House – Page 4 – 7th Level Music

Top 20 albums of 2022: #’s 15 – 11

We’re getting close to the top half of the list. Who’s in the top 15?

#15: Psymon Spine – Charismatic Mutations

This album is a full remix record of Psymon Spine‘s Charismatic Megafauna. There isn’t a bad remix on the whole record, which isn’t easy to pull off.

#14: Lu.Re – Ruminate

Another excellent EP that came out this year (and there were several). Lu.Re’s EP of house music mixed with a bit of dark wave was an EP that made me sit up and think, “Oh, I need more of this.”

#13: Abdul Raeva – Atlas Corporation

Seriously, there was a ton of great electro and house music released last year. I’m sure I barely heard the tip of the iceberg, and yet there were great finds like this EP from Abdul Raeva that hits heavy and with undeniable grooves.

#12: Frayle – Skin & Sorrow

It wouldn’t be a “best of the year” list for me without some doom metal, and Frayle‘s newest album fits the bill. Described to me as “Black Sabbath meets Portishead,” I knew I was going to like it. Imagine the ghost of a witch fronting a doom band, and you’ll get the idea.

#11: Goat – Oh Death

As weird and wild as the cover depicts, Goat‘s new album covers death, transcendence, and sex – three of their favorite topics – and was a great return for them. Their psychedelic voodoo sound was sorely missed.

Who makes it in to the top half of my best records of the year? Tune in tomorrow!

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe. Start the new year off right!]

Top 20 albums of 2022: #’s 20 – 16

I reviewed 42 albums last year. So, here’s who came in the top half of those records.

#20: Adam BFD – Innervisions

2022 was a great year for electronic music, and this EP from Adam BFD was among the best pieces of EDM I heard. It thumps from beginning to end and should be in every DJ’s toolbox.

#19: System Efe – Carpetania

Speaking of great electronic music, here’s another one for you. This EP is dance music for androids.

18: P.E. – The Leather Lemon

What do you get when you mix members of Pill and Eaters? You get P.E., and their excellent debut album of post-punk, electro, and art rock.

17: Primer – Incubator

Another album that blends electro well (with dream-pop in this case), is Primer’s Incubator. It’s a fun listen, even though a lot of it is about a break-up.

16: BODEGA – Broken Equipment

I think it’s a guarantee that anything released by Brooklyn post-bunkers BODEGA is going to end up in my top 20 of any year. Broken Equipment was another solid album from them, with great beats and sharp, biting lyrics about everything from consumerism to British disaster movies.

Who’s in the top 15? Come back tomorrow to find out!

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

Review: Jorge Ciccioli – ORBITAL XPRNC

Thank your lucky stars that Jorge Ciccioli has sent this three-track EP from Argentina to us, because ORBITAL XPRNC is a great trip into orbit, out past the moon, and then back again.

The title track opens the EP with space shop bleeps and bloops, sweaty dance floor drum beats, upper atmosphere synths, and rocket rumble synth-bass. “Dappled” ups the bass, making it like an electro-syrup oozing over the waffles you’re eating at someone’s house party at 3:14am. The final track, “Noor,” is the sound of a panicked android running from bounty hunters armed with laser rifles.

Short? Yes. Quiet? No. It’s like pushing the “launch” button on a cartoon rocket and holding on until you’re free of gravity.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t space out! Subscribe today!]

Review: Gary Holldman – URA87

Clocking in at just four tracks (with one of them being a remix), Gary Holldman‘s URA87 EP is a solid trance-dance record that will make you want to dance, kickbox, shag, or perhaps all three.

The opening title track is a slick, futuristic one with slippery synth-cymbals, heartbeat drums, and pulsing bass. The ORBE remix of it follows, turning the track more robotic and industrial.

“SAM22” floats back and forth between sweaty dance club beats and subdued make-out bass, getting you in the mood or keeping you, ahem, in the game, if you get my drift. I don’t know if “NAT20” refers to a “natural 20” roll in Dungeons & Dragons (which usually indicates at least double damage done to an opponent), but the track is naturally groovy with muted teletype-like cymbals building up to throbbing KMFDM-like bass.

Yes, it’s a short EP, but it packs a wallop about equal to the cover image.

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe while you’re here?]

Review: Abdul Raeva – Atlas Corporation

Atlas Corporation is a killer techno-house EP from Abdul Raeva. The Duality Tax label seems to have a stellar batting average when it comes to finding talented DJs and producers and releasing material from them.

Made up of Steffan Todorović and Jonas Arro, Abdul Raeva blends house music with both psychedelic and even prog-rock elements to make a scintillating sound. The title track immediately gives you the sense that your normal, everyday life is about to break into an action film sequence at any moment. “Death Race” is an instant body-mover with its thick bass thumps and psychedelic synth chords.

The Andy Garvey remix of “Death Race” starts off the second half of the EP with a spooky intro that builds into something that sounds like a beatboxing robot working in an underground nightclub. I love how the EP ends with a mellower cut – “Guardian of the Vault.” It’s a sultry, almost tropical jam.

It’s one of the better house / techno records I’ve heard this year.

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe while you’re here?]

[Thanks to Harbour Music Society.]

Review: Klint – Le Temps

This is a banger of an EP.

Hailing from Montpellier, Klint brings hard, thumping dance grooves over five solid tracks on his debut, Le Temps. Each track is a bit over five minutes and all of them will drive your house party for almost a half-hour non-stop.

The opening title track alone gets your pulse racing and feet moving. The throb of the electro-bass is addictive. “Adrenochrome” gets into your muscles and mind like its namesake and has you dancing in order to chase away aliens who might be trying to kidnap you (as announced by the slow building space-synths).

“Adversaire” slides into your house like a shadowy figure and then proceeds to thump, bump, and jump-start you with it’s slightly fuzzy bass grooves. “Beta” has these twitchy beats that get under your clothes, then under your skin, and then settle in your hips, legs, and shoulders. Lastly, “Le Un et Deux” pops and percolates like something you’d hear in a Westward-like pleasure dome around 3am.

You could drop this whole thing into a DJ set and everyone would think you’re brilliant, but be sure to give Klint credit.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

[Thanks to PullProxy PR!]

Review: Rochelle Jordan – Play with the Changes Remixed

As if Rochelle Jordan‘s excellent album, Play with the Changes, wasn’t cool enough, now she’s released Play with the Changes Remixed, which is just what the title implies – a full remix of the album by some of the top producers and DJs in today’s music scenes.

&ME‘s remix of “Situation” ups the synth-bass to levels that make you go, “Oh, damn…That’s hot.” DJ Minx turns “Dancing Elephants” into an after-party house jam. Sango somehow turns “Got Em” into a sexier track. KLSH speeds up “Count It” into a playful cut that borders on industrial music. Kaytranada bumps up the funk on “All Along.”

Kingdom softens “Nothing Left,” almost putting us into a happy dream so Machinedrum can wake us with wicked beats and happy thoughts to start our day on the remix of “Lay.” LSDXOXO remixes “Love U Good” into a bit of a dancehall bumper that will have your hips moving. Sinistarr, meanwhile, turns “Next 2 U” into a full-on mid-1990s rave track that is only missing a strobe light and whistles blown by scantily clad, somewhat dehydrated people.

The Things You Say remix of “Already” is sure to fill dance floors just from the bouncy bass and bartender-shaking-a-cocktail percussion. Soul Clap brings in popcorn popper drum and bass on the remix of “Broken Steel.” Byron the Aquarius sends us out on a somewhat trippy vibe with his remix of “Something” at the end of the album.

There isn’t a bad mix on here. You can slip any of these cuts into a DJ set and everyone will love you for it.

Keep your mind open.

[I’d love you good if you subscribed.]

[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Alf Champion and MDHNTR send us into a “Midsummer Day’s Nightmare.”

Mexico’s ALF CHAMPION and MDHNTR take us on a wild journey through the subconscious with two spellbinding tracks, packed with distorted organic beats and technical wizardry on Midsummer Day’s Nightmare.

The introspective opening track “Gnic Nad” (Drum Version) is filled
with wonder and promise, the synth’s overtones opening you out
into a world you’ve never seen before. Self reflection and mystery
shroud the humming chords while the percussion is precise and insistent, cutting through the reverie.

From the first beat, the tribal drums and meticulous rhythms in
“Alaib Do” (Dream Version) grab you by the shoulders and implore
you to dance. The trippy, almost demonic voices and the
relentlessly pulsing bass lines transport you to a cave in the middle
of the Mexican wilderness, your surroundings ever changing and
morphing with the music. Stabs of jazz infused chords jolt you to
focus just for a second, before squealing synths and relentless
percussion pull you back into the trance.

TRACKLIST

1. Gnic Nad (Drum Version)
2. Alaib Do (Dream Version)

Midsummer Day’s Nightmare was released on the 10th of June,
mastered by Sam at The Green Door and is distributed digitally
on all major platforms by EPM.

Keep your mind open.

[I have nightmares when you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Aaron at Paradise Palms Records.]

Kaytranada remixes Rochelle Jordan’s “All Along” for her upcoming remix album.

Today, Los Angeles-based artist Rochelle Jordan presents the Kaytranada remix of “All Along” from Play With The Changes Remixed, a reimagination of her acclaimed 2021 album Play With The Changes, out this Friday on Young Art Records. “All Along” (Kaytranada Remix) sees the former tourmates joining forces for a sleek reshaping of Jordan’s futuristic sonic landscape. Play With The Changes Remixed doubles down on Jordan’ original thesis: without experimentation, innovation is impossible. Along with Kaytranda, Jordan taps LSDXOXO, Sango, Byron The Aquarius, Soul Clap, and more for the remix album.

Listen to “All Along” (Kaytranada Remix)

Defying categorization to create a project full of slinky, dancefloor-packing burners that channel her U.K. roots, Play With the Changes is reminiscent of Jordan’s childhood nights spent listening to her brother’s 2-step hymns from the other side of the wall. Garnering year-end praise from Billboard, Bandcamp, and more, Play With The Changes presents Jordan as a modern heir in a lineage of powerhouse vocalists with style and imagination. Play With The Changes Remixed precedes Jordan’s upcoming North American tour supporting Channel Tres, which begins September 27th, and includes stops at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, The Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, and more.

Pre-order Play With The Changes Remixed

Listen to “Love You Good (Remix)” ft. LSDXOXO
Listen to “Got Em” (Sango Remix)
Listen to “Something” (Byron The Aquarius Remix)

Watch Rochelle Jordan’s KEXP Performance

Rochelle Jordan Tour Dates:
(all dates supporting Channel Tres)
Tue. Sep. 27 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
Wed. Sep. 28 – Albuquerque @ Electric Playhouse
Fri. Sep. 30 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
Sat. Oct. 1- Dallas, TX @ The Echo
Sun. Oct. 2 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live – Studio
Tue. Oct. 4 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Thu. Oct. 6 – Detroit, MI @ Leland City Park
Fri. Oct. 7 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Hall
Sat. Oct. 8 – Montreal, QC @ S.A.T
Tue. Oct. 11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Thu. Oct. 13 – Washington, DC @ Culture
Fri. Oct. 14 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
Sat. Oct. 15 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
Tue. Dec. 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theater
Wed. Dec. 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theater
Sat. Dec. 10 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ The Fremont Theater
Wed. Dec. 14 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Thu. Dec. 15 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
Fri. Dec. 16 – Vancouver, BC @ Celebrities Nightclub

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

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.]