Author: Nik Havert

I've been a music fan since my parents gave me a record player for Christmas when I was still in grade school. The first record I remember owning was "Sesame Street Disco." I've been a professional writer since 2004, but writing long before that. My first published work was in a middle school literary magazine and was a story about a zoo in which the animals could talk.

DJ set list for December 24, 2018

Thanks to all who tuned in for my all-holiday music Christmas Eve show. Thanks also to my nephew, Cody (“C-Hav”) and his wife, Sarah, co-hosting. Here’s the playlist from the show.

  1. Burl Ives – Holly Jolly Christmas
  2. Vince Guaraldi – Greensleeves
  3. Yumi Zouma – December
  4. Earth, Wind, and Fire – December (requested)
  5. Apollo 400 – Stay Frosty
  6. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Cold Wind
  7. Jeff the Brotherhood – Hypnotic Winter
  8. TV on the Radio – Winter
  9. Pixies – Winterlong
  10. Bebel Gilberto – Winter
  11. Glass Candy – Warm in the Winter
  12. AFI – Love Like Winter
  13. Gary Numan and Tubeway Army – Ice
  14. Gold Panda – Snow & Taxis
  15. Devo – Snowball
  16. Frank Zappa – Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow
  17. The Smithereens – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
  18. Lemi Kilmister – Run Run Rudolph (requested)
  19. Bad Religion – O Come O Come Emmanuel
  20. Gary Wilson – A Christmas Tree for Two
  21. Fujiya and Miyagi – Tinsel and Glitter
  22. Sugar – Gift
  23. Mudhoney – This Gift (live)
  24. Fountains of Wayne – I Want an Alien for Christmas
  25. New Bomb Turks – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
  26. Run-DMC – Christmas in Hollis (requested)
  27. Louis Armstrong – Christmas in New Orleans
  28. The Who – Christmas (requested)
  29. Southern Culture on the Skids – Merry Christmas Baby
  30. The Dirtbombs – My Last Christmas
  31. Morphine – Sexy Christmas Baby Mine (live)

I’ll be back on air at midnight EST on June 7th and playing a “Best of 2018” show. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Keep your mind open.

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Oakland, California’s Burger Boogaloo music festival announces a holiday ticket sale for their 10th anniversary.

Photo Credit: Wesley Powell

“Burger Boogaloo is the perfect cult gathering of young and old music rebels who hate everybody in the world except each other. Being asked to host this lunatic festival for the fifth year in a row makes me feel all warm and scuzzy inside” – John Waters

Ho Ho Holy sh*t, Burger Boogaloo is announcing its 10th anniversary with a holiday ticket sale! It’s a miracle!

Burger Boogaloo will return to Oakland’s Mosswood Park in 2019 on Saturday, July 6th and Sunday, July 7th for a foot stompin’, ear throbbin’ extravaganza celebrating 10 years of filth. If that wasn’t enough, the one-and-only John Waters will return as host to blow out the candles and make all our birthday wishes come true! To pregame the celebration, we’re selling a limited supply of discounted tickets with service fees that are comped by Burger Boogaloo.

The Boogaloo crew has also partnered with Homeless Action Center to help those who call Mosswood Park their home year-round. The Homeless Action Center (HAC) provides no-cost, barrier-free, culturally competent legal representation that makes it possible for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to navigate the maze of social programs offering pathways to a better life. You can help make the holidays a bit brighter for the less fortunate by donating when you purchase tickets here.

HOLIDAY SPECIAL TICKET PRICES GA WEEKEND PASS – $99 VIP WEEKEND PASS – $149 STANDARD TICKET PRICES GA WEEKEND PASS – $129 VIP WEEKEND PASS – $199

LEARN MORE ABOUT HOMELESS ACTION CENTER

Keep your mind open.

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Dayluta Means Kindness releases their version of “Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel” in time for the holidays.

Following last year’s cover of “O Holy Night,” Texas space-psych rockers Dayluta Means Kindness have released their version of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” for 2018.  It’s an instrumental jam that keeps the core of the song and sends it into orbit.  It’s only a buck to download it, so drop them some change while you’re in the Christmas spirit.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin Music Festival moves from spring to fall for 2019.

Austin’s annual Levitation Music Festival announced that it will now be held in early November 2019 for the foreseeable future.  The festival plans to make special announcements about 2019 festival early next year, so keep your eyes open.  I can’t help but wonder if the temple image below is actually a secret message that Devo will be one of the headliners next year.

Keep your mind open.

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The KVB announces U.S. tour dates for 2019.

British synthwave duo The KVB have announced several dates for a U.S. spring 2019 tour to promote their upcoming album Only Now Forever.  Don’t miss this tour if you love vintage synths, electronic beats, and having your perception altered.

Keep your mind open.

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DJ set list for December 17, 2018

Thanks to all who tuned in for my first WSND show of Winter 2018.  It was nice to return to the studio and find some new music I hadn’t heard yet this year.

Here’s my set list from the witching hour, most of which is also on the 7th Level Music YouTube channel as a playlist.

  1. Spesh – Teflon
  2. Tanukichan – Lazy Love
  3. Night Beats – Ain’t a Ghost
  4. The Dirtbombs – I’m Qualified to Satisfy You
  5. Necromancy radio ad
  6. The Cramps – Like a Bad Girl Should
  7. Big Bliss – Constants
  8. Alien radio ad
  9. The Raveonettes – Dirty Eyes (Sex Don’t Sell)
  10. Vintage 1960’s Tom McCan’s shoes radio ad
  11. The KVB – Above us
  12. Jon Hopkins – Singularity
  13. Melkbelly – Cawthra
  14. TV on the Radio – Wolf Like Me (live)
  15. Fucked Up – Raise Your Voice Joyce
  16. Ebony, Ivory, and Jade radio ad
  17. Public Image Ltd. – Fishing
  18. Depeche Mode – Route 66
  19. E.L.O. – Fire on High
  20. E.L.O. – Tightrope
  21. Space Raiders radio ad
  22. E.L.O. – Shine a Little Love
  23. Terrestre – Tepache Jam
  24. Underworld – Glam Bucket
  25. Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin – Profondo Rosso
  26. Encounter with the Unknown radio ad
  27. Kula Shaker – Moonshine
  28. Soul Coughing – Rolling
  29. Gordon Lightfoot – Love and Maple Syrup (requested)
  30. The Land that Time Forgot radio ad
  31. Radiohead – The Daily Mail
  32. Laura Carbone – Grace
  33. Khruangbin – Christmas Time Is Here

I’ll be back on air at midnight (EST) on Christmas Eve.  I hope you’ll tune in for plenty of good music.

Keep your mind open.

[A subscription would be a great gift.]

Live: Flasher, Public Practice, and Gong Gong Gong – Dec. 4th – The Hideout – Chicago, IL

As soon as I saw Flasher, Public Practice, and Gong Gong Gong were playing at Chicago’s Hideout (a great small venue with an appropriate name, as it is concealed in an industrial area), I knew it was going to be a good show.  All three are creating post-punk rock that’s clever, timely, and powerful.

Gong Gong Gong

Gong Gong Gong opened the show, and you could immediately tell there was a buzz about them in the crowd.  I met one woman who specifically came to see them because she’d read a write-up about them in the Chicago Reader and wanted to hear these two guys from Beijing who didn’t have or need a drummer. They don’t need one because there’s enough percussion between the guitar and bass riffs to support an industrial band.  It was a fascinating set full of songs that sound like they belong in a David Lynch film.  I’m calling it now – Look for Gong Gong Gong to be on the bill for the 2019 Pitchfork Music Festival.

Public Practice

Public Practice came out and gave everyone a lesson on how you own a stage.  They played their entire Distance Is a Mirror EP (one of the best releases of the year, in my opinion) and a couple tracks I hadn’t heard yet.  They left you hungry for more, much more.  I hope this tour gives them plenty of ideas for new tracks.  I was delighted to see them selling WALL records at their table, too.  Everyone needs WALL records.

Flasher

Flasher threw down an energetic set that warmed you up from the chill outside.  The tracks they played off their great debut, Constant Image, were almost double speed.  They weren’t screwing around up there.  It was definitely the most punk of the three post-punk sets.  Unfortunately for my wife and I, we had to leave early during their set due to a long drive home and a predicted storm of freezing rain heading for our route.  As you might’ve guessed from reading this, we made it home safe.

As I figured, this was / is a great lineup for a tour.  Don’t miss it if it comes near you.

Keep your mind open.

[If you wondering what to get me for Christmas, I always like subscriptions to my blog.]

 

 

The Beths release their version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” just in time for the holidays.

The Beths Release “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” 7-Inch
Via Carpark Records
Listen Here

February/March North American Tour On Sale Now


[Photo by Mason Fairey]
The Beths’ Future Me Hates Me is “one of the most impressive indie-rock debuts of the year” (Pitchfork). Its first 3 pressings sold out only 2 months after release and have tallied over 1.5 million Spotify streams. Stereogum recently named The Beths one of the “40 Best New Bands Of 2018” and Rolling Stone is currently featuring them in their Hot Issue. While Paste has designated Future Me Hates Me one of “The 50 Best Albums of 2018.”

To celebrate a banner year, The Beths are releasing a 7-inch featuring a moving rendition of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” via Carpark Records. Recorded in three separate continents on their first proper world headline tour, The Beths ditch the usual uptempo, guitar-driven numbers, for a slow-building serenade propelled by strings. The B-side, only available on the physical 7-inch, features a special demo version of Future Me Hates Me favorite “Happy Unhappy.” All profits from the 7-inch go toGirls Rock Camp Foundation.

Having recently completed a North American tour this fall selling out Seattle, Chicago, Boston, New York City (x2), Philadelphia and Washington, DC, The Beths will return in February and March to headline their biggest shows yet including Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia and Lincoln Hall in Chicago.  A full list of dates is below and tickets are on sale now.

Stream “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”:
http://smarturl.it/thebeths_christmas
The Beths Tour Dates:
Fri. Dec. 14 – Wellington, NZ @ Meow (tickets)
Sat. Dec. 15 – Warkworth Town District, NZ @ Leigh Sawmill Café (tickets)
Wed. Dec. 19 – Sydney, AUS @ Lansdowne Hotel (tickets)
Thu. Dec. 20 – Northcote, AUS @ Northcote Social Club (tickets)
Sat. Dec. 22 – Fortitude Valley, AUS @ Black Bear Lodge (tickets)
Wed. Jan. 23 – Dublin, IE @ The Grand Social (tickets)
Thu. Jan. 24 – Dublin, IE @ Olympia Theatre (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Fri. Jan. 25 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (SOLD OUT)
Sat. Jan. 26 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy Glasgow (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Mon. Jan. 28 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Tue. Jan. 29 – Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy Leeds (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Wed. Jan. 30 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Bristol (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Thu. Jan. 31 – London, UK @ Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen (tickets)
Fri. Feb. 1 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Sat. Feb. 2 – Paris, FR @ Le Trianon (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Sun. Feb. 3 – Antwerp, BE @ De Roma (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Tue. Feb. 5 – Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVrendenburg, Grote Zaal (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Wed. Feb. 6 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Thu. Feb. 7 – Berlin, DE @ Astra Kulturhaus (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Sat. Feb. 9 – Hamburg, DE @ Große Freiheit 36 (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (SOLD OUT)
Sun. Feb. 10 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Musikkens Hus – Store Vega (Main Hall) (tickets)
Mon. Feb. 11 – Stockholm, SE @ Cirkus (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Tue. Feb. 12 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene (w/ Death Cab for Cutie) (tickets)
Thu. Feb. 21-Sun. Feb. 24 – Orere Point, NZ @ Splore 2019 (tickets)
Tue. Feb. 26 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Wed. Feb. 27 – Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Thu. Feb. 28 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Fri. Mar. 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Sat. Mar. 2 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Sun. Mar. 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Tue. Mar. 5 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Wed. Mar. 6 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Thu. Mar. 7 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Fri. Mar. 8 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Sat. Mar. 9 – Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Mon. Mar. 11-Fri. Mar. 15 – Austin, TX @ SXSW (w/ Bad Bad Hats)
Sat. Mar. 16 – Dallas, TX @ Not So Fun Wknd (w/ Bad Bad Hats)  
Sun. Mar. 17 – Houston, TX @ Satellite Bar (w/ Bad Bad Hats) (tickets)
Thur. May. 16 – London, UK @ The Dome (tickets)

[“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” 7-inch]
Keep your mind open.
[You can make my Christmas merry by subscribing.]

Partner release new shredding single and early 2019 U.S. tour dates.

PARTNER (Canadian Queer Post Classic Rock)
– Touring the West Coast USA & Canada 2019
– New song “Lost My Pick, Can I Borrow One?” 
– Debut album In Search of Lost Time out now

PARTNER WEST COAST TOUR WINTER 2019

Share new track “Lost My Pick, Can I Borrow One?” via YouTube

USA & Canadian Tour Dates
January 24 – Big Fun Festival, Winnipeg MB
February 20 – Fox Cabaret, Vancouver BC*
February 23 – Lucky Bar, Victoria BC
February 24 – The Vera Project, Seattle WA*
February 25 – Holocene, Portland OR*
February 28 – The Hi Hat, Los Angeles CA*
March 03 – Noise Pop Fest, San Francisco CA*
*co-headlining with Dude York

————————
Partner is the “mature” effort of two best friends named Josée Caron and Lucy Niles. Borne of their bizarre and fortuitous friendship, Partner confidently harnesses the infinite power of Rock to explore a variety of niche yet strangely universal themes. Self described as post-classic-rock.

The two met while attending Mount Allison University in Sackville NB. The duo played in numerous Sackville bands together over their University years (Yellowteeth and The Mouthbreathers). Around late 2014 the idea of Partner came to fruition.

Partner released their debut full length In Search Of Lost Time in September 2017 on You’ve Changed Records and received incredible critical acclaim including making the year end best of lists at NPR’s All Songs Considered, Stereogum, Playboy, Noisey, Exclaim, CBC Music, Indie 88 and many more. In Search Of Lost Time was also short listed for the Polaris Prize 2018 and Partner’s single “Play The Field” won the SOCAN Songwriting Prize 2018 ($10,000 prize!).

Partner have been named the “best new band in Canada” in the Globe and Mail. And taken their enthusiastic live show all over North America, touring in the USA with Shamir and PUP; and playing practically every Canadian festival (Field Trip, Hillside, Sled Island, Sappy Fest, Halifax Pop Explosion, Pop Montreal, Beau’s Oktoberfest, CMW, Folk On The Rocks and many more).

Influenced by acts as varied as Melissa Etheridge, Ween, kd lang and Prince, Partner is genre-defying, part musical act, part teenage diary and 100% queer

Partner in the press:

“Listening to Partner is like hanging out with your best friends, assuming your best friends are queer Canadian stoners with hooks for days.” 
– Stereogum

“The best Canadian rock record of the year wasn’t made by Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene or Mac Demarco, but by two self-deprecating, 1990s-loving stoner best friends known as Partner. ” 
– Playboy

“…two young women from Canada, Joseé Caron and Lucy Niles, who write and record as Partner, put out the year’s best guitar rock album.”
– NPR’s All Songs Considered

Partner Links
Website: http://www.partnerband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/partner.music.band/
Bandcamp: https://partnerband.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: http://youvechangedrecords.com/portfolio/partner/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/partner_band
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/partnerband

Iceage release “Broken Hours” from latest record.

Iceage Unveil New Single, “Broken Hours”
http://mat-r.co/brokenhours
(Photo credit – Christian Freidlander)
“[Beyondless] seeks release in letting loose, in the pleasure music can give from creating wild, anarchic spaces within the framework of pop music song structures. There’s an art to summoning up chaos and an equal reward in keeping that chaos under control.” — Fresh Air

“On their astonishing fourth album, [Iceage] reach for pop-gothic grandeur with more tenacity and abandon than ever.” — Pitchfork [Best New Music]

“Beyondless’s achievement is that it preserves what made Iceage powerful and unique while allowing that character to mature into a sound that feels older, wiser, and more emotionally expansive.” 
— Vulture

“[Beyondless] feels like the long-awaited delivery on the promise this band has always possessed, the moment when they could rise to the next echelon of today’s indie landscape.”
— Stereogum [Album of the Week]

Following “Balm Of Gilead” released earlier in the month, “as snarling and clobbering as anything you could hope for from the band” (The Fader), Iceage today unveil a second new single with “Broken Hours.” A five minute epic of doom-laden swing and crashing, spidery riffs that backdrop Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s howling incantation: “Dying figures, they settle in / Broken hours / It lingers on” – it’s another heart-racing transmission from a band at the peak of their craft.

Iceage cap off their 2018 North American touring tomorrow night in Brooklyn with a show at Elsewhere; their biggest ever UK headline show follows in London on December 7th.

Beyondless, released this past June via Matador, is the culmination of Iceage’s output so far. It boasts an earthy and hypnotic sound that pays tribute to American music, from country honk brawls to sleazy soul revues to cocaine blues. Echoes of The Waterboys to Exile-period Stones to John Cale are laced with a ubiquitous air of ecstatic abandon and channelled via masterful songwriting. Throughout their career, the band’s charm has rested in their running ahead of themselves with blind confidence; on Beyondless, Iceage are treading with a disarming assurance, but no loss of charm.
Listen to Iceage’s “Broken Hours”  –
http://mat-r.co/brokenhours

Watch/Listen/Share:
Beyondless album stream – http://smarturl.it/Beyondless
“Balm of Gilead” – http://mat-r.co/balmofgilead
“Catch It” Video –  http://mat-r.co/CatchIt
“Pain Killer” feat. Sky Ferreira – http://mat-r.co/PainKiller
“The Day The Music Dies” Video – http://mat-r.co/TheDayTheMusicDies
“Take It All” – http://mat-r.co/TakeItAll
“Under The Sun” Video – https://youtu.be/P-nOdShPN-g

Iceage Tour Dates:

Wed. Dec. 5 – Berlin, DE @ Bi Nuu
Thu. Dec. 6 – Kortrijik, BE @ De Kreun
Fri. Dec. 7 – London, UK @ Hackney Arts Centre ∞
Wed. Jan. 30 – Ljubliana, SI @ Ment Festival
Fri. March 1 – Copenhagen, DK @ Store Vega

∞ = with Astrid Sonne, Helm and Warmduscher

Download hi-res images & album art — www.pitchperfectpr.com/iceage/
(“Broken Hours” cover art)

Official Website | Instagram | Facebook | Iceage Blog

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