything
The Hooks
Suspirium (WATCH VIDEO)
Belongings Thrown In A River
Has Ended
Klemperer Walks
Open Again

A2 –

Sabbath Incantation
The Inevitable Pull
Olga’s Destruction (Volk tape)
The Conjuring of Anke
A Light Green
Unmade
The Jumps

B1 –

Volk
The Universe is Indifferent
The Balance of Things
A Soft Hand Across Your Face
Suspirium Finale

B2 –

A Choir of One
Synthesizer Speaks
The Room of Compartments
An Audition
Voiceless Terror
The Epilogue

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t keep me in suspense. Subscribe.]

Thom Yorke’s “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes” solo tour starts November 23rd.

Radiohead front man Thom Yorke has announced a bunch of U.S. tour dates this fall to promote and play his solo material. Joining him will be producer (and frequent Radiohead collaborator) Nigel Godrich and visual artist Tarik Barri. Oliver Coates, a London-based cellist, will be the opening act.

The dates are as follows:

November 2018
23rd Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA
24th Wang Theatre-Boch Center – Boston, MA
26th Kings Theatre – Brooklyn, NY
27th Kings Theatre – Brooklyn, NY
30th John F Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts Concert Hall – Washington, DC

December 2018
1st Keybank State Theatre – Cleveland, OH
2nd Masonic Temple Cathedral Theatre – Detroit, MI
4th Chicago Theatre – Chicago, IL
5th Riverside Theater – Milwaukee, WI
6th Northrop at the University of Minnesota – Minneapolis, MN
8th Stifel Theatre – St. Louis, MO
9th Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland – Kansas City, MO
11th Paramount Theatre – Denver, CO
13th The Union – Salt Lake City, UT
15th Bill Graham Civic Auditorium – San Francisco, CA
17th The Observatory, North Park – San Diego, CA
19th Orpheum Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
20th Orpheum Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
22nd The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV

Tickets will surely sell out for most, if not all, of these shows. Don’t wait too long to score some.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t wait too long to subscribe either.]

Live: Radiohead – United Center – Chicago, IL – July 07, 2018

I hadn’t seen Radiohead in concert since 2012. They’d put out a couple albums since then, and I had been looking forward to this show for months. It was a bonus show of sorts, as the original show the previous night sold out within minutes. They added the second show to make up for those of us who couldn’t get tickets to that one, and even this show sold out in rapid time. I had to refresh websites on my phone and laptop computer just to score tickets on the third level.

That being said, it was worth it.

They started with “Daydreaming” and “Desert Island Disk” to lull the crowd into a nice trance before breaking out tracks like “Myxomatosis” and “Lucky” to get everyone moving.

A real treat was their first performance of “Spectre,” the rejected theme from the Bond movie of the same name. It was great to hear “Idioteque” (which had the whole place jumping) and “My Iron Lung” (a personal favorite). “Bodysnatchers” almost blasted the back wall off the United Center.

Their first encore consisted of “You and Whose Army?”, “Airbag” (which had a friend of ours dancing in the aisle), “The National Anthem” (another personal favorite), “2 + 2 = 5,” and “Street Spirit (Fade Out).” Their second encore brought us “Everything in Its Right Place” (which was jaw-dropping), “Pyramid Song,” and “Karma Police” (which had the whole place singing).

It was great to see them again. I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing them until that night. They’re one of those must-see bands anytime they’re close.

Keep your mind open.

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

Thom Yorke announces solo European tour dates.

Radiohead front man Thom Yorke has announced solo tour dates for Europe and the United Kingdom. These dates are in May and June and land before Radiohead kicks off on a tour of North America. Tickets go on sale to the general public on March 23rd, so get them while you can. They were surely sell out.

May 2018
28th Teatro Verdi, Florence, Italy
29th Fabrique Milano, Milan, Italy
30th Halle 622, Zurich, Switzerland

June 2018
1st Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany
3rd Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
4th Royal Theatre Carré, Amsterdam, Netherlands
7th Usher Hall, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
8th Roundhouse, London, United Kingdom
10th Palace Theatre, Manchester, United Kingdom
12th L’Olympia, Paris, France
13th Le Transbordeur, Lyon, France
16th Fira de Barcelona – Sonar Festival, Barcelona, Spain

Keep your mind open.

[You can do a great solo act by subscribing.]

Radiohead announces U.S. tour for summer 2018.

Just in time to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of their debut album, Pablo Honey, Radiohead have announced a 2018 U.S. tour beginning in July and running through August. The dates are as follows:

Sat-Jul-07 – Chicago – United Center

Tue-Jul-10 – New York – Madison Square Garden

Wed-Jul-11 – New York – Madison Square Garden

Fri-Jul-13 – New York – Madison Square Garden

Mon-Jul-16 – Montreal – Bell Centre

Tue-Jul-17 – Montreal – Bell Centre

Thu-Jul-19 – Toronto – Air Canada Centre

Fri-Jul-20 – Toronto – Air Canada Centre

Sun-Jul-22 – Detroit – Little Caesars Arena

Mon-Jul-23 – Columbus – Schottenstein Center

Wed-Jul-25 – Cincinnati – US Bank Arena

Thu-Jul-26 – Pittsburgh- PPG Paints Arena

Sat-Jul-28 – Boston – TD Garden

Sun-Jul-29 – Boston – TD Garden

Tue-Jul-31 – Philadelphia- Wells Fargo Center

Wed-Aug-01 – Philadelphia – Wells Fargo Center

Tickets go on sale tomorrow. Don’t wait to get them. They will sell out, and resale prices will be high enough to enrage you and them (Radiohead have railed against ticket scalpers for years.).

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t wait to subscribe either.]

Rewind Review: Radiohead – Airbag / How Am I Driving? (1998)

Spinning off the massive critical and commercial success of their now-classic album OK Computer, Radiohead released the Airbag / How Am I Driving? EP in the United States as a sort of “mega-single” when “Airbag” was a hit single. It contained not only the title track, but also six tracks that had previously been unreleased.

“Airbag” is instantly recognizable with its fuzzy guitars, slightly distorted beats, and Thom Yorke singing about the aftermath of a car wreck (which is probably an allegory for some sort of enlightenment experience). “Pearly” has crisp, almost toy box guitar layered over heavy shoegaze riffs. “Meeting in the Aisle” is instrumental music for a grocery store on a space station.

If that track is meant for a space station grocery store, then “A Reminder” is meant for the station’s jazz lounge. Mellow keyboards mix with machinery sounds, ambient crowd noise, and Yorke’s mysterious vocals. “Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)” is a quirky love song, as is “Melatonin.” “Palo Alto” is an angry diatribe against suburbia, the rat race, and comfortable complacency. Loud guitars smack you awake during the chorus while the verses are quieter affairs with more weird mechanical sounds lurking in the background.

OK Computer was an album about human beings becoming more and more alienated from each other as technology improved. This EP is like an epilogue to that record. It’s a short mix of songs that feature a lot of distortion, blips, bleeps, and paranoia. Get it if you want the bookend to one of Radiohead’s classic records.

Keep your mind open.

[How am I driving? Let me know by subscribing or leaving a comment.]