7th Level Music

Live – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Death from Above 1979, Deap Vally – October 13, 2016 – Chicago, Illinois

I knew this was a triple bill I couldn’t miss. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Death from Above 1979, and Deap Vally were playing the Chicago House of Blues all in the same night. That’s a killer lineup. Any of the three are worth seeing alone, but all three on the same night. It’s a no-brainer.

First up were Deap Vally, who I’ve wanted to see since I missed their set at Levitation Austin in 2013. They came out to a large crowd and, no exaggeration, stole the show.

They opened with “Make My Own Money” and powered through prime cuts like “Gonnawanna,” “Walk of Shame,” and “Royal Jelly.” Guitarist Lindsey Troy and fill-in drummer Lia Simone (formerly of A Place to Bury Strangers and Les Bucherettes) rocked so hard that I felt bad for DFA 1979 who were to follow them. Ms. Simone played like she’d been playing the tracks for years. It turns out she’s longtime friends with Ms. Troy and full-time drummer Julie Edwards, so Ms. Simone practically knew the chops already when she jumped behind the kit. Everyone within earshot of me was talking about their set even after the end of BRMC’s, proclaiming Ms. Troy’s “bad ass” attitude and Ms. Simone’s excellent kit work.

Death from Above 1979 were no slouches, mind you. Their crazy light show was perfect for their loud fuzz-rock. How drummer Sebastien Granger can sing lead vocals while playing those insane drum licks is a mystery to me, but he makes it look easy. Jesse Keeler wanders the stage like an enraged Rasputin and plays as heavy as the mad monk’s legend. A crazy, aggressive mosh pit broke out during their set. I got in for one song, still happy to mix it up with the youngsters.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club closed out the night and, as usual, put on a great show. “Let the Day Begin,” “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo,” “Conscience Killer,” “Red Eyes and Tears,” “Cold Wind” (a personal favorite) and “Ain’t No Easy Way” were all crowd-favorites. Any worries anyone might’ve had about drummer Leah Shapiro’s health (who underwent brain surgery in 2014 for Chiari malformations) were dashed because she unloaded on her kit like a machine gunner.

The only bummer of the set was some sort of equipment malfunction on Peter Hayes’ side of the stage. The band had to alter some of their song selection, and the broken thing (my guess is a bad monitor) apparently was never properly fixed. They closed with a winner – “Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll” – and had no encore due to the faulty gear.

BRMC’s appropriate lighting for “Red Eyes and Tears.”

It was a good rock show despite the early exit from BRMC – one of the best rock bills I’ve seen in a long while, in fact.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Gang of Four – What Happens Next (2015)

Guitarist and vocalist Andy Gill could’ve closed shop when vocalist Jon King left Gang of Four, but he instead reached out to many friends and collaborators and crafted What Happens Next – a fine post-punk record of dark themes with new vocalist John “Gaoler” Sterry.

The album starts with a sample of Robert Johnson from 1937 and then drifts into “Where the Nightingale Sings,” – a song encouraging Londoners to embrace new friends and neighbors instead of trying to live in a past that really wasn’t as glorious as they remember (“False memories, fake history, next you’ll talk of racial purity.”). Alison Mosshart of the Kills delivers vocals on “Broken Talk” (a song about a man seeking solace in prescription meds). “Isle of Dogs” is another track about living in a metaphorical London fog as Sterry sings, “Every day we invent the economy.” and “I buy in, to everything I see.”

Mosshart returns for vocal duties on “England’s in My Bones,” which is almost an electro dance track, but Thomas McNeice’s bass and Gill’s guitar keep it from straying out of post-punk territory. German musician and actor Herbert Gronemeyer contributes lead vocals on “The Dying Rays,” which is almost an epitaph for the British Empire (“Control and power, empires will build in our minds, but it will all go up in a blaze. Only dust in the dying rays.”).

“I Obey the Ghost” is a chainsaw attack on the Internet, social media, and how technology is making us lonelier than ever. Gill and McNeice bring dark guitars over electric beats as Sterry sings, “Online gods speak personally to me. They hold my hand in the community.”

The theme flows well into “First World Citizen,” with its lyrics of “Big appetites, those American guys. Chew up whatever the dollar buys.” That’s some truth right here, and there’s even more truth when you realize it’s a song about immigrants who would take any job any place to get where most of us are, even though most of us hate where we are. “I have lost everything, didn’t ask for anything. I would take anything, anything at all to be a first world citizen.”

“Stranded” is about first world rich cats who are secretly miserable. Robbie Furze of the Big Pink puts down lead vocals on “Graven Image,” and it’s a perfect track for him. Big Pink is a band that makes stadium-level electro, and this track has plenty of synth bass, programmed drums, and guitar fuzz, so it fits him like a tailored jacket. The closer, “Dead Souls,” is about the rat race that can ensnare all of us. “The world is rushing by. Everyone is on a roll, and I pass the time in the line of dead souls.” It’s not as dark as the Joy Division song of the same name, but it’s close in terms of the lyrics (“I’m not cut out for this role, and in the end I’ll join the line of dead souls.”).

What Happens Next doesn’t have a question mark in the title. Gang of Four isn’t asking us, they’re telling us. What happens next is a life caught in materialism, expensive medications we can’t afford or need, and trying to reclaim a past that never existed unless we snap out of it.

Keep your mind open.

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Death from Above 1979 – Live at Third Man Records

Recorded September 30, 2015, Live at Third Man Records is a fast, furious capsule of the raw energy of Death from Above 1979 (Sebastien Granger – drums and vocals, Jesse Keeler – bass and vocals). No guitar here, folks. Drums, bass, and vocals are more than enough.

“Right on Frankenstein” has enough electro-fuzz in it to bring an animated corpse to life. “Where have all the virgins gone?” the band wonders on “Virgins,” which has a wickedly slick bass groove that’s hard to describe. The bass on “Going Steady,” however, is almost like drone synth rock. Jack White, head honcho at Third Man Records, probably loves the title of “White Is Red,” and he can’t argue with the heartfelt lyrics.

“Trainwreck 1979” is about a deadly crash of a chlorine train tanker and hits about as hard. “Gemini” hits even harder, with squeaky, almost tortured bass and race to the finish drums (which makes sense since it was the last track recorded for side A of the vinyl release).

Side B starts with “Little Girl,” a love song with doom rock bass riffs and post-punk drums. “Go Home Get Down” has freakier bass and lyrics, and “Government Trash” is appropriately trashy and loud.

I’m going to assume “Always On” refers to the distortion pedals used by the band, because the song is a cranked-up, raucous rocker that reminds me of a rocket launch in the way it constantly builds to near burn-out. They close the live session with “The Physical World.” “Oh no, not again. I get this feeling this is not the end,” Granger sings, but end it must and they go for broke and fade out in squalls of feedback.

It’s a short, but strong live recording and a must for DFA 1979 fans.

Keep your mind open.

Goat – Requiem

Sweden’s voodoo-psych weirdos Goat have returned with a record that steers a bit away from their usual blend of frenetic, world music freak-outs and slows the pace. Whereas their first two records, World Music and Commune, were cosmic journeys around and sometimes into a wormhole, Requiem is a leisurely drift down the Nile in ancient times.

“Djorolen / Union of Sun and Moon” starts with birdsong as Goat’s two female lead singers give a lovely send-off to your catamaran as it pulls away from the Egyptian shore. Then, the drums, guitar, and a playful flute burst through your speakers like a bunch of minstrels running around the deck of the catamaran in a celebration of what will be a blessed journey. The lyrics speak of rejecting negativity and traveling through space and time.

“I Sing in Silence” is an instant chill-out song, with flute, guitar, and hand percussion that is perfect for our journey down the Nile as the sun warms us and an ibis glides alongside the catamaran. “Brother, I am your sister, you are my brother, we have each other,” they sing. It’s a song of inclusion desperately needed here in the U.S. this election year.

“Temple Rhythms” is appropriately named because the drums beats and handclaps at the outset will get you moving like you’re offering up a dance to appease whatever deity you worship. The song is spearheaded by flute and piano. It’s a wild track that sounds like something from a cool late 1960’s European jazz festival.

Speaking of the 1960’s, “Alarm” is 60’s psych – as evidenced by the acoustic guitar work and tripped-out percussion throughout it. “Trouble in the Streets” brings in Caribbean beats and guitar styling (and even bright, bash keyboards), again perfect for a lazy ride down an endless river. They go back to psychedelia on (no surprise) “Psychedelic Lover,” which includes Middle Eastern chants / calls to prayer.

“Goatband” is nearly eight minutes of instrumental psychedelia that reminds me of early Love and Rockets tracks with its free jazz saxophone in the background. “Try My Robe” is a great example of the “Goat sound” (if there is such a thing) – hand percussion, wicked drumbeats, female vocals, mantra bass, and crisp guitar. It flows straight into “It’s Not Me,” which sounds like something Jane’s Addiction wish they’d written (dub bass, reverbed vocals, slick drumming). It’s one of the loveliest tracks on Requiem.

“All-Seeing Eye” is probably a reference to the Illuminati or the sixth chakra. Either way, it’s a good psych instrumental and lead-in to the rocking “Goatfuzz” that hits hard for almost seven minutes and has some of the fuzziest guitar on the record. Another epic psych track is “Goodbye,” which starts with guitar that would belong in a Euro-western from the 1960’s and ends with those hypnotic beats Goat does so well, backed with body-moving bass.

“Goodbye” isn’t the last song on the record. That distinction belongs to “Ubuntu,” which ends with samples from “Dirabi,” Goat’s first track off World Music. The three albums become an ouroboros – the snake that eats itself, the wheel of reincarnation. The end is the beginning. The journey along the Nile ends with the ocean. The end opens into a new world. Requiem isn’t about death and doom. It is about exploration and embracing what lies ahead.

Keep your mind open.

Wrecka Stow: Satellite Records – Kalamazoo, MI

Located at 808 South Westnedge, Kalamazoo’s Satellite Records is worth a side trip when you’re in the city, especially if you’re a lover of vinyl or bagels (it happens to be next door to a good bagel / coffee shop).

I knew I was in a good wrecka stow when I walked in and saw this mural.

That’s Devo, Sun Ra, Kraftwerk, the Replacements, and three others I can’t place. The man in the top hat might be Marc Bolan of T. Rex, but that’s just a guess. Regardless, the people who work here know their stuff.

As I mentioned earlier, the place is a vinyl lover’s dream with plenty of LP’s, 45’s, collector editions, and 12-inch singles.

They have CD’s, cassettes, DVD’s, and even 8-tracks as well.

I scored a pair of groovy used CD’s there – The Kills‘ Blood Pressures and Lorelle Meets the Obsolete‘s On Welfare, which I didn’t know existed until I found it there for only eight bucks. Look for reviews soon, and look for Satellite Records when you’re in Kalamazoo.

Keep your mind open.

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Detroit’s Echo Fest sets lineup for 2016.

One night only! Detroit’s Echo Fest has announced another great lineup for the psychedelic rock festival. Returning to the newly renovated Magic Stick, Echo Fest boasts Nik Turner’s Hawkwind, Holy Wave, Wolf Eyes, Rogue Satellites, Heaven’s Gateway Drugs, Nest Egg, festival curators Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor, and many more cool bands.

It’s a great way to spend the day, so get your tickets now.

Keep your mind open.

Rewind Review: The Flaming Lips – Embryonic (2009)

The Flaming Lips (Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd, Michael Ivins, Kliph Scurlock) aren’t known for making traditional albums. One album, Zaireeka, was meant to be played on four different stereos at once while you stood in the middle and let the sounds wash over you. The Terror was a doom-psych record about dour subjects. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was a psych-pop masterpiece. Embryonic is a wild, trippy record about the illusions of reality and breaking free of them and the transmigration of souls.

“Convinced of the Hex” is loaded with poppy synths, empty swimming pool vocals, and distorted drums as lead singer Wayne Coyne sings about a woman who has seen things as they really are while Coyne wallows in illusion (“She says, ‘You think there’s a system that controls and affects. You see, I believe in nothing and you’re convinced of the hex.’”). “The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine” has Coyne wondering what it might be like to shake all illusions (“What does is mean to dream what you dream, to believe what you see?”) as the band knocks out drum and bass beats with psych-synths behind them.

“Evil” has Coyne regretting his inability to warn a friend of people who would betray him / her. “See the Leaves” is a haunting song about death and reincarnation, with heavy synth bass, haunted house guitar stabs, and industrial drums. “If” is another song about the dark side of others, and the follow-up, “Gemini Syringes,” might be about the space race, the zodiac, or both. I know it’s a lovely, trip-out tune with water drop-like drums and ice cream truck keyboards.

The zodiac is a prominent theme on the record. There are instrumentals called “Aquarius Sabotage,” “Scorpio Sword,” and “Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast.” There’s a song called “Sagittarius Silver Announcement” in which Coyne sings about being “free to be slaves to this silver machine.” Is it an actual machine? Is it Coyne’s laptop computer, and thus the World Wide Web? Is it something he saw in a vision? We may never know.

“Your Bats” is a heavily distorted song about a person’s nightmares, whereas “Powerless” is about a woman trying to convince Coyne that everything isn’t as bleak as he thinks it is. The distant feel of the song makes it seems like he’s not entirely convinced. “The Ego’s Last Stand” is another cut about destroying our illusions. Coyne sings, “The only way out is destroy all traces, oh, destroying yourself.” The bass purrs like a great cat and the song briefly explodes into fuzzy rock before settling down into a mix of birdsong, synths, and lyrics that border on beat poetry.

“I Can Be a Frog” is about a woman wondering how she might return in her next life, be it a frog, a tornado, or anything in-between. A woman (Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs no less) laughs and makes animal sounds behind Coyne’s playful vocals. You can hear him chuckling a couple times in the song. The heavy fuzz of “Worm Mountain,” and its rat-a-tat drums, is great. MGMT help out on the track, bringing additional vocals and synth grooves. The song is a reminder that death will come to all of us (“Through the mist, a bell rings clear, but the ring is just a sound of your starburn burning out.”), and we can all hope it’s this trippy and cosmic.

“The Impulse” is written from the perspective of an angel or, by the sound of Coyne’s heavily synthesized vocals, an alien (or are they one and the same?) trying to free someone from their illusion of reality, but the person would rather stress over their appearance and “shapeless urges.”

“Silver Trembling Hands” is a tale of a woman who covers up her fear and paranoia with heavy drug use. “Watching the Hands” reminds us that not all is doom and gloom as Coyne and Karen O sing that “the sun’s gonna rise and take your fears away.” The song is like a mantra with its beats and continued chants of “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.”

It’s a lovely and creepy record. Facing truth can be frightening, but the Flaming Lips remind us that the reward at the end of such a journey is freedom and peace.

Keep your mind open.

Gang of Four – Live…in the Moment

Recorded live on November 06, 2015 at London’s Islington Assembly Hall, Gang of Four’s (Jonny Finnegan – drums, Andy Gill – guitar and vocals, Thomas McNeice – bass, John “Gaoler” Sterry – vocals) Live…in the Moment is a fine documentation of the edgy, post-punk legends’ raw power.

It begins with the fuzzy, almost frightening “Where the Nightingale Sings.” Gill’s guitar seems to double back on itself at points, and McNeice’s bass pounds out a killer beat. One of their biggest (and still truest) hits, “History’s Not Made by Great Men,” follows. McNeice and Gill get it off to a great start, and Finnegan puts down that slick groove that makes the song so good. Sterry sings to the back of the hall, urging the attendees and the rest of us to step up and move things forward instead of letting political opportunists get the best of us.

The squeaky and sultry sound of “I Parade Myself” is like something you’d hear as a bunch of strippers decided to beat up a rude customer outside the back of the club. The great beat on “Paralysed” is dub-like, but Gill’s guitar and vocals are almost shoegaze style. Sterry’s vocals on “What We All Want” are sharp and Finnegan’s groove is so good that he sounds like a human drum machine.

It wouldn’t be a Gang of Four show without “Love Like Anthrax,” one of the greatest post-punk songs of all time. Gill begins with guitar chaos that threatens to dissolve into madness before the rhythm section moves in to keep us and the song grounded. “Do As I Say” has Gill on lead vocals and he soon has the crowd chanting the chorus. “Stranded” is a modern post-punk gem, and “Damaged Goods” is another classic. Finnegan’s beats are dance floor-ready, and the rest of the band cooks like an Iron Chef right behind him. “Isle of Dogs” is a favorite with the London crowd, and you can’t go wrong with “At Home He’s a Tourist,” a classic song about man teetering on madness. Gill’s guitar is as bonkers as the song’s main character, and Finnegan beats his snare like it cut him off in traffic.

Gang of Four’s “To Hell with Poverty” is still one of the best post-punk songs ever written. McNeice’s bass work is especially good on it. Gill claims “Why Theory?” is his “feminist masterpiece” and “totally stolen from other people,” but that squelching, distorted guitar belongs to no one else but him. The album finishes with the solid rocker “I Found that Essence Rare.”

Live…in the Moment also comes with a DVD of the band’s performance in New York City in March of 2015. It’s a great bargain and a fine addition to Gang of Four’s discography.

Keep your mind open.

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Stooges documentary “Gimme Danger” to premiere just in time for Halloween.

Jim Jarmusch, director of cult hits like Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Dead Man, and Only Lovers Left Alive, has produced what looks to be a powerful, great documentary on Iggy Pop and the Stooges – arguably the greatest rock band of all time. The documentary, Gimme Danger, premieres October 28th on Amazon, and the first trailer already makes it look like essential viewing.

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Rewind Review: Dead Meadow – Feathers (2005)

I’ve seen Dead Meadow (Steve Kille – bass, Mark Laughlin – drums, Cory Shane – guitar, Jason Simon – guitar and vocals), twice in concert – once opening for the Black Angels in 2011 and then again at Levitation Austin (when it was still known as the Austin Psych Fest) in 2014. They put on a heavy, trippy show that I enjoyed both times, so why it’s taken me so long to pick up Feathers is beyond me.

Feathers is not only heavy on riffs and percussion, but also themes of heaven, life, death, and reincarnation. “Let’s Jump In” is a great start, inviting us to jump into their heavy psych sound as they sing about springing from “the face of the Almighty” and jumping into life with both feet (often literally at our births).

The lyrics in “Such Hawks, Such Hounds” sound like something out of a Tolkien story, which isn’t a surprise since Tolkien is an admitted big influence on them. “From the boughs of the oak tree, three ravens wail over his cold bones lying as they are.” It’s a haunting story of a warrior’s death and his hawks, hounds, and maiden protecting his body from scavengers.

“Get Up On Down” is a lament about being caught in the wheel of reincarnation. “If I’m back again, I’m done after the next one,” Simon sings. The guitar work swirls around like incense smoke and builds to a soaring send-off. “Heaven” is more cosmic psych and a retelling of the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son Isaac. “At Her Open Door” is Lovecraft-like prose (“From the heights of the town her handmaids will announce her undying presence within her seven-pillared house…”) as guitars swell and fade with near-surf rock touches before smoothly cruising into Eastern Indian rock, and the drums are great all the while.

“Eyeless Gaze / Don’t Tell the Riverman” is a great example of the “Dead Meadow sound” – ethereal vocals, mantra-like cymbal work from the drummer, and breaking dawn guitar work that almost overwhelms you at times. Like early Pink Floyd? You’ll love “Stacy’s Song.” “Let It All Pass” is another dreamy psych track about fading from this life to the next (“All things in time when nothing will last. Lord, I don’t mind. Let it all pass.”).

The CD version of Feathers ends with a 13:44 untitled bonus track that is nothing but epic cosmic psychedelia. I wouldn’t be surprised if they wrote it after walking out of a sweat lodge. The guitars come at you from all angles, the solid drums keep you from floating away into the ether, and the vocals are like distant chants you hear on the wind.

It’s a spiritual record, a psychedelic record, and a bit of a haunting record. You have to be in the right mood or have the right kind of weather for it, but it’s perfect when you need it.

Keep your mind open.

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