If you think there’s nothing to do in Delaware, you might want to check out the Firefly Music FestivalJune 16-19th. A four-day pass is less than $350.00 and they have a big lineup this year. Kings of Leon, Florence & the Machine, and Deadmau5 are big scores on the festival circuit this year. Tame Impala, Flogging Molly, M83, A$AP Rocky, Blink-182, Major Lazer, and The 1975 are also fine additions. Check it out.
Keep your mind open.
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San Marcos, Texas’ Float Fest is set for July 16 and 17th. They have a great lineup of electro, rock, and rap artists. Santigold, Metric, and Chromeo alone are worth the price of admission (which is just over $100 for both days). San Marcos is also a nice college town with good pubs and easy to navigate. Swing by the festival if you’re near there, or make the drive if you’re not.
I discovered Phoenix, Arizona’s psych outfit Strange Lot (Dominic Mena – guitars and vocals, Tim Lormor – drums, David Dennis – bass ) when I attended the 2016 MR Fest in San Marcos, Texas. Their set was one of best I saw there.
Their first full-length album, Another Mind, is solid. They open big with “Into the Night.” The guitars bounce off each other like they’re in a mosh pit, and the vocals are layered in reverb to the point where they’re almost indecipherable. “The Horror” dives headfirst into trippy psych. “Wasted Fields” has wild, weird, and fascinating guitar work from Mena. “Supremium” might be an obscure reference to Marvel Comics’ version of kryptonite, but I think it’s probably about allowing your mind to open to a cosmic experience. Lormor’s drums almost sound drunk, Dennis seems to be playing a freestyle jazz tune on his bass, and Mena’s guitars float around like he’s in zero gravity. Trust me, it all works.
“Stone” bridges the gap between psych and shoegaze, while “Right with your Pain” is a raucous rocker. “Call My Name” is so full of fuzz that Ty Segall probably wishes he’d recorded it. After a brief instrumental break (“Sandwich”), “Erthquake” roars in like its namesake. Lormor and Dennis try to shake you to the ground and Mena tries to lift you from the chasm with excellent, soaring guitar work. The title track is the last one. It’s like something you’d find on an obscure early 1980’s goth rock compilation with its mournful vocals and lyrics, down-tuned guitars, and strangely peppy keyboards.
I like these guys. They’re doing odd stuff, loud stuff, psych stuff, and shoegaze stuff and it all works for them. It is a strange lot they’ve mixed, but a good one.
Keep your mind open.
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German electro-duo Klaus Johann Grobe’s (Daniel Bachmann and Sevi Landolt) newest record, Spagat Der Liebe (The Balancing Act of Love), is forty minutes of groovy neo-lounge music perfect for late night drinks, clubbing, lovemaking, driving, or all four. Just don’t mix the driving with the drinking or the lovemaking. Safety first.
“Ein Guter Tag” (“A Good Day”) kicks off the record with groovy bass and space synths. It’s a perfect way to start your day, really. “Wo Sind” (“Where Are”) has catchy bold synths and crisp drumming throughout it. “Rosen Des Abschieds” (“Roses of Farewells”) will get you dancing with its groovy bass and snappy percussion. The vocals, despite being about a break-up, are wonderfully light and help the song bounce.
“Pure Fantasie” (You can guess the translation.) is pretty much a lounge version of a slow jam. It’s meant to inspire you to get your freak on, so put it on your latest make-out playlist. “Heut Abend Nur” (“Tonight Only”) sounds like something you’d hear in a 1960’s European art film.
“Geschichten Aus Erster Hand” (“Stories Firsthand”) has some of the few English lyrics (“Come on, baby.”), but the chorus of “tanzen, tanzen, tanzen” (“dance, dance, dance”) is what will stick in your head. “Ohne Mich” (“Without Me”) has synths straight from a 1980’s OMD record, or so it seems.
If this record hasn’t hooked you by now, the flute solo by Roman Weissert on “Liebe am Strand” (“Love on the Beach”) will not only hook you, it will yank you out of the water. “Springen Wie Damals” (“Jump as Then”) has a killer drum and bass breakdown in it that will make you stop what you’re doing and listen. The closer, “Gedicht” (“Poem”), would make a fine addition to the soundtrack for a movie about a retiring private eye.
Don’t worry that nearly all the lyrics are in German. You won’t care because the music on this album is so groovy and cool. Euro-lounge music needs to be played everywhere now and then, if you ask me, and Klaus Johan Grobe are fine ambassadors for it.
Keep your mind open.
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Concert ticket retailer Live Nationis offering $20.00 concert tickets now through May 20th as part of its Kickoff to Summerpromotion.
There are many good shows on sale, including Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Steely Dan, Weezer, Black Sabbath, Florence and the Machine, Garbage, Duran Duran, Rob Zombie, Jane’s Addiction, Kool and the Gang, and dozens more.
Granted, these $20.00 tickets aren’t prime seats, but seeing Steely Dan for only $20.00 to sit on the lawn in general admission is pretty good. Get them while you can.
Keep your mind open.
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Punk legends The Misfitsare reuniting for Riot Festthis year. It’s the first time the original members will have performed together in nearly 34 years.
Early bird discount tickets for Riot Fest have been selling fast, meaning the prices keep going up as each tier sells out. The Misfits are the only band announced so far, and it will only cause tickets to sell faster. This will be the one of the biggest gigs of the year, so don’t miss it if you get the chance.
The annual Austin City Limits Music Festival has announced its dates and lineup. The festival takes place in downtown Austin, Texas over the course of two weekends, and some bands play both of them.
Headliners this year include Radiohead, Mumford & Sons, Kendrick Lamar, LCD Soundsystem, Willie Nelson, M83, Cage the Elephant, Two Door Cinema Club, LL Cool J, Foals, and Die Antwoord.
Tickets for the first weekend are already sold out, so don’t wait for weekend two tickets if you’re interested. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people who didn’t get to see anyone during Levitation Austin this year go to this festival to make up for it. Tickets and hotel rooms will go fast.
Keep your mind open.
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Lollapalooza Chicago has released its daily schedule of bands over the course of the four-day weekend July 28 – 31st.
Four-day and single-day tickets are sold out unless you want and can afford to buy VIP ($2,200 weekend / $650 single day) or Platinum Package ($4,200, no single day tickets) tickets. Thursday night’s headliners are Lana Del Rey, the Last Shadow Puppets, Flosstradamus, and J. Cole.
Friday night’s headliners: Major Lazer, Ghost, Martin Garrix, and a little band called Radiohead.
Saturday night’s headliners: Disclosure, Vic Mensa, Hardwell, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Sunday night’s headliners: Ellie Goulding, ZHU, Die Antwoord, and LCD Soundsystem.
I’ve been meaning to pick up A Place to Bury Strangers’ 2009 album, Exploding Head, for years. I have no excuse other than it was never for sale on CD whenever I’d see them live. I love the band, so shame on me for taking seven years to pick up this fine record.
The opener, “It Is Nothing,” displays Oliver Ackermann’s (vocals and guitar) love of My Bloody Valentine. His guitar sounds like he’s playing it upside-down and backwards while his vocals seem to be coming from the bottom of an empty pool. “In Your Heart” is one of my favorite APTBS tracks. It has the stabbing guitar chords, chugging synth beats, lyrics about screwed-up relationships (“Don’t say you’ll be with me again. There’s nothing there, it’s dead.”), and David J-like bass I love from their songs, and it slays live.
Tribal drumming grounds “Lost Feeling” as Ackermann pleads with his girl to come back to him, but he knows he’s not even on her radar. It’s like a great lost Bauhaus track with even more blaring guitars. “Deadbeat” is nothing but, as it has some of the hardest, slickest beats and bass on the record. It’s an instant mosh pit creator, so be careful where you play it.
“Keep Slipping Away” is like early Cure but with more reverb, heavier amps, and not as much moping. “Ego Death” is heavy goth rock with a chorus that might knock you out of your boots. “Smile When You Smile” is equally heavy and a bit creepier. “Everything Always Goes Wrong” could be the theme for every Three’s Company episode by the title, but the sound of it is better for a modern Euro-horror film.
You’d think the title track would be loud enough to make your head explode, but APTBS wisely flips it around to make it a catchy industrial track with almost a dance club bass line and vocals free of reverb. The closer is one of their hardest and loudest live tracks – “I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart.” As fast as it is on the record, it’s twice the speed live.
Don’t be like me and wait seven years to add this to your collection. It’s essential noise-psych.
I’ve returned to WSNDfor my summer shows. I’ll be on most Sunday nights at midnight EST until 2am. I spin a lot of variety, so you’re sure to hear something you’ll like. The show streams live at the station’s website, or you can hear it on 88.9FM on the dial if you’re in the South Bend, Indiana listening area.
Here’s my set list from last night’s show:
Brujas Del Sol – Ships in the Distance
Bad Religion – Ad Hominem
Helmet – FBLA II
The Kills – Goodnight Bad Morning
WALL – Cuban Cigars
Betty Davis – Is It Love or Desire
Soledad Brothers – Let Me Down
Prince – Baltimore
Beastie Boys – Futterman’s Rule
Elvis Presley – Blue Moon of Kentucky
Shonen Knife – The Perfect World
Shone Knife – Cookie Day
Rustie – Paradise Stone
Case & Slide – Perception (Vocal mix)
Possum Kingdom Ramblers – Godzilla
Vaadat Charigim – Ein Li Makom
Gary Wilson – I Wanna Lose Control
The Night Beats – Rat King
The Night Beats – Power Child
Earthless – Violence of the Red Sea
The Blind Owls – The Girl Is Mine
Klaus Johan Grobe – Ein Guter Tag
Imarhan – Tahabort
Strange Lot – Into the Night
Golden Dawn Arkestra – Sama Chaka
Thanks for listening. I’m back on the air April 22nd.
