Collecting B-sides, singles, re-edits, and new material, GOAT‘s Headsoupis a great release for fans of the band and fans of wild psychedelic rock.
“The Sun the Moon,” for example was the B-side to the “Goatman” single. The alternate version of “Stonegoat” sounds thicker than the original, making it even more mind-altering. “Dreambuilding” is also chock-full of distorted guitars, and the wild hand percussion on it is a perfect yang to the guitars’ yin. “Dig My Grave” tones down the fuzz so it can add more reverb.
The re-edit of “It’s Time for Fun” almost becomes a krautrock track with its electro-beats and pulsing synthesizers. “Relax” is a loud, yet hypnotizing instrumental. The alternate take of “Union of Mind and Soul” is just as bouncy as the original. “The Snake of Addis Ababa” could probably charm a cobra out of a wicker basket with its entrancing guitar work and rhythm.
“Goatfizz” is another cool instrumental, reminding me of late 1970s / early 1980s background jazz you’d hear in a hotel lobby or on an obscure late night cable TV channel. The new edit of “Let It Burn” is as heavy as a Black Sabbath B-side. “Friday Pt. 1” is soft and mellow to balance out the previous track, with a soulful saxophone solo to boot. “Fill My Mouth” is, as you might imagine from the title, the naughtiest song GOAT has written – and one of their funkiest as well. I mean, holy crap, the flute breakdown on it alone is worth the price of admission. “Fill My Mouth” and the following track, the sexy, psychedelic “Queen of the Underground” were GOAT’s first new tracks in several years, and showed they were still at the top of their game.
Let’s hope there’s more new stuff to come, because Headsoup only made us GOAT fans hungrier.
Recorded in Camden’s Electric Ballroom in London on July 27, 2013, GOAT‘s Live Ballroom Ritual is a ripping album that captures the band of Swedish voodoo psych-rockers blowing people’s minds and taking them to other planes of existence.
The show starts simply enough, with the calm, soothing guitar strumming on “Dirabi” for over three minutes before the drums and hand percussion come in to let everyone know that they’re in for a mystical journey. “Golden Dawn” continues this levitation into some kind of sacred space between funk and psychedelia. “People get ready under the rainbow,” the ladies of GOAT sing on “Disco Fever” – a swirling, pulsing track that probably had the whole place bouncing and sweating after just three songs in the set.
“Stonegoat” was their new single at the time, and it’s a stomper that contrasts well with the mellower (but no less funkier, especially with its ripping saxpohone solo) “Let It Bleed.” The instrumental “Dreambuilding” is absolutely hypnotic, leading us to the sweaty, heavy “Run to Your Mama” that I’m sure floored the one thousand-plus fans in the audience.
Three “goat songs” follow: The somehow heavier “Goathead,” with its percussive bass,” the trance (and possibly hallucination)-inducing “Goatman, and “Goatlord” – a slow sizzler that sets the table for the eleven-minute “Det som aldrig förändras – Kristallen den fina.” It’s a massive track that fills whichever space in which you hear it. Every part of it crushes. The performance ends with the massively fuzzy “The Sun the Moon,” combining chants with frenetic drumming and sawmill guitars.
I consider myself lucky to have seen GOAT live here in the United States. I hope they will return soon. They are doing some European shows these days, but their shows here have become somewhat legendary, like this stunning performance.
Thanks to all who tuned in for my deep dive of Kraftwerk. It was a fun show. Here’s the set list from July 17, 2022.
Kraftwerk – The Robots
Organisation – Silver Forest
NEU! – Isi
Kraftwerk – First Techno (live)
Kraftwerk – Köln II (live)
Kraftwerk – Elektrischesroulette
MC5 – Kick Out the Jams (live)
Kraftwerk – Autobahn (single version)
Kraftwerk – Radioactivity
Kraftwerk – Trans Europa Express (original German language version)
Kraftwerk – Les Mannequins (original French language version)
Joy Division – Dead Souls
Kraftwerk – The Model
Kraftwerk – Computer Love
Kraftwerk – Pocket Calculator (live)
LCD Soundsystem – Disco Infiltrator (single version)
Kraftwerk – Electric Café
Kraftwerk – The Telephone Call
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Hall of Mirrors
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark – Neon Lights
Kraftwerk – Elektro Kardiogramm
The next deep dive will be either July 24th or July 30th (depending on some travel plans I have for the weekend of the 24th) and will cover the music of Tom Jones.
Located at 5 Place Mondain Chanlouineau in Angers, France, CD-BD is a combination record store and comic book shop. What’s not to like?
The store is in a nice shopping area in Angers, across from a diner and near plenty of other nice little shops and eateries. They sell vinyl and CDs of all sorts, and a wide collection of graphic novels and comic book trade paperbacks.
CDs, comic book magazines, and erotica!
The music genres sold there run from classic rock to electronic music. The graphic novels range from standard superhero fare to historical adventure tales and adults only material.
An entire corner devoted to graphic novels and trade paperbacks.Picture discs!Electro vinyl! 45’s!
I knew we were in a cool store when I heard them playing this.
I mean, how do you not like a store if they’re playing a Teardrop Explodes record?
Be sure to grab some music (and comics) here while you’re in Angers.
Today, Chicago label International Anthem presents “That’s The Way of the World,” the latest track off Step on Step, the forthcoming double LP collection of home recordings by the late and under-sung legend Charles Stepney, out September 9th. This recording of “That’s The Way of the World” encapsulates an iconic piece of music history: the eventual studio version of the song, co-written by Stepney and Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice and Verdine White, and arranged by Stepney for the EWF album and film of the same name, would become one of the biggest recordings ever released by the band. Deemed one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone, this original 4-track demo version of “That’s The Way of the World” offers an unprecedented look into Stepney’s creative process, and helps us understand what EWF lead singer Philip Bailey meant when he said in 2001: “The success of Earth Wind & Fire, and all our great songs that we made in that era, would not, could not, and wouldn’t have been made without Charles Stepney. He was very much an equal part, or more, than all of us put together.”
The digital cover art for today’s “That’s The Way of The World” is an old family photo of Stepney’s youngest daughter Chanté (who was just a toddler when her father passed away in 1976), in a high chair at their family home on the Southside of Chicago. About the photo, Chanté says: “People often ask if I’m sad that I don’t remember him, and while I wish I could recall more, my family has done an amazing job with giving me a full understanding of who he was as a man, father, musician, etc… I’m told wonderful stories of how he would prepare my breakfast and put me in the high chair to eat. A couple years ago, Shirley Wahls told me that the lyrics to “That’s the Way of the World” were partially inspired by my birth… Everyone thought it was pretty cool that Charles and Rubie were having a BABY at their age!”
The forthcoming Step on Step, Charles Stepney’s de-facto debut album that releases almost 50 years since his passing, features 23 tracks, most of which are original compositions by Stepney that were never again recorded by him or any other artist. It also features prototypical, seedling-style demos of Stepney compositions for Earth, Wind & Fire, including today’s “That’s The Way of The World,” “Imagination,”and “On Your Face,” as well as the original version of “Black Gold,”which would eventually be recorded by Rotary Connection (as “I Am The Black Gold of The Sun,”with lyrics by RichardRudolph).
The album’s announcement and lead singles “Step on Step,” “Daddy’s Diddies,” and “Look B4U Leap” has brought on excitement from many longtime fans of Stepney’s work, including most recently Tyler The Creator, who played “Daddy’s Diddies” on a recent NTS Radio show while bantering: “Charles Stepney…Genius!”
All of the otherwise unrecorded, previously unnamed original compositions contained on Step on Step were given their titles by Stepney’s daughters Eibur, Charlene, and Chanté Stepney, whose voices are also heard throughout the album, telling stories and sharing memories about their father.
In celebration of Step on Step, The Stepney Sisters and International Anthem are hosting a series of events across Chicago this summer. Dubbed the “Summer of Stepney,” these events will extend through September and include performances by a new large ensemble – RotaryConnection 222 – under the musical direction of International Anthem recording artist JuniusPaul. Rotary Connection 222 was created by Paul in collaboration with the Stepney Sisters, and in its current state features MakayaMcCraven (drums), JacksonShepard (guitar), AlexisLombre (keys), MeaganMcNeal (vocals), and Stepney’s granddaughter BrandiceManuel (vocals), with new arrangements written by De’Sean Jones and JeffParker.
Summer of Stepney highlights will include a series of documentary webisodes created by filmmaker BrianAshby (Scrappers, The Area, Hairy Who & the Chicago Imagists), in-stores, live streams, interviews, and an August 18th show called Charles Stepney: Out of the Shadows on Chicago’s grandest public performance stage, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park.
The next Summer of Stepney event is a day party at iconic Chicago record store Dusty Groove on Saturday July 23rd, featuring DJ sets by Wax Poetics writer Ronnie Reese, and more.
For more information about Charles Stepney, Rotary Connection 222, Summer of Stepney events, and the Charles Stepney: Out of the Shadows performance at Millennium Park, visit www.summerofstepney.com.
Bay Area record label Broken Clover Records announces partnership with US/THEM group to promote their ever-growing and diverse roster. The label begun in 2018 by Bay Area native Mickey Darius includes albums by June of 44, Democratic Republic of Congo’s Fulu Kolektiv (sister initiative to Fulu Miziki), experimentalists Enablers, queer country Secret Emchy Society, Lori Goldston (Nirvana cellist), Basque (Spain) punks +oc and many more.
Broken Clover is a label approaching the music business in many new ways. Darius pays the label’s artists their entire royalties up front as soon as the records arrive, for everything they would earn if the entire pressing sells out.
“They did their part, so should not be held hostage, waiting for the label to do the selling part,” Darius says. “We are quite literally putting food on our artists tables and paying rents…even if we don’t sell a single copy, and this means a lot to me.”
The label also donates the entirety of its monthly profits twice annually in February and August to valuable non-profits of the artists’ choosing.
Broken Clover withholds releasing albums on all streaming platforms except for Bandcamp for a period up to 6 months in order to give the bands and fans a leg up to access music first in a forum and formats that truly reward the music listening experience.
The label has over 20 releases with many more to come in 2022 and beyond. Check out and hear the current roster via Bandcamp at brokencloverrecords.bandcamp.com
Blending post-punk, post-funk, and disco, Regressive Left‘s debut EP, On the Wrong Side of History, is four tracks of witty lyrics, bumping beats, and a bit of happy chaos that was recorded in five marathon days (11am to 1am recording sessions) during pandemic shutdown.
“I’m on the wrong side of history,” sings vocalist and electronics whiz Simon Tyrie as dance-punk beats build up behind him. He sings about being “desensitized to the taste of real life.” We all know that’s an easy trap to fall into, but Georgia Hardy‘s beats encourage us to climb out of it and dance with joy at our success in doing so. Tyrie asks those in power to take an honest look in the mirror and to carefully choose a side (“You’ve been ignoring the voices of others for far too long.”). “I don’t want to become a meme!” he and Hardy cry. “I only talk about free speech when it concerns my freedom to be a dick,” Tyrie continues, mocking the shouts of so many who mock those who just want to be heard. The whole song, and the whole EP, is full of scathing, sharp lyrics like this.
Will Crosby‘s guitars skitter and slide all over the place on “World on Fire,” and Tyrie’s vocals take on a bit of a David Byrne tinge as he takes shots at the failures of Reaganomics, rich elitists (“The world for a trust fund!”), and the economic system in general. “Bad Faith” teams them up with Mandy, Indiana to tackle the trend of people to automatically assume the worst in people, or that their statements are automatically wrong – mostly thanks to the internet. The EP closes with “No More Fun,” a song originally about how school kids in the UK were underfed at lunch but has since grown into a finger in the eye of British politicians grinding some people into the ground with policies that help no one but themselves.
It’s a wicked EP, and one that promises a lot of good things in the future. Let’s hope Regressive Left don’t wait long to bring us a whole album.
Keep your mind open.
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Aussie punk trio The Chats release a new single/video, “I’ve Been Drunk in Every Pub in Brisbane,” from their new album, GET FUCKED, out August 19th on Bargain Bin Records. Clocking in at just 89 seconds, the rip-roaring track is an entirely unironic celebration of frontman Eamon Sandwith’s first year or two in his new home city. The accompanying video was shot under the influence by the band and their house mate, Rick, who is also in a band with Eamon and Josh called Rick and the Sickos.
“Brisbane is quite a bit hotter than the rest of the country,” says Eamon, “so it’s one of those places where it’s more acceptable to start drinking earlier. I reckon there would be 900 or so pubs that you would have to hit, and I have actually been to a good chunk of them, but if you were go to all of them, it would be hard to even remember which ones you’d been to, and which ones you hadn’t, especially if you’d got fucking pissed.”
GET FUCKED is an incendiary, hyper-adrenalized blitz from punk heaven, showcasing an electrifying all-killer-no-filler 13 tracks which perfectly capture the band’s explosive energy. The album, while tackling umpteen eminently relatable beefs ranging from surfer-dude racism to the usual dire impecunity, feels like a classic high-velocity punk-rock party album like they just don’t make ’em anymore – think early Ramones, think MDC’s debut, think invite your mates over and rock hard all weekend. It is, quite simply, another laugh-out-loud, pogo-through-the-floorboards stroke of motherfucking genius.
This fall, The Chats will open for Guns N’ Roses on a Australian and New Zealand tour. A full list of dates can be found below.
Today, Medicine Singers release their self-titled debut album on Stone Tapes/ Joyful Noise, and present the video for “Hawk Song.” Medicine Singersis a genre-smashing kaleidoscope of sound firmly rooted in the intense physical power of the powwow drum, and is the inaugural release on the new Joyful Noise imprint, Stone Tapes. “Hawk Song,” written by band member Ray Two Hawks Watson, is a modern powwow favorite which infuses the Eastern Algonquin tradition with a rock edge. “The guitar turned it into a rock song,” says bandleader Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson. “The two styles mesh together so well, it’s like a fireball taking off, and you can see it in the audience when we play it live.” With hand-held footage of the band performing “Hawk Song,” the accompanying music video – directed by Roy andGigi Ben Artzi – captures a propulsivity that extends across Medicine Singers’ 10 tracks.
The creation of Stone Tapes was inspired in part by Jamieson’s work as an artist and activist, and to make a space for traditional musicians to collaborate with other experimental artists. One dollar from each Stone Tapes album sale will go toward a charity of the artist’s choice. For Medicine Singers, the funds will go to Jamieson’s organization Pocasset Pocanoket Land Trust. “We’re buying back all the land from the original Pocasset purchase – that the colonists took from us. What we are trying to do is preserve the pristine land…Keep it from being built on…Bring it back to our people to have a place to go. Because here in the Northeast most of the land has been taken and built upon, and it’s so expensive that Indian people cannot even afford it,” said Jamieson.
Medicine Singers expands on years of collaboration following a spontaneous 2017 performance by Eastern Algonquin powwow group Eastern Medicine Singers and Monotonix guitarist Yonatan Gat. Bridging multiple dimensions of sound, Medicine Singers expanded into a remarkable supergroup that also includes ambient music pioneer Laraaji, Thor Harris and Christopher Pravdica of Swans, no wave icon Ikue Mori, and rising jazz trumpet star jaimie branch, who also painted the album cover. Alongside producer Ryan Olson (of Gayngs), Medicine Singers’ debut album combines traditional powwow music with elements of psychedelic punk, spiritual jazz, and electronics in a stunning blend.
“I look at it like this, everybody is my brother and sister, no matter where they come from,” Jamieson reflects. “If their culture or music is different, I want to learn about it, and I want to play with them. I think it’s our responsibility as artists to show the world that life is not about war and hate. Life is about music, peace, and culture. We need to communicate with people of different cultures and backgrounds. We need to show people how we can work together and make something beautiful.”
