World music – 7th Level Music

Leenalchi announce a new EP, “Here Comes That Crow,” ahead of tour dates.

Leenalchi (EEE-nal-chi) — the seven-piece Seoul-based band led by bassist Jang Young Gyu — announce their Luaka Bop debut, a new EP entitled Here Comes That Crow, out June 12th, and a North American tour. In conjunction with today’s announcements, they present the video for lead single and title track, “Here Comes That Crow.” The music of Leenalchi is taken from pansori, a traditional Korean style of musical storytelling often compared to opera. Rooted in shamanism and developed during the Joseon Dynasty (17th century), these songs tell epic tales of love, virtue, sorrow, and dragon kings. As if reverberating in our ears from a spiritual plane, the sounds emitting from Leenalchi’s singers are transcendent. Their line-up, as singular as their sound, features two bassists, drums, keys, no guitar, and four singers.

The psychedelic riffs found in Leenalchi’s songs are courtesy of Jang, the band’s enigmatic leader, who looms large in the country’s small but dedicated indie music scene. An NPR Tiny Desk concert of one of his former bands, SsingSsing, racked up 9.9 million views on YouTube and was praised by Tiny Desk founder Bob Boilen as “one of my most memorable Tiny Desk Concerts of all time.” He’s also a prestigious film composer, scoring soundtracks for some of Korea’s most celebrated movies like Train to Busan, The Wailing, and The Good, the Bad, the Weird.

Jang’s work with pansori began in 2007, after composing for choreographer Ahn Eun-me’s piece, Bari. With musicians from that project, Jang went on to form groups such as BIBING, SsingSsing, and eventually Leenalchi.

On “Here Comes That Crow,” as on most Leenalchi songs, Jang wordlessly directs his vision of cross-cultural funk with a collaborative spirit. First comes the rhythm section, developed with drummer Oh Hyung Suk, which sets the foundation for a song, then, singers Park Soo Bum, Ahn Yi Ho, Ra Seo Jin, and Choi Su In draw from the repertoire of pansori songs to discover the most distinctive and fitting sounds.

Adapted from a pansori tale about the Chinese warlord Cao Cao’s most decisive battle, “Here Comes That Crow” is an allegory about life’s precariousness. Ahn, together with his fellow Leenalchi members, wrote a poem to help listeners interpret the song’s meaning:

도용도용은 작은 배가 물위를 떠가는 모양을 그린 말이다. 조조도 조자룡도 쫓기는 자도 쫓는 자도 멈출수는 없다.
판자때기 아래가 저승인데 어느 누가 멈춰 설 수 있겠는가!

Doyung doyung goes the small boat seen floating down the river.
Whether the chased or the chaser, no one can stop—just beneath the boards lies the underworld!

Watch Video for “Here Comes That Crow”

As part of their training, pansori singers are required to spend time singing next to a waterfall, tasked to carefully observe and mimic the sonic nuances of water. The Korean language is full of onomatopoeias. The repetition in these words create their own rhythmic unit, each word functioning like a tiny song: Kwal-kwal (콸콸) is the sound of a running stream; gaegul-gaegul (개굴개굴) goes the frog; and mimetic words (a slippery floor is mikkeul-maekkeul (미끌매끌); sol-sol (솔솔) is a kind of gentle and subtle slowness).

The band counts many fellow artists as fans, including Brian Eno, Robyn, Japanese Breakfast, and Merrill Garbus (of Tune-Yards), who studied pansori while part of the group Roomful of Teeth.

This summer, Leenalchi will embark on their first-ever North American tour, making stops in Canada and the West coast, including Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco where they’ll support Japanese Breakfast, and a free show at The Getty in Los Angeles presented by KCRW. Tickets for all dates are on-sale now and available here.

Pre-Order Here Comes That Crow

Here Comes That Crow Tracklist:
1. Hihi Haha
2. Bird
3. Here Comes That Crow
4. Let’s Live for Today
5. Look At Me Look At Me
6. Ultimate Prescription

Leenalchi 2026 Tour Dates:
Fri. May 29 – Incheon, SK @ Asian Pop Festival @ Paradise City
Sun. June 21 – Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Jazz
Thu. June 25 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Fri. June 26 – Montreal, QC @ Montreal Jazz Festival
Sat. June 27 – Vancouver, BC @ Vancouver Jazz Festival
Sun. June 28 – San Francisco, CA @ Stern Grove Festival (w/ Japanese Breakfast)
Wed. July 8 – Seattle, WA @ Vera Project (presented by KEXP)
Sat. July 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Getty (presented by KCRW)
Thu. Nov. 12 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Fri. Nov. 13 – Rotterdam, NL @ Grounds
Sun. Nov. 15 – Berlin, DE @ Gretchen
Tue. Nov. 17 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust
Wed. Nov. 18 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Musikkens Hus
Fri. Nov. 20 – Aarhus, DK @ Turkis
Sat. Nov. 21 – Groningen, NL @ VERA
Tue. Nov. 24 – Dublin, IE @ Whelan’s
Thu. Nov. 26 – London, UK @ Jazz Cafe
Fri. Nov. 27 – Bristol, UK @ The Jam Jar
Sat. Nov. 28 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Sun. Nov. 29 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall

~~ tickets available here ~~

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Top 25 albums of 2021 – 2025: #’s 15 – 11

We’ve reached the top 15 of albums I reviewed (not released) over the last five years. Read on to see who made the list!

#15: Maquina – Prata (2024)

That cover image pretty much sums up the sound of this wild post-punk / noise rock / dance rock album. It’s a stunning record, and I’m happy to report they’re close to releasing a new one.

#14: Lair – Ngélar (2024)

Indonesian psych-rock? Yes, please. Funky, groovy, weird, and playful. This is a delight from start to finish.

#13: Sextile – yes, please. (2025)

Possibly the best dance-punk album of 2025. This record slams non-stop and gets you moving whether you want to or not.

#12: Ki Oni – A Leisurely Swim to Everlasting Life (2023)

A beautiful album about grief, our continued, changed existence after death, and a salute to Ki Oni’s late grandmother all wrapped up in lush ambient music.

#11: No Joy – Bugland (2025)

A brilliant return for No Joy and their shoegaze rock. This album sprinted into the top ten of 2025 for me the first time I heard it.

Speaking of the top ten, come back tomorrow to see who’s in the top ten of the last five years!

Keep your mind open.

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Austin Psych Fest 2026 – Day Two recap

I heard the thunder rumbling as I started the walk to the Far Out Lounge for the second day of Austin Psych Fest. I got about three blocks when the rain started. My phone’s weather app said it was just an isolated storm that would soon pass. I put on the raincoat I’d packed and continued walking…

…into a full-on thunderstorm complete with flash flooding and rain hitting so hard that at one point I thought it was hail. I later learned there were funnel clouds in the area at the time. I sloshed my way back to the Air BNB place I was sleeping in for the weekend, wrung out my socks, and waited out the storm for at least another hour before making the trip in the now sunny, jungle-humid afternoon.

APF had been delayed for those two hours due to a couple lightning strikes. As a result, the first four bands of the day – Commercial Breaks, Strange Lot, The Dead Canyon Family Reunion, and Grocery Bag – ended up with canceled sets. Annabelle Chairlegs barely managed to squeeze in their set when the festival finally opened.

So, first on the bill for me was Ty Segall. I hadn’t seen him since the (unknown to everyone at the time) final Psycho Music Festival in Las Vegas in 2021. As one photographer in front of me said before the set, “You never know what you’re going to get with Ty.” That’s true. You could get a lot of shredding, acoustic ballads, or even electro-infused dance rock. For APF 2026, Segall and his band brought the rock.

Ty Segall and crew bringing another kind of thunder.

It was a fun set from him, and a ripper of a way to start my festival day. He included at least two new tracks which sound great. The set had a heavy 1970s garage rock sound to it, and I’m surprised mosh pits didn’t erupt throughout it.

Segall’s set was followed by a double-bill of psychedelia. Up first were world travelers Al Qasar who had everyone dancing and grooving with their neat mix of Dutch, Brazilian, Arabic, Jamaican, and several other nations’ sounds. They even ended with a wild reworking of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.”

Then, Melody’s Echo Chamber performed to a big crowd who fully embraced their mind-bending sound and light show. I saw a lot of, ahem, blissed-out people during their set having a great time.

Is it a jellyfish? A butterfly? A jellyfly? A butterfish? That edible kicking in?

Many of us zipped over to the smaller stage to catch New Candys’ set. The Italian trio (No longer a quartet?) roared for the whole performance, knocking out heavy riffs, shoegaze fuzz, and slapping beats. “Damn, those guys are really good,” said a guy behind me once they’d finished. He was right.

The day ended with our hosts, The Black Angels, performing their Passover album in its entirety as well as other tracks (including at least one new song). The crowd was packed for them. One group in front of me had some weird fire dance circle going with a couple lighters being waved near the ground. The Black Angels are currently touring to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Passover, so don’t miss them. It’s a good opportunity to hear a lot of deep cuts.

Don’t pass over a Black Angels show! See what I did there?

Up next: Latin psychobilly surf rock, psychedelic cumbia, and a lot of soul!

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Review: Mativetsky Amiri Pagé – Metamorphose

Take a tabla player (Shawn Mativetsky), a santur player (Amir Amiri), and a harpist (Sarah Pagé), put them in a studio, have them encourage each other with experimentation and love of traditional Sufi, Persian, Indian, and classical music, and what do you get? Metamorphose – one of the loveliest albums of the year.

Opening track “Yavaran” is the only one with lyrics and those are from the Sufi devotional prayer of Yavaran Masem (“My friends, I am drunk.”). Amiri and Pagé’s vocals blend perfectly with the intoxicating sounds all three produce.

The title track hums and pulses like a happy cat stretching in a sunbeam upon waking, or someone who has just had an enlightening experience. Amiri’s santur is beautiful on the track.

“Quarter Tone Suite” is eleven-and-a-half minutes of trance-inducing bliss. Pagé’s harp leads the way, ushering us from our tent in the desert and into an oasis that you don’t remember seeing when you set up the tent the previous night. “Maktrismos” blends Amiri’s santur and Pagé’s harp so well together that you often can’t tell which is which.

Remember that desert oasis from earlier? You’re back in it (or did you ever leave?) on the final track, “Pathos,” which encourages you to let go of what’s troubling you, have a seat, a cup of tea, and just let things happen for almost thirteen minutes.

Again, this is one of the lushest, loveliest records you’ll hear this year. Let it change you.

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[Thanks to Nick at Riparian Media.]

Review: Imarhan – Essam

Imarhan‘s new album, Essam, might be their best yet.

Essam continues Imarhan’s solid list of Tuareg desert rock and spiritual music, but now adds synthesizers and samples to the mix without them overpowering their hypnotic guitar and percussion. The end result is mesmerizing.

“Ahitmanin” adds female backing vocals to instantly transport you to a faraway land with endless stars above you. “Derhan N’Oulhine” fades out with a cool guitar solo, and “Tellat” fades in with classic Taureg rock guitar riffs, thumping bass, and invigorating handclaps and vocals. “Tamiditin” is simple acoustic guitar strumming mixed with sampled instruments put through a synthesizer, creating a dreamy atmosphere.

The vocals of “Okcheur” weave in and out of reverb-laden guitar chords and synths that glide like a hawk over sand dunes. “Azaman Amoutay” loops in synth-beats to get your feet tapping and your perception shifting. “Tin Arayth” hops back and forth between big, bumping beats and quieter (but no less impressive) guitar work before building back into a rousing chant.

“Tinfoussen” and “Adounia Tochai” once again mix male and female vocals to beautiful effect (especially on the latter). The album ends with “Assagasswar” – a nearly eight-minute trip across an Algerian landscape that you can almost feel and see. Your vision might not reflect reality, or does it? Perception is reality after all. Reality always is here and now, and the visions Essam brings forth are that reality for each of us.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Nevaris – SoundSession

One of the things I like best about dub music is that it’s the kind of music that always finds me when I need it. Sometimes I just need to chill out, or to take a breath, or to get laid, or remember to stop worrying about things out of my control. Dub music is perfect for all of that, and Nevaris has returned with another solid dub record for all of that – SoundSession.

The album consists of four tracks, all of them recorded in a single session in May 2023. They bring together Nevaris and his excellent hand percussion work with heavyweights like Peter Apfelbaum (saxophone, flute), Will Bernard (guitar), Matt Dickey (guitar), DJ Logic (turntables), Jojo Kuo (percussion), Bill Laswell (production), Lockatron (drums), Jonathon Maron (bass), and Angel Rodriguez (percussion).

“Ninth Sun” immediately hooks you from the first few notes and settles you into what you know is going to be a groovy, trippy time. Apfelbaum’s saxophone is practically incense smoke moving through the room. It’s jazzier on “Remedy,” with neat, stretched guitar sounds from Bernard and Dickey, and sizzling hand percussion and distorted synths that bring spaghetti westerns and back alley Negril bars to mind.

Lockatron is locked-in on “Document,” putting the whole band in his pocket and letting them know they can go bonkers and he’ll be the silver cord anchoring them to the material plane. DJ Logic’s scratches and long, almost droning guitar chords seem to extend the space around you. Apfelbaum’s saxophone solo on the track is high-class.

The album’s final track is its biggest. “Dub Orchestra” clocks in at nearly eighteen minutes with Logic’s scratches sounding like a mystical crow or raven chattering away as it leads you down a winding path. Apfelbaum’s flute is something on the wind you hear as you walk, and the percussion from Nevaris, Kuo, Lockatron, and Rodriguez is a treat. All four improvise with each other with no one overpowering the other. It’s a long, cool trip and worth the drive.

The record is just what you need, whether you know it or not.

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[Thanks to Shauna at Shameless Promotion PR.]

Melodi Ghazal takes us “Higher” on her new single.

As a graduate of the esteemed Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Melodi Ghazal is intrinsic to Copenhagen’s storied indie scene. Her full-length debut, Idol Melodies, is out March 6, 2026 via Anyines, blending ’80s pop and Iranian folk traditions. Today, Ghazal shares the second single, “Higher.” Moody riffs and jagged verses culminate in a slow jam chorus. Touching on dissolution of the self, “Higher” imbues nostalgia with complexity.

On the single, Ghazal shares: “This is a song I personally needed, perhaps as a form of manifestation. I sing about the dissolution of the self. About those moments where you can suddenly shift perspective – and really feel the shift – from the shutting-down, everyday trip, to the big, opening image of love and connection. It sounds a bit New Age in such a short description, but that is nevertheless the theme of the song. I sampled my friend Peter’s guitar recording and chopped it up, perhaps with indirect inspiration from the chopped, country-sounding guitar in Madonna’s ‘Tell Me,’ which I think is a fantastic track. The form was meant to be simple and repetitive, because I wanted it to feel like the repeated caress of warm skin. And I also think that at times I noticed myself having the Spice Girls’ ‘Viva Forever’ as a reference somewhere in my head during the process. Maybe it’s because of the comforting effect of nostalgia, that I have some clear references when listening to this song and remembering how it came to life – because this song I just wanted to be comforting to me.”

Melodi Ghazal’s output is reflective. The Copenhagen native was raised by Iranian parents, and an interest in music was nurtured at cultural gatherings. As a child, she delved into pre-revolutionary Iranian hits and the Los Angeles pop that emerged in the 1980s and ‘90s. Later, she discovered hitmakers including Dido and Celine Dion on VH1 and MTV. At her mother’s encouragement, she took up piano lessons.

Ghazal fell into stasis for almost a decade. “I stopped quite abruptly with the occurrence of my self-consciousness, especially about otherness in a very white context,” she remembers. “I felt a need to be anonymous.” She enrolled in university, but grew depressed working a day job. During one down swing, she felt the desire to write songs again and started an adult education program. Two years later, she was accepted at the groundbreaking Rhythmic Music Conservatory — a school that counts ML Buch, Astrid Sonne, and Clarissa Connelly as alumni.

Ghazal’s full-length debut, Idol Melodies, is titled in reference to spiritual symbolism and a yearning to dissolve oneself. The album materialized gradually, with initial daf frame drum ideas sparking as part of her thesis at RMC. Allowing intuition to guide, tracks began with elements ranging from riffs to synthesizer presets. On a trip to London, she collaborated with Anyines label founder Villads Klint (Minais B) and NTS resident Coby Sey. Peter Bruhn Rasmussen contributed electric guitar, while Albert Hertz played acoustic. Rising Danish songwriter Fine Glindvad was a consultant in the final stages. “In the process of writing songs, I am always navigating a feeling of longing that appears when the melody is right,” she says. The end result is spry and mercurial, echoing keyboards and downtempo grooves cloaked in fuzz.

Idol Melodies is catchy and eclectic, inspired by Sufi dervishes, Madonna’s conversion to Kabbalah, and Googoosh’s displacement. “I have paraphrased Hafez in several places throughout the album and worked with circular movements in the productions,” Ghazal shares. On “Destinies and Melodies,” she sings of surrendering to inexplicable forces that yield creativity. Atop the silvery strums of “Numb,” she decompresses from a challenging period in which loved ones were hurt. “In My Room” is the tenderest moment, using adolescent introversion to probe a relationship with newly immigrated parents. The whole record is sonically direct, yet emotionally textured.

Weaving Middle Eastern percussion and English-Persian vocals, Ghazal cultivates protectivity. Associative streams impact a journey of self-dissolution and connection. “Something had been simmering in me, and it came out in the underlying melancholy and searching,” she muses. A current of change steers Idol Melodies, which ruminates on a breakup, personal crisis, and ensuing transformation. Flowering between stretches of malaise, Idol Melodies shrouds storminess in magic.

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[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

TarantisT resists oppression in Iran with their powerful single “Freedom.”

arantisT is calling on artists, creators, and cultural voices around the world to stand with the Iranian people, to speak for those who have been silenced, and to help ensure that the suffering of an entire nation is seen, heard, and never ignored.

Iran is currently facing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. What began as peaceful civilian protests against the occupying terrorist regime has escalated into a nationwide massacre, with the regime deploying heavy and military-grade weapons into city streets and brutally killing more than 30,000 people, including children, women, elders, and unarmed civilians. Families are denied the return of their loved ones’ bodies or are extorted for outrageous sums, while reports describe piles of corpses and streets running with blood. In an attempt to conceal the scale of these crimes, the regime has imposed a total digital blackout—shutting down the internet and phone networks across the country—cutting off all communication between Iran and the outside world, and leaving the true depth of the atrocities unknown. Despite this, the Iranian people remain united, calling collectively for Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and demanding an end to the regime’s occupation. Artists and musicians across Iran and the diaspora stand in solidarity with the people; among them, the Iranian rock band TarantisT, which continues to release protest music and material in support of the movement. Their latest release, “Freedom”, incorporates real footage from the current events in Iran, merged with digital technology, amplifying the voices of a nation silenced but unbroken.

Relentless and prolific, TarantisT will be releasing a new single next week titled

“Mission: Bloody Day”. Stay tuned!

Check out “Freedom” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiYaFalRTuQ

Formed in 2000 by a group of young underground metal heads, TarantisT originated in the basement alternative rock and heavy metal scenes in their native Tehran, Iran. Having to perform secretly but loudly often proved to be difficult, but after sparking a following via word of mouth in the underground, the band soon began to garner international recognition. Within just a few years, international media correspondents inspired by their story (including BBC, SKY, CNN, NPR, Metal Hammer and Kerrang) started visiting Tehran to meet and talk with TarantisT. These news reports and articles aided TarantisT in cultivating a worldwide following – motivating the band to relocate to the United States Los Angeles in 2008.

Iranian metal band TarantisT have been active with their social-political content and music during all these years, dropping tracks like “Revolution” in 2022. “This is not a protest, this is a Revolution”. TarantisT continues to march towards this Revolution with all Iranians seeking freedom and liberty for their country with the main slogan of “Women, Life, Freedom”.

Instagram, TikTok and some other social medias have put limitation and restrictions to TarantisT’s accounts due to posting images and footages of the protest, violence of the Islamic Republic authorities and due to the use of social-political hashtags.

Since their inception, TarantisT has been invited to play several festivals like SXSW, CMJ, Canadian Music Week and Intergalactic Fest. TarantisT quickly added to their touring repertoire, performing on the same stages as Metallica, Motörhead, Stone Temple Pilots, Muse, Cheap Trick, Voivod, Sum 41, My Ruin, Ben Harper and many more.

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[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR.]

Rewind Review: Goat – Seu Sangue EP (2023)

Goat‘s Seu Sangue EP is a collection of four remixes from their Oh Death album and one new track. It came about after the surprise release of Oh Death, which reminded everyone of how good Goat is and had producers and DJ clamoring to remix several (if not all) tracks from it.

Seu Sangue is the result, starting with the funky and snappy 12″ Extended Dance Mix of “Under No Nation” by John Mark Lapham. The “Shit & Shine Rework” of “Do the Dance” is jagged and weird, and Sonic Boom‘s Party Mix of “Soon You Die” somehow makes the song even fuzzier and grimier. I wish it were double the length – just under three minutes isn’t enough for this much madness.

Marlene Ribeiro remixes “Remind Yourself” with extra hand percussion for a funky instrumental. The new track is the title track, mixing acoustic guitar and what sounds like a Mellotron with seagull cries and reverb-loaded vocals for a meditative experience that is perfect for a sunset or when you’re about to make a potentially life-changing decision (and, really, aren’t all of them life-changing?).

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Rewind Review: Mdou Moctar – Funeral for Justice (2024)

Mdou Moctar‘s most recent album, Funeral for Justice, was recorded after two years of touring with his band, hearing music from all over the world, and seeing injustices across the world. This all lit a fire under the band, resulting in a record that’s a mixture of Tuareg rock, psychedelia, and punk rage.

The opening title track wastes no time, bringing in Thin Lizzy-heavy riffs and then snappy, sizzling drums. “Imouhar” crushes on all levels. Moctar’s guitar burns hotter than the fires on the album’s cover, and his three-piece band is so locked in that even the Incredible Hulk couldn’t shake them loose. “Takoba” is excellent Tuareg desert-psych with percussion made for long walks across hot dunes.

Speaking of hot things, the opening guitar on “Sousoume Tamacheq” is like a flare going off to signal danger ahead. “Imajighen” pumps the brakes a bit, but still keeps you rolling at a smooth pace as a warm breeze moves over you. The vocals on “Tchinta,” particularly on the chorus, seem like praise, but might be cries of injustice (considering the theme of the album). Moctar’s closing solo on it is stunning.

“Oh France” has some of the wildest drumming on the record. It sounds like it’s being played by two people in a giant cavern with a secret temple in it. The album ends with the mind-altering “Modern Slaves,” a song about how slavery, somehow, still exists in this world and how many of us willingly become slaves to multiple masters.

Funeral for Justice feels like Moctar’s fiercest album to date. Use with caution. It might set your house on fire.

Keep your mind open.

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