I happened to be in Tucson, Arizona on the same night of the final show of Bayonne and Palm Daze‘s most recent tour. I’d wanted to see Bayonne since I’d heard his fine album Primitives and missed his set at Levitation Austin a few years ago.
They were playing at a small club in downtown Tucson called 191 Toole (named for the address). It’s a nice small venue with no bad places to stand for a view of the stage. It’s the kind of venue I’d love to own – small bar, good-sized room, ample parking, not far from a college campus. Fewer than forty people showed up for the gig, probably due to that weekend being graduation weekend for the University of Arizona. It’s a shame for those who missed it, because Bayonne and Palm Daze closed their tour with a great show.
Palm Daze, the Austin psychedelic dream-pop three-piece opened the show and played most, if not all, of their 2017 EP Controls (review coming). Eric McClung and Tyler Delaune bounced back and forth with synths, bass, and percussion while drummer Ryan Heath laid down serious chops. I was hooked by the third song.
Palm Daze (L-R: Ryan Heath, Tyler Delaune, Eric McClung)
Mr. Heath joined Bayonne (Roger Sellers) onstage for drum kit smashing while Mr. Sellers sang and played synths, guitar, and / or percussion, looping a lot of it on top of each other for great effect. Many artists would’ve phoned in a performance on the last night of a tour to a crowd of fewer than forty people, but Bayonne went for broke as he wowed the crowd with tracks of not only Primitives, but also his fine new record – Drastic Measures (again, review coming). Empty water bottles, sweaty towels, and broken drum sticks littered the stage by the time they were done.
This small show currently has the top spot on my list of best concerts of 2019, and will probably remain in the top 10 by the end of the year. Bayonne is playing Lollapalooza this year, and I can tell you his set will be a must-see if you are there.
Bayonne creating aural magic.
Keep your mind open.
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Weekend general admission passes are $395.00, but they have tickets for individual shows if you’d rather not drop that much cash. Don’t wait too long to get your tickets. Many shows sold out last year.
See you there.
Keep your mind open.
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Bibio, the project of Stephen Wilkinson, shares the second single, “Old Graffiti,” from his upcoming album, Ribbons, which will be released on April 12th via Warp Records.
Wilkinson’s writing process typically starts with a guitar; “There’s at least one in nearly every room of my house,” he discloses. However, on “Old Graffiti” he opted for percussion as the starting point, later adding bass guitar, clavinet and vocals to the shuffling rhythm to build a slice of warm, hazy pop. Each instrument is tempered by Bibio’s imagination; take the clavinet, when Bibio recorded it, he imagined some undiscovered ‘60s French pop track, or the Brazilian-esque shuffling groove created by the brushwork on the snare drum, which was inspired by listening to old Batucada and Capoeira recordings. Adept at pairing these influences, Wilkinson explains: “Like many of my tracks, the influences are mixed and come from quite unrelated sources, but I think that’s true of a lot of modern music, on the surface it might seem like it’s referencing a specific era, but it’s actually referencing several, and doing so from a more distant perspective, a perspective that might not have been as wide several decades ago. Rather than relying on sampling old records to get ‘that sound,’ I like to get to the bare bones and create the parts from scratch, there’s more freedom in doing that, also the challenge of getting the instruments to take on the appropriate timbre and quality is satisfying to get right. I use a mixture of new and vintage gear and instruments to achieve this and processes that I’ve developed myself since my bedroom studio days.” Tracks like “Old Graffiti” are the work of decades of listening and contemplation, and serve as a welcome homecoming of the polymorphic songcraft that Bibio is known for.
Ribbons is Stephen Wilkinson’s ninth album to date and follows the release of his ambient atmospheric project, Phantom Brickworks. Wilkinson’s sound in his latest work can be seen as an extension of the structured songwriting he explored last on 2016’s A Mineral Love, yielding folkloric charm and a mostly acoustic-led approach that looks to ‘60s and ‘70s psychedelia, soul, ambient, electronic and his own field recordings for inspiration.
A self-taught musician, singer and producer, Wilkinson plays nearly all of the instrumental parts on the album and unveils new instruments to his palette, bringing in mandolins, fiddle and other stringed instruments which give a new flavor to his music.
Pop Espontaneo by the Paraguayan duo JODI is a great collection of psychedelic garage music from 1969 through 1975 remastered and released by Guerren Records. The duo, brothers Joern and Dirk Wenger, used guitars, Moog synths, exotic instruments, and distortion pedals to create stuff ahead of its time, and Pop Espontaneo is full of unreleased home recordings from the Wengers.
The opener, “Loveseller,” drenched in fuzz and falsetto vocals, sounds like a lost track from Thee Oh Sees. Besides having a great title, “Altered Termites in My Room” has a great 1960’s South American secret agent groove. “Change Your Mind About Me” is psych-pop with a wild guitar solo. The guitar on “Night Dreamer” is also excellent. It soars like a 32-bit eagle in a fantasy game. “Save My Soul” and “Take Me Higher” are weird rockers that belong in some kind of horror-disco musical.
The organ work on “A Sunburst of Bees” (another great title) is outstanding. It almost reaches demented church organ levels. “Where Are All My Friends” sounds like it could’ve been recorded by Ariel Pink yesterday. “I Will Wait for You” reveals JODI’s love of Rubber Soul (as does “Tell Me Why” five tracks later) with its beats, guitar chords, and vocal work. It’s great. “I Found You in the Night” reveals JODI’s love of the Kinks‘ early work. Just listen to that beat and tell me I’m wrong.
The wild psychedelic guitar solos continue on “I Loved You Once,” and the church organ continues on the Simon and Garfunkel-like “Hard to Be Alone” – one of three “bonus tracks” on an album that is essentially all bonus tracks found in an office of the Wenger family’s paint factory after forty years. The other two are “Searching for a Figure” (with wild synths) and another Kinks-like fun tune, “Toys.”
The fact that these master tapes survived in a tropic environment in a desk drawer is amazing. It’s amazing as this collection, really. The Wenger brothers deserve to be better known by the world at large, and Pop Espontaneo is a great place to start.
Never ones to rest on their laurels, Australian psych rockers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have announced their fourteenth album (in less than seven years, by the way), Fishing for Fishies, will be released on April 26th.
According to lead singer Stu Mackenzie, “We tried to make a blues record. A blues-boogie-shuffle-kinda-thing, but the songs kept fighting it – or maybe it was us fighting them. Ultimately though we let the songs guide us this time; we let them have their own personalities and forge their own path. Paths of light, paths of darkness. This is a collection of songs that went on wild journeys of transformation.”
You can pre-order Fishing for Fishies at Flightless Records, and the band is about to embark on yet another massive tour across the globe. Catch them if you can. They never disappoint.
Doom / psych / goth rock band Blackwater Holylight announced they’re in the process of recording a new album due this October. Their self-titled debut album was one of my favorite debut records of 2018.
They’re also embarking on a European tour after a couple dates in the western U.S., so catch them if you can. I hope these ladies hit Austin’s Levitation festival in the fall.
BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT LIVE: 04/16 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge w/ R.I.P. 04/20 Los Angeles, CA @ Psycho Smokeout Festival 04/26 Linz, AT @ Stadtwerkstatt 05/01 Bristol, UK @ The Lanes 05/02 Newcastle, UK @ Trillans 05/03 London, UK @ DesertFest 05/04 Liege, BE @ La Zone 05/05 Berlin, DE @ DesertFest 05/08 Malmo, SE @ Plan B 05/09 Stockholm, SE @ Undergangen 05/10 Gothenburg, SE W Truckstop Alaska 05/11 Esbjerg, DK @ Esbjerg Fuzzfestival 05/13 Oldenburg, DE @ MTS LP Store 05/14 Berlin, DE @ Zukunft 05/15 Vienna, AT @ Aerena Beisl 05/16 Olten, CH @ Coq’D’or 05/17 Innsbruck, AT @ PMK
In the liner notes to Cass McCombs’ new album, Tip of the Sphere, he mentions how it was recorded in Brooklyn, New York and that he only remembers “emotional things dictated by the city” from the experience. In another section, however (written from the perspective of a mental health professional evaluating McCombs after he was found on the streets), possible themes of the album are postulated to be “identity, reincarnation, criminality, Armageddon, and suicide.”
This is tongue-in-cheek, of course, but only to a point. Tip of the Sphere is a record full of tall tales of criminals, drifters, barflies, soul-seekers, and tricksters. McCombs could’ve met any and all of these types of folks while hanging out in Brooklyn and been intrigued by their stories.
The title of the opening track, “I Followed the River South to What,” implies a letdown experienced by McCombs or someone he knows, but it’s actually an uplifting tale about the dignity of the homeless. Each verse opens with a typical question asked of a homeless person (i.e., “You live out on the street, in the open air?”, “Where will you goes, when the winter comes?”) and witty, Zen-like replies from the person being questioned who merely asked for a dollar. McCombs’ guitar work is like a simple music box tune and Otto Hauser’s drums put down a beat that is more complex than you first realize. Frank LoCrastro’s mellotron work helps the tune float along on a carefree breeze.
“The Great Pixley Train Robbery” was inspired by an old newspaper article McCombs read about a real-life Old West event. It’s a tune that would make Waylon Jennings proud as McCombs sings from the perspective of one of three bandits who made away with $7,000.00 in gold and is now ready to tell the details of the crime that left two dead. Dan Horne’s bass and Jason Quever’s drums on the track provide a great groove that will be hard to match this year (and McCombs’ fuzzed-out guitar solo is great). Horne’s fine bass work continues on “Estrella,” a beautiful love song to a Latina whom McCombs lost and has found again after a literal or metaphorical reincarnation. Only he knows which.
“Absentee,” which is already on my list for Best Singles of 2019, is a song about giving so much of one’s self that you end up feeling like a ghost adrift in the physical world. It’s a torch song mixed with a blues track with psychedelia sprinkled on top for extra spice. Dan Iead’s pedal steel adds the bluesy touch, LoCrastro’s organ work brings in almost a gospel flavor, and Sam Griffith Owens’ saxophone work reminds me of Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s trippy, subtle jams. John Nellen’s tabla beats on “Real Life” add to the introspective nature of the song about what it means to be human.
“Sleeping Volcanoes” is McCombs proclaiming he and everyone else he knows is sick of the world in general and he prays Armageddon will take us to a better place in the next life. It’s not as nihilistic as you’d expect. It’s even a bit calming. The guitars on “Sidewalk Bop After Suicide” take on an outlaw country edge, which continues with Iead’s pedal steel on “Prayer for Another Day” – a lovely song about wanting to step out of this reality and into one that’s similar but without all the trappings we’ve created in it.
“American Canyon Sutra” has McCombs singing / speaking about economic inequality (“In American Canyon, where Walmart employees and customers are one and same. They’ve even built apartments here to add a residential coffin to the bargain. Guess I’ll stay forever and work for the company store.”) over processed beats and guitar notes that sound like distant war horns. “Tying Loose Ends” is about McCombs preparing for death (whenever that may be) by trying to learn his family history before he becomes a footnote in it. The weirdly worded “Rounder” closes the album with another solid beat by Hauser and more outlaw country flair from McCombs’ guitar and Iead’s pedal steel before it floats away into a nice, slow jam with a great organ solo from LoCrastro.
This is a lovely record that you could put into multiple genres. McCombs isn’t afraid to embrace and expand on those genres in order to tell his stories. Like any good storyteller, he tells a tale but leaves a lot of mysteries unsolved.
Recorded in Ty Segall‘s house, Into the Iris, the new EP by Flat Worms (Tim Hellman – bass and vocals, Will Ivy – guitar and vocals, Justin Sullivan – drums) is six tracks of fuzzy riffs that could jumpstart a car during the recent polar vortex.
“Surreal New Year” is an opening salvo of post-punk guitars mixed with drums that are more precise than you realize at first. I can’t help but wonder if the title track is a reference to Suspiria. The song is certainly chaotic enough in the last half to reflect a harrowing battle with an invisible witch. It’s all screaming, fuzzy guitars and breakneck beats.
Ivy’s opening guitars on “Plastic at Home” sound like a broken xylophone being thrown down a flight of stairs – and I mean that in the best possible way. It’s a song about how the glossy perfection of suburbia often disguises kinky vices and boiling resentment. Hellman and Sullivan are in especially fine sync throughout this whole track.
“Shouting at the Wall” was the first single. It opens with guitars that sound like alarms and then Sullivan goes wild to kick to the song into fifth gear. “Scattered Palms…” is post-punk psychedelia with Hellman’s bass doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the short instrumental. “At the Citadel” is like a lost Stooges track with its heavy bass, roaring drums, squeaking guitars, and snotty, bratty vocals.
Into the Iris packs more fuzz and power into six tracks than most full-length LPs will all year. Don’t miss it.
Keep your mind open.
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According to the Black Keys’ website, the title of their 2014 album Turn Blue could refer to “A. Suffocation. B. Sadness. C. Numbness from extreme cold. D. A Cleveland late night TV host from the 1960s named Ghoulardi. E. All of the above.”
As I listen to the album now during the 2019 Polar Vortex hitting the Midwest USA, I’m inclined to go with the third definition, but the psychedelic artwork of the album cover and the general southern California psychedelic sound of the record makes me want to lean toward the fourth one.
Produced by none other than Danger Mouse, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney recorded the album during the summer of 2013 at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California. The bright sunshine, warm weather, and California vibe infuse the entire record. The opener, “Weight of Love,” has Auerbach working his guitar like Carlos Santana and Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton adding bright keyboards behind Carney’s as-always rock solid drumming.
Speaking of rock solid drumming, how about Carney’s work on the appropriately titled “In Time?” Auerbach’s vocals go into a higher register to counter the thumping bass groove. The title track has Auerbach singing about the blues almost overwhelming him every night and warning us, “I really do hope you know there could be Hell below.” as we wander with him on and off paths of sin and vice.
“Fever” was the first single off Turn Blue, which is no surprise with its happy programmed beats ready for remixing, almost post-punk guitar chords, and catchy chorus. “You’ve been down this road before,” Auerbach preaches on “Year in Review” before ripping into a soaring solo that sounds like he wrote while hang gliding off a mountain in Utah.
The band’s love of Pink Floyd is evident on “Bullet in the Brain” from the opening guitar chords through the psychedelic, sludgy beats mixing with crystal clear electric keys. They turn up the fuzz on “It’s Up to You Now,” with Auerbach’s solo reaching meditative status. The soulful, sad love song “Waiting on Words” slows things down a bit, but it keeps some of the psychedelic touches with reverb and muted drums that build to head-bobbing beats. The bass lick on “10 Lovers” is positively groovy and almost steals the tune.
“In Our Prime” is a bluesy lament to lost youth that blends snappy beats from Carney with music box-like keyboards from Burton. The album ends with “Gotta Get Away,” a garage rock track with pop flair and ELO-like grooves.
I’ll admit that it took me a while to warm up to this record. I wasn’t sure what to make of it when I first heard it, but I knew I should give it another chance. The second listen revealed some things I hadn’t heard before, and by the third I knew it was a slick record indeed. I can’t help but think that the psychedelic touches on Turn Blue continued with Auerbach’s psychedelic side project The Arcs, and now I’m intrigued as to where the Black Keys will go next.
Toronto, Ontario’s Qarafa is a four-piece outfit that somehow combines jazz with psychedelia, low rock, and even drone rock. It’s hard to describe, but it’s beautiful.
Tape I is just two tracks (sides A and B of a cassette, really). Each is about fifteen minutes long and each is its own hypnotic meditation. Alex Howard‘s tenor saxophone on “Side A” immediately hooks your brain, Anthony Abbatangelo‘s bass and synths blow peyote smoke in your face, Tyler Bontje‘s drone guitar keeps you just on edge, and Jason Chow‘s jazz drumming holds you on the Earth so you don’t drift off to Jupiter or somewhere else.
The low rock elements come out hard on “Side B,” which sounds like a long Morphine cut recorded in a Marrakesh speakeasy in the back of a spiritual bookstore run by a old man who might be a wizard and his wife who might be a succubus.
This is good, groovy, and trippy. I hope they come out with a full-length album soon.
Keep your mind open.
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