Part-krautrock, post-house, part-funk, part-art rock, part…I don’t know what, Museum of Love‘s Life of Mammals is weird and wild.
“Your Nails Have Grown,” for instance, starts the album with Pat Mahoney and Dennis McNany‘s mechaniker krautrock synths for beats and lyrics about someone lost to time, and the extended, haunting saxophone solo by Peter Gordon is outstanding. The title track brings in ambient synths to blend with funky bass and hand percussion beats. It’s a song about facing reality and casting out illusions (“It’s a shocking truth. You were raised by wolves, but never told that rabbits eat their youth.”).
“Marching Orders” is a highly danceable track (those killer beats!), with a whistled chorus and lyrics about retreating into stability and walking away from chaos and the rat race. “Hotel at Home” could be a song about touring or living in quarantine with lyrics like “Everything you’ve done is washed away. This room wasn’t really yours anyway. Curl up and watch. Lockup extended stay.”
“Cluttered World” is a sauntering, sexy track about cutting away attachments in hopes of filling up the space in our homes and heads with better pleasures. “Ridiculous Body,” with its swaying bass and tense drums, is a witty take on toxic beauty and the ravages of time. “Flat Side” has dark-wave elements in its synths and lyrics about patience in love. The guitar on it soars like a robot hawk.
“Army of Children” is a song about regret, and not being able to fix bad habits (“When we met I was a picturesque wreck hanging around your neck…Why can I ever seem to stick to the plan?”). The addition of country guitars and Edwyn Collins-like vocals gives a cool, bluesy feel to the track, even when dance drums walk into the room. Bold horns and bouncing synth-beats propel “The Conversation,” which tells the tale of a talk going out of control in rapid time. The album closes with “Almost Certainly Not You,” in which we hear the tale of a relationship in which someone claims they’ve been telling the truth the whole time, not the other. The song is punctuated by finger snaps and synths that feel like sunlight breaking through cigarette smoke.
A lot of the album sounds like that image feels: Mysterious, yet bright. Angry, yet cheeky. Stealthy, yet bold. It’s a winner any way you slice it.
In case you’re unaware, Bordeaux, France’s Year of No Light has been churning out some of the heaviest post-metal rock for the last two decades. Their new album, Consolamentum, coincides with the release of the Mnemophobia – a box set that includes twelve LPs covering the earlier parts of their career.
Consolamentum is a double-album and it takes its time to pile riff upon riff on you. The shortest track on the album is over seven minutes long. The opener, “Objuration,” is nearly thirteen minutes in length and sounds like a summoning ritual being prepared in a dark tomb by men and women in black robes, but they’re interrupted by heavy guitar riffs that sound like they’re played by mystic time-traveling warriors from a post-apocalyptic wasteland. “Alèthia” is the “short” track at seven minutes-thirty-nine seconds, and the guitars on it soar like birds over a vast ocean…on another planet.
Want some doom? Well, “Interdit aux Vivants, aux Morts et aux Chiens” (“Forbidden to the Living, the Dead, and the Dogs”) fits the bill with the title and the heavy, sludgy bass and guitars, the monster-walk drums, and the synths that seem to be the sound of an inter-dimensional door opening.
The bass on “Réalgar” hits like a war hammer swung by a frost giant, while the synths and guitars are the avalanche caused by it and the drums are packs of polar bears descending upon your poor fourth-level Dungeons and Dragons party trying to find shelter in the blizzard. The closer, “Came,” has a cool darkwave feel to it with the echoing drums and synths that float between uplifting and menacing.
This is an album that can transport you to another plane, or at least make the one in which you’re sitting seem tenuous.
They’ve added shows on Wednesday night (the festival always started on Thursday night in the past), and I wouldn’t miss Here Lies Man if I were you. Speaking of Thursday, I already have my tickets to see Fuzzand The Well. No Joy, The Vacant Lots, and Public Practicewill also put on a good show.
Friday? Well, you shouldn’t go to Levitation without seeing The Black Angels. I mean, they help curate the thing and pretty much started it. The fact that they’re playing with Tinariwen is an added bonus. Black Midi‘s show will probably be nuts, as will A Place to Bury Strangers‘ set.
Thundercat‘s live set is always a groovy show, and I hope to catch Frankie and the Witch Fingers and maybe Ganser – since they’re coming all the way from Chicago. As for Sunday, I’m excited to see The Hives again. They’re one of the best live bands on the planet.
More bands and sets are to be announced, so the weekend is sure to be packed with good stuff. Don’t miss it.
Recorded with a different backing band (J.J. Burnell – bass and vocals, Sonny Fortune – saxophone and flute, Tony “Thunder” Smith – drums) than the rest of The Smithereens, Pat Dinizio‘s 1997 solo album, Songs and Sounds, is a fine display of his deep voice, suitable for crooning or rock and rolling, guitar work, and musical influences.
The short opening track, “Where I Am Going,” is just Dinizio and his haunting voice. “Nobody but Me” hits hard with heavy bass and crisp drumming while Dinizio sings about taking all the chances in a relationship. “124 MPH” is a great example of Dinizio’s love of “Mersybeat” / early 1960s Liverpool rock with a catchy chorus and backing vocals and fun lyrics about a gal too fast for Dinizio’s endurance.
“Running, Jumping, Standing Still” starts with sounds of a rowdy party (or a live gig) and builds to a Who-like crash of thudding bass, driving guitar, lyrics about being able to do anything Dinizio damn well pleases, and precision drumming. “Everyday World” has Dinizio proclaiming that he doesn’t want his life to be the same old grind with a gal who doesn’t want excitement. The added horn section on the track is a great touch.
“There’s no stopping us,” Dinizio sings on “No Love Lost” – a song that mixes good and sad memories about a relationship. Fortune’s saxophone solo on it showcases his jazz chops. It sounds effortless. “Today it’s you, tomorrow it’s someone else,” Dinizio sings on “Today It’s You,” which features a solid acoustic guitar rhythm layered with heavier electric sounds.
“Liza” is an acoustic ballad, the kind that Dinizio sings well – often channeling his love of Buddy Holly when he does it (as he does here). It floats into “Somewhere Down the Line” – another fine example of Dinizio’s songwriting as he chronicles a relationship that’s clinging to the hope of a vague, better future that probably won’t ever arrive. “You Should Know” is a good rocker, and the closer, “I’d Rather Have the Blues,” is a jazzy blues track suitable for a film noir or a shot of bourbon at two in the morning.
It’s a nice record. Dinizio was a fine songwriter, singer, guitarist, and performer until his untimely death in 2017 at only the age of 62. He left behind a lot of great music, however, and we could all hope to leave even half as much art and joy as he did.
Kansas City-based, Chicago-raised musician, songwriter and chef Liam Kazar announces his debut album, Due North, out August 6th on Woodsist / Mare Records (Kevin Morby’s Woodsist imprint), and today presents a new single/video, “Frank Bacon.” Throughout the last decade, Kazar has been recognized for his adaptability and deftness in the studio and on stage, leading to tours and collaborations with Jeff Tweedy, Chance the Rapper, Steve Gunn, Daniel Johnston, amongst others. While Kazar has consistently been a dream bandmate over the past several years, making his own songs presented a chance to finally find his own voice. Due North is a personal revelation, where the more Kazar wrote, the more his songs showed what kind of artist he’s always wanted to be – one whose own joyous rock songs are so irresistible, full of charm, wit and heart, they feel timeless.
Like most musicians, the pandemic threw Kazar for a loop, knocking out both his touring revenue and his part-time gigs as a bartender. With so much spare time in his Kansas City home, he decided to pursue his longtime love of cooking by creating the restaurant Isfahan, which honors his Armenian heritage and his family’s journey to the United States from Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. “In COVID, my mantra was to not have my heart broken about the future and be present,” says Kazar, explaining that ethos is one of the reasons why he named the LP Due North.
Much like carving out his own space in the food world, learning how to find his own musical style was a rewarding challenge. “This record kind of all stemmed from a conversation I had with Jeff [Tweedy],” says Kazar. “I showed him some of my earliest songs I was working on and he told me, ‘It sounds like you’re writing for the people in your bands, you’re not writing for yourself.’ He was completely right.” With that needed insight, Kazar decided to start from scratch and write songs that felt like himself. Along with Spencer Tweedy and Lane Beckstrom, Kazar enlisted keyboardist Dave Curtin (Woongi), co-producer James Elkington on pedal steel, as well as Ohmme and Andrew Sa on backing vocals. Due North was mixed by Sam Evian at his Flying Cloud Recordings Studio in upstate New York.
During the making of the record, Kazar kept coming back to two words: “joyful” and “vulnerable.” Kazar elaborates: “I was trying to talk about things that I’m scared about but acknowledging that I’m not that powerful and you can still be joyful in the face of your own insecurities.” Take album highlight “Frank Bacon,” where Kazar sings, “When you’re running uphill and swimming upstream / Nothing’s ever gonna be the way it seems.” Despite any lyrical uncertainty the track is bursting with life, especially in the monster groove from the rhythm section of Tweedy and Beckstrom. “With time I’ve grown wary of lying to myself,” says Liam. “I don’t know if it’s a defense mechanism we do, or just something we grow out of, hopefully. But ‘Frank Bacon’ has become a personal mantra in recent years to be honest with myself and stick with it, because I’m worth it. We all are.” The accompanying video was directed by Austin Vesely and shot in Kansas City, MO. Watch Liam Kazar’s Video for “Frank Bacon” Previously released single “Shoes Too Tight,” an undeniable jam with a swaggering exuberance, was a clarifying moment for Kazar in this journey. Kazar slowly tinkered with a synth sound and happened upon the song’s bouncy chord progression, which was “probably the closest to an aha moment that I had of ‘Oh, this is me and this is what I’m into,’” says Kazar. Soon after, Kazar switched gears for the yearning and delicate “On a Spanish Dune” which showcased his emotional resonance as a writer. Though completely different songs, Kazar used these two earliest offerings as guides for what would come next.
Kazar will play his record release showAugust 7th at Chicago’s Sleeping Village. Tickets are available here. In the meantime, Isfahan pop-up events have been announced in Chicago, North Adams, MA, Kansas City, MO, and New York State. A full list of dates can be found below. Watch the “Shoes Too Tight” Video
Due North Tracklist 1. So Long Tomorrow 2. Old Enough For You 3. Shoes Too Tight 4. Nothing To You 5. On a Spanish Dune 6. Frank Bacon 7. I’ve Been Where You Are 8. No Time For Eternity (Ft. Andrew Sa) 9. Give My World 10. Something Tender
Liam Kazar Tour Dates Sat. Aug. 7 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village – RECORD RELEASE SHOW
Isfahan Pop-Up Kitchen Events Thu. June 10 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village Fri. June 11 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village Sat. June 12 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village Thu. June 17 – Kansas City, MO @ Kanbe’s Markets Mon. June 28 – North Adams, MA @ Tourists Tue. June 29 – North Adams, MA @ Tourists Wed. July 7 – Mt. Tremper, NY @ The Pines Fri. July 9 – Livingston Manor, NY @ Sunshine Colony Sat. July 10 – Livingston Manor, NY @ Sunshine Colony Sun. July 11 – Livingston Manor, NY @ Sunshine Colony
Central Heat Exchange (C.H.E.) is a collaborative project by musicians spread throughout the US & Canada, primarily in the central time zone. Split across Austin, Chicago, & Winnipeg, its core members are Adam Soloway of Living Hour, Santiago RD of Daphne Tunes and Jacob and Paul Stoltz of Varsity and Pool Holograph, though their forthcoming recorded output involves a broad network of collaborators. Today they are announcing their signing to Birthday Cake, Citrus City and Sunroom Records, and sharing their debut single “Tulips At My Bedside,” which features vocals from Living Hour’s Sam Sarty and contributions from members of Lala Lala and The Hecks.
WATCH: Central Heat Exchange’s “Tulips At My Bedside” Video on YouTube
“‘Tulips at my Bedside’ tells of a brief summer fling and the exploration that happens during and afterward, with themes of self-reflection, health and growth,” explains Sam Sarty. “I see the song as almost a collective joy/celebration of silly everyday things that make up living, especially at the end with the group vocals. Everyone chiming in and almost giddy that we get to experience the simple hellos when we meet each other. That warm humid freedom of a summer night bike ride, with huge birch trees swaying way up above, rooted in the ground that has seen more than you ever will, a deep smile within yourself of knowing rolling around and your legs are alive and the person behind you on a bike is too.“
“Tulips At My Bedside” is available to purchase on Bandcamp and on all streaming services. It will appear on the forthcoming debut LP from Central Heat Exchange, which is expected in the fall of 2021.
Life on the road isn’t all glamour and rock’n’roll excess and MOTÖRHEAD’s punishing tour schedule in 1981 took them all over the globe as they rode high on the success of Ace Of Spades. One integral part of the daily grind on the road is the sound check, although very little of it is ever seen or documented in the public domain. Fortunately during the Short Sharp Pain In The Neck tour of March 1981,
MOTÖRHEAD had a mobile recording studio in tow as they recorded their thunderous, number 1 live album, No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith now celebrating its 40th year. This rare recording of them performing “Stay Clean” as they warmed up for the night at Newcastle on March 30 is accompanied by a video containing behind the scenes montages of the backbone of the MOTÖRHEAD live show; the legendary road crew!
A Place To Bury Strangers share new single/video “I Might Have” from their forthcoming Hologram EP out July 16th onfounding memberOliver Ackermann’s label Dedstrange. Following lead single “End Of The Night,” “I Might Have” is a fuzz-soaked sonic disaster in the best possible way. Past reflections collide with the brutality of a disintegrating world, stories of personal trauma, acceptance, and human failings emerge from the rubble of noise and destitute motorik rhythms. This is A Place To Bury Strangers at its most honest and unfiltered. Hologram serves as an abstract mirror to the moment we live in and “I Might Have” smashes that mirror into a thousand pieces.
“‘I Might Have’ is about the insecurities of life and growing up and when you just have to turn around and say ‘F*ck it,’” says Ackermann. “Life sucks so we may as well have a good time.” The accompanying video visualizes this mentality as it shows the band raucously hanging out together in New York City. Watch “I Might Have” Video
In 2003, A Place To Bury Strangers emerged on the scene out of Ackermann’s psychotropic vision. The band is known for their vicious live performances overloaded with all-consuming visuals, experimental sonic warfare, and treacherous stage antics. 2021 welcomes a lineup change; Ackermann is joined by new members John Fedowitz (bass) and Sandra Fedowitz (drums) of Ceremony East Coast, cementing the most sensational version of the band to date. John and Oliver were childhood friends who had played in the legendary underground shoegaze band Skywave, crafting futuristic punk music together. This next phase is a sonic return to the band’s most raw and unhinged endeavors, pushed even further into a new chaotically apocalyptic incarnation.
A Place To Bury Strangers 2022 Tour Dates: Wed. March 9 – Hamburg, DE @ Hafenklang Thu. March 10 – Dresden, DE @ Beatpol Fri. March 11 – Warsaw, PL @ Klub Poglos Sat. March 12 – Prague, CZ @ Futurum Sun. March 13 – Bratislava, SK @ Randal Club Mon. March 14 – Budapest, HU @ Durer Kert Wed. March 16 – Bucharest, RO @ Control Club Thu. March 17 – Sofia, BG @ Mixtape5 Fri. March 18 – Thessaloniki, GR @ Eightball Sat. March 19 – Athens, GR @ Temple Mon. March 21 – Skopje, MK @ 25th of May Hall Tue. March 22 – Belgrade, RS @ Club Drugstore Thu. March 24 – Zagreb, HR @ MochvaraFri. March 25 – Bologna, IT @ Freakout Club Sat. March 26 – Rome, IT @ Largo Sun. March 27 – Milan, IT @ Legend Club Tue. March 29 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F Wed. March 30 – Munich, DE @ BackstageThu. March 31 – Martigny, CH @ Caves Du Memoir Fri. April 1 – Paris, FR @ La Trabendo Sat. April 2 – London, UK @ Lafayette Mon. April 4 – Antwerp, BE @ Kavka Tue. April 5 – Munster, DE @ Gleis 22 Wed. April 6 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg Thu. April 7 – Groningen, NL @ Vera Sat. April 9 – Stockholm, SE @ Hus 7 Sun. April 10 – Oslo, NO @ John Dee Mon. April 11 – Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset Tue. April 12 – Berlin, DE @ Hole 44 Wed. April 13 – Cologne, DE @ MTC
Keep your mind open.
[I might have to remind you to subscribe, but I hope not.]
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announce that their North American tour is now rescheduled for Fall 2022. In October 2022, the band will play shows across the country, including marathon sets at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre and two performances at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, during which the band will play material from their vast discography across three hours. The tour will follow the release of their new album, Butterfly 3000, out now via the band’s own label KGLW.
Butterfly 3000 is King Gizzard’s 18th studio album. The band decided to play this one close to the vest, and refrained from sharing any advance singles, or the album artwork, which will be a cross-eyed autostereogram created by long-time collaborator Jason Galea. Butterfly 3000 might be their most fearless leap into the unknown yet; a suite of ten songs that all began life as arpeggiated loops composed on modular synthesisers, before being fashioned into addictive, optimistic and utterly seductive dream-pop by the six-piece. The album sounds simultaneously like nothing they’ve ever done before, and thoroughly, unmistakeably Gizz, down to its climactic neon psych-a-tronic flourish. This is undoubtedly the most accessible and jubilant album of their career.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Tour Dates 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 @ Moore Theatre Mon. Oct. 10 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre Tue. Oct. 11 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre Fri. Oct. 14 – St Paul, MN @ The Palace Theatre Sat. Oct. 15 – Chicago, IL @ RADIUS Sun. Oct. 16 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Tue. Oct. 18 – Toronto, ON @ TBA Wed. Oct. 19 – Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia 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 Mon. Oct 31 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
Recorded in an attic in a house where an exorcism took place and inspired by science fiction and mind expansion via psychedelic drug trip, Evolfo‘s Site Out of Mind is a pretty groovy record. I mean, how could it not be with an origin story like that?
Opening with Cure-like guitar chords that mix with thick electro-bass and reverbed vocals on “Give Me Time,” the album instantly feels far more expansive than an attic. The crunchy guitars and humming of the first single, “Strange Lights,” will make you stomp the pedal to the metal. Evolfo goes from Temples influences to Osees within two songs, which is nothing but cool to me. The warped, wobbly beats of “Zuma Loop” are disorienting at first and then hypnotic.
“Towers rise, towers fall,” they sing on “Blossom in Void” – a song that seems to be about staying present in order to emerge from sorrow and end up in a place of joy. Jangly acoustic guitars and vintage psych-synths start the funky “Drying Out Your Eyes” – a top-notch groovy cut. “In Time” parts 1 and 2 are a nice psychedelic combo – like pretzels and curry. “Let Go” is a dreamy float down a hazy river.
“Broken Hills” has this neat, weird beat that I love, and the change to a trippy Yes-like sound for the end (complete with string section) is gorgeous. “Orion’s Belt” is appropriately spacey, with guitars sounding like buzzing UFOs. The closer, “White Foam,” reminds me of Psychedelic Furs by the end if the Furs were even more psychedelic.
It’s a nice record, and I’m curious to see and hear where these chaps go next.
