Levitation France has announced the first group of bands scheduled to play the 2022 festival in the cool town of Angers. This is also the first year the festival will be a three-day event. Tickets are on sale now.
The lineup is already looking good. The Brian Jonestown Massacre will surely bring in a large crowd, and it will be cool to see Kim Gordon perform. Death Valley Girls and Frankie and the Witch Fingersalways put on good performances, and I won’t miss Automatic‘s set.
Failure have announced a North American tour in support of their recently released, widely-praised sixth album, Wild Type Droid.
Ken Andrews said of the live outings: “I have not been this excited to bring new material to the stage since Fantastic Planet. Prepare yourself for an out-of-body experience.”
The dates, which kick off on June 2 in San Diego and run for five weeks before culminating in a hometown show at Los Angeles’ Regent Theatre, are on-sale today at 10 am local time. All shows will open with a special preview of the forthcoming Failure documentary.
Wild Type Droid (https://failure.ffm.to/wildtypedroid) arrived in December via the band’s own label, Failure Music. Rolling Stone called the 10-song collection “incredibly expansive,” Guitar World described the album as “one of the most inspiring alternative guitar records to arrive in 2021,” and Paste Magazine said the trio “make a career-defining statement.”
“To me, it captures a lot of the new musical approaches and techniques we were going for on this album, but somehow is still quintessential Failure,” Ken Andrews explained as news of the album was revealed. “We’ve been together long enough to know that some of our best ideas come directly from these experimental sessions. For this album, we simply cultivated that methodology for a much longer time than we have in the past. It brought out the trio aspect of the band. There was a feeling we could really push the individual parts further away from each other and let the more interesting and challenging combinations take center stage.”
Failure is Ken Andrews (vocals, guitar, bass, programming), Greg Edwards (vocals, guitar, bass, keys), and Kellii Scott (drums, percussion). Forming in early ‘90s Los Angeles, the trio have released six albums: Comfort (1992), Magnified (1994), Fantastic Planet (1996), The Heart Is A Monster (2015), In The Future Your Body Will Be the Furthest Thing from Your Mind (a series of EPs released as an album in 2018), and Wild Type Droid (2021). The group is considered one of the era’s most influential rock bands with Vice, in an all-encompassing retrospective upon the band’s return saying: “While many of their contemporaries became prolific by releasing an ungodly amount of materials, Failure’s [initial] three-record catalog is minuscule, but just as important in terms of content, style, and music texture.”
Squid’s acclaimed debut album Bright Green Field, released via Warp Records, has been called one of the best albums of 2021 by Pitchfork, Stereogum, The Quietus, Consequence, Paste, Exclaim!, and beyond. On the heels of their sold out first-ever US tour, the UK band announces a 2022 North American tour which sees them playing their biggest venues yet. Having built a reputation for their must-see live performances, Squid — Ollie Judge, Louis Borlase, Arthur Leadbetter, Laurie Nankivell, and Anton Pearson — are not to be missed. Tour dates are listed below and tickets are on sale here.
Squid Tour Dates Wed. Jan. 26 – Belfast, UK @ Empire Music Hall Thu. Jan 27 – Galway, IE @ Roisin Dubh Fri. Jan. 28 – Cork, IE @ Cyprus Avenue Sun. Jan. 30 – Dublin, IE @ The Button Factory Mon. Jan. 31 – Dublin, IE @ The Button Factory Mon. March 7 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom Tue. March 8 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile Wed. March 9 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre Sat. March 12 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall Sun. March 13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Regent Theater Wed. March 16 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre Thu. March 17 – Detroit, MI @ El Club Fri. March 18 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern Sat. March 19 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz Mon. March 21 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat Tue. March 22 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom Wed. March 23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg Fri. March 25 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall Sun. June 5 – Sun. June 12 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound Fri. Jul. 8 – London, UK @ Somerset House Fri. Aug. 5 – Sun. Aug. 7 – Katowice, PL @ OFF Festival Wed. Aug. 17 – Sat. Aug. 20 – Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura Festival Thu. Aug. 25 – Sun. Aug. 28 – Saint Cloud, FR @ Rock en Seine Mon. Sep. 16 – Sun. Sep. 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Primavera Sound LA
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announce Butterfly 3001, a remix album of their original out January 21st, 2022 on KGLW. Today, they share two of its singles, “Neu Butterfly” (Peaches Remix) and “Shanghai” (Dub by The Scientist). King Gizzard’s Joey Walker elaborates: “We’ve put off doing a remix album for a long time. Maybe it was conscious, maybe it wasn’t. But it’s happening now. That’s not to say that Butterfly 3000 makes the most sense to remix. It might seem like the obvious one, but it’s not. Yes it’s electronic. But so is a fridge. Have you tried to dance to Butterfly? It’s hard. It ties your shoelaces together. It’s duplicitous in its simplicity. But Butterfly 3001 expands on this. It also deviates and obliterates. We’re honoured to have such esteemed people go to work on these songs. We hope you love this album as much as we do. See you in DA CLUB!!!”
For their “Neu Butterfly” remix, Peaches “wanted to make this remix sound like a lizard. Slippery wet and scaly dry. Something that wiggles through wide open spaces… with slits for eyeballs…. And danceable.”
Legendary producer The Scientist says “I’ve always enjoyed being able to apply my dub mixing techniques to music outside of the typical ‘reggae mold.’ The music of KGLW, and specifically the song ‘Shanghai,’ provided me with the perfect landscape to be able to create something sonically rich and exciting for the listener. KGLW fans and dub-reggae fans, alike, will enjoy this song very much.”
Pre-order Butterfly 3001 Butterfly 3001 Tracklist 1. Black Hot Soup (DJ Shadow “My Own Reality” Re-Write) 2. Shanghai (The Scientist Dub) 3. Shanghai (Deaton Chris Anthony Remix) 4. Dreams (Yu Su Instrumental Mix) 5. Blue Morpho (Donato Dozzy Remix) 6. Blue Morpho (VRIL Remix) 7. Blue Morpho (Ciel’s Fluttering Dub) 8. Blue Morpho (ZANDOLI II remix) 9. Catching Smoke (DāM-FunK Instrumental Re-Freak) 10. Ya Love (Flaming Lips’ Fascinating Haircut Re-Do) 11. Ya Love (Geneva Jacuzzi Remix) 12. Ya Love (Héctor Oaks playing w/ Fire Mix) 13. 2.02 Killer Year (Bullant’s Fuck Mike Love Remix) 14. Yours (Fred P Journey Mix) 15. Butterfly 3000 (Terry Tracksuit Remix) 16. Neu Butterfly 3000 (Peaches Remix) 17. Catching Smoke (4am Wack Rmx By Hieroglyphic Being) * 18. Blue Morpho (Mall Grab Remix) * 19. Dreams (Peaking Lights Trancedellic Macrodosing Mix) * 20. Interior People (Confidence Man Remix) * 21. Catching Smoke (Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith Remix) *
*= available on digital release only
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard 2022 Tour Dates Sat. Mar. 19 – Buenos Aires, AR @ Lollapalooza Argentina Sat. Mar. 26 – São Paulo, BR @ Lollapalooza Brazil Sun. Mar. 27 – Bogotá, CO @ Festival Estereo Picnic Sun. April 17 – Las Vegas, NV @ Event Lawn at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas % Sun. April 24 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Madonna Inn $ Tue. April 26 – Sonoma, CA @ Gundlach Bundschu $ Wed. April 27 – Petaluma, CA @ Phoenix Theater $ Sat. April 30 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival Fri. May 20 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre Sat. May 21 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live Sun. May 22 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Funhouse Tue. May 24 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall Wed. May 25 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Thu. May 26 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Tue. May 31 – Athens, Greece @ Gagarin 205 Wed. June 1 – Athens, Greece @ Gagarin 205 Fri. June 3 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound – SOLD OUT Sun. June 5 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera in the City Mon. June 6 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera in the City Tue. June 7 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera in the City Thu. June 9 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound – SOLD OUT Sat. June 11 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifeld Derby Festival Tue. June 14 – Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom Sat. June 18 – Miami, FL @ Space Park Sun. July 31 – Waterford, IE @ All Together Now Tue. Aug. 2 – Šibenik, HR @ St. Michael’s Fortress Wed. Aug. 3 – Šibenik, HR @ St. Michael’s Fortress Fri. Aug. 5 – Prague, CZ @ Archa Theatre Sun. Aug. 7 – Vienna, AT @ Arena Wien (Open Air) Tue. Aug. 9 – Leipzig, DE @ Parkbühne Wed. Aug. 10 – Munich, DE @ Tonhalle Fri. Aug. 12 – Sion, CH @ Palp Festival Thu. Aug. 18 – Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura Festival Fri. Aug. 19 – Gueret, FR @ Check-In Party Festival Sat. Aug. 20 – Saint-Malo, FR @ La Route du Rock Festival Tue. Aug. 23 – Cologne, DE @ E-Werk Wed. Aug. 24 – Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle Sat. Aug. 27 – Málaga, ES @ Canela Party Sun. Oct. 2 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre * Tue. Oct. 4 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater* Wed. Oct. 5 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum* Thu. Oct. 6 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount * Mon. Oc. 10 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre* – SOLD OUT Tue. Oct. 11 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre* – SOLD OUT Fri. Oct. 14 – St Paul, MN @ The Palace Theatre* – SOLD OUT Sat. Oct. 15 – Chicago, IL @ RADIUS* Sun. Oct. 16 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple* Tue. Oct. 18 – Toronto, ON @ History* Wed. Oct. 19 – Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia* Fri. Oct. 21 – New York, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium* Sat. Oct. 22 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall* Sun. Oct. 23 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem at The Wharf* Mon. Oct. 24 – Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit* Wed. Oct. 26 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern* Thu. Oct. 27 – New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater * Mon. Oc. 31 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion #
% w/ Amyl and the Sniffers, SPELLLING, Dj Crenshaw $ w/ SPELLLING, DJ Crenshaw * w/ Leah Senior # w/ The Murlocs, Leah Senior
Recorded live at London’s Town & Country Club on June 13, 1988, Final Damnation is a time capsule of The Damned‘s reunion concert. All of the original members of the band are here: Dan Vanian on vocals, Rat Scabies on drums, Captain Sensible on bass and guitar, and Brian James on guitar. They also bring in Bryan Merrick on bass and Roman Jugg on keyboards for songs on which those guys played on Damned albums featuring them. The band had just been dropped by their label before cutting this record, and the unhinged chaos of that moment in the band’s timeline can be felt and heard.
Starting with “See Her Tonite,” the band barely has time to say hello before launching into furious punk riffs. “We’re not doin’ it for the money!” Captain Sensible yells to the crowd afterwards. The crowd replies with, “Oh, yes you are!” and soon Sensible is chugging out the always thrilling bass line of “Neat Neat Neat” and the crowd is going bonkers. “Born to Kill” hits like a metal rockabilly.
I’m not sure if Sensible or Scabies is playing hardest on “I Fall,” as they’re both going nuts throughout it (Scabies has the slight edge, I think.). “Fan Club” has a great swagger to it, and a great solo from James, too. “Fish” is a fast fan-favorite. Their cover of The Beatles’ “Help” is almost unrecognizable as it hits like repeated punches to the face. “New Rose,” of course, gets the crowd into a frenzy, and their cover of The Stooges‘ “I Feel Alright” is stunning.
The “second half” of the album / show starts with their classic tune “I Just Can’t Be Happy Today” – a song that’s still resonant decades later. “Wait for the Blackout” has Sensible wailing on his guitar for the back of the room. Jugg’s opening piano chords on “Melody Lee” are like a fake jab before the hard cross of the guitars and drums. “Noise, Noise, Noise” is as raucous as you hope it will be, as is “Love Song” – in which it sounds like Scabies destroys his kit.
The opening chords and beats of “Smash It Up” give you some time to catch your breath before you want to join the band in smashing everything in sight, and they end the show with two snarky covers – “Looking at You” by MC5 and The Rolling Stones‘ “The Last Time.”
Thankfully, this wouldn’t be the last time The Damned played a show or even released an album, but Final Damnation is a great recording of a great show. There’s also a DVD of the entire performance out there (which can also be found on YouTube) to help capture the madness.
The songwriting on Due North is outstanding. That, and Kazar’s piano and guitar work, put him up there with Lindsey Buckingham and Joe Jackson in my opinion. This was one of the brightest spots of a gloomy year.
This double-album is one of the most beautiful records about death that you’ve ever heard. It’s grand, glorious, and resonant after a year when all of us lost someone – either within our own homes, across the street, or on the other side of the globe.
It’s no coincidence that Dry Cleaning’s first proper U.S. tour sold out at nearly every stop. They’re the queen and kings of British post-punk right now, and New Long Leg – their first full-length album – is a great follow-up to their multiple EPs (all of which were also excellent).
The second Levitation Sessions album from Osees was somehow wilder than the first. Livestreaming it in our home at loud volume during lockdown was a blissful escape for the entire time. The set included plenty of deep cuts, including multiple Chrome covers.
Recorded during their set night at The Chapel music venue in San Francisco, and just before the pandemic shut down touring for everyone everywhere, this live album is one of Osees’ best. It captures the chaos of their shows, highlights some of their prog-rock love, and served as a reminder to stay healthy and take care of each other so we could get back to seeing concerts again.
These are my top five shows of 2021. I hope to see more than 30 bands in 2022, but the future is now – so let’s get to it.
#5: Ty Segall – Psycho Music Festival – August 20th
Playing on a stage atop a wave pool, Ty Segall and his band put on one of the loudest, fiercest sets of the 2021 Psycho Music Festival. The power coming across the water was stunning.
Clutch are always a top tier live band, and this show kept their reputation intact. They played a few new cuts and a lot of stuff from early in their catalogue they hadn’t played in a long while.
I’m not sure I saw a more delighted crowd at any show in 2021. Everyone stopped caring about the heat and humidity, the overpriced food, and the terrible screamo bands on the lineup and started cheering, dancing, and singing.
This set stunned everyone at the Mandalay House of Blues. It was my first time seeing FATW live, and the first time many in the crowd had heard them. It was their first gig in two years, and they came out gunning. I heard someone in another crowd later raving about them and telling everyone he could to listen to them. I can’t put it better than that.
Holy crap. Osees closed the 2021 Psycho Music Festival’s outdoor stage on the last night of the four-night festival. They went bonkers. Yes, I know every Osees show is bonkers, but you could tell they had a lot of pent-up energy from not being able to play in front of a crowd for two years. People were charging through the wading pool in front of the stage, throwing beer buckets full of water on each other, or stumbling backwards on the beach as the wall of sound hit us like a bulldozer.
Everyone stay healthy in 2022 so we can see more shows.
This was the third time I’d seen Frankie and the Witch Fingers in as many months (and the last time I’d see them in 2021), and they played a wild set in a small club that included some new, unreleased material.
I’m not sure how I hadn’t seen Danzig in concert until now, but he and his crew put on a good show. They played Lucifuge in its entirety and plenty of other tracks – including a long encore missed by at least half the crowd.
In the middle of the Psycho Music Festival, which is heavy on metal of all sorts, Claude Fontaine came onstage at the Mandalay Bay House of Blues and put on the most beautiful set of the entire festival. Backed by two percussionists and a guy on acoustic guitar, she performed gorgeous bossa nova and dub tracks for her first show ever in the Sin City. Shame on you if you missed it.\
Playing as the sun set and the moon rose, Death Valley Girls were a highlight of the “Psycho Swim” opening night of the 2021 Psycho Music Festival in Las Vegas. Like pretty much everyone there, it was their first gig in nearly two years and their excitement was palpable.
#6: The Flaming Lips – Psycho Music Festival – August 21st
It’s always a joy to see The Flaming Lips, and hearing their uplifting songs and soaking up the energy from the loving crowd was just what we needed as we returned to live music and hope. This show will always have a special place in my heart, as it was the last time my late wife was able to see them. Their shows always boosted her spirit.
Who’s in the top five? You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to learn!
Live shows made a comeback in 2021, thank heavens, but many were still canceled or postponed due to the ongoing pandemic. As a result, I only saw 35 live bands this year. Cutting that list in half (or thereabouts) to save time, here’s the start of my top fifteen concerts of 2021.
#15: Acid Dad – Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s Brass Rail – October 08th
I’d only heard a couple tracks by Acid Dad before seeing them live, and they didn’t fail to impress everyone at the Brass Rail. It was a rocking show of groovy psych-rock with hints of surf and garage rock.
This was the first time I’d seen Protomartyr live as well, and it was a fine show indeed with a ton of great post-punk rock in front of an excited crowd of fellow Michiganders.
#13: Stöner – Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s Piere’s – September 29th
This was two firsts in one, both seeing and hearing Stöner for the first time. They played a cool heavy set of desert rock and won over a lot of fans (including yours truly) at this show. Their shirts and LPs were flying off their merch table after their set.
#12: King Buffalo – Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s Piere’s – September 29th
Yes, the same show. King Buffalo were the first of three bands that night (the third being Clutch). I’d heard of King Buffalo before, but only a couple songs. They played an excellent set of psychedelic rock that set the table for the rest of the night.
#11: All Them Witches – Chicago’s Metro – December 16th
This was the last show I saw in 2021, and ATW put on a solid set of heavy psychedelia. It was the last show of their tour before a break until they played a series of shows around New Year’s Eve.
Who’s in the top ten? Come back tomorrow to learn!
The Big Ears Music Festival returns March 24-27, 2022 to downtown Knoxville, TN with its most adventurous and multi-dimensional line up to date. The four-day weekend will feature over 100 concerts—gathering groundbreaking composers, virtuoso instrumentalists, singular bands, improvisers and DJs, icons, and upstarts—creating an exhilarating and kaleidoscopic musical experience like none other.
This year—returning for the first time since 2019—Big Ears is upping the ante. Boundary-pushing rockers from Sparks and Kim Gordon to Animal Collective and Efterklang; a mind-expanding journey into the rich musical world of New Orleans and the deep Haitian and Cuban forces that fuel it, including Preservation Hall Jazz Band, RAM, Pedrito Martinez, Leyla McCalla, and Dafnis Prieto; and visionary genre-defying young voices, from Moses Sumney, Arooj Aftab, and Lido Pimienta to Yves Tumor, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Alabaster DePlume, and Dawn Richard offer just a hint of the breathtaking artistic diversity at this year’s Big Ears.
All-too-rare in North America outside of New York City, the prolific, iconoclastic composer/instrumentalist John Zorn will present eight concerts spanning some of his most recent work—among them the dazzling virtuoso guitar trio of Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, and Gyan Riley; songs written with lyricist Jesse Harris for Petra Haden; the “heavy metal” Hammond B-3 organ trio fronted by John Medeski; and the New Masada Quartet. Additionally, Terry Allen, Bill Callahan, Joe Henry, Cassandra Jenkins, Hadestown-creator Anais Mitchell (Bonny Light Horseman), and Andy Shauf will share their contributions to a new alternative American Songbook.
There’s a jazz festival within the festival, presenting titans like Andrew Cyrille, Jason Moran, and Ron Miles, powerful younger players like Ambrose Akinmusire, Kris Davis, and Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, and the movers and shakers of the fresh, vital new jazz scenes in Chicago and London—Jaimie Branch, Damon Locks, Angel Bat Dawid, Sons of Kemet, and Nubya Garcia.
The iconic composer/vocal pioneer Meredith Monk returns, collaborating with Bang on a Can All-Stars for the live world-premiere performance of Memory Games, as well as an intimate duo performance with percussionist John Hollenbeck. The renowned Kronos Quartet will return to present their collaboration with filmmaker, Sam Green, A Thousand Thoughts, along with a second special program, and genre-defying legend Annette Peacock will offer a rare solo performance.
A new generation of visionary composers/performers will also showcase new work. Among them: 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw will perform her collaboration with SōPercussion; 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Reid will present the live premiere of her Soundwalk Ensemble; composer/singer/flutist Nathalie Joachim will perform Femn d’Ayiti celebrating her Haitian heritage with Spektral Quartet; composer Tristan Perich will unveil a new piece for organ, performed by James McVinnie, one-bit electronics and 100 loudspeakers; and San Fermin’s Ellis Ludwig-Leone will premiere a new in-progress chamber opera.
There is, of course, much more. The full line up of confirmed artists is at bigearsfestival.org with more performers and special programs, films, readings, talks, exhibitions, happenings, parties, and surprises still to be announced.
