Nevaris Reverberations – 7th Level Music

Top 25 albums of 2023: #’s 10 – 6

Here we are at the top 10 albums I heard last year. Let’s get to it!

Cool beats, dub bass, scratching, hand percussion from instruments collected around the world, and killer grooves all combine on this instrumental world music record. You’ll play this a lot, and it might be your new favorite workout record.

#9: Shame – Food for Worms

I’ll admit that I didn’t get this record at first. I enjoyed Shame‘s first two albums, but this one just seemed…off. I almost didn’t review it, but I thought, “Maybe I just need to hear it again.” I’m glad I did, because it finally clicked for me on the third listen and it turned out to be a great record by a band that is constantly exploring themes of identity, consumerism, celebrity culture, and death.

#8: Melody Fields – 1901

If you were looking for some good psychedelic music this year, Melody Fields delivered it with 1901. At times trippy, at other times lush, other times rocking, and other times meditative. They were a pleasant discovery for me this year, and I look forward to hearing more from them.

#7: Protomartyr – Formal Growth in the Desert

Protomartyr have yet to put out a bad record, and they’re probably the closest you can get to experiencing a vintage Gang of Four live sound without building a time machine. This album is about transitions, from life to death, from an old home to a new one, from grief to healing. Again, they hit a home run.

#6: Thee Oh Sees – Live at Levitation (2012)

A great, previously unreleased live set from Thee Oh Sees thanks to the good folks at the Reverberation Appreciation Society, this show captures one of the early incarnations of the band (with just one drummer) shredding the stage as they always do. The live version of “Block of Ice” is alone worth the purchase price.

Next up are my top five albums of 2023! Don’t miss it.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Nevaris – Reverberations

You know you’re onto something when Carlos Santana calls your album “a work of supreme creativity.”

That’s how he referred to Nevaris‘ album Reverberations – a great album of dub, trip-hop, and world beat music put together by percussionist / keyboardist Nevaris and a great lineup of musicians including producer / bassist / legend Bill Laswell, DJ Logic on turntables, Will Bernard and Matt Dickey on guitars, Lockatron on drums, and Peter Apfelbaum on horns and additional keys.

The album had me hooked within the first twenty seconds of its opening track, “Dub Sol.” The sexy horns, panning beats, and incense smoke bass lured me into an exotic desert tent where you are sorely tempted to stay the rest of your life. “Disruption” has some of the best horn arrangements on the record from Apfelbaum, and DJ Logic gets to strut his scratching stuff as well on the track.

Laswell’s excellent dub bass returns on “Ninth Sun,” which also percolates with plenty of weird, trippy effects created by him. “Remedy” could easily fit into a mystery film set in Jamaica, while “Interference” would slide easily into a Bond film soundtrack – particularly a scene in which Bond enters an exotic casino in order to set up a trade of valuable information and ends up in a dangerous situation that’s either going to get him killed or laid.

It’s only appropriate, then, that the following track is called “Safehouse,” and we can imagine Bond making it out of the casino in one-piece and kicking back with a lovely lady in a backroom lounge at a Kingston restaurant. The track instantly puts you in a calming place with synth effects and reverberated beats that slow you down and bring you some much-needed chill.

“Frequencia” thumps and bumps in all the right places, with DJ Logic’s subtle scratching mixing well with the hand percussion and Hammond organ riffs. The closer, “Lockatronic,” gives drummer Lockatron plenty of time to show you how he locks it down and puts the whole band in his back pocket. He absolutely snaps every beat.

I love experimental, almost ambient dub albums like this. It’s solid.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Shauna at Shameless Promotion.]

Nevaris brightens up your day with “Dub Sol.”

Touted by Carlos Santana as “a work of supreme creativity”, Manhattan-based artist Nevaris has announced his forthcoming ‘Reverberations’ LP, to be released this spring via celebrated boutique label M.O.D. Reloaded. Ahead of that, they present the lead track ‘Dub Sol’.

Created by Nevaris (percussion, keyboards) and bassist-producer Bill Laswell, the current artist lineup also includes DJ Logic, Will Bernard, Peter Apfelbaum, Lockatron and Matt Dickey.

A musician and visual artist, Nevaris is a percussionist, keyboardist, vocalist and composer, who is heavily influenced by Afro-Latin, dub, and funk music. Born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he is of European and Mexican descent with multi-generational roots in both NYC and LA’s Echo Park neighborhood.

Prior to recording ‘Reverberations’, Nevaris recorded and performed with an evolving lineup of musicians under the name Loud Apartment, most notably Bernie Worrell of P-Funk and Talking Heads fame.

‘Reverberations’ is the third collaboration between Nevaris, Bill Laswell and this lineup of musicians (with the addition of Matt Dickey), here focusing more on the dub aspects of their sound. This instrumental recording combines dub, funk, afro-latin rhythms, turntablism and extended improvisation.

“This record builds on the momentum from ‘System Breakdown’ and ‘New Future’, which we released in 2020 and 2022 under the name Loud Apartment. There were dub aspects of those recordings, so Bill Laswell and I decided to create a recording entirely focused on that sound. It was a logical next step and came together in an organic way. We let the music go where it needed to go,” says Nevaris.

“It’s a dub based project, with breakbeat, funk, ambient, and afro-latin elements. It’s rhythm based music where the pocket is essential. Lockatron is a huge part of that, as, of course, is Bill Laswell, DJ Logic and everyone else involved. Peter Apfelbaum’s horn arrangements are also a core aspect. In my mind, it’s a cohesive piece of music that is best listened to as a whole rather than as individual songs. And Bill takes it where it needs to go with the production like no one else really can.”

In addition to his work as a musician, Nevaris is a visual and multimedia artist, who has worked on a vast array of creative projects across mediums. He also co-founded Nolej Records, Nolej Studios and the Uncomun Festival.

‘Dub Sol’ is out now, available from fine digital music platforms, including Spotify and Bandcamp. The full ‘Reverberations’ album will be released on May 25.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Shauna at Shameless Promotion.]