Electro – Page 6 – 7th Level Music

Review: LUCKYANDLOVE – Humaura

LUCKYANDLOVE‘s new album, Humaura, has an interesting dichotomy running through it. The band love analog synths, Moog synthesizers, drum machines, and other electronic instruments and deftly use them to create lovely synthwave and dark wave music…

…and yet Humaura opens with “I Am Human” – a song that encourages us to “cut the wire” and back out of all this technology that consumes and does more to separate us than keep us together. Shut off your phone, stop binge-watching shows, get outside and breathe for a bit.

Then come back for the dance party that is “Feelz So Good,” because you do feel good after a break from the cyber-world. You always do. You always remember how good it feels to be present. “Run on Run” is a saucy tale of finding and walking away from love with April Love repeating “Just let me go.” to her former lover, as they’re not “the only one who can have some fun.” Speaking of love, “Name of Love” has some of Love’s best vocals on the record as the song goes from dark wave to electro-disco.

“Lonely at Night” is pure goth-wave as Love relates to all of us feeling isolated in the darkest hours of the evening. “You’re the only one who gets me,” Love sings on “Down to Black” – in which she happily (as happy as you can get in a goth dance tune, that is) sings about finally finding someone who understands her.

Loren Luck ups the percussion on “Secret Is Out,” which is about a vampire who needs to reveal their nature to a lover but is debating the decision. Will it bring relief or misery? “Hawks Do Cry” is another showcase of Love’s excellent vocals. “Melt in Sunshine” might refer to the vampire in “Secret Is Out.” It’s a slick track, with some of Luck’s best beats. It almost becomes dream pop at some points.

Again, it’s an interesting dichotomy – An electro record made with modern and analog technology that encourages you to put away technology, investigate yourself, and find love and human connection. In other words, LUCKYANDLOVE have delivered one of the most important messages of the year.

Keep your mind open.

[Yes, cut the wire, but subscribe first.]

[Thanks to Shauna at Shameless Promotion PR.]

Review: Lammping – Never Never

Mikhail Galkin and Jay Anderson, sometimes known as Lammping, are a Toronto duo known for producing beats, combining genres, and making interesting, and sometimes weird, decisions that create intriguing music you feel like you’ve heard before…but you’re not sure.

Nowadays, the duo have released the first of four experimental EPs — Never Never, this one with rockabilly one-man-band Bloodshot Bill, whom John Waters once described as “Roy Orbison with a head injury.” Take someone like that and put them in a studio with trip-hop and psych-rock music producers and you get a fun record.

The opening title track alone, with its brush beats, looped saxophone, and upright bass is enough to stop you in your tracks as Bill sings / raps about an unexpected love connection. The somewhat melted guitar on the instrumental “Coconut” oozes into mind-melting beats. “One and Own” is a fun example of Waters’ “head injury” description of Bill as he sings about his girlfriend but sounds like he might be punch-drunk.

“0 and 1” is a fun instrumental trip-hop cut that would fit right onto a St. Germain or Air album. Bill’s vocals on “Won’t Back Down” sound like he’s trying to keep up a brave face while crying into his beer. The gooey, chewy beat loops and western guitar on the track are slick — especially the guitar solo. In a just and right world, the quirky instrumental “Anything Is Possible” would’ve been remixed by MFDOOM by now. The EP ends with “Nitey Nite.” You can just barely hear Bill’s backing vocal sounds in it, which give way to his whistling (which is sprinkled throughout the record) that sends us out with a grin.

The whole EP will keep you grinning. It’s a lot of fun and a great sign of things to come over the next three projects.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jenn at No Rules PR.]

Rewind Review: Portishead – Third (2008)

It’s easy to forget that the gap between Portishead‘s second album and their literal Third album was eleven years long. They’d put out two perfect trip-hop records and then faded out after drummer and songwriter Geoff Barrow became uninspired with music, underwent a divorce, and moved to Australia.

He started tinkering with music again in 2003, eventually landing on one of the tracks that would be on Third. That led him to link back up with keyboardist and guitarist Adrian Utley in 2005 and things blossomed from there.

They, along with singer Beth Gibbons, started collaborating on more tracks and Third emerged seemingly out of nowhere, surprising fans and critics alike. The surprise came from not only Portishead releasing an unexpected album, but also from the unexpected sound of it. Gone were the trip-hop elements, replaced with krautrock, synthwave, and dark wave.

“Silence” opens the record with industrial percussive beats while Charlotte Nicholls‘ cello haunts the entire track and its abrupt ending pulls the rug from under you. “Hunter” sounds like something you’d hear in a Twin Peaks episode if the show were scored by Can instead of Angelo Badalamenti. “Nylon Smile” has Gibbons singing about how she’s trying so hard to accept love and give more in a relationship that’s already boring her. “The Rip” almost becomes a sea shanty with Utley’s simple guitar picking, but then it transforms into a synthwave hypnosis session.

“Plastic” is jagged and weird (in a good way), reminding me of giallo film music at times. “We Carry On” goes almost full krautrock with its throbbing beats and unsettling synths as Gibbons sings about tastes she can’t describe and putting one foot forward to get to the next moment. The shoegaze guitar power chords from Utley are sharp on this track. “Deep Water” is an acoustic track that’s almost a lullaby.

“Machine Gun” is an immediate contrast with industrial thumps and hisses while Gibbons sends out siren song to hypnotize the sailors working deep in the hold of a passing ship. “Small” gets close to trip-hop, but keeps a darker edge to it that gets under your skin and into the back of your skull.

“Magic Doors” is the no wave song Barrow started writing in 2003 that eventually led to Third‘s creation. Vintage synthesizers are all over the album, with the final track, “Threads,” being no exception. The band used a detuned sound of a VCS 3 to create a spooky effect that resembles a clarinet played by a wraith. Jim Barr‘s guest bass is like a slowly boiling contents of a cauldron found simmering in a dark woods.

People are still unraveling Third, myself included, all these years later. It’s worth the effort.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: John Also Bennett – Ston Elaióna

Take some flute, add synthesizers, mix them with early morning sun bouncing off the Partheon in Athens, Greece, and have it served up by a former noise rocker. What do you get? Ston Elaióna, a beautiful ambient album from John Also Bennett.

I’m not sure how to describe this album, or even if I should. It’s something best experienced. The opening title track is like falling into a dream. “Gecko Pads” is inspired by a lizard Bennett saw on the wall of his apartment studio. “Hailstorm” mixes soft synths and flute with the quiet ticks of the titular storm Bennett recorded in Athens.

“A Handful of Olives” almost ventures into drone music with its long synth notes, but Bennett’s flute turns the song into a lovely stroll through a grove. “Sacred House” refers to the home of the Oracle of Dodoni (as does the mist-like track “Oracle” later on the record) and sounds like a record played by a ghost. Heck, “Seikilos Epitaph” is a composition found carved on an ancient pillar (the oldest known complete musical composition to exist).

“First Lament” is a song Bennett has been performing for years in different forms. Here it’s like something you’d hear drifting over a mountain path as you approach a temple you’ve been climbing toward for days. “Easter Daydream” is, I think, the only song on the album with percussion…and that is a field recording of a church bell across the street from Bennett’s apartment during Holy Week. Finally, if you buy a physical copy of the record, you also get “Lonely Melody.” Remember that ghost playing a record earlier? Well, now he’s doing spectral tidying of the haunted house to keep his mind off the fact that no one comes around to listen to his spooky records.

Again, it’s better to experience all of this than to read about it. Grab a copy of it, sit with it, and let it drift around and through you.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cody at Terrorbird Media.]

Runo Plum takes you “Halfway Up the Lawn” with her newest single.

In November, runo plum will release her debut LP on Winspear (Wishy, Slow Pulp, Teethe). Entitled patching, the album was produced with her new Winspear labelmate Lutalo, and was announced in late August with the single “sickness,” which arrived with a Rolling Stone featureand saw praise from outlets like Stereogum, Line of Best Fit and BrooklynVegan.

Today, runo is sharing another preview of her new album, a track called “Halfway Up The Lawn,” with a video shot by David Milan Kelly.

Unbridled sincerity isn’t anything new for runo plum, who’s been writing and quietly sharing bedroom dispatches of her intricate folk for a half-decade. During the pandemic years, she steadily caught the ears of a widening circle of listeners and soon began independently releasing a series of singles and EPs, all while cutting her teeth on the live side supporting Searows, Angel Olsen and Hovvdy.

In the midst of this wave of success came an unexpected heartbreak. It wasn’t until runo had written a mass of songs in a five-month burst of intense creativity following that chasm that she realized that not one, but two, records were forming. “I was writing like I never had before and everything felt more meaningful than ever,” she says.

On patching, the work of metamorphosis plays as large of a role as the studied process of mending and repair. Across its twelve tracks, runo paints her melodic arcs with a sharp sense of dynamics, crafting songs that capture both the hazy highs and the dark blue lows of all the natural cycles that make the world turn. At the heart of her writing lies a sort of ephemeral magic, one born from her ability to alchemize a deeply formative chapter of life into a vivid scrapbook of songs, capturing the contours of her experiences in shimmering detail.

“Halfway Up The Lawn” recounts the messy and deeply human desperation phase of a breakup, unraveling all of the yearning and mental hang-ups over persistent, near-hypnotic instrumentation. “I don’t wanna watch you turn green, but I will” she sings, toying with acceptance, but not entirely giving up the fight.

“This song is about when you get broken up with and you aren’t on speaking terms with that person anymore. It makes you feel so insane, you want to scream, you’re checking socials, waiting for a text, desperately waiting for literally any sign of life. I imagine myself pathetically sitting outside of their house waiting for them to get home, but–nothing. The line “I don’t wanna watch you turn green, but I will” is ultimately about accepting that they have moved on. We ended up using my demo guitar solo for this one, which is so funny because it’s sort of a mess but it ended up fitting perfectly with the chaos in the theme.”

In support of the record runo will be embarking on a UK/EU tour that includes appearances at Pitchfork London and Paris. Full details of those dates can be found below.

11/1 – Amsterdam, NL @ London Calling Festival
11/2 – Berlin, DE @ Neue Zukuft
11/3 – Hamburg, DE @ Aalhaus
11/5 – Ghent, BE @ Big Next (Trefpunt)
11/6 – Luxembourg, LU @ Rotondes
11/7 – Paris, FR @ Pitchfork Paris
11/8 – London, UK @ Pitchfork London
11/10 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
11/11 – London, UK @ Moth Club
11/12 – Brighton, UK @ Dust
11/14 – Sheffield, UK @ Hallamshire Hotel
11/15 – Leeds, UK @ Live at Leeds

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Levitation Austin 2025: Day One recap

I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the first full day of Levitation 2025 than a slow-motion sword fight between a Rat Queen and a rat skull-headed incarnation of Death over a book containing countless souls.

That’s how Day One of the festival started in its new home — the Palmer Event Center. The new space is impressive. The interior stage is in a massive cave-like room with 360-degrees of projections to keep you tripping all day if you’d like. Oliver Ackermann of A Place to Bury Strangers described it to me as “amazing,” and I think he and his bandmates (still a bit bleary-eyed from their recent South American tour) are eager to blast the place on Day Three.

First to blast it, and setting a high bar for the rest of the bands to come for the rest of the festival, were a band consisting of a vampire, a druid, a plague doctor, and a warrior queen.

Castle Rat came out to an exuberant crowd as the voice of a distant wizard told us they had been given the task of protecting The Bestiary — a book of souls they must protect at all costs from evil forces. As a friend put it, “Listening to them is like opening your Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook for the first time.” They proceeded to flatten the place, ending their too short forty-minute time slot with the aforementioned sword fight.

The line for Castle Rat’s merch was at least twenty minutes long for hours after their set. I later met their drummer, The Druid, and told him my friend’s description of their music. He laughed and said, “Yes! That’s exactly what we’re going for.”

The exterior stage is in a smaller space, and set up facing south with the unintended result of having many of the bands (depending on their set time) staring into the afternoon sun. One such band was Skloss, who’d just returned from a tour in Scotland and had become unaccustomed to such bright sunlight. Guitarist Sandy Carson had trouble seeing his foot pedal board a couple times, resulting in what drummer / singer Karen Skloss called “the Skloss experimental set” by the end. Regardless of the pedal trouble, they still put on a loud, psychedelic show that blasted as hard as the sun.

I had to get some hydration and calories by this point, so I missed the opening of Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol‘s set, but got there in time for a lot of solid rockers such as “Heel,” “1-800-EAT-SHIT,” and “I’m the Fucking Man.” They sounded great, even better when I saw them at Levitation last year at Stubb’s BBQ on a much bigger stage.

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Whatever the Fuck

I had a little time to wander for a bit, checking out the various vendors there, and then got to see most of the set from Austin’s own The Sword — who played to a packed house indoors. Their set got a bit funky by the end, which I thought was great.

The Sword cutting through time and space.

I took a much-needed disco nap back at the hotel after their set, and it was almost too good of a break. I woke up groggy and debated not going downtown to see the late night show for which I’d purchased a ticket a while ago. I decided to go outside, get some fresh air, and make the decision. It turned out to be a good one.

I didn’t get to Elysium in time to see Austin drag star Louisanna Purchase perform, but did get there for the last half of Auragraph‘s drum and bass set that had the place bumping. Much like the Boy Harsher show the previous night, the goth and queer crowd was out in force here — which is always great to see.

Pixel Grip was playing down a man with synth player Jonathon Freund not being able to make the show, but pre-programmed loops and chords keyed up by drummer Tyler Ommen worked just fine and singer Rita Lukea commanded the stage and the jam-packed crowd. They had the floors shaking multiple times. It was a wild end to a wild day.

Up next for Day Two…post-punk, disco, and a DJ set from my favorite band.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin 2025: Day Zero recap

I’m going to call the September 25, 2025 Thursday night late shows of Levitation Austin 2025 as “Day Zero” since the official festival doesn’t start until September 26th. “Day -1” would’ve been September 24th when you could’ve seen Mdou Moctar, Beach Fossils, Strange Lot, Water Damage and other good bands.

The main festival has a new home — the Palmer Event Center pretty much in the middle of the city, and only has the “pub crawl” events (shows at various venues downtown) at night. As usual, there’s always at least one good band playing the Thursday night before Levitation to entice you into coming to town early. This year, “Day Zero” had several: Warmduscher and Starjunk 95 among them, and I opted for two other shows out of six you could attend.

I first went to Stubb’s BBQ for what would be the only show I would attend there the whole weekend (which felt odd): Kumo 99, Martin Rev, and Boy Harsher.

Kumo 99 kicking off Levitation with a good start.

I’d only heard one song from Kumo 99 before coming to Austin, so I didn’t know what to expect apart from some electro music. What I got was electro plus synthwave plus Japanese vocal punk rock. I was impressed, and so were a lot of others judging by the size of the line at their merch booth after their set.

Martin Rev will hit you with a key-tar and then put you in the Sharpshooter.

Up next was the legendary Martin Rev — one half of synth / punk pioneers Suicide. He came out in ripped-up leather pants, a sleeveless shirt, and goggles suitable for alpine skiing or for Brett “Hitman” Hart cutting a professional wrestling promo. What followed was a weird, loud no wave noise set that left most of the audience (who didn’t realize who he was) baffled. Rev was hammerfisting his keyboard through most of the set, bludgeoning us with distorted din. He sampled Bon Jovi, ZZ Top, and The Trammps at various points while singing / talking with so much reverb in his microphone that one guy in front of me just yelled, “What are you saying?” during a brief break in the noise. Rev even did a bizarre cover of Sam the Sham & the Pharohs‘ “Wooly Bully” at one point. A woman next to me said, “I hope I can be that cool at (age) seventy-seven. I’m ready for bed by eight and he’s out here doing his thing.” That “thing” being not giving a damn what people think and giving them more of an experience than a performance.

Boy Harsher winning over the crowd at the first note.

The crowd (with a big goth and queer contingent. Hell yeah!) for Boy Harsher was huge by the time they took the stage. They played much the same set as when I saw them at Levitation France months earlier — packing in pulsing synthwave with great electro dance beats. I found out from the woman next to me that they’d played a DJ set from the back of a truck the previous day and had done a record signing at End of an Ear in Austin. That’s way cool.

Speaking of way cool things, I walked a half-block after Boy Harsher’s set to Elysium where I caught Johnny Jewel‘s great set of his film score and other music – which included a set from Drive, a salute to David Lynch, and even a different version of Chromatics‘ “Lady.” He played various clips from Lynch films, Twin Peaks, giallo films, and other oddities throughout it.

Up next, and closing out Day Zero, was one of Jewel’s many side projects — Desire. They played a long set of lovely synthwave and electro-dance tracks, mostly about wanting, finding, and / or losing love. The crowd loved them, and the trio work well together. They even played two New Order covers (“Bizarre Love Triangle” and “Blue Monday” – with Jewel on lead vocals for the second) and Taylor Dane‘s “Tell It to My Heart” — which was a natural fit for lead singer Megan Louise.

It was a late night, but worth it. There’s a lot of good synthwave at Levitation this year, and Day One will end with more…but first there will be a lot of metal.

Keep your mind open.

All right, all right! I’ll get on it…And you spelled my name wrong again, David!

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Review: No Joy – Bugland

Jasamine White-Gluz got out of the city to make Bugland, the newest No Joy album, experimenting and collaborating with Fire-Toolz (AKA Angel Marcloid) for an record that is difficult to categorize, but why should we even bother to try? Why not just sit back and enjoy it?

Starting with electronic bloops, bleeps, and beats, “Garbage Dream House” gets things off to a weird, wonderful start – mixing buzzing guitar chords with synths and processed drums while White-Gluz’s voice bounces off the back wall at some points and nuzzles your ear the next. The title track crunches and munches like an early Garbage track and White-Gluz’s reverb-soaked vocals practically lift you off the floor.

“Bits” has more 90s electro-rock vibes to it, practically begging you to blast it on your headphones as you hit the mid-mark of your treadmill workout. “Save the Lobsters” is based on a true story of White-Gluz smashing open lobster traps washed up on beaches so she could get the creatures back into the ocean. Her vocals are often drenched in distortion or echo effects, seemingly putting you under the water with the freed animals.

“My Crud Princess” not only has a great title, but also a sparkling energy bursting through the slightly sludgy (cruddy?) drum beats. “Bather in the Bloodcells” reminds me of My Bloody Valentine if they turned down the volume a bit and covered Elastica.

“I Hate That I Forget What You Look Like” is a stunner about grief that, for some us, is all too relatable. The snappy drums and synths grow like a mind almost spiraling into panic, but catching itself just before toppling into madness. The psychedelic closer, “Jelly Meadow Bright” is almost eight minutes of trippy bliss, nearly fading out halfway through it and then returning with a wild saxophone-led acid-jazz / industrial freak-out.

Again, I’m not sure how to describe Bugland…apart from it being one of the best releases of 2025 so far.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media!]

Paris Music Corp. uses technology to push back against itself on “No Soy A.I.”

Texas-based electronic and ambient composer Paris Music Corp. a.k.a. John Andrew Paris presents ‘No Soy A.I.’, the first taste of his latest electronic odyssey ‘Ecotone’. Slated for release on October 24, this album promises to be a futuristic trip, and “No Soy A.I.” is the perfect, human-first introduction.

In a world increasingly dominated by the cold, calculated logic of artificial intelligence, Paris Music Corp. throws down a human gauntlet with this dark slab of swirling electro, which features the searing Spanish vocals of fellow Texan musician, writer and actor Ray Perez. A potent opening statement, this is a sonic challenge to the algorithmic chill of our times and the only track on this album with vocals.

Originally from Austin and now calling Brownsville, TX his seaside home, John Andrew Paris spent decades creating music and collaborating with artists, including Arthur Brown (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, perhaps best known for his hit single ‘Fire’), as well as DJ Rev Kathy Russell, DJ Lucas Ray, Catastrophe Ballet, Le Reve, Life’s Eyes, Beast of Eden, OBOYO and Don Wigwam.

In 2022, Paris Music Corp. released his self-titled album, after taking hiatus for half a decade following the release of his debut album ‘Rewind’ in 2017. Fast forward to autumn 2025 – now Paris is ready to release the next collection of his electronic adventures, having written, recorded, mixed and mastered this full album at Tarantula Studios throughout 2024 and 2025.

“With ‘No Soy A.I.’, I wanted to address the coldness of some of AI’s tendencies, such as people already having AI girlfriends and boyfriends. Ironically, this track ultimately turned out to be a love song of sorts, which is okay by me,” says John Andrew Paris.

“Sonically, this piece has a very futuristic sound to it. The words delivered in Spanish alongside make it even more relevant as something new and a little out there”.

Influenced by the likes of Mick Karn, Pink Floyd, Gary Numan, Tim Hecker, Casino Versus Japan and Miles Davis, John Andrew Paris has also scored 2 independent films – the documentary ‘Andy Paris: Bubble Gum King’, also released as an album, and the short horror film ‘Spectral Wind’. He has also created a clever electronic rework of ‘Lord of the Dance’ for the Austin Christmas Collection Album.

“After relocating Paris Music Corp. to Brownsville, TX, it became apparent that wildlife and nature in general were at the forefront with living on the border of Mexico next to the sea. The ‘Ecotone’ album made sense to me because you have a transitional zone, where two different ecological communities or ecosystems meet and intermingle, often resulting in high biodiversity,” says John Andrew Paris.

Cinematic and ethereal, Paris Music Corp. music is ambient and spacey electronica. Often with elements of 80’s darkwave and ambient soundscapes, his trademark sound includes heavily processed guitar and bass instruments locked into layered loops and further manipulated using software. Also employing live hand percussion, these dense soundscapes take the listener on a sonic journey to otherworldly places.

As of September 19, ‘No Soy A.I.! is available from digital platforms, including Apple Music ,Spotify and Bandcamp. The ‘Ecotone’ album will be released on October 24.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Shauna at Shameless Promotion PR.]

Rewind Review: DJ Zinc – Crackhouse Vol. 3 (2023)

Are you looking for another full album of house and techno bangers? Well, DJ Zinc has you covered with Crackhouse Vol. 3.

The opening moments of “Conditioning” (with Chris Lorenzo) are designed to get you jumping. “That Sound” is a stand-out, building to a thumping floor-filler. “Close My Eyes” is classic house music, mixing fun beats with lovely vocals. “Amergency” dives back into straight-up jungle madness.

“Everywhere” blends the two into jungle-house with looped gospel-like vocals and popping boba bass to keep you caffeinated and on a sugar rush. Kamakaze joins Zinc for “What I’m On” – a head-swirling jungle track that makes the room feel like it’s spinning. “When I” brings us back to soulful house music. “Dollars” practically turns on the strobe lights for you with its bright synth riffs.

“Goldin” adds vocals from President T to the party, bringing in a rough edge to Zinc’s booming beats. Ever helps Zinc close out the mix with the sweaty breakbeat cut, “For My People” that leaves you out of breath by the end. It feels over too soon, as most good raves do.

Keep your mind open.

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