Electro – 7th Level Music

Adult DVD release “Cowboy on Aisle Three” ahead of their debut album coming September 25, 2026.

Today, Adult DVD are announcing their hugely anticipated self-titled debut album which will be released September 25th on Fat Possum Records. The Leeds-based sextet have carved a niche as one of the most talked-about live bands in the country and an irreverent new voice existing in the space between electronic euphoria and spiky hardcore energy.

Both unique in their approach and thrilling in impact, the band’s music has been shown love by Stereogum, Rolling Stone and The Line of Best Fit among others. Their breakout moment came with the single “Bill Murray,” an incessantly catchy distillation of people on the internet believing Tom Hanks and Bill Murray are the same person. More recently, the glitchy and anthemic “Real Tree Lee” was an A-list record at BBC 6Music and had support from BBC Radio 1.

At both Brighton’s The Great Escape and SXSW in Austin this year the band were championed as one of the buzziest acts of the festival with snaking queues of people waiting hours to see them perform . A relentless touring schedule in 2025 saw them hone their status as festival headliners in waiting, picking up a global army of new fans and playing to huge crowds at Glastonbury, Green Man, End Of The Road and more. The band recently toured Japan where they were greeted by fans in homemade Adult DVD merch, played a series of sold-out shows and saw posts about their performances go viral with millions of views.

To announce their debut, the band are sharing a new single entitled “Cowboy On Aisle Three.”

In the making of their exhilarating debut album, vocalist Harry Hanson and synth-player Greg Lonsdale, alongside Danny Blackburn (guitar/synth), Jake Williams (synth), Jonathan Newell (drums), and George Manson (bass), went harder on what was already working for them: witty observational songwriting based in real-life characters and a pulsating synth-punk sound perfect for both the rave and the mosh pit. Fusing together an intense musical workout with depictions of a motley crew of figures ranging from 5G conspiracy theorists to an existential cowboy, Adult DVD is the electrifying sound of a band exceeding their own expectations while going just as hard, if not harder than their adrenaline-fuelled live shows.

On Adult DVD Hanson and Lonsdale continue to take a screenwriter’s approach to songwriting, filling their lyrics with stories pulled from the outskirts of society yet painting a vivid and comic picture of modern Britain. “We don’t take things too seriously,” Lonsdale explains. “The lyrics have got sillier, the songs have got sillier. We make music for people to enjoy, so let them have a laugh.”

Produced by the band at The Nave Studios Leeds , the general theme of the album is to let go and take life a little less seriously. “Cowboy On Aisle Three” conjures an image of a wrangler swapping the rodeo for a supermarket over a swaggering synth riff . It’s an EQ-pushing beast that merges an existential crisis with the band’s playful spirit and relentless pursuit of bangers.

Speaking on the new single, the band’s frontman Harry Hanson says:

“I came up with the idea when I was in Lidl. I’m sure everyone has thought, ‘Imagine if I just went nuts now,’ to get out of doing the big shop.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media!]

Mort Garson’s “Mother Earth’s Plantasia” album gets 50th anniversary re-release and parties.

Today we’re excited to announce the 50th anniversary celebration of Mort Garson’s beloved cult classic Mother Earth’s Plantasia, with Sacred Bones presenting the first-ever authorised eco-friendly reissue of the highly sought-after record. Originally released in 1976, the record was created for the listening attention of house plants and was one of the first ever to use a Moog. It’s available digitally now with the anniversary edition set for physical release on Sept 4th.

Listen / Pre-order here: https://mortgarson.lnk.to/Plantasia

To coincide with the anniversary Sacred Bones have also announced two very special Plantasia events in Chicago and Kingston, NY.

The long-running celebration of ambient and electronic music returns at Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago on September 10th and 11th, taking place over two beautiful days at the end of summer across the entire conservatory nature campus, including a new expanded outdoor stage. Brought to you by Sacred Bones, Empty Bottle Presents and Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, this year’s event features Helado Negro & Reyna Tropical, james k, Makaya McCraven, Flore Laurentine, and many more unmissable acts.

Tickets here: https://www.ticketweb.com/event/plantasia-two-day-pass-garfield-park-conservatory-tickets/14942083

At Seed Song Farm in Kingston, NY on September 19th and 20th Sacred Bones will celebrate for a weekend of music, botanical arts and crafts, workshops, a curated market, plant sales, alongside performances by Gigi Masin, SPELLLING, Mary Lattimore, Green-House, Alabaster DePlume and more. This event is on sale now, grab your ticket while they last.

Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/night-howl-sacred-bones-present-plantasia-tickets-1990147578982

Julliard-educated and active as a session player in the post-war era, Mort Garson wrote lounge hits, scored the 1969 moon-landing and plush arrangements for Doris Day, and garlanded weeping countrypolitan strings around Glen Campbell’s By the Time I Get to Phoenix.

In the mid-1970s, a force of nature swept across the continental United States, cutting across all strata of race and class, rooting in our minds, our homes, our culture. It wasn’t The Exorcist, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, or even bell-bottoms, but instead a book called The Secret Life of Plants. The work of occultist/former OSS agent Peter Tompkins and former CIA agent/dowsing enthusiast Christopher Bird, the book shot up the bestseller charts and spread like kudzu across the landscape, becoming a phenomenon.

Seemingly overnight, the indoor plant business was in full bloom and photosynthetic eukaryotes of every genus were hanging off walls, lording over bookshelves, and basking on sunny window ledges. The science behind Secret Life was specious: plants can hear our prayers, they’re lie detectors, they’re telepathic, able to predict natural disasters and receive signals from distant galaxies. But that didn’t stop millions from buying and nurturing their new plants.

Perhaps the craziest claim of the book was that plants also dug music. And whether you purchased a snake plant, asparagus fern, peace lily, or what have you from Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (or bought a Simmons mattress from Sears), you also took home Plantasia, an album recorded especially for them. Subtitled “warm earth music for plants…and the people that love them,” it was full of bucolic, charming, stoner-friendly, decidedly unscientific tunes enacted on the new-fangled device called the Moog.

Plants date back from the dawn of time, but apparently they loved the Moog, never mind that the synthesizer had been on the market for just a few years. Most of all, the plants loved the ditties made by composer Mort Garson. Few characters in early electronic music can be both fearless pioneers and cheesy trend-chasers, but Garson embraced both extremes, and has been unheralded as a result.

The album gained an enormous cult following decades after its release. Sacred Bones’ 2019 reissue helped introduce Plantasia to a wider global audience, sparking a remarkable second life for Garson’s unlikely masterpiece. What was once a strange artifact of 1970s plant-mania has become a beloved evergreen, rediscovered and re-embraced by a new generation of listeners and flourishing far beyond its original moment.

Now, 50 years after its original release, Mother Earth’s Plantasia marks a major anniversary moment. To honor Mother Earth, Sacred Bones is releasing the first authorised eco-friendly reissue of Plantasia, pressed on 100% recycled eco-green vinyl and printed on 100% recycled paper. It is housed in a 100% recycled jacket, wrapped in bio-based shrinkwrap, and includes the original Mother Earth’s Indoor Plant Care Booklet alongside a digital download presented on a real seed-paper card.

Half a century on, Plantasia continues to resonate – an enduring reminder of Mort Garson’s ability to make the synthetic feel strangely alive and the whimsical feel oddly profound.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Review: Fling ii – iii

What if you made something for absolutely nobody? This is the question Fling ii asked before making their newest album, 3. They, like all of us, were exhausted by every click, view, and preference being commodified and resold to us and the world at large. Could they make an album that offered nothing to anyone? What could an album that, according to the press release I received, was inspired by “the vastness of parking lots, the prismatic strangeness of online advertisements for walking tai chi, and the passive performance of a basket of fruit sitting in a gas station” have to offer the band or anyone else?

As it turns out, a pretty cool record of krautrock / no wave electronica that borders on New Age music and vaporwave. Opening track “lau” pops and bubbles like the sound of a robot’s Zen alarm clock. “inke” drifts like a leaf on a stream that has no particular place to go and no timeline to get anywhere.

“bant” sounds like the opening to a weird VHS home course on meditation or computer science. “beem” takes on a slight country twang with its guitar tones but doesn’t lose the motorik beats or 32-bit synths. The electric piano takes the lead on “ilia,” creating a sound like an android’s morning commute radio station broadcast.

The album ends with “mago,” a trippy electro / krautrock cut that stretches to nearly sixteen minutes and takes you out of your current headspace and into some sort of forest that you’d find in the world of Tron.

This album immediately intrigues you and is the kind of record that will reveal something different every time you hear it…or maybe it won’t. After all, it was made to present you with nothing in particular. Again, from the press release, the band even states the album was “made especially for us and not for you, with all the gear we could get our paws on.” and that it “…stands as a quiet argument for surprise, accident, and the possibility of making something simply because it felt worth making.”

That’s accurate. Not everything has to be catered to your likes. Discovery, and being able to sit content with a discovery instead of seeking instant pleasure from the “next thing” is a lost passion. 3 proves this in every track.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dan from Discipline PR.]

Review: Wheelchair Sports Camp – Oh Imperfecta

Well, this is nuts.

How to describe Wheelchair Sports Camp? Are they a rap group? A punk band? A dance-rock band? A performance art duo? All of the above? I think that might be the answer, and their new album, Oh Imperfecta, is a wild ride of fuzzy beats, squeaky bars, and goofy jokes.

“Make It Make Sense” (guest starring Jello Biafra) is a plea for some kind of understanding from lead singer Kalyn Rose Heffernan in these weird times of 2026 across grungy beats from Greggy and guest guitar from Radio Pete. “You can’t make me want to change,” Heffernan proclaims on “Eat Meat!”- a song about going through the motions while the world is burning down around us. “Yess I’m a Mess” spins things around with a slow-jam groove and warped dream-psych guitars while Heffernan drops slick rhymes. I mean, it even has a horn section and organ riffs in it.

“They wanna lock me in a closet, wanna lock me in a box,” Heffernan growls on “Slumber Party.” She’s here to takedown people upset over her sexuality, gender, and / or health and those profiting off a system that’s destroying most of us. “Keep Scrolling” is a spoken word riff on social media making us dread each other.

“Denim” is a wonky, wooly experimental rap track. It’s almost acid jazz at some points, and guest-rapper RAREBYR$ provides extra sizzle with her verse. “Bring Some Room” is a quiet warm-up for “Dead” – another Biafra-team-up punk rager that will have the mosh pit bouncing whenever they play it.

“On Hold” is one of three tracks featuring Junia-T as a guest. It and the second one, “Summer in the City,” are trip hop slow burners. The third, “No Stopping No Standing,” is bigger, with heavier drum beats, angrier vocals (“If you can’t hang, get the fuck out of the way.”), and groaning, almost moaning synths.

I must note that the album is sprinkled with little interludes that are snippets of phone conversations between Heffernan and her mother, the funniest of which might be her pretty much ordering Heffernan to have grandchildren, and that Heffernan and her girlfriend’s cats don’t count.

It’s an odd record, but endlessly fascinating. There’s nothing really to “get” about it, which is kind of the point. It also hides a lot of talent under its queer-rock / glam-rap / wheelchair-punk hood. Don’t miss that. You’ll go from laughing with Heffernan and Greggy to thinking, “Whoa…There’s something deeper here.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dan from Discipline PR.]

Review: Almost Heaven – Raw Cranium EP

Hailing from Austin, Texas, Almost Heaven (Stefan Barazza – production and vocals, Jaelyn Valero – drums) have come to party on their debut EP, Raw Cranium, and they want you to join them. After all, one of their messages is “Dance or die.”

Starting with “Power Music (Electrik Revival),” the EP embraces its krautrock / Berlin-industrial / and dance punk love as Barazza sings about an “organutan spilling zombie juice all over the stage” and the perils and pleasures technology can bring. It will have you jumping right away. “Oscilation” starts off with crowd cheers, brings in fuzzy guitars and synths, and vocals that might belong to Valero or to Barazza. It’s difficult to guess because they could be altered with vocal effects. It works well either way to create an uplifting Justice-like dance track.

“Fever Trying to Blow” is a standout with Barazza asking anyone who wants to dance to the front because he wants to “let loose” after a long week at work. “I deserve this,” he says. We all do. Valero’s beats on this are downright wicked while Barazza’s synths and vocals skitter around the room like water thrown onto a hot frying pan.

“Wherever you are, come away from the TV and come to the dance floor,” Barazza implores on “Commotion,” a song that fully intends to cause such a thing. The wild beats of “Hypnoxia” echo around you while the synth-bass elevates your pulse and Valero’s post-punk beats make you twitch.

The EP ends with the lovely “Baby Teeth” – a song that borders on MGMT electro-house and synthwave. “Make sure it’s tough, so they never know your weakness,” Barazza suggests. It builds to a big, bright payoff that will have you bouncing with new breath.

Like any good EP, Raw Cranium leaves you wanting more. You’re a bit exhausted from all this dancing, but you’re ready for more. Dance or die, after all.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cheyenne Doerr!]

You can find a “Holy Grail” with Vacations’ new single.

Vacations—the Australian indie rock band of lead songwriter and vocalist Campbell Burns, bassist Jake Johnson, guitarist Nate Delizzotti, and drummer Joseph Van Lier—announce their new album, Pursuit of Anything, out October 2nd on Nettwerk, and release the lead single/video, “Holy Grail.”

Pursuit of Anything captures Vacations at a turning point as Burns reflects on the disorienting, often contradictory experience of growing up, tracing his path from Newcastle (Australia) to Los Angeles and New York—caught between ambition and the more traditional lives unfolding back home. Written by the band and produced by Burns, the album finds Vacations operating as a fully creative force with Burns drawing constant inspiration from his bandmates’ lives and perspectives: exploring how they’re each living out different lives yet share a common experience, all in their own “pursuits.”

Mixed by Beatriz Artola (Geese, Caamp), the result is a richer, more intricate, and emotionally expansive sound. Pursuit of Anything arrives as the band solidifies their place as one of the most globally resonant indie acts of their generation with sold-out world tours, double-platinum certified hits, and over 3.5 billion streams. The record turns inward, driven by the push and pull of devotion to music, relationships, and self-discovery. It is this tension that fuels an earnest, dreamy pop album that feels instantly classic.

This is on display on today’s single, “Holy Grail,” a diamond of a pop song, the sort of music you want to listen to while lying out in the sun. The track is impressionistic and melancholy: “How can I fool myself,” Burns sings in the song’s opening moment. The synths around him twinkle and the song lilts.

“‘Holy Grail’ was based on a stressful Zoom call we had together as a band last year,” Burns reflects. “We were in this period of wanting to write and record new material, but then also being stuck in a loop of unsustainable touring. So many people I know have devoted their entire lives to music, and yet, at times it can feel as if you’re in pursuit of anything just to make it work for you. This push and pull dynamic of something I love so much is fascinating to me. I may struggle at times, but I will always return to it because it brings so much joy and fulfillment and ultimately outweighs any negative.”

Watch the Video for “Holy Grail”

Pursuit of Anything is a labor of love, the product of a group of friends who have been making music together since they were barely out of their teenage years. On it, there are weddings, families, reflections on the past, and hope about the future. “It’s about happiness as a feedback loop,” says Burns of the record’s title, “How you keep chasing the next thing.” It’s a record that feels classic the first time you listen to it, it feels like chasing that rush, that sense of self discovery and rediscovery. And it shows Vacations at the height of their songwriting powers. It’s a pop record that takes pop music seriously. Lovely, earnest, dreamy and hopeful as they come.

This summer, Vacations will embark on their Holy Grail Tour across the U.S., Asia and Australia. The run of dates also includes the band’s very own MATES Festival with the third installment taking place at Knockdown Center in NYC on Saturday, June 20th. The all-day, full-building, multi-stage event will take over the Main Hall and Ruins at Knockdown Center, and feature Vacations, grentperez, girlpuppy, Mamalarky, Alex Lahey, Horse Jumper of Love, Thelma Plum, and Winter. Tickets for all dates are on sale and available here.

Pre-Order Pursuit of Anything

Vacations Tour Dates:
Thu. July 9 – Jakarta, ID @ M Block Live House
Sat. July 11 – Perth, AUS @ Freo.Social
Sun. July 12 – Adelaide, AUS @ The Gov
Thu. July 16 – Brisbane, AUS @ The Triffid
Fri. July 17 – Melbourne, AUS @ 170 Russell
Sat. July 18 – Sydney, AUS @ Metro Theatre
Sun. July 19 – Newcastle, AUS @ The Act at Earp Distillery

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t take a vacation from subscribing.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Various artists – DJ Notoya Presents Tokyo Pulse

Famous crate digger DJ Notoya has put together another excellent compilation of rare Japanese city pop and funk tracks from 1974 to 1988 – Tokyo Pulse. Some of these tracks were only released as a single or a demo, and never on a full album.

Starting with Naomi Chiaki‘s “Yoru E Isogu Hito,” the compilation drops you into the funky flotilla right away. It helps that Chiaki’s backing band is Godiego, a highly successful prog-rock band in 1978 Japan. Steve Fox‘s bass groove almost carries as much weight as Chiaki’s voice. Yumi Murata‘s “Ranhansha” is a great disco track that belongs in about a hundred movies from 1979. The horn, piano, and synth arrangements in it are all solid.

L-E-V-E-L were an all-female city pop trio who got help on their 1981 album eve and the track “Bagdad No Atari Nite” from none other than Masahide Sakum – creator of the legendary TR-808 drum machine. “Lake in the Forest” by GAM (Great American Music Band) is a weird blend of reggae and synthwave that somehow works despite all odds.

Nami Shimada‘s 1988 track, “Mitsumeteirunoni,” is bright city pop that makes you think that Japanese pop singers were light years ahead of U.S. ones in the 1980s. Tiffany wishes she had a single this cool. Bread & Butter cook up “Memory” from their 1974 album Barbecue. It’s fully of groovy hand percussion, porn music guitar, and even a wicked harmonica solo from Satsuya Iwasawa.

“After Image” is a stellar find, as it comes from Minoru Koyama‘s only album, 1980’s Hard to Be a Man. The bass walk on it by Mike Dunn is top-notch. “Island Cuckoo” by Chikara Ueda & The Power Station doesn’t team Ueda with the Robert Palmer-fronted 1980s band, but that doesn’t matter because it’s a solid jazz-funk track with sharp keyboard work from Ueda. The compilation ends with HIgurashi‘s “Anata Wa Doko Ni Irundesuka,” which could’ve been a Bond movie theme in another life.

This is a gold mine for city pop fans and might lead you down several rabbit holes to find other stuff like it. Be prepared.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Vhyce – Romantic Visions EP

Looking for a fun record to spin at your next summer house party? Vhyce has you covered with his newest EP, Romantic Visions.

The title track opens the EP with almost seven minutes of heavenly house beats and dance piano. “And We’re All Connected” trades out the house music for trippy trance music that will fill the floor if it’s not already. “Eco Simulator” keeps the party going with great beats for your workout, post-workout pool party, and the drive back from the pool party. “Paradise” has a solid house piano line through it that makes you feel like you’ve gone to the hippest church revival ever.

“Perks of Daily Life” is another floor-filler with a thumping backbeat that allows it to be easily dropped into a dance mix. The soaring synths add a cool futuristic touch. The EP winds up with the Magari Goa “91 mix” of “Every Ending.” It sounds like could’ve been unearthed from a 1991 rave time capsule full of glow sticks, ring pops, coach’s whistles, and condoms.

All in all, this is a solid EP that will brighten up your summer playlist. Go grab it before Memorial Day gets here and the weather gets colder.

Keep your mind open.

[I have romantic visions of you subscribing.]

[Thanks to Inflyte!]

Rewind Review: Bollywood Bloodbath compilation (2011)

I knew I was going to buy Bollywood Bloodbath as soon as I saw the cover and read “The B-Music of the Indian Horror Film Industry.” That cover image, by the way, is from the 1981 monster film Janni Dushman (which is readily available on YouTube if you’re interested).

The collection is packed with great Bollywood psych-disco-horror music ranging from 1949 to 1985. It starts with the spooky laughter of Rajesh Roshan‘s theme to 1981’s Sannata (The Silence), which adds synth wind sounds and ghostly vocals to the mix. Pulsing beats lead the charge on Hemant Bhosle‘s funky phantom track, “Sasani Khez Koi Baat” from another 1981 film – Sansani (The Sensation). Bappi Lahiri‘s “He Met Me in the Guest House” (from 1980’s Guest House) is a rare Bollywood track with English vocals (by Preeti Sagar) that’s a mighty fine lost disco track. Lahiri’s horn-filled (and monster roar-including) “Meri Jaan” is another cool gem from another 1981 movie about a weird snake monster called Dahshat (Shock) and has lovely vocals by Sulakshana Pandit, freaky synths, and almost spaghetti western guitar sounds.

Up next are the prolific team of Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma with “Aa Jane Jaan” from the giallo-like Intaqam from 1969. It combines bells, spy movie-like horn blasts and hand percussion beats, and mysterious sounds you can’t quite place…and it ends with what sounds like a fight or murder taking place on screen. More mysterious sounds abound in Ratandeep Hemraj‘s “Birha Ki Maari Koi” (from 1979’s Shaitan Mujrim (Satan’s Culprit)) as Jyoti, the lead actress, sings alongside howling dogs, creaking coffin lids, screeching cats, and a horn section that sounds like it might be drunk.

Lahiri returns with the simply titled “Dance Music” from 1982’s Maut Ka Saya – a film about a swamp monster. It’s a rather bouncy track (with sexy, nearly orgasmic laughing) that could be mistaken for a cumbia instrumental upon the first listen. Apparently, this swamp monster is a cool cat. So are the duo known as Sapan Jagmohan, who display their jazz-funk chops on 1978’s “Aji Kahan Gum Ho” from the occult film Darwaza (The Door).

The duo of Laxmikant-Pyarelal return on the theme for 1967’s psychological thriller Anita. The simple hand percussion instruments highlight the lead character’s paranoia. Usha Khanna (Bollywood’s first female music director) provides “Tere Jaisa Pyara Koi Nahin” from the 1981 movie Hotel (the plot of which was pretty much ripped off by Poltergeist a couple years later). Khanna uses a funky bass groove and strange synth notes to craft a slick track.

Roshan comes back to another track from Sannata, this one being “Marjaban Too Kuthe Part 1.” It’s a fun love song hidden in a movie about a series of brutal murders. Sapan Jagmohan’s “Sote Sote Adhi Rat,” from 1984’s Siskeyan is a standout on the record with its great guitar work, funk bass, disco beats, and lush vocals from Salma Agha.

After the short instrumental “Ab Kahan Jayenge Ham (Sad)” by Bhosle (another track from Sansani), we get the exciting theme to 1980’s Andhera (The Darkness) by Sapan Jagmohan. The movie blends a vampire film with a crime thriller, and the “crime” sound is prominent here. You’re expecting a chase scene or a fight to break out any moment. Lahiri’s title to Dahshat follows it with more bat-snake-who knows monster sounds combined with fast tabla beats and warped synths and guitars that sound broken.

Roshan delivers the (in terms of title) out-of-place “Superman, Superman” from Sannata. Two detectives are trying to find the serial killer in this film, not intrepid reporter Clark Kent, so why a song with Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, and Ursula Vaz singing about the Man of Steel is in this movie’s soundtrack is anyone’s guess. Nonetheless, it’s a blast and needs to be in the next Superman movie.

Another nice inclusion is “Dance Music” by Khemchand Prakash from what is considered to be the first Indian horror film – 1949’s Mahal (The Mansion). It’s not dance music for the nightclub crowd. It’s dance music for a strange ritual or for ghosts…or both. Another track from Maut Ka Sava by Lahiri is next, titled “Aafat,” and it combines surf guitar with city pop saxophone and Kraftwerk-like synths. I don’t how it works, but it does.

Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s “Chal De Rol” from Jaani Dushman is the most meditative track on the compilation with its excellent tabla work and swirling string instruments. My guess is that its supposed to call the crazy beast killing young brides in the film, but I could be far off base. Roshan’s “Marjaban Too Kuthe Part 2” is another lovely cut, and then we have “Dekho Dekho Dekho Magar Pyar Se” from 1985’s Cheekh (The Scream) by Nadeem Saifi and Shravan Rathod that could almost be video game music and has fun vocals by Alga Yagnik and wicked guitar riffs, tabla beats, and horn blasts.

The compilation appropriately ends with “Bindya Tarse Kajra Barse” by Rahul Dev Burman from the 1980 psychological thriller Phir Wohi Raat. Burman is sometimes known as the “Indian Ennio Morricone” for his massive output, experimentation, and talent.

Finding stuff like this is like finding a treasure chest of money in your backyard. It baffles you at first and then you’re elated by it.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: The Human League, Soft Cell, Alison Moyet – Chicago Theatre – Chicago, IL – June 23, 2026

It was a sold out night at the Chicago Theatre for this triple bill of 1980s music giants. The crowd was full of Gen Xers and Boomers who were buzzing outside the theatre and giddy once they got inside the place. I saw two people in their twenties there. I’m sure there were more, but they were vastly outnumbered…which is a shame because synthwave is hot stuff right now among the younger crowd. Go watch Stranger Things if you don’t believe me.

Alison Moyet started the night sounding and looking fabulous. Her backing band was sharp, especially her guitarist who subtly put down some slick riffs for those paying attention. Moyet was all smiles throughout her set, telling stories and expressing her thanks to the crowd. She played a good mix of stuff from her solo albums and Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S. for some weird reason) records. “Changeling” and “Only You” were lovely, and ending your set with “Don’t Go” is always a power move.

The modern version of Soft Cell was up next. Marc Almond is still on lead vocals and personality. David Ball died last year but not before they finished a lot of new material for their upcoming record, Danceteria. The new lineup came out right away with “Memorabilia,” the B-side to their first single, “A Man Could Get Lost,” which they also played. It was a weird new wave switch from Moyet’s sultry disco set, and I loved both. “Nostalgia Machine” (a clever takedown in 2022 and now) and “Out Come the Freaks” were other standouts, and, of course, they ended with “Tainted Love” to get everyone on their feet. They mentioned they’d be back in the spring to do a full show.

The Human League came out in full synthwave force with “The Sound of the Crowd” and “Mirror Man” with lead singer Philip Oakley quieting any curiosity about the strength of his voice right away.

Here comes The Human League…and the Mirror Man.

“The Lebanon” was a good highlight, and even stronger in 2026. An interesting moment was when I spotted a couple slow-dancing to “Human”…a song about infidelity. There’s a story there, I thought.

“Love Action (I Believe in Love)” is already a great song, and it’s even better life. The same goes for their mega-hit “(Keep Feeling) Fascination.” Their encore included “Being Boiled” (their first single) and “Electric Dreams,” a collaboration Oakley did with Giorgio Moroder.

They had a fun energy for the whole show, including multiple costume changes for Oakley, Susan Sulley, and Joanne Catherall, good visual effects, and Oakley prowling around the stage like some mysterious wizard. They’ve said they plan to keep touring as long as people want to see them and they’re healthy enough to do it, so get to a show while you still can.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Brian!]