Rewind Reviews – Page 25 – 7th Level Music

Rewind Review: Clutch – Robot Hive / Exodus (2005)

Clutch’s (Neil Fallon – Guitar and vocals, Jean-Paul Gaster – drums, Dan Maines – bass, Tim Sult – guitar) 2005 album Robot Hive / Exodus was the rock record you needed in 2005, and is still the rock record you need right now.

“The Incomparable Mr. Flannery” is pretty much a salute to their metalhead fans, as Fallon gives shout-outs to Dokken, Boston, Kansas, REO Speedwagon, and George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers.

“Burning Beard” was the big single for the album. It’s about a man losing his mind as CNN, “the power of the Holy Ghost,” and the “same three dogs looking back” at him conspire to drive him nuts (although he was probably already there). Sult shreds particularly hard on this track, giving us some of his wildest guitar work on any Clutch record.

“Gullah” seems to be about a man coming to terms with his impending doom. “Ain’t no doubt Jesus sees us acting foolishly on American Bandstand,” Fallon sings. “Ain’t no doubt Vishnu missed you, then Kali kissed you. Better get busy. Days get shorter, air get colder…” Heavy stuff with slightly reverbed space-rock guitar and a wicked beat.

The robot hive mentioned in the album’s title is entered in “Mice and Gods.” It mentions “silver women on the OMNI magazine” and calls to “engineer the future now. Damn tomorrow, future now!” The guitar work on runs between the border of stoner rock and prog rock, which is to say it’s quite good.

“Pulaski Skyway” seems particularly relevant in 2016 as it mentions “real estate moguls, Chump Towers.” Maines and Gaster team up for a killer groove on it, as Fallon pleads that we must find salvation in trying times or lose our minds to the robot hive building up around us. “Never Be Moved” is, by its title alone, another exploration of religion. “Woe be the architect in his slumber, for the Watcher never sleeps,” Fallon sings, and almost raps the second verse. The use of organ (by guest Mick Schauer) in the song is also a nice touch, giving it a southern Baptist church call-and-response feel.

“10001110101” reminds us that we are in a robot hive, but we can have an exodus from it if we choose. “The shackles of automata will shatter like their bones,” Fallon sings, and who else but Clutch could pull off a song with a title and chorus in binary? “Circus Maximus” once again reveals the band’s love of monsters and oddities, mentioning manticores, Cthulu, dopplegangers, and even a “seven-legged sow.”

“10,000 Witnesses” is another call to escape the drudgery of the robotic world we’ve created by looking inward and outward for the spiritual. “Land of the Pleasant Living” has clever lyrics about Russian cosmonauts wondering what life is like below them in the U.S.

“Gravel Road” is floor-stomping, sweaty, honkytonk country blues…if that honkytonk was lit on fire by a dropped match and spilled bourbon. I love it when Clutch embraces their love of blues and rockabilly, and the whole band cooks on this track. “Who’s Been Talking?” is another salute to their blues influences, in particular Howlin’ Wolf, and they do him justice.

To make this album even better, they included a DVD of them performing most of the songs from Robot Hive / Exodus in Sayreville, New Jersey on July 13, 2005. You can’t miss.

Keep your mind open.

[We’re burning for you to subscribe to us.]

Rewind Review: Golden Dawn Arkestra – self-titled EP (2014)

[Rewind Reviews are reviews of albums that are at least a year old by the time I hear them.]

Cosmic funk rockers / shapeshifting aliens / voodoo acid trip Golden Dawn Arkestra’s self-titled 2014 debut EP is a lesson on how to release your first record: You come out blowing minds on the first track.

“Afropocalypse” is full of fat horns, shredding guitar, echoing vocals delivering messages from the boat of Anubis…or maybe from Texas. I’m not sure. I was too stunned by the track to figure out its meaning. It’s probably planted in my head like a Zen koan that will enlighten me when I’m not thinking about it.

“Oasis (The Legend of Nathaniel Thorne)” is part-spaghetti western film score and part-space lounge jam. Imagine Django walking into a 1960’s sci-fi movie space station bar while carrying a Theremin instead of his Gatling gun and you’ll have a slight idea of what this song is like. I have no idea who Nathaniel Thorne is, but Golden Dawn Arkestra has given him a badass theme song.

“Dimensions” has a bass lick that the Crystal Method would envy and joyful flute, handclaps, and lyrics inviting us to join Golden Dawn Arkestra on their journey beyond the five senses and the nine planets. “Masakayli” is pretty much a chant used to invoke the Egyptian god of funk (which I think might be Hathor), and the funky organ and wicked drum beats help.

“Saharan Knights” has some of my favorite guitar licks on the record, mixing psychedelia with surf. I also love how the horn section sounds a bit drunk throughout it. The EP ends with a song that at first sounds like a Chemical Brothers track from the mid-1990’s, “Selemat,” but soon turns into a hot space disco jam that will have you jumping. I love that Golden Dawn Arkestra ended with EP with a track that leaves you wanting more (and, thankfully, they gave us Stargazer earlier this year).

Get on this cosmic pleasure yacht while you have the chance. Sip cocktails with ghosts, otherworldly creatures, warlocks, shamans, witches, and priestesses. Listen to Golden Dawn Arkestra.

Keep your mind open.

[You’d be golden if you subscribed to us.]

Rewind Review: Harry Nilsson – Nilsson Schmilsson (2004 reissue)

If you’re unaware of the cultural significance of singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson’s 1972 masterpiece, Nilsson Schmilsson, it’s the album that produced “Without You” and “Coconut.” It also produced other tracks that should be remembered as much as those mega-hits.

“Gotta Get Up” is a funny, quirky pop song about waking up before dawn after a late night of partying and sex that skewers the 1970’s party culture. It’s still valid today. Listen to it and try not to think of club kids, Tinder hook-ups, and Las Vegas bachelor and bachelorette parties.

“Driving Along” continues the skewering, but this time the dying hippie subculture was the target (“They seem to say nothing, they seem to go farther, they seem to go nowhere.”). “Early in the Morning” is a wicked blues cut with simple, haunting organ and vocals by Nilsson. “The Moonbeam Song” could be a trippy song about getting high and watching the night sky, but it’s more about introspection (euphoric or not). The acoustic guitars and mellotron are a nice combination.

“Down” is another dip into the blues; with heavy R&B vocal influences and funky horns that only seem to exist in songs from the 1970’s. The brass section hits as hard as Nilsson’s soulful vocals on it.

No one can deny the power of “Without You.” It’s heartbreaking, especially when you consider the songwriters (Peter Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger) both committed suicide. Nilsson goes for broke on the vocals, and legendary keyboardist Gary Wright plays one of the best and saddest piano pieces of the decade. This song won Nilsson a Grammy and was on the Billboard charts for a year after its release.

I’m glad he put the equally famous “Coconut” after it to make us smile again after our hearts have had a cigarette put out on them. Everyone from the Muppets to the Homer Simpson has covered it. What most people miss is that the main theme of the song is “the cause is the cure,” as Nilsson mentions in the liner notes to the reissue. The song’s a Mobius strip. “Let the Good Times Roll” is a fun version of the blues standard, and it’s a nice set-up for the jaw-dropping “Jump into the Fire” – a rocker so good it leaves you dumbfounded the first time you hear it. It’s a forgotten Top 40 hit from the early 70’s, which is a crying shame, and the reason many promotional spots for Nilsson Schmilsson proclaimed it to be a “rock record.”

“I’ll Never Leave You” is a dark, melancholy end to the album as Nilsson pleads for a lost love to return. It’s “Without You” without any of the hope. It’s a bleak Radiohead track before Radiohead were learning childhood rhymes.

The 2004 reissue also contains a Spanish language version of “Without You,” the quirky sort-of love song “How Can I Be Sure of You,” a demo version of “The Moonbeam Song,” the short and weird “Lamaze,” the war protest song “Old Forgotten Soldier,” and an alternate version of “Gotta Get Up.” There’s also a great vintage radio spot from the album that includes interviews clips with Nilsson and producer Richard Perry.

It’s a fine record and it’s surprising Nilsson isn’t given more credit from contemporary musicians. He’s sometimes referred to as “the missing Beatle,” for crying out loud.

Keep your mind open.

[Jump into the fire with us by subscribing.]

Rewind Review: TV on the Radio – World Cafe Live (2011)

This five-track EP from TV on the Radio was recorded for the National Public Radio program World Café in Santa Monica, California not long after the release of their excellent album Seeds. It’s a great slice of live, raw power from the prog / funk rockers.

“Caffeinated Consciousness” is big rocker that’s as smooth as silk covering a gravel road. “Will Do” is always welcome. It’s one of TVOTR’s biggest hits and easily one of their greatest love songs. This performance is groovy, hip, and a little dangerous. “Red Dress” never ceases to be a stunner, and this live version is sharp as a tack.

“Province” is sweet, with fine guitar work throughout it, and the vocal interplay is even better. The closer, “Repetition,” is a little trippy as it moves from a repetitive beat with shoegaze guitars over it to a brash beat with rapid-fire vocals.

TVOTR has been high on my must-see list for years, but the dates never work out when they get close. This EP can’t substitute for a live show, of course, but it certainly is a nice appetizer to the gourmet meal a full concert would be.

Keep your mind open.

[You can have 7th Level Music in your e-mail inbox by subscribing.]

Rewind Review: Gary Wilson – You Think You Really Know Me (2002 reissue)

I got to Gary Wilson late, so shame on me. I, like many Gen X’ers, first heard his name dropped by Beck but I had no idea who he was. He was Beck’s cool next-door neighbor for all I knew. Having Gary Wilson as your neighbor probably would be the coolest thing on Earth, because the guy’s an avant-garde music legend who has influenced more musicians than we can probably ever know, and he started this musical tidal wave with his debut album You Think You Really Know Me.

The album starts with “Another Time I Could Have Loved You,” which is a quick instrumental mix of electric piano and distorted guitar. It’s like Steely Dan and the Blade Runner soundtrack got in a car crash. Just when you think the album’s going to be all weird noise rock like Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, along comes “You Keep on Looking” with its peppy synthesizers, fat synth-bass, and Gary Wilson’s love-lounge vocals.

“6.4 = Make Out” is one of his classics. It’s a slow jam about a familiar theme – Gary craving for (and yet at his wit’s end with) a mysterious woman. “I don’t kiss on my first date,” he tells us, but you don’t really believe him as the song dissolves into what sounds like distorted thunderclaps before that slick groove returns.

“When You Walk into My Dreams” is so damn funky that it should’ve been one of the greatest hits of 1977. The groove on it rivals Boz Scaggs’ “Lowdown,” the guitar solo is tight, and the lyrics are even more fun than the ones in Scaggs’ hit.

“Loneliness” is haunting, weird, and unsettling. It reminds me of Ennio Morricone’s lesser-known slasher film score work. It’s full of running water sounds, dissonant organ, and scratchy, slowed vocals.

“Cindy” is one of many women often featured in Wilson’s lyrics (Karen, Linda, Debbie, and Cathy being some of the others). “Pick me up around 9:20, but you better call first,” Cindy tells him, and he sings and dreams about making out with her for most of the night. “You Were Too Good to Be True” is a break-up song, sure, but it’s such a ferocious lounge-jazz jam that it’ll help you get over that lost relationship pretty quick.

“Groovy Girls Make Love at the Beach” is about Wilson wishing he could take Debbie down to the beach for an epic make-out session, but she’s “out of reach,” as is Cathy. He’s alone on another Friday night, but the song’s too fun to make you think striking out with two ladies crushes him. He’ll get back on the horse next Friday.

“I Wanna Lose Control” is Wilson playfully giving his lady some pillow talk about all the cool things they’re going to do on date night (swimming, hanging out with friends, etc.), but he does warn her he wants to go bonkers for fifteen minutes first. The title track is a precursor of vaporwave with great psychedelic touches and a beat structure that doesn’t seem to make sense at first.

“Chromium Bitch” is another of Wilson’s greatest hits. It has get-your-freak-on synths as Wilson sings about making kinky, sweet love to his girl. “I wanna make you my chromium bitch. My bitch. My bitch! Hey, I’ll be kissing you tonight.” He’s not a complete Dom, however. “And when you wanna go to the dance, I’ll be there, too. I’ll be smiling. I’ll be smiling, ‘cause I love you.”

The album ends with Gary Wilson finally getting to make out with Karen, Linda, Debbie, or Cathy on “And Then I Kissed Your Lips.” The whole album is like a diary of Wilson’s swinging weekend with hopeful plans (“6.4 = Make Out”), plans that went wrong (“Loneliness”), ones that look promising (“Cindy”), and ones that pan out to his delight (“Chromium Bitch”).

Again, shame on me for taking so long to find this masterpiece. Shame on you if you still haven’t heard it. Mr. Wilson has a new album due out this summer. I’m glad he’s still at it, and I hope he’s taking time to hang out with groovy girls at the beach. He deserves it.

Keep your mind open.

[You can know us better by subscribing to us.]

Rewind Review: Eric B. & Rakim – Don’t Sweat the Technique (1992)

Released in the prime time of hip-hop, Don’t Sweat the Technique is a classic featuring one of the best hip-hop duos of all time – Eric B. and Rakim.

“What’s on Your Mind” is a slow jam with a club beat as Rakim puts down rhymes so good that ladies want to snuggle with him on the couch and guys want to take lessons from him. Plus, only he can get away with a rhyme like “I seen you in the subway on the way from Brooklyn / Hello, good lookin’, is this seat tooken?”

“Teach the Children” is a plea to leaders to fix the environment, the drug abuse epidemic, and economic inequality. Eric B.’s groove on it hits as hard as Rakim’s message. “Pass the Hand Grenade” has Rakim challenging other MC’s to take the mic from him before he blows it to smithereens.

“Casualties of War,” one of their biggest hits, is a salute to troops serving in Iraq in the early 1990’s and how many weren’t sure about their mission, what awaited them when they returned home, or if their sacrifices were worth it. “Rest Assured” has drums so crisp they belong in a Pringles can. “The Punisher” could very well be about the Marvel Comics character with its chorus of “Kill ‘em again,” but it’s actually about Rakim slaying inferior MC’s with his hand grenade microphone. After all, he’s one of a select few who could put down such smooth rhymes on a track like “Relax with Pep” while Eric B. spins an acid-lounge groove behind him.

“Keep the Beat” is an even sexier slow jam than “What’s on Your Mind,” especially with the nice touch of female backing vocals on the chorus. The horn and flute loops in “Know the Ledge” are sweet, but Eric B.’s scratching is even better. “Kick Along” closes the record with the fastest beats and rhyming from the influential duo. “Try to keep up,” Rakim says at one point. It’s nearly impossible as the two of them race along faster than a lit dynamite fuse.

The title track is a lesson on rhymes, beats, and cuts. It’s no surprise that it and this album are hip-hop classics. Eric B. and Rakim are highly regarded, but often forgotten in the discussion of hip-hop greats among the general public who only have a cursory knowledge of rap. School is in session when you hear them, so pay attention.

Keep your mind open.

[Subscribing to us is no sweat. Just drop your e-mail address in the box to your left.]

Rewind Review: Strange Lot – Walk of the Sun (2014)

[Rewind Reviews are reviews of albums that are over a year old by the time I hear them.]

Strange Lot’s debut EP, Walk of the Sun, is a portent of great things to come. Made when the band was a two-piece with Dominic Mena on bass, guitar, and vocals and Tim Lormor on drums, all four tracks are excellent psych-fuzz.

“Upside Dwners” starts like trippy mellow stuff you’d hum around a hippie campfire, but it soon bursts into glorious shimmering power pop (but with heavily reverbed vocals). “Stompr” is appropriately named because Lormor stomps out a killer beat on it while Mena gets weird and bluesy with his guitar licks. “Fiction” sounds a bit like early (as in Mongoloid Years) Devo cuts – sizzling rock drums backing distorted guitars and wild vocals. The title track is a full blast of psychedelia that needs blared from the speakers of your Vanagon.

I’m glad these guys released a full-length album (Another Mind) after this, because to not follow-up on such a good record would’ve been a travesty.

Keep your mind open.

[Take a walk with us by subscribing.]

Rewind Review: Vaadat Charigim – Sinking as a Stone (2015)

It’s intriguing that Israeli shoegaze trio Vaadat Charigim (Yuval Haring – guitar and vocals, Yuval Guttman – drums, Dan Bloch – bass) would make an album about boredom that is actually mesmerizing. Sinking as a Stone is about various types of boredom and ennui felt by young people living in Tel Aviv (work, life, relationships, waiting for coffee, etc.), but the album is so lush and dreamy that you can’t be bored by it. It’s a panacea for its theme.

For example, the opener, “Neshel,” is almost eleven minutes long – about the time you’d wait for a halfway decent chai – but it swirls around you with such ghostly guitars and vocals that the song goes by before the barista has your order ready. “Hadavar Haamiti” is power shoegaze in the vein of the Jesus and Mary Chain and will have you tapping your foot at the bus stop while you wait for your ride to work.

“Klum” takes you out of your doldrums by lifting you into orbit with precision drumming and spaced-out vocals. “Ein Li Makom” has gothic touches, but not so many that they overpower the rock hooks (of which there are plenty). “Imperia Achrona” floats so well that it’s almost like a Slowdive track. The guitar comes at you from several angles, but it stays peaceful the entire time. It also has a great switch in the middle that almost makes it two songs in one. “At Chavera Sheli” combines Joy Division and Modern English into a dream-rock gem. The organ at the end of it drifts into the beginning of “Hashiamum Shokea,” which is a great slice of shoegaze and a powerful end to the record.

It’s not boring at all. Vaadat Charigim’s Sinking as a Stone is a journey down a lazy river with its shoegaze drone grooves, yes, but the boat is crewed by angels, mystics, shamans, and aliens. You’re too fascinated by it to be bored.

Keep your mind open.

[You won’t get bored with us. You can subscribe and get new stuff to your e-mail box nearly every day!]

Rewind Review: Dayluta Means Kindness – The Ground Is Lava (2014)

Dayluta Means Kindness is a five-piece prog / psych rock outfit from El Paso, Texas. They play big instrumental jams that evoke images of alien worlds and cosmic exploration. The title of their four-song debut, The Ground Is Lava, suggests childhood playground memories, space exploration. and shifting landscapes.

The title track opens the record with soaring guitars that border on drone rock. “Everywhere You Look There’s a Mountain” has a title like a Zen koan, drums like a tribal ceremony, and guitar work like a slow avalanche. This would be perfect for hiking at sunrise in the American southwest. I must remember to put in on such a playlist for my next trip out there.

“Young Savagery & General Debauchery” is a great name for a juvenile delinquency movie from the late 1950’s, but the song is a long, floating piece of beautiful guitar work and stadium rock drumming. This track will change your mood, slow your thinking, and inspire you. To do what? That’s up to you, but I suggest rock climbing, meditation, surfing, or creating any kind of art.

The closer, “The Sun’s True Brightness in Comparison with Other Stars,” is as epic as its title. It builds from tones that remind you of a sunrise to a soundtrack for navigating an asteroid field. It belongs on your “morning run” playlist, and the whole album belongs in your collection.

Keep your mind open.

[It would be kind of you to subscribe to us.]

Rewind Review: A Place to Bury Strangers – Exploding Head (2009)

I’ve been meaning to pick up A Place to Bury Strangers’ 2009 album, Exploding Head, for years. I have no excuse other than it was never for sale on CD whenever I’d see them live. I love the band, so shame on me for taking seven years to pick up this fine record.

The opener, “It Is Nothing,” displays Oliver Ackermann’s (vocals and guitar) love of My Bloody Valentine. His guitar sounds like he’s playing it upside-down and backwards while his vocals seem to be coming from the bottom of an empty pool. “In Your Heart” is one of my favorite APTBS tracks. It has the stabbing guitar chords, chugging synth beats, lyrics about screwed-up relationships (“Don’t say you’ll be with me again. There’s nothing there, it’s dead.”), and David J-like bass I love from their songs, and it slays live.

Tribal drumming grounds “Lost Feeling” as Ackermann pleads with his girl to come back to him, but he knows he’s not even on her radar. It’s like a great lost Bauhaus track with even more blaring guitars. “Deadbeat” is nothing but, as it has some of the hardest, slickest beats and bass on the record. It’s an instant mosh pit creator, so be careful where you play it.

“Keep Slipping Away” is like early Cure but with more reverb, heavier amps, and not as much moping. “Ego Death” is heavy goth rock with a chorus that might knock you out of your boots. “Smile When You Smile” is equally heavy and a bit creepier. “Everything Always Goes Wrong” could be the theme for every Three’s Company episode by the title, but the sound of it is better for a modern Euro-horror film.

You’d think the title track would be loud enough to make your head explode, but APTBS wisely flips it around to make it a catchy industrial track with almost a dance club bass line and vocals free of reverb. The closer is one of their hardest and loudest live tracks – “I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart.” As fast as it is on the record, it’s twice the speed live.

Don’t be like me and wait seven years to add this to your collection. It’s essential noise-psych.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t slip away without subscribing to us.]