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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.
Gary Wilson – Let’s Go to Outer Space
It’s a bit surprising that experimental psych-lounge musician Gary Wilson has taken so long to release an album entitled Let’s Go to Outer Space because I’m fairly certain Mr. Wilson is from Saturn or perhaps somewhere outside this solar system.
The album opens with “Back to Where I Belong” and Wilson boldly proclaiming that he met an alien at a bus stop in Johnson City and they then walked all the way to his hometown of Endicott in the rain. Theremin rolls all around the track as Wilson tells her she’s the prettiest girl from outer space, meaning he’s met others (which shouldn’t surprise anyone). She offers to take him back with her, but he stays.
“Gary Kissed a Mannequin” is self-explanatory as Wilson falls in love with a mannequin who looks like the girl next door and takes her out to talk to the trees and dance all night long. It’s quite possible that his encounter with an alien beauty drove him mad. “Lost in a Mystery” is a song with a familiar theme on Wilson’s records – loneliness. The song’s peppy keyboards and jazz lounge beats (and more Theremin!) can’t conceal Wilson’s confusion about why his alien girl left (“I want to cry. I don’t know just why. You took my heart and ran away. I’m gonna save my heartache for another day.”).
“Gary Feels Cool” has the never-ending optimism you also find on Wilson’s records. He’s never completely out of the dating game, despite his many setbacks. His keyboard solo emphasizes his confident swagger. He’s just as cool when he dreams of a lovely lady in “You’re the Girl from a Magazine.” He can’t name her or the magazine. He just knows she’s pretty and famous for something. It’s not a sleazy song either. Wilson just wants to take this pretty girl for a nice walk.
Wilson admits his story is “insane” in “She’s the Girl from Mars,” but he’s so sincere (and his quirky synths are so fun) that you can’t help but believe him. “Let’s Go on a Walk Tonight” is another plea from Wilson to his Martian girlfriend to stroll with him through Endicott and beyond. It’s a toe-tapper that you can’t get out of your head for a while after hearing it.
The song’s beats and even the “la la la” chorus continues in “I’m Not Ashamed of You,” as Wilson’s keyboards sound more like a harpsichord. Wilson has no fear of walking around with an alien, even as others around him are running away in terror. He’s finally found love, and everyone should be envying him.
The honeymoon ends, however, when we get to “I Want to Cry.” Everything had been going so well that Wilson even took his outer space lover to his high school reunion, but yet he still wants to weep. Is it from joy or misery? It can’t be from his sweet electric piano solo, that’s for sure.
“Let’s Go to Mars” is simple, yet catchy with Wilson singing another song about marrying his Martian girlfriend in front of his hometown pals and then driving her in his new car out of orbit. He can’t find love on Earth, so will he find it on another planet?
Probably not, if “My Beautiful Wife Walked Away” is any indication. Wilson has been dumped yet again. “I don’t know just what do. I just wanna be with you,” he sings. Finding a lasting love is an eternal quest for Wilson, and things beyond his control or understanding always seem to screw it up for him. On “My Pretty Little Space Girl,” Wilson laments the departure of his alien beauty who never plans to return. “All things gotta come to an end,” Wilson tells us. That includes his quest, by the way. It might not have ended with a woman from another planet, but Wilson will find someone someday.
Keep your mind open.
[Updates sent through outer space to your e-mail inbox when you subscribe!]
Public Enemy – Nothing Is Quick in the Desert
The cover to Public Enemy’s new record, Nothing Is Quick in the Desert, features outdated technology ranging from tube TVs and cassettes to an outdated computer and, yes, an iPod classic (like mine). Lit candles circle the items in homage to a time past, which includes some of PE’s classic albums, by the way. The words “Except death” line the bottom of the cover. The desert will reduce you over time, but it will kill you in an instant if you’re unprepared for it. It’s the same with time, and PE are using this record to warn us (again, as we can’t seem to listen) of growing lackadaisical in these tricky times.
The title track has a nice mix of heavy guitar and bass with chimes and piano as Chuck D proclaims “Everybody sellin’, but nobody buyin’” before rolling into “sPEak!” – a slick track encouraging us to use our voices and not let twenty-four hour news cycles and propaganda drown out our concerns (“Speak your mind. Speak. It’s time. Speak your piece. Be free.”).
Flavor Flav throws down a challenge at the beginning of “Yesterday Man” as he proclaims, “You don’t even know who the hell you are.” The song is about those of us who choose to live in (and are thus prisoners of) the past. Chuck D claims many of us want to be a spectacle instead of spectacular. We’d rather be momentarily famous than do something that matters.
“Beat Them All” brings in trance bass as the band sings, “If you can’t join ‘em, you know you gotta beat ‘em.” The song flows well into “Smash the Crowd.” Chuck D puts down some of his best flows on the track (tearing up rappers who’d rather get a quick buck instead of trying to change the world with their art) and I’m sure it’s smashes crowds and clubs live. “So Be It” has Chuck D proclaiming the virtues of “it,” but what is “it?” It’s whatever you believe in, according to him. Only Chuck D could use the word “it” so many times in one song and have it mean a hundred different things. Listen to this track if you’ve forgotten what a master MC sounds like.
“SOC MED Digital Heroin” is heavy on guest stars and warnings about getting “lost in the 1980’s” and becoming lazy thanks to having everything spoon fed to us. Flavor Flav shouts that he’s “shakin’ my damn head” at the proliferation of reality TV (of which, it should be noted, he was a star) and social media. “Terrorwrist” has wicked beats and bass by DJ Lord while Chuck D asks, “How can I make you understand?” – which he’s essentially been asking us since Public Enemy’s first album.
DJ Lord puts down more killer beats and cuts on “Toxic,” while Chuck D asks if MCs can change the world in “this time of 45.” He and Flavor Flav speak about how toxic talk and venomous news cycles have poisoned us. One of the cleverest tracks on the record is “Sells Like Teens Hear It.” It’s a slam on new styles of rap such as mumblecore and trap music. Chuck D likes some of it, but can’t understand why so many teenagers like songs that are essentially empty calories. It also has Flavor Flav’s best rapping on the record. It’s easy to forget that Flav can drop rhymes because he’s the greatest hype man of all time.
The album ends with “Rest in Beats (Parts 1 & 2).” Chuck D laments the losses of so many hip-hop and rap legends from Jam Master Jay to Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez. It moves onto the loss of record stores, excellent tours, exquisite rapping, rap teams, “the time when you really had to rhyme,” and having everyone together in one studio instead of e-mailing pieces of tracks back and forth. A lot of what made rap so good is a lost art by now.
Thankfully, we still have records like this.
Keep your mind open.
[Nothing is quick in the desert, but subscribing only takes a couple seconds.]
Omni release new single and huge list of tour dates.
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DJ set list for August 24, 2017.
Thanks to everyone who listened to my last show of the 2017 summer on WSND. I should be back on air Wednesday nights this winter (or through December, at least). It was a fun summer at the studio. I appreciate all the listens, requests, Tweets, chats, and calls. Here’s my set list from last night:
- Bebel Gilberto – Aganju
- She-Devils – Come
- The Mynabirds – Be Here Now
- EMA – I Wanna Destroy
- Frenzy radio ad
- Kasabian – Underdog
- Slowdive – Slomo
- Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
- Robin Trower – In City Dreams (requested)
- RIDE – All I Want
- The Misfits – American Nightmare
- Fake Limbs – An Inconvenience
- Billy Idol – Eyes Without a Face (requested)
- Skyland Drive-In Theatre intermission
- Devo – Head Like a Hole
- Cloakroom – Big World
- The Raveonettes – Ignite
- So Many Wizards – Sic Boys
- Vadaat Charigim – Ein Li Makom
- Priests – Design Within Reach
- Husker Du – Ice Cold Ice (live)
- Gary Wilson – Gary Feels Cool
- Male Gaze – Wha Do Wha Do
- Screaming Females – The Bearded Lady
- Vacation – Fake It
- Fats Domino – Whiskey Heaven (requested)
- Stepford Wives radio ad
- Fairfield Four – Po Lazarus
- Elmore James – The Sky Is Crying
- The Black Keys – The Desperate Man
- Johnny Cash – Get Rhythm
Keep your mind open.
Lindstrom’s new album, “It’s Alright Between Us As It Is,” due out October 20th.
LINDSTRØM ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM, IT’S ALRIGHT BETWEEN US AS IT IS, OUT OCTOBER 20TH ON SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND
LISTEN TO LEAD SINGLE “SHININ” FEAT. GRACE HALL
http://bit.ly/2wrQrm3
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Kllo deliver excellent new single – “Downfall.”
Kllo Share New Single “Downfall”
Listen Here
Listen Here
Debut Album Backwater Out October 20th On Ghostly International
Photo by Hayley Louise Brown
Having recently announced their debut album, Kllo are back today with their second single from Backwater titled “Downfall.” It follows lead single “Virtue” which The New York Times calls “sterling” with “euphoric, quick-stepping production” that “bridges fiery garage and joyous disco.”
“Downfall” is the leadoff track on Backwater, due out October 20th on Ghostly International. It was also the last song written for Backwater. “We wrote it on a balcony in Croatia overlooking the water,” say Kllo. “It was very beautiful there, warm and still. We were in a good space, reflecting on everything we’d gone through, but also how much we’d grown through making Backwater. It’s a reminder to not get too caught up in your head, to not dwell on the negative things.”
Listen To Kllo’s “Downfall”:
https://soundcloud.com/
https://soundcloud.com/
Kllo – an electronic pop collaboration between Melbourne cousins Chloe Kaul and Simon Lam – waded in figurative backwater for much of 2016 amid an extensive world tour. These were exciting times; the duo’s Well Worn EP furthered the promise of 2014 EP Cusp, receiving millions of streams and landing Kllo on festival stages as well as Artists-to-Watch lists. Nonetheless, the stretch kept them far from home, isolated and vulnerable, treading through perpetual uncharted territory while yearning for the comforts of the familiar.
As a result, Kllo’s full-length debut depicts inner adjustment to outer change. Songs were written partially on the road and developed back at Lam’s bungalow, a haven that harbors creative spontaneity and catharsis.
“It’s the first time we hadn’t felt like kids anymore,” says Kaul. “We were really able to dive in deeper and bring out a lot more of us into the music.”
Kllo first emerged with a sound beyond their years; fully formed, fusing elements of R&B, UK garage, and 2-step. Well-versed students of artists like James Blake, Lauryn Hill, and The xx, the duo extend an amalgamation of established pop elements with modern sensibilities and wide-eyed sincerity. Backwater arrives as a refined, coming-of-age account. The LP format finds Kllo with more room to breathe and sync their rhythms with emotions. Kaul’s smoky voice emanates with assurance and leisure. Lam’s production invents brooding, steely undercurrents hemmed with charming crescendos.
Kllo have officially come out the other end of the stilted estuary with twelve compositions cultivated to feel timeless and crafted, and equally current. The duo’s second release on Ghostly International — and their most realized work to date — Backwater celebrates the ephemeral and the enduring changes in emotion, the downfalls and the dissolves. It’s an album that parts course with its flow, and flourishes in a lowland.
Backwater is out October 20th on Ghostly International.
Listen To Kllo’s “Downfall”:
https://soundcloud.com/
Watch & Listen:
“Virtue” video – https://youtu.be/4vSVpoABRRU
“Virtue” audio – https://soundcloud.com/
https://soundcloud.com/
Watch & Listen:
“Virtue” video – https://youtu.be/4vSVpoABRRU
“Virtue” audio – https://soundcloud.com/
Kllo Tour Dates:
Nov. 12 – Madrid, ES @ Costello
Nov. 13 – San Sebastian, ES @ Dabadaba
Nov. 14 – Barcelona, ES @ Sidecar
Nov. 16 – Paris, FR @ Supersonic
Nov. 17 – Rotterdam, NL @ V11
Nov. 18 – Brussels, BE @ Les TransArdentes at Palais 12
Nov. 20 – Amsterdam, NL @ The Sugar Factory
Nov. 23 – London, UK @ XOYO
Nov. 24 – Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana
Nov. 25 – Manchester, UK @ The Soup Kitchen
Nov. 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
Nov. 28 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s
Nov. 29 – Leeds, UK @ Headrow House
Nov. 30 – Nottingham, UK @ The Bodega
Dec. 3 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
Dec. 4 – Cologne, DE @ Yuca
Dec. 5 – Hamburg, DE @ Haekken
Dec. 8 – Sydney, AUS @ Oxford Arts Factory
Dec. 9 – Perth, AUS @ Jack Rabbit Slim’s
Dec. 14 – Brisbane, AUS @ Woolly Mammoth
Dec. 15 – Melbourne, AUS @ Corner Hotel
Dec. 16 – Adelaide, AUS @ Fat Controller
Nov. 12 – Madrid, ES @ Costello
Nov. 13 – San Sebastian, ES @ Dabadaba
Nov. 14 – Barcelona, ES @ Sidecar
Nov. 16 – Paris, FR @ Supersonic
Nov. 17 – Rotterdam, NL @ V11
Nov. 18 – Brussels, BE @ Les TransArdentes at Palais 12
Nov. 20 – Amsterdam, NL @ The Sugar Factory
Nov. 23 – London, UK @ XOYO
Nov. 24 – Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana
Nov. 25 – Manchester, UK @ The Soup Kitchen
Nov. 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
Nov. 28 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s
Nov. 29 – Leeds, UK @ Headrow House
Nov. 30 – Nottingham, UK @ The Bodega
Dec. 3 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
Dec. 4 – Cologne, DE @ Yuca
Dec. 5 – Hamburg, DE @ Haekken
Dec. 8 – Sydney, AUS @ Oxford Arts Factory
Dec. 9 – Perth, AUS @ Jack Rabbit Slim’s
Dec. 14 – Brisbane, AUS @ Woolly Mammoth
Dec. 15 – Melbourne, AUS @ Corner Hotel
Dec. 16 – Adelaide, AUS @ Fat Controller
Backwater artwork
Pre-order Backwater:
The Ghostly Store / Physical – https://www.theghostlystore.
Digital – https://Kllo.lnk.to/backwater
Kllo online:
http://ghostly.com/artists/
https://www.facebook.com/
https://www.instagram.com/
https://twitter.com/kllomusic
The Ghostly Store / Physical – https://www.theghostlystore.
Digital – https://Kllo.lnk.to/backwater
Kllo online:
http://ghostly.com/artists/
https://www.facebook.com/
https://www.instagram.com/
https://twitter.com/kllomusic
Slow Magic’s new album, “Float,” due October 6th.
Slow Magic Announces New Album, Float
Out October 6th On Downtown/Interscope
Out October 6th On Downtown/Interscope
Listen To New Single “Light” (Feat. Tropics)
https://soundcloud.com/
World Headline Tour Announced
Float artwork
Slow Magic is proud to announce his new album, Float, coming out October 6th on Downtown/Interscope. Float is Slow Magic’s third proper studio album and follows up 2014’s How To Run Away. Along with the announcement of Float, Slow Magic is sharing a new single, “Light,” featuring Tropics. It follows up previously released Float single “Mind” featuring Kate Boy.
Listen To Slow Magic’s “Light” (feat. Tropics):
https://soundcloud.com/
https://soundcloud.com/
“‘Light’ is one of my favorites from the upcoming album. It started with a harp sample I was playing on my keyboard. I really enjoyed the way it played and ended up just messing around with it for hours. I wanted the song to convey the tension between a really calm and expected moment, suddenly followed by something intense. Light has always been an inspiration of mine. It can determine and define our surroundings in a way nothing else really can – it even dictates our mood and emotions. When Chris from Tropics sent me the lyrics it worked perfectly. He captured in a love song everything I wanted to say musically.”
Work on Float began during a trip to Iceland. Slow Magic cites the surreal change in light that far north as an inspiration. “The sun never really went away. It was eternal,” Slow Magic explains. “I wanted to approach this album in ways I never had before.” That meant recording live drums at a studio in Stockholm normally reserved for metal bands. Once the instrumentals took shape, Slow Magic enlisted vocalists Peter Silberman (from The Antlers), Kate Boy, Tropics, Toulouse, and MNDR to help complete Float.
“My last album How To Run Away was about my life at that time, really just moving at all times, running away from any reality and problems. I wanted to capture that feeling of freedom of youth when nothing really seems to matter in the long term. A lot of the songs were about specific places in the world I was able to experience for the very first time.”
“On Float I wanted to go back to the beginning of Slow Magic. I wanted to capture the raw sounds and feelings and freedom of my first albums ▲ and How To Run Away while expanding and evolving into something completely new. Most of the songs started very stripped down, just with piano and organic instruments. I let the songs write themselves without forcing them to go anywhere they didn’t naturally go.”
Slow Magic will tour the world for the rest of 2017 in support of Float headlining his biggest rooms yet. “I’m planning a lot of new things that I haven’t done before. There will be a completely revamped live show with a ton of new music. I’m hoping people that have been to my show and people that never have will all feel like they are experiencing something they never have imagined.”
Listen To Slow Magic’s “Light” (feat. Tropics):
https://soundcloud.com/
Buy/Stream “Light”:
http://smarturl.it/
https://soundcloud.com/
Buy/Stream “Light”:
http://smarturl.it/
Listen to “Mind” (feat. Kate Boy):
https://soundcloud.com/
https://soundcloud.com/
Slow Magic Tour Dates:
9/13 – Paris, France @ Batofar
9/14 – Milan, Italy @ Circolo Magnolia
9/15 – Rome, Italy @ Monk Club
9/19 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Sugar Factory
9/20 – Brussels, Belgium @ Beursschouwburg
9/21 – Liege, Belgium @ Reflektor
9/23 – London, UK @ Oslo
9/24 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Lille Vega
9/27 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser
9/28 – Berlin, Germany @ Gretchen
9/29 – Barcelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz
9/30 – Madrid, Spain @ Costello Club
10/25 – Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room
10/26 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
10/27 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
10/28 – New Orleans, LA @ Varsity Theatre
10/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell Stage)
11/2 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
11/3 – Brooklyn, NY @ Secret Location – TBA
11/4 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall
11/5 – Boston, MA @ Royale
11/8 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount
11/9 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
11/10 – Detroit, MI @ The Magic Stick
11/11 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Stache
11/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
11/15 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
11/16 – Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar
11/17 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
11/18 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
11/30 –Vancouver, BC @ Venue
12/1 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
12/2 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
12/3 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall
12/6 – Arcata, CA @ Arcata Theatre
12/7 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
12/8 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
12/9 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
12/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
9/13 – Paris, France @ Batofar
9/14 – Milan, Italy @ Circolo Magnolia
9/15 – Rome, Italy @ Monk Club
9/19 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Sugar Factory
9/20 – Brussels, Belgium @ Beursschouwburg
9/21 – Liege, Belgium @ Reflektor
9/23 – London, UK @ Oslo
9/24 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Lille Vega
9/27 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser
9/28 – Berlin, Germany @ Gretchen
9/29 – Barcelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz
9/30 – Madrid, Spain @ Costello Club
10/25 – Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room
10/26 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
10/27 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
10/28 – New Orleans, LA @ Varsity Theatre
10/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell Stage)
11/2 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
11/3 – Brooklyn, NY @ Secret Location – TBA
11/4 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall
11/5 – Boston, MA @ Royale
11/8 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount
11/9 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
11/10 – Detroit, MI @ The Magic Stick
11/11 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Stache
11/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
11/15 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
11/16 – Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar
11/17 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
11/18 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
11/30 –Vancouver, BC @ Venue
12/1 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
12/2 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
12/3 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall
12/6 – Arcata, CA @ Arcata Theatre
12/7 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
12/8 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
12/9 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
12/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
Photo by Dream Angel
Protomartyr share new single, “My Children,” and tour dates.
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Live: The New Pornographers and Ought – Kalamazoo, MI – August 17, 2017
The last time I saw the New Pornographers live was in 2007 at Chicago’s Metro. Lead singer Carl Newman commented during the show about a strong thunderstorm happening outside during the gig, and you could hear thunder between songs now and then. It was a great show, and my wife and got back to our hotel room still buzzing from it. I noticed I had a voicemail from work, so I listened. The storm that had rolled through Chicago during the show had become a tornado by the time it reached our hometown. Nearly every home on the southeast side of town had either been destroyed or damaged. A factory and a convenience store were wiped off the face of the Earth. Amazingly, no one was injured. Our house was fine, but we returned home early the next day to help with the rebuilding and cleaning efforts.
Thankfully, the only thing dire that happened during my second time seeing the New Pornographers was that the brewery in which they played, Bell’s in Kalamazoo, didn’t serve cider, radlers, or even their own root beer.
Unfortunately, I missed nearly all of opening band Ought‘s set. I walked in during their last song (Thanks, Google Maps, for directions that were fine until the last two steps of the journey.), which sounded like some good shoegaze. I need to check out their material.
The New Pornographers came out sharp and quick with crowd favorites like “High Ticket Attractions,” “The Laws Have Changed,” and “Sing Me Spanish Techno.” They sounded great. They haven’t lost anything in ten years. In fact, the additions of more electro touches from keyboardist Blaine Thurier and keyboardist / co-vocalist Kathryn Calder and violin and vocals from Simi Stone bring the band a new brightness.
“Whiteout Conditions,” the title track of their new record, sounds even better live, and I was delighted to hear “Dancehall Domine” from Brill Bruisers live for the first time (They nailed it, by the way.). The show cruised along well until a string broke on John Collins‘ bass and the band had a brief on-stage break while Mr. Collins worked some magic and had his axe swinging again in moments. They were soon they were back to a fine rendition of “Adventures in Solitude.”
The encore included “Challengers,” “Brill Bruisers,” “The Slow Descent in Alcoholism” (which I found funny considering they were playing in a brewery), and a rousing version of “The Bleeding Heart Show” that had us all cheering.
It was a fun night, and much needed by all. It’s no secret that depression and the 2016 presidential election fueled much of Newman’s songwriting for Whiteout Conditions, so the crisp sound, fun vibe, and power pop the New Pornographers brought were, for one night at least, an escape from the miasma of news, Tweets, rumors, and anger.
Keep your mind open.
