7th Level Music

Afterdawn – Midnight

Brother-sister duo Afterdawn (Hannah and Daniel Evans) has come together to create a brilliant three-song EP of electro music that’s as bright as their namesake – Midnight (a clever name for a record by a band named “Afterdawn.”).

“Blank Page” opens the EP like the burst of a sunrise, and Hannah Evans’ vocals mix very well with the dazzling synths behind her. The title cut is perfect chill-out music for the car ride between parties and sounds like something the Cranberries wish they could make. The keyboards and precision drum machines mesh well with the secretly sad reverbed vocals. “Scream” has touches of Portishead (the synths), Everything But the Girl (the vocals), and M83 (the beats).

This is one of the most impressive debuts I’ve heard in a while, and you can get it for free (although I hope you’ll tip at least the recommended two bucks – They have to eat, you know.). I hope Afterdawn gives us a full album soon.

Keep your mind open.

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La Basura Del Diablo – Necrophagus

La Basura Del Diablo (Whitey Mack – vocals, Chris Howler – bass, G.W. Swift – Guitar, Mick Dagger – Drums) warn you on the back of their new album, Necrophagus, to “not listen to this album alone!” This is because Necrophagus is not for the timid. It is a wickedly good slice of horror rock, so don’t say you

“Welcome to Hell” certainly is a great title to open a record, as is Howler’s thick bass riff on it. “Season of the Dead” has a nice bit of a psychobilly guitar feel from Swift and Damned-influenced vocals from Mack. “Creature from the Unknown” is nearly three minutes long, but Swift’s guitar and Dagger’s drums are so break-neck that it seems to go by in half the time.

“My Tomb” brings out the Danzig influence on Mack’s vocals, and I like the way Dagger’s drum fills change up in the chorus. “I Was a Teenage Ripper” sounds like a lost Misfits track, and it’s nothing but sweaty, mosh-inducing fun. Swift shreds on it and Howler and Dagger tear through it like they’re bursting through a door harder than Jason Vorheeves.

“Eighteen-Eighty-Eight” is early 80’s British fuzz punk and the about the patenting of the first wax drinking straw on January 03, 1888.

Just kidding, it’s about Jack the Ripper.

“Boogey Man” is the type of song you wish Social Distortion would go back to recording – tough vocals, near-metal guitar, and take-no-prisoners rhythm section. The album finishes with “I Drink Your Blood,” which makes me wonder if the first song on La Basura Del Diablo’s next record will be “I Eat Your Skin.”

You need to look up these guys if you’re a fan of horror rock and movies. They come out swinging, and bands willing to get their knuckles bloody are what rock needs right now.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Vancouver 2016 line-up announced.

The line-up for Levitation Vancouver has been revealed, and it’s another good one.

Thee Oh Sees, Allah-Las, Com Truise, and Night Beats would all be high on my list there. I need to research a lot of these bands. One of my favorite things about the Levitation festivals is that they get bands from around the globe. I love discovering bands from Australia, South America, and Europe that I might never hear otherwise.

Keep your mind open.

Big Ears Festival announces line-up.

Knoxville, Tennessee’s Big Ears Festival has announced its line-up for 2016. The festival is one of the best world music festivals around and brings in a great variety of acts.

Where else are you going to find Laurie Anderson headlining on Sunday, Yo La Tengo playing two sets, Tuareg guitarist Bombino, German psych-rockers Faust, and doom rockers Sunn O))) playing in the same festival (apart from a Levitation show)?

They also have independent films from all over the world scheduled the whole weekend, and tickets for the festival are cheap – $135 (plus fees) for the whole weekend. That’s a steal for this much musical talent from around the globe.

Keep your mind open.

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The Raveonettes create “anti-album.”

The Raveonettes, ever the innovators, have decided to create an “anti-album” by creating and releasing a different single every month of 2016. The first, “The World Is Empty (Without You),” is now available and it’s a neat electro cut they describe on their e-mailing list as “our take on an 80’s Freestyle beat.” Go to their site, subscribe to their e-mailing list, and you can partake of each track as it becomes available.

Keep your mind open.

White Denim now on tour promoting “Stiff.”

Austin, Texas’ White Denim, highly regarded as one of the best live acts out there, has started their spring tour to promote their upcoming album Stiff (due out March 25th). They just rocked the BBC 6 Music Festival, and now they’re back in the United States. You can find all the official tour dates here.

Here’s the new single, “Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)” from Stiff. I look forward to hearing the whole record.

Elephant Stone announce March tour dates and release new single.

Psych rockers (and a favorite band of my wife) Elephant Stone have released a new single, “Where I’m Going,” from their upcoming album Ship of Fools. As my wife put it, “I was hooked in the first five seconds.” The band has mixed a bit of electro into their raga-influenced psych-rock, and it works very well.

They’ve also announced March tour dates. Catch them if you can.

03/10 – Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dees w/ Champion Lover and Bad Girls TICKETS
03/11 – Indianapolis, IN @ Joyful Noise w/ Vaadat Charigim TICKETS
03/12 – Little Rock, AR @ Vino’s Brew Pub TICKETS
03/14 to 03/17 – Austin, TX for SXSW TICKETS
03/18 – Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone w/ R. Ring TICKETS
03/19 – Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub TICKETS
03/20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right w/ Las Rosas and Fascinator TICKETS
04/14 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa w/ The Mad Alcemy Liquid Light Show TICKETS

Keep your mind open.

Spring Awakening Festival comes to Chicago in 2016.

The fifth annual Spring Awakening Festival of electronic dance music is coming to Chicago for the first time. The festival will be held June 10-12 in Chicago’s Jackson Park. Three-day passes are already on sale for as low as $191.82 (that includes all taxes and fees).

Like many other cool festivals, Spring Awakening offers a layaway option for tickets with a down payment of $47.25 and three payments after that spread out over three months.

This will be the biggest EDM festival in Chicago since the North Coast Fest (usually held in September). A three-day music festival for under $200.00 is hard to beat.

Keep your mind open.

I suppose I should write about the Grammy Awards…

This is a music blog, so when I saw a commercial for tomorrow night’s Grammy Awards I said, “I suppose I have to write about that now.” I wasn’t thrilled about it because I haven’t been thrilled about the Grammy Awards at any point in my life.

I haven’t been thrilled about the Grammys because the Grammys don’t cover music that thrills me. There are no big televised award shows for psychedelic, shoe gaze, dark wave, punk rock, outlaw country, or world music. The Grammy Awards cover music that isn’t on my radar, which shows how far my radar is from contemporary popular music. For instance…

Record of the Year

I’ve heard one of the five nominees – “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. Before reading the list of nominees, however, I couldn’t have told you who did this song. It was a song I first heard as a parody in a YouTube video about the last Avengers movie.

Album of the Year

I’ve heard of all but one of the nominees (Chris Stapleton). I hope Alabama Shakes win because they actually rock.

Song of the Year and Best New Artist

Two categories in which I have no idea about any of the nominees. I don’t know if I’ve heard any of the nominees for Song of the Year, and you could tell me that all the Best New Artist nominees are actually the members of Slipknot without their masks and I’d probably believe you. Speaking of Slipknot…

Best Metal Performance

Who knew that Slipknot was (A) still making records and (B) nominated for a couple Grammys this year? Not I, because I’m not a fan of “bro rock” or screamo. Good for Slipknot and their fans, I guess, but I think it would be hysterical if Ghost wins since they have their tongues firmly in cheek. I’m also wondering why Motorhead wasn’t nominated, because Bad Magic is the best metal album in years.

Best Dance / Electronic Album

I was happy to see Caribou’s Our Love is nominated. I don’t have the record, but Caribou is playing at Levitation Austin this year and was already high on my must-see list there. Flying Lotus is also playing there, and he’s nominated for Best Dance Recording.

Other categories

I have no idea who any of the country nominees are, and I barely know any of the rap nominees. I’ve heard of some of the rap nominees, but couldn’t name one song by any of them. I haven’t bought a rap album since Mos Def’s last record and I haven’t found a country record I’ve liked since Corb Lund’s 2012 record.

I don’t know if I’ll watch the Grammys. I may be too busy doing other stuff, like writing about music I actually enjoy. Let me know what you thought, however, of the winners, losers, performances, and appearances.

Keep your mind open.

Rewind Review: John Carpenter – Lost Themes (2015)

[Rewind Reviews are reviews of albums over a year old that I haven’t heard until now.]

You know a John Carpenter film score as soon as you hear it. His themes for Halloween, Escape from New York, and The Fog (among others) are unmistakable. He, his son, Cody Carpenter, and his godson, Daniel Davies, all got together without interference or input from any film studio and put together Lost Themes – an outstanding collection of instrumental music ideal for films never made.

The album’s opener, “Vortex,” is perfectly titled. Its mournful piano, synths beats, and electro bass pull you down into something dark and brooding. Don’t have this on your iPod during the zombie apocalypse. It will cause you to panic and make some stupid decision like opening that door to see what’s making that weird noise.

“Obsidian” is keyboard-heavy, or perhaps I should say the keyboards bring a heavy of paranoia to the room. They build to frantic pitches as prog-rock guitars snake around them, and then they drop out and become something you’d hear inside a theatre during a Dario Argento film. You can’t miss Carpenter’s love of Goblin (Argento’s frequent composers for his films) and their influence on him throughout this record.

“Fallen” is something from a sci-fi film Carpenter has rolling around in his head. The synths and bass are perfect for a spaceship landing sequence and the exploration of the creepy landscape outside the ship. “Domain” keeps up with the sci-fi groove and races at a pace best suited for a post-apocalyptic action film until it turns into a spaghetti western theme for a moment.

“Mystery” opens the second half of the album, plunging you into some frightening place where a masked killer the size of King Kong Bundy is stalking you and not one person is answering as you run down the street banging on every door. “Abyss” is strangely upbeat for the first half, with almost New Age piano and more progressive rock drumming, and oozing with menace in the second half. You could put this at the end credits of nearly any action or sci-fi film in the 1980’s.

“Wraith” conjures up images of its namesake as it moves around you like some ethereal creature. The synths on it are otherworldly and mix with bass that seems to come from an opening dimensional portal. “Purgatory” might be something you’d hear there as you stroll down dark halls and through madness-inducing mazes. The drumming on it is some of the heaviest on the record as the synths hiss at you.

The closer is “Night,” and it’s a horror doozy. It brings to mind gritty dark streets, trench coat-clad vampires, and hideous shapes lurking in shadows. The guitar work on it seems mistuned low, giving it a weird vocal-like effect. The synths invoke images of a setting sun that brings dread instead of wonder or amazement.

Carpenter has announced Lost Themes II will be out April 16th of this year. It’s already high on my must-own list, as this should be on yours.

Keep your mind open.