News – Page 24 – 7th Level Music

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard to release three albums in October, because of course they are.

Today, Australia’s prolific atom-splitting polymaths King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard exceed even the most hyperbolic projections and announce the upcoming release of THREE new albums, all set for flight during the month of October via their own KGLW label. The first to drop will be the Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava, out October 7th. Following that will be Laminated Denim, dropping somewhat unconventionally on October 12th, a Wednesday. Finally, on October 28th the band will release Changes, their 5th album of the year. Additionally, they have shared a video for one of the songs off the first of this album triumvirat, “Ice V.” This will all be happening during the height of Gizz’s North American Takeover, as the band traverses across the continent playing their largest venues yet, including three shows at Red Rocks Amphitheater (2 of which are sold out) and New York’s Forest Hills Stadium (where Dylan went electric, no less). As a special treat to those who come and see the band live at some of their biggest shows, limited stock of Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava will be available at their Greek Theater show in Berkeley, copies of Laminated Denim will be available at Red Rocks, and Changes can be obtained at the Orpheum in New Orleans. Additionally, bundles of all three albums can be pre-ordered here.

WATCH VIDEO FOR “ICE V”

Things move fast in the Gizzverse, and before Stu Mackenzie and his bandmates had even completed work on their recent mammoth double album Omnium Gatherum, they’d started sketching out this next record. Their Omnium Gatherum single “The Dripping Tap” had begun life as a handful of ideas and riffs that had arisen at pre-pandemic soundchecks and demos recorded through lockdown. For this new album, however, the group wouldn’t be bringing in any pre-written songs or ideas; instead, they planned to cook up all the music together in the studio, on the spot. “All we had prepared as we walked into the studio were these seven song titles,” says Mackenzie. “I have a list on my phone of hundreds of possible song titles. I’ll never use most of them, but they’re words and phrases I feel could be digested into King Gizzard-world.” Mackenzie selected seven titles from his list that he felt “had a vibe,” and then attached a beats-per-minute value to each one. Each song would also follow one of the seven modes of the major scale: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.

Over seven days, the group recorded hours and hours of jams, dedicating a day to each mode and BPM. “Naturally, each day’s jams had a different flavor, because each day was in a different scale and a different BPM,” Mackenzie says. “We’d walk into the studio, set everything up, get a rough tempo going and just jam. No preconceived ideas at all, no concepts, no songs. We’d jam for maybe 45 minutes, and then all swap instruments and start again.” The group ended each day with four-to-five hours of new jams in the can. Mackenzie auditioned those jams after the sessions were done, stitching them together into the songs that feature on the 21st studio album by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava (the initials of the title, IDPLMAL, spell out a mnemonic for the modes). Having assembled full working instrumentals from these jams, Mackenzie and his bandmates began overdubbing flute, organ, percussion and extra guitar over the top. The lyrics, meanwhile, were a group effort. “We had an editable Google Sheet that we were all working on,” says Mackenzie. “Most of the guys in the band wrote a lot of the lyrics, and it was my job to arrange it all and piece it together.”

The result of this radical, experimental creative process is one of the densest, most unpredictable statements from a band whose work always rockets in from unexpected angles accompanied by a wealth of subtext and theorems. But you don’t even need even a passing understanding of those Ancient Greek musical modes to appreciate this adventurous new music.

TRACKLISTING
1. Mycelium (7:36)
2. Ice V (10:16)
3. Magma (9:07)
4. Lava (6:41)
5. Hell’s Itch (13:28)
6. Iron Lung (9:05)
7. Gliese 710 (7:49)

“Laminated Denim is an anagram of Made In Timeland” – Stu Mackenzie

TRACKLISTING
1. The Land Before Timeland (15:00)
2. Hypertension (15:00)

For half a decade, the sextet has been haunted by one elusive conceptual project that had bested their every attempt (of which there had been several). They first conceived the album back in 2017, a busy year for the group. Within a mere twelve months, they recorded and released five albums of new material, but the band had intended to see out the year with a different album. That album was called Changes, and it’s finally arriving now. “I think of Changes as a song-cycle,” says band-member Stu Mackenzie. “Every song is built around this one chord progression – every track is like a variation on a theme. But I don’t know if we had the musical vocabulary yet to complete the idea at that time. We recorded some of it then, including the version of “Exploding Suns” that’s on the finished album. But when the sessions were over, it just never felt done. It was like this idea that was in our heads, but we just couldn’t reach. We just didn’t know yet how to do what we wanted to do.”

The group abandoned Changes and instead prepared the beguiling Gumboot Soup (the last of five albums the band released in 2017), and were then quickly ensnared by about eight other outlandish ideas that sent them in infinite new directions. But the concept of Changes did not go gently into that good night. “We really have been tinkering with it since then,” Mackenzie adds.

“It’s not necessarily our most complex record, but every little piece and each sound you hear has been thought about a lot,” Mackenzie adds. Indeed, the album has gestated over a fitfully inventive five years. Originally imagined as the group’s fifth album of 2017, it has ended up the fifth album King Gizzard will release in 2022. Coincidences like this, Mackenzie says, wake up the latent numerologist within him. But the album has taught him that projects operate to their own schedules and are ready when they’re ready.

Good things come to those who wait, and the magnificent Changes is worth every one of the 2,628,000 minutes King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard invested in it. Soaked in the warm sonics of 70s R’n’B and guided by simple chord-changes that contain multitudes and rounding out another remarkable year for the group, Changes is a luminous, soft-pop marvel. Come lose yourself in its slow-cooked brilliance.

TRACKLISTING
1. Change (13:04)
2. Hate Dancin’ (3:16)
3. Astroturf (7:34)
4. No Body (3:42)
5. Gondii (4:57)
6. Exploding Suns (4:41)
7. Short Change (2:51)

TOUR DATES
Fri. Sept. 30 – Perris, CA @ Desert Daze 2022
Sun. Oct. 2 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre * SOLD OUT
Tue. Oct. 4 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater * SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 5 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum *
Thu. Oct. 6 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre * SOLD OUT
Mon. Oct. 10 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre * SOLD OUT
Tue. Oct. 11 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre * SOLD OUT
Fri. Oct. 14 – St Paul, MN @ The Palace Theatre * SOLD OUT
Sat. Oct. 15 – Chicago, IL @ RADIUS * SOLD OUT
Sun. Oct. 16 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple *
Tue. Oct. 18 – Toronto, ON @ History * SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 19 – Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia * SOLD OUT
Fri. Oct. 21 – Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium %
Sat. Oct. 22 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall * SOLD OUT
Sun. Oct. 23 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem * SOLD OUT
Mon. Oct. 24 – Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit * SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 26 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern * SOLD OUT
Thu. Oct. 27 – New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater *
Fri. Oct. 28 – Austin, TX @ Levitation – Stubb’s *
Sat. Oct. 29 – Austin, TX @ Levitation – Stubb’s $
Mon. Oct. 31 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion #
Wed. Nov. 2nd – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre #
Thu. Dec. 29 – Tauranga, NZ @ Wharepai Domain
Sat. Dec. 31 – Wanaka, NZ @ Rhythm & Alps
Wed. Jan. 4 – Auckland, NZ @ The Matakana Country Park
Thu. Apr. 6 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest
Fri. Apr. 7 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest
Sat. Apr. 8 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest
Sun. Apr. 9 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest
Mon. Apr. 10 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest

* w/ Leah Senior
% w/ black midi, Leah Senior
$ w/ Tropical Fuck Storm, The Murlocs
# w/ The Murlocs, Leah Senior

King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard Online:
https://kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kinggizzard/
https://www.facebook.com/kinggizzardandthelizardwizard/
https://twitter.com/kinggizzard
https://kinggizzard.bandcamp.com/
https://gizzverse.com/

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe? It’s a great way to keep up on a lot of stuff…like when an Australian band releases three albums in one month.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Don’t be a “Stranger” to Ruth Radelet’s new single.

Today, Los Angeles-based artist Ruth Radelet announces her debut EP, The Other Side, out October 7th. Today, she presents its lead single/video, the cinematic ballad “Stranger.” Best known for fronting the influential and beloved group Chromatics, Ruth solidifies her next chapter as a solo artist with The Other Side. Written over the course of two years and recorded with friend and producer Filip Nikolic (formerly of Poolside), The Other Side showcases Radelet’s timeless voice and classic take on songwriting.

Following the single “Crimes,” “her ethereal and poignant debut” (Gorilla vs. Bear), “Stranger” is a love letter to LA. The stark black-and-white video, directed by James Manson and shot on 16mm Kodak film by Freddie Whitman, features Ruth exploring the city alone. “Stranger” is about a specific kind of loneliness that I have only felt in Los Angeles. Although the song is very much about longing, it’s more about a place than a person,” she elaborates. “The lyric ‘I could never hold you in my hands’ is about the feeling of always being on the outside looking in, of the city never fully opening its doors to me.”

Watch Ruth Radelet’s Video for “Stranger”

Exploring themes of love, death, and rebirth, “The Other Side represents a side of my personality as an artist that most people haven’t seen until now,” explains Radelet. “It also represents my coming out the other side of a traumatic experience, gathering what I could from ‘Before’ and figuring out how to exist ‘After.’ This record was forged in the fire of a transformative two-year period during which I lost almost everything, including my father who was a huge influence on me. Most of the songs were written just before I was caught up in a storm of big changes, and they were all finished just as life started to feel sweet again. It feels right to share some of the last chapter before moving into the next, and though it’s a melancholy record, for me The Other Side is a step into a bigger and brighter future.”

Radelet is a singer, songwriter, and musician with diverse influences ranging from Joni Mitchell to Frank Ocean. She has been performing and releasing music for over a decade since joining Chromatics in 2006 for their acclaimed album Night Drive released the following year. Chromatics’ music and aesthetic has notably been used in numerous films, television series, and fashion shows. The band appeared on screen in multiple episodes of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return while Radelet was recently featured on a Chromatics’ 2020 remix of the Weeknd’s #1 hit single, “Blinding Lights.”

Listen to “Crimes”

The Other Side Tracklist
1. Stranger
2. Sometimes
3. Crimes
4. Be Careful
5. Youth

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t be a stranger to the subscription box, either.]

[Thanks to Yuri at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Babehoven gets dreamy with their new single – “Stand It.”

Last month, Hudson, NY-based band Babehoven announced their debut album, Light Moving Time, out October 28th on Double Double Whammy. Today, they present a new single/video, “Stand It.” There’s an incredible emotional intelligence across Light Moving Time, and this glows throughout “Stand It.” Maya Bon verbalizes an imperfect yet loving relationship that burns bright, but may no longer serve the people involved. Its sonics are coated with My Bloody Valentine’s wobbly shoegaze, as she sings: “I wish there’s something that I could say / I love you but I hate you anyway / I’d rather stand outside getting old / Then learn to love and let you go.” The glitchy, atmospheric accompanying video was made by Babehoven’s Ryan Albert.

“As time moves forward, I feel the fractures deeper: home, bonds, semblances of familial care that slip away from me,” says Bon. “‘Stand It’ is about trying to push through the challenges to be there for one another, to call out for support, to sift through the losses and find the humanity within the dysfunction.”

Watch Babehoven’s Video for “Stand It”
Bon views light as one of life’s few fundamental truths. In times of pain, we often look to simple things we can rely on, and light is as reliable as they come. Light Moving Timerevolves around Bon’s view of life as a confusing, jarring, and kaleidoscopic experience filled with contradictions, loss, and change, so it’s no wonder Bon often looks to light — not so much for specific answers, but as a pillar of continuity and a marker of time. The album encompasses tributes to loved ones and the power of community, experiences of trauma, and explorations of changing relationships, with self-reflections scattered throughout. It’s less about how to deal with pain and more about how we all experience life as a simultaneously cruel, beautiful, and illogical beast — full of complex emotions and a perpetual sense of subjectivity that leaves us unsure of what’s real. But Bon is reassured by the fact that all of us are capable of generosity and a level of connection that’s impossible to articulate with words.

Bon has built a solid partnership with her Albert, her musical collaborator producer, over the last few years, releasing several EPs since 2018. On their full-length, songs alternate seamlessly across styles – some have the wispy ambient calm of a Liz Harris track, another contains the plucky indie-folk warmth of Hovvdy, and lead single “I’m On Your Team” falls somewhere between a flowy country song and an ‘80s power ballad. Light Moving Time rests on lyrics that zoom in and out, inviting listeners to bring their own experiences to these songs when her writing is more cryptic and stew in the moments when Bon presents her entire heart on a platter.

Watch Babehoven’s Video for “I’m On Your Team”

Pre-order Light Moving Time

Babehoven Tour Dates
(new dates in bold)
Thu. Oct. 20 – Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s ^
Fri. Oct. 21 – Syracuse, NY @ Westcott Theater ^
Sat. Oct. 22 – Ithaca, NY @ Deep Dive ^
Sun. Oct. 23 – Buffalo, NY @ Rec Room ^
Thu. Oct. 27 – Catskill, NY @ Avalon Lounge
Sat. Oct. 29 – Allston, MA @ Tourist Trap
Sat. Nov. 5 – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
Fri. Nov. 11 – Washington, DC @ DC9 *
Sat. Nov. 12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s *
Wed. Nov. 16 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB *
Thu. Nov. 17 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison *
Fri. Nov. 18 – Windsor, ON @ Phog Lounge
Sat. Nov. 19 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop *
Sun. Nov. 20 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village *
Wed. Nov. 30 – San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord *
Fri. Dec. 2 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza *
Sat. Dec. 3 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall *
Sat. Dec. 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon

^w/ Mikaela Davis
*w/ Skullcrusher

Keep your mind open.

[I can’t stand it when you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jim and Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Dry Cleaning’s new single is about a lost tortoise named “Gary Ashby.”

Today, London-based quartet Dry Cleaning share “Gary Ashby,” the third single from their forthcoming sophomore album, Stumpwork, out October 21st on 4AD, & announce a worldwide headlining tour. “Gary Ashby” follows the travails of a beloved family tortoise lost in lockdown (“Have you seen Gary?”). Loaded with melodious hooks, the 2-minute jangle pop song is “a lament about a pet tortoise, escaped as a result of family chaos,” explains the band. “We wrote it in December 2020, one of the first new songs after the New Long Leg session.”

Tour dates for Dry Cleaning’s forthcoming world tour are listed below and tickets are on sale Wednesday, Sept. 14th at 10am local time. There will be a fan pre-sale for anyone signed up to the Dry Cleaning mailing list on Friday, Sept. 9th at 3pm EST.

LISTEN TO “GARY ASHBY”

Having already started writing their second record before New Long Leg was released, Nick Buxton, Tom Dowse, Lewis Maynard and Florence Shaw returned to Rockfield Studios with producer John Parish with the plan to spend twice as much time on the follow-up. Stumpwork is the result, and it is a heady mix that is entirely the band’s own, distinguishing it from anything produced by their contemporaries. Frontwoman Florence Shaw demonstrated increased spontaneity in the studio, improvising many of her lyrics straight on to the album. The lyrics are almost entirely observational, stemming from sources as varied as a quote from the artist Maggi Hambling, snippets from the press cuttings library of archivist Edda Tasiemka, and more. “I wrote about the things that preoccupied me over this period, like loss, masculinity, feminism, my mum, being separated from my partner for little stretches in the lockdown, lust,” she explains. “There were two murders of women in London that were extensively covered on the news, and the specific details of one of those murders were reported on whilst we were [in the studio]. That coverage influenced some of my writing and my state of mind.”

Stumpwork was made in the aftermath of the death of two very important people to the band as well, bassist Lewis Maynard’s mother, and guitarist Tom Dowse’s grandfather. Both were instrumental in the band’s development, both in encouragement and, in the case of Maynard’s mother, literally providing the band with a place to rehearse. “It’s of course devastating to lose close family members but their legacy in Dry Cleaning is wholly positive,” says Dowse. “The moments in the songs which are upbeat and joyful made me think of them both the most.” The breadth of influences on Stumpwork is dizzying, a definitive rebuke to those who might reduce Dry Cleaning as a post-punk band. Their music is bolder and more expansive, Shaw’s lyrics explore not only loss and detachment but all the twists and turns, simple joys and minor gripes of human experience too. Ultimately, what emerges from it all is a subtle but assertive optimism, and a lesson in the value of curiosity. As Shaw sings on “Kwenchy Kups,” “Things are shit, but they’re gonna be OK.”

LISTEN TO “ANNA CALLS FROM THE ARCTIC”

WATCH THE “DON’T PRESS ME” VIDEO

PRE-ORDER STUMPWORK

DRY CLEANING TOUR DATES (new dates in bold)
Sat. Sept. 17 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up
Sun. Sept. 18 – Los Angeles, US @ Primavera Sound LA
Tue. Sept. 20 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
Wed. Sept. 21 – San Jose, CA @ The Ritz
Thu. Sept. 22 – Big Sur, CA @ Henry Miller Memorial Library
Tue. Nov. 8 – Paris, FR @ Le Trabendo
Wed. Nov. 9 – Cologne, DE @ Club Volta
Fri. Nov. 11 – Utrecht, NL @ Le Guess Who? Festival
Sat. Nov. 12 – Kortrijk, BE @ Sonic City
Wed. Nov. 30 – Tokyo, JP @ Liquid Room
Thu. Dec. 1 – Osaka, JP @ Club Quattro
Tue. Dec. 6 – Auckland, NZ @ Tuning Fork
Wed. Dec. 7 – Wellington, NZ @ San Fran
Fri. Dec. 9 – Brisbane, AU @ The Brightside
Sat. Dec. 10 – Meredith, AU @ Meredith Festival
Mon. Dec. 12 – Melbourne, AU @ The Corner Hotel
Tue. Dec. 13 – Melbourne, AU @ The Corner Hotel
Wed. Dec. 14 – Sydney, AU @ Manning Bar
Fri. Dec. 16 – Perth, AU @ Rosemount Hotel
Tue. Jan. 10, 2023 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe
Wed. Jan. 11, 2023 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
Fri. Jan. 13, 2023 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Sat. Jan 14, 2023 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
Tue. Jan. 17, 2023 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw
Wed. Jan. 18, 2023 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune
Thu. Jan. 19, 2023 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Sat. Jan. 21, 2023 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
Mon. Jan. 23, 2023 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
Tue. Jan. 24, 2023 – Tucson, AZ @ Congress Plaza
Thu. Jan. 26, 2023 – Dallas, TX @ Texas Theatre
Fri. Jan. 27, 2023 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
Sat. Jan. 28, 2023 – New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theatre
Sun. Jan. 29, 2023 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Tue. Jan. 31, 2023 – Washington, DC @ The Howard Theatre
Wed. Feb. 1, 2023 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Thu. Feb. 2, 2023 – Brooklyn, NY @ Pioneers Works
Tue. Feb. 14, 2023 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
Wed. Feb. 15, 2023 – Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
Fri. Feb. 17, 2023 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowlands
Sat. Feb. 18, 2023 – Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy
Mon. Feb. 20, 2023 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory
Tue. Feb. 21, 2023 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
Wed Feb. 22, 2023 – Sheffield, UK @ O2 Academy
Fri. Feb. 24, 2023 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Sat. Feb. 25, 2023 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute
Sun. Feb. 26, 2023 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
Tue. Feb. 28, 2023 – Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed
Wed. March 1, 2023 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk
Fri. March 3, 2023 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
Mon. Mar. 13, 2023 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
Wed. Mar. 15, 2023 – Stockholm, SE @ Debaser Strand
Thu. Mar. 16, 2023 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret
Sat. Mar. 18, 2023 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust
Sun. Mar. 19, 2023 – Groningen, NL @ Vera
Mon. Mar. 20, 2023 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Tue. March 22, 2023 – Offenbach, DE @ Hafen2
Thu. Mar. 23, 2023 – Munich, DE @ Strom
Fri. Mar. 24, 2023 – Vienna, AT @ Flex
Fri. Mar. 25, 2023 – Prague, CZ @ Futurum
Mon. Mar. 27, 2023 – Warsaw, PL @ Hybrydy
Tue. Mar. 28, 2023 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
Wed. Mar. 29, 2023 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
Fri. Mar. 31, 2023 – Rotterdam, NL @ Maassilo
Sat. Apr. 1, 2023 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix

Keep your mind open.

[Like Gary Ashby, you’re missing…from the subscription box.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

A Place to Bury Strangers set to release deluxe reissue of “Exploding Head.”

Just in time for its thirteenth anniversary, A Place to Bury Strangers will release a deluxe two-disc reissue of their excellent album Exploding Head on October 21, 2022.

The original album is fully remastered and will be available on limited edition transparent vinyl 2LP, transparent red 1LP and deluxe 2CD. The 2LP version is available exclusively via A Place To Bury Strangers merch stores and features second disc of rarities and remixes.

Watch the new video for previously unreleased ‘Take It All’ here:

The band will also be touring Spain and Asia this November!

Keep your mind open.

[My head might explode if you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Steven at Dedstrange.]

rRoxymore releases sharp new single – “Fragmented Dreams.”

rRoxymore – the project of French-born, Berlin-based artist Hermione Frank – announces her new album, Perpetual Now, out November 4th on Smalltown Supersound, and shares its lead single “Fragmented Dreams.” Armed with a disdain for pastiche and a penchant for experimentalism, rRoxymore has spent the last decade expanding the boundaries of what constitutes club music. On Perpetual Now, her sophomore album, she again displays this propensity for pushing the sonic envelope by blurring the lines between the electronic and the organic. Subverting the traditional album format, Perpetual Now is made up of four extended soundscapes, each taking the listener on a journey through tempo, texture and emotional state. Today’s “Fragmented Dreams,” with its pulsating rhythms and fractured melodies, sees the album fleetingly burst into life.

Listen to rRoxymore’s “Fragmented Dreams”
Across a steady stream of releases, rRoxymore has continually reinvented her sound, shifting from hypnotic leftfield techno to UK bass mutations, genre-eschewing dub oddities and more. She first emerged on the scene with “Wheel of Fortune,” a ten-minute epic released on Planningtorock’s Human Level label in 2012. She has since put out music regularly, dropping her acclaimed debut album Face To Phase in 2019, and more recently I Wanted More, a four-track EP that veered from downtempo ambience to lush deep house. A daring, unconventional album, Perpetual Now is everything we’ve come to expect and more from one of electronic music’s most unique producers.

Pre-order Perpetual Now

Perpetual Now Tracklist
1. At the Crest
2. Sun in C
3. Fragmented Dreams
4. Water Stains

Keep your mind open.

[I dream of you subscribing.]

[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol serve up a tasty treat with their new single – “Heel.”

Austin trio Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol share the official video for the single “Heel” from their forthcoming album Doom Wop today via Revolver Magazine. Watch and share the fun-loving chaos HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

Invisible Oranges recently launched lead single “Shoo In” HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

RBBP kick off tour dates supporting King Buffalo in late September, followed by headlining shows across the US in October. Please see current dates below.

With their 5th studio release, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol is putting a name to the style of fuzzed out, overdriven, melodic, groovy music they have been making since 2016. In 9 concise, no bullshit songs, RBBP demonstrates their ability to blend the merciless low end of Leo Lydon’s 8-String guitar, Aaron Metzdorf’s masterful chordwork on the bass, and Sean St.Germain’s driving drumwork. Lydon and Metzdorf’s vocal melodies cut through the high frequencies to deliver fresh layers to the hooks that RBBP fans have come to love.

As the name implies, “Doom Wop” is a heavy, melody-driven, party metal album. With riffs as big and dumb as ever, and lyrics that stab at the worst members of society and ourselves (while keeping tongue firmly in cheek), listeners will find all the elements that make up the soul of RBBP on this record. “Doom Wop” will be available everywhere September 23rd.

Doom Wop will be available on CD and download on September 23rd, 2022. Vinyl LP release date TBD. Pre-orders are available HERE.

RBBP LIVE 2022:

09/22 Dallas, TX – Club Dada*

09/23 Austin, TX – Antone’s*

09/24 Houston, TX – White Oak*

09/25 New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa*

09/26 Mobile, AL – Alabama Music Hall

09/27 Atlanta, GA – Masquerafe*

09/28 Athens, GA – The Lab @ Cine

09/29 Charlotte, NC – Tommy’s

09/30 Raleigh, NC – TBA

10/01 Washington, DC – Slash Run

10/02 Philadelphia, PA – Ortlieb’s

10/03 Saratoga Springs, NY – Desperate Annie’s

10/04 New York, NY – Our Wicked Lady

10/06 Providence, RI – AS22

10/07 Boston, MA – Zuzu

10/09 Pittsburgh, PA – Squirrel Hill

10/12 Nashville, TN – The 5 Spot

10/13 Little Rock, AR – Vino’s

10/14 Dallas, TX – 3 Links

10/15 Austin, TX – Valhalla

* w/ King Buffalo

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t be a heel. Subscribe today.]

[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Mac Sabbath announces big fall U.S. tour.

7 Song Vinyl Debut Full Length Album Out Now!

Available at http://www.macsabbath.bigcartel.com

https://www.officialmacsabbath.com

“The waiting is over! I mean When it comes to “drive-thru metal”, who needs waiters!?! With our debut album release we are about to “pop-up” all over the states for the first time in years! So head over for a triple decker helping of the cheese you need! on sale now!” – Ronald Osbourne

MAC SABBATH will return to the road this Fall to bring America another heaping helping of unhealthy – but irresistible – Drive-Thru Metal on the 2022 Pop-Up-Drive-Thru Tour, featuring special guests Speedealer, southern rock heavier and faster then anything this side of Motorhead and shoulders, and Lung, the electric cello and drums female duo, kicking off one heck of a party feast for the senses! A food fight to the death!

“MAC SABBATH will be popping up all over the States – just like in our debut release,” says the band’s perplexing clown faced frontman Ronald Osbourne. “Confusing the USA one more time!”

MAC SABBATH on tour:

09/27/22 Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

09/28/22 Goldfield Trading – Sacramento, CA – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

09/30/22 Dante’s – Portland, OR – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/01/22 El Corazón – Seattle, WA – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/04/22 Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/06/22 WAVE – Wichita, KS – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

10/07/22 Knuckleheads – Kansas City, MO – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/08/22 Wooly’s – Des Moines, IA – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/09/22 Fine Line – Minneapolis, MN – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/11/22 Shank Hall – Milwaukee, WI – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/12/22 Afterlife Music Hall – Lombard, IL – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/13/22 Red Flag St. – Louis, MO – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/14/22 Elevation – Grand Rapids, MI – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

10/15/22 Magic Bag – Ferndale, MI – with Speedealer and Lung – 18+

10/18/22 HI-FI Indy & HI-FI Annex – Indianapolis, IN – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/19/22 Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

10/20/22 The Crafthouse Stage & Grill – Pittsburgh, PA – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/21/22 Brooklyn Bowl – Brooklyn, NY – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/23/22 Wall Street Theater – Norwalk, CT – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

10/26/22 The Foundry – Philadelphia, PA – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

10/27/22 Black Cat – Washington, DC – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

10/28/22 Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center – Harrisburg, PA – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

10/29/22 The Underground – Charlotte, NC – with Speedealer and Lung -All Ages

10/31/22 The Grey Eagle Asheville, NC – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

11/01/22 EXIT/IN – Nashville, TN – with Speedealer and Lung – 18+

11/03/22 The Charleston Pour House – Charleston, SC – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

11/04/22 42nd Street Tavern/Reggies – Wilmington, NC – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

11/05/22 Jack Rabbits Live – Jacksonville, FL – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

11/06/22 Tuffy’s Bottle Shop/Lounge/Music Box – Sanford, FL with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

11/08/22 Lafayette’s Music Room – Memphis, TN – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

11/09/22 Chelsea’s Cafe – Baton Rouge, LA – with Speedealer and Lung – 18+

11/10/22 Zony Mash Beer Project – New Orleans, LA – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

11/11/22 Come and Take It Live Austin, TX – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

11/12/22 Trees – Dallas, TX – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

11/14/22 Paper Tiger – San Antonio, TX – with Speedealer and Lung – 21+

11/15/22 RockHouse Bar & Grill – El Paso, TX – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

11/16/22 Meow Wolf – Santa Fe, NM – with Lung – 21+

11/18/22 Marquis Theater – Denver, CO – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

11/19/22 Mesa Theater – Grand Junction, CO – with Speedealer and Lung – All Ages

12/16/22 Vinnie’s Bar & Grill with TBA – Concord, CA – 21+

12/17/22 The Catalyst with TBA – Santa Cruz, CA 16+

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR.]

“Congratulations” to Alex Lahey on her new single!

Alex Lahey returns with a new single/video, “Congratulations,” the first taste in a long-awaited new chapter from Lahey, out today via Liberation Records. Marking her first new music since last year’s “Spike The Punch” and “On My Way” – the latter being the theme song for Sony Picture Animation’s Oscar-nominated The Mitchells vs The Machines, Netflix’s biggest animated release of all time – “Congratulations” is Lahey putting the focus back into her own project after a lengthy stint of collaborating with other artists as both a songwriter and producer. An examination of old relationships, “Congratulations” captures the all-too-familiar feeling of when your ex (or in Lahey’s cases, exes), move on and settle down. “Two of my exes got engaged within an improbably short space of time of one another. What are the odds? I couldn’t not write a song inspired by it.” The song itself features Lahey’s powerful alto and trademark confessional lyrics, all backed by stadium-ready guitar. The accompanying, “deeply unhinged” video (according to Lahey) was written by Lahey herself and co-directed by Jon Danovic. “It felt like the perfect time to execute a long standing concept I had of making out with myself on camera,” says Lahey. “Now both the song and the video feel like a message about choosing yourself over anyone else.”

Watch Alex Lahey’s Video for “Congratulations”

Stream/Purchase “Congratulations” by Alex Lahey

Fresh off her tour with The Regrettes, Lahey will head to the UK where she will open for Manchester Orchestra. Additionally, she will play headline shows across the UK and Australia where she’ll road test new material. A full list of dates can be found below and tickets for all shows are on sale now. Stay tuned for more Alex Lahey news in the coming months.

Alex Lahey Tour Dates:

Thu. Sep. 15 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy – SOLD OUT *
Fri. Sep. 16 – London, UK @ O2 Forum Kentish Town – SOLD OUT *
Sun. Sep. 18 – Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana
Mon. Sep. 19 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
Tue. Sep. 20 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Wed. Sep. 21 – London, UK @ Omeara
Fri. Sep. 23 – Hamburg, DE @ Reeperbahn Festival 2022
Wed. Oct. 26 – Sydney, AU @ Oxford Art Factory
Thu. Oct. 27 – Melbourne, AU @ The Corner Hotel
Fri. Oct. 28 – Ballarat, AU @ Volta
Sun. Oct. 30 – Wollongong, AU @ La La La’s
Tue. Nov. 1 – Newstead, AU @ The Triffid
Thu. Nov 3 – Adelaide, AU @ Fat Controller
Fri. Nov. 4 – Canberra, AU @ ANU Kambri

* = opening for Manchester Orchestra

Keep your mind open.

[Congratulations on subscribing! Wait, you DID subscribe, right?]

[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Tinariwen re-release rare 1992 album previously available solely on cassette.

Touareg collective Tinariwen are thrilled to announce the reissue of Kel Tinariwen, marking the project’s first-ever official release since it appeared in 1992 locally in Mali on cassette, out November 4th via Wedge. In conjunction, they share its lead single and album closer, “Arghane Manine.” The track skips with percussion, grooving bass, and twangs of electric guitar. Across “Arghana Manine,” vocals call back and forth to each other. Kel Tinariwen will see release alongside two additional Tinariwen reissues, Aman Iman: Water Is Life and Imidiwan: Companion, out for the first time on vinyl the same day via Craft Recordings.

Listen to “Arghane Manin” by Tinariwen

A revelatory discovery in the Tinariwen archives, Kel Tinariwen is an early cassette tape recorded in the early 90s that never received a wider release, and sheds new light on the band’s already rich history. Not having yet developed the fuller band sound they became internationally established with, Kel Tinariwen features their trademark hypnotic guitar lines and call-and-response vocals weaving in between raw drum machine rhythms and keyboard melodies that almost evoke an Arabic take on 80s synth-pop.

In the summer of 1991, four members of Tinariwen traveled to Abidjan in Ivory Coast to record the band’s first official release, Kel Tinariwen. They were Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, Hassan AgTouhami aka ‘Abin Abin,’ Kedou Ag Ossad and Liya Ag Ablil aka ‘Diarra.’ The project was the brainchild of Keltoum Sennhauser, a painter, poet and songwriter of mixed parentage (her father was a Sonhrai, her mother a Touareg), who grew up partly in Bamako, partly in the Kidal region of north-eastern Mali, the homeland of all the members of Tinariwen. Like so many Touareg from that region, Keltoum and her family had been forced to emigrate by the droughts that tore the Touareg world apart in the mid-1970s and 1980s, as well as all the oppression and suffering that had followed independence in 1960. Keltoum became deeply involved in the Touareg struggle for freedom and self-determination and saw music in general and music of Tinariwen in particular as an essential part of that struggle.

Kel Tinariwen was never heard outside of the local community that traded cassettes back in 1992 – an activity that was important to the movement, as Keltoum explains: “I think the cassette played a crucial role as a tool of communication, a tool that was very dear to us. It served to raise awareness and awaken the consciences of those who felt that everything was already lost, or that we didn’t have the wherewithal to win our struggle. It allowed the Touareg world to develop its own conscience and move forward. In our milieu, the only thing that can make us question ourselves is music. Because we listen to a lot of music, we love music, we love poetry. We don’t read. We’re not a people who read. So, the only reading we have, about ourselves and about the outside world, is music.” Thirty years later, the album is finally seeing an official release, on vinyl, CD, and cassette to pay homage to its original format.

There’s distinct parallels with the sounds found on this tape and the work uncovered in recent years by crate-digger labels such as Awesome Tapes From Africa, Sahel Sounds and Sublime Frequencies. Aman Iman: Water Is Life and Imidiwan: Companion are Tinariwen’s third and fourth studio albums respectively. It’s a blend of West African traditional music and electrified rock’n’roll – a sound that critics have called “desert blues.”

Alongside Kel Tinariwen, Tinariwen are also reissuing Aman Iman: Water Is Life and Imidiwan: Companions – their third and fourth studio albums respectively. A blend of West African traditional music and electrified rock’n’roll –a sound that critics have called “desert blues.” Aman Iman: Water Is Life was Tinariwen’s third studio album, originally released in 2007, and recorded in Mali’s capital, Bamako. Produced by Justin Adams (Robert Plant’s guitarist and producer of the Tinariwen’s debut album The Radio Tisdas Sessions), and recording engineer Ben Findlay. The whole Tinariwen story breathes through its twelve songs, beginning with the first Touareg rebellion of 1963, which lies at the root of so much pain and trauma in the Malian Touareg mindset and which is vividly recalled by Ibrahim in his brooding song ‘Soixante Trois..’

Imidiwan: Companions was the band’s fourth album, and it possesses all the elements that have made them so alluring; raw simplicity, melodic beauty, songs ranging from the epic and universal to the intimate and personal. The 13-track album, produced by Jean-Paul Romann, was recorded in Tessalit, the Malian desert village home of band members Ibrahim Ag Alhabib and Hassan Ag Touhami.

In advance of the three reissues’ release, Tinariwen will return stateside for a North American tour this September and October. Tinariwen will kick off their North American tour in Chicago on Fri. Sept. 9th. Tickets are on-sale now and available at tinariwen.com/tour.

Pre-order Kel Tinariwen, Aman Iman: Water Is Life and Imidiwan: Companions Reissues

Kel Tinariwen Tracklist:
1. À L’Histoire
2. Khedou Khedou
3. Adounia Tarha
4. Matadjem Yinmexan
5. Awa Idjan War Infa Iman
6. Sendad Eghlalan
7. Sendad Eghlalan
8. Arghane Manine

Aman Iman: Water Is Life Tracklist:
1. Cler Achel
2. Mano Dayak
3. Matadjem Yinmixan
4. Ahimana
5. Soixante Trois
6. Toumast
7. Imidiwan WinakaliN
8. Awa Didjen
9. Ikyadarh Dim
10. Tamatant Tilay
11. Assouf
12. Izarharh Tenere

Imidiwan: Companions Tracklist:
1. Imidiwan Afrik Tendam
2. Lulla
3. Tenhert
4. Enseqi Ehad Didagh
5. Tahult In
6. Tamodjerazt Assis
7. Intitlayaghen
8. Imazighen N Adagh
9. Tenalle Chegret
10. Kel Tamashek
11. Assuf Ag Assuf
12. Chabiba
13. Ere Tasfata Adounia

Tinariwen Tour Dates:
Fri. Sept. 9 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
Sat. Sept. 10 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar Cultural Center
Mon. Sept. 12 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
Tue. Sept. 13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Thu. Sept. 15 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Fri. Sept. 16 – Vancouver, BC @ Imperial Theatre
Sat. Sept. 17 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Mon. Sept. 19 – Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theatre
Tue. Sept. 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre
Wed. Sept. 21 – Phoenix, AZ @ Musical Instrument Museum Theater
Fri. Sept. 23 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk – Indoor
Sat. Sept. 24 – Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips
Sun. Sept. 25 – Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater
Tue. Sept. 27 – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
Thu. Sept. 29 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom
Fri. Sept. 30 – Alexandria, VA @ The Birchmere
Sat. Oct. 1 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Mon. Oct. 3 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Tue. Oct. 4 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre
Wed. Oct. 5 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair Music Hall
Fri. Oct. 7 – Montreal, QC @ Rialto Theatre
Sat. Oct. 8 – Toronto, ON @ The Danforth Music Hall

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]