Electro – Page 28 – 7th Level Music

The National remix NEU!’s “Im Glück” for tribute album.

Listen to “Im Glück (The National Remix)”

NEU! are a product of Düsseldorf, Germany, home to Kraftwerk’s Klingklang studios, as well as galleries, graphic designers and advertising agencies. Rother and Dinger drew on all of this and their impeccable musical training to create the overall concept of NEU!. They intended to create a previously unheard new music, aping the processes of commodification while remaining resolutely hostile to the commerciality of the music industry. Like other experimental bands of the late 60s and early 70s gathered under the Krautrock banner, NEU! were driven by a mixture of political and artistic imperatives to reject the clichés and conventions of orthodox, blues-based Anglo-American rock and create a music that was, formally, West German in origin.

Pre-order NEU! 50!

Watch “Hallogallo (Stephen Morris and Gabe Gurnsey Remix)” Visualizer

Listen to “Weissensee (Fink Version)”

Listen to “Zum Herz” by Guerilla Toss

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Jon Hopkins and ANNA team up for a “night version” of “Deep in the Glowing Heart.”

Jon Hopkins has revealed a transcendent new collaboration with Brazilian techno producer ANNA, “Deep In The Glowing Heart (Night Version).” The original version of “Deep In The Glowing Heart” is found on Hopkins’ Music For Psychedelic Therapy, released last November on Domino. Talking about the original, Hopkins said there is a feeling that “music can cleanse you, music can guide you through.” Today’s “Night Version” takes you on a very different journey. Evolving over a month-long trans-Atlantic collaborative process, “Deep In The Glowing Heart (Night Version)” feels like an explosive release of energy, inspired by Hopkins’ return to regular DJing this year. With early versions of this track being premiered to huge crowds by both artists at their DJ sets across the world – including ANNA at Coachella and Hopkins at Fabric – “Deep In The Glowing Heart (Night Version)” is now available to hear widely for the first time.

Of the collaboration, Hopkins says: “I first came across ANNA’s music through her track ‘Hidden Beauties’, which I found myself playing in DJ sets all the time and always goes down so well. I then asked her to remix ‘Singularity’ and the results were so amazing I was super keen to work with her again but in a more collaborative way, rather than just handing over stems. We went back and forth a lot and it flowed really well. I love how this one turned out, it’s such a meeting of our two styles.”

ANNA adds: “It is a big honor to be able to create music together with Jon. His music is part of my daily life, part of my meditations, my long walks and contemplative moments. My remix for his track ‘Singularity’ had a huge impact on my career and getting to know Jon better since then, and collaborate on this version of DITGH, it feels like our relationship has come full circle!”

Listen to Jon Hopkins & ANNA’s “Deep In The Glowing Heart (Night Version)”
Music For Psychedelic Therapy was Hopkins’ first full-length since the release of sister albums, the GRAMMY-nominated Singularity (2018) and Immunity (2013), and it was a departure in sound from these records; “an album with no beats, not one drum sound, something that is closer to a classical symphony than a dance / electronica record.”

Listen/Watch/Purchase:
Purchase/Stream Music For Psychedelic Therapy
Watch “Sit Around The Fire” (with Ram Dass, East Forest) Visualizer
Watch “Music For Psychedelic Therapy (Excerpt)” Visualizer

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

October and the Eyes shares a “Tit Pic.” It’s a single! A new single! What were you thinking?

Following the release of her recent EP ‘Who Upset You?‘, New Zealand-born, London-based singer & songwriter October and the Eyes is sharing her new single “Tit Pic.“

Speaking about the track, October said “We destroy the earth because of our innate sense of self importance – that we have a god given right to rape, pillage and exploit the earth for our own consumption. We simultaneously distract ourselves from the worsening repercussions of our destructive hand via narcissistic pursuits of social media exhibitionism and sterile lit bathroom selfies. It’s a great picture though and successfully garnered 237 likes which is a huge relief.”

Listen to “Tit Pic” via Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiSZVMUBR5I

Listen via other streaming services here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/octoberandtheeyes/tit-pic

October is no new-comer to music, the New Zealand born musician has been involved in musical pursuits since she was a child. Heralding from a musical family, the prospect of pursuing music in one form or another was almost inescapable: A classical pianist mother, fanatic music fan father, and two older multi- instrumentalist brothers who were always holding their band practices in the family playroom. October’s childhood was that of a humble upbringing; having grown up in a small rural town in New Zealand’s wine country, she turned to songwriting as a means to stave the boredom away. She taught herself how to record and produce her own music aged 12, locking herself away in her bedroom for hours on end, and hasn’t looked back since. Claiming the internet raised her, it’s clear she had her sights set on broader horizons and bigger cities.

Having moved half way across the world to her new home in East London, October has remained true to her traditional isolated writing style by holing up in her East London flat for several months and writing a small collection of songs that can be described as dizzying, darkly kaleidoscopic, and dauntless above all. October describes her musical style as ‘collage-rock’ (not the be confused with college rock). Pulling musical inspiration from the likes of Bauhaus, Bowie, Siouxsie Sioux and Suicide, she then squeezes her influences through the gauze of modernity and electronics, thus creating something entirely of her own.

With nods to acid rock, psychobilly and post-punk, October and The Eyes’ music is equal parts nostalgia-drenched as it is future forward, employing layers of ambient synth drones to anchor the crunched guitars and jagged organ parts. Delivered with a twisted theatricality, her vocals pendulum between commanding chants and soothing coo’s, proving that not only is she a versatile songwriter and producer, but a versatile vocalist too.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Estella Boersma drops hot new single – “The Wave.”

Berlin based producer Estella Boersma announced themselves with a debut on Unknown to the Unknown’s Dance Trax imprint and a string of appearances in the infamous HOR bathroom have followed – including one at Crave Festival – generating a positive stream count thanks to their varied DJing style; floating between techno, bass, breaks, electro and old school rave.

Today Estella shares the first single ‘The Wave’ from thier highly anticipated EP ‘Contact’ forthcoming on UKmainstay Lobster Theremin, due for release October 7th. The EP will feature three other tracks that perfectly exemplify the energy felt front-left at one of their sets.

‘The Wave’ is the most quintessential Estella track on the release – brimming with acid, breakbeats and warehouse rave energy, channeling older XL Recordings-inspired sounds and modern-punk electronic aesthetics.

PRE-ORDER

NEW SINGLE ‘THE WAVE’

STREAM WATCH

Keep your mind open.

[Make contact by subscribing.]

[Thanks to Harbour Music Society.]

Review: System Efe – Carpetania

Toledo’s System Efe has released a killer EP of Detroit techno-inspired music, Carpetania. The title track fills you with slow-burn energy with its swelling synth-bass and perfect electro-beats. It’s like a bowl of steel cut oats served by a robot waitress at a diner that’s playing house music. It prepares you for a lot of dancing to come.

The bass drops on “Primitive,” immediately turning up the heat and your pulse. Put it on your workout playlist and proceed to shred your routine. “Steppe” builds with radar bleeps and simple, somewhat muted beats into an almost frantic track that leaves you a bit breathless.

The EP’s afterparty is the Raul Alvarez “360 Primitive Edit” of the title track, which takes on a slightly dangerous edge with beats and hooks that sound like something that emerges from the futuristic car full of cyborg hitmen from the year 3045 who’ve come to kill you so your ancestors won’t stop them from being created in the first place.

Don’t miss this one.

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe? I mean, you’re already here…]

[Thanks to PullProxy!]

babychaos signs to Cleopatra Records and releases new single – “Babylon.”

babychaos is the creation of 21-year-old model Lyzzie Larosa. Using influence from industrial, metal, rock, pop and club music, she hypnotizes with her words on her personal experiences and the world she creates through her music and expression. Born and raised in witch city Salem, Massachusetts, babychaos has now arrived.

Los Angeles-based independent record label Cleopatra and babychaos have now joined forces to present the creation and video for “Babylon”.

babychaos is learning to dance her way through the dark model and musician babychaos has released her fifth single ‘Babylon’, and the video has just arrived to the party.

Watch “Babylon” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzIUnWTXxZE

“Post-apocalyptic Bratz doll from hell,” babychaos has carved out a unique space in music, which she dubs ‘industrial pop. ‘Combining the harsh electronic tones and distorted guitar of industrial metal with a vocal and songwriting sensibility that aims for big pop hooks, babychaos’s newest single ‘Babylon’ is her most accomplished musical statement to date. Check it out we are very excited to her what y’all think! She’s definitely an icon.” – Ken Tighe, Cleopatra Records

“‘Babylon’ is about the inevitable vilification of people living their authentic truth. I’ve found that no matter what, people will project their inner wounds and fears into others no matter how morally good you may think you are. My mom told me growing up that people are going to talk no matter what, so you may as well give them something to talk about. This is exactly what that song is about as it’s been such a prominent theme in my life. Learning to dance in your darkness, even at your loneliest is something that no one can take from you.” – babychaos

When it comes to 21-year-old babychaos, the alternative model turned solo musician is anything but predictable. With a multi-range of influences that extend from industrial, rock, classical, and club music genres to nostalgic 90s and 2000s rock/metal soundscapes, babychaos delivers an intense, heavy, electronic, eclectic experience that is refreshing to the music scene. babychaos is no stranger to being confident in her skin. Her journey of breaking away from spiritual ties and turning that religious repression into art is one of many undisguised lyrical subjects the multi-genre artist touches on within her music. While babychaos is just getting started in the music industry, she hopes to use her stories to connect with others. With the Salem/Florida-based artist’s first 2021 single, “Flesh”, approaching over 1 million streams and currently working on her first EP with Cleopatra Records, the future looksbright for the up-and-coming artist.

“I’ve built a community of my listeners who are simply visionaries, and I love how they

use my music and art in general to fuel their own visions and creative endeavors.” – babychaos

“Babylon” was produced by: Goodjohn Productions and mixed/mastered at Wolfe Studios. The “Babylon” video was shot by 4102 productions.

babychaos online:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/itsbabychaos

Twitter: babychaos (@itsbabychaos) / Twitter

TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdjxBo6L/

YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/BABYCHAOSOFFICIAL333

Keep your mind open.

[It’ll be chaos if you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR.]

Auragraph takes out of the ordinary with his new single, “Escapism.”

The palette and precision of prolific synthesizer composer Hector Carlos Ramirez aka A uragraph has heightened incrementally since the project’s conception in 2018, but Reflection Plane – his 8th full-length, and first for Dais Records – finds him streamlining his sound even further, to its gleaming chrome essence.

Moody pads and sequential circuits cycle through cybernetic galleries of marble, ferns, and flickering screens, at the threshold of film score, slow techno, and hard vapor. The album’s nine tracks deploy an array of 80’s tonalities, from night drive arpeggios to Art Of Noise sample stabs to Seinfeld slap bass, but fused into a hybrid landscape of lucid dreaming and hypnotic horizon lines.

Today, Auragraph shares the first look at Reflection Plane with its sleek, glossy first single, “Escapism.”

Watch (+ share) the virtual reality video for “Escapism.”

Born in the Texas border town of Laredo, Ramirez relocated to Austin for film school, where he became fascinated by the local electronic underground scene spearheaded by S U R V I V E and the Holodeck Records network. But it was only after moving to Los Angeles to work in the music department of a film trailer house that he crossed paths with Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein of S U R V I V E, who were in need of an assistant for multiple ongoing projects. After helping out on National Geographic’s Valley Of The Boom miniseries, Ramirez officially joined the Stranger Things soundtrack team as a Score Mixing Engineer.

This intuitive expertise for audio design infuses Auragraph with a unique sense of fluidity and finesse, able to shift gears and integrate contrasts: sleek yet strange, icy but emotive, minimal though rich. Shades of classic EBM, 90’s electronica, and Dreamcast-era video game music glimmer here and there on certain tracks, but the cumulative effect of Reflection Plane is of entering a place outside of time and space, post- human and pristine. These are songs of parallel realities and second lives, freed from friction and gravity, playing on loop in a skybox sculpture garden at the ends of the earth.

Reflection Plane is available on digital formats now from Dais Records. Order here.

Auragraph, live:

August 14 – Medium Studio – Salt Lake City, UT

August 17 – Pop’s Blue Moon – St Louis, MO

August 18 – Cole’s Bar – Chicago, IL

August 27 – Al’s – Lexington, KY

August 28 – Pandora’s Box – Nashville, TN

August 29 – Rubber Gloves Studios – Dallas, TX

Keep your mind open.

[Escape to the subscription box.]

[Thanks to Stephanie at Indie Publicity.]

NEU! to release 50th anniversary box set of their first album.

Photo by Thomas Dinger: from left – Klaus Dinger, Michael Rother

NEU!, the legendary Krautrock duo of Michael Rother and the late Klaus Dinger, celebrate the 50th anniversary of their self-titled debut album with the NEU! 50! box set, out September 23rd via Grönland. NEU! 50! includes albums NEU! NEU! 2! and NEU! 75 plus the brand new NEU! Tribute Album, a NEU! stencil and booklet. The Tribute Album features reworkings by The National, Idles, Man Man, Mogwai, Alexis Taylor, and more. Today, Grönland presents two new tracks off the tribute album – “Weissensee (Fink Version)” and “Zum Herz,” a new, NEU!-inspired song by Guerilla Toss.

NEU!’s version of “Weissensee” evokes a majestic river, cascading, waves crashing. Fink honors the beautiful, lapping waterscape of the track. “I have walked around Weissensee many times – a little urban lake in a pretty rundown part of Berlin - particularly beautiful when it’s frozen over. I had to try this one. Stepping up to NEU! and the anniversary of their debut was an honor, a challenge and a joy.”
Listen to “Weissensee (Fink Version)”
Guerilla Toss’s “Zum Herz” is a salute from a band whose members were not yet born in NEU!’s heyday. “Zum Herz” draws heavily from the NEU! aesthetic, with an emphasis on the repetitive beat and multi-layer guitar production. The band explains: “NEU! is one of the most important bands of the 20th century, and a personal favorite of GT’s. Their influence on psych, rock, punk, and electronic music is enormous. The lineage of so many great bands can be traced back to NEU!. We are thrilled to be part of this compilation. I like to think that the U.S. / U.K created Rock music, but the Germans made it forever weird. Thanks, NEU!“
Listen to “Zum Herz” by Guerilla Toss
NEU! are a product of Düsseldorf, Germany, home to Kraftwerk’s Klingklang studios, as well as galleries, graphic designers and advertising agencies. Rother and Dinger drew on all of this and their impeccable musical training to create the overall concept of NEU!. They intended to create a previously unheard new music, aping the processes of commodification while remaining resolutely hostile to the commerciality of the music industry. Like other experimental bands of the late 60s and early 70s gathered under the Krautrock banner, NEU! were driven by a mixture of political and artistic imperatives to reject the clichés and conventions of orthodox, blues-based Anglo-American rock and create a music that was, formally, West German in origin.

NEU! are one of the great, belated success stories of rock music. Their influence continues to be internationally widespread. Since paving their own road ahead, they’ve created a model of forward propulsion away from conventional rock clichés. The NEU! Tribute album shows how much there is for subsequent generations to unpack in NEU!, how much is buried, implied in their sound.
Watch “Hallogallo (Stephen Morris and Gabe Gurnsey Remix)” Visualizer

Pre-order NEU! 50!

NEU! Tribute Album Tracklist:
1. Im Glück (The National Remix)
2. Weissensee (Fink Version)
3. Super (Mogwai Remix)
4. 4+1=5 – Alexis Taylor
5. Hallogallo (Stephen Morris and Gabe Gurnsey Remix)
6. Lieber Honig (Yann Tiersen Remix)
7. Super (Man Man Remix)
8. Negativland (Idles Negative Space Rework)
9. Zum Herz – Guerilla Toss
10. After Eight (They Hate Change Cover)

NEU! 50 Vinyl Boxset:
1.     LPGRONI / NEU! / NEU!
2.     LPGRONII / NEU! / NEU! 2
3.     LPGRONIII / NEU! / NEU! 75
4.     LPGRONTI / NEU! / Tribute album
5.      LPGRONTII / NEU! / Tribute album
6.     Stencil
7.     Booklet

NEU! 50 CD Boxset:
1.     CDGRONI / NEU! / NEU!
2.      CDGRONII / NEU! / NEU! 2
3.     CDGRONIII / NEU! / NEU! 75
4.     CDGRONIV / NEU! / NEU! `86
5.     CDGRONT / NEU! / Tribute album
6.     Stencil
7.     Booklet

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe while you’re here?]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

John Cale salutes 1970s New York City on his new single, “Night Crawling.”

Today, John Cale presents “Night Crawling,” his first new music since 2020 when he released the single, “Lazy Day,” and collaborated with Kelly Lee Owens on “Corner of My Sky.” “Night Crawling” is a taste of much more to come from Cale, and precedes his fall UK tour, which includes his first performances since pre-pandemic (more to come on the touring front in 2023, as well). Cale wrote “Night Crawling” with a nod to ’70s NYC pre-disco, recalling times when he and David Bowie would traverse the city at night. Throughout the track, Cale layers his inimitable vocals with a skipping beat and hovering bass. As it expands, it becomes nearly danceable with jockeying percussion and whirs of synth. Cale played nearly every instrument on the track, aside from additional drums by Deantoni Parks and backing vocals by Dustin Boyer, and it was mixed by Seven Davis, Jr.. The accompanying video, animated by Mickey Miles, visualizes the song’s vibrant sounds with colorful, retro animation.

Cale further explains: “It’s been a helluva past 2 years and I’m glad to finally share a glimpse of what’s coming ahead. There was this period around mid-late ’70s when David and I would run into each other in NY. There was plenty of talk about getting some work done but of course we’d end up running the streets, sometimes until we couldn’t keep a thought in our heads, let alone actually get a song together! One night we managed to meet up for a benefit concert where I taught him a viola part so we could perform together. When I wrote ‘Night Crawling,’ it was a reflective moment of particular times. That kind of NYC that held art in its grip, strong enough to keep it safe and dangerous enough to keep it interesting. I always figured we’d have another go at the two of us recording together, this time without the interference of being perpetually off our heads! The thing about creating music is the ability to divine a thought or feeling even when reality says it’s a logical impossibility.”

Watch John Cale’s Video for “Night Crawling”

John Cale Tour Dates
Sun. Oct. 23 – Edinburgh, UK @ The Queen’s Hall
Mon. Oct. 24 – York, UK @ Barbican
Fri. Oct. 28 – Cardiff, WLS @ Llais Festival *
Mon. Oct. 31 – Whitley Bay, UK @ Playhouse Whitley Bay
Thu. Nov. 3 – Birmingham, UK @ Birmingham Town Hall
Mon. Nov. 7 – Bexhill on Sea, UK @ De La Warr Pavilion
Wed. Nov. 9 – London, UK @ The London Palladium
Thu. Nov. 10 – Cambridge, UK @ Cambridge Corn Exchange
Fri. Nov. 11 – Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

* = John Cale + special guests, 80th Birthday Celebration

Keep your mind open.

[Crawl over to the subscription box while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Brijean – Angelo

Named after a 1981 Toyota Celica they bought on Craigslist, Brijean‘s lovely new EP, Angelo, is another lush, breezy, dreamy record from the duo that captivates you right away.

The EP starts by asking us “Which Way to the Club?” Just follow the sounds of Brijean’s great bass notes and playful drums, and they’ll take you straight into “Take a Trip” – which is delightfully trippy and bubbly, almost tickling you with its beats. The record was written during the pandemic, with the duo (Brijean Murphy on vocals and percussion, Doug Stuart on production and multiple instruments), like the rest of us, experiencing upheaval and loss. Writing and record Angelo became a way for them to escape the gloom by dreaming about what was and what could come after the pandemic.

“Shy Guy” encourages everyone to dance again, or even for the first time (“Show me how you like to move. I feel something, too.”). Their fun beats certainly help nudge you onto the dance floor. The title track tones down the dream-synths a bit to make room for more house beats. “Ooo La La” has some of the heftiest bass on the record.

The brief, dreamy “Colors” drifts into “Where Do We Go from Here?” – a song that has Murphy contemplating space-time and our place in it. “Caldwell’s Way” has Murphy and Stuart pining for a place they left behind when they moved away from Southern California. You can hear the yearning in Murphy’s voice, but also the conviction that she knows they might the right decision. The EP even closes with a short instrumental called “Nostalgia.”

It’s another winner from Brijean, and a record that will brighten a room.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]