Category: Psychedelic

Top live shows of 2017: #’s 10 – 6

We’ve reached the top ten in my list of live shows for 2017.  Who’s here?  Read on…

#10 – Kasabian – House of Blues Chicago – Chicago, IL September 20th.

“I don’t know why this show isn’t sold out?” was the sentiment held by me and at least a few others when Kasabian played in Chicago.  “These guys sell out Glastonbury!” said a guy behind me, referring to the massive British music festival.  Sure enough, Kasabian put on a great, energetic set that had everyone bouncing and dancing.  It might’ve been the liveliest set you missed all year.

#9 – All Them Witches – Founder’s Brewery – Grand Rapids, MI March 19th.

I was stunned to learn that Nashville’s All Them Witches were playing for free up in Michigan.  I was even more stunned by their set, which was a tight set infused with blues, rock, voodoo rock, and psychedelia.  It immediately made me want to catch them again as soon as possible.

#8 – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Metro – Chicago, IL April 8th.

2017 has been the year of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.  They’ve release four albums this year and a fifth is due to drop any day now.  Their show at Chicago’s Metro was one of the craziest I attended all year.  They tore through a set that not only played older material but also included tunes from the (at the time) unreleased album Murder of the Universe.

#7 – Anoushka Shankar – IPFW – Ft. Wayne, IN March 26th.

This show gave me chills.  Anoushka Shankar is perhaps the greatest living sitar player on Earth, although I’m sure she’d disagree with that statement.  Seeing and hearing her in an acoustically perfect venue playing traditional ragas might convince you of my earlier statement, however.  It was a sublime performance.

#6 – Flying Lotus – Mamby on the Beach – Chicago, IL June 25th.

Flying Lotus was the final act we saw at Mamby on the Beach this year.  It was chilly by that time of day, but his set made you forget about the cool air blowing in from Lake Michigan.  The visuals were stunning and the sounds he made from his mushroom cloud-like stand were an impressive array of psychedelic, trip hop, and dub sounds.

Who finishes in the top five for 2017?  You’ll find out tomorrow!

Keep your mind open.

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Top live shows of 2017: #’s 15 – 11

We’re halfway through my list of top live shows of the year.  Who’s in the top half?

#15 – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Scottrade Center – St. Louis, MO May 12th.

This was an impressive show with a sold-out crowd.  Tom Petty and his crew had a fun time tearing through a lot of classic hits, and the performance took on a deeper meaning to my wife and I after Petty’s death at the end of this tour.  We’d wanted to see him for a long while, so we were thankful we caught him in time.

#14 – Buddy Guy – Lerner Theatre – Elkhart, IN September 9th.

Blues legend Buddy Guy is pushing 90 and still shredding better than guitarists a third of his age.  He dazzled with his skill and spoke openly about the importance of love and compassion in these tough times.

#13 – Depeche Mode – Air Canada Centre – Toronto, ON September 3rd.

Depeche Mode were a big part of our high school years, so it was surprising that it took my wife and I so long to finally catch them live.  It was a solid set with new and classic tracks and one of the best encores we saw all year.

#12 – Deap Vally – Valley Bar – Phoenix, AZ March 11th.

Deap Vally are easily one of the best live bands of this decade.  This set at Phoenix’s VIVA PHX festival was a stunner.  I always feel bad for any band that has to follow them, and getting to chat with them after the show was an added treat.

#11 – The Black Angels – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL May 11th.

I won’t skip an opportunity to see the Black Angels.  I’ve already bought tickets to see them at next year’s Levitation Austin festival.  This set in Chicago was a great start to a fun weekend with my wife, and the Black Angels played more aggressively than I’d seen them in a long while.

Who cracks the top 10?  Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Keep your mind open.

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King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Polygondwanaland

The fourth album from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard of this year, Polygondwanaland, is special for a couple reasons.  One, to repeat the earlier point, is that it’s the fourth album they’ve put out this year.  Many bands don’t put out four albums in a lifetime, let alone four in one year…with another one yet to come before the year’s end.  Second, is that they are giving away this album for free.

Yes, you can download this album for free and, according to the band, use the tracks for anything you’d like.  Many indie labels have already created their own rare pressings of the album on vinyl.  KGATLW have stated that anyone can use the songs for their film, art projects, mix tapes, remix albums, or any other use.  It’s a stunning gift to fans and the world at large.

The album is a neat mix of the many sounds KGATLW create.  The opener, “Crumbling Castle,” is an epic song just under eleven minutes long that exemplifies the band’s cosmic psychedelia with echoed vocals, microtonal guitars, perfect double-drumming, and tricky guitar work.  The title track is mellower and almost hypnotizing, as is “The Castle in the Air” with Stu MacKenzie‘s flute work.

“Deserted Dunes Welcome Weary Feet” and “Inner Cell” are equally haunting, especially the latter with its lyrics speaking of the dead, ghosts, and shadows.  The bass line on “Loyalty” is one of the best KGATLW have put on a track all year.  “Horology” and “Tetrachromacy” are neat companion pieces to each other with their complimentary guitar pieces and tick-tock drumming.  The building groove of “Searching…” is outstanding, and the entire track simmers with synth wave menace that is new to KGATLW’s sound.  I hope they explore more of this on the next record.  It flows right into the album’s closer, “The Fourth Color,” which is a sizzling jam on all fronts – especially when it comes back from a fake fade-out.

Is this as good as the three previous releases from KGATLW so far?  No, but it is still an excellent piece of work and is reminiscent of some of the band’s earlier material.  This isn’t a bad place to start if you’re just now walking into the KGATLW camp.  It blends many of their styles well.

Keep your mind open.

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Brother O’ Brother – Neon Native

Indianapolis rock duo Brother O’ Brother are busy making solid records in the middle of a state practically ignored by the music industry and touring bands.  Their latest, Neon Native, is a prime example of a nearly secret vibrant music scene in the Hoosier state’s capital.

Opening with “R.O.S.E.,” the album immediately submerses you into Brother O’ Brother’s psychedelic blues and powerful riffs.  You can hear influences ranging from the Black Keys to the Black Angels in the first few chords.  “16 Flowers” brings in a slight punk edge and flattens everything around you.  It’s one of the most powerful songs I’ve heard all year.  “Sunshine” has a southern rock vibe before it blows up into something you might hear from Zen Guerilla,  “Grab the Rope” gets off to a raucous start with soulful yet rough vocals and then a chugging beat that doesn’t let up for the whole track.

“I Got It” continues the rock and roll fury with guitar work that sounds like strings are going to break at any moment.  “I Confess” has some psychedelic sludge that I love.  “Cardinal” is, on it’s surface, a song about the beauty of a bird, but it’s also about the beauty of a lover, killer guitar work, and slam-tastic beats.  “Fever” is just as powerful in its subtlety as we hear about a “sweet love” who inspires guitar chords that Jack White dreams about at night.

Even the acoustic guitar on “White Noise” has a fierce energy to it. “Take Me” brings back the electric fuzz and ups the blues influences.  Their cover of David Bowie‘s “Life on Mars” ups the Mick Ronson fuzzed-out guitars and is almost unrecognizable at first (but it’s still great).  “Widow Maker” could be a Thin Lizzy B-side.

Don’t let anyone tell you rock and roll is dead.  It isn’t.  Brother O’ Brother is living proof.   They’re one of my favorite discoveries of the year.

Keep your mind open.

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King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard with Mild High Club – Sketches of Brunswick East

The year of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard continues with their fourth album of 2017 – Sketches of Brunswick East.  This is a collaboration with psych-rocker pals Mild High Club made while the bands were hanging out for a couple weeks.

It’s a mellower album that their previous release, Murder of the Universe, with a cool jazz fusion sound to the entire thing.  “Countdown” is one of the more relaxing tracks in their entire catalogue.  “D-Day” has a light sense of menace and even some guitar touches reminiscent of Flying Microtonal Banana.  “Tezeta” has a sweet bass lick throughout it and could even be described as “jaunty” while it keeps its trippy touches (and vocals from Murder of the Universe‘s doomed cyborg Hyan-Tumi).

“The Spider and Me” could almost be the theme to a beloved and forgotten 1960’s cartoon.  The instrumental “Sketches of Brunswick East II” brings to mind an afternoon spent at a closed and forgotten seaside resort.  KGALTW’s front man Stu MacKenzie plays a lovely flute while warped electric piano (perhaps played by a ghost at the aforementioned resort) bounces along next to him.  “Dusk to Dawn on Lygon St” is another happy trip, perhaps along a coastal road at sunrise.  The bass work on this and the previous track is outstanding, by the way.  It roots both songs.

“The Book” is a witty takedown on Bible thumpers and almost has a lounge jazz sound to it.  “A Journey to (S)Hell” is a bit nightmarish, but in a way that would make you wake up wondering if what you dreamed was real and not in a way that would wake you up in a pool of sweat.  “Rolling Stoned” is another great instrumental that flows out of your speakers in weird curves.  “You Can Be Your Silhouette” is a catchy tune about embracing the idea of being a blank slate without the trappings of modern culture, and “Sketches of Brunswick East III” ends the album on a subtle psychedelic note.

Sketches of Brunswick East is a welcome departure from the heaviness of KGATLW’s last there records.  Mind you, I love those records, but this foray into lighter, jazzier, trippier fare is a good choice by them.  It’s a good choice by you to buy it.

Keep your mind open.

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Earthless announces March 2018 North American tour dates.

Clear up your calendar for March 2018, because stoner metal giants Earthless will be touring North America.  They’re also bringing legendary psychedelic band Kikagaku Moyo and psych-rockers Jjuujjuu with them.  This is a great triple bill, so don’t miss it.  I’m sure tickets will sell fast once they’re available.  I plan to see them at their Chicago stop in late March 2018 at the Empty Bottle.  I saw them there last year and it was a great show.

Keep your mind open.

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Oh Sees – Orc

John Dwyer is one of the busiest guys in rock.  He has so many variations of his band Thee Oh Sees that it can be difficult to keep track of them all.  One of the latest, which he’s just calling Oh Sees, has put out a fine record of psychedelic art-punk called Orc.

The album opens with the crazy, frantic “The Static God” – which appears to be a song about the whirlwind nature of battlefield combat.  Dwyer’s guitar is all over the place, but the chorus’ vocal hook has a wonderful pop twinge to it.  “Nite Expo” has 1980’s video game synths leading it before Dwyer’s guitar kicks open the door and catches you by surprise.  “Animated Violence” hits as hard as any metal track you’ve heard all year, both in the instrumentation (i.e., buzzsaw guitars and thunderous drums) and vocals and lyrics (revealing Dwyer’s love of Motorhead).

The longest track on the record (at 8:10), “Keys to the Castle,” is (on its surface, at least) about a bloody siege in a medieval fantasy kingdom.  I’m sure it’s probably a metaphor about how we’re actually destroying ourselves in these castles of loneliness and disconnection we’ve built thanks to the internet, but maybe I’m overreaching and should just enough the fun freak-out of a tune that it is (especially when the violin and organ creep into it).

“Jettison,” with its early Mick Ronson-like guitar work, is one of the grooviest songs about death in a long while (“Who likes sugar in their coffin?  The underground is twice as nice.”).  “Cadaver Dog” encourages the generation behind Dwyer to be leaders and not followers and be self-reliant instead of clinging to potentially deadly illusions.  “Drowned Beast” is a fuzzy salute to deepwater beast warriors who slay and eat everything in sight.  Three fun instrumentals, “Paranoise,” “Cooling Tower,” and “Raw Optics” are included.  The first has some subtle synths that might make you paranoid, the second is something you’d hear drifting out of a Mothers of Invention studio session, and the third (which closes the album) is a snappy blast of post-punk with a drum solo to boot.

Orc is a quirky, wild record, but you’d expect no less from Mr. Dwyer.  He excels at making quirky, wild rock that can melt your face one moment and intrigue you the next.

Keep your mind open.

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Ty Segall’s new album, “Freedom’s Goblin,” due January 26th.

Ty Segall Announces New Album, Freedom’s Goblin,
Out January 26th via Drag City, and North American TourWatch Ty and the Freedom Band Debut “Fanny Dog,”
New Song Off Freedom’s Goblin, on CONAN Last Night
http://teamcoco.com/video/ty-segall-12-04-17?playlist=featured-videos 

Listen to New Single, “Every 1’s a Winner” (Hot Chocolate Cover)
https://tysegall.bandcamp.com/album/freedoms-goblin
[Freedom’s Goblin album art]

Freedom’s Goblin is the new Ty Segall album: 19 tracks strong, filling four sides of vinyl nonstop, with an unrestricted sense of coming together to make an album. Out January 26th via Drag City with a North American tour to follow, it wants you to get your head straight – but first, the process will make your head spin! On any given side, we’re tracking five or six full-blown personalities, unconcerned with convention or continuity.

The songs came in the flow of the year: days of vomit and days of ecstasy and escape too, and days between. The rulebook’s been tossed, but Freedom’s Goblin is thick with deep songwriting resources, be it stomper, weeper, ballad, screamer, banger or funker-upper, all diverted into new Tydentities in the name of love and loathing. Whether chilling at home or on tour with the Freedom Band, tracks were cut at five studios in LA, Chicago and Memphis, engineered by Steve Albini, F. Bermudez, Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell and of course, Ty himself. The goal was getting free: embracing any approach necessary to communicate new heights and depths, seeking new places for the fuzz to land among octaving harmonies, dancefloor grooves, synths, saxes and horns, jams, post-Nicky-Hopkins r’n’b electric piano vibes, children-of-the-corn psycho-rebellions, old country waltzes and down-by-the-river shuffles. Basically, the free-est bunch of pop songs Ty’s ever put on tape – free to love or to be alone; to be pretty or pretty ugly; free to turn the other cheek or to turn up the volume. And of course, free to make just about any kind of song that’ll free people when they hear it – because we’re ALL Goblins and we ALL want our Freedom!

This feeling comes alive in “Every 1’s a Winner,” the sixth Freedom’s Goblin pre-release share (a record for Drag City!), including last night’s sneak peek, big band debut of “Fanny Dog” on CONAN. “Every 1’s a winner, baby that’s the truth” – truly, a much-needed message for our times! As in, the kind of message we don’t expect anyone anywhere saying anytime soon. Ty Segall is naturally delivering this message specially to a special someone of his own, the kind to whom makin’ love is such a thrill – but you too are free to be special to someone also, so long as you realize that with such freedom comes great responsibility.  Ty covers Hot Chocolate here as if he’d been funkin’ since he electric slid out the cradle, guiding “Every 1’s a Winner” into a high-flying, hard-driving expression made of his own kind of ecstatic soul. The sound of 2018 (and 2017!) will be much improved by its presence, and everything else on the forthcoming Freedom’s Goblin. So turn it up, and get down.
[“Every 1’s a Winner” single art]
“Alta” – https://tysegall.bandcamp.com/track/alta
“Meaning” – https://tysegall.bandcamp.com/track/meaning
“My Lady’s On Fire” – https://tysegall.bandcamp.com/track/my-ladys-on-fire
“The Main Pretender” – https://tysegall.bandcamp.com/track/the-main-pretenderFreedom’s Goblin Track List:
1. Fanny Dog
2. Rain
3. Every 1’s a Winner
4. Despoiler Of Cadaver
5. When Mommy Kills You
6. My Lady’s on Fire
7. Alta
8. Meaning
9. Cry Cry Cry
10. Shoot You Up
11. You Say All the Nice Things
12. The Last Waltz
13. She
14. Prison
15. Talkin 3
16. The Main Pretender
17. I’m Free
18. 5 Ft. Tall
19. And Goodnight

Pre-order Freedom’s Goblin –
http://www.dragcity.com/products/freedoms-goblin

Ty Segall Tour Dates:
Sat. Dec. 9 – Mexico City, MX @ Hipnosis Festival
Fri. Dec. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom [solo acoustic set] *
Sat. Dec. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom [solo acoustic set]  *
Sun. Dec. 17 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel [solo acoustic set] #
Mon. Dec. 18 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel [solo acoustic set] #
Wed. Jan. 24 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
Fri. Jan. 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Sat. Jan. 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Sun. Jan. 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Thu. Feb. 1 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium ^
Tue. Apr. 3 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Bunkhouse Saloon
Thu. Apr. 5 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
Fri. Apr. 6 – Rapid City, SD @ URSA MAJOR
Sat. Apr. 7 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Sun. Apr. 8 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera
Tue. Apr. 10 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theater
Wed. Apr. 11 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Theater
Fri. Apr. 13 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
Sat. Apr. 14 – Port Chester, NY @ The Capitol Theatre
Sun. Apr. 15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theater
Tue. Apr. 17 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
Wed. Apr. 18 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Fri. Apr. 20 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
Sat. Apr. 21 – Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl Music Hall
Sun. Apr. 22 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Thu. Apr. 26 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Outdoor (Levitation 2018)
Fri. Apr. 27 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda (part of Levitation)
Sun. April 29 – Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theatre

* = with OCS, Shannon Lay, all proceeds go to LA Kitchen
# = with OCS, Shannon Lay, all proceeds go to SF Homeless Coalition
^ = with Queens Of The Stone Age

Download hi-res press images and album art –
www.pitchperfectpr.com/ty-segall/
[Photo Credit: Denée Segall]

Olden Yolk debuts first trippy single – “Takes One to Know One”

Introducing Olden Yolk;
Debut Self-Titled Album Out February 23rd On Trouble In Mind

Watch The Video For Lead Single “Takes One To Know One”
https://youtu.be/wQDz8ErJvPc


[Photo by Daniel Dorsa]
Olden Yolk, the New York-based group led by songwriters, vocalists, and multi-instrumentalists Shane Butler (of Quilt) and Caity Shaffer, are pleased to announce their self-titled debut album coming out February 23rd on Trouble In Mind. Along with today’s announcement, Olden Yolk are sharing lead single “Takes One To Know One” with an accompanying video debuted via Stereogum.

“‘Takes One to Know One’ is a play on the phrase typically meant to assign blame through commonality,” explain Butler and Shaffer. “Its use in the song is closer to an acceptance of our collective situation rather than a belittlement of it. It was written in our hometown of New York City–an iconic place whose icons (monuments, buildings, public art) are continually morphing and breaking down, shifting whatever former meaning had once been assigned to them.”

They continue, “Some moments hit right when you feel like the ‘writing’s on the door.’ The song, written during an especially jarring year of disillusionment, explores the process of finding solace in passing visages–a stranger’s smile on the subway or the beauty of haphazard graffiti on a brick-laden wall. The song cycles around a group chant at the choruses. It’s instrumentation is highly inspired by the percussion style of Jaki Liebezeit (of the German group CAN), a favorite of ours.”

Olden Yolk is a group whose penchant for dystopian folk, abstract poeticism, and motorik rhythms have enveloped them in a sound uniquely of-the-moment yet simultaneously time-tested. The interlaced vocals of Butler and Shaffer are found guiding each composition on their enlivening self-titled debut. The project was initially conceived in 2012 by Butler as an outlet for one-off songs and visual art while touring and releasing albums with the band Quilt (Mexican Summer). Following the release of a split-record with Weyes Blood in 2014, Olden Yolk became a collaborative entity.

Their debut full-length ruminates on questions surrounding love, self-doubt, and locating autonomy amidst burgeoning unrest. Wrought with hazy melancholy and halcyon joy, Butler and Shaffer’s lilting vocals play off one another through a devotional dialogue, taking form in haunting choral melodies and candid rock n’ roll. These songs are ecstatic odes to the life of the city; to the subway platforms, kiosks, and monuments which enliven and encompass our collectivity, elevating into an urban-psychedelia.

On the album, Butler and Shaffer are joined by drummer Dan Drohan (Tei Shi, Uni Ika Ai) and guitarist Jesse DeFrancesco who round out the studio sessions and live-band. Drohan’s deep passion for jazz, hip-hop, and experimental percussion come to fore while Defrancesco’s minimal yet powerful guitar ambiences are heard swelling in the peripheries of each song. The album was recorded at Gary’s Electric in NYC by Jarvis Taveniere (Woods) with co-production, electronics, and mixing by Jon Nellen (Ginla, Terrible Records). Other guests, such as multi-instrumentalist John Andrews (Quilt, Woods, The Yawns) and violinist Jake Falby (Mutual Benefit, Julie Byrne), add to the mercurial nature of the record, creating a landscape tinged with beatific songwriting and transgressive underpinnings.

Olden Yolk will play a full band record release show at Union Pool in NYC on February 24th along with special guests to be announced. John Andrews & The Yawns will open.

Olden Yolk Tracklist:
1. Verdant
2. Cut To The Quick
3. Gamblers On A Dime
4. Vital Sign
5. Aria
6. Common Ground
7. Hen’s Teeth
8. Esprit De Corps
9. After Us
10. Takes One To Know One

Olden Yolk artwork

Rewind Review: Diagonal – self-titled (2016)

Chicago-based psych / shoegaze rockers Diagonal play an intriguing mix of both genres.  Their self-titled album, currently only available on cassette or digital download, starts with a meditative, almost ambient, nearly instrumental song called “Aura.”  I listened to this on a frosty northern Indiana morning as the sun rose over harvested corn fields.  It was perfect.

“Wide Eyed” teases you with a bit of drone sludge before breaking into a heavy shoegaze riff.  “Inside Your Mind” is so steeped in psychedelic tea that you can pretty much see rear projection oils when you hear it.  “Where to Go” ups the fuzz and races by you almost before you realize it’s happening (and I love the trippy fade-out).

“Waterloo” is another rocker that puts in enough reverb to almost make it a weird dream that eventually turns into a crazy psychedelic nightmare.  “Come Down” reminds me of early Black Angels material with its distorted yet somehow crisp guitars and lyrics lost in layers of reverb.  The album ends with “Cave” – a loud, wild, feverish freak-out that swirls around you like a tornado full of broken, dead trees and shattered houses.

It’s a solid release, and Diagonal is definitely a band to watch and hear.  They have the chops to be serious players in the psych-rock game.

Keep your mind open.

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