For a generation of Guelph music fans, Royal City was something akin to a supergroup. From his early teens, band ringleader, Aaron Riches had been a figurehead of the city’s hardcore punk scene, fronting numerous politically charged punk bands and promoting DIY gigs (including one of Fugazi’s first Canadian shows). At the same time, while bands like the Constantines were still gestating, the Jim Guthrie Quintet was a go. A…
French death metal masters THE SEVEN GATES will have their debut album Angel of Suffering unleashed on the masses in the United States on May 12th and in Europe on June 2nd 2009. As a primer, HEAVY ARTILLERY is offering a preview of the album’s title track “Angel of Suffering†as well as “The Serpent’s Wheel†on both the label and band’s myspace profiles.
Using the traditional falsetto voice along with the very technical guitar lines and drum beats, Blue Shade Witness plays the lost-love card with a very sharp sound. Aside from the incredibly short run time of this disc, clocking in at under twenty-eight minutes, the thing that really hurts the credibility of Blue Shade Witness is this completely polished sound of each track, which might have sounded more sincere if a…
Throughout the years since they formed (around 9, if people were checking), Black Lips have continued to refine the sound that was first heard on their 2003 self-titled debut. “200 Million Thousand†is their follow-up release to their 2007 Vice debut, “Good Bad Not Evilâ€, and immediately gives listeners a fresh slate which to appreciate the band’s music. “Take My Heart†is a bit of retro, taking together the psychedelic,…
On May 8th, Dirty Projectors and Björk will be collaborating for a one-night only benefit show at the Housing Works Bookstore in Manhattan. The event was curated by Stereogum senior writer Brandon Stosuy and will feature an original piece composed by Dirty Projectors’ David Longstreth. The material will pair Björk and Longstreth with the Dirty Projectors’ Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian, and Haley Dekle. There will be two openers, Kurt Weisman…
The Number Twelve Looks Like You is one of the few bands that have continually evolved and added to their sound over the course of their career. “Worse Than Alone†marks their fourth album and first since 2007’s “Mongrelâ€. The disc itself starts out with “Glory Kingdomâ€, and immediately hits listeners with a more fluid dynamic, manifested through increasingly intense and intricate time signatures. The fury in which they craft…
Cage The Elephant’s self titled debut album just became available on iTunes and entered the iTunes Album Chart at #54! The record will be available in stores this Spring. Newly signed to Jive Records, Cage the Elephant created a stir at last week’s South by Southwest Festival with their compelling live performances. If you weren’t able to catch the Kentucky rockers at SXSW, you will have another chance this April…
It may have taken a few years (the show begin in 2001), but My Wife & Kids finally has a DVD. The fact that the show took so many years from original air date to DVD release should show interested consumers that for future volumes (and seasons) of the show to be released, Lionsgate has to see that the original fan base that made the show such a big hit…
I am not the biggest fan of poetry, but there are a few poetry-specific or focused zines that pique my interest. One of these magazines are Literal Chaos, which was sent to me some months back. For those that are tricky about their vocabulary, Literal Chaos denotes two different things – chaos itself (Truly) and the shores/beaches (or other things pertaining to water). Literal Chaos deals with both of these…
Japan’s Coffins is finally making it back to the US after last year’s successful East Coast tour. This time they will bring the doom/death to the American West Coast. Going along for the ride are their Oakland label mates Stormcrow. The tour will start in Seattle on April 30th and culminate with both bands appearing at the infamous Los Angeles Murderfest alongside such bands as Samothrace, Eyehategod, Despise You, General…
“You Make Me Smile†is perhaps the most eclectic single that any band has ever came out with. In this track, Blue October touches on hints of Momus, Modest Mouse, and Cake all in rapid secession; where Blue October ultimately settles into is something that seems like a more amped-up, secular version of the Newsboys meets Crazy Town. The band goes to so many places during their “Foiled†that individuals…
Check out New York City’s The Virgins and their new video for “One Week Of Danger”: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid4020141001/?bctid=ref:A10302B0000657710N
After being heavily pursued by multiple record labels, BC Jean, a hit-making songwriter and gifted vocalist, has signed a recording deal with J Records.
The style of music that Chrisopher Blue plays during “Room Tones†is a blend of rockabilly and lounge, with a little bit of John Maher throw in for good measure. This means that tracks like “Ghost in the Night†are ready for big time radio, even if the instrumentation is a little on the odd side. This instrumentation has a lot of blues (scat-era) present in its overall sound, which…
* ISIS have put up a new song from the forthcoming record, Wavering Radiant (Ipecac, May 5), on their MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/sgnl05). The track is titled “20 Minutes / 40 Years.” ISIS will announce a six week US tour next week; the tour is set to kick off May 14 in San Diego.
Time Turns Elastic, a ground-breaking work for vocals, guitar and orchestra composed by Trey Anastasio and Don Hart, will be released on May 12th by Rubber Jungle Records, Anastasio’s independent label. The piece – orchestrated by Hart and performed by Anastasio and The Northwest Sinfonia, conducted by David Sabee – blends the intrinsic elegance of classical music with searing blues-rock guitar, resulting in an exhilarating work that engages and challenges…
Finnish progressive rock band Overhead revealed the tracklist and cover of their forthcoming DVD entitled “Live After All”.
A number of the clients that I Scream Records sign are either foreign (Janez Detd, Heideroosjes) or are bands that have been around for a long time or have members of veteran bands (Maximum Penalty, Stars and Stripes). To be a current act that I Scream has signed is nothing less than extraordinary. The BlueBloods start out their disc with “Dying Dayâ€, a track that is tied into the whole…
THE LEMONHEADS have signed to Brooklyn, NY-based THE END RECORDS and will be releasing their long-awaited covers collection, VARSHONS, on June 23, 2009.
Very distinct guitar playing with this pop-punk band. The vocals are very soothing on the nerves, if not as little repetitive. The band seemingly randomly names songs, as “Duran Duranâ€, the first song on the CD, is about the singer of the song asking for guidance in his life, assumedly from a loved one.