7th Level Music

Jon Spencer and the Hitmakers announce new album and tour.

Get ready for JON SPENCER & the HITmakers to BURN your playhouse down with their new long-player, SPENCER GETS IT LIT! The incredible, indelible Jon Spencer (Blues Explosion, Boss Hog, Pussy Galore, Heavy Trash, etc) is back with the incendiary HITmakers  - and with his HOTTEST record yet! 

Spencer Gets It Lit is classic Jon Spencer taken to the extremis – electro-boogie, constructivist art pop, a psychedelic swamp of industrial sleaze and futurist elegance. It is an epic master work of freak beat from the world’s weirdest garage. Across brain-boggling layers of fury, fuzz guitar, and a crash-bang battery of phaser blasts, photon torpedoes, and otherworldly zounds, he frantically spits, croons, rhapsodizes, and seduces.

Spencer Gets It Lit is his most complex and groovy record in years, a dark, danceable odyssey – both a studied take-down of the early 21st century, and a celebration of the place where electricity meets the mind. Thirteen wicked hot songs of love, loss, lust, life — from the Farfisa-fueled,warped psycho -punk rave-up of “Junk Man,” to the intimate lover’s plea of “My Hit Parade,” to the outer-space end-of-days country funk of “Worm Town,” Spencer Gets It Lit delivers all of the friction, excitement, and post-modern depravity one could ever ask for!

Says Spencer, “Send out the Hit Signal! This is the most uncompromising album I’ve ever made!” And the HITs just keep on coming! THIS JUST IN! Taking over drum duties for the HITmakers on their upcoming spring tour will be superstar of skins Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney, Quasi, Wild Flag, The Jicks, Slang, etc. etc!!! Wait… What’s that? There’s more? Every show will be opened by a full set from Janet and HITmaker Sam Coomes championship tag-team, Quasi! Guaranteed to be a tour for the ages!!! True heroes of the underground! Freak forces combined and multiplied in this indie-rock dream bill!

TOUR: 4/11 Buffalo, NY Rec Room

4/12 Toronto, ON Lee’s Palace

4/13 Detroit, MI El Club

4/14 Chicago, IL Schubas

4/15 Milwaukee, WI Back Room at Colectivo

4/16 Minneapolis, MN 7^th Street Entry

4/18 Omaha, NE Waiting Room

4/19 Denver, CO Globe Hall

4/20 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge

4/21 Boise, ID Neurolux

4/22 Portland, OR Dantes

4/23 Vancouver, BC Fox Cabaret

4/24 Seattle, WA Madame Lou’s (The Crocodile Second Stage)

4/26 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill

4/27 Los Angeles, CA The Echo

4/28 San Diego, CA Casbah

4/29 Tucson, AZ 191 Toole

4/30 Phoenix, AZ Valley Bar

5/01 Santa Fe, NM Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery

5/02 Colorado Springs, CO The Black Sheep

5/03 Wichita, KS Wave

5/04 Kansas City, MO Record Bar

5/05 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill Duck Room

5/06 Indianapolis, IN Hi-Fi

5/07 Louisville, KY Zanzabar

5/08 Charlottesville, VA The Southern

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jo Murray.]

Review: Anika – Change: The Remixes

Anika has openly discussed how much she loves the dance floor as well as the dark corners of a night club, so putting out a remix album of her killer 2021 record, Change, was a no-brainer for her.

The “Planningtorock remix” of “Planningtochange” drops the pitch of her vocals and ups the beats to create a track that’s perfect for dancing in a dark basement full of sexy, sweaty people. Dave Clark‘s remix of “Never Coming Back” is somehow darker than the original. Lauren Flax‘s remix of “Critical” becomes slightly hardcore make-out music. Maral at the Controls‘ dux mix of “Finger Pies” is outstanding, mixing dub with industrial like a sexy glitch-bot.

PDBY‘s remix of “Freedom” strips the song down to a haunted house drone, like something you’d hear in a dimly lit ballroom with peeling wallpaper and warped floorboards. Lauren Flax comes back for a remix of “Change,” and it’s the closest one to a straight-up house music banger on the whole EP.

Don’t miss this is you’re a fan of Anika. It’s an interesting look at her different influences and how she’s influenced (and influencing) others.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Imarhan – Aboogi

Named after a studio space they built in Tamanrasset, Algeria, Imarhan‘s new album, Aboogi, instantly transports you to a different world where everything slows down, the tea is delicious, and you spend nights listening to music and dancing around a fire now and then.

Opener “Achinkad” sets this tone right away with its simple guitar chords, hand percussion and claps, and meditative vocals. “Derhan” builds on this theme of communal bliss. “Temet” (not to be confused with their 2018 album of the same name) is a haunting warm wind as the sun comes up on a desert cooled overnight. “Tindjatan” is a tale of a great battle in which many Tuaregs were killed. “Asof” is nothing but vocals, simple hand percussion, and guitar chords that drift into windswept dunes, and it’s lovely.

“Assossam” spins a tale of economic disparity in southern Algeria, all the while keeping some optimism with its beats and lively guitar work. The lyrics of “Taghadart” are ones of grief, but hope within that grief (i.e., “Please safeguard my trust from now until the end of time.”). “Laouni” is like a lazy stroll along the crest of a desert hill. It flows so well into “Imaslan N’Assouf” that it’s almost hypnotizing. I don’t have a translation of the lyrics for “Tamiditin,” but the guitar and vocal delivery on it makes it sound like Tuareg blues. The album ends with “Adar Newlan,” a song about the increase in youth imprisonment rates in the band’s native land and how these sentences affect families and communities.

Aboogi is a powerful record in its peaceful delivery. Imarhan have every right to rage and shred, but they decide to deliver prayers and meditations instead.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Yuri at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Jake Xerxes Fussell – Good and Green Again

My taste in folk music, not unlike doom metal, is hit or miss. There has to be a certain combination of elements for me to enjoy an album in either genre. I’m not sure if I could tell you what all those elements are, but I can tell you that one of the most crucial is that the artist or band, while being good at their craft, doesn’t try too hard. They don’t force anything.

Jake Xerxes Fussell is such an artist. His guitar playing and vocals are simple, haunting, and the work of an expert craftsman – and none of it is forced. None of it is for show. It simply is, and his new album Good and Green Again continues his string of top-notch folk music that instantly transports you to different times and places that resonate with lessons needed in modern time.

“Love Farewell” is the sound of the sun rising or setting, depending on your mood when you hear it. It can be a song of moving forward after the loss of love or realizing a love is ending. “Carriebelle” adds solemn horns to a solemn song about the perils of booze and heartbreak. The horns continue their lonely cries on “Breast of Glass,” in which Fussell sings about wishing how he could keep a memory inside him forever – all the while knowing his hold on it would be fragile.

“Frolic,” “What Did the Hen Duck Say to the Drake?”, and “In Florida” are three lovely instrumentals on the album, something I hadn’t heard from Fussell before this record, and they’re all great additions. Fussell is great at writing, playing, and singing songs about the plight of the working class (or finding obscure songs about the subject and reinterpreting them in a new way), and “Rolling Mills Are Burning Down” is one such track. He sings about workers watching their jobs being reduced to ashes, knowing their way of life and means of earning bread are gone.

“The Golden Willow Tree” is a nine-minute-long tale of a scuttled ship, betrayal, and the loss of wealth and glory. The album ends with “Washington,” Fussell’s tribute / satirical salute to the first President of the U.S. and the way we, as Americans, tend to deify the Founding Fathers.

It’s another lovely record from Fussell with strength in its subtlety.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Psymon Spine announces remix album and reveals first remix by Joe Goddard of Hot Chip.

Joe Goddard photo by Marc Sethi, Psymon Spine photo by Ruvan Wijesooriya

Psymon Spine—the Brooklyn, NY based music collective fusing psychedelic indie pop and the deep grooves of dance music—today announced Charismatic Mutations, a remix album of their 2021 album Charismatic Megafauna, will release April 1st, 2022 via Northern Spy Records and shared “Milk (feat. Barrie) – Joe Goddard Remix.”

Joe Goddard (Hot Chip) shared the following note on the track rework: “This remix was very natural and very joyful for me. I did it in lockdown so I felt a sense of freedom and playfulness that was really nice and actually, in retrospect, very unique. I love the vocals on this song, so I placed them at the forefront, and I tried to sonically make the mix one that was balearic and satisfying. Macrodosing.”

The members of Psymon Spine grew up in the ‘00s and ‘10s with a deep appreciation for the art of “the remix,” and after the release of their latest album Charismatic Megafauna, the band found themselves craving longer and more dance-floor friendly versions.

Additional contributors to Charismatic Mutations include Love Injection, Dar Disku, Each Other (Justin Strauss and Max Pask), Safer (of the Rapture and Poolside), Bucky Boudreau and Psymon Spine’s own Brother Michael.

Released early in 2021, Psymon Spine’s Charismatic Megafauna explored complicated feelings and catharsis through a singular approach to left-of-center indie, electronic and dance sounds. The release earned praise from publications such as Paste, FLOOD, Brooklyn Vegan, Under The Radar, and NME; playlist support from NPR Music (New Music Friday), Spotify (All New Indie, undercurrents, Fresh Finds), Apple Music (Midnight City, Today’s Indie Rock), and TIDAL (Rising: Indie/Rock); and notable airplay from KEXP, KCRW and the BBC.

Read more and preorder Charismatic Mutations here.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cody at Clandestine PR.]

El Ten Eleven’s “The Time Knife” is a wild instrumental new single.

El Ten Eleven, who recently announced the March 4 arrival of New Year’s Eve via Joyful Noise Recordings, have released a third single from the forthcoming collection: “The Time Knife” (https://lnk.to/TheTimeKnife).

Kristian Dunn explains how the TV show, “The Good Place,” influenced the track: “A character named Chidi has just returned from an interdimensional trip that only lasted a moment and, overwhelmed, says, ‘I just saw a trillion different realities folding onto each other like thin sheets of metal forming a single blade.’ Ted Danson’s character responds, saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, the time knife, we’ve all seen it.’ My wife and I were watching this together and for whatever reason this struck us as so funny we couldn’t stop laughing. This song is a combination of my experience with my wife (and experiences, journeys, really, generally with her) and Chidi’s journey.”

“The Time Knife” is the third preview of the forthcoming collection, with the Los Angeles-based duo previously sharing “Meta Metta” (https://youtu.be/GpqP72YYfJc), a performance clip was filmed at The Cube in Los Angeles, and the title track (https://youtu.be/8bQGY9cBpIo).

“New Year’s Eve is a reference to guarded optimism about what is to come. At the time, it seemed like our national divisiveness might be waning and the end of the pandemic was near. But of course that’s not how it turned out,” said Dunn upon news of the forthcoming album’s release. “That’s what New Year’s Eves are. You think it’s gonna be a fun night, but usually it’s disappointing at the end.”

Over the course of 20 years and 11 albums, El Ten Eleven continue to redefine the potential of bass guitar and drums. With an arsenal of pedals, labyrinthine arrangements, and a deft use of looping, Dunn (bass) and Tim Fogarty (drums) create two-man symphonies. With New Year’s Eve, the duo melds electrifying disco grooves with their tried-and-true experimental rock atmospherics.

El Ten Eleven Tour Dates:

Apr 6: Omaha, NE Slowdown^

Apr 7: St. Paul, MN Turf Club^

Apr 8: Chicago, IL Chop Shop^

Apr 9: Grand Rapids, MI Pyramid Scheme^

Apr 10: Indianapolis, IN HiFi^

Apr 13: Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom^

Apr 14: Pittsburgh, PA Thunderbird^

Apr 15: Washington, DC Union Stage^

Apr 16: Philadelphia, PA Milkboy^

Apr 20: Rochester, NY Bugjar^

Apr 21: Rochester, NY Bugjar^

Apr 22: Boston, MA Paradise^+

Apr 23: Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Made^+

* Sego supports

& Mylets supports

^ Cedric Noel supports

+ A Beacon School supports

European tour dates:

May 12: Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast

May 13: Leeds, UK @ Boom

May 14-15: London, UK @ Portals Festival

May 15: Bristol, UK @ The Crofters Right

May 17: Paris, FR @ Supersonic

May 18: Den Bosch, NL @ Willem Twee Poppodium

May 19-20: Copenhagen, DK @ A Colossal Weekend

May 22: Berlin, DE @ Prachtwerk

May 23: Hamburg, DE @ Indra

May 24: Cologne, DE @ Helios37

May 27: Metz, FR @ Young Team Festival

Dunn (bass/guitar) and Fogarty (drums) have flourished outside the accepted norms of rock orthodoxy, releasing eight full-length albums, four EPs and performing over 750 live shows. Utilizing inventive arrangements and a masterful use of looping, El Ten Eleven have been noted for their ability to create a sound much bigger than their individual parts. SF Weekly said of the pair’s live performance: “watching El Ten Eleven play is something like watching two superheroes do their thing.” Consequence of Sound called their music “euphoric,” KEXP described their output as “transcendent” and Under The Radar declared the pair’s unique style a “buoyant brand of post-rock.”

# # #

Elteneleven.com

Facebook.com/elteneleven

Twitter.com/elteneleven

Instagram.com/elteneleven

YouTube.com/elteneleven

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Monica at Speakeasy PR.]

Review: Endearments – Father of Wands

Kevin Marksson, otherwise known as Endearments, makes spacey dream pop seem easy, even though at least two of the songs on his Father of Wands EP are about heartbreak.

I mean, opener “Ocean” starts with the lyrics, “You could make me nothing. You could be the ocean. I’m inside you drowning.” Meanwhile Marksson’s synth and guitars are as bright as the high noon sun bouncing off the surface of Caribbean beach waters.

“How could we love each other endlessly?” He asks on “Empress,” a song in which he speaks of knowing a lover could treat him well if only she would stop focusing on just herself. The song bursts with optimism, though. Marksson’s instrumentation is too bright to ignore and too lovely to deny.

That being said, “Hymnal” has Marksson singing about how he can’t understand his girl’s thinking and how she can’t understand how he’s lost without her (“I don’t think you understand where I go when I’m not here with you.”). The closing track, “Delicate,” has Marksson resigned to the fact that things might not work out after all and he just needs to accept that (“I thought I was yours, but I could never be enough for you like this.”).

Still, the EP has that optimism I mentioned earlier. Marksson lets us know that love can be rough, but there is always some hope that, if we can’t find love, it might find us.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll find it endearing if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Taylor at Clandestine Label Services.]

Review: Mandy, Indiana – “… EP”

Hailing from Manchester and not Indiana, Mandy, Indiana, formerly known as Gary Indiana, make post-punk that bends and warps the genre on their …EP. As guitarist Scott Fair put it, “We’ve scrapped anything that sounded too normal.”

Opening track “Bottle Episode” starts off with Liam Stewart‘s snare drum rolls that sound like a swarm of angry bees attacking a hulking robot and then it switches to thumping synth bass and horror movie sounds, all with Valentine Caulfield singing in her native French. The percussion on “Nike of Samothrace” sounds like a drunk guy stumbling down a flight of stairs – and I mean that in the best possible sense – while Fair’s guitar and synths remind one of revving, and possibly failing, jet engines. I don’t know if “Alien 3” is inspired by the movie of the same name, but I do know that it’s over six minutes of industrial techno that slays as hard as a Xenomorph.

The EP comes with a remix of “Alien 3” by Daniel Avery that somehow makes the track heavier and, dare I say it, sexier, and the “Club Eat” remix of “Nike of Samothrace” – which ups the speed and would be perfect for a fight scene in whatever Matrix film comes next.

Let’s hope Mandy, Indiana puts out a full LP soon, because this EP will leave you craving more of their work.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Jacques Greene – ANTH01

Taking from ten years of his catalogue, ANTH01 brings together many of Jacques Greene‘s best tracks, killer dance cuts, and hypnotic grooves.

“I Won’t” is the answer to “Are you just going to sit in that dark corner of this dance club all night?” Greene’s snappy beats are all you need to get moving. “(Baby I Don’t Know) What You Want” literally gets off to a shaking start before this electro-bass saunters into the room and curls around you like a playful cat. “The Look” is similarly playful, with Greene mixing blips and bleeps with sexy house music vocals about feeling a connection – something we were all wishing for in the last two years.

The warped, yet still sexy lyric of “Tell me what you like.” starts off “Tell Me,” pulling you into a lush trip. “These Days” bursts like an opening flower and then descends on you like disco ball lights. “Arrow” has a beat like a ticking clock or a dripping faucet that turns into a warm rain shower – followed by sick, thick bass hits. The opening, echoed vocal sounds of “Ready” made my dog lift her head and look around the living room when she heard them. The rest of the song made me dance and bounce on my desk stool.

“Faded” brings in soul lyrics to mix with slick house beats, and “Faithful” continues the soul-house vibe with gospel-tinged vocals mixed with synths that sound like robotic eagles calling from above. “On Your Side” is an emotional plea to a potential lover for some kind of recognition and invitation. “Quicksand” mixes house with synthwave, and the closer, “Another Girl,” is lush house under lyrics about heartbreak and longing.

ANTH01 is a great collection of Greene’s work so far. He’s always experimenting with multiple electronic genres and this collection shows the scope of his talent.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

The Beths’ new single, “A Real Thing,” is indeed a really good thing.

The Beths return with “A Real Thing,” their first new song since the release of 2020’s Jump Rope Gazers. “A Real Thing” comes as The Beths begin their long-awaited North American headline tour, which has been rescheduled twice due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Last year, the band released Auckland, New Zealand, 2020, a live concert recording that showcased the infectious energy The Beths bring to every performance, and what audiences have been so dearly missing.

“‘A Real Thing’ is a kind of anxiety dream. It’s a bit muddled, a bit frantic, a bit sinister,” says lead singer Liz Stokes. “It’s what came out of my guitar in late 2020, post NZ election (and U.S. election). I was limply reaching for optimism about the future, but was really just marinating in dread.” Ultimately playing more apocalyptic scenarios of climate change in her head, Stokes’ lyrics include specific references to how New Zealand has dealt with sea level rise in the past: “In NZ people sometimes use tyres and cement to build retaining walls by the water, to try to stop the land being eroded away as the sea encroaches. It doesn’t really work.” It’s a poignant image for a band that has had to navigate the constant changes in our present moment.

The deep bond between Stokes, lead guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck, has allowed them to overcome challenging circumstances and that’s present in the upbeat urgency of “A Real Thing.” It’s palpable from the very start and paired with the band’s signature bright, raucous guitar hooks and cooing harmonies; the song races and soars, much like an increasing heart rate. The Beths’ infectious and insightful songwriting on “A Real Thing” is an exciting marker of more excellent work to come, and the perfect way to mark the beginning of tour.

Stream/Watch “A Real Thing”The Beths Tour Dates

Tickets available from thebeths.com

Tue. Feb. 15 – Austin, TX @ Empire Garage
Wed. Feb. 16 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada (SOLD OUT)
Fri. Feb. 18 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell) (SOLD OUT)Sat. Feb. 19 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
Wed. Feb. 23 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall (SOLD OUT)
Thu. Feb. 24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts (SOLD OUT)
Fri. Feb. 25 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat (SOLD OUT)
Sat. Feb. 26 – Boston, MA @ Royale
Mon. Feb. 28 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom
Wed. Mar. 2 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
Fri. Mar. 4 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
Thu. Mar. 10 – Sydney, AU @ The Factory Theatre (SOLD OUT)
Fri. Mar. 11 – Brisbane, AU @ The Zoo (SOLD OUT)
Sat. Mar. 12 – Melbourne, AU @ The Night Cat (SOLD OUT)
Sun. Mar. 27 – Southampton, UK @ The LoftMon. Mar. 28 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club (SOLD OUT)
Tue. Mar. 29 – Glasgow, UK @ St Luke’s
Thu. Mar. 31 – Manchester, UK @ Club Academy
Sat. Apr. 2 – Birmingham, UK @ The Castle and Falcon
Sun. Apr. 3 – Bristol, UK @ Exchange
Mon. Apr. 4 – London, UK @ O2 Forum Kentish Town
Tue. Apr. 5 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde II
Thu. Apr. 7 – Paris, FR @ Point Ephémère
Fri. Apr. 8 – Lyon, FR @ Le Marché Gare
Sat. Apr. 9 – Dudingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
Sun. Apr. 10 – Lausanne, CH @ Le Romandie
Tue. Apr. 12 – Milan, IT @ BikoWed. Apr. 13 – Munich, DE @ Feierwerk
Fri. Apr. 15 – Vienna, AT @ B72
Sat. Apr. 16 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs’
Mon. Apr. 18 – Berlin, DE @ LidoTue. Apr. 19 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Ideal Bar
Wed. Apr. 20 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
Thu. Apr. 21 – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn
Fri. Apr. 22 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
Sat. Apr. 23 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Sun. Apr. 24 – Esch-sur-Alzette, LU @ Kulturfabrik
Sat. Jul. 24 – Seattle, WA @ Capitol Hill Block Party
Sun. Aug. 14 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace

Keep your mind open.

[It would be a real good thing if you subscribed.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]