Mr Levi was lucky enough to be born with 'Pop' as his middle name, but what's more important is that the words Pop and Levi epitomise the man - a combination of the instant and the traditional.
Pop Levi was born in London, but for years a gypsy of no fixed background, setting up a commune with Snap Ant and Karl Webb. Whilst sharing a large dilapidated Victorian house with these and other like-minded artists, he founded the avant-garde post-rock group Super Numeri. Although he quickly became a prolific songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Levi went unnoticed by the music business for many years, untill he found himself signed to Ninja Tune Recordings
On the back of relative success, Levi was approached by Danny Hunt of Ladytron to join the band on bass guitar for their upcoming World Tour, and spent 2003-4 flying from show to show whilst writing and recording material for his planned "Foxwatch" LP. Although "Foxwatch" remained unfinished, the first Pop Levi releases came from those sessions, with the "Rude Kinda Love" single (and its accompanying controversial video) gaining rave reviews.
Touring over, Pop rounded up his four piece band and shipped them out to LA, where they have been road-tested into the most dynamic live outfit, super-tight and flexing like a coiled animal, right from the opening song, soulful vocal and a hypnotic, prolonged staccato groove. In front of them, Pop, eyes closed, and veins bulging as he peels off notes like a cross between Hendrix, Bolan and Jack White. It's great theatre, but a great rush of adrenalin, too.
His debut album 'The Return To Form Black Magick Party' may be named after a gathering that he threw in Liverpool, but it's also a state of mind, a point of view, and a truly bizarre whirlwind of classic sounds. Besides, "I like the idea of making your first album a 'return to form'" he explains. "To me, it's more about the poetry of it. It's an album that sounds like the title." It is presented in a sound-collage format made from over a decade of home recordings that falls somewhere between the tape experiments of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Yoko Ono.
What should turn people on is the idea that Pop Levi is not like any other. "Too much music," he concludes, "is too much fashion for me. It suggests you're into what's in and what's out. Things that are truly in are forever in. If I make a good sandwich, you wouldn't say 'that's retro,' you'd say 'that's a good sandwich."
"Poppy is a pure genius and his band 'Woman' are just the coolest dudes. This is without question the best record ever made. Flawless." *****
Andy Gill, THE INDEPENDENT
"Wickedly produced deeply psychedelic glam-rock brilliance"
MIXMAG
"A concise blitzkrieg of avant-bubblegum pop" ****
OBSERVER MUSIC MONTHLY
"Here's the metal" ****
MOJO
"An English music-hall equivalent of Jeff Buckley" ****
THE TIMES
"Welcome to the dark side" ****
GIGWISE
"An altogether more dark and dangerous proposition" *****
THE SUN
"Sunshine, sex & songs" 5/7
ONE WEEK TO LIVE
"One of the most infectious yet mind-blowing things you'll have heard"
TIME OUT
"A genuine maverick" ****
Q
"Terminally out-to-lunch"
THE GUARDIAN
"Hyper-kinetic boogie" ****
UNCUT
"This shit is fantastic" 9/10
UNDER THE RADAR
"Tremendous from start to finish. Get into it, now." ****
WHAT'S ON
"Fully authentic riverbed rock'n'roll soul"
STRAIGHT NO CHASER
"Pure pop bliss"
AXM
"Pop Levi will sprinkle happiness on even the saddest of lives" 5/5
CLASH
"Like every kind of great pop you ever heard - and all at once!"
LA WEEKLY
"Astounding new-wave soul for the future" 7/8
M8
"Guaranteed success" ****
IDJ
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