Reviews – 7th Level Music

Review: Ed O’Brien – Blue Morpho

As the story goes, Ed O’Brien had just released his first solo album, Earth, in 2020 and then the world shut down. He was barely able to promote it and then, like all of us, had to enter a period of isolation. Having that time alone, even while with his family, gave him time to brood, which led to a dark depression and a cataloguing of ideas that he kept for four years until he was able to take time away from being Radiohead‘s guitarist to write and record his excellent second solo album – Blue Morpho.

The album is named after a butterfly, and O’Brien does indeed spread his wings and transform across the album’s length. “Incantation” starts off the record with psychedelic folk flavor with O’Brien’s guitar sounding like it’s melting at one point. The title track unfurls like the titular butterfly enjoying the sun for the first time, and O’Brien did find a reconnection with nature while writing the album in Wales and spending a lot of time in the woods. The soft vocals of “Sweet Spot” reveal O’Brien’s vulnerability as he felt the world shifting around him (and the rest of us) and wasn’t sure what, if anything, to do about it.

The groove of “Teachers” is outstanding, reminding me a bit of Boz Scaggs‘ stuff. O’Brien has acknowledged that he wasn’t so much interested in rock on Blue Morpho as he was jazz and trip-hop. “Midway through life, I just lost my way,” he admits. Dude, been there. Also, O’Brien’s solo absolutely shreds on this track.

“Solfeggio” is an instrumental drone track that makes me think O’Brien was trying to capture the fuzz in his mind as he tried to wrangle all the thoughts he was putting to paper, and “Thin Places” is another instrumental that’s calmer and meditative…as if O’Brien found that the best way to wrangle all those thoughts was to set them free to land where they wanted and not grasp them so hard (if at all).

The album ends with the nearly ten-minute “Obrigado.” “Sunny days are awaiting me,” O’Brien sings, and you believe him. We can all have those sunny days where “every day’s a symphony” if we allow them to happen. The song is bright, lush, and brilliant.

The whole album is. Nice work, Mr. O’Brien.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR!]

Live: Babymetal, Halestorm, and Violent Vira – Huntington Bank Pavilion – Chicago, IL – September 04, 2026

It was hot and humid in Chicago on September 04, 2026. The whole Museum Campus area was busy with two different crowds: One was going to see Kanye West perform his rumored AI-derived new music for the second night at Soldier Field, and the other was a bunch of metal heads and J-rock fanatics heading to Huntington Bank Pavilion to see a triple bill of female-led metal bands.

First up was Violent Vira, who all wore keen matching white cross outfits that reminded me of early goth bands.

They played a solid set of nu-metal with some slight goth touches. Their rhythm guitarist is their secret weapon. He was locked in for the entire set and glued the whole thing together. Ms. Vira has a good voice that is well-suited for angry ballads and growling love songs.

Speaking of vocal chops, Lizzy Hale of Halestorm has enough of them to power a land-mover. Halestorm put on a powerful set of raging metal tracks, most of them about crazy sex, bad love, good love, and weird love. Their wall of Marshall amps was also impressive.

Halestorm performing in the setting of your next D&D campaign.

The opening track alone was stunning, with Hale belting out her vocals so loud and proud (with just simple keyboard chords behind her) that I thought they were doing an obscure soul or gospel cover. Ms. Hale could release a soul album if she wished (and I’m surprised she hasn’t). Give her a horn section and a funky rhythm duo and you’d have a winner.

It was good to see a wide age-range of metal fans at this show. I saw plenty of eight-year-olds and a couple six-year-olds as well. An adorable girl was head-banging and dancing near my stepdaughter and I through all three sets while her parents lounged nearby. “That kid rules,” I said. My stepdaughter agreed. The future of metal is assured.

Many of those kids, and plenty of adults, were there for Babymetal – the Japanese metal giants who haven’t been kids for a while now and are still creating a lot of interesting spins on the metal genre.

They came out to a roaring crowd, with their backing band, KAMI, delivering wild thrash metal riffs that were probably causing waves on the nearby boat harbor. “Megitsune” was a big hit only two songs in, and “Song 3” even included a story about the three singers using magic to scare off a giant bear.

A big surprise for me (but probably not for longtime kawaii-metal / “cute metal” fans) was their song “Sunset Kiss,” which, somehow, combines metal with Japanese city pop (a genre of which I am rapidly becoming a fan). The guitar solo in it is also a stunner.

“METALI!!” had the mosh pit and crowd surfers happy, and “RATATATA” was another fan-favorite that had everyone cheering. Of course, “Gimme Chocolate!!” closed the set and is still the best (only?) metal song about how good chocolate is.

Su-Metal grabbing our attention and not letting go.

They came back with the delightfully named “Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!” and “Road of Resistance.” The crowd was still buzzing afterwards, and I saw a good number of kids still bouncing (and one zonked out from so much head-banging) as we left. It was a fun night. Metal crowds are often good crowds with a lot of community in them. This one was no exception.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Tokyo Tea Room – Feel Forever

The cover image of Tokyo Tea Room‘s new album, Feel Forever, is, if you ask me, perfect for the sound of the record. You might look at it and think, “It’s just a photo of crumbled aluminum foil.”, but after you hear the dreamy, soulful psych-pop of Feel Forever, you think, “Oh yeah, I get it.”

Sam Teather‘s opening drum roll of “Hypnotised” is a perfect start to pretty much a perfect record. Beth Plumb‘s vocal style is like hearing dandelion seeds floating on summer winds, and the rest of the band (guitarist / producer / songwriter / jack-of-all-trades Dan Elliott and bassist Ben Marshall) groove like they’ve been doing it since the mid-80s. “Eyes Off You” is a love song you’ll put on every mix you’ll send to a lover from now until the end of time. “Leave You” has Plumb wanting to stay with a lover a bit longer because returning to the rat race is just…so…boring.

“All Night” continues this theme (with a shimmering groove) of wanting to extend the joy just another night more instead of calling it quits. The slow, smooth sound of “Feeling High” is great, with Teather putting down tight, simple jazz beats and Elliott’s synths and keys acting as icing on Plumb’s vocal cake. Marshall shines on “Always in the Sun” as his bass dances along like a happy cat and the band shows off their love of soul.

Elliott’s guitar on “You’re Mine” moves from desert rock to jazz with ease. “Temporary Love” has Plumb wanting a one-night stand to become a several-night stand at least, and “Last Time” has her wanting to seize the moment with a lover before its over and they go their separate ways. “Slip Away” floats us to bed as Plumb encourages us to “Stay inside, the world outside can wait.”

Getting back to the cover image, Feel Forever is as shimmery and reflective as the pictured aluminum. It’s also just as tactile and malleable. You feel it when you hear it as it wraps around and forms to you.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: Françoise Hardy – En Vogue Best of 1962 – 1967 (2025)

Françoise Hardy is one of the queens of yé-yé – the French pop music with slight psychedelic flair that charmed the world in the 1960s. En Vogue Best of 1962 – 1967 doesn’t encapsulate all of Hardy’s career, but it does collect twenty-four of her best tracks from a five-year period in which she was one of the voices of the generation who would protest the status quo.

“Tous Les Garçons et Les Filles” (“All the Boys and Girls”) has this haunting sound to it with Hardy’s voice echoing over simple beats and guitar and not-so simple bass grooves. “Le Temps de L’Armour” (“The Time of Love”) ups the fuzz a bit and could’ve been a Bond film theme in another life. “Le Premier Bonheur du Jour” (“The First Joy of the Day”) has a bit of a melancholy feel, leaving you wondering if Hardy is feeling joyful, or if she’s trying to convince herself that she is. “J’aurais Voulu” (“I Would’ve Liked To”) blends guitar and soft string instruments well.

“Pourtant Tu M’aimes” (“Yet You Love Me”) has a Phil Spector “wall of sound” vibe with the big instruments and backing vocalists behind Hardy’s breathy vocals. The deep piano and hand claps of “Et Même” (“And Even”) keep up this big, bold sound balance with Hardy’s soft voice. “Mon Amie la Rose” (“My Friend the Rose”) almost sounds like an Ennio Morricone song with its use of vocal sounds in the background, Spanish-tinged guitar, and Hardy’s voice drifting like dust across the land.

“Je N’attends Plus Personne” (“I’m Not Waiting for Anyone Anymore”) has Hardy a bit angry (as evidenced by the fuzzy guitar and frantic strings) and punching above her weight with her bold vocals. It’s a nice contrast with the next track, “Je Veux Qu’il Revienne” (“I Want Him to Come Back”), in which Hardy is tired of waiting for her lover to return. It’s a fast-paced rocker. “La Nuit Est Sur la Ville” (“The Night Is on the City”) is a tender ballad.

“DisLui Non” (“Tell Him No”) is funky and fabulous. “All Over the World” is the lone English track on the compilation (which is fine with me, give me all the French stuff!). “L’Amitié” (“Friendship”) is almost a lullaby. Hardy’s vocals on the chorus of “Le Temps des Souvenirs” (“A Time for Memories”) grab your attention and don’t let go.

Other standouts on the collection are “La Maison Où J’ai Grandi” (“The House Where I Grew Up”) with its peppy acoustic guitar chords, the soaring “Je Changerais d’Avis” (“I Would Change My Mind”), and the folksy “Au Fond du Rêve Doré” (“Deep in the Golden Dream”).

It’s a lovely collection from a lovely chanteuse and a great introduction to her work.

Gardez l’esprit ouvert.

[Veuillez vous abonner.]

Rewind Review: Black Moon Mother – Illusions Under the Sun (2020)

I found Black Moon Mother‘s 2020 album, Illusions Under the Sun, at a Chicago wrecka stow where it was described as a mix of doom metal and shoegaze (doomgaze). I listened to ten seconds of one track and was sold.

Beginning with “Lost in the Maze,” lead singer Brianne O’Neill‘s voice sounds like a ghost calling to you from the other side of a foggy lake while Mikey Owen and Corey Taylor‘s guitars seem to summon more ghosts from under the lake. “Around the Finger” feels like a song about loss and how it lingers with you (“Forever the weight. Inside, you know it stings.”). Jason Gilmore‘s bass riffs have an unexpected groove to them that inspired metal-loving head nods.

“High Winds” has appropriately soaring guitar work from Owen and Taylor while O’Neill’s voice drifts and glides over and through an ancient forest as she reminds us of the power of the world around us. “Slow Down” is a similar theme, with O’Neill encouraging us to touch grass (as the kids used to say) and remember our connection to everything around us.

The powerful “Radiant Sun” features not only Jeff Ehlinger‘s hardest drumming, but also O’Neill’s strongest warning about how apologies to Mother Earth will be too little, too late when she finally decides to set things right (“Creation is blood, soil is mud, we knew not of your worth.”).

The album ends with the instrumental, almost ambient “Afterglow.” It’s a neat way to wrap up a record of heavy riffs and ethereal vocals, showing that Black Moon Mother can create multiple soundscapes and moods. They’ve become one of my favorite discoveries this year.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Frankie and The Witch Fingers – Data Doom (2023)

Shame on me for being late to Frankie and The Witch Fingers‘ excellent 2023 album, Data Doom. As you can guess from its title, the overall theme of the record is how technological creep into every facet of our lives and how it’s helped the rise of lethargy, rage, apathy, and fascism.

It’s another blast-your-face record from them that features a bunch of tracks that have become fan-favorites at their live shows. Starting with the low-end distortion of “Empire” that turns into a riff that feels like a lit match above a pool of gasoline, the album barely lets up for a moment. The outro alone might crush you and gets the whole crowd jumping.

“Burn Me Down” is about lead singer Dylan Sizemore wanting to be cremated after he’s dead. “Electricide” is a fast (check out those Nick Aguilar beats!) warning about letting technology overwhelm you (“Electric eye disrupts the way we know ourselves. So, go on, feed yourself electric pesticide and never question why we live the illusion.”).

“Syster System” is a satirical takedown / warning on the creeping influence of technology and how it disguises itself as a boon while often dehumanizing everything around it (“Syster System you’re the dream. All the planets and the beings. You’re the rhythm that we need for future machinery. Syster System is the code embedded in us to erode.”). The second half of it is a wild ride with Nikki “Pickle” Smith‘s bass leading the charge.

“Weird Dog” has funky, crunchy guitar work from Sizemore and Josh Menashe in a song about encroaching fascism (“Waking up the core, waking up the hive, waking up the Tao, waking may arise. Breaking up the war, breaking up the lies, breaking down your door just to watch you sleep.”).

“Doom Boom” is a slick one that centers the album with a call for an opening of our consciousness and a turn away from being “shackled to lies” (as well as hate, war, politicians, death, work, wait, and idealism). This could’ve been a Parliament track in another life. “Futurephobic” is an instant mosh-pit generator with its chant-ready chorus of “System has no way to connect!” chorus, but don’t miss Sizemore’s biting lyrics about how doom scrolling is creating brain rot and stealing your privacy and information (“Come ye witness the intended marketing, dopamine spiking, hooked up to the ever-changing chattering, listening, gathering.”). “Mild Davis” is another such warning (in 7/4, no less) with lyrics like “You there, ensnared by the god of wired screens, fuels the flicker of the infernal machine.”).

This warning (which also includes consumerism and capitalism) is delivered a final time on the last track, “Political Cannibalism,” with Sizemore’s bluntest lyrics on the whole album: “We consumers eat ourselves. Planet’s been disemboweled. Mass extraction bleeds us out, makes a terrible sound. Glutinous feeders at the helm. They’ve been grinding us down as we dine our own kind. They stack money and count.”

This is top-tier stuff. FATW have yet to miss.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Ennio Morricone – Il Bandito Dagli Occhi Azzuri (The Blue-Eyed Bandit) (2021 reissue)

When you find a reissue of a rare Ennio Morricone film score on sale for ten bucks, you put down ten bucks.

In this case, it was the score for the 1980 crime thriller Il Bandito Dagli Occhi Azzurri (The Blue-Eyed Bandit). This is a rare Morricone score in that it’s mostly a jazz album he composed and conducted for the well-known Italian trio of Ricardo Del Fra (double bass), Robert Gatto (drums), and Enrico Pieranunzi (piano). There’s also a full horn section brought in by the Maestro on a few tracks.

Such as the opener, “Città Viva,” which sets up the action fight away with bold horns and Gatto’s snappy snare work. “Madre Assente” is a lovely track that has Dino Asciolla‘s viola joining Pieranunzi’s piano. “Campi Aperti e Spospesi” has a haunting sound that only Morricone can seem to create.

“Double Face” portrays the moment when we realize the main character isn’t all he seems to be, and Pieranunzi has fun with it. “Esecuzione Radifonica” has beats that hip hop DJs will want to snatch. The whole trio thumps and grooves on the first version of the song Morricone named for them – “Per Enrico, Riccardo e Roberto.”

If you’re thinking “Sotto I Ponti Dell Città” sounds like Dave Brubeck‘s “Take Five,” that’s because it does. Many of the tracks are in 5/4, and Morricone wanted a similar sound to Brubeck’s classic track for many of the moments in the film. It’s a delightful piece. “Per Dalila” is almost soft-rock and perfect for romance. “Stranamente Di Notte” ratchets up the tension with Pieranunzi’s piano coming straight out of a giallo film and Del Fra’s bass creeping up on you out of the dark.

The big brass of “Cinque Quarti” is sharp and deserves to be its own theme song for a TV action show. What follows are variations on previous tracks for the rest of the score. “Per Dalila #2” is especially nice.

It’s yet another fine score from the Maestro, and a fun one with all of its jazz elements.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: MAQUINA. – Body Transmission

MAQUINA. (João Cavalhiero – guitars and effects, Halison Peres – drums and vocals, and José “Mendy” Rego – bass) took more time to craft their second album, Body Transmission, than their debut album (Prata, which more more focused on improvisation), but that only means they had plenty of opportunities to make sure it would be relentless.

The opening riffs and beats of “dança” (with Dame Area helping on vocals) are your passcode to the dance floor and also the lock on the door as it closes behind you, because you won’t be leaving for a while. “4-to-the-floor” has Cavalhiero chugging out near-metal riffs while Peres’ vocals take on gritty, distorted, growling menace.

Already feeling tired from the dancing? No worries, because “collapsing” will keep you from doing just that with its wild vocals, chainsaw guitars, and driving bass line. Rego’s bass on “agony” is designed to push you through the aches and dehydration of all the dance floor aerobics…because we’re not even halfway through the album. Cavalhiero’s guitar work on “bizarro” sounds like a sawmill full of hornets.

The short instrumental “valve” gives you just enough time to chug a small bottle of water before the great-for-grinding (either hunks of metal on a stone or bodies on bodies) “simulation.” Then, is it just me or do the opening drums of “step on me” reveal Peres’ love of ZZ Top‘s Billy Beard? Rego’s bass on it is perhaps his grooviest of the whole album.

Peres shouts / roars his vocals through “out of fear” to encourage us to shake off our fears through action (in this case, dancing). The album ends with “pressure / pleasure,” a sweaty, sizzling, throbbing dance-punk track to leave you exhausted and a bit euphoric.

Body Transmission is another winner from MAQUINA. The album’s title fits, as the songs feel like they’re being directly transmitted to and through your body from them. The way it makes you move transmits signals from your body to others, which repeats the process throughout the room, club, bus station, or wherever you are.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Rewind Review: Jean-Claude Vannier – Electro-Rapide (2011)

Jean-Claude Vannier is considered one of the greatest French pop and orchestral composers ever, having created a mountain of music in his time – much of it “library” music used as incidental music in film. He also released two albums with fellow legend Serge Gainsbourg (Histoire De Melody Nelson and L’Enfant Assassin Des Mouches).

Electro-Rapide is full of short, weird, funky tracks, many of which were never released until this 2011 compilation album from Finders Keepers Records saw the light of day. “Bombarde Lamentation” is such a track to open the album, immediately making this collection a treat for Vannier’s fans.

“L’Ours Paresseux” is a showcase for Vannier’s rhythm section (Pierre Alain Dahan on drums and Bernard Lubat on percussion). “La Girafe Au Ballon” was originally recorded for children’s TV shows but has a bass groove from Tony Rubio that you could drop into any sexy spy movie from the late 1960s. “Claquez Klaxons” is another previously unreleased track original made for death penalty protests in France.

Believe it or not, “Saturnin et Le Vaca Vaca” is a theme song to a children’s show about a real-life baby duck. The short and sweet “L’Automne À Barbès Rochechouart” is Vannier’s tribute to a Metro station in an African community in Paris. “Qu’est-ce Qui Fait Courir Les Crocodiles?” is Vannier’s attempt to write a theme for a comedic film. It works, and I’m surprised it hasn’t been reused as a sitcom theme by now.

“La Douleur De L’Orchestre” is another previously unreleased track. It’s a weird, somewhat melancholy tune using a full orchestra he kept around after recording other tracks. “Thème 504” was released as TV and film library music in 1968, but not used for such a thing until 1989’s Comédie d’été. “Le Ballet Des Accoucheuses” is a vocal track using a choir of pregnant women to snap, tap, chant, and breathe beats throughout it.

“Road to Cuba” was written, according to the album’s liner notes, “…in the taxy that drove me to the studio. I’ve never been to Cuba.” Indeed, there isn’t a hint of Cuban, Caribbean, or Latin music in it, but it’s still fun. “Je M’appele Géraldine” was another TV theme Vannier wrote that was later re-recorded multiple times, including one version with lyrics.

“L’Éléphant Équilibriste” is another children’s TV show theme that playfully lumbers around your speakers. The album ends with a reprise of “Bombarde Lamentation” recorded in 1973 and not released until 2011.

This is a fun collection and a neat addition to your library music archive if you’re into that sort of thing. If you’re not, this might spark your interest in that vast, still mostly unknown genre.

Keep your mind open.

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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.

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[Thanks to Dan from Discipline PR.]