Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, and sculptor P.J. Harvey will be playing Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival on July 15th. Ms. Harvey is an alt-rock, feminist giant who has crafted complex songs she insists aren’t about her, but many suspect otherwise. She is bold and beautiful, serious and sexy, charming and chaotic. Her set will surely be packed and one of the highlights of the festival.
Keep your mind open.
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I don’t know what I can write about George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic that hasn’t already been written. The man is the godfather of funk and pretty much spearheaded a musical revolution in the 1970’s. His bassist, Bootsy Collins, is one of the greatest of all time. They’re responsible for more psychotronic freak-outs than you can imagine, not to mention a thousand beats and bass lines you’ve heard in ten thousand hip hop songs. Their set on July 15th at the Pitchfork Music Festivalis a can’t-miss show.
SLOWDIVE ANNOUNCE MORE US TOUR DATES;
WATCH NPR MUSIC’S FIELD RECORDING
SLOWDIVE IS ONE OF THE BEST REVIEWED ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
Slowdive‘s self-titled album, released last month via Dead Oceans, is one of the best-reviewed albums of the year so far. Following a sold out North American tour in advance of its release, the band are announcing a return to the continent in the fall, to perform in cities both new and old. Prior to that, they’ll be appearing at FYF Fest in Los Angeles on July 21st.
Also, today saw the release of an incredible stripped back NPR Music Field Recording that the band filmed while in New York in May. Watch below.
SLOWDIVE TOUR DATES (new dates in bold) Fri. June 16 – Sun. June 18 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifeld Derby Sat. July 1 – Roskilde, Denmark @ Roskilde Festival Thurs. July 6 – Trencin, Slovakia @ Pohoda Festival Fri. July 7 – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival Sun. July 9 – Six Four Les Plages, France@ Pointu Festival Fri. July 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ FYF Fest Fri. July 28– South Korea @ Valley Rock Festival Sun. July 30 – Tahar Shi, Japan @ Fuji Rock Festival Sat. Aug. 19 – Trondheim, Norway @ Pstereo Festival Fri. 25 Aug. – Switzerland @ Nox Orae Festival Sat. Aug. 27 – Paris, France @ Rock En Seine Festival Thu. Aug. 31 – Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival Sat. Sept. 2 – Milano, Italy @ Un Altro Festival Thu. Sept. 7 – Tel Aviv, Israel @ Barby Club Fri. Sept. 15 – Sat. 16 Sept. – Angers, France @ Levitation Fest Sun. Sept. 17 – Birmingham, UK @ Beyond the Tracks Festival Fri. Sept. 29 – Dortmund, Germany @Way Back When Festival Sat. Sept. 30 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ DR Koncerthuset Mon. Oct. 2 – Warsaw, Poland – @ Palladium Tues. Oct. 3 – Berlin, Germany @ Huxley’s
Weds. Oct. 4 – Hamburg, Germany @Uebel & Gefaehrlich Fri. Oct. 6 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Sat. Oct. 7 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique Mon. Oct. 9 – Glasgow, UK @ ABC Tues. Oct. 10 – Manchester, UK @Albert Hall
Weds. Oct. 11 – Leeds, UK @ Town Hall Fri. Oct. 13 – London, UK @ Roundhouse Mon. Oct. 23 – Vancouver, BC @ The Commodore Wed. Oct. 25 – Seattle, WA @ The Neptune Thu. Oct. 26 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom Sat. Oct. 28 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater Wed. Nov. 1 – Denver, CO @ The Ogden Sat. Nov. 4 – Madison, WI @ Barrymore Theatre Sun. Nov. 5 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre Tue. Nov. 7 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall Wed. Nov. 8 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre Thu. Nov. 9 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Hall Fri. Nov. 10 – Toronto, ON @ CANADA @ Massey Hall Sat. Nov. 11 – New Haven, CT @ College St Music Hall Sun. Nov. 12 – New York City, NY @ Terminal 5 Tue. Nov. 14 – Boston,MA @ Paradise Wed. Nov. 15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer Thu. Nov. 16 – Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Fri. Nov. 17 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
“A precise and altogether gorgeous showcase of their peerless ability at production, mood, and songcraft.” – Pitchfork [Best New Music]
“Listening to Slowdive is like watching the sunrise and sunset at once — an awe-inspiring chorus of the galaxy.” – NPR Music
“Slowdive carries all the right baggage from the band’s past, but the album leaves no question about the direction they’re traveling in. They’re carrying this sound towards the future.” – Stereogum
“Throughout Slowdive, the band use foggy images and slippery transitions as a soothing sort of déjà vu—you feel like you’ve been here before, even though you obviously haven’t.” – SPIN [SPIN Essential]
“With this self-titled record, their first in 22 years, Slowdive definitively prove that some bands have enough creative juice to get back together and make some incredible music.” – Vulture
“The result is as beautiful and stilling as ever.” – AV Club
“Dreamy vocals, thick melancholia, heavy guitar treatments. And ‘Slomo,’ the opening track, is a goddamn minor miracle. Welcome back, shoegaze friends.” – Newsweek
“Kids rock” legends Feltworthwere kind enough to let me interview them recently about their inevitable foray into serious rock music. I learned a lot about their influences, how they met, and what kind of barbecue Cozy prefers.
7th Level Music: I’ll start with one for Manny and Dezi. How did you two decide to start a band and how did you meet Morris and Cozy?
Dezi (left) and Manny with their new single – “You Turn Me On”
DEZI: Manny and I have been playing together for as long as we can remember. Cozy answered an ad we put out in a music paper. We thought he was too crazy to be in our band but he brought Morris with him and when we heard Morris play we begged him to join. He didn’t want to but we said we would take Cozy if he joined so he agreed.
7LM: Cozy, I know you played some saxophone on Feltworth’s “Super Duper” album, so do you plan on bringing it back with the new rock-oriented material?
DEZI: That was just for the photo shoot. That whole album is predominantly MIDI sounds. If you think you hear a sax on the first record, it’s a fake.
7LM: Your agent has stated that you guys are performing and putting your music out there for free. Is this right? I think it’s great to see people making art for the sake of art. How did this decision come about, and was it a difficult one?
DEZI: I was initially defiant when we were being booed by kids and moms but I did have a bit of a freak out when it hit me that we had closed the doors on a lot of our money making opportunities. I think I have arrived at a place of acceptance. COZY: Wait, I’m not being paid for this? MANNY: I like to think we’re in our “investment period.”
MORRIS: It could be argued that we have been releasing children’s music under duress. Lately we’ve been composing and recording our music freely. “Freely” is not quite the same as gratis, if you catch my drift.
Cozy (left) and Morris
7LM: How has the crowd response been so far? Was it difficult to make the transition from playing to crowds of children and their parents to crowds of hipsters, old school rockers, and music bloggers like yours truly?
DEZI: As I said, there was an excitement in the chaos of the bad press and poor reaction. I guess we are hoping to reach music bloggers like you. We are currently at 230 Instagram followers so go tell your nerd friends.
COZY: It’s weird. The moms still come backstage after the shows to meet (and greet!) us it’s just this time around they get a little more dolled up – no more worries about baby barf!
MORRIS: If I never have to play to another whinging three-year-old again, I certainly won’t complain.
7LM: A follow-up to that: Are you surprised that people are surprised you guys decided to make a rock record? It seems like you guys have been hinting at this all along with your cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Monkey Man” and how the cover of your self-titled album was a parody of Boston’s self-titled debut.
DEZI: The Boston parody was for our 4th album, Beanbagtown, which I think is musically the best of our records. We had the most freedom to produce it the way we wanted. It wasn’t as big a seller as the first few, but it did get some good critical reaction. Maybe that gave us the confidence to take the step. MANNY: Right, I guess there have been hints through our children’s records that we appreciate rock and pop history, so perhaps some parents may have caught on. I attempted to do a more kid-centric version of an early Velvet Underground track by renaming it “All Tomorrow’s Birthday Parties” for Beanbagtown, but that was left in the can.
7LM: Do you tend to write grooves first or lyrics first? Or does it depend on the song?
DEZI: Who says “grooves”? Ew! Anyway, music first most of the time although songs where you start with the lyrics often tend to be the best. It’s just harder to do. I have more musical ideas. I don’t often find myself in a coffee shop with a journal. MANNY: I sometimes see Morris in a coffee shop with a journal. Or maybe that’s the wine list. But yes, usually music first for me as well.
MORRIS: Understandably, most of my lyrical contribution has been cloistered within the bound confines of my diary. With that in mind, even the most untrained ear can hear the inherent tension as I express myself on the keyboards.
7LM: Morris, is it just me or do I hear touches of Jerry Lee Lewis in some of your playing on “Forget This Feeling?” I also wondered if you were influenced by some of the great French jazz pianists like Martial Solal or Jacques Loussier since you grew up in France?
DEZI: I think Morris is more influenced by Jerry Lewis than Jerry Lee. He is originally from France after all.
MORRIS: I will always have a soft spot for the music I grew up on, but I will not lean back on the fundamentals of greats like Solal and Loussier. America in all of it’s youthful bravado and naïve innocence has unveiled its charms clumsily. “He shook my nerves and he rattled my brain…” Does that make sense when I express it in English?
7LM: I know you’ve done some gigs with Animal Eyes, Situation Bad, and a few other indie acts. Are there other bands you’re hoping to jam with soon?
DEZI: We share a rehearsal space with those bands. I wouldn’t say we are fans per se. Most of our favourite bands have human beings in them.
COZY: Quite frankly I’m hoping to take over for Gregg Allman in the Allman Brothers Band. Rest easy, MidnightRider. MANNY: Hmmm…I’m not big on jamming. I guess it’s fun though. Animal Eyes are a half-decent KISS cover band. Not alot of room for jamming with those guys. The only brothers I’m interested in are the Hudson Brothers…kids music to rock cross-over geniuses.
7LM: You guys have a wide variety of influences ranging from the Beach Boys and Beatles to the Clash and Joy Division, so I’m wondering what range of material we might hear on a future full-length album?
DEZI: I like those groups. I don’t know much about Joy Division, but I know about them and I know a few songs. I would say we are less nihilistic. Cheap Trick is a good example of a band I wouldn’t mind being confused with. If you ask me, Robin Zander is the best singer in the world. COZY: Cheap Trick YEAH! Anybody that has a drummer named after bread (Bun E. Carlos) is okay in my book! I would also like to write more songs that are closer in style to the band Bread. They are so mellow it’s HEAVY. Heavy mellow! MANNY: I think the material on our album will kinda bridge the gap between pop/rock and rock/pop. I prefer New Order to be honest.
MORRIS: I think that we shall have to strike a happy balance between “agreeing to disagree” and “having our cake and eating it, too.”
7LM: Speaking of influences, Cozy you mentioned barbeque is a major influence on you. Do you prefer Kansas City style, Texas style, Memphis dry rub, or another type?
COZY: Texas all the way! I mean, you’d be a fool to think otherwise. My idea of heaven on earth is the family special at Salt Lick BBQ, Driftwood, Texas. ALL YOU CAN EAT for $24.95!!!! I have an endorsement deal with those guys. Twice a year they slather me up in their Whiskey Barrel BBQ Sauce and all I have to do in return is mention them in interviews. Mission accomplished?
7LM: Which Indiana Jones film is the best?
DEZI: I saw the second one but not the third one. So, the first one – Raiders of the Lost Ark. Karen Allen is the shit!
COZY: Who? MANNY: When I was a kid, my friends were all going to see Poltergeist, but I was nervous to see such a scary film so I tried instead to convince them to see Raiders of the Lost Ark… for the third time. No luck. But yes, the first is the best.
MORRIS: Am I the only one who finds the late River Phoenix captivating in “The Last Crusade?”
7LM: Lastly, is everything okay between you guys and Tame Impala?
DEZI: They are one band we can agree on on the tour bus. Except when we saw them play live, the dude had bare feet.
COZY: We plan on getting our manager Skip to drop the hammer on ’em. See you in court guys, may the best lawyer win!
MORRIS: Okay!? We’ve already got two domesticated rabbits, a monkey (?), and a cat. I think there’s plenty of room for Impala in the Feltworth camp.
7LM: Thanks for your time. I wish you all the best.
FELTWORTH –“Forget This Feeling” / “You Turn Me On”7-inch (out June 02, 2017)
Share new video “Forget This Feeling” YouTube // Brooklyn Vegan “Both songs are super-catchy pop, reminiscent of The Beatles or The Sweet, or Canadian bands who like The Beatles and The Sweet.” – Brooklyn Vegan
“There’s no Juno category for Best Musical Performance By a Puppet — but if there were, Feltworth would likely have it locked down.” – CBC “Forget This Feeling” is a rollicking slice of pure power-pop built on an insistent piano part from Morris and stellar brotherly harmonies, all loving smothered in appropriately fuzzy guitars. For Feltworth the near future is bright…orange.”
– The Line Of Best Fit Feltworth is a 4-piece rock band consisting of Dezi Feltworth (bass, vocals), his brother Manny Feltworth (guitar, vocals), Morris Katzenburd (piano, keyboards) and Cozy Balboa (drums, tambourine). You may, of course, know of them already if you have children at arm’s length. Feltworth has been an outrageously successful act on the children’s music scene for many years. They burst into the limelight early in their career with their first album of music for youngsters called Super Duper. They followed that smash record with both Felty, Felty Places and We’re Feltworth, a pair of multi-platinum releases that saw the “fabric four” begin to add more original material to their repertoire of tried and true children’s classics. Their game changing fourth album, Beanbag Town, was their first album of all original songs for kids. It’s still considered a high water mark on the spectrum of adolescent entertainment.
Though regarded as financially and commercially successful, the fellows of Feltworth didn’t feel creatively satisfied by being pigeon-holed as children’s act. So, against their manager’s wishes, they’ve embarked on making a real pop/rock record that reflects their own personality and their influences – be it The Sweet, Paul McCartney, Brian Eno or Rupert Holmes. With the change in direction, they are challenging their core audience and seeking new listeners. It’s been a tough-sell to their manager and label, so the band has decided to self-finance the new recordings that will be released via their own Dezman Productions label. The first release from this brand new batch of activity is a limited edition orange coloured 7” single featuring the rocking “Forget This Feeling” (lead vocals by Manny) and the longing romanticism of “You Turn Me On” (lead vocals by Dezi). There’s more music to come. The past is behind them. The future awaits-ish.
“You know what the coolest thing is about this show?” Said a man next to me in the Vic Theatre where young Aussie rockers Boytoy and Aussie rock legends Midnight Oil were about to perform. “No one here is under thirty!”
It wasn’t true, but it was definitely an older crowd at the Vic. It had been over twenty years since my wife and I had seen Midnight Oil in concert, and you could tell the entire crowd in the hot, packed venue was ready to go nuts once Midnight Oil hit the stage.
Boytoy were first. They were three young ladies who were playing some good garage rock when we walked into the place, but they transformed into a stoner rock band by the end of their set, which elated me to no end. I need to track down their stuff.
Boytoy
Speaking, sort of, of stoner rock, the guy next to me tapped me on the shoulder, pointed at my rolled-up tour poster and said, “I thought that was a bong! I thought, ‘This guy’s the coolest guy in here!’” He even grabbed it at one point during Boytoy’s set and took an imaginary hit off it.
The guy in the teal shirt behind me thought this tour poster was a bong at first glance.
Midnight Oil came out to a roaring welcome and then got right down to business. They hadn’t lost a step in the time they’d been off working on other projects or, in the case of lead singer Peter Garrett, serving in the Australian Parliament.
“Why hasn’t he aged?” My wife asked about Garrett. My best guess is that he’s either a vampire or the food is much better in Australia because she was right. He looked like he’d barely grown older since we saw them in the early 1990’s.
He was, of course, politically outspoken. You don’t go to a Midnight Oil show and not expect to hear some political commentary.
Garrett started fairly early in the set. “Fact one: Thanks for waiting for so long. Fact two: It’s nice to be back in Obama territory. Fact three: There will be no alternative facts here tonight. Fact four: We don’t have short memories.” They then tore into “Short Memory” and had everyone bouncing.
He would touch on compulsory voting (“I don’t think you-know-who would’ve gotten in.” (if we had it here in the U.S.)), the environment (“We have a Mother Earth who takes care of us.”), universal health care (“If you make tacos for a living, you pay a little bit. If you have fifty million in a hedge fund and support the governor, you pay a bit more. We don’t call this socialism. We call it common sense.”), and equal rights (“Everyone, no matter their race, sex, age, or religious beliefs deserves to be treated with respect.”) before the night was over, and he wore a shirt that read “To sin by silence when one should protest makes cowards of men.”
Among the many great spots in their set were an acoustic version of “My Country,” a funky rendition of “When the Generals Talk,” roaring versions of “Read About It” and “Kosciusko,” and a killer performance of “Dreamworld” to end the set that had everyone pumping their fists and chanting.
A stunning rendition of “My Country.”
They played two encores. The first started with “Put Down that Weapon,” and I couldn’t help but think they chose to play that in Chicago as a message toward the high rate of gun violence there the last two years. “Truganini” and “Forgotten Years” rounded out the mini-set, and then they came out once more to dedicate “Sometimes” to people working hard to help others.
“Sometimes”
It was a trip back in time to songs that are still relevant today. Midnight Oil is globetrotting for this tour, so catch them if they come near you. This is one of the best and most welcome tours of the year.
My wife and I honeymooned in St. Louis twenty years ago, and we ended up back there for our twentieth anniversary. It was great timing because not only were we going to see the Cubs play the Cardinals (Cardinals win 5-3), but we also had tickets to see rock legends Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Joe Walsh. Tom Petty has been high on my wife’s bucket list for years. She’s also a big fan of the Eagles, so the addition of Joe Walsh was a win-win.
Joe Walsh just getting warmed up.
Mr. Walsh came out with nine people in his band behind him, including four back-up singers and two drummers. He quickly got to work with “Meadows” and then dialed up “Ordinary Average Guy.” You could tell he was having fun by then. He threw down “The Bomber” by the James Gang (“Was part of that from Bolero?” My wife asked. Answer: “Yes.”) and made my wife cry when he played “Take It to the Limit” and dedicated it to Glenn Frey. “In the City” hits harder live than you expect it will, and people went nuts for “Life’s Been Good.”
I was yelling “Golden throat!” by this point, and sure enough he ended with “Rocky Mountain Way.” It’s easy to forget how good a guitarist Walsh is. He can still shred and the golden throat effects on this track are still fun after all these years.
Walsh proving he can still shred.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers started their set with the first song off their first album – “Rockin’ Around (with You).” They unleashed “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” next and played it so well and with such fervor that it could’ve been the encore. “I could go home right now,” my wife said as we sat there with our mouths hanging open in stunned appreciation.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers playing “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.”
They tore through many of their biggest hits, including “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” “I Won’t Back Down,” and “Freefallin'” (a big crowd favorite). Two surprises were “It’s Good to Be King” and the lovely, acoustic “Wildflowers.”
“Wildflowers” – a lovely part of the set.
“Refugee” slayed the place, and the band was firing on all cylinders by this point. “Runnin’ Down a Dream” was almost a full-on psychedelic mind trip with its accompanying visuals.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers getting trippy.
There was a nice salute to hometown hero Chuck Berry when they played “Carol,” and they ended, no surprise, with “American Girl,” which had everyone jumping. It was a great end to a wonderful set. It’s hard to believe Petty and his band are on a 40th anniversary tour, because many of his songs still sound so fresh.
“American Girl”
Keep your mind open.
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I’m not sure what I can add to the thousands of words already written on the death of Soundgarden and Audioslave lead singer Chris Cornell. He was one of the best rock singers of my generation, and even sang the Bond theme for the modern version of Casino Royale – “You Know My Name.”
I’ll always remember him for his work on Soundgarden’s masterpiece album Superunknown. The whole record is a stunning piece of work, and Cornell’s voice ranges from screaming metal work to psychedelic wanderings to doom metal growls.
He was open about his drug addictions, and there is already talk that his death might be the result of suicide. I wish him peace and his bandmates and fans strength.
Spoils of moshing: A Damned 40th anniversary U.S. tour poster, a signed Bleached t-shirt, and a broken watch band.
I’ve wanted to see the Damnedfor a long while and was bummed that I missed them when they played Chicago’s Riot Fest a couple years ago. Lo and behold, they came to the U.S. again for a 40th anniversary tour, and this time I was able to catch them with Bleachedopening for them. That’s a win-win.
Bleached killing it.
I saw Bleached in October of last year in Cleveland. They put on a good show, so I figured they’d be solid again. I did not know that they would be even better in just six months’ time. It was quickly evident (within two songs when they were absolutely gunning on “Trying to Lose Myself Again” from Welcome the Worms) that Bleached has seriously upped their game in just half a year. They powered through many cuts off their excellent new EP Can You Deal?and even one I hadn’t heard before (“Electric Chair”). I was gobsmacked by the end of their set. I caught up with sisters Jennifer and Jessie Clavin at their merch table between the first and second encores of the Damned. I told them their set was a home run and how much they’d improved since Cleveland.
“Being on this tour has been really good for us,” Jennifer Clavin told me. “Playing in front of a lot of people who don’t know us has really made us work on our stage presence.”
“It’s only been six months!” Jessie Clavin said.
“I know,” I said. “That’s what make it more impressive.”
Speaking of impressive, the Damned were just that.
“We’re back from the mists of time,” said lead guitarist Captain Sensible, “to save the world from shitty music like Mumford and Sons!”
The band tore into literal floor-shaking classics like “Generals,” “Disco Man,” and “I Just Can’t Be Happy Today” before a mosh pit finally broke out during “Love Song.” The first of two beers went flying through the air during this. For the record, I’ve been in some wild, fun crowds at the House of Blues. I’ve never seen cups of beer, hats, shoes, and jackets thrown into the air during a show there until I saw the Damned play there.
The Damned performing “Disco Man.”
I stayed in the pit for “Love Song” and “Street of Dreams.” The Damned continued a great set (and Captain Sensible kept decrying Mumford and Sons – as well as Kurt Vile, whom he called a “pillock,” Duran Duran, KISS, and Billy Idol) that included such fine tracks as “Eloise,” “Wait for the Blackout,” and “The History of the World (Part 1).”
Of course, the crowd (and I) went berserk during “Neat Neat Neat” and “New Rose.” Moshing to those punk classics was a dream come true for me. Truth to tell, I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear “Neat Neat Neat” live, so being in the middle of a friendly mosh pit ten feet from David Vanian as he sung it was great.
The Damned taking us back to 1977.
As I mentioned earlier, they played two encores. The first included “Jet Boy Jet Girl,” sung by the Captain, “Noise Noise Noise,” and “Smash It Up.” The last track especially showed off keyboardist Monty Oxymoron’s skill. The second encore included “Nasty” (the first Damned song I ever heard thanks to them performing it on The Young Ones) and “Antipope.” A guy near me had been yelling for “Antipope” for the last third of the show, so I was happy for him (and all of us) that they played it. He went bananas.
It was a fun show. They haven’t lost anything. Sensible is still a great guitarist and Vanian (“the Vincent Price of rock,” as Capt. Sensible called him) still commands a stage like few can. The Damned are touring extensively throughout the U.S. before they head to Europe. Catch them if you’re near you.
By the way, here’s the list of things I found on the floor during and after the mosh pit: A button labeled “GW,” a spiked bracelet (belonging to a guy in a Misfits jacket behind me), a nickel, an opened (but thankfully unused) condom, a peacock keychain and attached house key (belonging to a young woman I found after the final encore), a hat (owner unknown), and a sweater (owner unknown). A guy next to me in the pit found a cell phone. I don’t know if he ever found the owner.
