Live at Levitationis a collection of six tracks from The Black Angels(who, among many other hats they wear, help curate and organize the annual Levitation Music Festivals in Austin, Texas and Angers, France) taken from the 2010 – 2012 festivals and band lineups.
Opening track “Manipulation,” for instance, includes Elephant Stone‘s Rishi Dhir on sitar while Alex Maas‘ vocals knock over the back wall of the venue. Christian Bland‘s guitar on “Better Off Alone” sounds like it, his pedals, and his amps are all on fire. The live version of “Surf City” included on the album is raw and rough, bordering on dangerous.
“You on the Run” is a personal favorite, and it always slays live – as it does here with cranked fuzz and menace. “Empire” is a special treat, as The Black Angels don’t often perform it live. It’s a psych-trip and brings things down to Earth…for a moment, as the closer is one of their biggest hits – “Young Men Dead,” which hearing live is like standing in front of a roaring dragon. This is especially true due to Stephanie Bailey‘s thunderous drum beats, which always threaten to destroy everything around her.
It’s a must-own album for fans of the band, the Austin music scene, or psych-rock. It also further establishes The Black Angels as one of the most powerful live bands out there.
Keep your mind open.
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Essentially a live version of Alex Maas’ (of The Black Angels, MIEN, and other projects) first solo album, Luca, Levitation Sessionsis, as he puts it in the notes on his Bandcamp page, “…a glimpse into what a tour on this record would look like had we not been in a pandemic.”
It’s a shame he wasn’t able to tour behind it, because this live session shows how good those shows would’ve been. The songs aren’t as loud or face-melting as many Black Angels songs, but they are no less haunting, hypnotizing, and mood-altering. “Shines Like the Sun” opens the album with Maas singing to his family about their changing, blessed dynamic. “Special” fades in and out like incense smoke curling out of a temple or efficiency apartment window. Maas’ voice has always sounded like it was made with built-in reverb, and “All Day” is a great example of this. The dub flavor of it is outstanding.
The thumping bass of “Elastic” gets under your skin as much as Maas’ lyrics like, “We don’t want you to die. We just want you to suffer the rest of your life.” You get the feeling that the “we” he’s referencing are forces perhaps out of our control or even understanding. “Leather in the Foreground” has a slinky, kinky groove to it – which is absolutely appropriate for a song with a title like that.
“The city makes you feel so small…Sometimes love seems so damn far away,” Maas sings on “500 Dreams,” one of the loveliest tracks on the album and written to his child as he hopes for the best for him in a world that seems determined to bring all of us down to the lowest level.
“Keep Your Balance” induces dreams of faraway lands and exotic, somewhat dangerous fantasies amid hand percussion, Middle Eastern strings, and vocals that almost becomes mantras. “Too Much Hate” was written before the last election, and, unfortunately, its message still holds true. “Slip Into”…what, exactly? Judging from the sound and feel of the song, it could be anything from sleep or a warm bath to eternal sleep or a cold shower.
The slow, country ballad sound of “Paint You in the Sunshine” is a pleasant surprise, and certainly highlights one of many of Maas’ Texas regional music influences. “The Light That Will End Us” covers one of Maas’ favorite songwriting topics – death. His voice, slightly altered by reverb effects, becomes a ghostly call from a bright light that embraces shadow rather than cast it. “American Conquest” covers another base that Maas likes to write about – war. The opening bass and guitars on it grab you by the collar and demand you listen – almost talking the forefront from his vocals.
“You should’ve been struggling like all of the rest,” Maas sings on “Shoulda Been Struggling” – a song full of uplifting guitar riffs and messages to close the album. There are people out there who want you to share their misery, and cannot fathom why you won’t. They want you to mourn how they mourn, protest what they protest, dislike what they dislike, shun what they shun…but you know in your heart that such endeavors are wastes of time and energy.
This album isn’t. It’s a beautiful record from a gifted musician and writer that will make you view things in a different light.
Keep your mind open.
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I don’t know if the title to Acid Dad‘s record, Take It from the Dead, refers to taking a physical object from the deceased or heeding their advice. It could be both.
The record, with its blend of psych-rock and post-punk, is a good time. The first track, “Searchin’,” lends some credence to the idea that the album’s title might be about imploring the dead for answers. “I’m lost, and I’m found. I’m still searchin’ for a sound,” sings co-guitarist Vaughn Hunt amid shiny synths and drum licks that are happily “stuck in the 70s.” “BBQ” brings in some heavy guns on the instruments and cool reverb on the vocals. It reminds me a bit of early Failure tracks.
“RC Driver” begins and ends with enough guitar for two albums. “She Only Eats Organic,” apart from having a fun title (and a not-so-hidden oral sex joke?), is a bit of a barn-burner with beats from Trevor Mustoe that barely rest for the entire track. Sean Fahey‘s vocals have a bit of a post-punk snarl to them on it. The psychedelic “Good Time” is as trippy as the album cover.
“Smile You’re on Camera” builds on a Peter Hook-like bass line and then drops in melting wax vocals. The cranked fuzz on “2 Face” boosts Hunt’s lyrics about wanting something more from a potential lover, but knowing he should tread lightly. The closing track, “Djembe,” with its Cure-influenced bass and Jesus and Mary Chain-influenced guitar, is a killer ending. It somehow oozes and shimmers at the same time, resulting in a space-rock guitars that blaze past you like a comet.
Take It from the Dead is one of those albums that will probably reveal more layers of itself every time you listen to it, which is a testament to its craftsmanship. We could use more bands making music this intriguing.
This was my first time seeing psych-rockers Acid Dad live, and even hearing a lot of their material, and my third time seeing Frankie and the Witch Fingersin as many months. Acid Dad were just in the first few dates of their tour, and Frankie and the Witch Fingers were nearing the end of theirs. Both bands came to play and to play hard at Ft. Wayne’s Brass Rail – a great dive bar venue downtown where any band playing there is practically in your lap.
Acid Dad
Acid Dad had the crowd jumping, and even moshing, before they were even halfway through their set. I liked their mix of psychedelic rock and post-punk and picked up their newest album afterwards.
Frankie and the Witch Fingers put on a killer performance as well, the best of the three I’ve seen. They upped the punk riffs in this one, and I’m starting to think it’s not an official show by them until their drummer is shirtless. They were also having a blast. They’re one of the most fun bands to see right now.
An official gig by Frankie and the Witch Fingers
Both bands will be playing at the Levitation Music Festivalin Austin, Texas on Halloween weekend, and both sets will be well worth your time. Check them out.
Orion, the first album from Rochester, New York’s psych-space-doom trio King Buffalo is a stunning debut. The album covers a lot of ground…in outer space, along misty mountain paths, and across desert plains.
The title track opens the album with David Gilmour-like guitar from Sean McVay and builds to a thundering echo rolling down from a lost Greek temple high on a hilltop. McVay’s guitar becomes the Silver Surfer racing across the cosmos while Dan Reynolds‘ bass and Scott Donaldson‘s drums are the engines of Galactus’ ship behind him.
“Monolith” adds some Velvet Underground guitar styling to their repertoire while McVay sings about cosmic things that cause more fascination than fear. It drifts (melts?) right into “Sleeps on a Vine,” a song about a mysterious woman who may or may not be real. Donaldson’s beats almost take the forefront through the whole track, becoming the heartbeat of the man intrigued by the woman (mirage?). It becomes a heavy jam not unlike some All Them Witches tracks, which is no surprise as the bands are friends and ATW is even thanked in the liner notes of the album.
Reynolds’ bass gets “Kerosene” off to a groovy start, and McVay’s guitar sounds like a distant calling vulture at some points in it. Other times, it sounds like a nest of yellowjackets. “Down from Sky” has a countrified sound, complete with slide guitar, setting up the mammoth sounds of the next two tracks – “Goliath” (parts one, the instrumental track, and two, the mind-blowing rocker that opens your eyes and melts your face).
Reynolds and Donaldson hit their instruments so fiercely in spots during “Orion Subsiding” that it sounds like they might break. The album ends with the mind-expanding “Drinking from the River Rising.”
It’s a powerful debut, making you want to track down everything else they have out there. Cosmic rock like this is always fascinating, and King Buffalo do it well.
Keep your mind open.
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It’s always good to see Clutch. They never disappoint and always sound great live, so seeing them at a small venue just over an hour’s drive from my house was an easy decision. They’re on their thirtieth year as a band, which is quite impressive.
Opening for them were two other bands I was keen on catching, and the first was King Buffalo, who opened the night with a fine set of space / psych doom rock that was just what I needed after a weird day at work. There weren’t many in the crowd who’d heard of them before, but their merch table was packed immediately after their set. They won over a lot of fans. It would be great to see them on their own.
King Buffalo wowing the crowd.
Up next were desert / stoner rock power trio Stöner, who were equally impressive with heavy bass, garage-psych drums, and cosmic fuzz guitar work. My wife was happy to hear them and understand their lyrics (topics ranging from ghosts to Evel Knievel). They also won over many fans in Ft. Wayne.
Stöner pummeling the crowd with heavy rock.
Clutch came out to a crowd that was, by now, fired up from seeing two bands that were alone worth the price of admission. They launched into a wild set, showing no rust at thirty years of age as a band. Among the highlights of the set were them playing “Far Country” from their first 7″ single back in 1991 and “Passive Restraints” (another early track). Another treat was a new single, the name of which I still can’t find, that has lyrics involving witchcraft, the Mayflower, and Nosferatu.
Clutch hitting it hard after almost two years off.
We overheard a guy on the way out telling his friend that he’d seen Clutch “twenty times” and “that’s probably in the top five” of shows he’d seen. It was a good one. All three bands were hungry for the stage and the energy gained from a live crowd. I certainly needed it, and I got it in spades.
Today, Parquet Courts share a new single/video, “Black Widow Spider,” from their forthcoming album, Sympathy For Life, out October 22nd on Rough Trade Records. In conjunction, they announce extensive touring plans for 2022, starting with a run of North American shows in the spring. Following their highly-praised lead single “Walking at a Downtown Pace,” “Black Widow Spider” kicks off with scorching guitar. In A Savage’s words, “I told [producer] Rodaidh McDonald that I wanted to find a sound that was equal parts Can, Canned Heat and This Heat. He was really into that and probably took some glee in having such a bizarre challenge.” It’s one of the many songs on the new album that began with the band improvising onto tape, after which they started editing and cutting up, leading to the verse.
The accompanying video, directed and animated by Shayne Ehman, is simply great. “We were inspired by the claymation master Art Clokey,” says Ehmman. “I wanted the video to feel like it was shot in the 1950’s and so I used very old lenses. One was a brass projection lens from the 1860’s and another was radioactive.”
Alongside the release of their first single last month, the band also announced the Power of Eleven – eleven global happenings that will occur around the release of the album. The first of these took place in Manhattan with the Gay & Lesbian Big Apple Corp marching band debuting “Walking At A Downtown Pace”. The second of these is happening in Tokyo in conjunction with Big Love Records, with an extremely limited “Black Widow Spider” 7” and t-shirt. More info for this event and the others has been revealed on the band’s website. Sign up to their mailing list for updates.
Sympathy For Life was built largely from improvised jams and produced in league with Rodaidh McDonald (The xx, Hot Chip, David Byrne) and John Parish (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding, Dry Cleaning). Unlike its globally adored predecessor, 2018’s Wide Awake!, the focus fell on grooves rather than rhythm.
“Most of the songs were created by taking long improvisations and moulding them through our own editing,” explains Austin Brown. “The biggest asset we have as artists is the band. After 10 years together, our greatest instrument is each other. The purest expression of Parquet Courts is when we are improvising.” In a very real sense, the band sampled themselves, molding and chopping their rhythmic and melodic jams to create these songs, to manifest something new.
On Sympathy For Life, Parquet Courts’ thought-provoking rock is dancing to a new tune. The album finds the Brooklyn band at both their most instinctive and electronic, spinning their bewitching, psychedelic storytelling into fresh territory, yet maintaining their unique identity.
Thu. Oct. 28 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom ^ Fri. Oct. 29 – Richmond, VA @ The National ^ Sat. Oct. 30 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^ Sun. Oct. 31 – Lancaster, PA @ Tellus360 ^ Wed. Nov. 03 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground ! Thu. Nov. 04 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre ! Fri. Nov. 05 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts ! Sat. Nov. 06 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Stone Pony ! Mon. Nov. 15 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at the Factory Wed. Nov. 17 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Fri. Nov. 19 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre Sun. Nov. 21 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital Music Festival Sun. Feb. 27 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel * Mon. Feb. 28 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre * Wed. March 2 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse * Thu. March 3 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn * Fri. March 4 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom * Sat. March 5 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant * Mon. March 7 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall * Tue. March 8 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room * Thu. March 10 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue * Fri. March 11 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall * Sat. March 12 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre * Sun. March 13 – Detroit, MI @ MOCAD * Tue. Mar. 15, 2022 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre * Wed. Mar. 16, 2022 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre * Thu. March 17 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre * Fri. March 18 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre * Thu. March 31 – Boston, MA @ Royale # Fri. April 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel $ Sat. April 2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel # Mon. April 4 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club # Tue. April 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore % Fri. April 22 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market Sat. April 23 – Vancouver, BC @ The Imperial Mon. April 25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom Wed. April 27 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater Thu. April 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre Fri. April 29 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House Sat. April 30 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park Sat. May 21 – Paris, FR @ La Trianon Sun. May 22 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix Tue. May 24 – Cologne, DE @ Stollwerck Wed. May 25 – Berlin, DE @ Heimathafen Neukölln Fri. May 27 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich Sat. May 28 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje Mon. May 30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Tue. May 31 – Lille, FR @ Le Grand Mix Wed. June 1 – Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne Fri. June 3 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound Wed. June 8 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk Thu. June 9 – London, UK @ Brixton O2 Academy Sat. June 11 – Dublin, IE @ Helix Sun. June 12 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall Mon. June 13 – Leeds, UK @ Stylus Wed. June 15 – Glasgow, UK @ The Barrowland Ballroom Thu. June 16 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute
& supporting Portugal. The Man ^ w/ P.E. ! w/ Public Practice * w/ Mdou Moctar # w/ Hailu Mergia % w/ Sun Ra Arkestra$ w/ Yu Su
Keep your mind open.
[Creep on over to the subscription box while you’re here.]
No, you didn’t miss three posts. I only attended day four of Chicago’s annual Riot Fest this year, and it was the first Riot Fest I’d attended. A friend scored some free tickets, and far be it from me to pass up a chance to see Devo and The Flaming Lipson the same bill.
This was the hottest music festival I’ve attended in a long while. There was little shade to be had, but sunscreen and taking frequent breaks between sets meant not suffering too much. A freshly made fruit smoothie from a vegan food vendor did me wonders.
The first set we caught was by The Gories, who opened one of the main stages. They sounded loud and dirty, and I’d love to see them in a small venue, but I’m glad I finally got to see these Detroit punk legends.
The Gories!
We walked around Douglas Park and discovered the festival was widely spread out. Food vendors were in one far corner, while a smaller fifth stage was seemingly a half-mile away in the opposite corner. You’d think they’d wheel out some portable light posts with all that room, but no.
Up next were HEALTH, and one of my friends fell in love with them upon hearing their industrial set under sun so bright that their bassist / synth player had to cover his keyboards with trash bags so he could read the digital displays on them.
The sun wasn’t healthy if you weren’t wearing sunscreen that day.
After a nice break under a tree, we trotted over to the smallest stage to see Chicago noise rockers Melkbelly, who played a fun set that included a cover of Pixies‘ “Gigantic” in an attempt to make up for Pixies cancelling their tour this summer. They were so out of practice with performing live shows due to the pandemic that they forgot their merchandise in their van.
Melkbelly playing to a lot of local fans.
I scored some chicken tenders that were average at best while my friends scored an elephant ear. Riot Fest has carnival rides on site, and I can only imagine how many drunk attendees regret getting on them over the course of the weekend.
We returned to the Rebel Stage to see Bleached perform their first set in two years (according to them, and a running theme for live shows everywhere this year), right after a guy walked by us peddling mushrooms to anyone who wanted them. They sounded great, and I would’ve liked to have stayed for the whole set, but Devo was calling…
Bleached having a fun time in the sun.
The stage was packed for Devo, complete with a mosh pit and crowd surfers. It was a fun set in which they played nearly the entire Freedom of Choice album. The whole crowd was happy and still buzzing afterwards. One guy was high-fiving people and telling them, “You just saw Devo!” It was the first time my friend, Amy, had seen them. She said she smiled so much during the set that her cheeks hurt afterwards. A delight for me and my friend (and Amy’s cousin), Brian, was getting to hear Devo’s cover of “Secret Agent Man” live for the first time. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to hear it.
De-evolution is real!
Brian and I stuck around for the Flaming Lips‘ set. Brian hadn’t seen them before, and we couldn’t get close to the stage by they started – mainly due to them starting right after Devo’s set. It was still a good set, and nearly the same as when I saw them at Psycho Music Festival. Wayne Coyne encouraged everyone to take care of each other and stay healthy so live music can continue. Amen to that.
The Flaming Lips blowing sun-baked minds.
It was a good time (and Brian’s first music festival, no less), but would I go back? The short answer is, “I don’t know.” There were a lot of bad bands on the bill on day four, and I don’t think the other three days were much better. A lot of the bands playing the various stages sounded like Rage Against the Machine rip-offs, screamo nonsense, or pop-garbage. We got the hell out of there before Slipknot and Machine Gun Kelly started their sets and laughed as we passed a guy selling nitrous oxide balloons outside the park. I might return if the lineup gets better, and they’ve already announced another Misfits reunion for 2022, but Douglas Park-area residents won’t be happy about it…
Musician and producer Sam Evian releases “Time to Melt,” the title track from his forthcoming album, out October 29th on Fat Possum, alongside an accompanying video. Carried by its noodly guitar line and Sam’s honeyed vocals, “Time to Melt” emanates a fun darkness with an almost alien jazz feel. The song originally came together when Spencer Tweedy was interviewing Sam for Mirror Sound, a book that delves into the people and processes behind self-recorded music. He asked to see an example of Sam’s writing process, and after firing up a drum machine, Sam wrote the first bars of “Time to Melt.” Of the song, Sam explains “If you’re familiar with tarot, I think of it as pulling the death card in a positive way. It’s like facing the idea of death, which I think everyone thought about a lot this past year, maybe more than usual collectively.”
“It’s time to melt it’s what we do // If anything will comfort me // It’s knowing that we’ll be free”
The peculiar “Time to Melt” video, directed by John TerEick and filmed in the woods surrounding Sam’s home, elevates the song’s otherworldly vibe and offers a peek into Sam’s charm. Sam comments on the video: “I met a lonely alien in the woods and they taught me a jig. As the night went on they convinced me to try huffing some special kind of bug spray, which opened a wormhole vortex to another dimension.”
Time to Melt is a glowing set of soulfully psychedelic pop gems and a testimonial to the life and wisdom to be found when you give yourself the mercy of space. Following a brief decampment to upstate New York to create his last album, You, Forever, Sam realized he could no longer resist the urge to escape the anxious city life. So he and his partner split from New York City to build their refuge and Sam’s studio, Flying Cloud Recordings, in the Catskills. That reflective, relaxing environment shaped Time to Melt, an album of sounds so pleasant and compelling that you put it on and follow the slipstream. There are songs of celebrations, like “Easy to Love,” and tracks that reckon with the weight of our time, even when it sounds largely weightless, like “Knock Knock.”
Next month, Sam will kick off his North American tour with a full band of Brian Betancourt (bass), Michael Coleman (keys), Sean Mullins (drums), and Liam Kazar(guitar, synths), who will also open each show. Tickets are on sale now.
Sam Evian Tour Dates Fri. Oct. 29 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom * Sat. Oct. 30 – Woodstock, NY @ The Colony * Wed. Nov. 3 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom * Thu. Nov. 4 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair * Fri. Nov. 5 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Saint * Sat. Nov. 6 – Washington, DC @ DC9 * Wed. Nov. 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas * Thu. Nov. 11 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts * Fri. Nov. 12 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre * Sat. Nov. 13 – Portland, ME @ Space Gallery * Fri. Nov. 19 – Amagansett, NY @ Stephen Talkhouse Sat. Nov. 20 – Troy, NY @ The Hangar *
My wife and I took a long weekend trip to Nashville, Tennessee a couple weeks ago. We got into town on September 10th and were looking for something to do that night. Lo and behold, I discovered a psychedelic rock show at a dive bar called The 5 Spot, and the lineup was irresistible: local act Mouth Reader, California psych-shoegazers Levitation Room, and, fresh from Psycho Music Festival, Frankie and the Witch Fingers.
Mouth Reader were up first, putting on a good and loud show to their hometown crowd that impressed some other local musicians who were seated near us.
Mouth Reader making our minds drip.
Levitation Room sound like Elephant Stonemixed with Beatles and Pink Floyd. They have a song about a polydactyl cat (“Mr. Polydactyl Cat”) that delighted my wife to no end.
Levitation Room lifting us off the floor.
I need to mention that the psychedelic light and projection effects were done by the Flooded Sun Liquid Light Show, who also have their own doom / stoner metal band called Red Feather. They did a great job, although they didn’t do projections for Frankie and the Witch Fingers for reasons unknown to us.
Frankie and the Witch Fingers played much of the same set that they threw down at the Psycho Music Festival, but hearing it in a smaller venue than the Mandalay Bay House of Blues was a treat. They were just as tight as when we saw them a month earlier and were delighted to be hitting the road after such a long hiatus.
You can tell it’s early in the set because the drummer, Shaughnessy Starr, is still wearing a shirt.
It was a good start to a fun weekend, and The 5 Spot is a cool venue far away from the downtown Nashville honky tonk tourist traps full of annoying drunks and bachelor / bachelorette parties.
