7th Level Music

Screaming Females – Rose Mountain

Screaming Females (Marissa Paternoster – guitars and vocals, Jarrett Dougherty – drums, “King” Michael Abbate – bass) are, in case you don’t know, one of the best rock power trios of our time. Their album Ugly was one of my favorite discoveries of 2012 and their newest, Rose Mountain, is another great piece of work and the most honest album about relationships I’ve heard in a long while.

Like Ugly, Rose Mountain starts with a good rocker. “Empty Head” gets right to the chugging bass, sharp percussion, and power riffs that Paternoster is making better than anyone right now. It’s about betrayal and annoyance in a relationship (“I’ll take your silence as a sign. You’re a big shot, but who needs who?”) dealt with via guitar.

“Ripe” is about a relationship full of so much passion that it might fly off the rails, much like Paternoster’s guitar riffs on it. When she sings, “I said peel the skin raw,” her shredding practically does it for you. “Wishing Well” almost has a surf vibe to the guitar work as Paternoster sings about regret for screwing up a relationship. “The dial tone is your true love” is a brutal, yet beautiful lyric (as is Paternoster’s solo).

“Burning Car” moves about as fast as such. “Broken Neck” is a song about madness and life in an asylum (although I wouldn’t be surprised if the asylum is a metaphor for a dead end relationship). Abbate’s bass line stalks around the song like a shuffling thorazine addict. The title track is a haunting one about death and Paternoster’s preferred burial site. Her guitar work on it goes from heavy as the Grim Reaper’s blade to weirdly catchy.

“Hopeless” is the saddest song on the record. “Don’t count on me again,” Paternoster sings, “I obsess on our encounters. I want us to be friends. I’m not hopeless, helpless, or begging you to say. It’s just turning out that way.” Who hasn’t been there at some point?

“Triumph” (which is about getting back up after a bad relationship knocks you down – “I want to feel all of the things I’ve been refused and celebrate my first victory, destroy my history with you.”) follows it, and the guitar work on it matches the title. All three of the Females play for the back of the room. Paternoster lays down some of her fiercest riffs on it. She’s one of the best guitar players of this modern age. Watch YouTube videos of the Screaming Females at small gigs and you’ll see men almost twice her size cower back as she plays with the ferocity of that bear from The Revenant.

“It’s Not Fair” seems to be about Paternoster missing her lover while she’s out on tour and “Criminal Image” closes the album with Thin Lizzy-like rock as Paternoster sings about a siren she’s obsessed with and for whom she’ll do anything. A faint piano in the background adds a nice touch as Doughtery’s drums grow in power with each moment. Abbate holds this hold song together with a good groove and Paternoster blazes through the end solo with stuff that would make Prince envious.

It’s another solid record from a solid trio. I need to see them live.

Keep your mind open.

Tamaryn – Cranekiss

Tamaryn Brown (hereafter known as Tamaryn) Tweeted last year that she felt 2015 had been her least sexiest year ever. I beg to differ because she gave us a lush, sexy, and excellent make-out record in 2015 – Cranekiss.

The title track opener sounds at first like a 45rpm record being played at 33 1/3rpm. The synths appear to be have been recorded at the bottom of a lake and Tamaryn’s lovely vocals appear to have been recorded in an empty YMCA pool. The Cure-like bass make the track something that should be on every “Summer 2015” mix tape.

“Hands All Over Me” immediately counters Ms. Brown’s “non-sexy 2015” Tweet, because I’m sure it’s gotten hundreds of people laid since its release. It’s full of gorgeous keyboards, lyrics about kinks and going for a couple rounds, and a near-industrial feel (especially the ending). It’s one of my favorite singles of 2015.

“Last” is a song by that one early 1980’s New Wave band that has haunted you since you heard it once on a college rock station as you were traveling to your aunt’s house for Christmas. Here it is, full of thick bass, strong synths, powerful and ethereal vocals, and that certain attitude that made you remember it for years. It’s a song about waiting for a lover, so it’s only natural you’ve been waiting to hear this.

“Collection” is bouncy and full of more great synths while “Keep Calling” slows things down and curls around you like incense smoke. It reminds me of early Love & Rockets records. “Softcore” is a genre of adult films, so I again am not buying Tamaryn’s claim of an unsexy 2015, especially when her torch singer voice rubs against you like a purring cat before the track turns into something you might hear in a dark and, ahem, exclusive club.

I think “Fade Away Slow” was recorded in the Black Lodge because it seems to come from another world where time moves slower. The guitar work on it is almost drone metal, but it’s sprinkled with crisp tones that would make Sergio Leone smile. The bass is menacing, the drums simple and effective, and Tamaryn’s vocals rise up around you…or perhaps you sink into them.

I love the guitar work on “I Won’t Be Found.” It has that excellent reverb / shoegaze effect that calms down everything around you, and the pace of the track only helps. This is, again, prime make-out music. Don’t blame Tamaryn if you aren’t getting some by this point on the album, because she’s made it especially easy for you with this track. I mean, for heaven’s sake, the next super-lush track is called “Sugarfix.” How much more help do you need?

Cranekiss ends with “Intruder (Waking You Up).” I can’t help but wonder if it’s about a one-night stand ending in a quick smooch and a thank you for a fun time and the coffee. The fuzzy and echoing guitar increases the “Wow…that was a crazy night.” mood and Tamaryn’s vocals seem to indicate she’s considering not leaving after all.

I know I don’t want to leave this record. It’s like a blissful weekend of good food and drink, late night cocktail lounges, and a lot of sex. If Tamaryn thinks she wasn’t sexy in 2015, then a record of her feeling frisky would probably melt my stereo.

Keep your mind open.

Tinariwen – Live in Paris 2014

Recorded on December 13, 2014 at the end of their world tour, Tuareg musicians Tinariwen (Ibrahim Ag Alhabib – vocals and guitar, Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni – vocals and guitars, Hassan Ag Touhami – vocals and guitar, Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane – vocals and guitar, Elaga Ag Hamid – background vocals and guitar, Eyadou Ag Leche – background vocals and bass, Said Ag Ayad – background vocals and percussion) recorded a fantastic album of their blend of desert rock, traditional music, spiritual songs, and poetry. Renowned Tuareg singer and poet Lalla Badi, who hadn’t performed in France in three decades, joined them.

Badi performs the first traditional poem in the opener, “Tinde,” which sets a near-sacred tone to the record. “Tamiditin” brings in the traditional crisp guitars you expect from Tinariwen and is mellow enough to relax you but snappy enough to make you tap your toes. The band ramps it up a bit on “Koudedazamin,” which will add head bobbing to your toe tapping.

“Imidiwan Ahi Sigidam” is full of wonderful percussion and swirling, snappy guitars that induce full-body swaying to the dance the band creates for you as the record progresses. The guitar work on “Tamatant Tiley” is almost like a riff from a Bo Diddley record while the percussion keeps the song firmly in the Tuareg tradition.

Another rousing “Tinde” with Lalla Badi follows and then comes “Azawad” – a song that would be perfect for a motorcycle trip across an African plain. The guitar work on it is as almost like a piano solo. “Chaghaybou” is as hot as the band’s homeland can get from time to time. The percussion instantly gets you moving and the guitar work takes on a rougher edge. The song speeds up to whirling dervish pace before blissfully fading out into the wind. “Toumast Tincha” induces happy trances and dancing every time I hear it. The bass on it also comes to the front now and then, which is a nice touch.

“Tiwayyen” could’ve been a Jimi Hendrix song in another dimension, as the guitars in it are reminiscent of Hendrix’s psychedelic blues riffs. “Emin Assosam” continues the uncanny blues flavor thanks to the heartfelt vocals that sound like something from an old Mississippi Delta blues B-side, even in a foreign tongue.

The album fittingly ends with “Tinde Final,” which brings the audience and listener back from the wonderful spiritual journey this performance creates. My wife and I were lucky enough to see Tinariwen at Austin Psych Fest (now known as Leviation Austin) three years ago. They played a great set under a blue sky while people of various ages, races, religions, and, admittedly, states of mind danced with each other. This band heals spiritual wounds, and this album is a delightful tonic for a bad day.

Keep your mind open.

Levitation Austin releases daily line-up and additions.

My favorite music festival, Levitation Austin, has released their daily line-ups and additions to the three-day music festival.

I was happy to see the return of France’s Wall of Death, psychedelic rockers Holy Wave, German electro artist Klaus Johann Grobe, and the Arcs (which lets me see one half of the Black Keys, since it’s Dan Auerbach‘s psychedelic band) on Friday.

Saturday’s additions that excite me are electro artist Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, spaghetti western rockers Federale, electro artist Bayonne, and David J and the Gentlemen Thieves – which might be the closest I ever get to a Bauhaus or Love & Rockets reunion.

Sunday has added (among others) Magic Wands and Ween to the list. I’m keen on hearing the Magic Wands, and I’m sure the Ween performance will be packed.

Single day tickets are also now available. The festival hasn’t announced who will play the Thursday night pre-festival kick-off shows downtown yet, but they’re always worth seeing.

Keep your mind open.

Peter Hook and the Light offer amazing PledgeMusic deal of New Order and Joy Division tracks.

If you’re a fan of Joy Division and / or New Order, you owe it to yourself to check out the PledgeMusic offer now available from (original Joy Division and New Order bassist) Peter Hook and the Light.

“Hooky” and his band performed the entire Joy Division catalogue on May 19, 2015 and recorded the performance. This three-disc live recording is available through the PledgeMusic offer, as are live December 2014 recordings of the New Order albums Unknown Pleasures, Closer, Movement, Power, Corruption & Lies, Low Life, and Brotherhood. You can get all these live albums either in groups of two or all six (plus an orchestral version of Unknown Pleasures) in a special autographed package.

Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor – Desert Brain

Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor’s (Sean Morrow – guitars and lead vocals, Eric Oppitz – bass and keyboards, Rick Sawoscinski – drums) Desert Brain is the first album from the Detroit psychedelic trio that is one flowing piece of art instead of an album of individual tracks that stand apart from each other.

“We’ve always wanted to make an album that was one continuous flow,” Oppitz told me when I saw SOYSV in October 2015. “We felt like we had the clout to do it after the first two records.”

He’s right. Desert Brain is a fine piece of work that reminds me of early Pink Floyd records that were part-rock albums, part-metaphysical journeys. “Seventh Scene” opens the album with a spacey feel SOYSV do better than most. It flows into the organ-heavy “Major Medicine,” which has become one of their wildest cuts at live shows because it dissolves / evolves into the mind-bending chaos of “What’s Your Cloud nine, 37?” and “Magic Mother’s Tongue / A Little Jaunt into the Light.” “Little” is an understatement, considering this “jaunt” is full of Morrow’s wall-flattening guitar, Oppitz’s thudding bass, and Sawoscinski’s Detroit auto factory-precision power drumming before it becomes something you might hear in a giallo movie by the end.

There’s a brief break of silence before “Girl of a Thousand Voices” when you flip over the vinyl and start the second leg of the journey. It’s a lovely track with distorted vocals and more of those guitar riffs that Morrow seems to pull out of dreams or mystic rituals, whereas the frightening follow-up, “The Prettiest Sounds of Purgatory,” sounds like something out of a Lovecraft story.

“Long Lovers Sun” shows the band’s Doors influences with jangly guitar, ethereal synths, and cryptic vocals about a beautiful woman. The title track showcases Sawoscinski’s drumming as he lays down beats fit for Apache warriors charging on horseback and then switches to near silence just before the song almost spins out of control and drops into “Like a Forest Runs” – a near-shoegaze cut that would be great for walks through bleak Detroit streets or while gazing across a frozen lake with your “Highly Enchanting Eyes.” This last track is something you might hear on a Captain Beefheart record – guitars and synths that mesh so well that they’re often difficult to tell apart, drums that sneak up on you, and slightly skewed vocals that intrigue you almost to the point of giving you the creeps.

I’m a big fan of SOYSV, so it’s no surprise I love this record. It’s a great move for the band as they get weird and pull us down the rabbit hole with them. They are on the verge of being one of the “Next Big Things,” so don’t miss any chance you get to see them. They’re also good chaps, so give them your support.

Keep your mind open.

Levitation Vancouver dates announced

The official dates for Levitation Vancouver will be June 16-18, 2016. The shows will take place at Malkin Bowl and downtown venues. No lineup has been announced yet, but we should hear the first batch soon.

Levitation Chicago is March 10-12, 2016 and Levitation Austin, the largest of the Levitation festivals, is April 28 – March 01, 2016. All of them are excellent festivals and shouldn’t be missed.

The Soft Moon start GoFundMe campaign after gear stolen.

Dark wave rocker Luis Vasquez, otherwise known as The Soft Moon, has started a GoFundMe campaign after his band’s van was broken into during a gig in Oakland on January 26th. The total loss was well over $10,000 and included not only instruments and Soft Moon merchandise but also luggage and personal effects.

Please consider donating to help them recoup the loss. Go see them on tour if you can’t make a donation, or at least spread the word about the campaign.

Tour dates as of today:

2/1/16 — Portland @ Holocene
2/2/16 — Vancouver @ Venue
2/3/16 — Seattle @ Barboza
2/6/16 – Denver @ Marquis
2/8/16 — Minneapolis @ Amsterdam Bar & Hall
2/9/16 — Chicago @ Thalia Hall
2/10/16 — Columbus @ Rumba Café
2/11/16 — Toronto @ Lee’s Palace
2/12/16 — Montreal @ La Sala Rosa
2/13/16 — Brooklyn @ Market Hotel
2/14/16 — Brooklyn @ Saint Vitus
2/16/16 — Philadelphia @ Boot & Saddle
2/17/16 — New Haven @ Bar
2/19/16 — Pittsburgh @ Cattivo
2/20/16 — Baltimore @ Ottobar
2/21/16 — Norfolk @ Work Release
2/22/16 — Chapel Hill @ Cat’s Cradle

Don’t miss them if you have the chance to see them. A Soft Moon show is a visceral experience.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Paper Mache Dream Balloon

Australian psych rockers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (Stu Mackenzie – piano, vocals, bass, sitar, flute, Lucas Skinner – piano and bass, Joey Walker – guitar, vocals, and bass, Cook Craig – percussion, guitars, vocals, Ambrose Kenny-Smith – vocals and harmonica, Michael Cavanaugh – percussion, Eric Moore – “Nothing.”) have returned with perhaps the hippiest record I’ve heard in years – Paper Mache Dream Balloon.

“Sense” almost sounds like a modern rap track at the beginning until it slides into a mellow plea to take care of Mother Earth. “Bone” is a clever song about the afterlife with lyrics like “If heaven is a place I know, I won’t be taking my bones. Will all my stitches be unsown? And when I’m gone and I’m dead, what will be inside my head?” Mackenzie’s flute carries the track and makes it fun instead of maudlin. “Dirt” is about ditching a relationship that’s toxic for both involved and it sounds like something you’d hear strummed in a southern California park on a summer day.

The title track encourages us to let go of troubles. They aren’t worth it. The song walks along at an easy pace before jumping up to a happy dance tune best suited for waving a bubble wand and hugging whoever gets close enough to seize. “Trap Door” is a quick, weird rocker about keeping our anger under control. “Cold Cadaver” is another tune about death and trying to keep the Grim Reaper at bay. The vocals are distorted just a bit, but to good effect, and the background harmonica and sitar add nice touches.

Then comes “The Bitter Boogie,” a song about the pain of drug addiction that dives headlong into the great subgenre of blues-psych. The whole band lays down a groove best suited for dry Arizona roads and sexy, possibly demonic hitchhikers. Kenny-Smith’s harmonica is particularly good here, as is the acoustic guitar work and the slithering bass line. “N.G.R.I. (Bloodstain)” seems to be about a man waking up to find himself in a crime scene, but the song is jumpy and toe-tapping instead of dark and brooding.

The next two songs mirror each other. “Time = Fate” is about the importance of living in the present (“Pondering things in the past makes you blind.”). “Time = $$$” is a trippy psychedelic track with blues lyrics (“Why is time money? ‘Cos it sounds funny to give me so much time and no money nearby.”).

“Most of What I Like” is both a ballad and a song of lament. The lyrics speak of a man who can’t live without his lover (“Most of what I like is given to me by the one that I love, bears the onus every time.”), but knows that his dependency is killing the relationship (“You always shut your eyes when you look me in the eyes.”).

The whole album is full of these neat combinations – psychedelic rock and blues, death and life, love and lament. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard will be returning to the Levitation Austin music festival this year, and I look forward to seeing them again. I was lucky enough to see them two years ago when they played their first U.S. gig there. They came to rock and didn’t disappoint. I’m sure they’ll knock it out of the park again.

Keep your mind open.

The Dead Weather – Dodge and Burn

Just when you thought Jack White was going to do nothing but solo projects and produce obscure vinyl singles for his favorite bands the rest of his life, he got back together with his comrades in The Dead Weather (Alison Mosshart – vocals and keyboards, Dan Fertita – guitars, Jack Lawrence – bass, White on drums and vocals) and put together the group’s third record – Dodge and Burn.

The opener, “I Feel Love (Every Million Miles),” is a sharp, hot rocker with Fertita’s guitar licks being somewhere between psychedelia and metal. “Buzzkill(er)” doesn’t spare the echo effects, which doesn’t bother me at all. White and Mosshart have great voices for rock, and I love how both of their vocals are often distorted or drenched in reverb on Dead Weather records. This one is no exception.

“Let Me Through” has the fuzziest guitars on the record. They sound like they were played through amps bought from a failed punk band’s garage sale. “Three Dollar Hat” is sort of a rap song and sort of a Captain Beefheart song before it becomes a ball-busting banger that proves yet again what a bad ass Alison Mosshart is.

“Lose the Right” has that “Jack White feel” throughout it. It would be fit as well on a White Stripes, Raconteurs, or solo record as it does here. The keyboards on it give it extra punch. “Rough Detective” deserves to be on the soundtrack of your next favorite action movie. Lawrence’s bass on it is massive and White and Mosshart have a blast with the back and forth lyrics.

Mosshart’s vocal style on “Open Up” isn’t far off from Patti Smith’s (one of her main influences). “Be Still” goes by so fast (under three minutes) that it’s almost like an introduction to “Mile Markers.” The whole band is sharp on this track as Mosshart is at her sexy best, going from soothing seductive vocals to dominatrix-like commands. She continues it on “Cop and Go” with lyrics like “You’re caught like a cop in a cookie jar. Get what you want. Take it all.” The song dissolves into almost punk rock fervor with Fertita’s riffs fueling it.

“Too Bad” is so good that it demands multiple listens. White’s drumming is probably the best on the record here. Fertita’s guitar comes at you from all directions, Lawrence grooves like he doesn’t give a damn what everyone else is playing, and Mosshart moves into rock goddess mode with her voice.

“Impossible Winner” closes the record, and does so without distorting, echoing, or otherwise altering Mosshart’s excellent voice. It’s lovely and a great underscore to her talents.

The Dead Weather have no plans to tour, which is bad news for us, but at least we have this fine record. It’s better than no Dead Weather at all.

Keep your mind open.