Electro – 7th Level Music

Bad Stuff’s new single, “Invisible Man,” is actually good stuff.

Photo credit: Rachel Lemoine & Mia Yannimaras

Bad Stuff share “Invisible Man” (https://youtu.be/4c3g8la29Dc), the second single from their forthcoming self-titled debut album, Bad Stuff, arriving June 5 via Relapse Records. Featuring members of True Widow (Dan Phillips and Nicole Estill) with Dallas art rock luminaries Jackie Dunn Smith, Gabriel Spatz, and Laura Hartman Pearl, the band channels hypnotic post-punk, blown out garage rock, and slow-burning heaviness.

“The song that would later become ‘Invisible Man’ was one of the first songs I wrote specifically for Bad Stuff,” explains Phillips. “I made a drum machine demo on my ADAT machine and sent it to Gabe with a gibberish vocal track so he could hear the melody and phrasing I had in mind, but when I got it back, he had sung over a part I had not intended to have vocals on. I started to tell him ‘eyo, don’t sing on this part,’ but immediately changed my mind because it was actually way cool. Now I can’t imagine the song without that part. One-take Gabe needs no editing.”

Spatz adds: “Yeah, I’m glad that part stayed in the song. Some of my favorite lines are in there; lines that kind of expand the meaning of the song for me. I remember singing it into my phone in the bathroom and on the roof of my building and having to retake it over and over again because I kept getting interrupted by the sound of horns and barking dogs.”

Bad Stuff first introduced themselves with the debut single “Summer Girls,” a simmering track anchored by hypnotic circular rhythms, low end drone, and Phillips’ unmistakable guitar work.

The band began as two separate projects: Latent Print, an instrumental outfit featuring Phillips and Estill, and Concord Kill, Dunn Smith’s synth and drum machine driven project. “So these songs from our two bands are sitting there, one set that I wrote for Latent Print and another set that Jackie wrote on a four-track recorder, and one day we decided that maybe we’d try to put it all together and see if it worked,” recalls Phillips. “And it did. When we were doing the sequence for the record, that “switching the dial“ thing became apparent– there’s not just one sound or one style. It really makes the pacing of the record work and sort of showcases each of the songs.”

Bad Stuff is available now for pre-order/pre-saves (https://orcd.co/badstuff) on vinyl, CD, and digitally.

Keep your mind open.

[Not subscribing is bad stuff indeed.]

[Thanks to Monica at Speakeasy PR.]

Review: Rare DM – Attention

It’s no surprise that Rare DM (Erin Hoagg) titled her new, entirely self-produced and recorded album Attention. The whole thing demands your attention, and your pulse.

Opening track “Compliment” hits all the right beats and gets your pulse elevated for what’s to come. You’ll need the energy for all the dancing, and Rare DM’s often breathy vocal delivery is as seductive as the beat. “The Ring” throbs in your head and your hips, and, yes, it’s about the Japanese horror film Ringu and the wicked ghost in it who slays people via VHS tape. Rare DM loves blends of music and visuals, technology and humanity, sex and science fiction. It’s a perfect fit.

“Honey” has a drifting, floating, tactile sound that sounds like a cool darkwave track you haven’t heard in years. The question on Rare DM’s mind at the beginning of “Mean Girled” is “We’re not even fuckin’, but am I worried about you?” She’s trying to figure out a weird relationship dynamic and if it’s worth taking to another level or if she should just walk away.

“Butterfly Historian” is drenched in muted bass and sultry sweat. “325” might be the best love song about a vehicle since Queen‘s “I’m in Love with My Car.” Speaking of vehicles, the next track is “LA Traffic,” in which Rare DM laments (over drum and bass beats) over being stuck in it while friends wait for her at the club. “Lil DM” has her wishing for at least a night free of phone calls and e-mails.

“Skater Hits Me Harder” has Rare DM looking back on an adolescent crush through the lenses of adulthood and time. “Significant Other” is an instrumental banger. “Do you like me better, now that I’m like you?” Hoagg asks on the near-industrial “Feel Nothing.” She’s come to realize that she doesn’t need what her lover is selling. The album ends with the lush “Landed,” showcasing Hoagg’s misty voice and sunlight-through-the-fog synths (most of which, by the way, are vintage gear she’s collected from all over NYC).

Pay attention to this album. You’ll notice something different every time.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

Félicia Atkinson creates new score for a classic French horror film.

Today, renowned French musician and artist Félicia Atkinson announces new album SANS VISAGE, a reimagined score for Georges Franju’s cult 1960 horror classic Les yeux sans visage (Eyes Without a Face), out June 26 via Viernulvier Records. The news arrives alongside lead preview “Les Yeux II” and follows her recently released collaborative album with Christina Vantzou, Reflections Vol. 3: Water Poems, via RVNG Intl., as well as her acclaimed solo releases Promenades and Space as an Instrument on Shelter Press.

Atkinson first saw Les yeux sans visage when she was a teenager, around the turn of the century. The film made an impact for its iconic imagery and the way Franju draws on the aesthetics of early filmmaking, from its score that relies on stylistic markers typical of the 1940s or 50s to the decision to shoot in black and white. Even four decades after its first release, it was clear that this was a work that stood outside of the cultural moment that birthed it, speaking through time in ways that were uncanny, but profound.

A quarter-century later, Atkinson was approached by the Belgian cultural center VIERNULVIER to create a new score for Les yeux sans visage for its celebrated Videodroom series, which has seen artists like claire rousay, Mabe Fratti, Lee Renaldo, and many more create new original scores for cult classics and genre cinema. Atkinson’s music, with its sublime meditations on space and proximity, its elusive sense of narrative development, mirrors the pacing and mystery at the heart of horror filmmaking. There is a shadow at the heart of her soundtrack to Les yeux sans visage, an ever-shifting wisp and an insinuation of encroaching transfiguration. Echoing a climactic moment in the film, the music obliquely points to “the Beyond,” an impossible place of discovery and revelation.

Atkinson envisioned her music as something akin to the air moving throughout and beyond the many cages that appear in the film, unconstrained by the bars and with undefined borders. Those cages hold the victims of a madman surgeon, determined to graft a new face onto his daughter, the protagonist Christiane Génessier, who lost hers in a car accident while he was behind the wheel. Atkinson was reminded of her predecessors at the pioneering French studio the GRM, who approached sound in a less sinister, but similarly surgical manner, and took inspiration from their playful approach to cerebral soundmaking for the electroacoustic topography into which the piano is embedded. As such, Atkinson’s reactions to the larger themes and the minute-by-minute happenings onscreen are both audible simultaneously.

A film about a man who destroys the lives of young women marked by their beauty and similarity to his daughter in a shame-fueled rage has clear, continuous cultural resonance. “Through the music, I decided to bring back their empowerment despite what they endure,” says Atkinson. “This is why the record is also dedicated to Gisèle Pelicot, whose trial happened while I was in the process of composing the music and kept thinking of her strength and her decision to share her trial in order to reverse the shame.”

This recorded version of the soundtrack is a 34-minute synthesis of the full 90-minute score, presented on LP along with an essay by writer-musician Claire Cronin and drawings by Momo Gordon, together forming a complex reflection on the film’s themes. If these sounds move as if the bars of cages are no barrier, they also intimate the freedom and power of those held behind them. Rather than simply mirroring the fear and confinement shown onscreen, Atkinson offers an elusive escape, a beacon for the characters, and the listener, to follow as they reckon with the narrative and move through it.

Listen to “Les Yeux II” above and stay tuned for more from Félicia Atkinson ahead of the full release of SANS VISAGE on June 26 via Viernulvier Records.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cody at Terrorbird Media.]

Top 25 albums of 2021 – 2025: #’s 10 – 6

We’ve reach the top ten albums I reviewed in the last five years. It gets more difficult to make these lists as the numbers grow smaller, but here goes.

#10: Yard Act – The Overload (2022)

These post-punkers seemed to come out of nowhere and hit us with multiple sharp singles from their debut. The whole album was witty, biting, and wicked.

#9: King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – PostDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation (2023)

Part-thrash metal, part-environmental activism record, all great. The title and cover image alone let you know you’re in for a wild time, and King Gizz pull no punches on it.

#8: DITZ – Never Exhale (2025)

A whole post-punk album about tension – a topic that post-punk does very well, as do these Brits. The cover image conveys the sense of the record and, like the music, puts you on edge and keeps you there.

#7: Aaron Frazer – Introducing… (2021)

Stepping out from his main gig with Durand Jones and The Indications, Frazer dropped one of the best soul records of recent memory and probably got a thousand date offers just from the first couple tracks.

#6: Gum / Kenny Ambrose-Smith – Ill Times (2024)

This dynamic Australian duo created a cool, electro / dance-rock record that tackled grief and uncertainty. It made you want another one from them right away. I still do.

Who made the top five? Come back tomorrow. It was a tough call, but I made it.

Keep your mind open.

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Cornelius unveils long-awaited new music with “Yumenemi.”

Today, Cornelius returns with his first new music in years, opening a long-awaited new chapter on Eat Your Own Ears Recordings. His new single, a cover of “Yumenemi,” was originally released in 1989 by one of Japan’s most iconic singer-songwriters, Yosui Inoue, and remains a cult Balearic classic.

Reimagined through Cornelius’s singular lens, the track marries his signature collage-like production, intricate rhythmic detail and soft-focus electronics with a lilting tropicalia inflection, for a swirling, heady track befitting of it’s title, which roughly translates to “dreaming”.

Watch the video for “Yumenemi” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sqPMEL21PE
Other streaming links:https://cornelius.lnk.to/yumenemi

The new track arrives following a recent resurgence of interest in his work, including a viral TikTok moment and a nod from Rosalía, who featured “Typewrite Lesson”, originally a b-side from Cornelius’s iconic 1997 album ‘Fantasma’, in her Met Gala–themed Vogue playlist of all-time favourites.

Cornelius is the musical project of Japanese multi-instrumentalist Keigo Oyamada, who began his career in his teens and launched the Cornelius name in the early 1990s after his band Flipper’s Guitar. The project takes its name from Planet of the Apes.

He broke internationally with 1997’s Fantasma, a genre-blurring album of cut-and-paste production that drew comparisons to Beck and The Beastie Boys and was released worldwide by Matador Records. Often dubbed a “modern-day Brian Wilson,” Oyamada became a sought-after producer and remixer, a “musician’s musician”, collaborating with artists including Blur, Beck, Sean Ono Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band, Haruomi Hosono, James Brown and many others.

With 2002’s Point, Cornelius shifted toward intricate loops of organic sound sources, from water droplets to vocoder-heavy reinterpretations, pushing his meticulous sound design further on 2007’s Sensuous. His live shows are renowned for precision-synced visuals, custom lighting, and immersive, band-led performances that treat the stage as a fully integrated audio-visual system.

The companion release Sensurround + B Sides was nominated for Best Surround Sound Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

“Yumenemi” marks the start of a long-awaited new body of work, set to unfold over the coming months.

Cornelius links:
https://www.corneliusjapan.com/
https://www.instagram.com/corneliusofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/corneliusofficial
https://x.com/corneliusjapan
https://www.eatyourownears.com/releases
https://eatyourownearsrecordings.bandcamp.com/

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Rewind Review: St. Germain – Boulevard (1995)

Widely regarded as one of the breakthrough albums of French house music, let alone one of the classic 1990s house music albums, St. Germain (AKA Ludovic Navarre) premiered on the scene with Boulevard and stunned everybody.

The opening track, “Deep in It,” clocks in over seven minutes and drops killer vibraphone beats from Miguel “Punta” Rios on top of snappy electro-beats to get you deep into the sexy Parisian nightclub at 2am. That track is practically a warmup for “Thank U Mum (4 Everything You Did),” which is over twelve minutes of sizzling percussion and smoky bass and sounds like it samples Lightnin’ Hopkins vocals to make the track even groovier.

“Street Scene (4 Shazz)” has great flute work from Malik throughout it that elevates the 15-plus minutes into a great jam. “Easy to Remember” has a great trumpet line throughout it from Pascal Ohsé. Édouard Labor‘s saxophone takes the lead on “Sentimental Mood” and pairs with Alexandre Destrez‘s poppy piano quite well.

“This is what we call easy listening, underground house music,” someone says on “What’s New?” before the floor-filling dance beat drops. “Dub Experience” is a laid back change of pace from the house beats that have propelled the album through the first six tracks, and the closer, “Forget It” is something you’ll remember thanks to its wicked beats and sensuous grooves.

It’s a classic album that still sounds like it could’ve been released yesterday and set the time for Tourist, which is one of the greatest make-out albums of all time.

Keep your mind open.

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Rare DM’s newest single, “Honey,” is pretty sweet.

As Rare DM, Erin Hoagg fuses moody pop songwriting, vintage synthesis, and striking visuals. The New York City-based artist will release her second full-length, Attention, on May 29, 2026. Today, she shares the pensive and catchy new single “Honey,” which stemmed from the complexity of a budding romance. She ponders the vulnerable rush of admitting you love someone over a meticulous electronic arrangement. A brooding self-directed video, which nods to classic vampire movies, contrasts the euphoric subject matter.

On the single, Rare DM shares: “’Honey’ is my first happy love song. I wrote it during the uncertain time before saying the words ‘I love you’ – you’re in a constant state of butterflies: it’s sweet, vulnerable and a little scary. I wrote it in my old studio in Bushwick when I was being swept up, and really got into the symphony of things, percussive polyrhythms; chopping up my vocals. ‘Honey’ is one of the first songs I finished with producer Ross Fish aka Moffenzeef Modular (also from 4MS). I’m thrilled with how it turned out – super wide and swirly. I really enjoyed dialing in the finishing touches together. It’s one of my favorite songs to perform live.

‘Honey’ the video is leaning into the best part of being in love: having fun and being silly. Dating is a lot of sifting through trash, looking in the wrong places, getting caught up in games, battling decision paralysis… there are so many fish in the sea, you have to be willing to make a fool of yourself to find the right one. I am a strong believer that the most important part of a relationship is making each other laugh. The world is too serious.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

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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Review: Miss Grit – Under My Umbrella

Miss Grit‘s new album, Under My Umbrella, is an album about loneliness – both the embrace of it and the sadness of it. Loneliness can be liberating at times. It can feel great to be on your own with endless possibilities before you. It can also feel crushing, like your world has stopped and no one even thinks to look for you while they’re rushing around outside.

The pulsing, symphonic synths of “Tourist Mind” build to an upbeat outlook as you drop the car into drive and head out for a solo road trip to wherever you’d like (as Miss Grit / Margaret Sohn did around North America during a tour). When they sing, “I never wanted to be so alone,” you can’t tell if they’re happy or sad about it. It could be both depending on the moment. “Mind Disaster” sizzles with electric hums and Sohn’s modulated voice sounding like a robot awakening from a weird dream about someone they can’t place but whose presence they can still feel.

“I Won’t Count on You” has Sohn embracing the idea of not having to rely on someone (“I’m going to enjoy this. I won’t count on you.”). “It Feels Like” could be a shoegaze track if you swap the synthesizers for distorted guitars. “Where Is My Head?” is a hypnotizing trip-hop track with Sohn repeating simple lyrics like “You’re all so free.” and “You’ll never see inside of me.” as bubbling, brewing beats and bass surround them.

“Stranger” has Sohn feeling alone as a lover grows detached from them and they’re just trying to keep up before the race is finished. “You Will Change” seems to be about making your way out of the maze of grief with lyrics like “And one day it could all change. While you wait for pain, your heart will go on pushed into another day.” The track (appropriately) flows into “Overflow” – a song about wondering if you’ll know when it’s time to leave a relationship or if you’ll only realize after the other half has left.

The album ends with “Waste Me.” It’s a bit upbeat even though Sohn’s lyrics are sprinkled with sadness (“And it’s very me to feel misunderstood, but I barely try to explain myself to you.”). Sohn is facing the fact that they’re going to be alone, again, for a while, and that might be okay. They’ll just have to ride it out.

It’s all any of us can do, really, but this album helps you navigate it by not feeling so alone.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Yuri at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Top 25 albums of 2021 – 2025: #’s 25 – 21

I’m far behind on this, as it’s already mid-May 2026, but I’ve meant to create a list of my favorite records (and concerts, see other posts) of the last five years. I created such lists for my top stuff from 2020 through 2024, so I’m continuing the trend. Mind you, these are the top twenty-five albums I reviewed, not albums released during those five years. There were many excellent albums that slipped through the cracks. Enough backstory. Let’s get to it before this gets delayed yet again.

#25: Rochelle Jordan – Play with the Changes (2021)

This is a beautiful, funky, and sexy record that introduced me to Ms. Jordan’s music and instantly made me want to find out more about her work that mixes house music with R&B with ease.

#24: Brijean – Feelings (2021)

This lovely dream pop record came out of nowhere (for me at least) and floored me. They’re a fun duo who have yet to make a bad album.

#23: Ty Segall – Harmonizer (2021)

I was a bit surprised to hear Ty Segall embracing synthesizers and going into electronic music somewhat on this record, but then I wasn’t surprised because Segall is always exploring different genres and embracing his many influences. It was a cool surprise from him.

#22: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – The Silver Cord extended version (2023)

Speaking of cool surprises: King Gizzard goes full rave! There was the “regular” version of this all-synth album by the Australian psych giants and then this “extended” version of the album that I preferred. Once again, KGATLW showed they can adapt to anything they decide to play.

#21: Anika – Change (2021)

Haunting and gorgeous. That’s the best way I can describe this synthwave album from Anika. It snuggles / slithers up next to you and doesn’t leave for days.

Who’s in the top twenty? Come back tomorrow to find out!

Keep your mind open.

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