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.
Recorded over a couple weeks in a clandestine hotel room in London, Underworldand Iggy Pop(who has been living in London for a while now while spinning records for BBC 6 Music) joined forces to put out a four-song EP – Teatime Dub Encounters. The EP mixes Underworld’s electro wizardry with Pop’s gravelly vocals (man of which seem to be improvised) and memories of the past while embracing an unknown future.
Beginning with the instantly danceable “Bells & Circles,” Underworld puts down some of the sharpest beats of the year and Pop sings / raves about the “golden days of air travel” when you could smoke on airplanes, flirt with stewardesses, and do cocaine in the airplane’s bathroom. By the end, he warns, “There will be no revolution, and that’s why it won’t be televised.”
“Trapped” starts off sounding like music from a 16-bit video game but quickly builds into a track that has you moving before you realize it. Pop unleashes some vicious lyrics about being stuck in a rut. “I’m trapped and I never get out no more. I really wanted to be special, I really wanted to live in heaven. I really thought that I could be free, but all of this is coming back on me,” he laments. “Let’s hear it for Johnny. He’s got a mortgage. He’s got a house. Oh no!” He sings / rants later, pleading for Joe Average to break out of his self-built prison.
“I’ll See Big” is a mellow affair with Pop telling part of the story of how the Stooges got together. He talks about how great it was to have friends that weren’t demanding, but he later had to meet people who were demanding in order to move forward in life.
Pop gets demanding on “Get Your Shirt,” in which he expresses anger over things he’s lost now and then by signing on the dotted line. The Underworld lads, meanwhile, blast you with bright synths and early rave culture beats.
It’s a sharp EP, and it’s great to see and hear legendary performers like this teaming up to make dream projects and spin new material.
FLASHER SHARE MIND-BOGGLING NEW VIDEO FOR “MATERIAL”
WATCH THE VIDEO & CATCH THEM ON TOUR THIS FALL/WINTER
“Seriously, this is the most brilliantly bonkers clip I’ve seen all year” – Rolling Stone
Today, Flasher share their new video for Constant Image stand-out single “Material.” This strange and hilarious video, directed by Nick Roney, breaks the fourth wall in an utterly unique and post-modern way. It can confidently be said that a video similar to this does not exist (premiered earlier today via Rolling Stone). Rather than spoil it with tedious description, please view it for yourself.
Additionally, the band has recently announced a batch of December US tour dates with Brooklyn’s Public Practice and Beijing duo Gong Gong Gong. On this stretch, the trio of bands will be selling a limited edition (300 copies) tour-only 7″ flexidisc, featuring previously unreleased tracks by all three.
FLASHER TOUR DATES
Wed. Nov. 7 – Sheffield, UK @ Picture House Social Club
Thu. Nov. 8 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Fri. Nov. 9 – Glasgow, UK @ The Glad Cafe
Sat. Nov. 10 – Manchester, UK @ YES
Sun. Nov. 11 – Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin
Mon. Nov. 12 – London, UK @ Roundhouse w/ Parquet Courts
Tue. Nov. 13 – London, UK @ The Lexington
Wed. Nov. 14 – Paris, FR @ L’Olympic Cafe
Fri. Nov. 16 – Madrid, ES @ Teatro Barcelo
Sat. Nov. 17 – Barcelona, ES @ Sala Apolo
Fri. Nov. 30 – Washington, DC @ The Black Cat *
Mon. Dec. 3 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern *
Tue. Dec. 4 – Chicago, IL @ The Hideout *
Wed. Dec. 5 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups *
Fri. Dec. 7 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus ** = w/ Public Practice & Gong Gong Gong
PRAISE FOR CONSTANT IMAGE
“Only one of this week’s albums feels like it alters my entire brain chemistry every time the next chorus hits, and that’s Constant Image.” – Stereogum, Album of the Week
“What’s surprising—and thrilling—about their debut full-length, Constant Image, is that its social commentary would have felt just as timely at any pointin the
past 30 years.” – Pitchfork
“This D.C.-based trio’s debut has the muscle and melodicism of modern rock’s brainy, brooding pre-grunge era” – Rolling Stone
“The thrill is in the call-and-response, heard on past songs, but here weaponized like an ecstatic hall of mirrors in the final minute of ‘Skim Milk.'” –NPR Music
“The band masterfully produce politically charged tracks situated in tales of the everyday struggle of people living in America’s political seat.” – Exclaim! (8/10)
“They play hook-filled rock songs, influenced by everything from post-punk to new wave via shoegaze and indie dream pop that’ll inspire the kind of exhilaration and joy that only comes from a group of people who fully understand what your day was like.”
– PopMatters (8/10)
“The band’s gentle, impressionistic lyrics contain careful considerations of how one might survive as an individual enmeshed in late capitalism, but the stakes of the songs don’t reveal themselves until you’re already immersed in their bright, optimistic energy.” – Bandcamp
North American Fall/Winter Headline Tour Kicks Off Nov. 6th
(Khruangbin’s “Christmas Time Is Here” 7” Cover Art by Fuzzytown)
“…I defy you to put on ‘Con Todo El Mundo,’ the second album from Texas trio Khruangbin in the summer sunshine, or the winter dusk, and not be able to find some measure of peace and a source of animation.” — NPRMusic (NPR Music’s 40 Favorite Albums Of 2018 [So Far])
“Buy it, stream it, hear it, get it, live it: It’s been a spell since one of those all-things-to-all-people albums has come along, but Khruangbin’s second full-length, Con Todo El Mundo, seems to be just that.”
— VOGUE
“The result is a border-blurring convergence, one likely to propel whatever dance floor is lucky enough to receive it.” — Los Angeles Times
“…funky, jumpy tendrils of guitar, mixed with hazy washes of surf rock…” — Vulture
“On their second album, the Houston-based instrumental trio crafts a unique, psychedelic vibe that hangs between continents and eras.” — Pitchfork
“Drop a needle on Khruangbin’s latest album—and really, you should drop a needle on it because this music is meant for spinning on vinyl—and you’ll see visions.” — Relix
“It’s impossible not to like them.” — XLR8R
At the close of a marathon year supporting their breakthrough album, Con Todo El Mundo (out now on DeadOceans/NightTimeStories), Khruangbin return with an exciting addition – an update on Vince Guaraldi’s timeless “Christmas Time Is Here.”
“Growing up the three of us all had very different Christmases,” says bassist LauraLee. “But we recently discovered we all had the exact same favorite Christmas song. When we realized it, we sat down to play it and it came together instantly. In 15 minutes we had this recorded. It was like the best Christmas present ever.”
With ambling sweetness and a fresh, beat-driven groove, Khruangbin have taken this oft-covered classic and made it wholly their own.
Having just wrapped up a massive tour supporting LeonBridges, Khruangbin will hit the road next month for a slew of headline dates across North America. The tour kicks off in Phoenix on Tue. Nov. 6th and includes shows at TheFox Theatre in Oakland, The Wiltern in Los Angeles, The Vic in Chicago, the 9:30 Club in DC, two nights at Brooklyn Steel in NYC, and more. A full list of dates are below.
Tue. Nov. 6 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
Wed. Nov. 7 – Las Vegas, NV @ Vinyl at Hard Rock Hotel Casino
Fri. Nov. 9 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater — SOLD OUT
Sat. Nov. 10 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park — SOLD OUT Sun. Nov. 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Tue. Nov. 13 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Wed. Nov. 14 – Chico, CA @ El Rey Theater Fri. Nov. 16 – Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theatre
Sat. Nov. 17 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom — SOLD OUT Sun. Nov. 18 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre Tue. Nov. 27 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue Wed. Nov. 28 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theater Thu. Nov. 29 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall — SOLD OUT Fri. Nov. 30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Sat. Dec. 1 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall Thu. Dec. 6 – Boston, MA @ Royale — SOLD OUT Fri. Dec. 7 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club — SOLD OUT
Sat. Dec. 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel — SOLD OUT Sun. Dec. 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel — SOLD OUT
Tue. Dec. 11 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
Wed. Dec. 12 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse — SOLD OUT Fri. Dec. 14 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s Sun. Dec. 15 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre — SOLD OUT
Tue. Jan. 15 – Mon. Jan. 21 – Miami, FL @ Jame Cruise 17 Fri. Mar. 8 – Adelaide, SA @ Womad Festival Sat. Mar. 9 – Launceston, TAS @ Panama Festival Sun. Mar. 10 – Meredith, VIC @ Golden Plains Festival Wed. Mar. 13 – Melbourne, VIC @ Croxton Bandroom Fri. Mar 15 – Sydney, NSW @ Oxford Art Factory Sat. Mar. 16 – Brisbane, QLD @ The Zoo Thu. Mar. 21 – Shangri-La, Osaka @ Umeda Fri. Mar. 22 – Quattro, Tokyo @ Shibuya Club
Ahead of their upcoming tour dates, BODEGA have shared the video for “Name Escape.” A typically stylish yet tongue-in-cheek visual complete with freeform dancers, the “Name Escape” video was directed by band members Nikki Belfiglio and Ben Hozie.On the video, Hozie says, “‘Name Escape’ details at-this-moment observations from a night out at the now-defunct (and missed) Bushwick venue Palisades. The Smiths blare out of the P.A. as I chat with people I’ve seen hundreds of times but will never really know. For the advertisement clip of the memory malfunction, Nikki directed us doing big rock hype in a big rock warehouse hyperlinked from early aughts ‘alternative’ vids. The strange thing about alienation is that it’s often beautiful and fun.”
“Name Escape” is the third BBC Radio 6 Music playlisted single taken from BODEGA’s debut album, Endless Scroll. The album was met with rave reviews in the UK from the likes of Observer, Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, The Times, DIY, Uncut and more. Recalling the rich history of New York’s musical heritage while keeping its sight on the future, Endless Scroll revitalizes the rock and roll vocabulary under the influence of post punk, contemporary pop, hip-hop, kraut rock, and folk-derived narrative songwriting. Endless Scroll was recorded and produced by Austin Brown (Parquet Courts) on the same Tascam 388 tape machine used for their album Light Up Gold.
Come February 2019, the band will return to Europe for a new run of dates – which includes their largest headline show to date at London’s Scala on Wednesday, February 20th. BODEGA will be joined by Beijing duo Gong Gong Gong as main support for the tour. Tickets for all dates are available now.
BODEGA Tour Dates:
Fri. Nov. 9 – Kowloon, Hong Kong @ Clockenflap Festival
Sat. Nov. 10 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia @ Urbanscapes festival
Sun. Nov. 11 – Singapore City, Singapore @ Neon Lights Music & Arts Festival
Sat. Dec. 8 – Rennes, France @ Les Transmusicales
Tue. Feb. 5 – Munich, Germany @ Unter Deck (tickets)
Wed. Feb. 6 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Bogen F (tickets)
Thu. Feb. 7 – Düdingen, Switzerland @ Bad Bonn (tickets)
Fri. Feb. 8 – Besancron, France @ Festival Generiq
Sat. Feb. 9 – Belfort Cedex, France @ La Poudriere
Sun. Feb. 10 – Dijon, France @ Le Consortium
Mon. Feb. 11 – Mannheim, Germany @ Kulturbrücken Jungbusch (tickets)
Tue. Feb. 12 – Belgium, Brussels @ Botanique (w/ Gong Gong Gong) (tickets)
Thu. Feb. 14 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms (w/ Gong Gong Gong) (tickets)
Fri. Feb. 15 – Glasgow, UK @ The Art School (w/ Gong Gong Gong) (tickets)
Sat. Feb. 16 – Dublin, Ireland @ Whelan’s (w/ Gong Gong Gong) (tickets)
Mon. Feb. 18 – Manchester, UK @ YES (The Pink Room) (w/ Gong Gong Gong) (tickets)
Tue. Feb. 19 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club (w/ Gong Gong Gong) (tickets)
Wed. Feb. 20 – London, UK @ Scala (w/ Gong Gong Gong) (tickets)
Fri. Feb. 22 – St. Malo, France @ La Nouvelle Vague
Sat. Feb. 23 – Paris, France @ Le Point Ephemere
Mon. Feb. 25 – Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Rotown (w/ Gong Gong Gong) (tickets)
Tue. Feb. 26 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Bitterzoet (w/ Gong Gong Gong) (tickets)
Thu. Feb. 28 – Berlin, Germany @ Berghain Kantine (tickets)
Fri. Mar. 1 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Stengade (tickets)
Sat. Mar. 2 – Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow MusikclubUK Praise for Endless Scroll:
“A revelation” – Uncut (9/10)
“This five-piece nail the absurdity of contemporary life with that surprisingly evergreen formula” – Observer (4/5)
“BODEGA’s attack on digital life comes wrapped in winning post-punk noise” – Sunday Times
“Streamlined and minimal but bursting with intelligence, humor and ideas, BODEGA are the real deal” – DIY (5/5)
“…a fantastic debut from one of the most exciting new bands around” – Independent (4/5)
“The music has a hypnotic drive, and clever lyrics are chanted or intoned in hard-boiled New York fashion” – Financial Times (4/5)
“…there is something of a New York Mark E Smith about the way Hozie uses mockery (and self-mockery) to ponder modern life’s absurdities and insanities” – Guardian
“‘Endless Scroll’ is a record filled with potential and a perfect snapshot of what’s still to come” – Dork (4/5)
“Snappy, spirited guitar explorations that tap into New York’s art-rock lineage” – Clash (8/10)
PROTOMARTYR AND PREOCCUPATIONS ANNOUNCE SPLIT 7″,
OUT 11/16 ON DOMINOLISTEN TO PROTOMARTYR COVER PREOCCUPATIONS’ SONG “FORBIDDEN”
CO-HEADLINING TOUR BEGINS NEXT MONTH
(photo by Daniel Topete)
Today, Protomartyr announce the upcoming release of a split 7″ with their friends and future tourmates Preoccupations. Conceptually similar to Protomartyr’s recent split 7″ with Spray Paint, the release features each band covering the other, with Protomartyr performing their rendition of Preoccupations’ “Forbidden,” while Preoccupations give Protomartyr’s “Pontiac ’87” a reworking. You can listen to Protomartyr’s cover of “Forbidden” now, with the 7″ being released by Domino on Nov. 16th. Protomartyr’s singer Joe Casey had this to say of the band’s cover: “There’s an old adage that goes something like, ‘if you’re going to cover a song by a beloved Canadian band, it’s best to pick the second shortest one.’ So, ‘Forbidden’ it is. We all really liked the outro part and had the brilliant idea to extend it. And that, my friends, is how you make musical history.”For those who find this sonic pairing palatable to the ear, the two bands will join up for a co-headlining tour in late November, almost exactly one month from now and shortly after the release of the 7”. Additionally, Protomartyr have just been announced as the “special guest” for the anticipated grand reopening of Detroit’s UFO Factory, a much beloved venue that was damaged by developers one year ago.
“SOM craft songs of epic melancholy that stagger the ears as well as the heart.” — Onion AV Club
“Serenely slowdive into shoegaze.” — SPIN
“A big, atmospheric mix of shoegaze, post-rock, space rock, and sludge metal, all led by Will’s ethereal vocals.” — Brooklyn Vegan
Post-metal shoegaze trio SOM premiere the first track from their forthcoming debut album today via Brooklyn Vegan. The animated clip for “Open Wounds” is created by visual artist Josh Graham (Neurosis, Soundgarden) and available to watch and share HERE. (Direct YouTube.)
On their debut record, SOM “craft songs of epic melancholy that stagger the ears as well as the heart” (Onion AV Club) and “serenely slowdive into shoegaze” (SPIN). Drummer Duncan Rich and bassist Justin Forrest build thunderous rhythms that give drive and pulse to the fuzzed out wall-of-synth-and-guitar-noise. Dark and heavy throughout, their music is complemented by memorable hooks and melodies in singer/guitarist Will Benoit’s somber, lamenting vocals.
Featuring founding members of seminal Boston space rockers Constants — and former and touring members of Adai, Junius, Rosetta, and Caspian — SOM wrote and recorded their debut album at Benoit’s solar powered The Radar Studio, along with engineer Daryl Rabidoux (Doomsday Student, Drowningman).
The Fall will be available on CD, cassette and download on November 9th, 2018. Pre-orders are available via Bandcamp HERE.
“Hey, dude, we are a heavy stoner rock band with doom and psychedelic influences from Nicosia, Cyprus…”
That was the beginning of the e-mail that introduced me to Stonus. I love hearing from bands outside the United States that I might not have discovered otherwise. Stonus’ new EP, Lunar Eclipse, was another great surprise.
The psychedelic influences are evident right away on “Reflections,” on which we hear a quick tale of apprehension and approaching the unknown (or death, perhaps). “Aspirin” roars to life with siren-like guitars and fuzzy bass and drums before reverbed vocals seem into your mind. “Spiritual Realities” brings in the doom influences and seems to increase the atomic weight of the record.
The title track is eight minutes of psychedelia that seems to drift on desert winds or across the Mediterranean Sea. The Middle Eastern-flavored guitar is a great touch and I love how Stonus doesn’t rush the track. It moves at a great pace best suited for introspection or feeling like a bad ass. The album fades out with the short instrumental “Euphoric Misery.” I’m not sure if that’s referencing a bad trip or the misery of coming out of euphoria into reality, but it’s trippy either way.
This is good stoner-psych rock. I don’t know if a full-length album will arrive before an actual lunar eclipse happens (January 2019), but let’s hope so.
Keep your mind open.
[You should subscribe before the next lunar eclipse, too.]
Tim Jones, otherwise known asPreacherman, released one album of weird, funky electronic jazz the combined analog synths with New Age philosophy on creation, love, death, life, the energy of the universe, and probably a hundred other topics I’m forgetting. In the 1980’s, Jones added a guest to his one-man band – T.J. Hustler. Mr. Hustler was a ventriloquist’s dummy who would accompany Jones on stage and preach Jones’ universal philosophy or sometimes have deep metaphysical discussions with Jones while he was playing a modified Hammond B-3.
Jones moved out to Oakland many years ago to take care of his mother, a centenarian, and continued to play in small clubs, DJ karaoke nights, and record material for his own pleasure. Thankfully, Luaka Bop Records have put out a collection of some of Jones’ rarest work – Universal Philosophy: Preacherman Plays T.J. Hustler’s Greatest Hits.
The album opens with “That’s Good,” and synths that sound like the opening to a 1980’s sci-fi romance. Preacherman asks why we keep trying to visit every planet in the solar system except Venus since it’s the planet of love. “We’re going the wrong way, y’all,” he warns as the synths build and take on a bit of a Native American flute sound and it almost turns into an Art of Noise track.
“Feel It” is nine minutes of synth grooves blended with cosmic funk. It’s an instant toe-tapper and is probably being remixed by DJ Shadow even as I write this review. It’s also our first introduction to T.J. Hustler, who talks with a gravelly voice that contains hundreds of years of wisdom. “The age of individualism is upon us, y’all….Constructive knowledge is the only thing that will keep us safe…” Hustler says. He was right in the 1980’s and he’s right again in 2018.
“Tell me why in a world so full, why love’s so hard to find?” Preacherman asks on “Tell Me Why,” a bumping electro-disco track with synth bass as sweet as maple syrup. Jones asks why we’re so empty in a world not only full of people, but full of ways to communicate faster than ever before. He also predicts it won’t be long before everything’s wiped away, so we’d better get right with the Creator and each other now.
“Out of This World” is truly that, with Preacherman slapping down bump-and-grind grooves as he pines for a lover from another planet who needs to be “a love sensation…a lot of fun…the right vibration…the only one.” “Age of Individualism” has synth beats that MGMT dream of creating.
On the epic “Up and Down,” T.J. Hustler explains how time is crucial to movement. “We move up and down and around,” Preacherman preaches over his electric beats and keyboards that sound like he pulled them out of a video game. T.J. Hustler explains everything from aging and nutrition to relaxation and letting go of attachments in order to expand one’s consciousness. There’s so much to process in this track that I can’t cover all of it, but you’ll be fascinated with every second of it.
As if that weren’t enough, the closer is the fifteen-minute track “The Wrong Way,” in which Jones preaches about the order of the universe and how the planets’ movement is linked to sex, love, and tantric energy. He also warns against us “fuckin’ up this planet” and how we’re doomed to die by fire if we don’t take care of Mother Earth. He even rants against the system (AKA The Man) that has convinced us that different skin colors mean anything, that progress is usually not what it seems, and how the system is set up to bring us down and we let it happen every day. Preacherman returns to his themes of searching for love, even bringing back some of the lyrics from “That’s Good.”
This album is a mind trip, and one you need to take. It somehow combines synth-funk with Don Juan mysticism and it works.
Keep your mind open.
[I can feel you wanting to subscribe. Get on board!]
This year was not only the first time my wife and I traveled to France, it was also the first time we traveled to Levitation France in Angers – a mid-size town about one and a half hours by train southwest of Paris. It was the sixth year of the two-day festival and we’d wanted to go ever since we started attending Levitation Austinin 2013. The dates finally worked out this year, so we made the trip.
First, the festival is held in Le Quai – a great performance space venue in Angers along the Maine River. It has at least five performance areas in it, and the festival uses two of them for shows, two for food trucks, one for merchandise, and one for a bar.
That’s the outside of the venue in the main food truck area. Immediately inside that big open door is the main stage (called the “Forum”). We didn’t start there, however. We started in the smaller performance space (“T400”) at the back with French garage rockers Wild Fox.
Wild Fox
They were the first band on the first day, and they came to make a statement. They threw down wild energy that whipped up the early crowd, ending by kicking apart their drum set, playing with broken strings, and churning out plenty of good feedback.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about the new album from La Luz, so we checked out their set on the Forum stage. They had a good crowd, and their California sun-drenched psychedelia was a nice match for the sun coming in through the window behind them.
La Luz
We grabbed a bite from the food trucks (where I scored some tasty Senegalese food), and then headed toward the T400 stage to check out Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. On the way there, we passed Holy Wave doing their soundcheck on the Forum stage. They were playing Interpol‘s “Untitled,” much to the delight of myself and a woman who came running from the back bar to cheer them.
Holy Wave playing Interpol.Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
Pigs x 7 were so loud and heavy that we had to fade back a bit and leave their set early. I think my wife’s head was about to split open from the intensity. We caught Holy Wave‘s set. They’re another band I’ve wanted to see for a while, and they put on a nice set of Texas psych-rock and seemed to be having a great time.
Holy Wave not playing Interpol.
We then zipped back to the T400 stage to catch most of Prettiest Eyes‘ set. It was our favorite of the night. The electro-punk oddballs from Puerto Rico and Mexico put on a great show with crazy beats, boundless energy, and plenty of swagger. My wife picked up a button from their merchandise table afterwards. I need to get their latest album. John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees said at Levitation Austinthis year that they’re one of his favorite bands. It’s easy to see why when you see them live.
Prettiest Eyes
We headed back to the Forum stage to see the Soft Moon. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the two stages are so close together, and the set times staggered so well, that you can see every band that plays over the course of the two days without trouble (and usually see their full sets). We saw the Soft Moon at our first Levitation Austin festival, back when it was still known as the Austin Psych Fest. It was good to see them again and get a hefty dose of industrial dark wave.
The Soft Moon
We ended the first night with the Blank Tapes, who my wife was keen on seeing after she checked out one of their videos. They have a nice, mellow sound that blends some folk with their psychedelia. My favorite song during the set was one the lead singer wrote to sing to his house plants (“Not marijuana…Regular plants.”).
The Blank Tapes
On day two, we got to Le Quai in time to see Bryan’s Magic Tears start the show. They played a nice set of psych-pop, but hunger won over on us and we headed to the food trucks for some crepes and a great Senegalese chicken sandwich.
Bryan’s Magic Tears
Go! Zilla were on the Forum stage immediately after them, and they provided some nice psychedelic dinner music for us.
Go! Zilla
The biggest surprise of the day, and possibly the whole festival, was the set by Flamingods. They put on a wild set of Middle Eastern, Afrobeat, and psychedelic music that had the members changing instruments so many times that I couldn’t keep track of whom mainly played what.
Flamingods
We then caught Juniore on the Forum stage. They’re an electro / post-punk three piece from France who put on a quirky, neat set with one of them wearing a silver mask the entire time. My wife said it reminded her of a Sleestak from Land of the Lost.
Juniore
We were keen on seeing MIENat the festival since we’d been at their premiere live gig at Levitation Austin earlier this year. They didn’t disappoint and are well in the groove after a lot of touring to support their debut album of dark psychedelia.
MIEN
Another fun surprise was the set by French electro duo Oktober Lieber. They were heavier than I’d expected and threw down some impressive industrial dance grooves.
Oktober Lieber
The rest of the night was full of electronic music for us. First was French musician Flavien Berger – a one-man show of techno beats, vocal effects, and synth work.
Flavien Berger
We ended the night, and our first Levitation France festival, with Radar Men from the Moon, who played nothing but synths, keyboards, and sequencers instead of their usual guitars and drums. It was a great, powerful set that made us run for the merchandise room and buy their first record.
Radar Men from the Moon
We’ll definitely go back, but I’m not sure it will be in the cards for next year. We loved the festival and Angers. Cross it off your bucket list, too.
Keep your mind open.
At Le Quai, the fire extinguishers apparently spray siracha.
ON TOUR NOW IN SUPPORT OF LONER, RELEASED THIS YEAR ON NEW WEST
“Caroline Rose took her songwriting to a new level of wit and heart with LONER . . . It’s full of deftly drawn characters, like the numbingly normal partygoers in ‘More of the Same’ or the comically exaggerated versions of Rose herself in ‘Money’ and ‘Soul No. 5.’ One of her best creations is the lost suburbanite in ‘Jeannie Becomes a Mom,’ drifting through the cul-de-sacs outside Topeka, Kansas in search of her dream life.” — Rolling Stone
“LONER finds [Caroline Rose] abandoning preconceived notions, resulting in a great deal of sonic expansion . . . By embracing her humorous nature and getting more aggressive and adventurous with her music, she was able to create something that felt more natural. While the album title suggests that Rose may feel like she’s on an island of sorts, she’s far from alone.”
— NPR Music’s Favorite Albums of 2018 (So Far)
Caroline Rose has spent a majority of the past year touring in support of LONER, released this past February via New West. Today via Rolling Stone, Rose premieres the “Jeannie Becomes A Mom” video which comically illustrates the daunting notion of being unable to outrun time. Directed by Amanda Speva and produced by Sarah Slevin, and shot outside of Chicago, Rose’s satirical and witty nature shines through with her creative direction, showcasing her ability to process serious subjects with dark humor.
“Jeannie was my first foray into making really fun, sort of weird pop music. I wrote the whole song, including the programmed drums, on a little digital synthesizer called the OP-1. It felt like a relief making something that still told a serious story but tasted like candy to my ears. It’s a direction I’m definitely going to keep exploring. The story, like life, is meant to be a kind of grotesque, whimsical tragi-comedy. This was especially fun for me because I get to play more of a voyeuristic role, which is how I feel in the narrative of the song itself.”
Rose continues on her headlining tour in support of LONER and as support for Rainbow Kitten Surprise with several dates sold out. All dates are listed below.
Watch Caroline Rose’s “Jeannie Becomes A Mom” Video –
Thu. Nov. 1 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Fri. Nov. 2 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom
Sat. Nov. 3 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Tue. Nov. 6 – Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground
Wed. Nov. 7 – Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch
Thu. Nov. 8 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
Fri. Nov. 9 – Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
Sat. Nov. 10 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Tue. Nov. 13 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
Wed. Nov. 14 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
Thu. Nov. 16 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Fri. Nov. 17 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
