Screaming Femalesare taking a month off from their tour of the U.S. and Canada and are then off for six dates Down Under for the first time. Fans are already excited for their first shows in the land of Oz, so don’t miss them if you’re there. They put on a fantastic show and might not get back to the land that gave us Mad Max and Razorback soon.
Austin, Texas continues its tradition of being the music festival capital of the U.S. The latest is the Sound on Sound festival November 4-6th, which is located in McDade, Texas and a short eastbound drive from Austin.
The lineup is impressive. Phantogram, the Descendents, Guided by Voices, the Dead Milkmen, Thee Oh Sees, Bob Mould, and Metz are all worth seeing. It would be a great way to spend a couple fall afternoons. A three-day pass will cost you less than $200.00.
The final Levitation festival of 2016, Levitation France, has announced the first batch of bands playing in Angers September 16th and 17th.
It’s a great lineup so far. Thee Oh Sees are psych-fuzz giants, La Femme puts on a great, trippy show, Dead Meadow are a great psychedelic outfit, Zombie Zombie make horror-electro, and Golden Dawn Arkestra are a funk band from another dimension.
It’s been a good year so far for music. I’m finding excellent stuff every month. We’re halfway through the year, so here’s a quick recap of my top 10 records of 2016 so far.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity: Easily the craziest record of the year so far. You can play it on an infinite loop beginning with any track and it will repeat without any noticeable pauses, stutters, or breaks.
WALL – self-titled EP: WALL are currently my favorite discovery of 2016. They’ve brought back a fierce post-punk edginess that I didn’t know I was yearning for until I heard them.
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool: One word to describe this record – Heartbreaking. Most of the songs are about the end of Thom Yorke’s 20+ year relationship with his girlfriend.
[Rewind Reviews are reviews of albums that are at least a year old by the time I hear them.]
Cosmic funk rockers / shapeshifting aliens / voodoo acid trip Golden Dawn Arkestra’s self-titled 2014 debut EP is a lesson on how to release your first record: You come out blowing minds on the first track.
“Afropocalypse” is full of fat horns, shredding guitar, echoing vocals delivering messages from the boat of Anubis…or maybe from Texas. I’m not sure. I was too stunned by the track to figure out its meaning. It’s probably planted in my head like a Zen koan that will enlighten me when I’m not thinking about it.
“Oasis (The Legend of Nathaniel Thorne)” is part-spaghetti western film score and part-space lounge jam. Imagine Django walking into a 1960’s sci-fi movie space station bar while carrying a Theremin instead of his Gatling gun and you’ll have a slight idea of what this song is like. I have no idea who Nathaniel Thorne is, but Golden Dawn Arkestra has given him a badass theme song.
“Dimensions” has a bass lick that the Crystal Method would envy and joyful flute, handclaps, and lyrics inviting us to join Golden Dawn Arkestra on their journey beyond the five senses and the nine planets. “Masakayli” is pretty much a chant used to invoke the Egyptian god of funk (which I think might be Hathor), and the funky organ and wicked drum beats help.
“Saharan Knights” has some of my favorite guitar licks on the record, mixing psychedelia with surf. I also love how the horn section sounds a bit drunk throughout it. The EP ends with a song that at first sounds like a Chemical Brothers track from the mid-1990’s, “Selemat,” but soon turns into a hot space disco jam that will have you jumping. I love that Golden Dawn Arkestra ended with EP with a track that leaves you wanting more (and, thankfully, they gave us Stargazer earlier this year).
Get on this cosmic pleasure yacht while you have the chance. Sip cocktails with ghosts, otherworldly creatures, warlocks, shamans, witches, and priestesses. Listen to Golden Dawn Arkestra.
File this under “Best News You’ve Heard Today.” Jazz / soul / funk queen Betty Davis, former wife of jazz legend Miles Davis, has worked with Light in the Attic Records to remaster nine previously unreleased tracks from 1969 sessions featuring Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Mitch Mitchell, and many more rock and jazz greats. The Columbia Years 1968-1969 is now available for pre-order.
L-R: “King” Mike Abbate, yours truly, Marissa Paternoster, Jarrett Dougherty
I’ve wanted to see Screaming Femaleslive since 2012 (when I discovered them while working for WSND), and was delighted to see they were playing barely over an hour’s drive from my house last Sunday at the Brass Rail in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They were gracious with their time and kind enough to let me interview them while sitting in their touring van. I’ll have a full transcript of that interview soon, and I’m working on an audio version that I’ll play on a future show on WSND.
The night started with the Ron Gallo 3, a fun punk trio who played a loud set of songs like “Kill the Medicine Man,” “All the Punks Are Domesticated,” and “Why Do You Have Kids?”
The Ron Gallo 3.
Up next were Ft. Wayne’s own Dead Records, who dropped a loud, fast, screaming set on the crowd of friends and new fans.
The Dead Records.
Screaming Females then got on stage for their first gig in Ft. Wayne. I’m not sure how many people there knew who was about to play, but I saw a few of us singing along within moments. Everyone else stood dumbfounded for the first three songs because Marissa Paternoster, Jarrett Dougherty, and “King” Mike Abbate almost flattened the place.
I’d seen videos of their performances, so I had a slight idea of how powerful they are live (especially in a small venue like the Brass Rail). The videos don’t do them justice. They have a chemistry that can only be created through lots of performances and deep friendships. Paternoster, who is without question one of the best guitarists today, emotes power through her vocals as well as her axe (which she straps around her waist instead of over her shoulder, giving her even more of a gunslinger presence).
As much as Paternoster wields her guitar like Clint Eastwood in A Fistful ofDollars,Dougherty hits his drums like Franco Nero blasts a Gatling gun in Django and Abbate drops his bass riffs like James Coburn drops dynamite in Duck You Sucker. The two guys in the band get into heavy grooves that make Abbate break into grins and Dougherty to go into what appears to be Zen-like meditative trances.
The fans had snapped out of their stunned state by the time the band played “Empty Head” from Rose Mountain. Paternoster thanked everyone for coming to their first Ft. Wayne gig. “Please move here!” A man yelled, echoing the thoughts of everyone in the room.
“Leave It All Up to Me” and “Ripe” were other crowd favorites, and they were cooking with gas by that point.
They closed with the powerful, stunning “Triumph,” which is a fitting end for such a set. It was a triumphant debut for them in a town they hadn’t played in before then.
A friend of former bandmate of mine, Chad, saw the show with me, and he’d only heard one song (“Hopeless”) by the band before seeing them live. He was shaking his head in a bit of disbelief by the end of their set.
“She’s not fucking around, is she?” Chad said.
“No, she’s not,” I told him.
And now I’m telling you. Screaming Females aren’t fucking around.
Keep your mind open.
[Don’t forget to subscribe to us before you go.]
[Thanks to Jarrett for getting me a press pass to the show, and to him, Marissa, and Mike for being such groovy cats.]
Get it while you can. Chicago’s Mamby on the Beach festival is offering 25% off single day, weekend, and VIP passes to the festival through a Groupon deal that will be gone by the end of the month. Discounted tickets to see Santigold are alone worth your consideration.
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I showed up at Chicago’s City Wineryin plenty of time to get a good free parking spot a block away and order a Right Bee cider before the show started. The City Winery is a nice, small venue not much bigger than a couple campground pavilions, and Brazilian siren Ceu was playing that night. I’ve been a fan of hers since stumbling onto her self-titled first record back in 2005. I’d missed all her previous Chicago dates, and now I was seeing her from about twenty feet from my table while I munched braised duck tacos.
Her opening band was an electro two-piece called Kauffrom Los Angeles. They got the show off to a fine start with a groovy set that had people nodding their heads and drumming on their tables. One man behind me said, “They’re like an 80’s synth kind of thing.” That’s true, but a bit of a simplistic description. Add a bit of dark wave and Caribou and you’re there.
Kauf bringing fine electro to the City Winery.
By now I’d learned that the couple across from me (named, I kid you not, Tom and Jerry) were seeing Ceu for the fourth time and hadn’t missed one of her Chicago dates yet. This was the first time they’d seen her with a guitarist in the band. We had a great time being wowed by her and sharing flatbread pizza.
She came out in a dark orange dress with light sparkles throughout it and a pair of bad-ass silver sequined high heels. It was at this moment that I realized Ceu looks like Jane Russell, and I about fainted in my chair. I almost fainted again when she started singing and her gorgeous voice filled the room.
“Wow! She looks like Jane Russell!”
She played a lovely, intimate set with her sharp as a tack backing band. They played many cuts from her fine new album, Tropix, as well as cuts going all the way back to 2005. She was dancing by the second song, “Perfume Invisibel,” and people were already breaking the “candle rule” to stay quiet during the show (Tom, Jerry, and I included). They were dancing in one corner by the end of her main set and all through the encore.
She and her band spanned multiple music styles. They played stuff ranging from bossa nova, electro dance songs, reggae, and modern disco cuts to early 80’s synth tracks you might hear on a Berlin album.
Ceu rocking those sequined high heels.
As good as her voice is on her albums, it is even better live. I won’t miss her if she comes through the Midwest again, and neither should you.
Ceu’s set list for the night. Sadly, I didn’t get a physical copy of it, but thanks to the man who let me take this photo of his copy.
[Thanks to Andre Bourgeois for making press pass arrangements for me for this show. He rules.]
