Rock – Page 4 – 7th Level Music

Spike F*ck releases his first single in years – “All By Myself.”

For ten years Spike F*ck has existed more as a messy myth than an artist; sporadic works forever poised on the precipice of triumph, rumours of death or insanity and so on. His Smackwave EP (Partisan), now a decade old and certified cult classic was aptly censored by media outlets. The release addressed themes as literal as the title suggests; drug use, gender identity, Catholicism and existentialism.

Soon after, Spike was swept up in the whirlwind of unexpected success, going from underground warehouse parties and impromptu performances on Melbourne trams to catching the eye of Rick Owens, draped in high fashion and editorial photoshoots accompanied by interviews in which he gave unrelenting and uncensored details of his life. On the precipice of breakthrough, Spike disappeared. It had all happened in a flash, he was gone; and it seemed as if the artist witnessed by others was merely a relic of that time period, or possibly a figment of their imagination. Bootleg uploads and comments on old YouTube videos discussed possibilities that seemed wild but believable, given Spike’s nature, fueling rumours of monastic solitude, relapse, or reinvention. Only the most sincere kept the myth alive. Their recent return to performance showcased that Spike had been thoroughly consecrated in underground memory with three sold out LA shows and two sold out nights in NYC.

Luckily, the devotion to his music persevered, somewhat bolstered by his inconsistency and inaccessibility. This inexplicable goodwill towards his artistry is perhaps partly due to Spike’s timeless, pained and confessional lyricism, though more pointedly, the fragility of a life mired in addiction. His being or works does not question the virtue of life, but simply addresses the numb, pragmatic and far more immediate matter of surviving another day, an almost ineffable sentiment only justified by his distinct, poetic audaciousness.

Today Spike F*ck returns. He’s signed with Sacred Bones Records and has announced his long anticipated debut album evidence, due October 2. The album is a brazen proof of life statement. Convicted by the outlandish idea of evidencing a ‘you had to be there’ mentality, the record honors the presence in body, a record to be felt, never to be rationalized. evidence isn’t forthcoming in providing explanations of Spike’s absence. It isn’t a tell-all collection of songs about obsession, guilt, nor is it a document of the subsequent transformation, or enlightenment. Spike’s prior fixations on the questions of man or woman, drug addict or ascetic, trickster or rockstar, have driven an unmitigated pursuit of knowing a ‘true self’. This pursuit is no longer his chief concern, nor is he plagued by over conceptualization of who he is but simply, when he is. For this is Spike F*ck, and this is evidence.

Lead single “ALL BY MYSELF” is an expert fusion of new wave, glam and soul with a vocal performance that oscillates between being blasé, vulnerable and manic. With its feelgood, family-friendly punk doo-wop production, Spike is misleading on if his joy comes from the pride in solitude, or from loneliness and a ‘give me everything’ mentality in the act of shooting heroin. Of “ALL BY MYSELF” and its video, Spike tells –

“If someone asks: what does it mean? We’ve done the job.

As society has abandoned mythologies, we must create our own… that sounds trite and I’m not quite sure how to defend that statement really. We’re not existentialists. In any case, we also live in a completely schizophrenic society in this sense, so the idea to create a story of a war hero/criminal undergoing an absurdist spiritual transformation seemed almost obligatory. Purgatorial musings, heaven and hell, redemption, fantasy, a mushroom that talks so on and so forth.

People understand truth through analogy, moreover, parables. We sought to create something about redemption, forgiveness, faith, hope and charity that is available to whomever seeks it. I may not be the most reliable narrator, I admit that freely, yet the fantasy of it all is healthy. So is a dose of whimsy or even a small dash of grand delusion.

So this video, along with the entire record, is a series of clues, a collection of pieces of evidence… Hopefully this video raises more questions than it answers.”

Listen / Watch / Playlist “ALL BY MYSELF”

While plans had been in motion to release his now-shelved, ‘original’ debut record, Pure O, Spike was gripped by an insatiable urge to complete and present evidence. Written and recorded in 3 months alongside producer Adam Hyde (Keli Holiday), the record is informed by the realization he could not think his way into a state of emotion, only graduate into it; a process outside his control. There was a desire to evidence the mix of frustration, confusion and resentment; all too familiar feelings Spike had tried in vain to repress.

As Spike says, “this record is carnal and confident. I wanted to approach songwriting in the same way a director shooting a slasher film does. Get to the point and make people feel it all. I want this record to cut like a sharp knife”. Citing Pere Ubu, New York Dolls, The Temptations and Bettye Swan as key influences, and inspired by the banned 1971 manual, The Anarchist Cookbook, Spike sought to create something unsettling and perplexing, yet simple. It’s a rush to listen to, as if tagging along on a particularly wild night out. At once it is fun and memorable, but also truly life-altering as if you hit a pedestrian in your car and fled the scene, left to grapple with the thrill, guilt and fear of being caught.

evidence is an album that lives outside the limits of discourse; its purpose is eponymous and self-evident. It is what it is, and is subject to interpretation. There is no point in interrogating attachments, virtue or value. The only rightful way to live is to be.

Pre-Order / Pre-Save evidence

Spike F*ck Live Dates:

Oct 02: Sydney, AU – Oxford Art Factory
Oct 03: Brisbane, AU – Crowbar
Oct 04: Wollongong, AU – Yours & Owls Festival
Oct 09: Perth, AU – Wyola Club
Oct 10: Adelaide, AU – Jive
Oct 18: Melbourne, AU – Thornbury Theatre
Oct 23: Rotterdam, NL – Left of the DIal
Oct 24: Rotterdam, NL – Left of the DIal
Oct 27: Bruges, BE – Cactus Club
Oct 29: Bristol, UK – The Croft
Oct 30: Sheffield, UK – Hallamshire Hotel
Oct 31: Newcastle, UK – Zerox
Nov 01: Glasgow, UK – The Hug & Pint
Nov 03: Manchester, UK –   The Abbey
Nov 04: Leeds, UK – Oporto
Nov 06: London, UK – The Dome
Nov 07: Athens, GR – Illion Plus
Nov 08: Thessaloniki, GR – Eightball Club
Nov 10: Skopje, MK – Cafe Kotur
Nov 11: Zagreb, HR – Molotow Industrial Bar
Nov 12: Munich, DE – Mills
Nov 15: Berlin, DE – Urban Spree
Nov 16: Hamburg, DE – Molotow Top Ten Bar
Nov 17: Krakow, PL – Klub RE
Nov 18: Ostrava, CZ – Barrak Club
Nov 20: Bologna, IT – Freakout Club
Nov 24: Dublin, IL – Whelan’s
Nov 27: Paris, FR – Le Hasard Ludique
Nov 29: Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso (Upstairs)

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Bailey at Another Side.]

Fat Dog decry “Shit Love” with their new single.

Last month, Fat Dog announced second album Cancel Me (I’m Tired). The follow up to their breakout 2024 debut album WOOF., the album is due out October 2nd via Domino.

Announced with its title track last month, the album is an exhilarating, swaggering, panoramic, inventive, re-inventive, re-re-inventive electro-punk-art-pop-rock’n’roll-space-country triumph that deserves all the adjectives. Over ten mind-bending and melodic tracks, it blends electro-pop anthems, cascading rave bangers, bombastic strings, cowboy-tinged pitstops and swirling psychedelia.

Today, fresh off a run of stadium shows supporting Foo Fighters, Fat Dog are back to share another preview of the new album, a single called “Shit Love.” All stabbing synths, manic vocals and a beat that sounds like a rollercoaster trying to shake itself off the tracks, the track is, according to frontman Joe Love, about “two fucking insane people who argue constantly and they are world-enders every time.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

CEREMONY drop “Dark Summer” in the middle of a heat wave.

CEREMONY—the seminal California-based punk band of Ross Farrar, Anthony Anzaldo, Andy Nelson, Justin Davis, and Jake Casarotti—release the new single/video, “Dark Summer” from their seventh album, Tell Me Your Dream, out August 7th via Relapse. Following “Death Destruction Mayhem,” which Consequence says “tak[es] the band’s developed and matured post-punk sound and reappl[ies] it to the hardcore and punk rock that motivated their earliest work,” “Dark Summer” is a jet-black post-punk rumination.

On the track, Farrar says: “In Rock ‘n Roll music, feedback occurs when a guitar is purposely moved too close to an amplifier – like a dark summer – when dread finds you amid brilliant sunshine, it feels disorienting, confusing, and chaotic. What you’re left with is malaise, doldrums of sorts that are both beautiful and terrifying.”

Watch the Video for “Dark Summer”

Tell Me Your Dream reunites CEREMONY with producer John Reis, a punk lifer whose eclectic noisemaking in Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes and other legendary bands runs in parallel to CEREMONY’s multitudes. After working on CEREMONY’s acclaimed 2015 album, The L-Shaped Man, Reis maintains a unique perspective on the quintet — as a hardcore punk band, as participants in the greater California rock-and-roll tradition, and as friends. “John sort of joined the band on this one,” says guitarist-keyboardist Anzaldo. “We could not respect him more as a guitarist, as a singer, as a songwriter. He understands what it’s like to be in every position. So we really gave him the keys.”

Tell Me Your Dream is a reflection of the enduring sense of trust forged within the band. This is no surprise considering CEREMONY’s roots date all the way back to a grade-school friendship between Anzaldo and Farrar. “We’re bound together like family,” says Anzaldo. “Our relationships are beyond the band. CEREMONY is going to live no matter what. We’ve shifted into this dynamic where the choice isn’t ours anymore.”

Deep connections in a shallow world. A clear sense of purpose in uncertain times. These are the reasons CEREMONY continues to grow, to expand, to adapt, to endure. This band can’t stop. And it won’t. To meet the moment, you have to be there for it.

On the heels of back to back weekends playing Coachella earlier this year, CEREMONY’s North American tour will kick off September 9th in Montreal and includes stops in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and more throughout the fall. Tickets are now available here.

Pre-order Tell Me Your Dream

Watch the Video for “Death Destruction Mayhem”

Listen to “Other Hells”

CEREMONY Tour Dates
Wed. Sept. 9 – Montréal, QC @ Les Foufounes Électriques
Thu. Sept. 10 – Toronto, ON @ East End United Basement
Fri, Sept 11 – Detroit, MI @ Russell Industrial Center Lot (Supporting Turnstile)
Sat. Sept. 12 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
Sun. Sept. 13 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
Thu. Sept. 24 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Sat. Sept. 26 – Vancouver, BC @ The American
Thu. Oct. 1 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
Fri. Oct. 2 – New York, NY @ Warsaw
Sat. Oct. 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Sun. Oct. 4 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Fri. Oct. 16 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Hell
Sat. Oct. 17 – Orlando, FL @ The Abbey
Sun. Oct. 18 – Miami, FL @ Churchill’s
Thu. Oct. 22 – Denver, CO @ Marquis
Thu. Nov. 5 -San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
Fri. Nov. 6 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
Sat. Nov. 7 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
Fri. Nov. 13 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Fri. Nov. 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo

Keep your mind open.

[It will feel like a dark summer if you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Matt from Pitch Perfect PR.]

The Stevenson Ranch Davidians (and the rest of us) search for “Love, Light, Beauty & Truth” on their new single.

New York-based collective The Stevenson Ranch Davidians embrace hope, resilience and timeless psychedelic soul on their luminous new single ‘Love, Light, Beauty & Truth’, with accompanying video by Jacob Kedzierski.

Blending the rich traditions of ’60s psych, folk and soul, woven with strands of early American roots music, this is a stirring reminder of the enduring power of the human spirit and its endless emanation throughout the ages into the face of an ancient and unrelenting evil.

Steeped in the aura of the perennially mythologized psychedelic culture of Southern California, The Stevenson Ranch Davidians has revealed itself in shifting configurations, their sound balances spiritual yearning with earthy authenticity. While the lineup has continually coalesced around lead singer-songwriter Dwayne Seagraves and bassist Jessica Latiolait, the collective has always had a guiding vision and goal: to create music that seeks to simultaneously demystify and deify the human experience.

The other members bring a range of talent, experience, and inspiration, including producer and longtime Brian Jonestown Massacre member Rob Campanella on guitar and lap steel, British drummer Misha Bullock, and Sara Minsavage on keyboards, shakes and jangles. On the current single, Andy Campanella also contributes background vocals..

“This song is from a collection of material that was recorded in the spring of 2019, just over a year after the release of our last LP, ‘Amerikana’, and just under a year before the entire world was abruptly thrown into one of its darkest periods in modern history,” says Dwayne Seagraves.

“To say that the music felt relevant at the time is an understatement, yet, somehow the time was not quite right for its release. Now here we are some seven years later and the songs’ relevance hasn’t faded. Maybe that makes it timeless. Maybe that’s exactly what we intended it to be.”

Jessica Latiolait adds, “We will be releasing a series of brand-new singles over several months, each pulled from sessions we recorded back in 2019s. These songs have been waiting a long time to be heard, and we’re excited to finally share them with you. We can’t wait for you to hear what we’ve been holding onto all these years.”

Following the release of their acclaimed third album ‘Amerikana’, the band embarked on two extensive European tours while also recording a full length collection of songs. The band began a monthly residency in the Bay Area until taking indefinite hiatus due to various governmental mandates during the Covid outbreak. In 2024, the band re-emerged to the live music circuit, touring with acts such as Micah Nelson and Particle Kid, Levitation Room and Habibi, while writing new material.

Most recently, The Stevenson Ranch Davidians have wrapped up recording their fourth full-length album at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, California, with its release planned for early-2027. 2026 also brings a string of performances, including three with Elephant Stone.

‘Love, Light, Beauty & Truth’ is available on streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll feel love, light, beauty, and truth if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Shauna at Shameless Promotion PR.]

Fat Dog release title track from upcoming new album, “Cancel Me (I’m Tired).”

Today, Fat Dog are announcing their second album Cancel Me (I’m Tired). The album is the follow up to their celebrated debut album WOOF., which was released in 2024 and saw them become one of the UK’s most exciting breakthrough bands in the process.

The South London seven-piece Fat Dog have a good reason to be tired. They’ve spent the period since WOOF.’s release spreading their raucous, infectious and irresistible bark around the world. But if Fat Dog are tired with the world, the world is not tired of them. In fact, the world can’t get enough of them. Wherever they went on the tour to support WOOF., new diehards emerged out of the carnage. “Show of the weekend,” raved The Times after they played four shows in 27 hours at Glastonbury last year. “Unserious, unhinged and sensational,” marvelled NME. Their message spread far and wide.

Due out on October 2nd, with Cancel Me (I’m Tired) Fat Dog have created an exhilarating, swaggering, panoramic, inventive, re-inventive, re-re-inventive electro-punk-art-pop-rock’n’roll-space-country triumph that deserves all the adjectives. Over ten mind-bending and melodic tracks, it blends electro-pop anthems, cascading rave bangers, bombastic strings, cowboy-tinged pitstops and swirling psychedelia.

The lead single was inspired by John Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep” combined with frontman/songwriter Joe Love imagining what Anatolian rock experimentalists Altın Gün would sound like if they were under siege from a thumping club beat. The title track begins with a riotous declaration. “If you wanna cancel me/Then go ahead and do it please,” It’s the sound of what happens when people push your buttons and your buttons start pushing back.

The video shot with director James Winstanley on the hottest day of the year, sees Fat Dog trying to avoid getting cancelled on an actual night out in London’s Soho.

“Cancel Me (I’m Tired)” follows the release of propulsive, jubilant electro-pop single “Go Fuck Urself” in May and the band’s storming support for Kneecap’s Crystal Palace gig last weekend – the only English band on the bill no less. This week, Fat Dog join Foo Fighters on a run of stadium shows and ahead of their headline UK & European tour starting late October.

When it was time to think about album 2, the band’s ringleader threw himself into recording sessions a day after landing home from a chaotic US tour in which each member of the band took turns in unravelling. “At some point on that tour, everyone had a small breakdown of some sort,” says Chris, who remembers losing his mind in LA, bashing his head against a wall whilst wearing an American Football helmet.

It wasn’t all nervous meltdowns. Romance was also in the air and, midway through the trek, Fat Dog’s frontman got married in Vegas after proposing to his girlfriend in San Francisco. “We played a gig to two people in Vegas,” Joe recalls, “and then the next day I got married.”

And so, it was with depressed Elvis ringing in his ears that Joe got home and began work on the second Fat Dog album. On their debut, Love had left the lyrics until last, letting the heady momentum of the music lead the way, but this time he felt he had much more to say. Into its lyrical orbit, the record pulls mentions of addiction, family ties, love, AI, ancestry, extra-terrestrials, Chris Tarrant, S&M, B&M, H&M and M&Ms. Cancel Me (I’m Tired) possesses all the rabid frenzy and electrifying excitement of their debut but now delivered on a grand and glorious scale. Big, big things are ahead. Fat Dog are only just getting going.

Cancel Me (I’m Tired) is available on DomMart exclusive picture disc vinyl in PVC sleeve, deluxe translucent green coloured vinyl, standard LP, CD and digitally. Pre-order: Fat Dog’s store | Digital

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Adult DVD release “Cowboy on Aisle Three” ahead of their debut album coming September 25, 2026.

Today, Adult DVD are announcing their hugely anticipated self-titled debut album which will be released September 25th on Fat Possum Records. The Leeds-based sextet have carved a niche as one of the most talked-about live bands in the country and an irreverent new voice existing in the space between electronic euphoria and spiky hardcore energy.

Both unique in their approach and thrilling in impact, the band’s music has been shown love by Stereogum, Rolling Stone and The Line of Best Fit among others. Their breakout moment came with the single “Bill Murray,” an incessantly catchy distillation of people on the internet believing Tom Hanks and Bill Murray are the same person. More recently, the glitchy and anthemic “Real Tree Lee” was an A-list record at BBC 6Music and had support from BBC Radio 1.

At both Brighton’s The Great Escape and SXSW in Austin this year the band were championed as one of the buzziest acts of the festival with snaking queues of people waiting hours to see them perform . A relentless touring schedule in 2025 saw them hone their status as festival headliners in waiting, picking up a global army of new fans and playing to huge crowds at Glastonbury, Green Man, End Of The Road and more. The band recently toured Japan where they were greeted by fans in homemade Adult DVD merch, played a series of sold-out shows and saw posts about their performances go viral with millions of views.

To announce their debut, the band are sharing a new single entitled “Cowboy On Aisle Three.”

In the making of their exhilarating debut album, vocalist Harry Hanson and synth-player Greg Lonsdale, alongside Danny Blackburn (guitar/synth), Jake Williams (synth), Jonathan Newell (drums), and George Manson (bass), went harder on what was already working for them: witty observational songwriting based in real-life characters and a pulsating synth-punk sound perfect for both the rave and the mosh pit. Fusing together an intense musical workout with depictions of a motley crew of figures ranging from 5G conspiracy theorists to an existential cowboy, Adult DVD is the electrifying sound of a band exceeding their own expectations while going just as hard, if not harder than their adrenaline-fuelled live shows.

On Adult DVD Hanson and Lonsdale continue to take a screenwriter’s approach to songwriting, filling their lyrics with stories pulled from the outskirts of society yet painting a vivid and comic picture of modern Britain. “We don’t take things too seriously,” Lonsdale explains. “The lyrics have got sillier, the songs have got sillier. We make music for people to enjoy, so let them have a laugh.”

Produced by the band at The Nave Studios Leeds , the general theme of the album is to let go and take life a little less seriously. “Cowboy On Aisle Three” conjures an image of a wrangler swapping the rodeo for a supermarket over a swaggering synth riff . It’s an EQ-pushing beast that merges an existential crisis with the band’s playful spirit and relentless pursuit of bangers.

Speaking on the new single, the band’s frontman Harry Hanson says:

“I came up with the idea when I was in Lidl. I’m sure everyone has thought, ‘Imagine if I just went nuts now,’ to get out of doing the big shop.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media!]

No Joy shares new single, “Barking at the Sun,” from their upcoming EP.

Last month, No Joy announced a new EP entitled Big Life, Big Leaf (out August 21st via Hand Drawn Dracula). The EP is the follow up to the widely beloved 5th LP from Jasamine White-Gluz long-running project, 2025’s Bugland, which like the new EP was co-produced by the heralded Chicago experimental artist Fire-Toolz. That album earned a Best New Music designation from Pitchfork, who called it “a perfect album for our current shoecraze…Bugland is full of more textures, more ambiance, more chunky ’90s guitar. It crushes like a giant box of Gushers,” with further praise coming fromBandcamp, FADER, Stereogum, BrooklynVegan, AV Club, Hearing Things, FLOOD, and Exclaim. and wasalso recently nominated for the Polaris Prize.

The new EP was announced with its title track, which was co-written with Japanese Breakfast and Sky Ferreira producer Jorge Elbrecht. Today, No Joy are sharing a second single from the EP called “Barking At The Sun.” that blends dreamy shoegaze with ferocious blast beats and scratching from DJ Diego Juarez..

White-Gluz says of the track:

This song is driving through empty corn fields with the windows down on the first warm days of spring. During the last solar eclipse, I drove my car to the fields and watched the sun disappear and reappear, feeling like it was both the beginning and the end of the world.

This was the first song Angel & I worked on after Bugland. The song grew out of a very old demo where I played around with Drop C guitar tunings. With this opening guitar riff, I collaged bits and pieces of other demos together to make a patchwork of a song. Angel then took that into her world and made it more technicolor.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Review: Fling ii – iii

What if you made something for absolutely nobody? This is the question Fling ii asked before making their newest album, 3. They, like all of us, were exhausted by every click, view, and preference being commodified and resold to us and the world at large. Could they make an album that offered nothing to anyone? What could an album that, according to the press release I received, was inspired by “the vastness of parking lots, the prismatic strangeness of online advertisements for walking tai chi, and the passive performance of a basket of fruit sitting in a gas station” have to offer the band or anyone else?

As it turns out, a pretty cool record of krautrock / no wave electronica that borders on New Age music and vaporwave. Opening track “lau” pops and bubbles like the sound of a robot’s Zen alarm clock. “inke” drifts like a leaf on a stream that has no particular place to go and no timeline to get anywhere.

“bant” sounds like the opening to a weird VHS home course on meditation or computer science. “beem” takes on a slight country twang with its guitar tones but doesn’t lose the motorik beats or 32-bit synths. The electric piano takes the lead on “ilia,” creating a sound like an android’s morning commute radio station broadcast.

The album ends with “mago,” a trippy electro / krautrock cut that stretches to nearly sixteen minutes and takes you out of your current headspace and into some sort of forest that you’d find in the world of Tron.

This album immediately intrigues you and is the kind of record that will reveal something different every time you hear it…or maybe it won’t. After all, it was made to present you with nothing in particular. Again, from the press release, the band even states the album was “made especially for us and not for you, with all the gear we could get our paws on.” and that it “…stands as a quiet argument for surprise, accident, and the possibility of making something simply because it felt worth making.”

That’s accurate. Not everything has to be catered to your likes. Discovery, and being able to sit content with a discovery instead of seeking instant pleasure from the “next thing” is a lost passion. 3 proves this in every track.

Keep your mind open.

[You can subscribe. Or not. This blog is here for you if you want it, but no stress if you don’t.]

[Thanks to Dan from Discipline PR.]

WSND DJ set list: Deep Dive of Christine McVie and Fleetwood Mac

Thanks to all who tuned in for my Deep Dive of Christine McVie and Fleetwood Mac on WSND. Here’s the set list:

Christine McVie – Got a Hold on Me
Fats Domino – I Hear You Knocking
The Everly Brothers – Bye Bye Love
The Spencer Davis Group – Gimme Some Lovin’
Jimmy Smith – Back at the Chicken Shack
Chicken Shack – It’s Okay with Me Baby
John Lee Hooker – King of the World
Chicken Shack – Get Like You Used to Be
Chicken Shack – Pony and Trap
Chicken Shack – I’d Rather Go Blind
Fleetwood Mac – Stop Messin’ Round
Christine Perfect – When You Say
Christine Perfect – Let Me Go (Leave Me Alone)
Fleetwood Mac – Station Man
Fleetwood Mac – Tell Me All the Things You Do
Bob Welch – Hypnotized
Fleetwood Mac – What a Shame
Fleetwood Mac – Morning Rain
Fleetwood Mac – Come a Little Bit Closer
Fleetwood Mac – Prove Your Love
Fritz – Special Care (live)
Buckingham Nicks – Frozen Love
Fleetwood Mac – Monday Morning
Fleetwood Mac – Over My Head (live)
Fleetwood Mac – Say You Love Me
Zeke – Rhiannon
Fleetwood Mac – Don’t Stop
Fleetwood Mac – You Make Lovin’ Fun (outtake version)
The Beach Boys – Come Go with Me
Fleetwood Mac – Think About Me
Fleetwood Mac – Hold Me
Fleetwood Mac – That’s Alright (alternate take)
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs – Trouble
Christine McVie – Love Will Show Us How (live)
Fleetwood Mac – Little Lies
Fleetwood Mac – I Do
Fleetwood Mac – Steal Your Heart Away
Fleetwood Mac – Songbird (live)

Come back next week for another Deep Dive!

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Various Artists – Life Is Dance! compilation (2011)

Bollywood music gets a lot of attention, but do you know about Lollywood (Lahore + Hollywood) music? Life Is Dance!, another excellent collection of obscure music from outside the U.S. by Finders Keepers Records, seeks to expand your knowledge of music from Pakistani films in the 1970s.

Most of the songs on this collection are by Altaf Hassain Tafo (leader of a group of family musicians), Nazir Ali, Kamal Ahmed, and M. Ashraf, and nearly all the tracks feature the stunning and prolific Nahid Akhtar on lead vocals. Life Is Dance! practically is an Akhtar album.

Her voice (along with vocals by Mehdi Hassan and A. Nayyar and weird male backup vocalist chants and shouts) get in your brain and under your skin on the crazy “Zambo Zambo” (from the bizarre spy movie Jasoos from 1977). The song combines electronic percussion and hand percussion from Tafo and psychedelic bits that might freak you out. The compilation’s title track (from the 1976 film Society Girl) is next with Ali mixing happy accordion with sci-fi synths, bold horns, and trippy guitar as Akhtar and guest vocalist Mehnaz sing / purr / roar throughout it.

Ashraf’s first track on the album is “Dear I Love You” from the 1975 film Zanjeer. It’s a groovy one with accordion somehow blending with (at the time) state-of-the-art synthesizers and slick bass lines. Ahmed finally goes the party (with Mehnaz on lead vocals this time) with 1976’s “Aage Bhi” (from the film Blackmail). It’s one of the grandest songs on the record with big horn arrangements and thrilling hand percussion.

Tafo and Akhtar return for “Shalo Sa Bharka,” another track from Jasoos. It feels darker and grittier than the first, which is not a put-down by any means. Then, the duo flip you on your head with 1979’s “Naughty Boy” (from the film Adawat), in which Akhtar scolds a lover for having naughty thoughts…which might be the same ones she’s having. Sohali Rana‘s lone contribution to the album is the instrumental oddity “Cobra Sway” from the 1970 film Khyber Mail.

Ashraf and Akhtar return for “Sheeshy Ki Botal” (from 1975’s Surat Aur Seerat), which features a nifty saxophone mixed with guitars that sound like they were plugged in after being buried in an ash pit for about three weeks. Abdul Hameed steps in for one track with Akhtar, the sexy and fun “Catch Me If You Can,” one of a few in which Akhtar throws in English verses and phrases now and then to grab your attention. The horn section on it is a lot of fun, and I’m surprised it hasn’t been resurrected into a modern film soundtrack instead of just languishing on the 1978 soundtrack to Dil Ke Daag. Akhtar’s playful vocals on “Too Ne Pyar Se Dekha” (from 1976’s Shabana) are delightful, as is Ashraf’s blend of classical instruments and hand percussion. It makes you want to dance around the room.

Another track from the two of them follows, “O My Love,” from 1977’s Shama-E-Mohabbat. It’s a grand, lush tune with some of Akhtar’s loveliest vocals on the compilation. She teams back up with Tafo on “Wey Titly Non Par” (from 1978’s Cheeta Chalbaz). Tafo hands the mic to Jehan and Cheeku on 1975’s “Dil Be-Qara Mangda Ae Pyar” (from Nawab Zada). The mix of tinny guitar, rapid tabla beats, and jaunty accordion is bizarre and fun.

Ahmed comes back for two more songs, the first being “Don’t Drink” (another from Blackmail) with Akhtar opening the song with her breathy request of “Oh…Don’t be silly.” You’re under her spell right away. The second is “Jawani Meri Bijli” (from 1976’s Warrant) with Jehan belting out powerful vocals over sizzling hand percussion beats and groovy synth bass.

Finally, from 1976’s Society Girl, we have Ali teaming up with Akhtar and Mehnaz for a song that you’ll put on your holiday playlists from now on – “Happy Chrismis.” You have to hear it to believe it. You’ll love it.

You’ll love this whole thing, really. It’s full of gems.

Keep your mind open.

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