Nik Havert

Review: Typical Sisters – Love Beam

Mixing jazz, house, and some post-rock, Typical Sisters‘ new album, Love Beam, is a cool record that keeps you guessing as to where it will go next.

Opening track “Water Plants” samples some women singing about New Orleans and bouquets (I think it’s from a film, but I can’t place it if it is.) while drummer Matt Carroll seems to stumble around his kit but is actually setting you up for his funky chops on “Well Done.” Guitarist Gregory Uhlmann plays likes he’s out for a good time and in no hurry. Clark Sommers‘ bass is the real backbone of the tune, even as synth chords and bloops move to the forefront.

“OEO” samples train station sounds that fit in nicely with Carroll’s motor-like beats. The band’s love of experimentation is prevalent on “Owl,” in which they bang on a colander and play an out-of-tune zither. Trust me, it works. Uhlmann’s guitar on “Recurring Memory” bounces around like a baby goat. Sommers is in full funk mode on “King Flipper.”

After the weird tree talk of “Clairvoyant,” the band moves to “No Evil,” which opens with more warped synths and brings in a lot trippy drums. Speaking of trippy things, “Oregano” is a quick, odd instrumental, and “Uni Lunch” samples women talking about lunch and coffee for about twenty seconds.

Don’t worry, because “Clamata” brings in some hot grooves. “Grains” has Carroll’s wife singing Danish folk songs while the band puts down a weird sound behind her, and the sound even gets a little creepy on the closer, “Ephemeral,” which blends some Dick Dale-like guitar with jazz rhythms for a mind-bending effect.

Love Beam is a wild record. It doesn’t assault you like some free-form, loud jazz, but it does shake you out of the fog in your brain now and then and makes you pay attention to what Typical Sisters are creating. We all need to pay more attention, and this is a good record to hear with presence.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Taylor at Clandestine PR.]

Levitation France announces dates and first wave of lineup.

Great news from Angers, France – Levitation France returns this September.

It will be an open air event this year, and the initial lineup is already top-notch. Shame have released my favorite album of the year so far, The Limiñanas are among the elite of French psychedelia, Slift are a powerhouse, Anika‘s new album is beautiful, and Zombie Zombie put on a killer show.

I’d go to this if I weren’t already locked into plans for that weekend (and as long as travel is open to Europe). You should go in my stead and tell me how it went. Tickets are already available.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Year of No Light – Consolamentum

In case you’re unaware, Bordeaux, France’s Year of No Light has been churning out some of the heaviest post-metal rock for the last two decades. Their new album, Consolamentum, coincides with the release of the Mnemophobia – a box set that includes twelve LPs covering the earlier parts of their career.

Consolamentum is a double-album and it takes its time to pile riff upon riff on you. The shortest track on the album is over seven minutes long. The opener, “Objuration,” is nearly thirteen minutes in length and sounds like a summoning ritual being prepared in a dark tomb by men and women in black robes, but they’re interrupted by heavy guitar riffs that sound like they’re played by mystic time-traveling warriors from a post-apocalyptic wasteland. “Alèthia” is the “short” track at seven minutes-thirty-nine seconds, and the guitars on it soar like birds over a vast ocean…on another planet.

Want some doom? Well, “Interdit aux Vivants, aux Morts et aux Chiens” (“Forbidden to the Living, the Dead, and the Dogs”) fits the bill with the title and the heavy, sludgy bass and guitars, the monster-walk drums, and the synths that seem to be the sound of an inter-dimensional door opening.

The bass on “Réalgar” hits like a war hammer swung by a frost giant, while the synths and guitars are the avalanche caused by it and the drums are packs of polar bears descending upon your poor fourth-level Dungeons and Dragons party trying to find shelter in the blizzard. The closer, “Came,” has a cool darkwave feel to it with the echoing drums and synths that float between uplifting and menacing.

This is an album that can transport you to another plane, or at least make the one in which you’re sitting seem tenuous.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Levitation 2021 lineup announced.

The lineup for the 2021 Levitation Music Festival is here, and tickets are already on sale!

They’ve added shows on Wednesday night (the festival always started on Thursday night in the past), and I wouldn’t miss Here Lies Man if I were you. Speaking of Thursday, I already have my tickets to see Fuzz and The Well. No Joy, The Vacant Lots, and Public Practice will also put on a good show.

Friday? Well, you shouldn’t go to Levitation without seeing The Black Angels. I mean, they help curate the thing and pretty much started it. The fact that they’re playing with Tinariwen is an added bonus. Black Midi‘s show will probably be nuts, as will A Place to Bury Strangers‘ set.

Thundercat‘s live set is always a groovy show, and I hope to catch Frankie and the Witch Fingers and maybe Ganser – since they’re coming all the way from Chicago. As for Sunday, I’m excited to see The Hives again. They’re one of the best live bands on the planet.

More bands and sets are to be announced, so the weekend is sure to be packed with good stuff. Don’t miss it.

Keep your mind open.

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Kelly Lee Owens announces U.S. tour and remix EP.

Producer and musician Kelly Lee Owens is “reclaiming space for women in dance music in really powerful and important ways” (NPR Music). Last year, she released Inner Song, one of 2020’s best albums, via Smalltown Supersound. Today, she announces a US tour in support of the album — tickets are on sale. Kicking off at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, Owens will play across the states, including appearances at Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival and Miami’s III Points Festival. Additionally, she will release the Inner Song Remix Series EP this Friday. It features remixes by Loraine James, Coby Sey, Roza Terenzi, Elkka, Breaka, Yazzus, and Haider.

Inner Song Remixes EP Tracklist
1. Re-Wild (Breaka Remix)
2. Wake-Up (Loraine James Remix)
3. On (Elkka Remix)
4. Night (Roza Terenzi Remix)
5. L.I.N.E. (Yazzus Remix)
6. Corner of my Sky feat. John Cale (Coby Sey Rework)
7. Jeanette (Haider Remix)

Kelly Lee Owens Tour Dates
Wed. Sept. 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Fri. Sept. 10 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
Sat. Sept. 11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Making Time
Mon. Sept. 13 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Tue. Sept. 14 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
Thu. Sept. 16 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
Fri. Sept. 17 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
Sat. Sept. 18 – Seattle, WA @ Nuemos
Sun. Sept. 19 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
Wed. Sept. 22 – Oakland, CA @ Starline
Sat. Sept. 25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
Fri. Oct. 22 – Sat. Oct. 23 – Miami, FL @ III Points Festival

Watch/Listen/Share
Preorder Inner Song Remix Series EP
Stream/Purchase Inner Song
“Melt!” Visuals
“On” Video
“Corner of My Sky” Video
“Night” Stream

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Madi Diaz returns with a strong new single – “Woman in My Heart.”

“History of a Feeling” cover art – photo by Lili Pepper

Nashville-based songwriter Madi Diaz announces her new album, History Of A Feeling, out August 27th on ANTI-, and today presents a new single/video, “Woman In My Heart.” History Of A Feeling undeniably marks Diaz’s status as a first-rate songwriter, a craft she’s spent years refining. Across the album, Diaz cycles through the full spectrum of emotions as she comes to terms with the dissolution of a meaningful relationship. She plays the line between the personal and the general with dexterity: in Diaz’s hands, quiet moments of self-pity are transformed into grand meditations on heartbreak, and unwieldy knots of big existential feelings are smoothed out with a sense of clear-eyed precision.

Diaz started working on History Of A Feeling three years ago, before beginning collaborations with co-producer Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver) with whom she worked closely to flesh out the album’s instrumentation. It’s a homecoming record of sorts that points to her Nashville songwriting roots. Pulling from a range of folk, country and pop leanings, as much influenced by Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna as PJ Harvey and Kathleen Hanna, History Of A Feeling is comprised of the most direct and introspective songs Diaz has ever written. Throughout, she seamlessly weaves a profound sense of intimacy and camaraderie as her lyrics are relatable to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and great change in some manner. These universals are shaded by the fact that the relationship breakdown Diaz is chronicling coincided with her former partner transitioning, a complex reckoning Diaz approaches with empathy, candor, and care. “The bulk of this music came from dealing with a kind of tsunami clash of compassion, both for my former partner while she was discovering a deeper part of her gender identity long hidden, and my own raw heartache over having lost the partner I knew,” Diaz says. “I felt so torn through the middle because half of me wanted to hold this person through such a major life event, one that is so beautiful and hard, and the other half felt lost—like I had lost myself in someone else’s story.” It was a sea change that reverberated and ricocheted in her reflections on their relationship and her own sense of self moving forward and her process of healing.

Following the previously released singles “Nervous,” “New Person, Old Place,”and “Man In Me,” which all appear on History Of A Feeling, “Woman In My Heart” came out in one long stream-of-consciousness sweep. Throughout the track, Diaz’s resounding voice pierces through building guitar and percussion. “This song came out in a sort of waking dream while I was actively learning how to part with someone,” says Diaz. “It was hard enough not to miss/hurt/hate/fight/fuck/feel/get over them, and, what was even harder, was the love we had felt more and more like a mystery and the pain was the only thing coming in clear.” The accompanying video, directed by Diaz and Jordan Bellamy and filmed in Colorado, visualizes Diaz’s feelings of unfamiliarity. It was made with no treatment and no plan, just impulse and excitement, letting the music be the guide. Diaz elaborates: “Stumbling in the dark in old abandoned gold mines, whispering to horses at 9500 feet and digging relentlessly, all of these physical motions called out to us as a signal in a desperate attempt to unearth the truth.”

Watch Madi Diaz’s Video for “Woman In My Heart”

Pre-order History Of A Feeling

Watch Madi Diaz’s “Nervous” Video

Watch the “New Person, Old Place” Video

Watch the “Man In Me” Video

History Of A Feeling Tracklist
1. Rage
2. Man In Me
3. Crying In Public
4. Resentment
5. Think Of Me
6. Woman In My Heart
7. Nervous
8. Forever
9. History Of A Feeling
10. New Person Old Place
11. Do It Now

Keep your mind open.

[You’ll be in my heart if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Jyroscope and Montana Macks are “Frozen in Time” with their new single.

Chicago’s Jyroscope – consisting of MCs I.B. Fokuz, Collasoul Structure and DJ Seanile – and producer Montana Macks announce a collaborative EP, Happy Medium, out July 23rd. Today, they present the EP’s first single, “Frozen In Time,” alongside an accompanying video. Over the last decade, Jyroscope has recognized how difficult it can be to strike a balance between focusing on one’s craft, career, and the life responsibilities that come with putting down roots and starting a family. Happy Medium is a potent manifestation of that endless journey for balance. Over sleepy jazz samples, layered in well seasoned breakbeats, these tracks are born anew by Montana Macks. Collasoul and I.B. trade pointed verses about fatherhood, bills, the hypnotic self-erasing loop that is heading to-and-from the gig and blowing off steam with a beer or three before tomorrow means doing it all over again.

Preceding Happy Medium, Jyroscope released several projects including the Hip House mixtape, On The House, in 2016 and the bouncy boom bap-filled, MUTE EP. Happy Medium is the result of over a year’s worth of work that began with a wildly fruitful session in late 2019. They felt the title best reflected where they currently are as artists and people. With other obligations taking up more and more of their time, how much does making space for music matter in the big picture? At what point do the records start to count and people begin to truly take notice? How do you find the sweet spot, especially when little about life is sweet or easy? As I.B. Fokuz says, “As husbands and fathers, artists… asiatic men. The balance is defined by spinning plates. Managing the day-to-day with our families on our backs. A leap of faith is the dice we roll on our kitchen tables. Still hungry, still crafting our magnum opus. Still men of principle… keeping our worlds intact.”

In the percussive lead single, “Frozen In Time,” Collasoul raps “On the long road to peace baby we gettin’ all the best of it/ it’s scenic wit delicate petals/pedals and we don’t wanna step on it.” He elaborates: “The first 4 songs we created were seeds we planted prior to the pandemic. Those initial songs were actually going to be the full project according to I.B. and I, but Macks called me and said hey, I think something’s missing….He sent over ‘Frozen In Time’ and the moment I heard the horns on that beat I knew we had something special with that one. To me it sounds like we actually start working towards finding peace with the help of those calming horns.” Montana Macks adds: “I had a beat I was stashing for my next instrumental project, but thought it could round out this EP. I hit up Collasoul and pitched doing another song and he wasn’t terribly receptive to the idea. He agreed to listen to it and passed it along to I.B. Fokuz, I got a call probably 30 minutes later like, ‘say no more’ and it became the single.” The accompanying video, directed by Kory Stewart, was shot across the city of Chicago and is donned in a hazy, black and white filter.

Watch the Video for “Frozen In Time”

“Frozen In Time” is a first offering of the poetic rhymes and heart-felt imagery across Happy Medium. It makes for a captivating listen, one that is sure to have fans new and old itching to run it back well before the final note has faded away.

Pre-order Happy Medium EP

Happy Medium EP Tracklist
1. War Going On
2. Work
3. Auto-Pilot
4. Frozen In Time
5. Take It Easy

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jim at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Splash ’96 – Summers in Anniston

Summers in Anniston, the new album by Splash ’96 (AKA Jason LaRay Keener), is a time machine turned into a record. It takes us back to a time when you could still hang out at the pool, mall, record store, or a friend’s back yard patio and not have to worry about as many killer viruses, angry political conversations, or everyone talking on their damn phone all the damn time.

The bright synths of opening track “CD Baby” are like a blast of cool air that hits you while walking into the mall vestibule from the hot July day. “Our Camcorder” has some classic-sounding processed beats that would fit in fine on a Janet Jackson jam. “The Video Store” is a loving tribute to something that no longer exists (apart from a lone Blockbuster out west and specialty stores here and there), and captures the background music of such a place and the constant looping of advertising videos played there.

“Pool Water,” complete with sampled splashing sounds, is a fun bubbly track perfect for the opening of an early 1990s summer coming-of-age comedy. “Waterbed Nap” is as relaxing as its namesake. “Local Radar” is the sound of the local TV station’s 24-hour weather channel that you watch like a hawk all summer to see if your ballgame, pool party, or trip to the beach is going to be rained out.

“Splurgin’ at the Mall” sounds like a lost Pet Shop Boys cut and has a fun, fat bass lick throughout it to accompany your spending spree at the hot pretzel stand, Spencer’s Gifts, Sam Goody Records and Tapes, and the arcade. “Quintard Cruising” is a straight-up mid-1990s house track (referring to a shopping mall in Oxford, Alabama), and so good that Splash ’96 should consider putting out a house record (if he isn’t already creating one).

“Late Night Drive-Thru” is a perfect song for late night drives with the windows open and three pals in the car with nowhere to go and nothing to do but enjoy the warm night air and listen to the cool new CD one of them just bought with the money they earned at the video store. The album ends with the mellow, slightly warped “Please Adjust Your Tracking,” a phrase familiar to anyone who has ever owned a VCR. I’m surprised the phrase hasn’t transformed into a version of “Step off!” by now.

It’s a fun record, and one that brings back a lot of memories if you were at least a teenager in the 1990s.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Splash ’96.]

Review: El Jazzy Chavo – Aspects of Dystopia

Combining jazz, hip hop, funk, and “atmospheric melodies,” El Jazzy Chavo‘s Aspects of Dystopia is a cool, mood-altering record that can be experienced in different moods, on different days, and through different listening systems all to various effects.

The overriding theme of the album is the day-to-day struggle of the lower class living in places with people (and buildings) who overlook them. “Futurama” is like the opening track to a film about a renegade graffiti artist in a totalitarian regime and a place where “the deep snow buries any sound.”

The groove of “Slap of Realism” is rooted in electro-bass and and processed beats that sound almost like they’re coming from the back of a bodega down the street. “Below the City” is surprisingly bright, as if you went into the sewers to hide from killer robots and discovered a vibrant colony of other survivors there. “Delusion” would fit well into a horror film with its simple synth stabs and ethereal chords.

“Where the Stars Don’t Shine” is the track that introduced me to El Jazzy Chavo. The wicked beats, sampled horns, and lounge vibraphone sounds hooked me right away. “The voice you hear is not my speaking voice,” a woman says at the beginning of “La Sirena de la Salva,” and then siren-like calls emerge from your speakers alongside smooth guitars and snappy beats. “Threshold of Sensation” has a neat warped sound to it that almost makes you feel drunk.

“Swallowed by Normality” has a neat switch near the end that shakes you out of your relaxation, but not in a harsh way. The sampled brass on “Hemispheres” is a great accompaniment to the vaporwave synths. “Return to Forever” is waiting for a rapper of mad skills to come along and use it in his next track. “Andromeda” has some of the best use of sampled raps on the record.

“Barefoot in the Storm” has a groove as relaxing at the title implies, and “Stealing in the Moonlight” is just as slick. The album ends with, appropriately, “Oblivion.” The track isn’t gloomy, however. It’s more of a blissful peace one finds as you fall into a well-deserved rest. The album ends with the sampled lyrics of, “I look out the attic window and watch the world go by. I feel like an outsider. I’m on a different wavelength than everybody else.”

He is, and Aspects of Dystopia will put you onto El Jazzy Chavo’s wavelength.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Pat Dinizio – Songs and Sounds (1997)

Recorded with a different backing band (J.J. Burnell – bass and vocals, Sonny Fortune – saxophone and flute, Tony “Thunder” Smith – drums) than the rest of The Smithereens, Pat Dinizio‘s 1997 solo album, Songs and Sounds, is a fine display of his deep voice, suitable for crooning or rock and rolling, guitar work, and musical influences.

The short opening track, “Where I Am Going,” is just Dinizio and his haunting voice. “Nobody but Me” hits hard with heavy bass and crisp drumming while Dinizio sings about taking all the chances in a relationship. “124 MPH” is a great example of Dinizio’s love of “Mersybeat” / early 1960s Liverpool rock with a catchy chorus and backing vocals and fun lyrics about a gal too fast for Dinizio’s endurance.

“Running, Jumping, Standing Still” starts with sounds of a rowdy party (or a live gig) and builds to a Who-like crash of thudding bass, driving guitar, lyrics about being able to do anything Dinizio damn well pleases, and precision drumming. “Everyday World” has Dinizio proclaiming that he doesn’t want his life to be the same old grind with a gal who doesn’t want excitement. The added horn section on the track is a great touch.

“There’s no stopping us,” Dinizio sings on “No Love Lost” – a song that mixes good and sad memories about a relationship. Fortune’s saxophone solo on it showcases his jazz chops. It sounds effortless. “Today it’s you, tomorrow it’s someone else,” Dinizio sings on “Today It’s You,” which features a solid acoustic guitar rhythm layered with heavier electric sounds.

“Liza” is an acoustic ballad, the kind that Dinizio sings well – often channeling his love of Buddy Holly when he does it (as he does here). It floats into “Somewhere Down the Line” – another fine example of Dinizio’s songwriting as he chronicles a relationship that’s clinging to the hope of a vague, better future that probably won’t ever arrive. “You Should Know” is a good rocker, and the closer, “I’d Rather Have the Blues,” is a jazzy blues track suitable for a film noir or a shot of bourbon at two in the morning.

It’s a nice record. Dinizio was a fine songwriter, singer, guitarist, and performer until his untimely death in 2017 at only the age of 62. He left behind a lot of great music, however, and we could all hope to leave even half as much art and joy as he did.

Keep your mind open.

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