7th Level Music

Ian Sweet presents your new favorite make-out song with “Your Spit.”

Today, IAN SWEET — the project of songwriter and pop auteur Jilian Medford — announces her new album, SUCKER, out November 3rd on Polyvinyl, and presents lead single/video, “Your Spit.” Perfectly merging Medford’s pop sensibilities with the widescreen indie rock that she first made her name on, SUCKER is both sumptuous and fully realized. Medford’s musical voice has only become more unique amidst an ever-growing field, and SUCKER is proof positive that — even with a considerable discography in her arsenal — Medford is just getting started.

Lead single “Your Spit” swerves and sways with a distinctly pop gait. Produced by Alex Craig (Binki, Claud) and Strange Ranger’s Isaac Eiger, “Your Spit” begins with blown-out synths and Medford’s ever-incisive lyrics. “Why don’t you kiss me like you mean it // Kiss me like you’re leaving // Your spit tastes different,” Medford sings, her voice shapeshifting from nonchalant yearning to a full-blown scream-along chorus. Of “Your Spit,” Medford adds; “‘Your Spit’ is about the joy and fear that surrounds new relationships. The excitement that’s also accompanied by doubt. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say the song is just mostly about making out.”

The accompanying “Your Spit” video — helmed by Insufficent Funds and directed by Brittany Reeber — sees Medford surrounded by a theater full of kissing couples, and features cameos from Saturday Night Live cast members Sarah Sherman (aka Sarah Squirm) and Martin Herlihy. Of the video, Reeber adds: “Jillian and I got together one day and had a complete mind meld on what the videos would be for the first two singles. The concept for ‘Your Spit’ comes straight from the energy of the song. It felt right to get kind of literal and visceral! The couples brought a whole new dimension to the video that I wasn’t even expecting, it’s flirty, but it’s also really tender and sweet. Grateful to all the brave kissers! We also knew we wanted the two videos to speak to each other in some way so there is a nod to the next vid in this one if you can catch it.”

WATCH IAN SWEET’S “YOUR SPIT” VIDEO

Work on SUCKER began in the fall of 2022; feeling newly untethered in the wake of a “COVID relationship” that had recently come to pass, Medford took a cross-country road trip from her L.A. home to an artist residency at The Outlier Inn. “I was feeling very stuck in L.A. and was trying to get comfortable with spending more time alone again,” she recalls about her hermetic confines, which included 24-hour studio access to create in an unfettered fashion. “I went there not knowing exactly what I wanted to do or make, but I knew I wanted to explore and get out of my comfort zone. I forced myself to make things on the spot, in the moment and not overthink it too much.”

Feeling inspired, Medford brought her demos to life with co-producers Craig and Eiger, along with mixing engineer Al Carlson (St. Vincent, Jessica Pratt), all of whom helped shape SUCKER into its current form —a record that reconciles Medford’s beginnings with where she’s landed at this current moment. “I revisited the reasons why I started playing music to begin with,” she explains. “I wanted to get more personal and showcase a more confident side musically and lyrically.”

SUCKER follows Medford’s 2021 breakthrough and Polyvinyl debut, Show Me How You Disappear, which chronicled her time spent in an intensive outpatient program that included six hours of group therapy a day. “Show Me How You Disappear was written during a really difficult period of my life after reckoning with a mental health crisis,” she explains. “I survived that very moment in my life through writing that record, and the extreme urgency to heal is reflected in the songwriting. With SUCKER, I felt more capable to take my time and experiment without being totally afraid of the outcome. It wasn’t life or death — it was just life, and I was lucky to be living it.”

PRE-ORDER SUCKER

SUCKER TRACKLIST
1. Bloody Knees
2. Smoking Again
3. Emergency Contact
4. Sucker
5. Comeback
6. Your Spit
7. Clean
8. FIGHT
9. Slowdance
10. Hard

IAN SWEET Tour Dates
Fri. Aug. 11 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre #
Sat. Aug. 12 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre #
Thu. Aug. 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Skirball Cultural Center
Tue. Aug. 22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere – Rooftop $
Thu. Nov. 9 – London, UK @ Pitchfork Music Festival London

# w/ Please Don’t Destroy
$ co-headline w/ Why Bonnie

Keep your mind open.

[It would be sweet if you subscribed.]

[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Shoegaze legends Drop Nineteens drop their first single in 30 years.

It was almost 30 years ago when Drop Nineteens disbanded. They had released their shoegaze masterpiece Delaware in 1992, and shared stages with bands like Radiohead, Hole, Blur, PJ Harvey and Smashing Pumpkins. They went from being teenagers in Boston to mid-twenty-somethings with videos on MTV, sessions on the BBC, world tours and numerous festival appearances under their belt. So when Drop Nineteens ceased to be, their lead singer and songwriter Greg Ackell felt content. He had the rest of his life in front of him to figure out what he wanted to do. Music was a closed chapter.

In the decades that followed, despite the band’s turn away from the spotlight, Drop Nineteens’ legacy grew. Delaware came to be considered a classic of the genre, landing on lists of the greatest shoegaze albums of all time, with Pitchfork saying that “Delawareset Drop Nineteens squarely in a league of their own” on their run down of the genre’s best albums. The band’s catalog also found a new life on streaming, where tracks like “Winona” and “Kick The Tragedy” have racked up millions of streams and reached a new audience, becoming a touchstone influence for the new wave of American shoegaze.

It was in this context that in 2021 a friend from the band’s early days got Ackell on the phone to suggest making some music together, just to see how it felt. Instead of shutting it down like he had been doing over the years, he decided to entertain the prospect. For the first time in nearly 30 years, he picked up a guitar with intent.

Today, Drop Nineteens are announcing their official return. The full original line up of Ackell, Steve Zimmerman, Paula Kelley, Motohiro Yasue, and Peter Koeplin has reunited to create a new album entitled Hard Light (out November 3rd on Wharf Cat Records), the band’s 3rd official LP and the spiritual successor to Delaware. To mark the announce the band are sharing the first single from the album, a track called “Scapa Flow”, and Ackell and Kelley have spoken to Stereogum about the band’s history, their unlikely reunion, and their comeback LP.

“The intent on Delaware was to reflect that time in our lives, which I think it did accurately,” says Ackell. “Having considered Delaware before embarking on Hard Light, we wanted to make an honest, reflective album representing who we are now, which is, well, older.

“I’ve been struggling to find an answer to the question ‘why now?’ What was the catalyst for getting back together after so long? The best answer I can come up with is this was the first moment in my life since stopping making music that I got curious to hear what Drop Nineteens might sound like now. And there was only one way to find out!”

In support of the new LP Drop Nineteens are announcing a series of fall tour dates in major US markets with support from Horse Jumper of Love, Greg Mendez and Winter.Full details can be found below.

Drop Nineteens Hard Light is available for preorder HERE

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Courtney Barnett covers Chastity Belt on her new single.

Suicide Squeeze celebrates Chastity Belt with the latest in its split 7″ single series–a pair of covers by Friends of the Band and tourmates Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile. For this release, Kurt and Courtney each recorded a song from the band’s third album, 2017’s I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone, in their signature styles.
Today, you can listen to Side C for Courtney’s take on “Different Now,” where she pulls the song from its Pacific Northwest haze, leaves it out to dry in the middle of the desert, and wrings something almost joyous from the original’s ambiguity.
Side K is Kurt’s version of “This Time of Night,” on which he lovingly recreates the anxious interplay of Julia Shapiro and Lydia Lund’s guitars, stretching each note of the song’s fraught vocal melody to its breaking point. “This Time of Night” / “Different Now” will be available October 27 on vinyl and digital platforms, with a one-time vinyl pressing limited to 1500 (250 pink, 250 black, 1000 blue) copies.

On the track Courtney Barnett offers: “This song is so special to me. I remember when the album came out and I listened to ‘different now’ over and over, I thought they were singing directly to me. It’s a perfect piece of songwriting, I showed it to Kurt and he would always sing it to me on tour. I love Chastity Belt. I’m pretty sure we met in 2014 at a record store in Seattle, then we toured together in 2015 and we’ve been friends ever since.
I originally played it as a little folk acoustic version, then I asked Stella [Mozgawa] to program some drums and it turned into something a lot more fun. we tracked straight to the Tascam 388 and it was a real joy to make.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

Review: Studio One Space-Age Dub Special

Studio One Space-Age Dub Special is a fun collection of rare dub cuts from the legendary Studio One studio released between 1972 and 1981. Credited to “The Dub Specialist,” but chopped up and remixed by producer Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd and engineer Sylvan Morris, the rare cuts take on new life.

“Red Neck” is heavy on the horns and rouses you from a bit of a hangover from the afterparty you attended earlier that morning. “Marcus Dub” calms things down with its simple high-hat beats as you scrounge around some juice and toast and feed your pets. The thumping, yet subtle bass on “Accra” is the sound of your brain finally waking up and planning out your day, thankfully with a sense of optimism.

“A Lie Gal a Tell” recycles the horns and beats from “Red Neck” and includes vocals from DJ Lone Ranger and plenty of weird keyboard cuts to inspire you to dress sharp for the day (“This is a serious, serious matter,” Lone Ranger says with a grin.). There’s a bounce in your walk with “Squash Dub” in your earbuds. ‘Pick Up the Version” keeps you smiling as you head for the train station and the frantic crowds there. You’re in no hurry. Things will happen when they happen. The groovy, mellow beat of “Saucy Perila” will make the woman behind the counter handing you your pain au chocolat wonder if you’re high, happy, or horny.

“Roaring Reggae” doesn’t roar at all. It’s more like a lion stretching out its limbs to lounge in the sun. The background vocal sounds on “Still Water Version” give it a dreamy quality, and the reverb only increases that sense. “My Man Part 2” and “Disco Dub” are fun, little jaunts across the dance floor. “Tricky” isn’t a salute to the DJ of the same name, but I’m sure he’d love it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already sampled it in at least a couple tracks by now. The subdued bass in it is perfect for trip-hop, and Tricky could easily sing or rap over all of “Illiteracy Version.”

The title of “Wailing Sounds” is probably a reference to The Wailers, and not the sound of the track – which is peppy ska beats and mellow ska horns mixed with slightly up-tempo dub bass. “Juk’s, Inc.” could be the opening theme to the credits of a 1976 Jamaican crime film. “Barb Wire Version” has female vocals about finding a new man, but the vocals never tell the whole story. They’re chopped, looped, and reverbed into a weird puzzle. Perhaps it’s related to “Queen of the Rub?” I’m not sure. I mean, with that title… The collection ends with “I a See I,” which might be the trippiest song on the record. The vocals are layered with extra reverb, the hand percussion sounds like it was recorded in the back of a cave, and the organ notes almost sound random. It’s delightfully strange.

The entire collection is. Like any good dub record, it’s mysterious, funky, and just plain weird all at once.

Keep your mind open.

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WSND DJ set list – Nocturne August 06, 2023

Thanks to all who listened to my latest Nocturne show on WSND. Here’s the set list if you missed it.

Bad Sports – All Revved Up to Kill
Arctic Monkeys – Library Pictures
Bad Religion – At the Mercy of Imbeciles
Buddy Guy and Billy Gibbons – Wear You Out (requested)
The Donnas – Gimme a Ride
Motörhead – I Got Mine
Arthhur – No Results
Dex Romweber Duo – Redemption
Bebel Gilberto – Jabuticaba (Stuhr mix)
The Black Keys – Dead and Gone
Protomartyr – Bridge & Crown
The Waters – Mother Samwell
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Mr. Medicine
White Manna – Acid Head
John Hartford – Big Rock Candy Mountain (live)
The Blondei’s Salvation – The Mother Cloud
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Sense
The Johnny Brunette Trio – Train Kept A-Rollin’ (requested)
The Flaming Lips – Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell
Soul Coughing – Blame
Leonard Nimoy – The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins
King Buffalo – Repeater
Sister Sledge – We Are Family (requested)
Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor – Lord Is My Gun (requested)
The KVB – In Deep
Asobi Seksu – Transparance

I’ll be back on air next week with my last Nocturne show of the summer. Don’t miss it!

Keep your mind open.

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WSND DJ set list: Deep Dive of Tony Bennett

Thanks to all who tuned in for my Deep Dive of Tony Bennett on WSND. Here’s the set list in case you missed it.

Tony Bennett – I Left My Heart in San Francisco
Eddie Cantor – Margie
Bing Crosby – Swinging on a Star
Jack Teagarden – Harlem Jump
Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz – The Girl from Ipanema
Joe Bari / Tony Bennett – Fascinating Rhythm
Pearl Bailey – St. Louis Blues
Tony Bennett – The Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Tony Bennett – Because of You
Hank Williams – Cold, Cold Heart
Tony Bennett – Blue Velvet
Tony Bennett – Stranger in Paradise
Count Basie Orchestra and Tony Bennett – Chicago
Tony Bennett – All the Things You Are (live)
Tony Bennett and Billy Joel – The Good Life
Tony Bennett – If I Ruled the World
Tony Bennett and Bill Evans – Days of Wine and Roses
Quacky Duck and His Barnyard Friends – Barnyard Song
Tony Bennett and Henry Mancini – Life in a Looking Glass (live)
Tony Bennett – Steppin’ Out with My Baby (live)
Tony Bennett – Fly Me to the Moon (live)
Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse – Body and Soul
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga – Cheek to Cheek
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga – I Can’t Give You Anything but Love (Giorgio Moroder remix)
Tony Bennett and Sammy Davis, Jr. – Don’t Get Around Much Anymore (live)
Tony Bennett – I’ll Be Seeing You

Next week will be a new version of the Deep Dive in which I dive deep into one album. That album will be The Beatles‘ classic Help!. Don’t miss it!

Keep your mind open.

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Wrecka Stow: Fopp – Edinburgh, Scotland

Conveniently located next to a bus stop in downtown Edinburgh, Scotland, Fopp is a chain of record stores around the UK, and this one had a lot of cool stuff in it – half of which I didn’t get to see because I got there about 20 minutes before they closed.

So, yes, first off – books, T-shirts, DVDs, and new music as soon as you walk in the door.

Vinyl? Of course there’s vinyl, as well as turntables and speakers.

Check out that Batman record between Nina Simone and Florence and The Machine!

There’s a wing of CDs as well, where I was tempted to grab about half a dozen things, but vinyl is king here.

Looking back, I should’ve grabbed that Radiohead shirt.

I did find a great CD score, however, settling for just one purchase since they were in the process of closing by the time I was sorting through many shelves of discs.

I’d been looking for stuff from The Limiñanas for a while, and here was a two-disc collection with 35 tracks. It was like finding a golden ticket in a Wonka bar.

There was an entire bottom floor full of DVDs and books that I didn’t get to see because of the short time I had there, but I’d happily go back. Don’t skip this place if you’re in Edinburgh.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Holy Wave – Five of Cups

Depending on whom you ask, the Five of Cups tarot card can symbolize disappointment, regret, or being stuck in a past you won’t leave. If the card is presented upside-down, it can mean you’ve moved on from such things, or are about to do so.

Austin, Texas psych-rockers Holy Wave seemed to have a mixture of both feelings when they made their newest album, Five of Cups. They’ve openly discussed how, with tours being canceled and venues closing all over the world, that a career in music was pretty much a bust. The world was full of pessimism and anger. Thankfully, instead of succumbing to all of it, they channeled the energy into this record.

The weird synths that boldly open title track set us off on an introspective journey as Ryan Fuson sings about fat cats getting fatter while the rest of us spend most of our time in a metaphorical hamster wheel to keep those cats fat. For such despairing lyrics, the song is rather lovely. “Bog Song” is just as lovely, with bright guitars from Fuson and Kyle Hager throughout it. I’m not sure if Fuson’s guitar or Julian Ruiz‘s drums are trippier on “Chaparral,” but Hager’s electric piano and synths add a nice slice of 1970s psych to the already smoky track. In it, the band make references to their original home town of El Paso, Texas and both the good and not-so-good things they left there when they moved to Austin to pursue that music career that would be derailed (along with everyone else’s) in 2019.

The find the best way to ride out the bad energy of the last couple years on “Path of Least Resistance.” Be like water, my friend. I mean, the guitars on this track certainly flow and (holy) wave like those at a Texas beachfront. They keep walking their groovy Zen path (with Joseph Cook‘s bass leading the way) on “Nothing Is Real.” The past to which you’re clinging? It’s not real. It never was. The future about which you’re stressing? That’s not real either. It never will be. The dreamy instrumentation and vocals encourage you to be here now. The present is the only real thing.

We all felt some sense of “Hypervigilance” at some point in the last four years, and many still feel it. “I’m not like you, ’cause they can’t find me,” Fuson sings, wanting to get away from everyone and everything, but knowing in his heart that such a path can lead to madness. He decides to find solace in truth (“I have a secret power. I can see through your shit.”) and, again, just be here now with that truth. The sound of “The Darkest Timeline” seems to indicate it was recorded in an empty pool, an abandoned theatre, a ghost town, or a shopping mall with only five stores left in it. In other words, it sounds amazing (and gets added flair from Mexican psych-duo Lorelle Meets the Obsolete helping out on the track).

By the time we get to “Nothing in the Dark,” Holy Wave are cranking the fuzz and vocal distortions as if to obliterate their fears and ours of what’s lurking outside our homes. The album ends with “Happier,” and the band, and us, coming out of that scary darkness into bright light, turning that Five of Cups card upside-down and deciding to move on from all of it.

If you’re going through hell, keep going. Don’t stop and hang out there. That’s the message of Five of Cups. You can get through it. You can emerge happier. I’m glad they did.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

Rewind Review: DJ Format – Psych Out (2016)

DJ Format (AKA Matt Ford) is obsessed with funky psychedelic music, and, lucky for us, was asked by BBE Records to put together a compilation of weird stuff from all over the globe for them. The result is Psych Out, and it’s everything you’d expect from its cover.

Starting with a fuzzy version of “Hava Nagila” by Singapore’s The Quests (which sounds like it would fit into a 1960s kaiju film with ease), the album is already off to a wonderfully weird start. The Tijuana Brats, hailing from the U.S., actually, bring the funk on “Karate Chop,” which needs to be in the next Black Dynamite movie. The U.K.’s Rainbow Family contribute “Travellin’ Lady,” which takes the compilation into stoner rock territory.

The CT Four Plus (hailing from West Germany, when that was still a thing) delight us with reverb-filled psychedelic guitar riffs and distant train horn harmonica sounds on “Exodus II,” making you want to desperately track down “Exodus I” (if it even exists). The Americans in 49th Blue Streak do a cover of Jimi Hendrix‘s “Foxy Lady” that might be earnest or might be a bit of a parody. I’m not sure. You won’t be either. It’s fun no matter the intent.

France’s Bana Pop Band blend psychedelia and funk with ease on “Jet Pop.” Hungary’s Koncz Zsuzsa uses electronic dance beats to back grungy, gritty guitar and lovely female vocals on “Visz a Vonat.” Not to be outdone on the grungy guitar front, Uruguay’s La Logia Sarabanda play one of the longest tracks on the compilation at just under four minutes, but it seems longer (in a good way) with its flowing guitar solos and meltdowns. Friar Truck and His Psychedelic Guitar (an American, not a Brit as you might expect with that nickname) plays a slowed down, half-baked version of “Louis, Louis” that might leave you feeling like you’re standing downwind at a Sublime cover band show.

You might think Flamengo‘s name is a riff on “Flamenco,” and thus guess they’re from Spain, but they’re from Czechoslovakia and their song, “Tyden V Elektrickem Meste” is a jangly, somewhat bluesy psych track with a cool saxophone solo. Sergio Ferraresi (hailing from Italy) takes us on a trip through the Time Tunnel on “Time of Machines,” which has some of the coolest guitar effects on the record.

Then, Poland’s Krzysztof Klenczon gets heavy on “Nie Przejdziemy Do Historii,” with his vocals booming just as loud as his squealing guitars. The Soviet Union’s (when that was also still a thing) Aleksandr Sergeyevich Zatsepin has us all doing “The Shaman’s Dance” – which contains a mix of funk band horns, guitar sounds that sound like a DJ scratching records, jazz piano, and sexy female vocal coos and moans. The compilation ends with Pro Arte (from Yugoslavia) and their trippy song, “Stari Dvorac,” which sends us out on a groovy note.

It’s a great compilation and one you should seek out if you love psychedelic music, world music, or odd music, or, heck, just music.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Charm School – Finite Jest

The Bandcamp page for Charm School‘s debut EP, Finite Jest, says the record “…is dedicated to complicated, heart-crushingly-too-real jokes everywhere.” I’m not certain if the jokes mentioned are actual spoken word jokes, or a reference to people that lead singer and songwriter Andrew Sellers thinks of as jokes. Either way, it’s a fairly accurate way to describe the EP.

It’s a grungy, sweaty post-punk record. “Non Fucking Stop” references people who don’t stop not stopping (“You’re owned by your phone.” / “Hair cut like you wanna be a big rock star, posting your image everywhere here and far.”). The guitar solo screams rage and frustration. “Simulacra” is a similar theme. The world itself references copies of things that never existed in the first place. “Speculate on speculation,” Sellers sings while attitude-filled bass thumps roll along behind him.

“Year of the Scorpion” builds and builds in volume, fuzz, and energy over its course with Sellers warning people that “it won’t get any better” and that “A scorpion’s going to do what a scorpion does.”, letting us know that first impressions of people are often correct and trying to force them to change always results in you being stung.

“Face Spiter” calms down a bit, with the guitars playing with shoegaze riffs here and there. The song seems to be about how easy it is to plunge into self-destruction in order to be noticed (“Too calculated, an ego inflated.”). The ending title track begins with marching song-like snare hits and then adds boot-stomping guitar chords to the mix. Seller’s vocals are almost spoken word mantras. “What you say is not what you say,” he says / sings, reminding someone of their duplicity while the guitars buzz like bees, or perhaps hornets. Again, more things that can sting you.

The whole EP stings at people who put on false fronts in order to appear happier than they are or superior to others when they’re secretly miserable. It’s a joke that will have a harsh, finite end for them, either in death or, in some ways worse, being revealed for who they are. They’re doing all they can to make the finite jest infinite, not realizing that ending the charade would reveal a truth so simple that they’d be laughing at the ridiculousness of the illusion they created.

Yeah. All that in just five songs.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Alex at Terrorbird Media.]