Reviews – Page 81 – 7th Level Music

Com Truise – Iteration

Electronic music comes in many forms, and Com Truise’s new record, Iteration, falls somewhere between electro-pop, space lounge, and avant-garde.

The opening track, “…Of Your Fake Dimension” is dark synthwave that would easily fit into the Stranger Things 2 soundtrack with its Joy Division guitars and throbbing bass line. “Ephemeron” refers either to something short-lived or, according to Wikipedia, “a data structure that solves two related problems in garbage collected systems.” I’m willing to believe the title refers more to the latter from the way the songs devolves into distorted, warped, and subdued electronic bleeps and the beat slows to a creepy crawl.

There isn’t a Wikipedia entry for “Dryswch,” but that’s probably because the song is hard to describe (much like the rest of the album). It like something the Art of Noise would have created if they’d stayed in the game a bit longer. “Isotasy” refers to the gravity between the Earth’s crust and the mantle. It’s a neat choice of title because the track floats along with spacey synthesizer sounds, but there’s a subtle heaviness to it that’s easy to miss. “Memory” is practically a lost cut from the Miami Vice soundtrack and deserves to be spun at dance clubs everywhere.

I wouldn’t be surprised if “Propagation” and “Vaccume” are songs Com Truise (AKA Seth Haley) yanked from a milk bar jukebox in the future after they stepped out of the Time Tunnel. “Ternary” (“composed of three items”) is a trio of drum machine beats, synth loops, and trippy keyboards. It’s all he needs to make one of the best synthwave tracks of the year. “Usurper” has some similar keyboard sounds in it, which is appropriate for the title and how it take the previous track’s themes in a new direction.

“Syrthio” is almost a salute to John Carpenter film scores with its foreboding bass and Escape from New York synthesizer work. The title of “When Will You Find the Limit…” doesn’t end with a question mark. Either Com Truise doesn’t want to finish the question, or he thinks it’s best if we finish it. It’s one of the peppier tracks on the album, and even has a bit of New Age keyboard sounds in it. The title track is the closer, and it refers to new hardware or the repetition of a process. Much of the album is made of loops and processed beats, so the choice of title is a good one. Synthwave is enjoying a renaissance right now and Iteration is a good example of the genre’s comeback.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: LCD Soundsystem – Chicago, IL – November 09, 2017

We got to Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom not long after they opened the doors for the second of three sold-out shows for LCD Soundsystem. We were hungry and hoped to grab a bite before the show. I asked a bouncer outside when LCDSS would start their set. “Nine, I think,” he said. “There’s a DJ opening, I think.” We went to a nearby Thai restaurant, had a nice meal, and then headed to the show to line up around the corner of the building and nearby some vendors selling street tacos that smelled delicious. We got in without trouble, although one bouncer thought my earplugs were pills for a moment, and went upstairs to the main floor. The DJ was spinning a remix of the Police‘s “Voices Inside My Head” as we moved up toward front stage left.

The DJ, it turns out, was Derrick Carter – one of Chicago’s most legendary DJ’s and a pioneer of Chicago house music. He’s spun all over the world and was putting down a solid set that no one in our area seemed to notice. The bouncer outside and the Aragon Ballroom massively undersold this. Carter’s name should’ve been on the marquis under LCDSS. It was a wonderful surprise and we would’ve come up extra early to catch his whole set if we’d known he was going to be on the bill.

LCDSS shot out of the gate at almost exactly nine o’clock with “Get Innocuous.” The whole place was jumping and then went positively nuts when light bounced off LCDSS’ massive disco ball above the stage.

The moment before Murphy announced Daft Punk was playing in his basement.

Not ones to rest soon, they followed it with their mega-hit “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” and the electro classic “I Can Change.” The band was cooking with gas for the whole set, and were obviously healthier than when I saw them at Pitchfork Music Festival earlier this year when lead singer James Murphy openly spoke about getting over a cold and keyboardist Nancy Whang having “a bum knee.”

“Tribulations” was another crowd favorite and is one of those songs that sounds even better live. The crowd disappointed me when no mosh pit broke out during “Movement” (as it rightfully did at Pitchfork). In fact, the crowd was a bit subdued compared to the Pitchfork crowd. I don’t know if the outdoor venue and nice weather of Pitchfork made everyone a bit looser, but many around us at the Aragon weren’t even dancing. “Tonite,” one of the best singles of 2017, was another sharp cut and I was happy to hear it live for the first time.

After taking a break “to go pee,” as Murphy put it (“It’s hard. A two-hour show. You know, you get older, you have to pee,” he announced before they played a great rendition of “New York I Love You, but You’re Bringing Me Down.”), they came back onstage to play “Oh Baby,” the lead cut from their excellent new record, American Dream. They followed it with another track off the new record and one that should’ve inspired the second mosh pit of the night – “Emotional Haircut.”

“Dance Yrself Clean” still ranks among the greatest of their hits and is easily one of the best parts of their live performances. They closed with “All My Friends” and Murphy wished everyone a safe trip home.

All of Murphy’s friends were in the audience, it seemed.

It was good to see them again and good to see them all healthy. LCDSS have become one of those bands I will see at any opportunity, as should you.

Keep your mind open.

Thanks to the lucky chap who scored this and let me take a photo of it.

Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor – Lavender Blood

A near-death experience has a way of changing your perspective on things. Everything is different afterwards. Things you thought were important no longer are. Things you took for granted become more precious than gold. Your accomplishments and failures are brought into focus, and you either experience terror, joy, peace, or all three.

Such an experience happened to all three members of Detroit psych-rockers Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor while flying to Greece during a recent tour. The plane depressurized as it began its landing procedure, unleashing oxygen masks and brief panic before the pilots quickly brought the plane under control. As the story goes, a strange calm settled into the entire plane. Strangers shared a bond they never expected and wouldn’t forget. This experience shaped the sound and substance of SOYSV’s new album Lavender Blood.

The weird, almost out-of-tune acoustic guitar opening the album on “Cinnamon Blood” puts a weird angle on the record right away as guitarist / vocalist Sean Morrow sings about prayers and dreams in a voice that sounds like it’s been influenced by Middle Eastern vocalists.

The whole band breaks open on “Die Die Die.” It hits like a wrecking ball with warped guitars, Eric Oppitz‘s pulsing bass, and Rick Sawoscinski‘s Black Sabbath-like drumming. The song is as creepy and chaotic as you’d hope it would be with a title like that. “Sky Greece” follows it, and it’s a mind-bending track with reversed guitar chords appropriate for a song inspired by a moment when the band thought they might be doomed but soon switched to calm euphoria.

“Rocking Horse Brain” is one of SOYSV’s biggest, in terms of spectacle, songs. It opens with forceful guitars and bass and then switches gears (with sharp skill by Sawoscinski) into down-the-rabbit-hole psychedelia. “See You in the Mourning” might be the closest thing to a Velvet Underground track SOYSV have ever written. Morrow’s guitars sound remind me of a lazy cat stretching out in the sun, and Oppitz and Sawoscinski put down one of their best grooves ever.

You can’t help but wonder if the cacophony and roaring cymbals in “Cat Lovers Skull” are a reflection of what was happening in the passenger compartment of that flight to Greece. “Milky Water Jesus” is the shortest song on the album but it has some of the hardest drumming of the album.

I love how the album ends with maximum fuzz. “Rainbow Scarecrow” lies somewhere between psychedelia, funk (listen to that beat!), and shoegaze. I can’t wait to hear this one live.

Lavender Blood is probably SOYSV’s trippiest record so far and well worth your time and money. These guys keep bending and warping sounds in ways I still can’t figure out, but why bother trying? Just sit back and let this record alter your reality. Sometimes you need a jolt to remind you of what’s real and what’s illusion.

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Bootblacks – Fragments

Brooklyn’s Bootblacks (Alli Gorman – guitars, Barrett Hiatt – synthesizers, Roger Humanbeing – drums, Panther MacDonald – lead vocals), play an interesting mix of post-punk, shoegaze, goth, and synthwave, and their new album, Fragments, is a showcase on how well they float between those genres.

Lead track “Hold & Dissolve” instantly plunges you into creepy synthwave with a good mix of live and processed beats. It reminds me of some of A Place to Bury Strangers‘ tracks, but with vocals that sound more like Peter Murphy than Oliver Ackermann. “The Longest Night” seems to be a song about the first night after MacDonald’s lover walked out on him. Hiatt’s synth work on it blends so well with Gorman’s guitar riffs that it’s sometimes difficult to tell them apart.

If there’s any justice in the world, “Memory Palace” is currently tearing up goth and industrial night clubs throughout New York City and will soon be catching on across the country. It’s like a Joy Division track if they had decided to be a dance band. “Sudden Moves” is a journey down a wet road under a gray sky with occasional bursts of sunlight through the clouds (mainly from Hiatt’s synths). “A Pale Fire” is a fast, almost poppy electro track, and “Reincarnate” is something that could be spun by a replicant Los Angeles dance club DJ in 2049. I like how Gorman knows when to fade back and let the synths take the lead and when to step back up and shred. She’s quickly becoming one of my new favorite guitarists.

“For You (Lois)” might be a love letter to Lois, or it might be an ode to Lois, or it might be a cynical takedown of Lois. I’m not sure, but it is a cool cold wave track. The closer, “Gone,” has definite Depeche Mode influences (especially in MacDonald’s vocal stylings) and synths that sound like something from a rare krautrock single.

My thanks to Bootblacks’ label, Manic Depression Records, for letting me know about this band. They weren’t on my radar until MDR contacted me. I’m glad they did because this is one of the most interesting finds of the year for me.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Goblin and Morricone Youth – Chicago, IL – October 25, 2017

The last time I saw horror / prog-rockers Goblin was in 2013 at Chicago’s Metro during their first tour of the United States. It was a sold out show and one of the best I saw all year, so I was keen on catching them again on their “Sound of Fear” tour, especially since the lineup included four of the five original members – Massimo Morante, Maurizio Guarini, Fabio Pignaetti, and Agostino Marangolo (along with Aidan Zammit replacing keyboardist and founding member Claudio Simonetti). They fact that they were playing in Thalia Hall – a former opera house – was a bonus.

Opening for them were the psychedelic / prog rockers Morricone Youth. My friends and I arrived in time to catch the last two songs of their set. Both were songs written as an alternate soundtrack to Night of the Living Dead. The film played behind them as they rocked out and it was a great set-up for both Goblin and the Halloween season.

Goblin came out to a welcoming, albeit smaller than I expected, crowd. I have no idea why more people weren’t at the show, unless the midweek date had something to do with it. Regardless, Goblin came ready to play and to terrify.

They played a lot of stuff they didn’t play on their last tour, including tracks from the bizarre giallo film Beyond the Darkness (complete with grisly mortuary scenes playing behind them which might’ve made an intoxicated woman in front of us so woozy that she needed assistance leaving the main floor), another giallo Massimo Morante called Killer on the Train, and the bizarre alien invasion film Contamination. I had no idea Goblin did the score for Contamination, so now I have extra incentive to track down that film.

Of course, they played tracks from their most famous film scores, starting with Profundo Russo (Deep Red).

They played not only the “Killer Doll” and main theme track, but also other songs from the film that you don’t hear often. They did the same with Tenebrae, which is a giallo about a killer in an opera house no less.

They did the same with their score to Suspiria, playing music from the beginning of the film and the creepy scene in which the lead characters first start to suspect an evil witch is living among them.

It was another excellent performance that got better as it crawled along like some horrible thing creeping out of the shadows. Goblin rarely get to the U.S., so don’t miss them.

Keep your mind open.

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Honey – New Moody Judy

I rarely buy an album based on a single track, but Honey’s new album, New Moody Judy, was an exception to the rule. I heard the first single, “Dream Come Now,” and thought, “Damn, I need to hear more of these cats.” and then pre-ordered the record.

It was a wise decision. New Moody Judy’s opener, “Wage Agreement,” blares out of your speakers with a wild mix of Stooges and Mudhoney influences. The guitars are loud, fuzzed, and urgent. “Urgent” might by the best word to describe the entire record, really. Every song wants to grab you by the arm and shake you until you snap out of it (whatever “it” is for you).

The sharp angles and explosive drums of “Dream Come Now” could power a rocket to the moon, or the scrawniest person to knock down someone three times as big as them. The title track throws in dashes of cosmic stoner rock and Nick Cave vocal styling. “Speed, Glue” isn’t, I’m sure, about people who can stick things to other things in a quick manner. The fuzzy bass and warped guitars are at the forefront of this amazing instrumental.

“Hungry” almost spins out of control with heavy bass, avalanche drums, and crazy guitar that sounds like something you’d hear on an out of control UFO. The band’s Mudhoney influence is front and center on “Bagman,” which sounds like something Mudhoney might’ve unleashed on a Seattle bar’s dilapidated stage in 1992. That means it’s a killer rock track, by the way. “Power” brings back the Stooges influence and MC5 touches as well. It never lets up from the first chord, which is the type of rock we need right now. The closer is “Peggy Ray” – a fierce garage-punk assault that you’ll want to play during your next free-run, skate, or even casual stroll around town.

This is one of the best rock records I’ve heard all year. I need to see these cats live. You need to see these cats live, and we all need this record.

Keep your mind open.

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Yumi Zouma – Willowbank

Electro-pop quartet Yumi Zouma‘s new album, “Willowbank,” is a delightful breeze blowing across the first nice day of spring, a tall glass of lemonade on a hot summer day, a romp through dry leaves in the fall, or the first clean snowfall of winter – take your pick. It’s a delight.

“Depths (Pt. 1)” gets off to a snappy start with a toe-tapping beat and bouncy vocals, and the follow-up, “Persephone,” is about as perfect of an electro-pop song you’ll hear this year.

The Cure-like bass of “December” will get you moving, even if you’re seated. “Half Hour” is a pretty love song with subtle percussion and synths and excellent use of male-female vocals during the chorus. The beats on “Us, Together” remind me of early 1980’s New Order tracks, but the guitar is straight-up shoegaze.

“Gabriel” might be a song about having a crush on a ghost. I’m not sure, but it is pretty dream-pop nonetheless. “Carnation” is one of the sexiest songs on the record with lyrics about staying in bed all day and letting the world go by without a care except for each other.

The beats on “In Blue” are so slick that you might fall down when they spill out of your speakers and onto the floor. They’re dance floor-ready on “Other People,” which is about thinking twice before and after a break-up (“Took it hard when I sent you out to sea. I think I love you, but I could be wrong.”).

The synth bass on “A Memory” is the soundtrack of your favorite 1980’s video game you played once at a cousin’s house and could never find after that. “Ostra” has a light soul / R&B vibe to it that I love.

The album ends with “Depths (Pt. II),” a song about how love changes as we grow older, uses many of the same lyrics as the first part but now at a slower, more ethereal pace.

Get this record if you need a break from anger, online rants, or work B.S., or even if you just love dream-pop and shoegaze music. It’s one of the loveliest records of the year.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Psychedelic Furs and Bash & Pop – Chicago, IL – October 17, 2017

One of my best friends and I first saw and heard the Psychedelic Furs in the early days of MTV and thought they had the weirdest name of any band we’d seen. They soon became favorites of ours and I’ve been keen to see them for years. The day finally arrived when I could see their first of two nights at Chicago’s Thalia Hall (one of my top three favorite venues in the city) on October 17th.

Rockers Bash & Pop opened for them, and my friend, Steve, and I got there in time to check out the last three songs of their set. They had a good blend of hard rock and a bit of garage punk.

It was a good crowd for a Tuesday night, and an interesting blend of aged punks, young hipsters, and music fanatics. The Psychedelic Furs came out and opened with “Dumb Waiters.” I’d guessed this would’ve been their closer, but they unleashed it right away and grabbed everyone’s attention.

Getting right down to business with “Dumb Waiters.”

What especially grabbed my attention is how lead singer Richard Butler‘s voice has seemingly not aged. He sounded great, as did the entire band. Mars Williams, the saxophone player (who also used to play for the Waitresses), shredded the entire night.

L-R: Mars Williams, Richard Butler, Tim Butler, and Amanda Kramer

The double whammy of “Pretty in Pink” followed by “Love My Way” had the entire crowd jumping. One guy to my right was almost in throes of ecstasy by this point. “Until She Comes” and “The Ghost in You” were also especially sharp.

The lyrics of “All That Money Wants” is rather biting in this country right now, and they ended with “Heaven” before coming out to two encores. The first had a powerful rendition of “Sister Europe” that cooked up a witches’ brew of post-punk, acid jazz, and shoegaze. The second was a performance of the song I thought they’d have as the opener – “President Gas.” Like “All That Money Wants,” you can’t help but hear the lyrics in a new light right now.

It was worth the wait to see them, and $40.00 for a signed tour poster was a steal.

Keep your mind open.

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LCD Soundsystem – American Dream

As the story goes, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy (lead vocalist and jack-of-all instruments for the band) had no plans to make this record. He was content to stay in retirement after the band closed the door on their legacy with a massive sold-out show in New York City. He couldn’t stop writing songs, however, and all of that creative energy had to go somewhere. It went into the band’s newest record, and one of the best records of the year, American Dream.

The themes are American Dream are familiar ones to LCDSS’s work – love, aging, trying to stay hip, partying, and emotional disconnect in the digital age. The first track, “Oh Baby,” has Murphy pleading for a lover to come back to him as synths beats bubble underneath his vocals. The wicked bass and beats on “Other Voices” underlie the scathing message directed at adults acting like spoiled children instead of sticking up for themselves and others. “Time isn’t over and times aren’t better so it’s letting you down. You keep dragging back to it, keep going back to the well,” Murphy sings before telling us that we’re still babies and pushovers. Vocalist / keyboardist Nancy Whang claims, “It sounds like the nineties.” at one point. We’re back to the emptiness that decade only twenty years later. The final verse is particularly damning: “You’re just a baby now. You should be uncomfortable. Fake like you mean it.”

“I Used To” is a classic example of Murphy realizing he’s an aged hipster and remembering when he thought he was going to change the world (which, in some ways, he has). It’s a track Gary Numan would love, as it sounds like early Tubeway Army material but with vocals more soulful than robotic. The best lyric is “Oh sure, we’re talking tough, yeah, we’re talking tuff, but on suburban lawns in prone positions.” “Change Yr Mind” has LCDSS verging into post-punk with Murphy’s chop guitar work and the snappy beat. Murphy laments his younger days of being Joe Cool with self-introspective lyrics like “I’m not dangerous now, the way I used to be once. I’m just too old for it now, at least that seems to be true.”

“How Do You Sleep?” has Murphy wondering about a former lover who warned him about cocaine even as she was diving into addiction and left him stuck hanging out with “vape clowns.” It’s almost a goth track with its deep bass and Pat Mahoney’s tribal drumming. It’s a stunning piece that I’m sure is a highlight of their current live shows.

“Tonite” is one of the wittiest songs Murphy’s ever written as he salutes and takes down modern pop music (and growing older) at the same time with wicked beats and synth work. His lyrics are brilliant and include gems like “You’re getting older – and there’s improvement unless you’re such a winner that the future’s a nightmare,” “You’ve lost your Internet, and we’ve lost our memory,” and “…embarrassing pictures have now all been deleted by versions of selves that we thought were the best ones.”

“Call the Police” was one of the first songs off the record. It’s soaring synths and Go-Go’s bass propel Murphy’s lyrics about fake rebellion and forgotten passions (“The old guys are frightened, and frightening to behold. The kids come out fighting and still do what they’re told.”).

What is the “American Dream” alluded to in the album’s title track? It’s love. In particular, love that is often right in front of us but we choose to ignore out of fear it will be painful or difficult or might lead to further responsibility. The track is vintage synths, finger snaps, and Murphy’s passionate vocals (“So you kiss and you clutch; but you can’t fight that feeling that your one true love is just awaiting your big meeting, so you never even ask for names. You just right through them as if you already came.”).

“Emotional Haircut” sounds like a forgotten Love and Rockets track with Murphy’s savage guitar work and Mahoney’s wicked drumming. Murphy sings about knee jerk reactions to tragedies and then not being able to move past them at a later date (“You got numbers on your phone of the dead that you can’t delete and you got life-affirming moment in your past that you can’t repeat.”). The album’s closer, “Black Screen,” is almost a darkwave track as Murphy remembers a lost friend or lover who might be dead or simply taking a vacation from the worldwide web. In this day and age, both are equal for many.

LCD Soundsystem wants us to remember that the American dream is achievable if we remember that it’s not about money. It’s about love, helping the little guy, acknowledging our rough past, and not repeating the same mistakes. The nation will be better off if we at least try.

Keep your mind open.

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Mark Vickness – Places

Easily one of the best acoustic albums I’ve heard all year, Mark Vickness‘ Places is just him and an acoustic guitar that he plays in the “modern finger style” method, which involves using the guitar as both a stringed and percussive instrument.

There are no vocals on the record, only songs about and inspired by places Vickness has visited either alone or with his family over the last few decades. The impressive “A Thousand Islands is about a lake in the Sierra Mountains where he proposed to his wife. The almost sad “Wind River” is about a place in Wyoming. The images of “Prince William Sound” and “New York City” are obvious, but Vickness’ skill is anything but ordinary. He makes his guitar sound like chimes, an old clock, a dulcimer, and even a sitar at some points.

“Flight of the Rays” is about seeing manta rays swim through the ocean near Hawaii, and Vickness does a great job at bringing the peaceful yet strange images to find with his guitar. “Bishop Pass” is about another spot in the Sierras and would be great for a drive up there.

“NYC 2.0” is about a return trip Vickness made to the city two years ago. The song is a bit darker and funkier than the earlier track, reflecting his new perspective on the Big Apple. The three-part “Wonder Lake Suite” is his salute to Wonder Lake in Alaska and is almost a meditative experience.

The album ends with “I Must Tell Jesus.” It’s a classic spiritual song that was the favorite of Vickness’ adoptive grandmother, and his imagining of it for the acoustic guitar is both a loving tribute to her and a nice update on a wonderful gospel standard.

Places is a good record if you’re into instrumental guitar and looking for something to chill you out after a day of bad traffic, pointless meetings, and bad coffee.

Keep your mind open.

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