I have no idea where Mordbear got their name. Is it a riff on “Mordor,” the dark land of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings books? Is it a combination of “Mordred,” the incestuous son of King Arthur and sorceress Morgan Le Fey and “bear?” Was “Murderbear” too clunky, or the name of an upcoming Aslyum Studios film?
I don’t know, but all three possibilities work for the massive doom sound of the band’s self-titled EP.
Starting off with “Like the Dead,” the EP pulls you in (down?) right away with Nico Martinez‘s sludgy bass and Tyler Balthaser‘s trippy and somewhat menacing guitar riffs. The song was inspired by a conversation Balthaser had with a veterinarian who ended up talking about a coming zombie apocalypse that he believed will begin in southern California.
“A Mirror with a Sea of Flames” was inspired by Tom Wolfe‘s famous book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and goes full stoner metal as Erik Larson hammers out thudding heartbeat drums that seem determined to flatten everything around them. “The Alchemist” is a song / warning about the dangers of capitalism.
Much like the cover image of a faceless family enjoying a picnic while a giant ghost bear hovers over them, the EP has a sense of impending doom to it – as any good doom record should. It will be interesting to see and hear where Mordbear goes from here.
There was a moment during Nine Inch Nails‘ set when frontman / founder Trent Reznor said, “We were talking about a year ago about touring, and we thought, ‘Does anybody even still care?'”
Judging by the two sold-out shows at Chicago’s United Center and the enthusiastic response of the entire crowd to his question and whole show, the answer was a resounding “Yes.”
Opening the show was a full-hour set by Germany’s own Boys Noize – a DJ and producer in his own right, who played a small stage and blasted the arena with industrial riffs, techno blasts, and even a remix of NIN’s “Down in It.” Mr. Noize would later join NIN on a second stage (of three) for a powerful remix set of NIN classics.
Boys Noize on Stage C.
NIN immediately started (almost on perfect beat) as soon as Boys Noize’s set ended. The curtain went up on a larger middle stage set up with synths, keyboards, DAWs, and who know what else on platforms that could sink below the stage to give the audience behind it a better view of the third, main stage at the other end from the small stage at the back of the place.
NIN on Stage B.
The set started with a piano version of “Right Where It Belongs” with Reznor playing and singing solo as his pals slowly joined him for similar, low key versions of “Ruiner” and “The Fragile.” Reznor’s drummer, Josh Freese no less, then kicked in the heavy beats of “Eraser” and continued to do so all night, putting on a show behind the kit. The band ran to Stage A and then blasted out rippers like “March of the Pigs” and “Reptile” before settling down a little bit with “Copy of A” and “Gave Up.”
Josh Freese going nuts.Stage A!
After that, it was back to Stage B where Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Boys Noize flattened us with great “rave remixes” of “Closer,” “As Alive As You Need Me to Be,” and “Sin” — which was especially good, leaving my girlfriend’s daughter and I wide-eyed and agreeing NIN needs to release that remix now.
It was back to Stage A for the closing set, which included an ear-blasting version of “1,000,000,” “Every Day Is Exactly the Same,” “The Perfect Drug” (a nice surprise), and “Burn.” They closed, of course, with “Head Like a Hole” and “Hurt,” leaving all of us wanting more.
From what I’ve gathered, this is NIN’s first tour in almost twenty years. There’s no guarantee they’ll do another, as Reznor and Ross have (A) plenty of money and (B) plenty of movie scoring opportunities to keep them set for life. Don’t skip this tour if you can get there.
A compilation of twenty-two French disco and funk tracks from the 1970? Yes, please.
Kid Loco Presents French Funk Experience is loaded with gems you’d swear you heard in an obscure late night movie or while racing through a European airport – and a lot of these tracks are “library music” made for television and film. Take Bernard Estardy‘s killer “Gang Train” from 1972. The synth grooves are from 2072 and the drums are so tight you’d swear they were laid down by a drum machine and not a live human being…yet they are. Résonance‘s “OK Chicago” (1973) is loaded with sampled sirens, police radio chatter, and machine gun ricochets.
P.A. Dahan and Mat Camison break out the handclaps and the Hammond B-3 on “Pepper Drums” (1976). Estardy (who is all over this compilation either with his solo material or working with other artists) returns on the Doobie / Allman Brothers-like funk rocker “Vertigo Leitmotiv” from 1970. Trumpeter and band leader Pierre Dutour shows off his skill on 1974’s “Jungle Trumpet.”
Manu Dibango‘s “Africadelic” (1973) is a thrilling rush, and Pierre-Alain Dahan returns with Slim Pezin on the jaw-dropping, booty-shaking “Electronic Mutation” from 1976. Alain Goraguer‘s “Course de Ten” from 1973 wocka-wocka guitar riffs and “Le Baron” Estardy’s “Bongo Ring” from 1975 is, go figure, full of great hand percussion sounds. Sauveur Mallia, who played bass on Sid Vicious‘ cover of “My Way” no less, brings “All the Bass” and all the funk on this cut from 1979.
Speaking of bass, check out 1970’s “Indian Pop Bass” by Guy Pedersen with all it’s fat bass slaps, weird psych-flute notes, and prog-rock beats. The horn section on Big Jullien & His All Star‘s “Wake the Monster” from 1969 will knock you off your feet. Dahan and Camison’s “Long Playing Time” from 1976 has guitar in it that would make Steely Dan envious. Bernard Lubat‘s organ riffs on 1976’s “Aubergine Time” are outstanding. Ludovic Decosne and Pierre Daubresse‘s “Gloaming” from 1970 is delightfully fun and belongs in a Euro sex-comedy (if it’s not already in one).
Claude Engel gets all trippy with his guitar on the long version of “Belle Gueuse (A)” from 1972. The electric piano and bass on Raymond Guiot‘s “Basse Duetino” (1976) is so groovy you could almost put a turntable needle on it. André Ceccarelli‘s “Funk Number 2” (1970) is a perfect track for strutting / strolling at the club, and “Rythmiques Number 2” (1971) by Dahan is a quick beat drop you’ll want to sample in everything.
Tonio Rubio‘s “Red Medium” (1973) has slick guitar work, and even slicker organ grooves, throughout it. The prolific (over 10,000 tracks to his credit) Estardy comes back one more time for “Riviera Express” from 1973. The organ riffs on it are sometimes funky, sometimes freaky, and sometimes frightening. The compilation ends with 1973’s “Pepper Box” by The Peppers – who consist of Camison on keys, Dahan on drums, and Rubio on guitar. It’s a blast, full of great synth blasts, handclaps, and disco funk. Play it at every party.
This whole compilation is a great time and will cheer you up. You can’t help but groove to it. Blast it through your earbuds as you walk through Paris or down to the nearest boulangerie.
Today, Go Kurosawa announces his debut solo album, soft shakes, available now on vinyl via Guruguru Brain, with the digital release to follow on September 5th.
Multi-instrumentalist, producer, co-founder of the independent label Guruguru Brain and drummer/vocalist of Kikagaku Moyo, Go Kurosawa has spent the past decade building bridges between East and West, sound and silence, rock and ritual.
soft shakesis something different. A personal chapter in Go’s journey, it marks his first solo album, created entirely by himself and made, for the first time, purely for himself. What comes through is music that feels playful, layered, rhythmic and delightfully unexpected. Just like Go.
Today he shares with the internet a first and only glimpse of the album ahead of the album’s digital release. “Autowalk” is a mellow, understated summer jam, channeling the signature feel-good moods Go has curated throughout his work thus far. He comments: “I am a big fan of moving walkways in airports. Every time I see them, I get excited to choose if I should stand on it or walk on it and go a bit faster than usual. But you are not supposed to go as fast as possible, unlike the autobahn.”
After Kikagaku Moyo disbanded, Go spent some time producing records for other artists, but with soft shakes, there was no plan. Just the instinct to pick up an instrument, play, and see what might unfold.
As he puts it, “The whole framework is new. When I made music for the band, I always knew who would play what. This time, it was just me. No plan, no expectation. And weirdly, that became the concept: doing it all myself, for the first time.”
Go has a rare kind of musical instinct. He can play anything, hears everything, and yet never takes himself too seriously. For a long time, making music alone wasn’t part of the plan. Music had always been about connection. But over time, as he travelled, collected instruments and set up Guruguru Brain studio in Rotterdam, the sound of a solo voice emerged.
soft shakes came together between January and June in Rotterdam, through dark, rainy, quiet days. Each day, Go would head to the studio, pick up whatever instrument was around and simply play. The process was slow and instinctive. “If something still moved me the next day, I’d add to it. If not, I’d start something new. One step at a time, without pressure.”
Even as a solo record, the music doesn’t feel tight or controlled. It has the looseness of jamming, the joy of following where the sound wants to go. “I wanted that feeling, even if I was jamming with myself.”
The album artwork was created by his partner Ao, her first time doing artwork for a record. “It captures the freedom and boldness of trying something new and I love it,” he says.
soft shakes arrives at a moment of transition. Go recently relocated to Fukuoka, Japan, after years of living and working in Europe. “While making this album, we were deciding where to move. I knew it would be my last creation while living in Europe. When I listen back, I can hear that longing for something, towards a far away home.”
The record feels like the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. “Now I’m excited to build a studio in Japan and start again. I don’t know what will come next, but I want it to be shaped and influenced by new surroundings.”
And while this record might be personal, Go hopes it offers something to others too. “I wish people would travel somewhere else through music. You float around, lose track of time, and when the record ends, you feel the soft comfort of coming home again.”
It’s always a good time when you get to see King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard live, and seeing them with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia was high on my list this year. I bought lawn tickets as soon as they were available.
As usual, the line for KGATLW merch was long, but it moved well thanks to helpful Ravinia staff keeping things organized there.
This line only took about 15 minutes.
The area where we sat didn’t have a direct line view of the stage, but there were plenty of monitors to see the action, and the sound quality was outstanding. It was the best I’d heard King Gizz sound in a long while. All praise to the sound engineers there.
The show was split into two sets, the first being the band and the orchestra playing the new album, Phantom Island, in its entirety. I have no idea how much time each orchestra on this tour in their respective cities gets to rehearse these wild psych-rock songs, but the Chicago Symphony nailed it and were having a great time. “Spacesick” was a particular highlight, and “Grow Wings and Fly” metamorphosed into a stunning jam-rock version of “Theia” that gave the orchestra enough time to take a break, eat a sandwich, answer some text messages, and practically drive to the post office and back before the second set.
The second set was a mix of tunes from older albums that were redone with orchestral arrangements, including an epic version of “Crumbling Castle,” a fun, swinging version of “This Thing,” and even two of their thrash metal cuts – “Mars for the Rich” and “Dragon.” The show ended with a great version of “Iron Lung,” which appears to have become a live show favorite. The weirdest part of the show? Seeing lead singer Stu Mackenzie with short hair.
Seeing this felt as weird as seeing the Osees’ John Dwyer wearing pants.
KGATLW don’t have too many of these orchestral shows left on this U.S. tour, and their “Field of Visions” festival in Colorado is about to begin with the whole thing being streamed live on YouTube. Don’t miss either.
Bassist/producer Mocean Worker (aka Adam Dorn) and pianist/composer Joe Alterman have come together for Keep The Line Open, a funky, feel-good tribute to the late soul jazz legend Les McCann. Out September 26 via MOWO! Inc., the nine-track collection taps into the genre-blurring spirit that defined McCann’s music, as well as his influence on Dorn and Alterman, who knew him as a mentor, collaborator and close friend. With credits ranging from Eddie Harris and Ramsey Lewis to Hal Willner, Marcus Miller, and Brian Eno, Dorn and Alterman fuse their distinct artistry into an electrifying set that celebrates McCann’s essence while standing on its own as a joyous, party-starter. Keep The Line Open‘s first single, “Yay Yay Yay,” is out today (listen/share).
Dorn and Alterman created Keep The Line Open by melding sampling with live instrumentation to pay homage to an era when the groove reigned supreme and the vibe was decidedly danceable. It’s an album with that ‘live thing’ without actually being a live album. It invites the listener to shake their hips, stomp, shout, and exuberantly raise the collective vibration. Drawing from years of conversations recorded for posterity, saved voicemails and other aural documents of McCann, they’ve woven his voice, laughter, and ever-present sense of humor throughout the album, which threads in and out of the tracks. The infusion of McCann’s raspy timbre is the bond that holds the music together. “We wanted to make a record that harkened back to an era, but use the technology of the current era that says, ‘here’s a party and you can come to the party and not feel like you are being preached at…’” explains Dorn. Alterman concurs: “The idea of music making people feel good and enjoy themselves is one of the things Adam and I definitely have in common. It’s how we got into the music and live with the music, and that’s a point of this project for sure. Hopefully you’ll listen to it and think it’s a live party.”
Dorn’s relationship with Les McCann began through his father, the legendary Atlantic Records’ staff producer Joel Dorn, who worked closely with McCann on several albums, including rare-groove classics like Layers, Invitation to Openness, and the multi-platinum Swiss Movement, which also featured electric saxophone pioneer Eddie Harris. As a kid, the younger Dorn would often overhear long conversations between his father and McCann who shared a deep friendship. As he grew older, he himself began a profound relationship with McCann via extended phone conversations. It led McCann to hire Dorn, an accomplished bassist in his own right, to be part of his rhythm section on live dates. Alterman, meanwhile, started out as a devoted fan of McCann who received the rare opportunity to open for one of his heroes at The Blue Note. The two connected instantly, forging a friendship that lasted for years, primarily through near daily, hour-plus phone conversations. Although plans to record and tour together never materialized due to McCann’s health issues, they did co-write the song “Don’t Forget To Love Yourself.” Alterman would later release Joe Alterman Plays Les McCann: Big Mo & Little Joe, a heartfelt tribute to his mentor and friend. It was ultimately McCann’s passing that brought Dorn and Alterman together. They had both become aware of each other through their independent friendships with McCann who would mention each of the artists in his conversations with the other. Following his death, they’d finally meet and quite organically the idea of making a record of original material inspired by McCann was hatched. Dorn began writing sections of music, creating beats and rhythmic ideas that he’d send to Alterman over which he’d improvise. Dorn would then take those parts and shape them into songs. “It’s all constructed to sound organic, but if you saw the sessions, they look like a Jackson Pollock painting,” recounts Dorn. “It’s like someone who knows how to work with samplers that’s actually a jazz musician. Joe would solo over little ideas and I’d make big arrangements out of them.” Alterman adds: “I’d send Adam four or five solos and he’d piece together the catchy parts to make it what you hear.” The result is an album that is immensely funky (“Gimme Some Skin“), with nods to Latin grooves (“Moses Gonzalez“), and always heavy on the backbeat (“I Love It!, I Love It!, I Love It!“). There are times on Keep The Line Open where the listener will feel as though they are being taken to church (“Yay Yay Yay“), and at other times being taken on a trip to Haight-Asbury in the ’60s (“Circus Going Backwards“), and yet simultaneously the music to feel modern and of the moment (“Lemme Tell You Something“). There is a Les McCann cover tune (“Burnin’ Coal“), there is a moment for Alterman to thrill with his considerable stride piano skills (“Isn’t She Loverly“), and throughout there is Les, commenting on the proceedings with his inimitable wit, humor, and loving nature, making it all seem like it is being played just as he’d imagined. The limited-edition, 180-gram orange vinyl also includes a 10-page insert with extensive liner notes by Alterman, Dorn and Michael Smith, author of In with the In Crowd: Popular Jazz in 1960s Black America, alongside rare and previously unpublished photos of McCann by Sharon Josepho. And while Les McCann is the driving force, the entire spirit of his era, from Ramsey Lewis to Ahmad Jamal, Eddie Harris to Cannonball Adderley, lives in the music. It’s this inspiration that guides Mocean Worker and Joe Alterman through each of the nine tracks. Keep The Line Open is a musical celebration that, like Les McCann himself, makes you feel alive and happy and ready to party.
