7th Level Music

Rewind Review: Rolling Stones – Blue and Lonesome (2016)

There’s a quote from Mick Jagger in the liner notes of the Rolling Stones‘ 2016 album Blue & Lonesome that sums up how good the record sounds pretty well: “We could have done this album in 1963 or ’64, but of course it would not have sounded like this…It’s the interesting thing about a record that is made really quickly, it reflects a moment in time – a time and a place.”

Yes, the Stones could’ve recorded this album decades ago when they were young and raw, and it would’ve sounded great, but Blue & Lonesome is an album that shows the Stones as masters of their craft. They have evolved and matured to the point where they can walk into a studio and record a stunning blues album in just three days. Also, as mentioned in the liner notes, legendary producer (and musician in his own right) Don Was says Blue and Lonesome wasn’t planned. It came about while the Stones weren’t in the groove while recording another song and Keith Richards suggested playing the title track to “cleanse the palate.” After they had played and recorded it (in one take), Don Was (according to the notes) “…said, ‘Let’s do another one.’ It was clear that we had embarked upon the much-talked-about, but never realized, blues album.”

The album turned into twelve great blues classics played by one of the greatest rock bands of all time. The album opens with Little Walter‘s “Just Your Fool,” with Mick blowing out dirty harmonica riffs that nearly run away from Richards’ and Ron Wood‘s guitar licks. Their take on Howlin’ Wolf‘s “Commit a Crime” is downright filthy and sounds like it was recorded in a juke joint in the middle of Mississippi on a humid summer evening. Charlie Watts beats the cymbals on his kit half to death throughout the whole track.

Hearing the title track and remembering it’s the only take they did of it makes it all the more impressive. Richards’ guitar on “All of Your Love” sounds effortless (which it probably is, for him), and Chuck Leavell‘s piano solo on it is sharp. Jagger’s harmonica is back in business on Little Walter’s “I Gotta Go,” and Watts’ groove on it is outstanding.

As if the album wasn’t power-packed enough, some guy named Eric Clapton plays the slide guitar on Little Johnny Taylor‘s “Everybody Knows about My Good Thing.” I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Darryl Jones, who plays bass on the entire album. He puts down a lot of lockstep grooves, and the one he drops on Eddie Taylor‘s “Ride ’em on Down” is solid as a rock. Their cover of Little Walter’s “Hate to See You Go” is a definite toe-tapper, and I like how they bring Watts’ snare drum to the front.

Lightnin’ Slim‘s “Hoo Doo Blues” is as rough and raw as you’d hope it would be, and Jimmy Reed‘s “Little Rain” is the slowest, and still one of the most powerful, songs on the record. They get back into a fun swing on their cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Just Like I Treat You.” You can tell they had a blast on this one (and the whole album, really). That Clapton guy comes back with a so-good-it’s-not-fair guitar solo to help finish out the album with a cover of Otis Rush‘s massive hit “I Can’t Quit You Baby.” Jagger saves some of his best vocal chops for the final cut, too. You can’t help but imagine him strutting his stuff in the studio as he put down the vocal track.

It’s a stunner of a record and one that was long overdue from the Stones. You owe it to yourself to hear it if you’re a fan of the blues or the Stones.

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Gordon Koang’s “South Sudan” is another delightful track from his forthcoming album.

Legendary South Sudanese pop star Gordon Koang will release his eleventh album, Unity, out August 14th on Music in Exile / Light in the Attic. Today, he releases a new single/video, “South Sudan,” which follows lead single/video “Tiel e Nei Nywal Ke Ran (We Don’t Have a Problem With Anyone).” In “South Sudan,” Gordon sings in Nuer, his native language, and speaks of a leader and aid worker he knew whilst in South Sudan. He shares a story of this man’s wisdom and his efforts to keep Gordon and his community from falling into poverty. The catchy and percussive melodies transcend language barriers and are sure to have listeners across the world dancing! Gordon adds: “I’m so happy to share this song with you, my audience! Even if this song is not in English, God will translate it for you!”

Directed by frequent collaborator Nick McKk (Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Julia Jacklin, Stella Donnelly), the music video for “South Sudan” follows Gordon and his cousin and lifelong friend, Paul Biel, around some of their favorite local spots; highlights include Edithvale Beach, Dandenong Plaza, Dandenong Markets and their favorite kebab shop. The clip beautifully captures the warmth of their friendship and the joy that Gordon and Paul feel when they are able to share music with their community. Director Nick McKk elaborates: “Dandenong is a favorite spot of Gordon and Paul’s. Was a wonderful meander through the streets, the town stuck in a 80s wonderland. They both like extra chilli on their kebab.”

Watch the Video for “South Sudan”

Gordon Koang is a Nuer musician, hailing from the banks of the River Nile in what is now South Sudan. Born blind, he began playing music on the streets of Juba as a young man though has now become a grassroots hero, the voice of the Nuer people, a prominent figure in the fight for cultural independence in South Sudan, affectionately known as the “King of Music.”

Unity is Gordon’s first album since coming to Australia. It is his only recorded output in the painstakingly long six years of living as an asylum seeker, and the album was completed just weeks before Gordon was awarded his permanent residency. In late 2019, Gordon began a series of collaborations with musicians from around Australia, in search of a new sound that would be suited to his adopted home. He now proudly calls himself an “Australian,” a term which so many from around the world have come to know as their own. Through his recordings, Gordon hopes to reach as many new listeners as he can around the world. He wants everyone to hear his message – on the radio, in clubs, at festivals, on the street.

And what is this message? Unity. Peace between all people of the world, regardless of religion or cultural differences. A painfully first-hand experience of what these rifts can create between people has led Gordon to devote his life, and his music, to a simple message of peace, love and unity. Love each other, and love yourself. It’s not so hard!

Watch the Video for “Tiel e Nei Nywal Ke Ran (We Don’t Have a Problem With Anyone)”

Watch the Video for “Mal Mi Goa (Ginoli Remix)”

Pre-order Unity

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Brid at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: Blanck Mass – Dumb Flesh (2015)

I had heard Blanck Mass (AKA Benjamin John Power) before with his work in Fuck Buttons, but had unknowingly heard songs from Dumb Flesh five years ago not knowing who had created them. So, hearing this album in its entirety for the first time was a real treat because it reunited me with songs I didn’t realize were my introduction to his solo work – which I have come to enjoy through multiple albums like World Eater and Animated Violence Mild.

Opener “Loam” is a weird backwards vocal track that lets you know you’re in for something out of the ordinary. No Blanck Mass album is necessarily “normal.” They’re all soundscapes that range from strange and sometimes creepy dreams (like “Loam,” which almost seems to be the sound of a possibly haunted lava lamp) to industrial dance tracks to ambient psychedelia.

“Dead Format” is the first Blanck Mass song I ever heard, and I was elated to be reunited with it on this album. I actually first heard it when I saw Blanck Mass perform at the much-missed Levitation Chicago in 2016. The thumping electronic beats and futuristic bounty hunter synths are a wicked combination that get you moving and absolutely kill live.

The title of “No Lite” is a bit misleading because it’s full of shimmering synths that fade in and out like sunlight breaking through rolling storm clouds as wickedly subtle beats pound underneath them. “Atrophies” mixes synth swirls with karate chop-like processed beats. “Cruel Sports” would be a perfect theme for some sort of cyborg octagonal cage fight. The bass hits hard, the beats sound like metal clashing with metal, and the synths gleam like stark overhead lights.

“Double Cross” is a great synth-wave dance track that’s dark-wave at the edges with break-beat subtleties. It belongs in the next video game you’re designing or playing. “Lung” pops and chirps like some sort of alien machine. It becomes somewhat hypnotizing after a short while.

The album ends with “Detritus,” which is a wild eight minutes and thirteen seconds of what at first sounds like some kind of excavation machinery running with almost no oil in the gears. The synths slowly build, like a creature rising from a junkyard to see the sun for the first time in a century.

It’s a powerful record, and just one of many such records Blanck Mass has put out there. Brace for impact before you hear it.

Keep your mind open.

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Holy Motors take us to “Country Church” with new single from upcoming sophomore album.

Today, Tallinn, Estonia’s Holy Motors are announcing Horse, the follow up to the group’s critically acclaimed 2018 debut album, Slow Sundown, which is due out October 16th on the iconoclastic Brooklyn indie, Wharf Cat Records (Bambara, Public Practice, Dougie Poole). To mark the occasion the band are sharing lead single “Country Church” alongside its accompanying video.

WATCH: Holy Motors’ “Country Church” video on YouTube

Though their music has often been tied to the traditions of Americana and America roots music, Holy Motors were formed in Tallinn, Estonia in 2013, when founding member Lauri Ruas (songwriter and one of the band’s three guitarists) recruited Eliann Tulve, who was just 16 at the time, to join the band as songwriter and lead vocalist. With Tulve’s gorgeously foreboding vocals serving as a ballast for the guitar section’s “infinity-pool-style shimmer” (Pitchfork) the band quickly became as un-ignorable as they were inscrutable, rising from the ranks of eager supporting act (for Low, at SXSW) to sought after headliner (at NYC underground-meets-above-ground mainstay Berlin) in just a matter of days during their first unofficial tour of the US in 2018.

That same year marked the release of their critically acclaimed debut LP, Slow Sundown, on New York City’s equally enigmatic Wharf Cat Records, an album that garnered praise and airplay not just in the band’s native Estonia (where it won Tallinn’s Music Week award and a nomination for Debut Album of the Year by the Estoniain Music Awards), but also via a battery of publications west of the Baltic, including Stereogum (Album of the Week), Bandcamp (Album of the Day), and the UK’s DIY Mag (Neu Pick). All this momentum went so far as to capture the attention of one of the band’s very own idols, Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, who approached them after seeing a live performance in Berlin and would go on to produce a handful of tracks for the band in 2019 as well as join them for their set at Switzerland’s Festival Nox Orae (you can watch the full set here) during a summer itinerary dotted with European music festivals.

But rather than being blunted and worn down by the tumultuous forces of success, Holy Motors’ incongruence has instead grown all the more prevalent and endearing. They remain musicians from an ex-Soviet country producing music that has been described as “cowboy dream-pop with a dark side” (Interview Magazine), “shoegaze that sounds like the old West” (The Fader), and like “a twang-filled soundtrack to… cowboy melancholy” (Beat). The resulting mystique is an inalienable part of the band’s DNA, stemming from the shared infatuation with the American West that the members developed waiting out Estonia’s long, grim winters with the warm company of American western films (Badlands and Paris, Texas amongst their favorites) and their instruments. What began as an innocent fascination evolved into a sincere embodiment of that dreamy, melancholy cowboy aura, both in their music and persona as a band.

Now, at 22 years old, Eliann Tulve resembles Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, reincarnated as an Estonian cowgirl. She is enigmatic as ever but stands more firmly alongside co-songwriter Lauri Ruas, the solidification of their roles perhaps accounting for the more hopeful turn their songwriting has taken of late. Their new LP Horse, which is due out on Wharf Cat on October 16th, finds the band acknowledging the Americana and rockabilly strands of their musical DNA without sacrificing any of the otherworldly mystique that keeps them from neatly conforming to the shoegaze and dreampop labels often applied to their music.

From the album’s opening moments, songs like “Country Church,” with its major key and classic rhythm and blues guitarline, and “Midnight Cowboy,” which sounds like a lost Buddy Holly 45 played at 33 rpm, make it clear that Horse — even if it may not accomplish the impossible task of demystifying this band of ex-Soviet cowboys — will at least show you that there’s more to them than the near-impenetrable darkness of their work to date may suggest. While tracks like “Trouble” and “Endless Night” gravitate towards the ethereal production and existential subject matter of prior releases, repeat listens will reveal the same complex compositions and an empathy that are much more a hallmark of Horse’s eight songs.

As a whole, Horse stands as a warmer, more human counterpoint to 2018’s celestial Slow Sundown, and showcases Holy Motors as a hypnotic force that draws listeners in and leaves them wanting more. This effect, paired with their ability to write lyrics and music that resonate with a deeply relatable feeling of isolation, has resulted in an album built to connect with people from devoted shoegaze and western psychedelia fanatics to dreamer cowboys, driving through wide open country roads under the stars.
Horse will be released October 16th on Wharf Cat Records. It is available for preorder here.

Tracklist
1. Country Church
2. Endless Night
3. Midnight Cowboy
4. Road Stars
5. Matador
6. Come On, Slowly
7. Trouble
8. Life Valley (So Many Miles Away)

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Hive Mind PR.]

Burger Boogaloo postponed until next summer.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, Burger Boogaloo is officially delayed until July 10th & 11th of 2021. The festival’s lineup will remain the same, including Bikini Kill, Circle Jerks, Plastic Bertrand, and more. All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new dates.

Burger Boogaloo began as a string of small shows put on by local musicians with a shared passion for community and a desire to celebrate punk rock’s unsung heroes. Over the past decade, that community has exponentially grown while the goal has remained the same. We are fortunate to have such a committed group of fans and are deeply grateful for their continued support. As we await the return of live music during these trying times, we hope that the passion and sense of belonging that Burger Boogaloo attendees have fostered can continue to flourish through peaceful support for the Black Lives Matter movement and other communities whose struggles deserve to be heard.

While we’re disappointed that the festival has been delayed for a second time, we look forward to celebrating the return of live music with a Burger Boogaloo unlike any other. Until then, please keep safe and keep listening.

Any ticketing questions or concerns can be sent to burgerboogaloo@gmail.com.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

BURGER BOOGALOO 2020 LINEUP

HOSTED BY JOHN WATERS

BIKINI KILL (1st Bay Area show in 25 years)
CIRCLE JERKS (1st Bay Area show in 10 years)
PLASTIC BERTRAND (1st Bay Area show ever)
CARBONAS (1st Bay Area show in 10 years)
BLEACHED
SHANNON SHAW
ALICE BAG (of the Bags)
FLIPPER
THE FEVERS
PANSY DIVISION
THE YOUNGER LOVERS
MIDNITE SNAXXX
HAMMERED SATIN
THE RUBINOOS

TICKET PRICES
Day 1 – $99
Day 2 – $69
Weekend Pass – $129
VIP day 1 – $149
VIP day 2 – $109
VIP weekend Pass – $199

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jim at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Spun Out arise from the ashes of NE-HI and take us to “Another House” with new single.

Spun Out, the new Chicago-based band led by Mikey Wells, James Weir, and Alex Otake, announce their debut album, Touch The Sound, out August 21st via Shuga Records and the band’s Spun Out Productions label. Today, they also present their lead single/video, “Another House.” Spun Out is built from the embers of NE-HI, whose influential half-decade run ended in 2019 as one of Chicago’s foremost indie rock acts. Touch The Sound is an expansive and exciting first offering. Full of mesmerizing grooves, melancholic pop bliss, and thrilling studio experiments, Touch The Sound is a document of a band truly pushing themselves. With songs simultaneously perfect for a packed rock club or a sweaty dance floor, this is an album that instantly grabs you and takes hold with each successive listen.

While NE-HI had spent years making four-piece indie rock, their new material reflects their evolving tastes with more danceable, spacey, and heady textures. Spun Out’’s first few writing sessions were a whirlwind of creativity and soul-searching. They enlisted Josh Wells (Destroyer) as producer and his approach to generating new sounds fit seamlessly with the band’s newfound ethos; to collaborate openly, emotionally and artistically. “Instead of recording everything live and just trying to capture the energy, we were more intentional: tracking as many layers as we wanted to and then peeling it back. There were no limitations in the studio and were able to shape these songs more,” says Otake. That’s not to say their studio experimentation results in a lack of energy. These songs burst with life and color.

Spun Out is an open door for collaborators and over the course of making Touch The Sound, they enlisted a diverse cast of musicians to flesh out these songs including Destroyer’s JP Carter, Caroline Campbell, saxophonist Kevin Jacobi, Patrick Donohoe, now full-time members keyboardist Sean Page and guitarist Jake Gold, Deeper’s Shiraz Bhatti and Nic Gohl and others. “This isn’t just a three person band. We want to keep it a revolving door for our friends to come in and work with us,” says Weir.

Opener “Another House” captures the band’s spark and their daring songwriting. The track builds slowly but surely to a hair-raising peak complete with pulsing synths and a cacophony of drums and guitars. The accompanying video, directed by the bus-dwelling creative duo Noble Savage (Austin LeMoine and Troy Chebuhar), is representative of Spun Out’s vivid and rich sound. It features the band, washed in a hazy, psychedelic filter. Weir elaborates: “‘Another House’ is a musical boiling pot of a band break up, a search for a new artistic voice, mixed with imaginative studio exploration. We all know there are much bigger and more important things to discuss right now, but if this video and this song can transport you into a positive headspace, then the music has achieved its goal.”

While this album investigates the confusing emotional territory of feeling disillusioned and growing up, Spun Out are certain in one thing: each other. Says Weir, “We’ve only gotten closer as friends and bandmates. We’re basically brothers.” It’s not just a love letter to their expanding adventurousness as artists but also to Chicago’s vibrant music community and their evolving bond. Like its title suggests, Touch The Sound is an invitation to do just that.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “ANOTHER HOUSE”

PRE-ORDER TOUCH THE SOUND

TOUCH THE SOUND TRACKLIST
1. Another House
2. Such Are The Lonely
3. Dark Room
4. Running It Backwards
5. Antioch – Easy Detroit
6. Off The Vine
7. Don’t Act Down
8. Pretender
9. Cruel And Unusual
10. Plastic Comet

Spun Out Online:
https://twitter.com/spunoutband?lang=en
https://www.instagram.com/spunoutband/
https://spunoutband.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/SPUN-OUT-105109181173378/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/53glqqgSYim0HNqJmVCffs

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Protomartyr – Ultimate Success Today

I love the title of Protomartyr‘s new album – Ultimate Success Today. It’s a great encapsulation of modern living. Everyone wants to be the ultimate success, which can be a worthy goal if one’s motives are good, but the key is in the last word of the album’s title. Everyone wants ultimate success today. We want everything now and, thanks to advertising and the internet, we fully expect to be able to have it now or before anyone else.

The album is about not only this consumerist desire and addiction, but also fear (of the path the world seems to be taking), how the world’s energy affects us, and how our actions, big or small, affect the world.

Opening track “Day Without End” builds over the course of three minutes and sixteen seconds with surging guitars from Greg Ahee, frantic cymbals by Alex Leonard, and sermon-like vocals from Joe Casey. Scott Davidson‘s bass leads the outstanding “Being Processed By the Boys” along a dark, menacing road while Casey sings about “a dagger punched from out of the shadows,” “a cosmic grief beyond all comprehension,” and “a giant beast turning mountains into black holes.” So, yeah, light fare.

“Though I have no face, country, or creed, I am better than you are,” Casey sings on “I Am You Now” – a song that claps back at the anger expressed by so many over so little. It also has some of Leonard’s best drumming on the album. He seems to play nothing but drum fills and cymbal rolls. He’s not. It’s far more complex, a sort of controlled chaos. “Narcissism is a killer,” Casey sings on “The Aphorist” – which might be the most “upbeat” track on Ultimate Success Today. He’s right. It is, and so is that wicked bridge around the two-and-a-half-minute mark.

Nandi Rose joins Casey on the vocals for “June 21,” which brings in post-punk guitar work from Ahee for a neat change in direction. “Michigan Hammers” moves along at a quick groove thanks to Leonard’s passionate drumming and Davidson’s bear trap-locked in bass line. His bass is pure fuzzed-out bliss on “Tranquilizer,” which also has a great saxophone line running through it by jazz legend Jameel Moondoc. The song explodes into a wild, head-spinning cacophony and then settles down before it makes you lose (or loose) your mind.

The fast, post-punk riffs of “Modern Business Hymns” are fantastic. “Bridge Crown” slows down to almost a goth-country sound before Casey starts crooning about, you guessed it, ultimate success (which is also referenced in the song before it by name). Casey opens the closing track, “Worm in Heaven,” with the lyrics, “So it’s time to say goodbye. I was never too keen on last words.” The song is the closest thing to a ballad on the album, and one can’t help but wonder if it’s a sign-off for not only the album but also the band. I hope not, because Protomartyr are firing on all cylinders right now.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Exhalants’ first single from upcoming album is a “Bang.”

Austin, TX trio Exhalants announce their forthcoming sophomore album Atonement today and share the lead single via Metal Injection. Hear and share “Bang” HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Exhalants began in 2017, sprouting from their local DIY and club scenes with one goal in mind: be loud as f*ck. The three-piece quickly cut a demo, played some shows around town, and then set out to record their first full length not long after that. That first LP yielded a strong collection of songs that balanced the moody experimentation of indie heroes like Unwound and the harsh distortion and feedback-drenched noise rock of Unsane, coupled with raw emotion on display. The record received a great amount of acclaim, which helped Exhalants tour throughout the U.S. During this time they also recorded a split 7″ with fellow Texas trio Pinko (Hex Records) to have while both bands were out on tour together.

Immediately following the release of their self-titled debut album, Exhalants started working on new material. They spent most of 2019 writing and touring, fleshing out newer material on the road while still promoting their 2018 debut. While on their West Coast Tour, Hex Records spent a couple days getting to know the people in the band and offered to release their next record for them. After wrapping up both West and East Coast tours, Exhalants focused on finishing the rest of the record and decided to take Hex up on the offer. Plans began to emerge for what would become their second LP, Atonement.

The band began recording the album in the spring of 2020 in their practice space, with a pandemic looming on the horizon. While the pandemic caused some hiccups with getting things finished in the studio in a timeframe they had planned on, it eventually came together with a great deal of DIY know-how and taking some of the mixing duties into their own hands.

Exhalants hail from Austin, Texas. The members all have roots with playing in multiple bands around the area and have been employed by various venues in town, so they are no strangers to the community aspect and DIY nature of playing the sort of decidedly non-mainstream music they do. With a mountain of amps, precision pounding drums, eardrum-rattling feedback, and a healthy dose of experimentation Exhalants are easily one of the more exciting newer bands to gain attention within the punk/noise rock arena in recent memory. Atonement aims to push that sound further for anyone willing to listen.

Atonement will be available on LP, CD and download on September 11th, 2020 via Hex Records.(Pre-order HERE.)

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dave at Us / Them Group.]

Dream Nails get fit and free with new single – “Jillian.”

London punks Dream Nails have been the subject of considerable excitement in the UK since they first emerged on the DIY scene. Releasing a stream of singles and an EP, they have earned high praise from places like VICE, DAZED, The Guardian, Clash, Nylon and i-D who called the band “the best all-girl punk queertet since Bikini Kill.” Noted for their strong emphasis on empowerment from a queer feminist perspective and their involvement in a host of political causes, the band’s budding reputation has seen them tour in the UK and Europe with Cherry Glazerr and Anti-Flag, and make three consecutive appearances at Glastonbury all before releasing their first LP. Today the band are announcing their debut self-titled full length, which will be released August 28th by Dine Alone (City & Colour, Alexisonfire, The Chats) in North America and UK indie Alcopop! (Art Brut, Kississippi, Tigercub) for Rest of World.

WATCH: Dream Nails – “Jillian” video on YouTube

The band have been compared to The Slits (VICE) and Elastica (The Guardian) in the past, and shades of both are present on their latest single “Jillian,” a song about queerness, body positivity and problematic TV fitness celebrity Jillian Michaels.

“This is a song about realizing you’re queer while you’re doing a workout DVD,” explains singer Janey Starling. “It’s a personal-power anthem about finding the strength to come out; that’s what the line ‘I feel the fear leaving my body’ is all about.

“Both [bassist] Mimi and I discovered strength training through Jillian Michaels’ ‘30 Day Shred’ home DVD, and the catch-phrases were too good to not make a song from! Since then, she’s said some uncool and unkind stuff to Lizzo, which we were really gutted to hear. This song is very much about finding your own strength, regardless of your body shape.”

Dream Nails self-titled LP is due out August 28th via Dine Alone and Alcopop! Pre-orders for ‘Dream Nails’ are live today and can be found HERE. Physical vinyl bundle includes a 40-page signed zine. In true punk DIY fashion, the zine is handmade by the band, featuring lyrics, articles and background to the songs on the album.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom at Hive Mind PR.]

Levitation France announces dates and first wave of line-up.

Music festivals are still scheduled in countries that have figured out how to handle a pandemic, and one of them is Levitation France October 09-10, 2020. Levitation Austin has been postponed until 2021, but the French festival in the groovy town of Angers is already touting its first lineup announcements.

Fontaines D.C. and Squid are current alternative rock darlings, and Zombie Zombie are personal favorites that I would love to see at Le Quai. I’ve heard good stuff from Black Country, New Road, and Slift seems to be everywhere on YouTube right now.

I don’t know if travelers from the U.S. will be allowed in France by October, but I might have to change my vacation plans if they are.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to the Reverb Appreciation Society.]