I wanted to see Flying Lotus‘ 3-D show since I saw it without 3-D glasses at Mamby on the Beach earlier this year. He put on an impressive set there, so I figured one in an enclosed venue like Chicago’s Riviera Theatre would be a good time.
It was, albeit the place was packed once you got past the bar in the main theatre because everyone wanted the best spot to see the visual spectacle. It was indeed impressive, and I sure a wild trip if you were high during the thing. A guy next to my friend and I snapped at her when he thought she had been staring at him every time she turned around to talk to me. We explained that he had misread all of it and nothing was intentional. As my friend told me later, “If you can’t handle your fucking drugs, don’t come to a Flying Lotus show.”
He put on a good set, spinning in some stuff he did with Thundercatalong the way. That was a big hit with the crowd. The visuals were mostly different from the ones at his Mamby set. Some of the best were a “Flying Lotus” logo that seemed to push from the screen to above the crowd and a floating woman’s head that would curl out from the screen like a snake. It probably gave some chemically altered folks nightmares.
Just a floating wheel made of human limbs. Nothing to worry about.
Go see this tour if you’re able. It’s worth it for the visual feast, and Flying Lotus is one of the best experimental artists out there right now. His future is bright if he’s already doing stuff like this.
Keep your mind open.
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Photo Credit: Bryan C. Parker Loma, the new project comprised of Jonathan Meiburg, best known as the singer of Shearwater, and Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record, will release their self-titled debut album on February 16thvia Sub Pop. A product of a joint pilgrimage around the globe by fellow touring musicians, it’s a beautifully detailed and emotionally rich album that reveals a band obsessed with songs as sound. Today, the trio presents the video for the album’s final song and lead single, “Black Willow.”
Meiburg, Duszynski and Cross became friends when Cross Record, on their first-ever tour, supported Shearwater throughout America and Europe in 2016. “I couldn’t believe all that sound was coming out of two people,” Meiburg says. “They were mesmerizing.” In the van or at soundchecks, they shared their musical knowledge and love of nature and animals, and after an especially memorable show in Belgium, Meiburg approached Cross and Duszynski about working together. “I fell in love with their music,” he admits, “and I wanted to know how they did it.”
The trio convened in a house in the Texas hill country to see what would happen, and quickly realized an album was imminent. “There was something powerful about the combination of the three of us,” Meiburg says, “and very different from either of our bands. But I think we were afraid to say so out loud, for fear of jinxing it.” For the next few months, Loma met for two weeks at a time, shaping and revising new songs and casting others away.
It was also a strangely charged time. When the album began, Cross and Duszynski were a married couple, but their relationship ended during the sessions—an atmosphere Meiburg found both challenging and inspiring—and the isolated house became the album’s muse. Dogs wanderered by the microphones; the sounds of birds and wind in junipers and live oaks hovered at the borders of the songs, and a close listen reveals cicadas and frogs from a nearby stream. Except for Cross’s translucent voice in the foreground, there were no assigned roles on the album; each member of the trio played every instrument as needed.
This feeling of freedom let buried energies find expression. Cross wrung catharsis from Meiburg’s lyrics and melodies, while Duszynski immersed himself in the sonic details of engineering and mixing. In the end, the record became a document of an urgent and ephemeral place and time, and the strength that comes with letting go of something precious. It closes, fittingly, with the subtly defiant marching anthem of “Black Willow,” in which Cross’s voice, backed by a hypnotic bass and drums, offers a lesson in survival. “When I walk,” she sings, “I carry a diamond blade.” She means it.
Loma is now available for preorder from Sub Pop and select independent retailers [http://smarturl.it/loma]. North American preorders of the limited Loser edition will be available on clear vinyl with red and black swirlies (while supplies last). A new T-shirt design will also be available. Watch Loma’s “Black Willow” Video – https://youtu.be/u4yA8zM0ifY
Loma Tracklist:
1. Who Is Speaking?
2. Dark Oscillations
3. Joy
4. I Don’t Want Children
5. Relay Runner
6. White Glass
7. Sundogs
8. Jornada
9. Shadow Relief
10. Black Willow
Electronic music comes in many forms, and Com Truise’s new record, Iteration, falls somewhere between electro-pop, space lounge, and avant-garde.
The opening track, “…Of Your Fake Dimension” is dark synthwave that would easily fit into the Stranger Things 2 soundtrack with its Joy Division guitars and throbbing bass line. “Ephemeron” refers either to something short-lived or, according to Wikipedia, “a data structure that solves two related problems in garbage collected systems.” I’m willing to believe the title refers more to the latter from the way the songs devolves into distorted, warped, and subdued electronic bleeps and the beat slows to a creepy crawl.
There isn’t a Wikipedia entry for “Dryswch,” but that’s probably because the song is hard to describe (much like the rest of the album). It like something the Art of Noise would have created if they’d stayed in the game a bit longer. “Isotasy” refers to the gravity between the Earth’s crust and the mantle. It’s a neat choice of title because the track floats along with spacey synthesizer sounds, but there’s a subtle heaviness to it that’s easy to miss. “Memory” is practically a lost cut from the Miami Vice soundtrack and deserves to be spun at dance clubs everywhere.
I wouldn’t be surprised if “Propagation” and “Vaccume” are songs Com Truise (AKA Seth Haley) yanked from a milk bar jukebox in the future after they stepped out of the Time Tunnel. “Ternary” (“composed of three items”) is a trio of drum machine beats, synth loops, and trippy keyboards. It’s all he needs to make one of the best synthwave tracks of the year. “Usurper” has some similar keyboard sounds in it, which is appropriate for the title and how it take the previous track’s themes in a new direction.
“Syrthio” is almost a salute to John Carpenter film scores with its foreboding bass and Escape from New York synthesizer work. The title of “When Will You Find the Limit…” doesn’t end with a question mark. Either Com Truise doesn’t want to finish the question, or he thinks it’s best if we finish it. It’s one of the peppier tracks on the album, and even has a bit of New Age keyboard sounds in it. The title track is the closer, and it refers to new hardware or the repetition of a process. Much of the album is made of loops and processed beats, so the choice of title is a good one. Synthwave is enjoying a renaissance right now and Iteration is a good example of the genre’s comeback.
Keep your mind open.
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We got to Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom not long after they opened the doors for the second of three sold-out shows for LCD Soundsystem. We were hungry and hoped to grab a bite before the show. I asked a bouncer outside when LCDSS would start their set. “Nine, I think,” he said. “There’s a DJ opening, I think.” We went to a nearby Thai restaurant, had a nice meal, and then headed to the show to line up around the corner of the building and nearby some vendors selling street tacos that smelled delicious. We got in without trouble, although one bouncer thought my earplugs were pills for a moment, and went upstairs to the main floor. The DJ was spinning a remix of the Police‘s “Voices Inside My Head” as we moved up toward front stage left.
The DJ, it turns out, was Derrick Carter– one of Chicago’s most legendary DJ’s and a pioneer of Chicago house music. He’s spun all over the world and was putting down a solid set that no one in our area seemed to notice. The bouncer outside and the Aragon Ballroom massively undersold this. Carter’s name should’ve been on the marquis under LCDSS. It was a wonderful surprise and we would’ve come up extra early to catch his whole set if we’d known he was going to be on the bill.
LCDSS shot out of the gate at almost exactly nine o’clock with “Get Innocuous.” The whole place was jumping and then went positively nuts when light bounced off LCDSS’ massive disco ball above the stage.
The moment before Murphy announced Daft Punk was playing in his basement.
Not ones to rest soon, they followed it with their mega-hit “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” and the electro classic “I Can Change.” The band was cooking with gas for the whole set, and were obviously healthier than when I saw them at Pitchfork Music Festivalearlier this year when lead singer James Murphy openly spoke about getting over a cold and keyboardist Nancy Whang having “a bum knee.”
“I Can Change”
“Tribulations” was another crowd favorite and is one of those songs that sounds even better live. The crowd disappointed me when no mosh pit broke out during “Movement” (as it rightfully did at Pitchfork). In fact, the crowd was a bit subdued compared to the Pitchfork crowd. I don’t know if the outdoor venue and nice weather of Pitchfork made everyone a bit looser, but many around us at the Aragon weren’t even dancing. “Tonite,” one of the best singles of 2017, was another sharp cut and I was happy to hear it live for the first time.
“Tonite”
After taking a break “to go pee,” as Murphy put it (“It’s hard. A two-hour show. You know, you get older, you have to pee,” he announced before they played a great rendition of “New York I Love You, but You’re Bringing Me Down.”), they came back onstage to play “Oh Baby,” the lead cut from their excellent new record, American Dream. They followed it with another track off the new record and one that should’ve inspired the second mosh pit of the night – “Emotional Haircut.”
“Dance Yrself Clean” still ranks among the greatest of their hits and is easily one of the best parts of their live performances. They closed with “All My Friends” and Murphy wished everyone a safe trip home.
All of Murphy’s friends were in the audience, it seemed.
It was good to see them again and good to see them all healthy. LCDSS have become one of those bands I will see at any opportunity, as should you.
Keep your mind open.
Thanks to the lucky chap who scored this and let me take a photo of it.
Brooklyn’s Bootblacks(Alli Gorman – guitars, Barrett Hiatt – synthesizers, Roger Humanbeing – drums, Panther MacDonald – lead vocals), play an interesting mix of post-punk, shoegaze, goth, and synthwave, and their new album, Fragments, is a showcase on how well they float between those genres.
Lead track “Hold & Dissolve” instantly plunges you into creepy synthwave with a good mix of live and processed beats. It reminds me of some of A Place to Bury Strangers‘ tracks, but with vocals that sound more like Peter Murphy than Oliver Ackermann. “The Longest Night” seems to be a song about the first night after MacDonald’s lover walked out on him. Hiatt’s synth work on it blends so well with Gorman’s guitar riffs that it’s sometimes difficult to tell them apart.
If there’s any justice in the world, “Memory Palace” is currently tearing up goth and industrial night clubs throughout New York City and will soon be catching on across the country. It’s like a Joy Division track if they had decided to be a dance band. “Sudden Moves” is a journey down a wet road under a gray sky with occasional bursts of sunlight through the clouds (mainly from Hiatt’s synths). “A Pale Fire” is a fast, almost poppy electro track, and “Reincarnate” is something that could be spun by a replicant Los Angeles dance club DJ in 2049. I like how Gorman knows when to fade back and let the synths take the lead and when to step back up and shred. She’s quickly becoming one of my new favorite guitarists.
“For You (Lois)” might be a love letter to Lois, or it might be an ode to Lois, or it might be a cynical takedown of Lois. I’m not sure, but it is a cool cold wave track. The closer, “Gone,” has definite Depeche Modeinfluences (especially in MacDonald’s vocal stylings) and synths that sound like something from a rare krautrock single.
My thanks to Bootblacks’ label, Manic Depression Records, for letting me know about this band. They weren’t on my radar until MDR contacted me. I’m glad they did because this is one of the most interesting finds of the year for me.
Keep your mind open.
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IT’S ALRIGHT BETWEEN US AS IT IS, FIRST NEW SOLO ALBUM SINCE 2012, NOW AVAILABLE VIA SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND
(It’s Alright Between Us As It Is Album Art)
“best solo album from the space disco don” — Uncut
October 20th saw the release of Lindstrøm’s fifth solo album and first since 2012, It’s Alright Between Us As It Is, via Smalltown Supersound. Presented as one continuous stream of nine interlocked tracks, It’s Alright Between Us As It Is aggregates all the best elements of the Norwegian producer’s long and varied career: the Balearic free-disco excursions of his two albums with Prins Thomas, cosmic voyages in the vein of Where You Go I Go Too, and shimmering electronic pop, remindful of 2010’s Real Life Is No Cool. After presenting singles, “Shinin” feat. Grace Hall and “Tensions,” Lindstrøm now shares “Bungl (Like A Ghost)” featuring Jenny Hval. As one of three guest voices on the album alongside the aforementioned Hall and Frida Sundemo, Hval’s “creepy, cut-up vocals usher in a potently psychedelic third act” (Uncut).
Hval comments, “I recorded some vocals over this little baroque piece, and for some reason I felt like I was invading it, or haunting it. I felt like the ghost voice from classic literature. Then later Lindstrøm stretched out to a sweeping disco manifesto for the cemetery – at least that was the feeling I got when I heard the finished version. I guess recorded music can always be described as human remains. Songs contain parts of us that no longer exist, but managed to inscribe themselves into a recording before they moved on.”
As described by Lindstrøm, “This track is the glue to the album, and if it wasn’t for ‘Bungl,’ the album would not have happened. Jenny’s contribution transformed an unfinished idea into something really special.”
Electro-pop quartet Yumi Zouma‘s new album, “Willowbank,” is a delightful breeze blowing across the first nice day of spring, a tall glass of lemonade on a hot summer day, a romp through dry leaves in the fall, or the first clean snowfall of winter – take your pick. It’s a delight.
“Depths (Pt. 1)” gets off to a snappy start with a toe-tapping beat and bouncy vocals, and the follow-up, “Persephone,” is about as perfect of an electro-pop song you’ll hear this year.
The Cure-like bass of “December” will get you moving, even if you’re seated. “Half Hour” is a pretty love song with subtle percussion and synths and excellent use of male-female vocals during the chorus. The beats on “Us, Together” remind me of early 1980’s New Order tracks, but the guitar is straight-up shoegaze.
“Gabriel” might be a song about having a crush on a ghost. I’m not sure, but it is pretty dream-pop nonetheless. “Carnation” is one of the sexiest songs on the record with lyrics about staying in bed all day and letting the world go by without a care except for each other.
The beats on “In Blue” are so slick that you might fall down when they spill out of your speakers and onto the floor. They’re dance floor-ready on “Other People,” which is about thinking twice before and after a break-up (“Took it hard when I sent you out to sea. I think I love you, but I could be wrong.”).
The synth bass on “A Memory” is the soundtrack of your favorite 1980’s video game you played once at a cousin’s house and could never find after that. “Ostra” has a light soul / R&B vibe to it that I love.
The album ends with “Depths (Pt. II),” a song about how love changes as we grow older, uses many of the same lyrics as the first part but now at a slower, more ethereal pace.
Get this record if you need a break from anger, online rants, or work B.S., or even if you just love dream-pop and shoegaze music. It’s one of the loveliest records of the year.
Makeness Signs To Secretly Canadian & Shares New Single “Loud Patterns” Listen Here
November/December North American Tour Dates With Jungle
Up and coming Scottish producer Makeness, aka Kyle Molleson, has signed to Secretly Canadian and debuted his new single, “Loud Patterns.”
“Loud Patterns” is framed by thundering, low-end frequencies that capture a raw, frenetic energy. It offsets this abrasive shell with intricate synthetic soundscapes and vocal melodies, teasing elements from his forthcoming record. This marks Makeness’s first new music following support slots with Holy F**k, Midland and Avalon Emerson and June’s self-released Temples Works EP.
From the expansive electronica of his debut four track Rogue EP in 2015 — a record that drew comparisons to Jon Hopkins — to 2016’s collaboration with Tri AngleRecords’ Adult Jazz, and the post-punk flecked disco of single “Other Life,” Makeness has always been keen to explore new landscapes. “Loud Patterns” is a testament to this exploratory spirit and with it, his continued musical evolution.
Starting next month, Makeness will support Jungle on a two-week North American tour. These shows mark Makeness’ first time performing live in the states. A full list of dates is below.
NEON COVEN RELEASE COVER OF DEPECHE MODE “NEVER LET ME DOWN AGAIN”
October 12th, 2017 – Neon Coven, the new industrial rock band from Los Angeles, CA, featuring Jacob Bunton (Adler/ Lynam) and Ace Von Johnson (Faster Pussycat) has released their take on Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” today. Produced by Bunton, the song is available on the band’s official YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38RXFOPqtpw
Neon Coven is comprised of Anthony Montemarano (vocals), Jacob Bunton (bass), Ace Von Johnson (guitar), and Kyle Cunningham (drums).
From Los Angeles, CA, Neon Coven abandoned much of the ethos of the tradition of heavy rock to create an intellectual and theoretical sound, linked to an emphasis on anthemic, synth-heavy dance-rock. The band’s debut EP Risen was released in February via New Ocean Media. The EP can be streamed at this location: https://open.spotify.com/album/1DSKprFqDMWhoj8ttiY5d8
For more information, check out the band’s Web Properties:
As the story goes, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy (lead vocalist and jack-of-all instruments for the band) had no plans to make this record. He was content to stay in retirement after the band closed the door on their legacy with a massive sold-out show in New York City. He couldn’t stop writing songs, however, and all of that creative energy had to go somewhere. It went into the band’s newest record, and one of the best records of the year, American Dream.
The themes are American Dream are familiar ones to LCDSS’s work – love, aging, trying to stay hip, partying, and emotional disconnect in the digital age. The first track, “Oh Baby,” has Murphy pleading for a lover to come back to him as synths beats bubble underneath his vocals. The wicked bass and beats on “Other Voices” underlie the scathing message directed at adults acting like spoiled children instead of sticking up for themselves and others. “Time isn’t over and times aren’t better so it’s letting you down. You keep dragging back to it, keep going back to the well,” Murphy sings before telling us that we’re still babies and pushovers. Vocalist / keyboardist Nancy Whang claims, “It sounds like the nineties.” at one point. We’re back to the emptiness that decade only twenty years later. The final verse is particularly damning: “You’re just a baby now. You should be uncomfortable. Fake like you mean it.”
“I Used To” is a classic example of Murphy realizing he’s an aged hipster and remembering when he thought he was going to change the world (which, in some ways, he has). It’s a track Gary Numan would love, as it sounds like early Tubeway Army material but with vocals more soulful than robotic. The best lyric is “Oh sure, we’re talking tough, yeah, we’re talking tuff, but on suburban lawns in prone positions.” “Change Yr Mind” has LCDSS verging into post-punk with Murphy’s chop guitar work and the snappy beat. Murphy laments his younger days of being Joe Cool with self-introspective lyrics like “I’m not dangerous now, the way I used to be once. I’m just too old for it now, at least that seems to be true.”
“How Do You Sleep?” has Murphy wondering about a former lover who warned him about cocaine even as she was diving into addiction and left him stuck hanging out with “vape clowns.” It’s almost a goth track with its deep bass and Pat Mahoney’s tribal drumming. It’s a stunning piece that I’m sure is a highlight of their current live shows.
“Tonite” is one of the wittiest songs Murphy’s ever written as he salutes and takes down modern pop music (and growing older) at the same time with wicked beats and synth work. His lyrics are brilliant and include gems like “You’re getting older – and there’s improvement unless you’re such a winner that the future’s a nightmare,” “You’ve lost your Internet, and we’ve lost our memory,” and “…embarrassing pictures have now all been deleted by versions of selves that we thought were the best ones.”
“Call the Police” was one of the first songs off the record. It’s soaring synths and Go-Go’s bass propel Murphy’s lyrics about fake rebellion and forgotten passions (“The old guys are frightened, and frightening to behold. The kids come out fighting and still do what they’re told.”).
What is the “American Dream” alluded to in the album’s title track? It’s love. In particular, love that is often right in front of us but we choose to ignore out of fear it will be painful or difficult or might lead to further responsibility. The track is vintage synths, finger snaps, and Murphy’s passionate vocals (“So you kiss and you clutch; but you can’t fight that feeling that your one true love is just awaiting your big meeting, so you never even ask for names. You just right through them as if you already came.”).
“Emotional Haircut” sounds like a forgotten Love and Rockets track with Murphy’s savage guitar work and Mahoney’s wicked drumming. Murphy sings about knee jerk reactions to tragedies and then not being able to move past them at a later date (“You got numbers on your phone of the dead that you can’t delete and you got life-affirming moment in your past that you can’t repeat.”). The album’s closer, “Black Screen,” is almost a darkwave track as Murphy remembers a lost friend or lover who might be dead or simply taking a vacation from the worldwide web. In this day and age, both are equal for many.
LCD Soundsystem wants us to remember that the American dream is achievable if we remember that it’s not about money. It’s about love, helping the little guy, acknowledging our rough past, and not repeating the same mistakes. The nation will be better off if we at least try.
