Electro – Page 81 – 7th Level Music

It’s time to vote for the 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has released its list of candidates for the class of 2017. As usual, this list causes arguing and controversy, so I’d better throw in my two cents.

It’s an impressive list, and you can only vote for five. It also highlights what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has become – a hall of fame for rock and other genres. Country is, for the most part, left out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (and definitely in this voting class), but hip hop, R&B, soul, rap, and electro now make the cut (and there’s nothing wrong with that).

Picking five from this class is difficult, but some are easy to weed out. Let’s go through the list, shall we?

Joan Baez: She gets the first “Why isn’t she already in there?” nod. I don’t own any of her records and would be hard-pressed to name or sing any of her songs, but I do know her impact on the 1960’s folk / Americana movement was massive and second only to Nobel Prize Winner Bob Dylan’s.

Bad Brains: These punk legends broke ground for a lot of bands to come and influenced a lot of punk kids to cross racial boundaries and embrace one another (and help each other protest wrongs done to all sides).

The Cars: These (at the start of their career) oddballs showed that post-punk could be danceable and appeal to weirdos and the popular kids at the same time. They were one of the first post-punk bands to get significant airplay and bring keyboards and synths into the mainstream.

Chic: They’ve been nominated eleven times now. Why? Because they were one of the greatest disco bands of all time and pretty much laid the groundwork for hip hop. Their grooves have been sampled more times than anyone can count, and leader Nile Rogers is one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

Depeche Mode: One of the greatest electro acts of the 1980’s and 1990’s. They have filled stadiums and inspired more people to buy a keyboard and a drum machine than many other bands of their ilk.

Electric Light Orchestra: The second “They’re not already in there?” nod goes to them. Their albums are lush, somewhat psychedelic masterpieces, and their live shows were legendary. Plus, Jeff Lynne is an amazing songwriter.

Janet Jackson: I’m not much into her newer material, but you can’t deny her early records produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are funky classics.

Jane’s Addiction: They deserve a nomination for being ballsy enough to make their first album a live record – and it’s still my favorite album of theirs. Plus, you have to give Perry Ferrell some credit for keeping the music festival culture alive through the lean years and helping create the large landscape of festivals today.

The J. Geils Band: They were nuts live, had impressive chops and blues swagger, and quit just as they had begun to rule the world.

Journey: I was never much into these guys, but I know a lot of people who were and still are. I can remember how a release by them was an event. Everyone I knew who was into them during their heyday went nuts with anticipation in the days before their new album hit the stores. Plus, “Don’t Stop Believin'” has become a theme for seemingly everyone on the planet by now.

Chaka Khan: I didn’t follow her much either, but her cover of Prince’s “I Feel for You” is, without question, one of my favorite songs of all time and introduced me to sampling and beat mixing when I was in middle school. I will always love her for that.

Kraftwerk: Simply put, you wouldn’t have hundreds, perhaps thousands, of bands without them, not to mention EDM.

MC5: One of Detroit’s greatest exports and one of the greatest rock bands ever, MC5 flattened audiences that were coming out of the hippie daze and ready to get raw.

Pearl Jam: You heard Ten all over the place if you were anywhere near a college campus in the early 1990’s. They’ve hung around longer than almost every other grunge band (Mudhoney might have them beat) and still pack stadiums today.

Tupac Shakur: Admittedly, I was never into Tupac Shakur or gangsta rap much, but I do acknowledge his impact on the genre, pop culture, and Hollywood, and his mic skills were off the charts.

Steppenwolf: Look at those guys. Those guys would fit in at any Levitation festival today. “Magic Carpet Ride” and “Born to Be Wild” are iconic rock classics, and so are they.

Joe Tex: A soul and disco legend. I love it when the Hall gives a nod to funky performers like Joe Tex, and especially when they give a nod to disco. Look up some of his Soul Train performances if you want to see how cool he was.

Yes: The third “Wait…What? They’re not in the Hall?” nod goes to one of the greatest prog-rock bands of all time. Their cosmic grooves still amaze today. Just listen to “Roundabout” and try to imagine writing and playing that.

The Zombies: The fourth and final “Shouldn’t they already be in there?” nod goes to these psych-rockers who have influenced everyone from Dave Grohl to the Black Angels. “Time of the Season” is one of the greatest psych-rock tracks of all time.

So, who gets my vote? Here are my choices (once again in alphabetical order):

Chic. Again, Nile Rogers has crafted so many hits that you and I can’t keep track of them. “Le Freak” is probably their biggest hit and was secretly a slam on the band getting shut out of Studio 54 one night. The original chorus was “Aaaah…fuck off!” No joke. It laid the foundation for hip hop. Just listen to the rhythm section and you’ll hear samples from dozens of rap hits.

2. Electric Light Orchestra: My wife would probably strangle me if I didn’t vote for them because they’re one of her favorite bands, but she has no reason to worry. Jeff Lynne deserves to be in the Hall for crafting lush rockers like this.

3. Kraftwerk: You wouldn’t have another nominee, Depeche Mode, without Kraftwerk. DM would, in their right minds, walk out of the building if they were inducted before Kraftwerk. You wouldn’t have Daft Punk, Panda Bear, Caribou, and most EDM without these guys.

4. MC5: My reason for voting for the MC5 can be summed up in one question, “Have you ever heard them live?” They’re one of the first bands I’d see if I could build a time machine.

5. The Zombies: I love psych-rock, so it’s so surprise that I voted for them. I saw them at Levitation Austin in 2014 and they still sounded incredible and the whole crowd loved them.

Go cast your votes, folks.

Keep your mind open.

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Elephant Stone – Ship of Fools

Canadian psych trio Elephant Stone’s (Rishi Dihr – lead vocals, bass, sitar, and keys, Miles Dupire – drums and vocals, Gabriel Lambert – guitar and vocals) newest record, Ship of Fools, brings a new element to their fine mix of psychedelia, power pop, and Eastern Indian music – electro.

“Manipulator” comes out with strong guitar, groovy bass, and both electronic and traditional percussion. The guitar squelches on the bridge as Dihr and his backing vocalists soar, and then it turns into a bit of an industrial electro song. “Where I’m Going” continues this light electro touch with deep bass and dance floor drums, but don’t worry, there’s plenty of reverbed guitar to keep us psychedelia fans happy (and how about that great synth solo?).

I love how Dihr’s bass turns up the fuzz on “The First Stone.” I don’t know if he did it to challenge Lambert in a fuzzy guitar contest, but Lambert gleefully accepted the challenge if he did because his guitar solo sounds like it was pulled out of a beehive. The second half of the song pops open your third eye with psychedelic madness.

“Photograph” isn’t a cover of the Def Leppard hit (although that would be an interesting choice), but it is a lovely song highlighting the band’s Beatles influence with its piano work, beats, and vocal styling. Dihr’s bass takes lead on “See the Light,” and the song encourages us to look past material wealth and pettiness so we can experience the divine. The ship mentioned in the album’s title is the planet Earth, and we are the fools who spend most of our time stumbling around it instead of enjoying all it has to offer.

“Run, Sister, Run” is dreamy psych, with Dihr’s sitar floating around it like autumn leaves before it blooms into body-moving bhangra beats. After that, I can’t help but think that the wheel mentioned in “Love Is Like a Spinning Wheel” is the wheel of reincarnation. “Andromeda” is appropriately spacey. The song cuts in samples of space launch commands and seems free from gravity. It’s a wonderful track.

“The Devil’s Shelter” brings back the electro bass (so Dihr can play more sitar) and has some of Dupire’s hottest chops on the record. Alex Maas of the Black Angels provides backup vocals and they bring a cool, slightly creepy vibe to the song. It’s only right for a song that mentions Old Scratch.

The title of “Silence Can Say So Much” is one of the truest statements I’ve heard on a record. It’s lush with sitar, tabla, and chant-like vocals. The vocals on the closer, “Au Gallis,” are heavily synthesized, to the point they sound robotic as the band builds a powerful electro track behind them.

I like this new addition of electro touches. The answer to Dihr’s question on “Where I’m Going” might be “to more fans who will groove to this record and spin it in dance clubs.”

Keep your mind open.

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Chromatics release new single from upcoming album.

Dream pop / shoegaze maestros Chromatics have released a new single, “I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around,” from their long-awaited new album Dear Tommy.

The new single is another fine example of their ethereal sound and a further tease for the Dear Tommy album that was announced two years ago.

Keep your mind open.

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Phantogram’s new album drops October 7th

Electro duo Phantogram are set to release their third album, appropriately titled Three, on October 7th. The first single, “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore,” is a dark track about a relationship that’s lost its fire. I don’t know if the album cover image reflects that lost passion or a rekindled one, but Three will probably be one of the kinkiest records of the year. Just watch the video for “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” if you don’t believe me.

Keep your mind open.

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Beck’s new album due October 21st.

Beck‘s new album still doesn’t have an official title, but it does have a release date – October 21st. Beck has said in interviews that the new record is inspired by some of his recent live performances, and two of the first tracks released, “Wow” and “Dreams,” are lively cuts that portend a return to Beck’s upbeat funk records like Midnite Vultures and Odelay.

Keep your mind open.

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Gary Wilson to release Christmas album.

File this under: Best News You’ve Heard Today.

Avant-garde psych-lounge master Gary Wilson is releasing a Christmas album three days before Halloween. It features 14 tracks of Wilson’s take on the holiday season. The titles reflect a lot of Wilson’s favorite themes – love (“A Christmas Tree for Two”), breakups (“Santa Claus Is Coming to My Lonely Town”), desire (“A Date for New Year’s Eve”), the town of Endicott (“It’s Snowing in Endicott”), and the mysterious women he references on his albums (“Cindy Wants to Cry”).

This will probably be my go-to gift for many people on my Christmas list this year. Be sure to put it on yours.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Seal – August 27, 2016 – New Buffalo, MI

I’ve been meaning to make it up to my wife for dragging her to see Japanese acid rockers Bo Ningen (a band she just doesn’t understand) at Levitation Austin a couple years ago, so I thought taking her to see Seal might do the trick.

He played at the Four Winds Casino Silver Creek Event Center in New Buffalo, Michigan. The “Silver Creek Event Center,” mind you, is just a big carpeted room the casino can use for everything from a Seal concert to a wedding reception. It is much smaller than the venue map on Ticketmaster’s website makes it appear. I’m happy to say that the acoustics in the place are quite good, however. The whole show sounded great.

Part of that is because Seal is a great performer. It was him, a DJ / synthesizer player, and a guitarist on stage. No drummer. No horn section. No bass player. They didn’t need any of them. Seal opened the set with “Crazy,” his biggest hit here in the U.S., and the crowd was instantly on its feet. His voice hasn’t lost any power since the song was released in 1991, and I loved the way his band turned it into a bit of a dark wave tune with the synth work. “Killer,” another early hit, followed it with even more of a dark wave feel to it with heavy synth bass.

The first track they played from Seal’s new album, 7, was “Daylight Saving,” a gorgeous love song that preceded another from the same album, “Do You Ever.” “Prayer for the Dying” was another heartbreaking cut (to the point it made my wife cry) that led into “Love’s Divine.”

A surprise was his cover of Hall & Oates‘ “Sara Smile” (with Seal on back-up guitar). “Love,” the last song on 7, led into the first verse of David Bowie‘s “Space Oddity,” and I thought my wife was going to slide off her chair.

“Deep Water” was another beautiful track, and then came another surprise – Seal’s cover of Tears for Fears‘ “Mad World,” which he dedicated to the victims of the recent earthquake in Italy. “My Vision” and “Right Life” got everyone up and moving again, and he even threw in a little bit of Chic‘s “Le Freak.” The fourth cover of the night was Prince‘s “Hot Thing,” which was one of the funkiest tunes of the night and closed out the main set to a standing ovation.

The encore consisted of “Kiss from a Rose” and then another track from 7, “Life on the Dancefloor,” which had everyone dancing and grooving and leaving on a good buzz. I saw two ladies a few rows behind us when the houselights came up, and they were dumbfounded in their chairs. They didn’t move for several minutes.

I asked my wife if the show made up for Bo Ningen.

“Almost,” she said. “Probably the Bo, but not the Ningen.”

I took that as a win. Thanks, Seal.

Keep your mind open.

Live: Heaven’s Gateway Drugs, Pleasures, Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor, & Slug Love – August 14, 2016 – Ft. Wayne, IN

There was a nice psychedelic rock show at Fort Wayne’s Brass Rail last week. First up was Slug Love – a local act who played a good set of punk-psych. They have some stuff on Soundcloud right now and hope to have more material out soon. I look forward to it.

Detroit’s Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor were up next and they played only one previously released song (“Desert Brain”). Everything else was entirely new material, and all of it sounded great. The new material has a bit of a cosmic vibe. Guitarist and singer Sean Morrow mentioned Hawkwind to me when discussing the new stuff, so I’m hoping their upcoming album will be a spacey trip.

Pleasures came all the way from Florida to play their wild electro-psych full of distorted robot vocals, throbbing synths, and even a weird collection of film clips projected on their kick drum head (a genius idea, by the way).

Ft. Wayne’s Heaven’s Gateway Drugs closed the night with a lot of material I hadn’t heard before either. I’d learned earlier from SOYSV that this was a challenge they’d made to HGD to play new material (The two bands are all pals, by the way.). HGD played their usual sharp psych layered with almost meditative beats.

It was a fun show for a cheap price. Don’t miss the next one.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: M.I.A. – Matangi (2013)

[Rewind Reviews are reviews of albums at least a year old by the time I hear them.]

For the record, I think M.I.A. is a genius. She always seems to get the best beats and hasn’t given a damn about what’s popular, what people think of her, or even the Super Bowl for years. Her 2014 album Matangi is another great example of her doing her own thing with a mastery of world beats, sharp wit, and killer mic flow.

“Karmageddon” laces Bollywood beats and reverb throughout it. It’s seductive, synth-heavy, and even a bit scary. “My words are my armor and you’re about to meet your karma,” she sings. It’s a quick introduction / warning before the title track throws us into a deep Indian jungle, both in terms of jungle techno beats and tropical jungle heat. Only M.I.A. can pull off the chants she rhymes around in the song. Her chants are like battle cries mixed with meditative mantras.

“Only 1 U” starts with temple bells and then unleashes some of the wickedest beats on the record. M.I.A.’s voice is echoed, distorted, and fuzzed but it remains clear enough for you to hear her message of empowerment. I also love the inclusion of a boxing ring bell to signal each verse. She’s come to fight, so it’s appropriate the next track is “Warriors.” It starts with an “ohm” chant and then M.I.A. is dropping rhymes like she’s unleashing a tricky boxing combination. “Gangsters, bangers, we’re puttin’ ‘em in a trance,” she says. I’m sure she is, because her rhymes and beats are dumbfounding.

“Come Walk with Me” is a fun love song with beats better for dancing than walking, so walk to the club with your lover when you play it. “Atention” is a play on words, riffing on “attention” and “a tension.” M.I.A.’s voice is a bit robotic, almost like she’s a computer program singing to us atop wicked drum machine beats and turntable scratches.

She teams up with The Weekend for the first time on “Exodus.” He does most of the rat-a-tat electric beats, I’m guessing, because M.I.A. sings all the lead vocals (and quite well). “Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well,” she sings on “Bad Girls,” a song title she is eminently qualified to claim. It has a neat Middle Eastern flavor underneath the sick hand percussion beats.

“Boom Skit” is far too short. M.I.A.’s rapping and the beats on it are so good they’re almost frightening. “Double Bubble Trouble” isn’t really about gum, but it’s just as sweet. “You’re in trouble. I step up in the game and I burst that bubble.” The alarm claxons taking the place of a horn section are brilliant. This deserves to be cranked from every taxi in New Delhi.

“Y.A.L.A.” has bass that Missy Elliott will probably gank for her next record. “If you only live once, why do we keep doing the same shit?” M.I.A. asks. It’s a play on “Y.O.L.O.” and I’m guessing it stands for “You All Live Again” since she sings, “Back home where I come from we keep being born again and again and again. That’s why they invented karma.”

“Bring the Noize” isn’t a cover of the Public Enemy classic, but it’s just as good in its own right. The hyper beats seem to include a creaking door, sampled R&B croons, and a haunted horn section. “Lights” has M.I.A.’s vocals subdued and echoing in the background as the synth beats take lead. “Know It Ain’t Right” is bouncy, while “Sexodus” (her second pairing with The Weekend on Matangi) is sensual. Go figure with that title, really. M.I.A. is at her sexiest on the track, singing about getting in the sheets and staying busy until dawn.

The digital download version of Matangi comes with the bonus track of “Like This,” which is well worth the download. M.I.A. purrs like a tiger at one point, nearly making you slide off your chair. If that doesn’t do it, then the phat bass and her supremely confident rhyming will.

M.I.A. can do no wrong, really. Her beats are always big, her rhymes are always deadly, her lyrics are always powerful, and her power grows with each record.

Keep your mind open.

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John Carpenter – Lost Themes II

John Carpenter’s first Lost Themes album was a delight for fans of horror films, film scores, and progressive rock. Lost Themes II is another treat, as Carpenter, his son Cody, and his godson, Daniel Davies, return to bring us a record just as good as the first.

“Distant Dreams” could easily have been part of the Escape from New York soundtrack with its thumping bass. It’s an excellent live track as well. “White Pulse” has Carpenter and crew moving into industrial territory with heavy 50-gallon drum percussion and angelic synths.

I love the underlying menace of “Persia Rising.” The low-end keys bring to mind something crawling from a dark, wet tomb. I hope Carpenter was thinking of movies like Angel’s Revenge when he wrote “Angel’s Asylum,” because it would be a great song for any of those trashy 1980’s Angel movies. It’s a great mix of action themes, mystery themes, and even a little sci-fi thrown in for good measure.

“Hofner Dawn” and “Windy Death” are quiet, mellow affairs. “Hofner Dawn” borders on New Age with synths that evoke sunrise, while “Windy Death” is like the early winds that build into a tornado when the conditions are right. You know something bad is looming, but you don’t know when it will arrive.

It’s easy to think of “Dark Blues” as a lost cut from the Christine score, as it starts with a revving engine and a car driving away. The heavy rock guitar chords and the high-beam bright synths practically evoke Dean Cundey cinematography images in your head. The song also features some of Davies’ best guitar work on the album.

“Virtual Survivor” brings to mind someone trudging through a dystopian wasteland in search of a secret that will save humanity. Carpenter’s piano anchors the song while his son’s synths are perfect for a new sci-fi masterpiece.

It’s nice to hear one horror master acknowledge another horror legend, as Carpenter does on “Bela Lugosi.” The stabbing synths hit like a stake through the heart. The song has goth touches, of course, like the parts that sound like a child’s music box or others that remind you of a creepy circus sideshow. Think more “Black Cat” than “Dracula” and you’ll get the idea.

“Last Sunrise” oozes dread, even with the light piano chords throughout it. It would fit in well in the third act of that post-apocalyptic film I mentioned earlier. “Utopian Facade” is a nice follow-up to it. I can’t help but think it has some inspiration from his soundtrack for They Live, which is a film all about how our seemingly happy existence in the materialistic, consumer-driven economy is a facade. The Gary Numan-like synths blend well with the Vangelis-like electric piano. It’s a good ending to the record…unless you got the digital download that contains the bonus track of “Real Xeno.” It harkens back to his early horror work and seems to blend Halloween themes with In the Mouth of Madness ones. Synths buzz like horseflies while weird things whisper in the darkness…and wait until the drums and guitar step in to turn it into a song for a bad-ass antihero.

Lost Themes II is just as good as the first one, and better in some ways (a more natural flow to the tracks, it seems). It’s essential if you like Carpenter’s work.

Keep your mind open.

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